An optical based patient monitoring system employing an optical sensor and providing an indication of an optical change which does not correlate to a change in a physiological blood parameter and based on that indication, providing a care provider an indication of a condition of a patient. The optical based patient monitoring system providing the indication of the patient condition in relation to a patient using an IV setup.

Pulse oximetry is a widely accepted noninvasive procedure for measuring the oxygen saturation level of arterial blood, an indicator of a person's oxygen supply. Early detection of a low blood oxygen level is critical in the medical field, for example in critical care and surgical applications, because an insufficient supply of oxygen can result in brain damage and death in a matter of minutes. A typical pulse oximetry system utilizes a sensor applied to a patient's finger. The sensor has an emitter configured with both red and infrared LEDs that project light through the finger to a detector so as to determine the ratio of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin light absorption. In particular, the detector generates first and second intensity signals responsive to the red and IR wavelengths emitted by the LEDs after absorption by constituents of pulsatile blood flowing within a fleshy medium, such as a finger tip. A pulse oximetry sensor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,607 titled Low Noise Optical Probe, which is assigned to Masimo Corporation, Irvine, Calif. and incorporated by reference herein.
Capnography comprises the continuous analysis and recording of carbon dioxide concentrations in the respiratory gases of patients. The device used to measure the CO2 concentrations is referred to as a capnometer. CO2 monitoring can be performed on both intubated and non-intubated patients. With non-intubated patients, a nasal cannula is used. Capnography helps to identify situations that can lead to hypoxia if uncorrected. Moreover, it also helps in the swift differential diagnosis of hypoxia before hypoxia can lead to irreversible brain damage. Pulse oximetry is a direct monitor of the oxygenation status of a patient. Capnography, on the other hand, is an indirect monitor that helps in the differential diagnosis of hypoxia so as to enable remedial measures to be taken expeditiously before hypoxia results in an irreversible brain damage.
Early detection of low blood oxygen is critical in a wide variety of medical applications. For example, when a patient receives an insufficient supply of oxygen in critical care and surgical applications, brain damage and death can result in just a matter of minutes. Because of this danger, the medical industry developed pulse oximetry, a noninvasive procedure for measuring the oxygen saturation of the blood. A pulse oximeter interprets signals from a sensor attached to a patient in order to determine that patient's blood oxygen saturation.
A conventional pulse oximetry sensor has a red emitter, an infrared emitter, and a photodiode detector. The sensor is typically attached to a patient's finger, earlobe, or foot. For a finger, the sensor is configured so that the emitters project light from one side of the finger, through the outer tissue of the finger, and into the blood vessels and capillaries contained inside. The photodiode is positioned at the opposite side of the finger to detect the emitted light as it emerges from the outer tissues of the finger. The photodiode generates a signal based on the emitted light and relays that signal to the pulse oximeter. The pulse oximeter determines blood oxygen saturation by computing the differential absorption by the arterial blood of the two wavelengths (red and infrared) emitted by the sensor.


An image forming apparatus includes a first pair of rotary members pressing against each other, forming a first nip therebetween, a cover sheet supply unit to transport to the first nip a cover sheet to be superimposed on an imaging surface of a recording medium, a separation unit that separates the cover sheet from the recording medium after the recording medium passes through the first nip and includes a second pair of rotary members pressing against each other, forming a second nip therebetween, and a drive unit to rotate the first and second pairs of rotary members in both a normal direction for transporting the cover sheet in a supply direction and a reverse direction. The first and second pairs of rotary members and the drive unit together form a cover sheet return mechanism for returning the cover sheet separated from the recording medium to the supply position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus capable of forming high-gloss images efficiently.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional image forming apparatuses, such as printers, facsimiles, copiers, and multifunction apparatuses that print, fax, copy, and so on, generally use an electrophotographic process for image forming. In the electrophotographic process, toner is used to form images.
Further, such image forming apparatuses generally employ a fixing unit to fix the toner image formed on a recording medium by applying heat and pressure thereto at a nip formed between a heat roller and a pressure roller, as the recording medium bearing the toner image passes between the heat roller and the pressure roller.
In such a fixing unit, if resin included in the toner is melted by heat, adheres to the heat roller, and solidifies, surface asperities may be formed on the heat roller. Further, when the toner image is fixed by such a heat roller, small surface asperities may be formed also on the toner image after the fixing process. Accordingly, it is not possible to obtain smooth and high-gloss images.
To obtain such high-gloss images, many attempts have been made. For example, in some approaches, a gloss assist sheet is fed to the fixing unit to overlap an imaging surface of a recording medium so as to smooth the surface of the image after the fixing process (e.g., JP-2008-20520-A, JP-2008-51857-A).
JP-2008-64804-A describes an image forming apparatus which includes a separation unit to separate the gloss assist sheet from the recording medium after the fixing process. The separation unit includes a wedged-shape separation member. The gloss assist sheet is separated from the recording medium by introducing a top edge of the separation member into a space between the recording medium and the gloss assist sheet.
However, according to the image forming apparatus having the separation unit described in JP-2008-64804-A, when the separated gloss assist sheet is used again, it is required that a user load the gloss assist sheet in a sheet material storage unit. Accordingly, when a plurality of high-gloss images are printed successively, the number of times the user loads the gloss assist sheet in the apparatus is increased, thus increasing the time and effort required of the user.
In view of the foregoing, the inventor of the present invention recognizes that there is a need for an image forming apparatus to streamline setting of the gloss assist sheet when the gloss assist sheet is reused.

Image forming apparatus and cover sheet conveyance system incorporated therein


An image rendering apparatus and method for rendering a stereoscopic image are provided. The image rendering apparatus may estimate a disparity of an image pixel included in an input image. Based on the disparity, a viewpoint direction of the image pixel may be determined by the image rendering apparatus. The image rendering apparatus may render a stereoscopic image by assigning a pixel value of the image pixel to a display pixel having a viewpoint direction corresponding to the viewpoint direction of the image pixel, instead of generating a multiview image.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to an image processing technology for rendering a stereoscopic image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Displaying a three-dimensional (3D) image in a 3D display apparatus may include a glasses type scheme requiring 3D glasses to view a stereoscopic image or a glassless type scheme of realizing a stereoscopic image. In the glasses type scheme, filtering of a desired image may be performed using polarized light division, time division, wavelength division for differentiating a wavelength of a primary color from the other wavelengths, and the like. In the glassless type scheme, each image may be displayed to be seen from a predetermined and/or desired viewpoint through a parallax barrier, a lenticular lens, and the like. In the glassless type scheme, rays output in different directions from points in a predetermined and/or desired space may be represented through a display without a change. Available images may be acquired at different locations and different angles, and an image suitable for a current viewpoint may be rendered using the acquired images. Typically, to generate a plurality of images to be displayed in the scheme of representing a light field, N intermediate images may be generated based on at least two input images, and 3D image information to be output from pixels of a 3D display apparatus may be determined based on the generated N intermediate images.

Apparatus and method for rendering image


A drive circuit for a display apparatus having parallel signal electrodes has at least one voltage selecting circuit, a plurality of signal voltage circuits, one selection signal circuit, and one control signal circuit. The voltage selecting circuit selects one of voltages having different levels in accordance with an input digital video signal. The signal voltage circuits are respectively provided for the signal electrodes, and include two signal lines which are disposed between the voltage selecting circuit and the respective signal electrode. Each of the two signal lines is provided with a input switch, a capacitor and an output switch. The selection signal circuit generates a signal for controlling the two input switches of one of the signal voltage circuits to alternatingly receive a selected voltage from the voltage selecting circuit. The control signal circuit controls the two output switches of the one signal voltage circuit to alternatingly output the voltages toward the respective signal electrode, in an inverted manner with respect to the control of the selection signal circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a drive circuit for a display apparatus, and more particularly to a drive circuit for a display apparatus which is capable of gray-scale display by means of amplitude modulation. In this specification, a matrix type liquid crystal display apparatus will be described as a typical example of a display apparatus, but this invention can also be applied to drive circuits for other types of display apparatus such as electroluminescent (EL) display apparatus and plasma display apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When driving a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus, since the speed of response of a liquid crystal is very slow as compared with a luminescent material used in a cathode ray tube (CRT) display apparatus, a special drive circuit is used. That is, in a drive circuit for an LCD apparatus, video signals which are sequentially sent are not immediately supplied to respective pixels, but the video signals are sampled for each of the respective pixels in one horizontal period and held for the horizontal period. The held video signals are output at the same time at the beginning of the next horizontal period, or at an appropriate point of time in the next horizontal period. After the output of video signal voltages to the respective pixels are begun, the signal voltages are held for a period of time sufficiently over the speed of response of the liquid crystal.
In order to hold the signal voltages, a prior art drive circuit utilizes capacitors. FIG. 16 shows a signal voltage output circuit (a source driver) for supplying drive voltages to a plurality of pixels (in this case, 120 pixels) on one scanning line selected by a scanning signal. A portion for the nth pixel of the source driver is shown in FIG. 17. The portion includes an analog switch SW.sub.1, an sampling capacitor C.sub.SMP, an analog switch SW.sub.2, a holding capacitor C.sub.H, and an output buffer amplifier A. The operation of the signal voltage output in the prior art will be described with reference to the circuit diagrams of FIGS. 16 and 17, and also to the signal timing chart of FIG. 18. Analog video signals v.sub.s to be input to the analog switches SW.sub.1 are sequentially sampled in accordance with sampling clock signals T.sub.SMP1 -T.sub.SMP120 which correspond to the respective 120 pixels on one scanning line selected by each horizontal synchronizing signal H.sub.syn. By this sampling, the sequential instantaneous voltages V.sub.SMP1 -V.sub.SMP120 of the video signals v.sub.s are applied to the corresponding sampling capacitors C.sub.SMP. The nth sampling capacitor C.sub.SMP is charged up to the value of the video signal voltage V.sub.SMPn corresponding to the nth pixel, and holds this value. The signal voltages V.sub.SMP1 -V.sub.SMP120 which are sequentially sampled and held in one horizontal period are transferred from the sampling capacitors C.sub.SMP to the holding capacitors C.sub.H for holding outputs, in response to an output pulse OE which is supplied to all of the analog switches SW.sub.2 at the same time. Then the signal voltages V.sub.SMP1 -V.sub.SMP120 are output to source lines O.sub.1 -O.sub.120 connected to the respective pixels through the buffer amplifiers A.
To the drive circuit described above, analog video signals are supplied. Such a drive circuit presents the following problems (A1) and (A2) when attempts are made to increase the size or improve the resolution of a liquid crystal panel.
(A1) When the charges in the sampling capacitors C.sub.SMP are transferred to the holding capacitors C.sub.H, the relationship between the voltage V.sub.H of the holding capacitor C.sub.H and the sampled voltage V.sub.SMP (the voltage of the sampling capacitor C.sub.SMP) is represented by expression (1) as follows: ##EQU1## Accordingly, in order that the voltage V.sub.H held by the holding capacitor C.sub.H is substantially equal to the sampled voltage V.sub.SMP, a condition of C.sub.SMP >>C.sub.H is required to be satisfied. That is, it is necessary to use the sampling capacitor C.sub.SMP of a large capacitance. However, if the capacitance of the sampling capacitor C.sub.SMP is too large, it is necessary to make the time for charging (i.e. a sampling period) longer. On the contrary, as the size of the LCD apparatus is made larger or the resolution is improved, the number of pixels corresponding to one horizontal period increases, thereby necessitating a sampling period to be shortened in reverse proportion. It can be seen that there is a limit to the increase in size or the improvement in resolution of the LCD apparatus.
(A2) In the drive circuit for e matrix type display apparatus, unlike the display in a CRT, analog video signals are sampled in accordance with a clock signal and displayed in pixels arranged in a matrix. At this time, since delays of signals in the drive circuit including delays in the bus lines is unavoidable, it is extremely difficult to accurately establish the sampling position for the analog video signals. Particularly, when displaying a computer graphic image in which the relationship between video signals and pixel addresses should be precisely defined, shift in the image display position, bleeding of the image, etc., due to signal delays in the drive system and deterioration of the frequency characteristics cause significant problems.
These problems which occur when using analog video signals are solved by using digital data as video signals. When video signals are supplied in the form of digital data, a drive circuit shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 is used. For the sake of simplicity, the video signal data is composed of 2 bits (D.sub.0, D.sub.1). That video signal data have four values 0-3, and a signal voltage applied to each pixel is any one of four levels V.sub.0 -V.sub.3. FIG. 19 ks a circuit diagram showing a digital source driver circuit corresponding to the analog source driver circuit shown in FIG. 16. The circuit diagram of FIG. 19 shows the entire source driver for supplying driving voltages to 120 pixels similar to that shown in FIG. 16. FIG. 20 shows a portion for the nth pixel in the circuit. The portion of the circuit comprises a D-type flip-flop (sampling memory) M.sub.SMP at a first stage and a flip-flop (holding memory) M.sub.H at a second stage which ere provided for the respective bits (D.sub.0, D.sub.1) of the video signal data, a decoder DEC, and analog switches ASW.sub.0 -ASW.sub.3 each of which is provided between corresponding one of four external voltage sources V.sub.0 -V.sub.3 and a source line O.sub.n. For the sampling of digital video signal data, various circuits may be used other than the D-type flip-flop.
The digital source driver operates as follows. The video signal data (D.sub.0, D.sub.1) are sampled at the rising of a sampling pulse T.sub.SMPn corresponding to the nth pixel, by the sampling memory M.sub.SMP. At the time when the sampling for one horizontal period is completed, an output pulse OE is fed to the holding memories M.sub.H. All the video signal data (D.sub.0, D.sub.1) held in the holding memories M.sub.H are simultaneously output to the respective decoders DEC. Each of the decoder DEC decodes the 2-bit video signal data (D.sub.0, D.sub.1). In accordance with the values (0 to 3), one of the analog switches ASW.sub.0 -ASW.sub.3 is conductive, and the corresponding one of the four external voltages V.sub.0 -V.sub.3 is output to the source line O.sub.n.
The source driver in which digital video signals are used for sampling can solve the problems (A1) and (A2) which arise when analog video signals are used for sampling. However, this source driver still has the following problems (D1) and (D2) to be solved.
(D1) With the increase in number of bits of digital video signal data, the size of each of memory cells, decoders, etc., constituting a drive circuit is drastically enlarged. Therefore, the size of a chip and the production cost are greatly increased.
(D2) When voltage sources supplied externally (V.sub.0 -V.sub.3 in FIGS. 19 and 20) are selected by using analog switches, the selected voltage source is directly connected to a source line of the liquid crystal panel and drives the source line. Accordingly, the circuit is required to have a performance capable of sufficiently driving the heavy load, i.e. the liquid crystal panel. This causes the production cost to increase. Especially, in the case where the number of gray-scale levels for image display is increased so that the number of bits of video signal data is increased, in the circuit of FIG. 19 (or FIG. 20), the required number of external voltage sources is increased by a power of 2. For example, when the video signal data is composed of 2 bits as in the circuit of FIG. 19 (or FIG. 20), the number of the external voltage source levels is 2.sup.2 =4. For 3-bit video signal data, the number of levels is 2.sup.3 =8, and for 4-bit, the number of levels is 2.sup.4 =16. In this manner, the number of levels is drastically increased. As mentioned above, when the number of external voltage sources is drastically increased with the increase in number of data bits, and moreover, each of the external voltage sources must drive the above-mentioned heavy load, the source device for the drive circuit becomes enormous.


An elevator safety system (20) for an elevator system (2) with a self-diagnostic functionality includes at least two safety channels (22a, 22b), wherein each safety channel (22a, 22b) is configured for supplying a safety signal (23a, 23b) in case a safety issue has been detected. The elevator safety system (20) comprises a self-diagnostic evaluator (24), which is configured for receiving any safety signals (23a, 23b) supplied via the safety channels (22a, 22b); starting a timer (25) for measuring a predetermined period of time in case a safety signal (23a, 23b) is supplied on one of the safety channels (22a, 22b); and stopping any further operation of the elevator system (2) in case the received signal (23a, 23b) is still supplied after the predetermined period of time has expired.

The invention relates to an elevator safety system, in particular to an elevator safety system comprising self-diagnostics functionality. The invention further relates to an elevator system comprising such an elevator safety system, and to a method of operating such an elevator system.
An elevator system typically comprises at least one elevator car moving along a hoistway between a plurality of landings, and an elevator drive, which is configured for driving the elevator car. For securing safe operation, the elevator system may comprise an elevator safety system configured for monitoring the operation of the elevator system and for stopping any further movement of the elevator car in case a safety related issue is detected. The elevator safety system may comprise a self-diagnostic functionality in order to ensure that the elevator safety system operates correctly.
It is desirable to reduce the risk of false alarms triggered by the elevator safety system, in particular triggered by the self-diagnostic functionality of the elevator safety system, in order to prevent unnecessary shutdowns of the elevator system.


Conveyor for transporting bottles or containers having varying diameters in lines to a bottle or container cleaning machine or packaging machine, and a method and apparatus for conveying bottles or containers.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to a conveyor for transporting bottles or containers having varying diameters in lines to a bottle or container cleaning machine or packaging machine, and a method and apparatus for conveying bottles or containers. This application further relates to a conveyor line for the transport of bottles or similar containers in a direction of transport, whereby the conveyor line for the containers forms, at least over a partial length that extends in the direction of transport, at least two lanes, which are bounded laterally and separated from one another by lane guides which are at some distance from another in the direction at a right angle to the direction of transport.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art.
Conveyor lines for the transport of bottles or similar containers may be configured such that the conveyor line in question forms a plurality of lanes that are bounded laterally and separated from one another by lane guides in which the containers are moved individually in the form of a single-file flow of containers in the direction of transport. Conveyor lines of this type can form, for example, the inlet of container handling machines, such as container cleaning machines, or possibly container packaging machines.
If different types of bottles or similar containers that have different diameters are to be transported on a conveyor line of this type, the width of the lanes may be adapted to the diameter of the containers to promote the organized, single-lane flow of containers in each lane and to minimize or essentially prevent the containers from tipping over.
The containers are thereby oriented in an upright position on the transport plane or surface of the conveyor line, which can be formed by a plurality of conveyor belts, for example.


An electrified vehicle includes a transmission system including a differential and an electrically powered heating device configured to selectively warm a differential fluid of the differential. The electrically powered heating device is selectively powered to warm the differential fluid.

The need to reduce automotive fuel consumption and emissions is well known. Therefore, vehicles are being developed that reduce reliance on internal combustion engines. Electrified vehicles are one type of vehicle being developed for this purpose. In general, electrified vehicles differ from conventional motor vehicles because they are selectively driven by one or more battery powered electric machines. Conventional motor vehicles, by contrast, rely exclusively on the internal combustion engine to drive the vehicle.
Electrified vehicles can present unique thermal management challenges. For example, achieving desired thermal operating levels of various components of the electrified vehicle must be balanced against maximizing the fuel economy and/or electric range of the electrified vehicle.

Systems and methods for improving driveline efficiencies of electrified vehicles


A methododology is provided for facilitating authentication of a service. The methodology includes making a request to a first party for authentication of a service, the request including a first alias. A list of aliases associated with the service is then searched enabling a second party making the request to access the service if a match is found between the first alias and at least one alias of the list of aliases.

Many computer systems requiring network communications employ a security infrastructure to ensure that parties such as clients and servers authenticate (e.g, securely identify) each other before one party will process a request from the other party. For example, Kerberos and/or SSL with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) X.509 certificates may be employed to establish such relationships. With Kerberos, a client may request a ticket to authenticate with a server for a particular service such as a directory service. These services generally may be identified by a service principal name (SPN) in order to authenticate a desired transaction. As system complexities and server responsibilities have increased however, management burdens associated with the authentication process have increased dramatically. Historically, wherein systems may have had only a few names and services to manage and/or authenticate, modern systems may have hundreds of thousands of such names. Some current authentication implementations may construct service principal names from a known service name and a realm. A service principal name may be constructed for example from a name of the type of the service and a Domain Name Server (DNS) host name of a computer providing the service. For example, the printing service for the drafting group of the engineering department in the R&D division of the Example Corporation might be firstname.lastname@example.com, wherein "print" is the type of the service, the server's name is "draft.eng.rd.example.com", and the realm name would be "example.com". Many systems require only a single realm wherein all users and services are part of the same realm. However, in a system wherein multiple trusted realms are required, a client system must first determine what realm a particular user or service is in before requesting a ticket. However, in many circumstances, the users may only know the name of the server, which may not be directly related to the realm name. For example, the printing service described above may be shared by all employees in building 16, regardless of division, so the server it runs on may be named "bldg16.example.com" and the realm may be managed by the MIS department, so it may be named "mis.example.com". Current authentication mechanisms unfortunately require clients and servers to maintain extensive mappings in order to determine the desired realm. These mechanisms require that each client have detailed configuration information regarding the hosts that are providing such services and corresponding realms. Client side configuration is therefore costly from an administration point of view—especially when there are many realms and computer systems in the environment.
Another problem associated with conventional authentication systems is that services may reside on hosts that may have multiple host names (e.g., multi-homed hosts). Conventionally, each host name would require a distinct name and corresponding key for authentication. As described above, management of potentially thousands of such names and keys is both burdensome and expensive. Still yet another problem associated with conventional authentication systems is that they may not deal securely with replicated services. A replicated service is one wherein many copies of the service run—each on a different server. Each copy may provide essentially the same service (e.g., the data on one service may be slightly out of date compared to another one, but not so much that clients may be affected substantially). Some of the reasons for multiple copies of services are related to robustness and performance. Robustness may be enhanced because if some copies fail, remaining copies may still provide service, although, with somewhat lower performance. Performance may be enhanced, because the number of copies may be increased to handle increased numbers of clients, while attaining similar levels of performance for each client.
In a conventional system (e.g., Kerberos authentication), a domain controller (referred to as a KDC in Kerberos terminology), may provide assurances, that to a client, a non-replicated service is authentic, even if a DNS has been compromised to give an incorrect network address for the host name of the server running a service. However, a replicated service is often located by employing a DNS to resolve the service name to a list of hosts running the service. If the DNS is compromised and caused to give back an incorrect list, yet the hosts in the list are running a different instance of the service, the KDC may not detect the error.
For example, a printing service for an Example Corporation may be named "prt.example.com" and thereby run on servers "p1.example.com" and "p2.example.com". Generally, a Kerberos client may resolve "prt.example.com" to "p1.example.com" and "p2.example.com", select a name (e.g., the first one), construct an SPN "print/p1.example.com", and utilize Kerberos to get a ticket which would authenticate itself to "p1.example.com" and vice-versa. If an unscrupulous employee of Example Corporation were to run a printing service for a small workgroup, however, and the service were to run on the server "pwkgrp.example.com", security problems are likely to arise. If the employee were to cause the DNS to return "pwkgrp.example.com" as the server running "prt.example.com", then the client may construct the SPN "print/pwkgrp.example.com", which Kerberos may then authenticate, and the client may unfortunately print confidential information on the unscrupulous employee's printer.
Currently, there is not an efficient and straightforward way of managing and authenticating system services without substantial configuration, associated administration costs and security concerns. Consequently, there is an unsolved need in the art for authenticating services by mitigating client/server configuration requirements.

System and method for managing and authenticating services via service principal names


The disclosure provides a method for realizing a Mobile Switch Center (MSC) pool, a system for realizing an MSC pool and a Media Gateway (MGW). The method for realizing an MSC pool includes: connecting with a Base Station Controllers (BSC)/Radio Network Controller (RNC), by a Media Gateway (MGW) through the use of a common signaling point; and upon receipt of a message whose destination signaling point is the common signaling point from the BSC/RNC, determining, by the MGW, a destination MSC server of the message according to ID information carried in the message, and sending the received message to the destination MSC server. According to the present invention, the networking scheme for an MSC pool may be implemented without upgrading any BSC/RNC. The flexibility of the networking scheme for mobile communication systems may be improved, and the traffic load of the subscribers may be shared.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a conventional mobile communication network. In FIG. 1, one Mobile Switch Center (MSC) may be connected to several Base Station Controllers (BSCs) or Radio Network Controllers (RNCs), but one BSC/RNC can be connected to only one MSC. Such a one-to-many relationship between MSC and BSC/RNC limits the networking scheme to some extent. For example, when MSC1 carries the load of local subscribers only, MSC1 may be designed to have a small capacity during the network plan phase. However, considering a case in which many subscribers registered in MSC2 might flock into the service area of MSC1 in a certain time period, MSC1 should be designed to have a large capacity. Thus, it can be seen that the networking scheme of conventional mobile communication networks is not flexible enough and the network plan is complicated, which tends to cause an increase in the investment costs of the network devices.
To address the above problem, a networking scheme for implementing an MSC pool is proposed in the 3GPP 23.236 protocol. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a mobile communication network based on an MSC pool. In FIG. 2, one MSC may be connected to several BSCs/RNCs, and one BSC/RNC may be connected to several MSCs too, in which the MSCs constitute an MSC pool with respect to the BSC/RNC. In this network configuration, the load of a BSC/RNC may be shared among several MSCs in the MSC pool. Thus, problems caused by the configuration of the conventional mobile communication networks, for example, complicated network plan and increase in the investment costs of the network devices, may be avoided. For instance, when many subscribers registered in MSC2 swarm into the service area of MSC1, MSC2 may still carry the traffic of these subscribers and MSC1 may only carry the load of the local subscribers because the BSCs/RNCs within the service area of MSC1 are connected to MSC2 too. Therefore, there is no need to design a large capacity for MSC1.
Alternatively, an MSC in the MSC pool may employ a structure in which the carrying function and the controlling function are separated, that is, the MSC may be divided into two parts: an MSC server and a media gateway (MGW). Here, the BSCs/RNCs may implement a full interconnection with the MSC servers in the MSC pool via a full interconnection with the MGWs, as shown in FIG. 3, or implement a full interconnection with the MSC servers in the MSC pool directly without the MGWs. Furthermore, a full interconnection between the BSCs/RNCs and the MSC servers in the MSC pool may be implemented through a full interconnection between the MGWs and the MSC servers in the MSC pool, as shown in FIG. 4.
In the existing networking scheme for an MSC pool, each MSC in the MSC pool has a different signaling point, and thus, a BSC/RNC has to support connection with multiple signaling points so as to identify different MSCs. In traffic processing, a BSC/RNC selects a serving MSC for a mobile station (MS) according to the subscriber ID/Intra-Domain NAS node selection (IDNNS) parameter. For example, upon receipt of a layer 3 service request/initial direct transfer message from the MS, the BSC/RNC parses the subscriber ID/IDNNS parameter information in the layer 3 service request/initial direct transfer message, and allocates the traffic load of the subscribers among the MSC servers in the MSC pool according to the subscriber ID/IDNNS parameter.
It can be seen that in the existing 3GPP 23.236 protocol, a BSC/RNC has to support the MSC pool function provided in the protocol, establish a signaling connection with each different signaling point (i.e. MSC) and implement distribution of the subscriber traffic load, so as to implement the network scheme of the MSC pool. However, BSC/RNCs in the current networks do not support such a function now. In other words, all BSC/RNCs in the current networks have to be upgraded if the networking scheme for the MSC pool is to be supported. Considering the fact that there are a large number of BSC/RNCs in the current networks and different manufacturers have inconsistent plans for the BSC/RNCs to support the MSC pool, it would be very difficult to upgrade the BSC/RNCs in the current networks and the upgrading cost is very high, and the upgrading will influence the services of the current networks greatly.

Method, system and media gateway for realizing mobile switch center pool


Provided is an image deformation estimating method capable of obtaining information expressing image deformation between frame images caused by a camera shake with almost no influence of photographing conditions. The image deformation estimating method includes: a first step of providing plural local area in plural frame images, which form a moving image, and obtaining plural pieces of first information indicating movements among the plural frame images in the plural local areas, respectively; a second step of obtaining plural pieces of second information, which express image deformation of each of the plural local areas, using the plural pieces of first information; a third step of preparing plural selected rules, selecting the plural pieces of second information for each of the selected rules, and obtaining second representative information, which represents the selected plural pieces of second information, for each of the selected rules; and a fourth step of using the plural pieces of second representative information, which are obtained for the plural selected rules, to obtain third information expressing deformation of an entire image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for obtaining information that expresses image deformation between frame images of a moving image caused by shake of a camera or the like in photographing moving images.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, various methods have been proposed concerning a technique for correcting an image blur due to shake of a camera such as a hand shake in an image pickup apparatus such as a video camera. In addition, there are various methods concerning an image movement detection technique that constitutes an image blur correction technique. As one of the techniques, there is a technique for detecting plural movement vectors between frame images forming a moving image and calculating a movement vector representing a whole screen from those movement vectors to thereby detect movement of an image. However, image movement detecting methods and apparatuses, which are generally used for correction of an image blur, detect only movement of an image in horizontal and vertical directions. Thus, there is a problem in that, when a complicated image blur due to factors including rotation of an image pickup apparatus occurs, it is impossible to accurately detect the blur and the blur remains in a photographed image.
A movement vector caused by shake of a camera is a sum of movement components of magnification and reduction, rotation, and horizontal and vertical movements of an image. Thus, in order to accurately detect the horizontal movement and the vertical movement, influences of other shakes such as the magnification and reduction and the rotation have to be removed. Therefore, there is a demand for development of an image movement detection technique that is capable of detecting movement such as rotation in addition to movements in horizontal and vertical directions or detecting components of individual shakes accurately.
Deformation (geometrical deformation) of an image such as magnification and reduction, rotation, horizontal movement, and vertical movement is caused by camera shake between frame images. Affine transformation is one of models expressing the deformation. The image deformation caused by the camera shake can be expressed in a form of a matrix as indicated by the following expression.
                              [                                                                      x                  ′                                                                                y                  ′                                                              ]                =                                            [                                                                    a                                                        b                                                                                -                      b                                                                            a                                                              ]                                                  [                                                                    x                                                                                y                                                              ]                                +                      [                                                            c                                                                              d                                                      ]                                              (        1        )
A movement vector caused by the camera shake can be represented by the following expression.
                              [                                                                      v                  x                                                                                v                  y                                                              ]                =                                                            [                                                                                a                        ′                                                                                b                        ′                                                                                -                                                  b                          ′                                                                                a                        ′                                                                                ]                                                          [                                                                            x                                                                                y                                                                      ]                                      +                          [                                                                                c                      ′                                                                                d                      ′                                                                                ]                                =                                                    [                                                                                a                        -                        1                                                                                b                                                                                -                        b                                                                                a                        -                        1                                                                                ]                                                          [                                                                            x                                                                                y                                                                      ]                                      +                          [                                                                    c                                                                                d                                                              ]                                                          (        2        )            where, (x, y) represents arbitrary coordinates on the image and (x′, y′) represents coordinates to which the coordinates (x, y) are moved by the camera shake, (vx, vy) represents an x component and a y component of a movement vector in the coordinates (x, y), a, b, c, and d are coordinate conversion parameters representing image deformation caused by the camera shake and a′, b′, c′, and d′ are movement parameters representing movement of the image caused by the camera shake.
When this affine transformation is used, it is possible to express the deformation and the movement vector of the image in arbitrary coordinates on the image, the deformation being caused by the cameral shake, with four parameters. In other words, it is possible to detect deformation or movement of the entire image by obtaining a, b, c, and d when attention is paid to the image deformation and by using a′, b′, c′, and d′ when attention is paid to the movement of the image.
Techniques for detecting movement of an image using the model described above are disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2586686, Japanese Patent No. 2506500, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. H9-212649, H10-233958, and the like.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2586686, the least square error estimation is applied to a movement vector, which is detected for each pixel or each small area, and a model of movement caused by a camera shake to detect a movement parameter expressing movement of an entire image. In addition, an error in vector detection is removed by using a filter to improve detection accuracy.
However, in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2586686, when there is movement different from a camera shake such as movement of a subject in a relatively large area, it is impossible to completely remove the movement with the filter. Thus, the accuracy is not enough from the viewpoint of detection of movement caused by the camera shake.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2506500, using conversion coefficients calculated by using plural movement vectors in a position of an image, an amount of movement in other positions of the image is predicted. Then, movement of the entire image is estimated using only movement vectors in an area where the number of areas, where a difference between the predicted value and an actually detected movement vector is equal to or lower than a threshold value, takes the maximum value.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2506500, an amount of calculation is large because it is repeatedly checked whether movements are identical on the basis of a difference between a movement vector calculated by using the conversion coefficients and the detected vector.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-212649, a movement parameter is calculated using plural movement vectors out of the movement vectors detected locally, and the calculation is repeated to calculate plural movement parameters. Then, a movement parameter value having a high frequency of appearance among the movement parameters is estimated as a movement parameter value representing an entire image.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-212649, the movement parameter having a high frequency of appearance is set as a parameter for the entire image. However, it is likely that plural peaks exist or a wrong parameter is determined as a parameter value for the entire image when no clear peak is present.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-233958, a distribution in a characteristic space of a movement vector is taken into account to calculate a parameter value for basic camera operation. In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-233958, it is possible to calculate a parameter value for each camera shake. However, complicated processing such as clustering is required.
For image blur correction in a photographing apparatus such as a video camera, it is necessary to detect movement of an image due to a camera shake at high speed and accurately under various conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an image movement detecting method and an image movement detecting apparatus that can solve the problems of the techniques described above and detect movement of an image due to a camera shake at high speed and accurately without being affected by movement of a subject and an error in movement detection and without being affected by photographing conditions. In addition, when correction of an image blur is taken into account, a coordinate conversion parameter expressing image deformation is more advantageous as a parameter to be detected than a movement parameter expressing a movement vector in the image.
Since the degree of movement due to magnification and reduction or rotation is proportional to a distance from an image center, minute movement due to magnification and reduction or rotation often appears only in a peripheral part of an image. However, in the methods described above, since movement vectors on the image used for calculating parameters expressing movement of the entire image are treated uniformly, it may be impossible to detect minute movement that appears only in the peripheral part of the image. Although an error in the movement detection is very small, when a parameter between frame images apart from each other is calculated by accumulating parameters among adjacent frame images, the error is accumulated to cause inconvenience.
Moreover, all the methods described above do not take into account a moving image having distortion photographed by a fish-eye lens or the like.

Image deformation estimating method and image deformation estimating apparatus


A printbar, such as a full width array printbar, filling method and apparatus provides for the selective application of positive pressure to an ink container, such as an ink bag, for forcing the expulsion of ink out of the bag and into the printbar. A steady force is applied until ink appears in a window provided in a vent line adjacent to and in fluid communication with the printbar, at which time the printbar manifold is full. Additional steady pressure forces ink to flow into the ink jet channels, assuring that the channels are fully primed and functional, at which time the positive pressure can be stopped. In an alternative embodiment, a motive force provided by, for example, a solenoid or motor, preferably including a gear and cam, are included to provide the motive force for the application of pressure against the ink bag. Pressure limiting springs may be utilized to provide the desired positive pressure to the ink manifold. A reflective light sensor may be included to detect ink in the vent line window and automatically turn off the motor or solenoid, preferably after a delay to allow priming of the channels.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to filling a printbar with ink. More particularly, this invention is directed to methods and apparatus that initially fill the printbar, such as a full width array printbar, with ink using positive pressure.
2. Description of Related Art
Thermal ink-jet printers generally include a plurality of thermal printheads for ejecting ink onto a recording medium, such as, for example, paper. Each thermal printhead has a resistor to selectively vaporize ink near the nozzle of a capillary-filled ink channel. The vaporized ink forms a bubble that temporarily expels an ink droplet and propels it toward the paper. These types of thermal heads are incorporated in either a carriage-type printer or a page width or full width array (FWA) type printer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,356 to Ecklund describes the use of a slidable primer rod featuring a plunger which uses gravity to assist in collapsing a flexible ink bag for an ink jet printer. The only force applied to the ink container is the weight of the rod and plunger. U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,445 to Fong et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,937 to Kaplinsky also describe printers featuring flexible ink containers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,052 to Yu describes a momentumless shutdown of a jet drop printer in which a positive pressure is created in an ink manifold by a pump located prior to the manifold.

Method and apparatus for positive pressure filling a printbar


In a power converter, a first electrical path connects between the series resonant circuit and a selected terminal from the high- and low-side input and output terminals of the power converter. An auxiliary diode is provided on one of the series resonant circuit and the first electrical path. An auxiliary switch, when turned on, causes an inductor current to flow through the auxiliary diode to the resonance inductor, thus storing electromagnetic energy into the resonance inductor, and causes the resonance inductor and the capacitance component of the series resonant circuit to resonate with each other. A second electrical path bypasses the auxiliary switch for flow of the inductor current. A discharge unit is provided on the second electrical path. The discharge unit is activated to discharge the electromagnetic energy stored in the resonance inductor via the second electrical path.

One type of power converters is designed to perform zero-voltage switching control, referred to simply as ZVS control. ZVS control performs switching of a switch or a switching element while a voltage across the switch is zero. Power converters, which are capable of performing ZVS control, aim to reduce switching loss of their switching elements to have higher efficiency accordingly. An example of these power converters is disclosed as a direct-current (DC) to direct-current converter, referred to as a DC-DC converter, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-129393, which is referred to as patent document 1.
The DC-DC converter disclosed in patent document 1 includes first and second main switches connected in series between input terminals of the DC-DC converter, and a smoothing inductor connected between an output terminal of the DC-DC converter and the connection point between the first and second main switches. The DC-DC converter also includes an auxiliary circuit, which is comprised of a resonance inductor and an auxiliary switch connected in series to each other. The auxiliary circuit is connected between the output terminal and the connection point between the first and second main switches in parallel to the smoothing inductor. The DC-DC converter further includes resonance capacitors connected in parallel to the respective first and second main switches.
The DC-DC converter measures an auxiliary current flowing through the auxiliary resonant circuit using a current sensor.
When the measured auxiliary current satisfies a predetermined ZVS condition, the DC-DC converter turns off the second main switch, and turns on the auxiliary switch within the period from turn-off of the second main switch to turn-on of the first main switch. This results in electrical energy being supplied from the output terminal to the resonance inductor. This causes the resonance inductor and the resonance capacitors to resonate with each other.
After lapse of predetermined dead time since the turn-off of the second main switch, the DC-DC converter turns on the first main switch while the voltage across the first main switch is kept zero. This therefore results in reliable ZVS control of the first main switch, resulting in lower switching loss of the first main switch and lower switching noise.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION OITA UNIVERSITY


A combined water field strength and conductivity meter. The meter is intended for use with a separate electroshocker for use in a body of water to produce electrotaxis in fish in order to collect the fish. The meter includes a conductivity probe which is placed within the water. Pairs of electrodes within the probe detect water conductivity and the voltage potential produced by the electroshocker. A processing unit applies and measures a known current between the first pair of electrode and measures the voltage potential between the second pair of electrodes. An LCD display connected to the processing unit displays the results so that the electroshocker may be optimally adjusted.

Electrotaxis as used herein means the involuntary movement of fish in an electric field toward the positive electrode. This condition is often utilized in research and resource management to inventory, inspect, and mark fish. Assuming the electric field has been properly regulated for the given body of water, in order to initiate electrotaxis, sufficient voltage must be available in the water adjacent the positive electrode to momentarily stun the fish and enable researchers to gather them with nets or the like. At the same time, however, the voltage must not be so great as to permanently harm the fish.
Different bodies of water may have markedly different abilities to conduct electricity therethrough, and indeed the same body of water may exhibit significant differences in conductivity in different locals. For instance, a relatively clean portion of a fresh-water lake, such as in the center of the lake least subject to contamination by runoff may be quite clean and offer significant resistance to an electric current induced therein. However, in the portion of the same freshwater lake subject to contamination by a mineral spring, creek or river, quite high conductivities may be experienced. Likewise, temperature variation in a body of water can dramatically alter the conductivity. For instance, the resistance of cold tap water (about 50.degree. F.) is on the order of 3,000 ohms, while the resistance of the same water warmed to about 68.degree. F. decreases to about 1,500 ohms.
Fisheries' biologists have a need to ascertain fish population data through methods which permit recovery of a significant percentage of fish, without permanently damaging the fish. "Electrofishing" has become the method of choice for such fish collecting as it is relatively easy and effective. However, a significant problem exists in the proper application of the electric field to the body of water so as to apply the optimum current to collect the maximum number of fish for analysis without damaging or killing any of such fish. Heretofore, operators of the electrofishing equipment have had no means to test a given body of water within which electrofishing was to take place. They simply applied a voltage field to the body of water and presumed it would be strong enough to induce electrotaxis but not so strong as to damage fish.
Conductivity meters have long been available for laboratory use. In general, such meters do not provide an actual conductivity reading, but rather a standard conductivity reading which is corrected to 25.degree. C. With reference to a standardized chart, an indication of the relative conductivity of the particular water tested is obtained. Experience indicated that the initial voltage applied in the field was often incorrect and either no electrotaxis occurred, or fish were killed or damaged due to the application of excessive voltage to the body of water.
The conductivity of potable waters in the United States generally ranges from about 20 to about 1,500 micromhos/cm. Exceedingly clean water exhibits very low conductivity, and higher voltages or an increase in the size of electrodes utilized, is, therefore, required in order to generate electrotaxis in fish. Maintaining a large cathode (boat hull) to anode ratio (10:1 minimum) permits the cathode to distribute the field over a larger area, and by electrotaxis, cause the fish to approach the anode. In waters of very low conductivity (less than 200 micromhos/cm) very high voltages must be used. If the biologists utilizing such voltages are moving through a body of water, and unknowingly enter a higher conductivity area, the high voltages used may kill many fish.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a portable hand-held apparatus which may be utilized to not only determine the conductivity of a localized area within a body of water, but which may also measure the field strength of the voltage applied to such water to ensure that a shocking voltage is within an optimum range. Such apparatus is provided with electronics enabling it to readily switch from measuring conductivity to measuring field strength, thereby providing operators of the voltage source with immediate information enabling more precise operation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for accurately measuring the actual conductivity of a body of water so that an optimum voltage electric field may be applied to the water, with the electric field being measured by the same apparatus, and the conductivity or field strength displayed.
These and other objects of the invention will become readily apparent with reference to the following description and claims.

Combined water field strength and conductivity meter


A process for reducing curl and/or frizziness of hair comprising: (a) providing a composition for reducing curl and/or frizziness of hair, said composition comprising, in a cosmetically acceptable carrier: (i) at least one non-hydroxide base; (ii) at least one protein denaturant different from (a)(i); (iii) at least one alkoxysilane comprising at least one solubilizing functional group; and (iv) optionally, at least one fatty substance; (b) contacting the hair with the composition in (a) to form treated hair; (c) optionally, rinsing the composition in (a) from the treated hair; (d) optionally, contacting the treated hair with a conditioning agent; (e) smoothing the treated hair using a combination of heat and means for physically smoothing hair to form smoothed hair; (f) optionally, shampooing the smoothed hair; and (g) rinsing the smoothed hair.

Hair products for reducing the curl and frizziness of hair have been commercially available for over fifty years for people who want less curly and more manageable hair. Such products are also known as hair straightening or relaxing products and are generally composed of a strong hydroxide base compound that breaks the bonds in the hair in order to straighten or relax curly/kinky hair. There are primarily four different types of alkaline metal hydroxide hair straighteners in use: calcium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide. The straightening or relaxing product is usually applied quickly and can only remain on the hair for a very limited amount of time because the alkalinity of such products, if not rinsed from the hair at the appropriate time, can damage the hair, as well as cause chemical burns to the scalp and areas surrounding the hair.
Other straightening or relaxing formulations use guanidinium hydroxide which can be formed from the reaction of guanidine carbonate and a very small amount of soluble hydroxide such as calcium hydroxide. The reaction between these two compounds leads to the formation of guanidinium hydroxide and calcium carbonate, which precipitates in the composition. While such a system may provide a better relaxing efficacy and better skin tolerance, the calcium carbonate precipitate makes the final rinsing of the hair much more difficult, and leaves on the hair and the scalp, mineral particles that give the hair a coarse feel and an unattractive appearance resembling dandruff.
Another known permanent hair straightener or reshaping technology employs reducing agents such as thighlycolic acid and cysteine technologies as well as non thiol-based reducing agents such as sulfites and bisulfites which permanently reduce hair bonds. Still other hair relaxing or straightening compositions and processes involve the use of protein denaturants in combination with heat. Protein denaturants are compounds which cause a reversible unfolding of a protein. However, many of the proposed compositions contain formalin, formalin derivatives or formaldehyde-generating compounds, which are known to break down to formaldehyde with high heat, such as during flat ironing of the hair. Formaldehyde fumes generated owing to the break down have been found to cause headaches, respiratory, eye, and mucous membrane irritations, respiratory illnesses, cancer, or even death. Thus, these compositions pose significant safety concerns.
In order to address the concerns mentioned above, other compositions and processes have been proposed, such as those that involve the application of compositions containing non-hydroxide bases and/or protein denaturants that are of the non-formalin or non-formalin derivative types or which do not generate formaldehyde, including pre-washing the hair with high pH compositions. However, there still exists a need to improve such methods and compositions that are just as safe, and which are able to provide greater and longer lasting curl pattern reduction and frizz control, more effective straightening of hair, increased manageability of hair, while minimizing damage to the hair. At the same time, less hair treatment or processing times to achieve these attributes are highly desirable.
Thus, there is an ongoing need and desire to provide a composition and process for effectively straightening or reducing the curl and/or frizziness of hair in an efficient and safe manner while imparting other cosmetic and functional benefits to the hair.

Composition and process for reducing the curl and frizziness of hair


A CMOS and bipolar fabrication process wherein a silicon dioxide layer initially formed over a silicon substrate is etched for forming separate collector and base/emitter regions for a bipolar device, and PMOS and NMOS regions for corresponding PMOS and NMOS devices. Buried layer implants are performed using a minimum number of masks, and then an epitaxial layer is grown over the exposed portions of the silicon substrate. The silicon dioxide walls between the devices provide full dielectric isolation between the devices, as well as between the collector and base/emitter regions of the bipolar device. Nonetheless, the oxide wall between the collector and base/emitter of the bipolar device is sufficiently small to allow the buried layer implants to joint under the wall for forming a conventional buried layer for the bipolar device. Because of the oxide walls, the minimum distance between devices may be 0.5 microns or less.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor device fabrication methods and, more particularly, to a CMOS and bipolar fabrication process using selective epitaxial growth.
2. Description of the Related Art
As device geometries get smaller, well tried technologies become inadequate for isolating devices of the same or opposite conductivity type. For example, the widely used LOCOS (isoplanar) scheme requires too much silicon area for geometries below one micron, due to the bird's beak encroachment. In addition, latch-up considerations in CMOS prevent putting opposite type devices in very close proximity unless more complex processing is added.
Current state-of-the-art one to two micron level approaches to CMOS isolation include the use of trenches and epitaxial buried layers. Trench isolation has the disadvantage of requiring very complex and costly processing, and it requires some other type of oxide isolation for the majority of the chip's surface (typically LOCOS). Additionally. MOS transistors cannot be set directly against a trench wall because of degradation of device characteristics, thus increasing the area consumed by one transistor. Epitaxial buried layer isolation, while somewhat effective, still has a lower limit of approximately 2.5 micrometers for PMOS to NMOS spacing due to junction breakdown and punch-through.
Recently. CMOS isolation by selective epitaxial growth (SEG) has been proposed. In one method, not necessarily in the prior art, a silicon substrate is etched to form openings in the substrate, and insulators are formed on the side walls of the openings. Thereafter, the substrate is masked and doped to a chosen conductivity type, and an epitaxial layer is grown to fill the openings. A final LOCOS isolation then is performed. The disadvantages of this method are the requirement of etching into the silicon surface and the requirement of LOCOS isolation with the inherent bird's beak encroachment.
In another technique, also not necessarily in the prior art, a silicon dioxide layer is formed over a silicon substrate, and the silicon dioxide layer is etched for forming openings extending to the substrate. The openings are filled by growing epitaxial layers having a selected conductivity type (e.g., N-type) on the substrate. This creates doped wells in which devices of a particular type may be constructed. The wells then are covered by thin thermal oxide layers to protect them from later process steps. The process then is repeated to form wells having an opposite conductivity type (e.g., P-type). Thereafter, the thin oxide layers over the previously formed wells are stripped. Although this method does not require LOCOS isolation, it must be implemented with multiple SEG steps.

CMOS and bipolar fabrication process using selective epitaxial growth scalable to below 0.5 micron


In order to produce a periodically varying refractive index in an optical material such as optical fiber, the concentration of a refractive index varying material, for example, fluorine, is periodically varied. A mobile substance is first diffused into the optical material. A portion of this mobile substance is periodically activated by application of periodically varying radiation supplied to the optical material having the mobile substance diffused therein. Molecular hydrogen may be used as such a mobile substance. After activation of the mobile substance, inactivated mobile substance is diffused out of the optical material, this diffusion step being accelerated by application of heat. Subsequently, the optical element is heated to a predetermined level to further react the mobile substance whit a component of the optical material which may then be diffused out of the optical material to produce a periodically varying optical property such as refractive index.

It is known that the refractive index of germanium-doped, SiO.sub.2 -based fibres (among others), can be changed by exposing the fibre to ultraviolet radiation within certain absorption intervals. The ultraviolet wavelengths used to create fraction index changes in holographic page-writing methods lie mainly within germanium-related absorption bands with a maximum at approximately 195 nm and approximately 240 nm, although other wavelength intervals have also been used, these latter wavelength intervals normally requiring much longer exposure times, however. It is possible to produce with holographic page-writing methods periodic refractive-index variations, so-called Bragg gratings, that function as wavelength selective mirrors or filters, with several applications within, e.g., telecommunications and laser or sensor applications.
Fibre gratings are described in the document "Fibre Gratings", Physics World, October 1993, Philip ST. J. Russell et al, pp. 41-46, and also in PCT publication WO 94/00784.
Although the actual process lying behind these index changes has not been fully established, it is generally considered that germanium defects--the concentration of Ge.sup.2+ (c.f., for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,747, Atkins et al) is the main reason for the resultant photosensitivity. The photosensitivity of a material is, e.g., its ability to change its refractive index upon given exposure to electromagnetic radiation. Although the photosensitivity of fibre can be enhanced in many different ways, the method used is still highly dependent on the use of wavelengths of approximately 195 nm and approximately 240 nm. Sensitivity to ultraviolet light can be enhanced by doping with more GeO or GeO.sub.2 and/or B.sub.2 O.sub.3.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,031, Atkins et al, teaches a method of increasing the refractive index of glassy material, by applying heat in conjunction with hydrogen sensitization. Such increases in refractive index are not temperature-stable at temperatures above 600.degree. C. This patent specification teaches solely a method that is aimed at causing chemical reactions to take place over the space of time of some seconds and for temperatures higher than 500.degree. C., and not to cause diffusion of material that has diffused into the material or of doping substances in the material. In order to cause diffusion, the material is heated to temperatures of from 800 to 1100.degree. C. and over much longer times, for instance over minutes or hours.
It has been possible to increase the photosensitivity of certain fibres or waveguides, by diffusing hydrogen thereinto.

Optical material having periodically varying refractive index and method of making


NCDX1′ is a new Deutzia plant distinguished by a compact, low-growing, rounded/spreading plant habit and prolific, white flowers.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Deutzia, botanically known as Deutzia sp., and hereinafter referred to by the name 'NCDX1'. This new Deutzia is a product of a breeding program conducted by the inventor in Mills River, N.C. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new Deutzia cultivars with improved flowering characteristics and smaller growth habits.
The new Deutzia plant originated from controlled crosses in Mills River, N.C. in March 2007 between Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko', not patented, as the female parent and Deutzia×rosea 'Carminea', not patented, as the male parent.
The first asexual reproduction of Deutzia sp. 'NCDX1' was carried out in May, 2007 by rooting stem cuttings in Mills River, N.C. Deutzia sp. 'NCDX1' roots readily from softwood cuttings treated with a basal dip of 2,000 to 4,000 ppm indole butyric acid (potassium salt) in water. 'NCDX1' has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations of stem cuttings.


An operating device for a flush water tank assembly includes: a rotary shaft, an operating handle, an operating wire, and a drive unit, wherein the drive unit includes: a rotary member, a rotary winding member, a locking unit for mutually locking the rotary member and the rotary winding member when the rotary winding member rotates in a forward rotational direction from operating position P1 and reaches operating position P3, and a lock release portion for releasing the lock between the rotary member and the rotary winding member when the rotary member and the rotary winding member rotate in a forward rotational direction from operating position P1 and reach operating position P3.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operating device for a flush water tank assembly, a flush water tank assembly, and a flush toilet, and more particularly to an operating device for a flush water tank assembly, which starts the supply of flush water to a toilet by opening a discharge valve on a reservoir tank supplying flush water to a toilet, a flush water tank assembly, and a flush toilet.
Description of Related Art
For some time, known operating devices for a flush water tank assembly, for operating a discharge valve of the flush water tank assembly to supply flush water to a toilet have included those in which, as in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2014-190131), for example, for a discharge valve apparatus for opening and closing a discharge valve on a flush water tank by up and down movement (a "direct-type discharge valve apparatus"), the amount of movement of the discharge valve main body in the up-down direction is controlled by controlling the amount of movement of an operating wire, such as the amount of lifting of an operating wire linked to the discharge valve main body (or the winding amount by which an operating wire is wound up).
Conventional operating devices for a flush water tank assembly such as that set forth in Patent Document 1 include an operating member such as an operating handle or the like which can be rotated by a user, and a pulley for winding up an operating wire in tandem with the rotation of this operating member. The operating member and pulley are in a mutually constantly linked state regardless of functional state, and the flush water amount supplied from the flush water tank assembly to the toilet is determined in response to the elapsed time from the start of the opening of the discharge valve by the rotation of the operating member and pulley at initial position winding up the operating wire, up to the closing of the valve when the discharge valve body drops together with the water level inside the flush water tank, i.e., the operating time (operating member operating time) from start to completion of operation of the operating member. Hence, for example, the longer the time over which the operating handle and pulley rotation state is maintained, the operating wire wound-up state is maintained, and the discharge valve lifted state is maintained, the longer is the operating member operating time or the discharge valve main body valve opening time, thereby increasing the amount of flush water supplied from the flush water tank to the toilet.
On the other hand, while the amount of flush water usable for toilet flushing has been decreased to a regulation amount of approximately 3.8 L, for example, in conjunction with the conservation of flush toilet water in recent years, valve opening time can, depending on the length of the operating member operating time, become longer than the discharge valve opening time during which flushing can be effected using a flush water amount within regulation amount, causing the problem that toilet flushing using a flush water amount controlled to be within a regulation amount is difficult. Another problem is that in the above-described conventional operating device for the flush water tank assembly in which the operating member and pulley are mutually constantly linked irrespective of functional state, there is a limit on the extent to which the operating member operating time can be shortened, and operability and ease of use are compromised.

Operating device for flush water tank assembly, flush water tank assembly, and flush toilet


Ceramic fibers of alumina modified with zirconia or hafnia derived from soluble salts of the metal are made by first polymerizing a mixture of alumina and aqueous aluminum chlorohydroxide before addition of the metal oxide precursor. Subsequent concentration and spinning steps are carried out at low temperatures.

This invention relates to an improved process for making ceramic fibers which contain alumina modified with one or more oxides of zirconium or hafnium.
Alumina fibers have been recognized as useful in high temperature applications for some time. Seufert, U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,015 is an early reference describing ceramic fibers which are predominantly alumina. Subsequently, other workers have obtained improved fiber properties by modifying the alumina with metal oxides such as zirconia or more preferably partially stabilized zirconia, hafnia, or combinations of these oxides. See Wolfe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,904 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/100,760.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,904 teaches the use of zirconyl acetate as the precursor of choice in the process for making modified alumina fibers. In a typical process described in the '904 patent alumina powder slurry, zirconyl acetate, aluminum chlorohydroxide and an yttrium chloride solution are combined, mixed overnight and concentrated under vacuum with heating. The '904 patent does not report temperatures for the concentration step. The '015 patent reports that the concentration step can be done at the temperature of a team bath (Example 2) or at 20.degree.-25.degree. C. (Example 8). However, several problems, which are not encountered in the production of pure alumina fibers, arise in the process of producing fibers of alumina modified with zirconia and/or hafnia. Spin mix foaming readily occurs when the metal oxide precursor is the acetate salt. Zirconyl acetate is the commonly available zirconia precursor. Foaming, and the subsequent drying of foamed material in the spin mix container, can lead to plugged spinnerets and fiber breaks. Gel formation in the spin mix is another cause of fiber breaks, loss of yield and variability in fiber properties. Gels readily form in mixtures containing a zirconium or hafnium compound in the presence of an aqueous aluminum compound such as aluminum chlorohydroxide.
One attempt to address these problems is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-186517. This reference teaches that gel formation in spin mixes for zirconia containing alumina fiber can be minimized by concentrating the aqueous spin mix at 30.degree. C. or less.
Another approach to the problem is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-202239. This reference teaches boiling gelled mixtures to form a sol, but this changes the nature of the alumina-zirconia mixture, and requires addition of an organic polymer prior to spinning.
This invention provides an improved process for making ceramic fibers of alumina modified by other metal oxides derived from their water soluble precursors.

Process for making modified alumina fibers


Methods and devices for the detection and/or quantification of an analyte in a sample are provided. These are positive detection methods and devices, in that the more analyte is present in the sample, the stronger the signal that is provided. Devices of the invention include a mobilization zone including a mobile or mobilizable detectable analyte analog, a sample application area, primary and secondary capture areas each including an immobilized binding partner having a binding affinity for the analyte being tested for a detectable analyte analog. The mobilization zone, sample application area, primary and secondary capture area are in fluid continuous contact with each other. In these devices, the first immobilized binding partner has an equal or lower apparent affinity for the analyte than it has for the detectable analyte analog. Methods of this invention involve introducing a sample (which is suspected of containing the analyte to be tested for) to a device such as those described herein, and permitting the sample to migrate from the application area to and through the first and secondary binding zones. A detectable tracer conjugate is also permitted to migrate through the device, usually slightly behind the sample so that any analyte in the sample contacts the first binding partner before the conjugate. Results of such methods are read based on the presence and/or intensity of the detectable signal given by conjugate that binds in the second capture area.

Analytical tests have been developed for the routine identification or monitoring of physiological and pathological conditions (e.g., pregnancy, cancer, endocrine disorders, infectious diseases) using different biological samples (e.g., urine, serum, plasma, blood, saliva), and for analysis of environmental samples (e.g., natural fluids and industrial plant effluents) for instance for contamination. Many of these tests are based on the highly specific interactions between specific binding pairs. Examples of such binding pairs include antigen/antibody, hapten/antibody, lectin/carbohydrate, apoprotein/cofactor and biotin/(strept)avidin. Furthermore, many of these tests involve devices (e.g., solid phase, lateral-flow test strips, flow-through tests) with one or more of the members of a binding pair attached to a mobile or immobile solid phase material such as latex beads, glass fibers, glass beads, cellulose strips or nitrocellulose membranes (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,703,017; 4,743,560; 5,073,484).
Immunochromatographic assays fall into two principal categories: "sandwich" and "competitive." In general, sandwich immunochromatographic procedures call for mixing the sample that may contain the analyte to be assayed with antibodies to the analyte. These antibodies are mobile and typically are linked to a label or another signaling reagent, such as dyed latex, a colloidal metal sol, or a radioisotope. This mixture is then applied to a chromatographic medium containing a band or zone of immobilized antibodies to the analyte of interest. The chromatographic medium often is in the form of a strip that resembles a dipstick. When the complex of the molecule to be assayed and the labeled antibody reaches the zone of the immobilized antibodies on the chromatographic medium, binding occurs and the bound, labeled antibodies are localized at the zone. This indicates the presence of the molecule to be assayed. This technique can be used to obtain quantitative or semi-quantitative results. Examples of sandwich immunoassays performed on test strips are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,168,146 and 4,366,241, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In competitive immunoassays, the label is typically a labeled analyte or analyte analogue that competes with any unlabeled analyte present in the sample for binding to an antibody. In such competitive assays, the analyte and labeled tracer molecule are simultaneously introduced to the binding agent such that these molecules compete for binding sites. Competitive immunoassays are typically used for detection of analytes such as haptens, each hapten being monovalent and capable of binding only one antibody molecule. Examples of competitive immunoassay devices are those disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,235,601, 4,442,204 and 5,208,535, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Solid phase immunoassay devices, whether sandwich- or competition-type, provide sensitive detection of an analyte in a biological fluid sample. Solid phase immunoassay devices incorporate a solid support to which one member of a ligand-receptor pair, usually an antibody, antigen, or hapten, is bound. Common early forms of solid supports were plates, tubes, or beads of polystyrene, which were known from the fields of radioimmunoassay and enzyme immunoassay. More recently, a number of porous materials such as nylon, nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, glass fibers, and other porous polymers have been employed as solid supports.
In the more common forms of dipstick assays, as typified by home pregnancy and ovulation detection kits, immunochemical components such as antibodies are bound to a solid phase. The assay device is "dipped" for incubation into a sample suspected of containing the subject analyte. Enzyme-labeled antibody is then added, either simultaneously or after an incubation period. The device next is washed and then inserted into a second solution containing a substrate for the enzyme. The enzyme-label, if present, interacts with the substrate, causing the formation of colored products, which either deposit as a precipitate onto the solid phase or produce a visible color change in the substrate solution. EP-A 0 125 118 discloses such a sandwich type dipstick immunoassay. EP-A 0 282 192 discloses a dipstick device for use in competition type assays.
Flow-through type immunoassay devices (such as test strips) were designed to obviate the need for incubation and washing steps associated with dipstick assays. U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,901 discloses a sandwich immunoassay device wherein antibody (specific to a target antigen analyte) is bound to a porous membrane or filter to which a liquid sample is added. As the liquid flows through the membrane, target analyte binds to the antibody. The addition of sample is followed by addition of labeled antibody. The visual detection of labeled antibody provides an indication of the presence of target antigen analyte in the sample.
Migration assay devices usually incorporate within them reagents that have been attached to colored labels, thereby permitting visible detection of the assay results without addition of further substances. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,853; WO 88/08534; and EP-A 0 299 428.
There are a number of commercially available lateral-flow type tests and patents disclosing methods for the detection of large analytes (MW greater than 1,000 Daltons). U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,073 describes a semiquantitative competitive immunoassay lateral flow method for measuring plasma lipoprotein levels. This method utilizes a plurality of capture zones or lines containing immobilized antibodies to bind both the labeled and free lipoprotein to give a semi-quantitative result.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,645 provides a chromatographic test strip with at least two portions. The first portion includes a movable tracer and the second portion includes an immobilized binder capable of binding to the analyte. Additional examples of lateral-flow tests for large analytes are disclosed in the following patent documents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,168,146; 4,366,241; 4,855,240; 4,861,711; 5,120,643; European Patent No. 0296724; WO 97/06439; and WO 98/36278.
There are also a limited number of lateral-flow type tests for the detection of small-analytes (MW 100-1,000 Daltons). Generally, these small analyte tests involve "typical" competitive inhibition to produce negative or indirect reporting results (i.e., reduction of signal with increasing analyte concentration), as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,017.
Several approaches have been developed for detecting small analytes using lateral-flow tests that produce positive or direct reporting results (i.e., increase in signal with increasing analyte concentration). These include, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,451,504; 5,451,507; 5,798,273; and 6,001,658.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,504 provides a method with three specific zones (mobilization, trap and detection) each containing a different latex conjugate to yield a positive signal. The mobilization zone contains labeled antibody to bind the analyte in the sample. In the trap zone, unbound, labeled antibody is then trapped by immobilized analyte analog. The detection zone captures the labeled analyte-antibody complex. A disadvantage of this method is that the analyte-analog in the trap zone competes with the labeled analyte-antibody complex formed during migration and may cause false negative results.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,507 describes a two-zone, disconnected immunochromatographic method. The first zone has non-diffusively bound reagent that binds with a component, e.g., an analyte analog bound to, or capable of becoming bound to, a member of a signal producing system. The second zone binds to the component only when the analyte to be tested is present. The distance the component migrates into the second zone is directly related to the concentration of analyte.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,273 discloses a lateral flow device that includes a capture zone with immobilized analyte analog and one or more read-out zones to bind labeled analyte-analog. A disadvantage of this disclosed method is the requirement to premix sample, antibody and colored label prior to application to the sample addition area of the lateral flow device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,658 discloses a test strip device with a diffusible, labeled binding partner that binds with analyte, an immobilized analyte, and a detection area containing an immobilized antibody.
A continuing need exists for a sensitive, rapid and single step method to detect and quantify both large and small analytes at low concentrations (such as ng/ml or less).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Positive detection lateral-flow apparatus and method for small and large analytes


A ceramics spike pin is provided with a pin body having a horizontal cross section of a substantially circular shape, which pin body is provided with a rounded free end portion having a predetermined radius of curvature and a connecting base portion having a predetermined radius of curvature, and a horizontally expanded base connected to the connecting base portion, wherein a diameter (d) of the connecting base portion in horizontal cross section, the radius of curvature(r) of the connecting base portion, and a maximum diagonal length (D) of the horizontally expanded base satisfy the relationship of 0<r<d<D and r.sup.2 .times.d/D.gtoreq.1.36. Accordingly, the stress concentration can be greatly relieved, and the impact resistance can be improved to thereby the durability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramics spike pin improved in impact resistance for use with shoes or the like for golf, baseball, soccer, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known ceramics spike pin for golf shoes or the like is constructed of a pin body having a rounded outer circumference and a horizontally expanded base having a rounded outer circumference, wherein the outer circumference of the pin body is connected through a gently curved surface to the horizontally expanded base (cf. Japanese Paten Laid-open Publication No. 56-28703 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-35607).
However, the known spike pin has a problem in durability such that an impact strength is not sufficient for practical use.


The present invention provides a reference signal transmitting method and device, and a reference signal receiving method and device. The transmitting method comprises: determining the position of a time-frequency resource for a reference signal a transmission time interval (TTI) according to a preset manner; and transmitting the reference signal according to the position of the time-frequency resource. The present invention solves the problem in the related art of high processing delay of a user equipment (UE) that occurs because a DMRS is later-positioned, and reduces the processing delay of the UE.

Rapid development of an Internet of Things and a mobile Internet has triggered a wide rise of diverse differentiated services and an explosion of data traffic. As a new generation, a 5th-Generation (5G) technology for mobile communications is to support a new change in a demand by supporting a higher rate of Gigabits per second (Gbps), a massive amount of connections, of around one million connections per square kilometer (1M/Km2), an ultralow delay of about one millisecond (lms), higher reliability, energy efficiency enhanced by a factor of 100, etc., as compared to a 4th-Generation (4G) technology. As a key indicator of the 5G technology, an ultralow delay may have a direct impact on development of a delay-limited service such as an Internet of Vehicles, industrial automation, remote control, a smart grid, etc. Research on 5G delay lowering is under way.
A focus of the delay lowering research is to lower a Transmission Time Interval (TTI for short), desirably from 1 ms at the time being to 0.5 ms, or even a duration of 1˜2 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, to lower a minimal scheduling time by a factor of two, so as to lower a delay of a single transmission by a factor of two without changing a structure of a frame.
For a system with a TTI lowered to 0.5 ms, adoption of a De Modulation Reference Signal (DMRS) in related art that is located further back or lags behind may lead to a major processing delay for User Equipment (UE). When a TTI is lowered to 0.5 ms or less, the TTI may include no DMRS.
There is no effective solution for an aforementioned problem in related art.

Reference signal transmitting method and device, and reference signal receiving method and device


A packet obfuscation method comprising receiving a data packet having a routing header portion and a payload portion, performing a first obfuscation on the routing header portion to generate an obfuscated routing header portion, performing a second obfuscation on at least the payload portion to generate an obfuscated payload portion, and combining the obfuscated routing header portion and the obfuscated payload portion to form an obfuscated packet. A packet forwarding method comprising obfuscating routing information using a packet obfuscation function, generating a plurality of forwarding rule entries in accordance with the obfuscated routing information, transmitting the plurality of forwarding rule entries to at least one network node in a network, transmitting the packet obfuscation function to at least one network node in the network, and transmitting a de-obfuscation function to at least one network node in the network.

In a network, network nodes are vulnerable to attacks and/or backdoors that allow an attacker to remotely control a network node and/or to steal data traffic from the network node, resulting in loss of data and privacy. For example, an attacker may employ a forwarding network node to exploit transit traffic that is sent through a network. Transit traffic refers to data traffic that passes through a forwarding network node without terminating at the forwarding network node. Non-transit traffic refers to data traffic that terminates at the forwarding network node. Data packets may be taken from the forwarding network node and copied or sent to another destination. For instance, an attacker may tamper with an existing packet header (e.g., modifying an Internet Protocol (IP) address) or encapsulate a data packet with a new packet header (e.g., using IP in IP addressing).
To increase security, a network operator may use hop-by-hop encryption which provides packet confidentiality over network links, but does not provide packet confidentiality within a network node. Alternatively, a network operator may use site-to-site encryption which provides confidentiality over both network links and within transit routers. However, site-to-site encryption does not encrypt packet header information, and does not prevent protected traffic from being stolen for further analysis, for example offline decryption. End-to-end encryption may be used by a traffic owner to provide payload confidentiality. However, end-to-end encryption does not provide confidentiality for packet headers or traffic metadata and does not prevent encrypted traffic from being stolen for further analysis.

Packet obfuscation and packet forwarding