A swallowable in-vivo device contains a movement detection unit that includes a movement sensing unit, a frequency analyzing unit (FAU) and a time analyzing unit (TAU). The movement sensing unit senses movements of the in-vivo device relative to a non-stationary three-dimensional reference frame, and outputs a movement signal. The frequency analyzing unit may analyze the movement signal spectrally to detect a potential command-invoking movement, and the time analyzing unit may analyze the potential CIM temporally, possibly in conjunction with a series of other movement events, to determine whether the potential CIM is a genuine CIM. If the potential CIM is determined to be a genuine CIM, the in-vivo device may execute a predetermined command associated with the CIM. Otherwise, the in-vivo device may refrain from executing a CIM-related command. A PCB including the movement detection unit and a processor for processing their output is provided for the vivo sensing device.

In-vivo measuring systems are known in the art. Some autonomous capsule like in-vivo devices, which traverse the gastrointestinal ("GI") system, may include an imaging sensor, or imager, for imaging (e.g., acquiring images of) the interior of the GI system, and a transmitter for transmitting image frames to an external system (e.g., data receiver/recorder). An in-vivo device may include sensors of other types (e.g., pH, pressure and temperature), and/or various types of tools (e.g., micro electro-mechanical system), for example to perform surgical operations in vivo and/or to administer medication in the GI system, for example from a container contained in an in-vivo device. An in-vivo device may be capable of changing a rate at which image frames are acquired).
Some in-vivo devices are configured to transmit image frames (with or without additional sensory data) to an external system (e.g., data receiver/recorder) at some constant frames per second ("FPS") rate, for example at a rate of four FPS. Other devices may be configured to transmit image frames at a rate that depends on, or is a function of, for example, movement of the in-vivo device. For example, when a device moves slowly, a relatively slow FPS rate may be preferable (e.g., to save battery energy), whereas when a device moves faster, a higher FPS rate may be preferable (e.g., to obtain or maintain a certain rate of frames per unit of intestine's length).
An in-vivo device capable of varying its FPS rate and external systems (e.g., receiver/recorder) capable of transmitting a command to the in-vivo device to change its FPS rate may be said to have an adaptive frame rate ("AFR") capability. (Typically, a decision regarding movement of an in-vivo device that has an AFR capability is taken externally, for example by an external receiver or recorder, based on, for example, image data or other information that the external system may receive from the in-vivo device.)
While AFR capability of an in-vivo device is beneficial, this capability cannot be used if the external receiver/recorder with which the in-vivo device cooperates does not have AFR capability. It would be beneficial to have an in-vivo device that can exercise AFR even if the external receiver/recorder is AFR-incompatible, and, in general, it would be beneficial to have an in-vivo device that can execute also other movement-dependent commands independently of the external receiver/recorder (e.g., autonomously).

Method and system for determining a device movement irrespective of movement of a reference frame


A flat plate-like base member is arranged to be seated on a supporting surface. An upstanding pedestal is mounted on the top surface of the base member and has a front surface from which at least one elongated straight rod has cantilevered support in a plane parallel with the base member. The rod is supported at a height whereby a golf ball on the supporting surface and a putter head can be located freely thereunder so that the putter head can be moved into contact with the ball. The rod is of a length whereby the putter head can be moved therealong through a putting stroke while the golfer sights down on the putter head and golf ball in relation to the rod whereby to encourage a straight line impact against the ball. The rod is constructed of at least two disconnectable parts and the top surface of the base has recesses for holding these rod parts as well as golf balls when the putting aid is not in use. The base has vertical corner apertures arranged to receive anchor stakes if necessary to positively hold the putting aid on a putting surface. A cover is hingedly mounted on the base member for covering the tip surface thereof including the pedestal and recess. A pair of the rods may be mounted on the pedestal in parallel relation to each other and provide an area therebetween for a golfer to sight down to view the putter head and ball.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in putting aids.
Various devices have been conceived for the practice putting of golf balls. Some devices have primarily been designed for the golfer's convenience in that they are adapted to receive and catch a ball that has been putted. Some return the ball as well. Putting tracks that guide the stroke by providing a wall on the heel and toe side of the putter to act as a groove for the putting stroke are also available. Similar concepts have been conceived that control the movement of the putter head. Although these prior devices provide some benefits to golfers for the practice of putting toward a target and for distance, they are not designed to develop a stroke with important requisites of moving the putter in a square putting stroke, of accelerating the stroke at the ball, of building a controlled compact stroke with a feeling of alignment, and of injecting these fundamentals into muscle memory and other important requisites.


A self-propelled windrow merger includes a motor and a chassis. At the front of the merger are a first pickup and transfer assembly, a second pickup and transfer assembly and a third pickup and transfer assembly. A cab is above and behind the second pickup and transfer assembly. A folding mechanism for moves each of the pickup and transfer assemblies between a first position wherein the first, second and third pickup and transfer assemblies are laterally aligned and a second position wherein the first and third pickup and transfer assemblies are positioned rear of the cab.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a self-propelled windrow merger apparatus and a method of merging windrows. In particular, the present invention relates to a self-propelled windrow merging apparatus and method having more than two head and conveyor assemblies that form a continuous path in use and retract for transport.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices for merging windrows are well known and are used to gather material, such as cut hay that might be windrowed, and merge it into a single windrow for harvesting or baling. Such windrow mergers typically included a single pickup head to move the material to a single row at one side of the merger. When used on a relatively small scale, these devices generally function in a satisfactory manner. However, for large scale operations requiring merging on large fields, the capacity of such mergers is limited because of their width and may not be sufficient to merge the material at an adequate rate for subsequent pickup by other devices. The merging must often be performed during a small timeframe when conditions are favorable so that the need exists for a merger with greater merging capacity so as not to slow the harvest process. A limiting factor for the size of the merger device has been the towing capacity and availability of tractors and other propulsion devices and the width of the merger devices during transport. The machines must be transported from field to field and must be able to accomplish entry and exit in and out of fields, as well as meeting width limitations for transport on public highways and other roads without removing the heads.
In order to achieve a wider merger apparatus, folding mergers have been developed, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,757 to Dow et al The Dow et al. '757 patent has a two headed merger device that folds to a storage position for transport. In addition, the Dow device utilizes transverse conveyors to move materially laterally and provide various configurations for moving material to the desired windrow. The Dow et al. '757 patent teaches a device that is successful in providing higher capacity, greater width, and improved methods of merging while folding to a storage position for transport. However, further improvements to windrow mergers are possible.
Utilizing wider folding heads provides design challenges, especially achieving a linkage for folding wide heads and providing acceptable support, while limiting the loads and torque in operating positions, storage positions and during movement between the use position and the transport position. In order to achieve higher capacity, the heads may be widened, but the design becomes more complicated and difficult due to moving wider heads and staying within height and width limitations when folded. Controls and mechanisms for folding more than two heads are not contemplated in the prior art.
Moreover, another problem that devices having multiple heads suffer from is that they typically form a gap between the ends of adjacent pickup heads so that some material may be missed in the field as the merger advances. Motors and other drive equipment have typically been positioned at ends of heads, providing an obstruction between the ends of the heads, requiring a gap between the end rows of tines adjacent the heads. Operating prior adjustable conveyors at a sufficient rate so that material is passed from one conveyor to the other has required spacing that allows for adjustment, which prohibits an unobstructed pickup face without gaps. Achieving a conveyor that does not require adjustable end rollers would improve the liability and eliminate constant adjustment for different configurations. If such manual adjustment is not required, control of the merger apparatus and changing between different operating configurations, or changing between storage and use positions could be accomplished remotely by an operator of the towing vehicle without having to manually adjust conveyor heads and other equipment. The utility of such a merger apparatus is increased if such changes and configurations may be made during merging without having to stop.
For some applications, a tractor is not available to tow the larger mergers, especially during the short windows available during harvest when the tractor may be needed for other tasks. In addition, tow behind mergers require the operator to be driving a tractor while monitoring the merging operation behind the tractor. Operations are easier if the merger heads are in front of the operator in use. Moreover, a self-propelled merger has greater utility if the heads can be retracted to a narrower configuration for transport and with the end heads behind the cab during transport so as not to create a large blind spot. A tractor and coupled merger combination may be difficult to maneuver in corners or smaller spaces or when entering or leaving fields.
It can be seen that a new and improved self-propelled windrow merging apparatus is needed. A self-propelled merger should have a pickup face in front of the operator so that the operator may look forward and view the heads picking up material. Such a merger should provide for a wider effective pickup face that can accommodate various spacing of windrows and material and an unobstructed pickup face so that material is not missed in the field. Such a merger apparatus should provide for a merger having more than two heads and allow for folding of the heads between a use position and a retracted transport position, allowing for transport on public roads. A merger should utilize a simple pivot arm to move the pickup and conveyor assemblies between a use position and retracted position. The present invention addresses these as well as other problems associated with windrow merging devices and merging operations.


Recognition character candidates and their similarities for each character obtained by a character recognition section from an input character string are stored in a first recognition result memory, and recognition character candidates obtained by rotating the corresponding characters through 180 degrees and their similarities are stored in a second recognition result memory. Address pointers for accessing the first and second recognition result memories are stored in an address pointer memory. The first recognition result memory is accessed in accordance with the address pointers read out from the address pointer memory in an ascending order, and the second recognition result memory is accessed in accordance with the address pointers read out from the address pointer memory in a descending order. Coincidences between recognition candidates read out from the first and second recognition result memories and character strings of dictionary words read out from a dictionary memory are computed by a coincidence computing section. A recognition result of the input character string is obtained based on the coincidences.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a character recognition system for recognizing a character string read through, e.g., an optical character reading apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Normally, a character string printed on a slip is read by an optical character reader (OCR), and the read character string is recognized in units of characters to be input to a computer. In this case, various character recognition techniques have been proposed, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,541,511, for example.
In such a character recognition system, when a handwritten character string is to be recognized, various problems are posed. For example, since handwritten characters have a variety of sizes, individual characters must be extracted from an input character string. In this case, when a handwritten character is a Chinese character, its left- and right-hand radicals may be extracted as separate character strings. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, if a character string " " is input, characters may be extracted like " ", " ", " ", " ", and so on, as shown in FIG. 2. As a result, a recognition result may become different from the input character string.
In a conventional system, recognition character candidates corresponding to characters are stored in a recognition result memory. A character candidate string of a character string to be recognized is generated using the character candidates stored in the recognition result memory, and is stored in a character candidate memory. The character candidate string is read out from the character candidate memory, and is collated with a character string of a dictionary word registered in a dictionary memory, thereby obtaining a recognition result.
A conventional character recognition system disclosed in Unscreened Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 61-160182; Y. KUROSAWA, Unscreened Date: Jul. 19, 1986, is known. In this character recognition system, since the recognition direction of characters is limited to one direction, if characters rotated through 180 degrees are input, they cannot be recognized.

Handwritten character string recognition system


The present invention provides a compound of formula I and the use thereof for the inhibition of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis and for the therapeutic treatment of bacterial infection or disease in a patient in need thereof. The present invention also provides the use of the formula I compound for the control of ecto- or endoparasites in homeothermic animals

In the human pharmaceutical arts, the rapidly developing resistance of known bacterial strains to currently prescribed pharmaceuticals has initiated a vigorous search for new classes of antibacterial agents having alternative modes of action. For example, methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), vancomycin resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and penicillin resistant S. pneumo (PRSP) are bacterial strains which do not respond well to current clinical drug therapies.
Peptidoglycan is an essential cell wall polymer which forms a sacculus around the bacterial cell. The biosynthesis of peptidoglycan provides a unique and selective target for antibacterial activity. Peptidoglycan biosynthesis requires ten specific enzymes to perform as many synthetic transformations. These enzymes include MurA, MurB, MurC, MurD, MurE, MurF, MurG, MraY and the transglycosylase and transpeptidase families of enzymes. Inhibition of any one of these essential enzymes leads to loss of cell shape and integrity followed by bacterial death. This applies to both Gram positive and Gram negative microorganisms (Bugg, T. D. et al., Natural Products Reports 1992 199-215). Of these ten essential enzymes, β-lactam antibiotics inhibit transpeptidases, vancomycin inhibits transglycosylases and fosfomycin inhibits MurA.
In the animal health arts, virtually all commercial and most companion animals are affected by ecto-and endoparasites. The outcome associated with said parasitic infection or infestation in said animals is generally clinical disease and subclinical conditions that decrease performance. Insects, such as Phthiraptera (lice) and Diptera (flies), are among the most economically important ectoparasites in animal production. Insects, such as Siphonáptera (fleas), are highly pesteriferous to companion animals. Helminths, such as Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Haemonchus contortus, or the like, are among the most economically important endoparasites in animal production. Nematodes are highly pesteriferous to companion animals. Ecto- and endoparasitic infections and infestations not only seriously effect the economies of raising livestock for meat, wool, hides and milk, but are also a source of great concern for companion animals. New, economic alternative methods and compositions for the prevention, treatment and control of ecto- or endoparasites in warm-blooded animals are constantly being sought.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide compounds which inhibit the Mur family of enzymes and are useful as antibacterial agents, particularly against resistant strains of bacteria.
It is another object of this invention to provide therapeutic methods and pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of bacterial infection or disease.
It is also an object of this invention to provide an effective method for the prevention, treatment or control of ecto- or endoparasitic infection or infestation in homeothermic animals.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an ecto- or endoparasiticidal composition suitable for use on animals and humans.
It is a feature of this invention that the compounds provided herein act as effective inhibitors of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis via the Mur enzyme pathway.
Other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent by the detailed description set forth hereinbelow.

3-aryl-4-hydroxyfuranone compounds and the human and animal health use thereof


The corrugating roller (7; 9) for machines to produce corrugated cardboard, comprises: a hollow cylindrical body (7B; 9B), with an outer (7D; 9D) surface provided with corrugations (7C; 9C); a circuit for a heat-carrying fluid; and a pair of necks (7E, 7F; 9E, 9F), through at least a first (7E; 9E) of which said heat-carrying fluid is supplied. The body (7B) and the necks (7E, 7F) are produced in a single block machined by removal.

The corrugated cardboard is composed of a plurality of sheets of cardboard, alternately smooth and corrugated, glued to one another. To produce this type of cardboard, corrugating or "single facer" machines are used, wherein a pair of corrugating rollers, provided with longitudinal grooves that mesh together, form a nip through which a first sheet of cardboard passes, which is corrugated and provided with a glue on the crests of the flutes. The corrugated sheet is then glued to a smooth sheet or "cover". The product thus obtained can be provided with a second smooth sheet, or cover. Differently, several products coming from a corrugating machine can be superimposed and glued to obtain a corrugated cardboard with several layers.
Corrugating machines of this type are described in EP-A-870598, EP-A-601528, U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,701, EP-A-786329, EP-A-1086805, US-A-20010047850, U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,720, EP-A-734849.
Corrugating rollers are relatively complex components. In fact, they have an internal heating circuit through a heat-carrying fluid, typically steam. The heat-carrying fluid circuit has an internal duct and a series of external ducts, in proximity to the cylindrical surface of the roller, to obtain efficient heat exchange.
Due to their complex nature, currently known corrugating rollers are produced with several components. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,664 describes a corrugating roller constituted by two head ends on which the shanks or necks to support the roller are provided. The head ends are connected to a hollow cylindrical body, on the outer surface of which ribs or grooves are produced to perform corrugation of the cardboard, and in the cylindrical wall of which ducts are produced parallel to the axis of the roller for circulation of the heat-carrying fluid. The ducts are disposed to allow the heat-carrying fluid to flow alternately in one direction and in the opposite direction.
ES-B-2070726 describes a corrugating roller comprising a interchangeable external cylindrical jacket, on which grooves or corrugations are produced, fitted on a grooved and radially perforated central core. Once the jacket has been mounted on the central core, these grooves form longitudinal ducts for circulation of the heat-carrying fluid. The core is axially perforated to define an inlet duct and an outlet duct of the heat-carrying fluid. It forms, with its ends, the end necks or shanks of the roller.
ES-A-2110871 describes a corrugating roller comprising a hollow cylindrical body, at the ends of which two portions forming the shanks or necks of the roller are inserted. One of the two portions has an inlet duct and an outlet duct for the heat-carrying fluid, which circulates in an interspace with an annular section formed by the inner wall of the hollow cylindrical body and by a pipe coaxial to said body.
EP-B-657275 describes a corrugating roller comprising a hollow cylindrical body, in the wall of which circulation ducts for the heat-carrying fluid are produced. The ducts are fed through head ends forming the necks or shanks supporting the roller. The head ends are inserted into the axial cavity of the cylindrical body.
U.S. Pat. No.5,899,264 and EP-A-1962590 describe a corrugating roller constituted by a hollow cylindrical body, in the wall of which ducts for circulation of the heat-carrying fluid are produced. The fluid is fed through an axial hole produced in one head end of the roller, fixed to the central cylindrical body and passes through a duct coaxial to the cylinder, extending through the hollow cylindrical body thereof, to the opposite head end from which the fluid is distributed radially to the peripheral ducts produced in the cylindrical wall of the body of the roller. Radial holes in the first head end collect the spent heat-carrying fluid and convey it outside.
All the constructional solutions described in the aforesaid documents are complex and costly and in some cases somewhat inefficient from a thermal point of view, as they do not allow efficacious heating of the outer surface of the corrugating roller.

Methods for producing a corrugating roller for machines to produce corrugated cardboard


A powder including: (a) more than 92% of zircon particles; (b) 1% to 2% of silica particles having a size less than 50 microns; (c) 0.3% to 5% of particles comprising one, two, or three oxides selected from CaO, MgO, and Y2O3; (d) less than 1% of particles comprising other oxides; the powder also being such that it includes: more than 5% of zircon aggregate particles having a size greater than 1 mm; and 8% to 20% of zircon matrix particles having a size less than 15 μm and including, for more than 95% of the weight thereof, a monoclinic phase.

Sintered refractories with coarse grains joined together by a matrix and comprising more than 85 wt. % of zirconia are used in applications in which good mechanical strength and high corrosion resistance are required at temperatures above 1800° C. Such products are notably recommended in incineration, glassmaking, petrochemistry, in reactors for manufacturing carbon black and in the cement industry, for protection against attack by corrosive agents such as slag, glass, or dust-laden smoke.
The structure of these products, combining coarse grains and a matrix, contributes decisively to the mechanical properties. Zirconia-based products with a very homogeneous structure, obtained conventionally from powders of particles smaller than 50 microns, are therefore considered to be unsuitable for these applications.
Moreover, sintered refractories comprising more than 85 wt. % of zirconia and with coarse grains bound by a matrix rich in zirconia generally have low resistance to thermal shock. In fact, to facilitate sintering, which is made difficult by the presence of coarse grains, conventionally at least 1% of silica is added, which is considered to have a harmful effect on resistance to thermal shock.
Alternatively, within the glassmaking and metallurgical industries, EP 0 404 610 discloses products that have coarse grains bound by a matrix, the matrix being formed from a powder comprising less than 1% of silica, and preferably being more or less silica-free, but necessarily comprising monoclinic zirconia. Above 1%, silica in fact leads, according to this document, to elimination of the beneficial effect of the monoclinic zirconia. However, the low silica content makes sintering more difficult, notably when the coarse grains are of large dimensions.
There is therefore a need for a new sintered product with a coarse structure displaying good mechanical strength, good resistance to thermal shock and a thermal expansion behavior without any notable anomaly.
One aim of the embodiments of the present disclosure is to meet this need.

Saint-Gobain Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes Europeen


A semiconductor wafer includes a multilayered film having a structure in which nondoped first nitride semiconductor layers and nondoped second nitride semiconductor layers with a larger lattice constant than the first nitride semiconductor layer are laminated alternately, and a nondoped third nitride semiconductor layer which is located on the multilayered film and has a larger lattice constant than the first nitride semiconductor layer, wherein the semiconductor wafer has conductivity in a film-thickness direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer and a semiconductor device including a nitride semiconductor layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a nitride semiconductor layer is formed on an inexpensive silicon substrate or sapphire substrate. However, the lattice constants of such semiconductor substrates and that of a nitride semiconductor layer are greatly different from each other, and coefficients of thermal expansion thereof also differ from each other. Therefore, a large strain is generated in a nitride semiconductor layer formed by epitaxial growth on a sapphire substrate or a silicon substrate. As a result, the nitride semiconductor device is susceptible to cracks or degradation of the crystal quality. Compared to a sapphire substrate, a crack is especially more serious problem for a silicon substrate because of a sizable lattice mismatch with a nitride semiconductor layer.
In order to have a conductive nitride semiconductor layer, impurity doping into the nitride semiconductor layer is generally used for generating conducting carrier.
However, the crystal of the nitride semiconductor layer is hardened due to the impurity doping, making it more likely to have cracks. Thus, impurity doping into a nitride semiconductor layer formed on a silicon substrate or a sapphire substrate makes designing of devices more difficult due to crystal hardening and degradation of crystal quality.
Moreover, in order to improve element characteristics, it is necessary to increase the film thickness of a semiconductor functional layer such as a nitride semiconductor layer which forms hetero junction where an operating current flows or a nitride semiconductor layer which has a light-emitting function. By increasing the film thickness of the semiconductor functional layer, the crystal quality thereof is improved. Having said that, to increase the film thickness, it is also necessary to increase the film thickness of a buffer layer arranged between the semiconductor functional layer and the semiconductor substrate. Thus, cracks become more serious problems.

Semiconductor wafer and semiconductor device having multilayered nitride semiconductor layer


The present disclosure is directed to compact packaging for optical MEMS devices, such as one- and two-dimensional beam scanners. An embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure includes a light source and a MEMS-based scanning element for steering at least a portion of the light provided by the light source in at least one dimension as an output light signal, as well as one or more optical elements for collimating and/or redirecting light within a sealed chamber defined by the elements of a housing. In some embodiments, the one or more optical elements include a reflective lens that collimates the light provided by the light source while simultaneously correcting phase-front error imparted by the scanning element while steering the output beam.

Scanner modules that integrate infrared (IR) illumination, beamforming and two-dimensional scanning functions are useful in a number of applications, such as eye tracking, micro-gesture recognition, industrial light curtains, range finding using LIDAR or point-cloud projection, free-space optical communication, path planning and control in robotics, object tracking in VR, to name a few.
Prior-art light scanners are typically based on scanning mirrors and actuators for moving them that are all on the order of 1 mm. To enable a large rotation, the package that surrounds the scanning mirror must have sufficient clearance. As a result, the dimensions of a prior-art packaged scanning mirror are quite large. In addition, in prior-art light-scanning systems, the light sources and refractive collimating optics required to produce a collimated light beam reside outside the scanning-mirror package, further increasing the space required for such light scanners. Still further, these light sources and optical elements are typically large, bulky, and expensive, which can limit their utility in some applications.
A compact scanner module that enables object tracking with high resolution and low cost would be a significant advance in the state of the art.

Packaging for compact object-scanning modules


A terminal includes: a receiver, which, in operation, receives a plurality of data signals that is spatially multiplexed, the plurality of data signals being transmitted from a small-cell base station disposed in an area covered by a macro-cell base station; an estimator, which, in operation, estimates power of a signal from the macro-cell base station as interfering-signal power; and a signal separator, which, in operation, generates a reception weight based on the interfering-signal power and separates the plurality of data signals from each other based on the reception weight.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to a terminal and a communication method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method of offloading traffic using a heterogeneous network (HetNet), in which a macro cell and a small cell coexists, has been examined recently. In the heterogeneous network, a small-cell base station, which performs communication with low transmission power, is disposed in an area covered by a macro-cell base station (may be referred to as an eNB or a BS), which performs communication with high transmission power.
In the heterogeneous network, interference from the macro-cell base station occurs in a terminal (may be referred to as user equipment (UE) or a mobile station (MS)) (referred to as an in-small-cell terminal hereinafter) connected to the small-cell base station, in a case where the same carrier frequency is used between the macro cell and the small cell (case of a Co-Channel HetNet). Such inter-cell interference is significant at a cell edge.
In order to prevent the inter-cell interference, suspending transmission of the macro-cell base station during communication in the small cell may be considered. In the macro-cell, however, a terminal (referred to as an in-macro-cell terminal hereinafter) connected to the macro-cell base station also exists outside the area of the small cell. For the in-macro-cell terminal to continue communication, the macro-cell base station is required to continue transmission of a signal (for example, synchronization signal, broadcast channel, and cell-specific reference signal (CRS)) even in a period of suspending transmission of the macro-cell base station (referred to as almost blank subframe (ABS) transmission hereinafter).
Thus, the in-small-cell terminal needs to reduce the interference originating from ABS transmission by the macro-cell base station, in order to improve reception quality of a desired signal. As a conventional interference reduction method, for example, Japanese Patent No. 5383725 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2013-123163 disclose a method of removing an interference component by a terminal generating a replica (referred to as "an interference replica" hereinafter) of an interfering signal from a replica of a transmission signal transmitted by a base station and a channel estimation value, and subtracting the interference replica from a reception signal.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


Optical connector includes a circuit board, a photoelectric element, a driver chip, a coupler, and a holder holding an optical fiber. The circuit board includes a substrate having a first surface and an opposing second surface and a circuit portion formed on the substrate. The substrate defines a receiving groove in the second surface and a through hole passing through a bottom surface of the receiving groove and the first surface. The photoelectric element and the driver chip are positioned on the bottom surface, and the photoelectric element aligns with the through hole. The coupler is positioned on the first surface and aligns with the photoelectric element through the through hole. The holder is supported on the first surface and connected to the coupler. The coupler optically couples the optical fiber with the photoelectric element.

In an optical communication field, optical fiber connectors are configured for connecting optical fibers to electronic devices. An optical fiber connector generally includes a circuit board, an emitter, a receiver, a driver chip, a coupler, and a holder for holding optical fibers. The emitter, the receiver, and the driver chip are electrically connected to the circuit board. The coupler is fixedly connected to the circuit board covering the emitter and the receiver. The holder is connected to a side of the coupler.


In some example embodiments, a computer-implemented method may include training a machine learning model in a first database instance using a machine learning algorithm and a training dataset in response to receiving a request to train, serializing the trained machine learning model into a binary file in response to the training of the machine learning model, recreating the trained machine learning model in a second database instance using the binary file in response to receiving a request to apply the machine learning model, and generating an inference result by applying the recreated trained machine learning model on the inference dataset in the second database instance.

Some database systems offer machine learning functionalities embedded with the database systems themselves to optimize the creation of machine learning models by using in-database optimizations. However, there are currently no efficient solutions for training a machine learning model in one database instance and applying the trained machine learning model in another database instance. Although users may manually copy the trained machine learning model from one database instance in which the machine learning model was trained to another database instance in which the machine learning model is to be used, many users do not have the technical expertise to implement this solution, making it very difficult to implement and use. Additionally, the transfer of data associated with manually copying the trained machine learning model from one database instance to another database instance involves an inefficient consumption of electronic resources, such as network bandwidth that is consumed by such a data transfer. Furthermore, other solutions such as retraining the machine learning model in a second database instance after already training the machine learning model in a first database instance are inefficient, as they create an additional workload on the underlying computer system, thereby affecting the speed and effectiveness of the computer system. The present disclosure addresses these and other technical problems.


This invention is directed to an enhanced lithium surface particularly suited for use as the anode in solid electrochemical cells, which is coated with a polymer of an acryloyl-derivatized alkoxyhalosilane.

Electrochemical cells containing an anode, a cathode and a solid, solvent-containing electrolyte are known in the art and are usually referred to as "solid batteries". These cells offer a number of advantages, including improved safety features. Notwithstanding their advantages, the use of certain of these solid batteries over repeated charge/discharge cycles may be substantially impaired when they exhibit significant drops in their charge and discharge capacity over repeated cycles as compared to their initial charge and discharge capacity.
Specifically, solid batteries employ a solid electrolyte interposed between a cathode and an anode. The solid electrolyte contains either an inorganic or an organic matrix as well as a suitable inorganic ion salt. The inorganic matrix may be non-polymeric [e.g., .beta.-alumina, silicon dioxide, lithium iodide, etc.] or polymeric [e.g., inorganic (polyphosphazene) polymers] whereas the organic matrix is typically polymeric. Suitable organic polymeric matrices are well known in the art and are typically organic polymers obtained by polymerization of a suitable organic monomer as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,283. Suitable organic constituents include, by way of example, polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, polyethyleneimine, polyepichlorohydrin, polyethylene succinate, and an acryloyl-derivatized polyalkylene oxide containing an acryloyl group of the formula CH.sub.2 .dbd.CR'C(O)O-- where R' is hydrogen or lower alkyl of from 1-6 carbon atoms.
Because of their expense and difficulty in forming into a variety of shapes, inorganic non-polymeric matrices are generally not preferred and the art typically employs a solid electrolyte containing a polymeric matrix. Nevertheless, electrochemical cells containing a solid electrolyte, i.e. a polymeric matrix may suffer from low ion conductivity and, accordingly, in order to maximize the conductivity of these materials, the matrix is generally constructed into a very thin film, i.e., on the order of about 25 to about 250 .mu.m. As is apparent, the reduced thickness of the film reduces the total amount of internal resistance within the electrolyte thereby minimizing losses in conductivity due to internal resistance.
The solid electrolytes also contain a solvent (plasticizer) which is typically added to the matrix in order to enhance the solubility of the inorganic ion salt in the solid electrolyte and thereby increase the conductivity of the electrochemical cell.
Suitable solvents, well known in the art for use in such solid electrolytes include, by way of example, propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, .gamma.-butyrolactone, tetrahydrofuran, glyme (dimethoxyethane), diglyme, triglyme, tetraglyme, dimethylsulfoxide, dioxolane, sulfolane and the like.
The solid, solvent-containing electrolyte is typically formed in one of two methods. In one method, the solid matrix is first formed and then a requisite amount of this material is dissolved in a volatile solvent. Requisite amounts of the inorganic ion salt and the electrolyte solvent (i.e., triglyme and the organic carbonate) are then added to the solution. This solution is then placed on the surface of a suitable substrate (e.g., the surface of a cathode) and the volatile solvent is removed to provide for the solid electrolyte.
In the other method, a monomer or partial polymer of the polymeric matrix to be formed is combined with appropriate amounts of the inorganic ion salt and the solvent. This mixture is then placed on the surface of a suitable substrate (e.g., the surface of the cathode) and the monomer is polymerized or cured (or the partial polymer is then further polymerized or cured) by conventional techniques (heat, ultraviolet radiation, electron beams, etc.) so as to form the solid, solvent-containing electrolyte.
When the solid electrolyte is formed on a cathodic surface, an anodic material can then be laminated onto the solid electrolyte to form a solid battery (i.e., an electrochemical cell).
Notwithstanding the above, the initial capacity of solid batteries is often less than desirable. Moreover, even when the initial capacity of the solid battery is relatively high, such solid batteries often exhibit rapid decline in capacity over their cycle life.
Specifically, the cumulative capacity of a solid battery is the summation of the capacity of a solid battery over each cycle (charge and discharge) in a specified cycle life. Solid batteries having a high initial capacity but which rapidly lose capacity over the cycle life will have low cumulative capacity which interferes with the effectiveness of these batteries for repeated use.
The normal passivation layer of lithium surfaces in contact with the described electrolytes are relatively brittle and unstable. When the battery is cycled, the lithium is stripped from the anode on the discharge half-cycle, and is plated on the anode in the recharge half-cycle. The weak passivation layer is disrupted by the cyclic process and the lithium metal reacts further with the electrolyte. Consequently, the lithium is stripped and plated selectively over the anode surface, causing the growth of dendrites, or nodules, which can eventually short the cell through the electrolyte.
It would be advantageous if the lithium surface could be enhanced by a strong and stable passivation layer which is ionically conductive.


An electronic device for effectively preventing time-varying current from passing through an electro-chemical cell or battery is disclosed. Time-varying current flowing in a circuit which includes the cell/battery is sensed externally to the cell/battery with a magnetically-coupled ac current probe thereby producing an induced time-varying signal. This induced signal is amplified to the level of the original time-varying current and applied to the cell/battery's terminals in phase-opposition to the original current. As a result, the component of time-varying current flowing in the cell/battery's external leads assumes an alternate path around the cell/battery and is effectively canceled within the cell/battery itself. Time-varying voltage across the cell/battery, which would normally result from time-varying current passing through its internal impedance, is likewise eliminated. Accordingly, measurements of the cell/battery's incremental parameters can be performed with the cell/battery "on line" without measurement errors due to spurious charger- and load-related signals. Additional applications of the disclosed device include reducing or eliminating ripple and crosstalk in batteries that are supplying voltage-sensitive equipment, and preventing plate deterioration caused by ac currents flowing through a cell/battery.

This invention relates generally to method and apparatus for reducing or eliminating time-varying currents and voltages which may be present in an electrochemical cell or battery while it is in the process of being charged or is supplying power to an active load. More particularly, it relates to the problem of using a time-varying signal to measure a cell/battery's incremental parameters--such as its incremental conductance, resistance, or impedance--while the cell/battery is "on line" and therefore already conducting a time-varying current. By employing the present invention, such incremental parameters can be accurately measured during periods of normal use--without requiring that the cell/battery be removed from service. This invention therefore significantly increases the utility of dynamic conductance battery testing apparatus of the type disclosed previously in U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,269 issued to Keith S. Champlin. Additional applications of the present invention include eliminating ripple and crosstalk in batteries that are supplying voltage-sensitive equipment and preventing plate deterioration caused by ac currents flowing through a cell/battery.
Stationary lead-acid batteries are employed in many applications requiring energy to be delivered continuously over relatively long periods of time. Such batteries, comprised of banks of series-connected two-volt cells, are found at electric generating plants, substations, telephone central offices, railroad signal sites, airport control towers, and countless other critical installations to provide secondary emergency power for use in the event of failure of a primary energy source. Applications requiring relatively long-term reliance on such secondary batteries include emergency lighting for hospitals and industrial plants, and uninterruptible energy supplies for critical communications equipment and computers. Individual cells of stationary batteries are often separate entities with accessible terminals. Such cells may be physically quite large and will sometimes weigh hundreds of pounds.
The traditional method for testing stationary batteries, or their individual cells, is the timed-discharge test. This well-established procedure is fully described in Section 6 of ANSI/IEEE Standard 450-1987. Under this procedure, one removes the battery from service and discharges it at a constant current while simultaneously monitoring the terminal voltage of the battery and/or its individual cells. The cell/battery capacity is then calculated from the length of time that the discharge can be sustained before the appropriate voltage drops below a particular threshold value.
Although the timed-discharge test has seen widespread use, it possesses serious disadvantages. These include:
1. The test requires that the battery be removed from service for a considerable length of time (usually 8 or 10 hours).
2. Currents drawn may be relatively large and can thus require apparatus that is heavy and cumbersome.
3. After being tested, the battery must be recharged before it can be returned to service. This requires additional time.
4. Only a fixed number of charge-discharge cycles can be provided by a given battery. As a result, each timed-discharge test removes potential service capability.
Because of these disadvantages, measurements of small-signal incremental parameters such as resistance, impedance, and conductance, have been proposed as alternatives to the timed-discharge test. The motivation for this effort dates from the pioneering work of DeBardelaben (S. DeBardelaben, "Determining the End of Battery Life", INTELEC 86, Toronto, Canada, pp. 365-368). His paper disclosed a strong inverse correlation between a cell's capacity and either the magnitude of the cell impedance or its resistive real part. Additional studies by Vaccaro and Casson (F. J. Vaccaro and P. Casson, "Internal Resistance: Harbinger of Capacity Loss in Starved Electrolyte Sealed Lead Acid Batteries" INTELEC 87, Stockholm, Sweden pp 128-131) showed that increased impedance and resistance were also good indicators of "dryout" of sealed-lead acid stationary batteries.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,269 referenced above, the present inventor disclosed apparatus for measuring incremental conductance of a cell/battery and showed that this quantity is related linearly to the capacity of the cell/battery. This assertion has been corroborated by many field measurements such as those described in a recent paper by Feder, et al. (D. O. Feder, et al. "Field and Laboratory Studies to Assess the State of Health of Valve-Regulated Lead Acid Batteries: Part I Conductance/Capacity Correlation Studies", INTELEC 92, Washington, D.C., pp. 218-233). Results of both timed-discharge tests and conductance measurements on approximately 500 cells are presented therein. These results indeed reveal a very linear relationship between battery/cell capacity and incremental conductance and display a high degree of correlation (R.sup.2 of 0.80 to 0.98).
In order to measure incremental resistance or impedance, one passes a time-varying current through a cell/battery and observes the appropriate component of the resulting time-varying voltage developed across it. Incremental conductance is measured in the opposite manner. One places a time-varying voltage across a cell/battery and observes the appropriate component of time-varying current passing through the cell/battery. In either type of measurement, a problem arises if there are already time-varying currents and voltages present. Such signals, when present during measurement, can degrade accuracy and may introduce serious error. Unfortunately, spurious time-varying signals are common occurrences for cells/batteries undergoing either "float" or high-rate charging, or supplying power to an "active" load. Under such circumstances, time-varying battery currents frequently result from imperfect filtering of the battery charger's rectifier or from fluctuations in the current drawn by the load.
One approach to solving problems introduced by charger/load-related signals is to simply remove the battery from service during measurement of its incremental parameters. This has, in fact, been done many times with satisfactory results. Many cases arise, however, in which it is not desirable or even feasible to take the cell/battery "off line."
A second approach is described in the prior art and is the approach followed by DeBardelaben in the reference cited above, as well as by Burkum and Gabriel in U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,134. Their approach is to choose the measurement frequency to be different from any frequencies that are otherwise present in the charger/load circuit and to then use filters to separate the measuring signal from the spurious signals. This solution to the problem is likewise not entirely satisfactory since it assumes prior knowledge of the spurious signal frequencies and requires that the measurement frequency be dictated by the characteristics of the charger/load circuit rather than by requirements of the cell/battery itself.

Method and apparatus for suppressing time-varying signals in batteries undergoing charging or discharging


To reduce a manufacturing cost on anodization in an aluminum-type fuel cell case, a method of manufacturing a fuel cell case made of one of aluminum and aluminum alloy and for accommodating a fuel cell is provided, which includes forming, in a fuel cell case, through-holes for receiving pins when the fuel cell case is mounted on a vehicle, and forming alumite on a surface of the fuel cell case by anodizing the surface using the through-hole as a contact.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a fuel cell case.
As vehicles on which a fuel cell is mounted, a vehicle is proposed, in which a fuel cell module having a fuel cell case accommodating a fuel cell is disposed underfloor of the vehicle as disclosed in JP2014-151664A.
In a case of adopting an aluminum-based fuel cell case for the fuel cell module which is disposed underfloor of the vehicle, alumite may be formed on a surface of the fuel cell case by anodizing, so as to prevent corrosion. However, with such a fuel cell case as described in JP2014-151664A, a part having a surface to be used as a contact of anodization needs to be formed separately, which caused a problem of a manufacturing cost increase. Therefore, an art which can reduce a manufacturing cost on anodization which is performed on the aluminum based fuel cell case has been desired.


An output circuit including an output transistor configured to provide an output signal; and a gate switch configured to decouple a gate of the output transistor from other components of the output circuit when there is a decrease in a supply voltage of the output circuit, wherein when the gate of the output transistor is decoupled, a charge at the gate is maintained in a capacitor inherent within the gate of the output transistor.

The present disclosure is directed to enhancing Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) robustness of a 3-wire sensor output signal. Class A functionality on the output is ensured when the Integrated Circuit (IC) is exposed to either conducted or coupled pulses on the supply (e.g., Direct Capacitive Coupling (DCC)), inductive transients (e.g., Radio frequency Immunity (RI 130)), or short supply drops below a reset level.
One approach for enhancing EMC robustness uses an external storage capacitor, which supplies the IC during EMC pulses. A drawback of this approach is that it requires an extra bond pad and external passive component.
Another approach uses a relatively large integrated capacitor to supply output circuitry. Power management loss circuitry detects a supply voltage drop and outputs a hold signal to control the logic circuitry. During a power loss, the capacitor is decoupled from the supply line using a diode/switch, and a voltage stored on the capacitor supplies the output circuitry. A drawback of this approach is that it requires a relatively large integrated capacitor to supply all of the output circuitry. This drawback becomes even more significant at higher temperatures when additional leakage leads to a relatively quick loss of the stored voltage, which determines a significant drift of output sensor parameters, such as the output voltage saturation. Additionally, using a large capacitor to ensure good behavior at high temperatures results in slow discharging of the capacitor at lower temperatures when the power is switched off.

Circuit and method for providing an output signal


Provided are a composition comprising a GAG derivative and a chemokine receptor activity regulator, and a pharmaceutical composition comprising said composition.

Age-related macular degeneration (hereinafter, abbreviated as "AMD"), which is a posterior eye disease involving pathological neovascularization, is broadly divided into exudative type and atrophic type. Exudative AMD is a disease with essential features of choroidal neovascularization (hereinafter, abbreviated as "CNV") and its proliferative change caused by changes in the layers of retinal pigment epithelial cells-Bruch's membrane-choroid in the macular area, which disease rapidly proceeds and causes permanent, severely reduced vision.
A kind of CC chemokine receptors (hereinafter, abbreviated as "CCR"), CCR3, is known to be expressed specifically in vascular endothelial cells in CNV collected from an exudative AMD patient (see, for example, Nature, 2009, 460: 225-230) and, in a laser-induced CNV model of mouse as an AMD pathological model, intravitreal administration of a CCR3 inhibitor suppressed CNV and has been regarded as useful for the treatment of exudative AMD (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,592,482).
Meanwhile, intravitreal administration of heparan sulfate or heparin, a sulfated glycosaminoglycan (hereinafter, glycosaminoglycan is abbreviated as "GAG"), into a laser-induced CNV model of mouse suppressed CNV and is regarded as useful for the treatment of exudative AMD (see, for example, WO 2011/122321). Further, Heebeom Koo, et al. conducted intravitreal administration of a compound of hyaluronic acid (hereinafter, abbreviated as "HA") having introduced thereinto 5β-cholanic acid and evaluated the intraocular distribution of this compound using pathological specimens (see, for example, Biomaterials, 2012, 33: 3485-3493).

Composition including glycosaminoglycan derivative and chemokine receptor activity regulator


A medical image display apparatus includes an image obtainment unit configured to obtain a first image and a second image of a subject generated based on volume data, a base line setting unit configured to set a base line in the first image obtained by the image obtainment unit, an image division unit configured to divide, based on the base line that has been set in the first image by the base line setting unit, the second image into two divided images, and a display control unit configured to display the two divided images, which have been divided by the image division unit, on the first image at a display device in such a manner that the two divided images are away from the base line by a predetermined distance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical image display apparatus, method and program for displaying three-dimensional volume data and a functional image of a subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a medical image display apparatus having a mode for observing the inner wall of a lumen of a subject as if seeing it from the inside of the lumen has been known. In this mode, an image of a three-dimensional structure is obtained by volume rendering based on three-dimensional digital data of an object obtained by CT or the like, and an image resembling an endoscopic image is generated based on the three-dimensional volume data to observe a lesion in a tubular organ, such as a blood vessel, intestines, bronchi and an artery, of the subject. Further, as three-dimensional image processing, MIP (Maximum Intensity Projection) processing, MinIP (Minimum Intensity Projection) processing, MPR (Multi Planar Reconstruction) processing, CPR (Curved Planaer Reconstruction) processing, and the like are known. Especially, the CPR processing selects an arbitrary surface in three-dimensional volume data, and reconstructs a two-dimensional image from a three-dimensional image along the selected surface. Accordingly, with respect to the morphology of the inner wall of a tubular structure, such as a large intestine and a blood vessel for example, it is possible to display a cross section of the tubular structure in a longitudinal direction thereof on a display screen (for example, please refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-135843 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Unexamined Patent publication No. 2004-283373 (Patent Document 2)).
Besides a morphological image obtained from the CT apparatus or the like, and which represents the morphology of the subject, a functional image representing the function of the subject is provided for a user. As the functional image, for example, a SPECT image obtained by Single Photon Emission Tomography, a PET image obtained by Positron Emission Tomography, an analysis result, such as a bull's eye image, obtained by analyzing a morphological image and a functional image, and the like are known.
As a method for displaying the aforementioned morphological image and functional image, a method for displaying the morphological image and the functional image one on the other is known (for example, please refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-198060 (Patent Document 3)). Patent Document 1 discloses displaying a functional image and a morphological image one on the other after a relative positional relationship between the functional image and the morphological image is obtained, and coordinate transformation is performed to match the size of the functional image and that of the morphological image based on the relative positional relationship.
However, when the functional image and the morphological image are simply placed one on the other as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the function of each region of a subject may be recognized, but there is a problem that the efficacy of diagnosis becomes lower because the morphology of the subject is hard to recognize. For example, when a SPECT image or the like is displayed on a CPR image of a blood vessel or the like obtained from a morphological image, such as a CT image, if the SPECT image or the like is simply displayed in such a manner to be placed directly on the CPR image, observation of morphology information, such as a stenosis condition and a plaque site of a blood vessel, becomes difficult because the images are placed one on the other. Meanwhile, even if the functional image and the morphological image are separately displayed, there is a problem that the function of each region is not recognizable at a glance.

Medical image display apparatus, method and program


A method for routing communication traffic in a network includes detecting that a link in a parallel link configuration has failed and, in response, adjusting one or more metrics associated with other links in the parallel link configuration to indicate that none of the links in the parallel configuration are available. A router connected to a direct link in a parallel link configuration including one or more other routers connected to one or more indirect links, respectively, includes a memory storing configuration parameters specifying a minimum number of links required to be operational in the parallel link configuration and an artificially high cost, and a link metric adjustment module operable to set a metric of the direct link to the artificially high cost until the minimum number of required links are operational after startup of the router or failure and reactivation of the direct link.

1. Technical Field
The subject matter discussed herein relates to systems and methods for link fate sharing in multi-router configurations.
2. Description of the Related Art
In communication networks throughout the world, communication traffic is increasing exponentially. Network service providers must constantly upgrade and improve their network infrastructures to compensate for the ever-increasing volume of communication traffic. To transport data across long distances, network links are provided between large metropolitan areas, for example, over a backbone network. One way to compensate for the increase in traffic volume is to add routers at gateways in the metropolitan areas. This can increase the available bandwidth between cities by using similarly sized routers without having to replace existing routers. This has the effect of forming parallel network links between different locations. Because of the way routers typically operate, such parallel configurations can have undesirable consequences if one or more of the links fail.
Network routers share information about the status of links in the network. Interior gateway protocol (IGP) is one example of a protocol for sharing network link information. When Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) or similar protocols are used, routers generally choose the lowest cost link route. If the lowest cost link fails, the routers use the next lowest cost alternative route to avoid the failed link. In parallel configurations, where there are multiple links between pairs of cities, if one of the links fails, routers may begin forcing traffic that would have normally traversed the failed link onto the remaining operational links between the cities.
The remaining operational links can thereby be overwhelmed. For example, in a two-link parallel configuration, if a link fails, all the traffic from the failed link will suddenly be routed onto the remaining functional link. Such a situation effectively eliminates any benefit the extra link provided.
The information included in this Background section of the specification, including any references cited herein and any description or discussion thereof, is included for technical reference purposes only and is not to be regarded subject matter by which the scope of the invention is to be bound.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A mixing tube is provided, including first and second mixing passages, each of which include a plurality of elements connected in series and having a sectional shapes that change continuously. Multi-component materials pass through the first and the second mixing passage, repeatedly dividing and aggregating the materials in a passing process. The first and the second mixing passages are formed by a first outer frame member, a second outer frame member, and a partition member. The first and the second mixing passages repeatedly divide and aggregate due to the hole portions in the partition member, and with this mixing tube, the materials to be mixed pass trough the mixing passages by continuing and manually squeezing the mixing tube from the inlet port to the outlet port of the first and the second mixing passages, and sufficient mixing can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mixing tube and to a method of manufacturing the mixing tube. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique which can be suitably employed for a mixing tube used for mixing two types of fluids during production of a two-component reactive adhesive such as an epoxy adhesive, a polyurethane adhesive, or a silicon adhesive, or a sealant or a packing material.
2. Description of the Related Art
A two-component adhesive consists of base and catalyst agents which are prepared separately, and the base and catalyst agents are mixed together in use. Conventionally, the base and catalyst agents are mixed by employing a manual method using a knife, a spatula, or the like, a method that utilizes a dispenser using a static mixer, or a method that uses a specially designed mixer.
However, the following problems exist when performing mixing of materials by using the conventional methods. Hardening of the base agent and the catalyst agent in a two-component adhesive begins upon mixing of the base agent with the catalyst agent, and curing occurs even at room temperature. Therefore, there are occasions where the materials adhere to the knife, the spatula, inner portions of the static mixer, and containers within the specially designed mixer after one time usage. Therefore, the whole mixture cannot be used for its original purpose as an adhesive, resulting in disposal of the cured material.
Further, the degree of mixing performed by an operator depends on the judgement of the operator, and there is a problem in that differences develop in the quality of the resultant mixtures.
In view of the above-mentioned problems, the applicant of the present invention has already invented a mixing tube for mixing multi-component materials. This mixing tube manufactured from a flexible material, such as, a plastic film or the like, wherein a residual material, after mixing tube materials, remained inside the mixing tube can be squeezed out by squeezed the mixing tube. In this prior invention, plural containers that separately receive multi-component materials are provided to the mixing tube, and the multi-component materials are discharged from the plural containers. The features of the mixing tube are as follows. The mixing tube has an inlet port for mounting there to the containers that receive multi-component materials, a mixing passage for mixing multi-component materials that are injected from the inlet port, and an outlet port discharging the multi-component materials which have been mixed in the mixing passage. By continuously squeezing the mixing passage from the inlet port toward the outlet port of the mixing passage, the multi-component materials injected from the inlet port pass through the mixing passage to be mixed, and then are discharged from the outlet port (refer to JP 2003-001078 A).
The mixing passage of the mixing tube may be configured, for example, by connecting plural passage blocks in series, the passage blocks having the same number of deformed passages as the number of the materials to be mixed, and by suitably connecting the outlet port and the inlet port of each of the deformed passages at the connection portions of the passage blocks in order to repeat the operation of dividing the materials to be mixed that are discharged from a prior stage passage block at the inlet port to a subsequent stage passage block, and aggregating materials to be mixed at the outlet port. If the number of passage block connections is taken as N, the materials to be mixed are divided 2N times, and thus allowing sufficient mixing.
However, the configuration of the conventional mixing tube, with which the materials to be mixed are theoretically mixed 2N times, is complex. The configuration is difficult to reproduce, and difficult to manufacture. This type of mixing tube is therefore expensive and not suited to mass production.

Mixing tube and method of manufacturing the mixing tube


A positioning system that uses a positioning terminal, an information provision device, and a communication network. The information provision device is configured to perform position calculations for the positioning terminal only when the results of position calculations can be considered to be successful. Thus, a load on the information provision device can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a positioning system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a positioning system, a positioning terminal, an information provision device, a positioning method, a control program for a positioning system, and a computer-readable recording medium for recording a control program for a positioning system.
2. Background Information
A GPS (Global Positioning System) for positioning utilizing position information satellites has been widely used. In order to receive position-related signals transmitted from GPS satellites and to calculate the position of the reception point, since it is necessary to perform calculations using massive amounts of such as acquisition of GPS satellites, decoding of position-related signals, and calculation of pseudo range, a high-end CPU (Central Processing Unit) is required. This requirement becomes an obstacle to miniaturization and price-reduction in GPS receiving devices.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-131415 (FIG. 1 etc.), a GPS positioning system is disclosed in which part of the functions necessary for positioning calculations is provided by a server, information obtained by a GPS receiving terminal is transmitted to the server, and position calculation is performed by the server is disclosed. Such a positioning system is called a server-assist system. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-131415
In the invention of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-131415 (FIG. 1 etc.), since the GPS receiving terminal is arranged to transmit all information obtained from the GPS satellites to the server without any particular differentiation, the transmitted information includes unnecessary information for position calculation. Thus, an extra load is applied to the server which can be problematic.
Accordingly, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-139841 (FIG. 3 etc.), in a portable terminal with built-in GPS used in a server-assist positioning system, a configuration is disclosed in which information to be transmitted to a server is selected according to an acquisition result of GPS satellites for reducing a load on the server. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-139841 is hereby incorporated by reference.
In the GPS system, essentially, if it is possible that four GPS satellites are acquired, three-dimensional positioning can be performed. However, even if four GPS satellites can be acquired, depending on the arrangement of those acquired GPS satellites, sometimes DOP (Dilution of Precision) becomes larger and positioning can not be performed.
In the portable terminal with built-in GPS in the Publication No. 2003-139841, information to be transmitted to the server is selected using elevation of the acquired GPS satellites or electric field intensity as reference. Accordingly, there is a problem in that the server performs position calculations and CPU time is wasted even when the GPS satellite arrangement is not preferable and position calculation is impossible.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved a positioning system, a positioning terminal, an information provision device, a positioning method, a control program for a positioning system, and a computer-readable recording medium for recording a control program for a positioning system. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Positioning system, positioning terminal, information provision device, positioning method, control program for positioning system, and computer-readable recording medium for recording control program for positioning system


A lithium rechargeable battery including a cathode, an anode, a separator for separating the cathode from the anode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte is provided. Each of the cathode and the anode includes an electrode collector and an electrode active material layer formed on the electrode collector. The separator comprises a porous membrane including a ceramic material and a binder. The peel strength of the electrode active material layer to the electrode collector is greater than the peel strength of the porous membrane to the electrode collector. Particularly, the peel strength of the active material layer to the electrode collector is 2 gf/mm or higher when measured before battery assembly, and the peel strength of the porous membrane to the electrode collector is 0.2 gf/mm or higher when measured before battery assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lithium rechargeable batteries. More particularly, the present invention relates to lithium rechargeable batteries having excellent safety, improved short circuit resistance and improved heat resistance.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, portable electronic instruments have been designed to have low weight and compact size. As such, batteries used as driving sources for such instruments have been required to have low weight and high capacity. Active and intensive research and development have been conducted into lithium rechargeable batteries. Lithium rechargeable batteries typically have drive voltages of 3.6 V or higher, which is at least three times higher than the drive voltages of Ni—Cd batteries or Ni-MH batteries which are currently widely used as power sources for portable electronic instruments. Moreover, lithium rechargeable batteries provide higher energy densities per unit weight than do Ni—CD or Ni-MH batteries.
A lithium rechargeable battery generates electric energy through redox reactions occurring during lithium ion intercalabon/deintercalation in the cathode and anode. A lithium rechargeable battery is manufactured by placing an organic electrolyte or a polymer electrolyte between a cathode and an anode, each of which includes a material capable of reversible lithium ion intercalation/deintercalation as active material.
A typical lithium rechargeable battery includes an electrode assembly formed by winding an anode plate, a cathode plate and a separator positioned between the electrode plates into a predetermined shape such as a jelly-roll shape. The battery further includes a can for housing the electrode assembly, an electrolyte, and a cap assembly mounted to the top of the can. The cathode plate of the electrode assembly is electrically connected to the cap assembly via a cathode lead, and the anode plate of the electrode assembly is electrically connected to the can via an anode lead.
The separator in a lithium rechargeable battery functions basically to separate the cathode and the anode from each other to prevent short circuits. Add itonally, the separator maintains high ion conductivity and allows infiltration of the electrolyte necessary to carry out electrochemical reactions in the battery. Particularly, in lithium rechargeable batteries, separators must also prevent movement within the battery of substances capable of inhibiting such electrochemical reactions. The separator may also function to ensure the safety of the battery under abnormal conditions.
Generally, the separator includes a polyolefin based microporous polymer membrane (such as polypropylene or polyethylene), or a multilayer membrane including multiple sheets of such membranes. Such conventional separators consist of sheet-like or film-like porous membrane layers, and are disadvantageous in that if heat emission occurs due to an internal short circuit or overcharge, the pores of the porous membrane may become blocked and the sheet-like separator may shrink. If the sheet-like separator shrinks due to such internal heat emission of the battery, the area covered by the separator may decrease and the cathode and anode may directly contact each other, resulting in ignition and explosion of the battery.
To ensure the safety of batteries upon heat emission caused by short circuits, these film-like separators often have so-called shutdown actions that interrupt lithium ion movement (i.e. current flow) by blocking the pores of the separator with a softened polypropylene or polyethylene resin. However, these separators are still disadvantageous when an internal short circuit occurs. For example, using a nail test (perforation) to simulate an internal short circuit condition, it can be shown that the heat emission temperature may locally reach several hundred degrees C depending on the test conditions. Consequently, the porous membrane layer is deformed by the softening or loss of the resin. Further, in the nail test, the test nail perforates the cathode and the anode, thereby causing an abnormal overheating phenomenon. Therefore, a separator membrane using the aforementioned shutdown action with a softened resin cannot provide an absolute safety measure against internal short circuits.
Additionally, lithium dendrites may be formed on a film-like separator upon overcharge of the lithium rechargeable battery. This occurs because there is typically a gap between the anode and the film-like separator. Lithium ions that cannot infiltrate the anode accumulate in the gap between the anode and the film, resulting in the precipitation of lithium metal. If lithium precipitation occurs over the entire surface of the film, such lithium dendrites may penetrate through the film-like separator so that the cathode comes into direct contact with the anode. At the same time, side reactions may occur between lithium metal and the electrolyte to cause heat emission and gas generation, resulting in the ignition and explosion of the battery.
Moreover, a film-like separator cannot function as a separator separating the cathode and anode when it is not in an aligned state. The separator may fall out of an aligned state due to vibration or dropping. When this occurs, the cathode and anode come into direct contact with each other, thereby generating a short circuit and resulting in battery malfunction. In addition, a film-like separator may be wound incorrectly during battery manufacture, resulting in an increase in the production of defective products and a decrease in safety. Further, a film-like separator cannot be used at high temperatures of 100° C. or greater because the film melts at such high temperatures.


Method of analyzing data from an online social network having a set of network users. The method includes obtaining topic-specific messages sent by the network users. The messages have social content provided by the networks users, wherein the messages include a marker of interest in the social content. The marker of interest is associated with a topic of the social network. The method also includes identifying the network users that sent the messages having the marker of interest in the social content as interested users of the topic. The interested users are a subset of the set of network users. The method also includes determining a topic-specific influence (TSI) value of a designated user from the interested users in the subset. The TSI value of the designated user is based on a number of the interested users that are registered to receive the messages from the designated user.

The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to systems, methods, and computer readable media for mining and analyzing data from a social network and, more particularly, identifying influential users in the social network or and/or related topics of the social network.
Online social networks provide a platform for a number of users of the social network to interact with other users through electronic communication. Examples of such social networks include Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, LinkedIn, Google+, and Orkut. Social networks may enable users to create personal profiles that can be accessed by other users. Social networks may also allow users to send and receive messages to share ideas, activities, events, pictures, and interests with other users of the social network. For example, Twitter allows users to send and receive messages called "tweets." The messages typically include text, but pictures may also be sent. Users send and receive messages that are related to various topics such as current events, sports, movies, natural disasters, political protests, celebrities, technology, and personal interests. Users of the social networks also may search for messages from other users that are related to a particular topic. For example, if a user was interested in monitoring messages about a recent national disaster or a favorite musical group, the user could search for messages having the desired topic on the social network.
In some social networks, users may be "followers" of other users. More specifically, user A may follow user B in that user A is subscribed to receive messages that are posted by user B, but not necessarily sent only to user A or directed to user A. In such cases, user B may be characterized as having influence over user A (and other users that follow user B) because user A has agreed to receive messages from user B. Generally, the more followers that a user has on a social network, the more influence the user is perceived to have in the social network. For a user who is only followed by close family and friends, or a relatively small number of other users, his or her influence may be limited. Other users may have a greater influence, such as celebrities, musical groups, and political nominees, due to their larger number of followers.
Given the popularity of social networks and the vast amounts of information that is communicated each day in the social networks, various academic studies have been performed to study the interaction between users of a social network. For example, researchers have sought to develop metrics for identifying those users who have more influence (hereinafter referred to as "influential users"). But, academic researchers are not the only ones interested in the dynamics of social networks. For instance, businesses also may wish to identify influential users. Businesses could hire the influential users of the social network to write a positive message about the business or a positive review of a product or service that the business manufactures or provides. In particular, businesses may wish to identify users who are influential with respect to a specific topic. For example, a user of the social network who posts messages about cancer research may not be considered influential to the general public, but may have influence with those in the area of cancer research who read the messages from the user.
Another capability that is desired by academics and businesses is the ability to effectively identify related topics on a social network. Knowing the topics that are related to each other, businesses could use this information to provide better services to customers or market more effectively to potential customers. For example, if a store learns that users of the social network are interested in school supplies and a particular television show, then the store may wish to advertise a back-to-school sale during commercials of that television show.
Accordingly, a need exists to identify influential users of a social network, including topic-specific influential users, and/or related topics of the social network.

Methods and systems for analyzing data of an online social network


Shrouds are secured to earth-working edges of many kinds of earth working equipment to extend the service life of the equipment. The shrouds include opposed surfaces to define a cavity to receive the edge. Each of the opposed surfaces includes a recess to receive a boss on the edge, wherein the longitudinal axis of the recess on the first surface is angularly oriented in a lateral direction to the longitudinal axis of the recess on the second surface.

During mining and construction operations, replaceable wear members are typically used to protect earth working equipment such as excavation buckets. During use, the wear members gradually wear down due to the abrasive conditions and heavy loading. Once depleted, the wear members are removed from the equipment and replaced. Using wear members provides a cost-effective approach to digging and other earth working operations because it lessens the need of having to repair or replace the more expensive underlying equipment such as the lip or other portions of the equipment.
Wear members are commonly secured to earth working equipment by mechanical means (for example, a lock pin, bolt, or other locking mechanism). During earth working operations, wear members may be subjected to a variety of directional forces, which can include axial, vertical, and lateral loads. Retention of the wear members over their service life prevents damage to downstream equipment such as crushers, limits maintenance downtime of the earthmoving equipment and prevents damage to underlying wear surfaces.

Wear member, edge and process of installation


A playground cone may be molded from vinyl or other plastic material, and includes a base portion and a frustoconical portion. The frustoconical portion extends upwardly from the base portion to a top of the frustoconical portion. The frustoconical portion may define a hollow, interior section. The frustoconical portion further includes a slot defined in a wall. The slot may be a vertical slot and/or one or more horizontal slots. The slot, being vertical and/or horizontal, may be adapted to secure a playground hoop or crossbar within the frustoconical portion of the playground cone.

It is common to use common "traffic"-type cones in a playground or gym class situation for game and physical education purposes. The inventor of the present invention has devised a variety of products in the past that expand the uses for cones in these environments. He has patented several inventions with U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,799 (Telescoping Hurdle With Base Adapter) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,777 (Base for Game Standard). Cones can support a variety of other activities, too, because they are durable, inexpensive and versatile.
At the same time, there is a need to mount common playground hoops in a variety of configurations for games and physical education. People skilled with gym equipment and sporting goods are familiar with playground hoops and their uses for recreational and physical education purposes. These hoops can also be placed on the ground in various positions to facilitate different playground games. The playground hoops provide circular spaces on the floor, forming the basis for many playground games. But used alone, these hoops may only be used flat on the ground unless someone holds the hoop above the ground in a given position.
The user's hoop-positioning options are limited by the horizontal hoop-orientation; and to have someone hold the hoop can be inconvenient. Additionally, common playground hoops are usually fashioned from hard plastic. Firmly linking hoops and hoop-holding devices is difficult because of hard plastic's low coefficient of friction. Even with small tolerances between the playground hoop and hoop-holding device, the slightest disturbance will move the hoop relative to the hoop-holding device.
Standard commercial playground hoops are made from tubular material having diameters that range from approximately ½″ to 1″. The hoops form circles that have diameters ranging from 20″ to 36″. Achieving a reasonable fit between a hoop-holding device and various playground hoop diameters in the past required the hoop-holding device diameter to be matched with the diameter of the particular hoop being held. Users of playground hoops often include school gym teachers who constantly replace broken or damaged hoops. Finding inexpensive replacement hoops is difficult because one must find the exact hoop diameter of the hoop holder. Purchasing multiple hoop-holding devices for each hoop diameter would allow owners to purchase a greater variety of hoop sizes. But this solution is expensive and impractical, requiring extra money to purchase additional hoop-holding devices, extra time to coordinate appropriately-sized hoops and hoop-holders and extra storage space for housing the equipment.
The present inventor has addressed those needs with patented inventions including U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,777 (Base for Game Standard) and U.S. Pat. No. 8,172,636 (Playground Hoop-Holding Apparatus). Still, there is a need for yet even more improvements to common playground equipment to expand the list of options for games and physical education.


A package substrate free of malfunction or error even with an IC chip in a high frequency range, particularly an IC chip with a frequency exceeding 3 GHz, is provided. A conductor layer 34P on a core substrate 30 is formed to have a thickness of 30 μm and a conductor circuit 58 on an interlayer resin insulating layer 50 is formed to have a thickness of 15 μm. By making the conductor layer 34P thick, it is possible to increase a volume of the conductor itself and decrease resistance. Further, by employing the conductor layer 34 as a power supply layer, it is possible to improve a capability of supplying power to the IC chip.

In forming a buildup type multilayer printed wiring board constituting an IC chip package, interlayer insulating resin is formed on one of or each of the surfaces of a core substrate having through holes formed therein and via holes for interlayer conduction are opened by a laser or photo etching, whereby an interlayer resin insulating layer is thereby formed. A conductor layer is formed on the via holes by plating or the like and etching and the like are performed to form a pattern, thus creating a conductor circuit. Further, by repeatedly forming the interlayer insulating layer and the conductor layer, the buildup multilayer printed wiring board is obtained. By forming solder bumps and external terminals (PGA/BGA's or the like) on the front layer of the board at need, the board becomes a substrate capable of mounting an IC chip thereon or a package substrate. The IC chip is C4 (flip-chip) mounted, whereby the IC chip is electrically connected to the substrate.
As prior art of the buildup type multilayer printed wiring board, there are known JP1994-260756A and JP1994-275959A. In both of the publications, a land is formed on a core substrate having through holes filled with resin filler, interlayer insulating layers having via holes formed therein are provided on the both surfaces of the substrate, respectively, a conductor layer is formed by an additive method and the conductor layer is connected to the land, thereby obtaining a high density multilayer wiring board having fine wirings formed thereon.
However, as the frequency of an IC chip is higher, the frequency of occurrence of malfunction or error becomes higher. Particularly if the frequency of the IC chip exceeds 3 GHz, the frequency of occurrence of malfunction or error considerably increases. If the frequency exceeds 5 GHz, the IC chip often turns inoperative. Due to this, a computer including the IC chip as a CPU cannot perform operations that the computer should do, i.e., cannot perform desired functions and operations such as the recognition of an image, the changeover of a switch and the transmission of data to the outside of the computer.
If the substrate for an IC chip of this type is to be subjected to a non-destructive test and to be dissembled, no problems such as short-circuit or opens do not occur to the substrate itself and if the IC chip having a low frequency (particularly less than 1 GHz) is mounted on the substrate, then no malfunction or error occurs to the IC chip.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the above-stated disadvantages and the object of the present invention is to provide a multilayer printed wiring board capable of being constituted as a printed board or a package substrate free of malfunction or error even with an IC chip in a high frequency range, particularly, with a frequency exceeding 3 GHz.


A semiconductor device includes a page buffer configured to read data out of a memory cell array in response to a bias enable signal, and a control logic configured to generate the bias enable signal and a bias precharge signal that are used to control the memory cell array. The control logic activates the bias enable signal and the precharge signal before a ready/busy signal activating a read operation of the memory cell array is enabled.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor device, a method for operating the same, and a semiconductor system including the same, and more particularly, to a technology for reducing a data read time of a memory cell of a semiconductor device.
Generally, a memory device receives a write command or a read command from a host. Thereafter, a memory controller in the memory device operates to program data in or read out data from a corresponding cell in a memory cell region.
Memory devices are classified as volatile memory devices or non-volatile memory devices according to whether data is retained or not when a power source is cut off. Recently, electronic appliances have been developed to have lower power consumption and smaller sizes. Thus, non-volatile memory devices such as flash memory devices are widely used in various electronic appliances.
A flash memory device is a type of electrically erasable and programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) in which multiple memory regions can be erased or programmed by a single program action.
A system including a flash memory device can operate more quickly and more effectively than a system which reads data from and writes data in other memory devices. All types of flash memory devices include cells that wear out after a predetermined number of erase operations. This is because an insulation film enclosing a charge storage element of a cell, which is configured to store data, is damaged by the erase operations.
A flash memory device is designed to retain data stored therein even when it is not powered. That is, a flash memory device can retain stored data without power consumption.
In addition, a flash memory device has excellent resistance to physical impact and a very high read access speed. As a result, flash memory devices have been widely used as storage devices in mobile products using battery power.
A flash memory device is classified as a NOR flash memory device or a NAND flash memory device depending on the type of logic gate used in the storage unit of the device.
A flash memory device is configured to store data in an array of transistors called cells. Flash memory devices may include a single-level cell or a multi-level cell. In a single-level cell device, a cell stores 1-bit data. In a multi-level cell device, a cell stores two or more bit data by changing an amount of charges on a floating gate of the cell.
A memory cell region of a flash memory device includes a plurality of strings. Each string includes memory cells coupled in series to each other. Each string further includes selection transistors formed at both ends thereof. Memory cells disposed in different strings may be electrically coupled to each other through a word line.
In addition, individual strings are electrically coupled to a page buffer, which is configured to sense data, through a bit line. In order to record data in a selected memory cell, a program operation and a verification operation are repeatedly performed a predetermined number of times until data temporarily stored in the page buffer is programmed in the selected memory cell.
If a program voltage is applied to a control gate of the selected memory cell, a tunneling phenomenon occurs in a floating gate of the selected memory cell so that the program operation is carried out. In addition, if an erase voltage is applied to a bulk of the selected memory cell, the tunneling phenomenon occurs in the floating gate so that an erase operation is carried out. For reference, the program voltage is applied to the selected memory cell through a word line coupled to the control gate of the selected memory cell.

Semiconductor device, method for operating the same, and semiconductor system including the same