A process for making nanoparticles of biocompatible materials is described, wherein an aqueous reaction mixture comprising cerous ion, citric acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid in a predetermined ratio, an oxidant, and water is provided along with temperature conditions to directly form, without isolation, a stable dispersion of cerium oxide nanoparticles. These biocompatible cerium oxide nanoparticles may be used to prevent and/or treat oxidative stress related diseases, such as stroke, relapse/remitting multiple sclerosis, chronic-progressive multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and ischemic reperfusion injury.

Free radical oxidative stress plays a major role in the pathogenesis of many human diseases, and in particular, neurodegenerative diseases. Treatment with antioxidants, which may reduce particular free radical species, therefore, might theoretically prevent tissue damage and improve both survival and neurological outcome. Free radicals in physiological environments can often be classified as either a reactive oxygen species (ROS) or a reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Free radicals are highly reactive chemical species and readily react with proteins, lipids and nucleic acids at a subcellular level and thereby contribute to the progression of various diseases.
The origin of the use of nanoceria in nanomedicine can be traced to the seminal work of Bailey and Rzigalinski, wherein the application of ultrafine cerium oxide particles to brain cells in culture was observed to greatly enhanced cell survivability, as described by Rzigalinski in Nanoparticles and Cell Longevity, Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment 4(6), 651-659 (2005). More particularly, rat brain cell cultures in vitro were shown to survive approximately 3-4 times longer when treated with 2-10 nanometer (nm) sized cerium oxide nanoparticles synthesized by a reverse micelle micro emulsion technique, as reported by Rzigalinski et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 7,534,453, filed Sep. 4, 2003. Cultured brain cells exposed to a lethal dose of free radicals generated by hydrogen peroxide or ultraviolet light exposures were afforded considerable protection by the cerium oxide nanoparticles. In addition, the cerium oxide nanoparticles were reported to be relatively inert in the murine body, with low toxicity (e.g. tail vein injections produced no toxic effects). While no in vivo medical benefits were reported, benefits were postulated for treatments with these ceria nanoparticles, including reduced inflammation associated with wounds, implants, arthritis, joint disease, vascular disease, tissue aging, stroke and traumatic brain injury.
However, a host of problems with these particular nanoceria particles was subsequently reported by Rzigalinski et al. in WO 2007/002662. Nanoceria produced by this reverse micelle micro emulsion technique suffered from several problems: (1) particle size was not well-controlled within the reported 2-10 nanometer (nm) range, making variability between batches high; (2) tailing (carryover contamination) of surfactants, such as sodium bis(ethylhexyl)sulphosuccinate, also known as docusate sodium or (AOT), used in the process into the final product, caused toxic responses; (3) inability to control the amount of surfactant tailing posed problems with agglomeration when these nanoparticles were placed in biological media, resulting in reduced efficacy and deliverability; and (4) instability of the valence state of cerium (+3/+4) over time. Thus, the cerium oxide nanoparticles produced by the reverse micelle micro emulsion technique were highly variable from batch to batch, and showed higher than desired toxicity to mammalian cells.
As an alternative, Rzigalinski et al. in WO 2007/002662 reported the biological efficacy of nanoceria synthesized by high temperature techniques, obtained from at least three commercial sources. These new sources of cerium oxide nanoparticles were reported to provide superior reproducibility of activity from batch to batch. It was further reported that, regardless of source, cerium oxide particles having a small size, narrow size distribution, and low agglomeration rate are most advantageous. In regard to size, this disclosure specifically asserts that in embodiments where particles are taken into the interior of cells, the preferable size range of particles that are taken into the cell are from about 11 nm to about 50 nm, such as about 20 nm. In embodiments where particles exert their effects on cells from outside the cells, the preferable size range of these extracellular particles is from about 11 nm to about 500 nm.
Rzigalinski et al. also report that for delivery, the nanoparticles were advantageously in a non-agglomerated form. To accomplish this, they reported that stock solutions of about 10% by weight could be sonicated in ultra-high purity water or in normal saline prepared with ultra-high purity water. However, as others have noted, sonicated aqueous dispersions of nanoceria synthesized by high temperature techniques (e.g. obtained from commercial sources) are highly unstable, and settle rapidly (i.e. within minutes), causing substantial variability in administering aqueous dispersions of nanoceria derived from these sources.
Rzigalinski et al. report biological efficacy in relatively simple model systems, including in vitro cell cultures, orally fed Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies, and in mice that were tail vein injected with an apparently less than therapeutic dose (300 nanomoles or about 0.2 mg/kg).
Yokel et al. in Nanotoxicology, 2009, 3(3): 234-248, describe an extensive study of the biodistribution and oxidative stress effects of a commercial ceria nanomaterial. In particular, a 5% nanoceria dispersion obtained from Aldrich (#639648) was sonicated for 3 minutes and infused into rats at 50, 250 and 750 mg/kg nanoceria dose. The nature of any nanoparticle surface stabilizer(s) was unknown for this material. The size of the nanoceria particles was characterized by a variety of techniques and reported to be on average 31+/−4 nm by dynamic light scattering. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that most of the particles were platelets with a bimodal size distribution with peaks at 8 nm and 24 nm, along with some particles ˜100 nm. It was observed that blood incubated for 1 hour with this form of nanoceria had agglomerates ranging from ˜200 nm to greater than 1 micron, and that when infused into rats, it was rapidly cleared from the blood (half-life of 7.5 minutes). Most of the nanoceria was observed to accumulate in the liver and spleen, while it was not clear that any substantial amount had penetrated the blood brain barrier and entered brain tissue cells.
Yokel et al. then sought precise control over the nanoceria surface coating (stabilizer) and prepared stable aqueous dispersions of nanoceria by the direct two-step hydrothermal preparation of Masui et al., J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 21, 489-491 (2002), which included sodium citrate as a biocompatible stabilizer. High resolution TEM revealed that this form of nanoceria possessed crystalline polyhedral particle morphology with sharp edges and a narrow size distribution of 4-6 nm. Citrate stabilized dispersions of these 5 nm average size ceria nanoparticles were reported to be stable for more than 2 months at a physiological pH of 7.35 and zeta potential of −53 mV. Thus no sonication prior to administration was required.
Results of an extensive biodistribution and toxicology study of this form of citrate stabilized nanoceria were reported by Hardas et al., Toxicological Sciences 116(2), 562-576 (2010). Surprisingly, they report that compared with the previously studied ˜30 nm nanoceria (Aldrich (#639648), described above), this smaller nanoceria was more toxic, was not seen in the brain, and produced little effect on oxidative stress in the hippocampus and cerebellum. The results were contrary to the hypothesis that smaller engineered nanomaterial would readily permeate the blood brain barrier.
While cerium oxide containing nanoparticles can be prepared by a variety of techniques known in the art, the particles typically require a stabilizer to prevent undesirable agglomeration. In regard to biocompatible nanoceria stabilizers used previously, Masui et al., J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 21, 489-491 (2002) describe a two-step hydrothermal process that directly produces stable aqueous dispersions of ceria nanoparticles that uses citrate buffer as a stabilizer. However, this process is both time consuming and equipment intensive, requiring two separate 24 hours reaction steps in heavy closed-reactors.
Sandford et al., WO 2008/002323 A2, report an aqueous preparation technique using a biocompatible stabilizer (acetic acid) that directly produces nanoparticle dispersions of cerium dioxide without a precipitation or isolation step, and without subsequent calcination. Cerous ion is slowly oxidized to ceric ion by nitrate ion, and a stable non-agglomerated sol of 11 nm crystallite size (and approximately equal grain size) is obtained when acetic acid is used as a stabilizer.
DiFrancesco et al. in PCT/US2007/077545, METHOD OF PREPARING CERIUM DIOXIDE NANOPARTICLES, filed Sep. 4, 2007, describes the oxidation of cerous ion by hydrogen peroxide at low pH (<4.5) in the presence of biocompatible stabilizers, such as citric acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and combinations thereof. Specifically, the stabilizer lactic acid and the combination of lactic acid and EDTA are shown to directly produce stable dispersions of nanoceria (average particle size in the range of 3-8 nm), without an intermediate particle isolation step.
Karakoti et al. in J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 17232-17240 (2007) report a direct synthesis of nanoceria in mono/polysaccharides by oxidation of cerous ion in both acidic conditions (by hydrogen peroxide) and basic conditions (by ammonium hydroxide). The specific biocompatible stabilizers disclosed include glucose and dextran. Individual particle sizes as small as 3-5 nm are disclosed, however, weak agglomerates of 10-30 nm result. While the source of the colloidal instability is not described, it is believed that the magnitude of the zeta potential of these particles may not have been sufficiently large.
Karakoti et al. in JOM (Journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society) 60(3), 33-37 (2008) comment on the challenge of synthesizing stable dispersions of nanoceria in biologically relevant media, so as to be compatible with organism physiology, as requiring an understanding of colloidal chemistry (zeta potential, particle size, dispersant, pH of solution, etc.) so as not to interfere with the reduction/oxidation (redox) ability of the nanoceria that enables the scavenging of free radicals (reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species). Karakoti et al. specifically describe the oxidation of cerium nitrate by hydrogen peroxide at low pH (<3.5) in the absence of any stabilizer, as well as, in the presence of dextran, ethylene glycol and polyethylene glycol (PEG) stabilizers. Particle sizes of 3-5 nm are reported, although particle agglomeration to 10-20 nm is also reported.
Kim et al. in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 1-6 report that 3 nm nanoceria synthesized by a reverse micelle method and encapsulated with phospholipid-polyethylene glycol (PEG) can protect against ischemic stroke in rats by reducing brain infarct volume and by scavenging ROS. However, higher doses are not protective, and it is believed that this may be related to surfactant tailing problems, as noted above, that plague the reverse micelle synthesis method.
There remains a need for efficient and effective methods and agents for mediating and ameliorating damage from free radical oxidative stress. In addition, a need remains for further improvements in methods for the direct preparation (i.e. without a particle isolation step) of biocompatible dispersions of cerium-containing nanoparticles, for example, in higher yield, in a shorter period of time and at higher suspension densities, that are sufficiently small in size, capable of penetrating a healthy or unhealthy blood brain barrier, more uniform in size frequency distribution, stable and non-toxic in a wide range of biological media, with increased cellular uptake and vascular circulation time in vivo. Additionally, it would be quite useful to produce medicaments for the prevention and/or treatment of inflammation and oxidative stress related events, such as ischemic stroke and reperfusion injury, and oxidative stress related diseases, in particular, central nervous system diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in mammals, and particularly in humans.

Nanoceria for neutralizing free radicals


Systems and methods which provide processing of payment errors with respect to delivery services in accordance with user preferences are disclosed herein. According to embodiments, a delivery service user provides information with respect to how payment errors with respect to delivery services provided to the user are to be handled to facilitate electronic and/or automated processing of such payment errors. A user may authorize payment shortages on the user's behalf, may request notification for an ad hoc determination as to how the shortage is to be handled, or may elect to have postal items returned in the case of payment shortage. Various levels of payment error handling services may be provided with respect to users. Detailed information, such as statistics with respect to users' payment errors, the numbers and types of payment errors, user's preferences in handling payment errors, etcetera, may be provided.

Many postal and shipping services (referred to collectively herein as delivery services) require prepayment for such services, as may be shown through some form of value indicia placed on a letter or parcel. For example, postal services such as the United States Postal Service (USPS) require a stamp, meter stamp, or postage indicia to be affixed to letters and parcels upon their entry into the mail stream in order to show that a requisite amount of value has been paid for their handling and delivery.
Often, either through error or malfeasance, a user of a delivery service may purchase and thus apply an incorrect amount of postage to an item for which delivery services are desired. Such errors in postage typically result in a payment shortage. Allowing such payment shortages to pass unchecked can result in significant losses in revenues for a delivery service such as the USPS. Accordingly, delivery services often have some procedure in place, typically manual, for identifying and handling payment shortages.
The USPS, for example, has implemented a manual procedure for identifying and handling payment shortages. Although the processing of mail and parcels by the USPS is highly automated, payment shortages are primarily identified through manual intervention. For example, as a letter or parcel passes through the mail stream, a postal employee may notice that a container appears unusually large or excessively heavy for the amount of postage applied. This postal item will be physically removed from the mail stream and placed in a bin for providing to a payment shortage processing department for manual processing. The payment shortage processing department will typically weigh, and possibly measure, the postal item to determine the correct amount of postage for the delivery services.
If it is determined that the amount of postage applied constitutes an underpayment, the payment shortage processing department may handle the mail in one of two ways. If the amount of underpayment is not excessive (e.g., less than one-half the proper amount) and the postal item is not part of a mailing from a same sender in which a large number (e.g., ten or more) of postal items have an improper postage amount affixed thereto, the postal item may be marked "postage due" and the requested delivery services performed. In such a situation, it falls upon the recipient to either pay the amount of the underpayment or to refuse delivery of the postal item, in which case the postal item will be returned to the sender where possible. If the amount of underpayment is excessive (e.g., more than one-half the proper amount), the postal item is part of a mailing from the same sender in which a large number (e.g., ten or more) of postal items have an improper postage amount affixed thereto, or there is another reason for refusing to deliver the postal item (e.g., the postal item involves international delivery), the postal item may be returned to the sender or delivery by the delivery service may otherwise be refused.
It can be appreciated from the foregoing that underpayment for delivery services can result in appreciable increased costs for a delivery service provider. For example, manual identification and processing of postal items results in significant per item costs over the typical automated processing provided by such delivery services as the USPS. Moreover, providing for the collection and accounting of postage due payments adds a significant burden to the delivery service's processes. Returning items to a sender incurs appreciable costs by the delivery service provider (perhaps as much as delivering the item to the intended recipient). Moreover, the foregoing processing results in delays in delivery of the item, thereby causing dissatisfaction with senders and receivers alike. However, such processing of payment shortages for delivery services is considered necessary by delivery services in order to discourage chronic or systematic underpayment, which would have significant revenue losses associated therewith.

System and method for handling payment errors with respect to delivery services


An underwater generator contains a three-phase electromagnetic coil system imbedded in a stator to form an external face surface perpendicular to its axis. A rotor contains radial vanes and a system of alternating permanent magnets imbedded onto a peripheral ring outside of the vanes so as to form an internal face surface positioned next to the external face surface and forming an axial gap therebetween. The rotor also contains a series of radial channels connecting the central area of the hollow shaft to the area of the axial gap. The rotor is spring-loaded and is capable of moving along its axis so that the axial gap can be changed. An auxiliary pump is provides to pump water into the axial gap and therefore create a hydrostatic pressure on the rotor to counteract the electromagnetic attraction forces generated during the operation of the device. The flow of the auxiliary pump is chosen in such a way as to maintain the axial gap within the range of 0.15 to 0.20 mm regardless of the incoming water current or any wear of the generator components. Such wear may result from abrasion caused by the sand or other particles carried by the water current. The underwater generator can be used most advantageously in small rivers and other similar sources of water currents frequently contaminated with sand particles. The generator of the invention has long operational life and maintains high efficiency of energy generating over a wide range of operating parameters.

The present invention relates generally to combined turbine and generator units for hydroelectric plants deriving electrical energy from the subsurface water currents. It is especially useful in medium and small head plants for use in remote areas where regular electrical grid is not available. More specifically, the invention relates to hermetically sealed generators with self-adjusting axial gap.
Small underwater generators are generally known in the prior art. They typically include a turbine portion rotating a shaft and a generator portion for transferring into electricity of the kinetic energy of magnetic coils and alike of the rotor passing by the stationary coils of the stator. For underwater application, this general approach suffers from two problems: first, the shaft needs to be sealed, and second, a brush contact system for energizing the rotating coils has to be provided. The problem of longevity arises in submerged generators when the rotary shaft seal wears out and water gains access to the inside of the generator unit. Another problem stems from the wear of the electrical contact brushes, which require periodic replacement necessitating removal of the unit from the water.
Sealed underwater generators have been proposed in the prior art. One example of such is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,156 by Struble, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. It shows a sealed stator containing a permanently attached shaft. An impeller is mounted on the shaft and contains a series of permanent magnets. Underwater current causes the impeller to rotate and therefore to move the permanent magnets next to the electrical coils of the stator of the unit whereby electricity is generated. Effectiveness of the generator directly depends on the optimal gap between the permanent magnets and the coils of the stator. This design incorporates a bearing system to support the rotation of the impeller, which is typical for these devices. The longevity of the device is limited due to the wear of the bearings causing the axial shift in the position of the impeller and therefore a decline in generating capacity of the device.
Guimbal shows another example of the permanent magnet underwater generator in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,375. The generator unit is coupled directly with the turbine unit, which obviates the need for a complex gearbox or another type of a transmission. This design relies on a source of pressurized oil to fill in the space of the generator to lubricate it and to transfer away the heat that is generated by the unit. Such a provision may not be practical in remote areas where the generator of this type may be used most advantageously.
A further yet example of the small generator is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,127,847 by Schulte. A nautical instrument measures a speed of the boat to which it is mounted. A generator has a small impeller equipped with a series of permanent magnets, which is passively turned on by the moving boat. The faster the boat is the more electricity is generated therefore the speed may be estimated based on the generator output. There is no provision again here for any self-adjustment of the axial gap due to the wear of the axial bearing system, which ultimately may cause a decline in the instrument accuracy.
Finally, a self-adjusting axial gap design of the motor/generator is shown by Miller in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,419. A spring-loaded flywheel is shown to contain a series of permanent magnets rotating next to a stator having a series of electromagnetic coils. When engaged with the stator, the gap is maintained small due to the tapered design of the flywheel and the stator and the axial forces generated by the torque of the device. When the flywheel is allowed to rotate freely, it shifts axially away from the stator so that the electromagnetic drag is minimized. This design has two distinct main positions of the flywheel and does not allow for infinite position adjustment in response to the wear of the axial bearing.
The need exists therefore for a small sealed underwater generator having a simple and reliable design for use in remote areas with high reliability and longevity. The need also exists for an underwater generator capable of working in small rivers and alike. In such conditions, water flow may be heavily contaminated with floating particles such as sand. Sand filled water may cause rapid wear of the components of the traditional underwater generators resulting in an increase of the axial gap of the turbine and a decline in energy generating capacity.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome these and other drawbacks of the prior art by providing a novel sealed directly coupled underwater generator with self-adjusting axial gap to maintain the high electrical energy generating capacity despite the wear of its components.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sealed generator with long operational life and extended periods between scheduled maintenance and repairs.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an underwater generator capable of functioning in water currents heavily contaminated with floating particles such as sand.
It is a further yet objective of the present invention to provide an underwater generator with a capacity to maintain the optimal axial gap over a wide range of operating parameters including changes in the upcoming water current.
These objectives of the invention are achieved by providing a generator having its rotor directly coupled to its turbine. The three-phase synchronous generator includes a series of permanent magnets sealingly incorporated into its rotor. The rotor is rotated on a shaft by the incoming water flow in such a way that the permanent magnets move about and in close vicinity to the alternating electromagnetic coils of the stator. The objectives of the present invention are realized by providing a rotor with the ability for axial shift along the shaft. The rotor is spring loaded at the end of the shaft to force it towards the housing in the direction opposite the flow direction of the incoming water current.
The rotor is provided with inside channels and cavities, which are organized in such a way that the axial gap between the rotor and the stator is maintained in the optimal range. The gap is defined by a balance between the force of the spring and the axial pressure of the water current regardless of the wear status of the bearings. This is achieved for the most part by providing a constant flow auxiliary pump driven by the turning rotor. The pump is infusing a constant amount of water along the vane channels in the rotor and into the gap on the periphery between the rotor and the stator. That flow develops an axial hydrodynamic force against the rotor. A combination of that force in addition to an electromagnetic force and the force of the spring determines the final axial gap between the rotor and the stator. Wear of the rotor from the incoming flow of suspended particles of sand and alike result in increase of the gap but that in turn leads to reduction on flow resistance from the auxiliary pump and subsequent drop in the hydrodynamic forces component. A balance of forces is therefore disturbed and the rotor is shifted closer to the stator by the spring. This automatic action increases the flow resistance, raises the hydrodynamic forces and brings the axial gap back into the acceptable range. The flow channels are made wide enough to allow for flowing water to carry through any amounts of particles including sand without trapping thereof inside the unit.

Small underwater generator with self-adjusting axial gap


A programmable logic device is provided with phase-locked loop ("PLL") circuitry that includes two serially connected PLL circuits. An input clock signal is processed by a first of the PLL circuits to produce an intermediate clock signal having a frequency different from the input clock signal frequency. The intermediate clock signal is processed by the second PLL circuit to produce a final modified clock signal having a frequency different from both the input clock signal frequency and the intermediate clock signal frequency. By providing two serially connected PLL circuits, each PLL circuit can be required to operate with frequencies in a narrower range than might otherwise be required in a single PLL circuit required to produce a given input-to-final frequency change. Other circuitry on the programmable logic device (e.g., input/output registers and programmable logic circuitry for processing data signals) is responsive to the input and final modified clock signals. The two PLL circuits may alternatively be used separately or partly separately.

This invention relates to programmable logic integrated circuit devices, and more particularly to phase-locked loop ("PLL") circuitry for programmable logic devices.
It is well known to provide PLL circuitry on programmable logic devices for such purposes as counteracting clock signal propagation delay on the device, for enabling the device to convert from one clock signal frequency (e.g., an input clock signal frequency) to another different clock signal frequency (e.g., to be output by the device), etc. Some applications of programmable logic devices may require a PLL circuit to operate with frequencies outside a range that would be expected in most cases and for which a PLL circuit is readily designed. It would therefore be desirable to have PLL circuitry for programmable logic devices that can perform tasks conventionally requiring a PLL circuit to operate with very high and/or very low frequencies without the PLL circuitry that is provided having to support such a wide range of frequencies.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of this invention to provide improved PLL circuitry for programmable logic devices.
It is a more particular object of this invention to provide PLL circuitry for programmable logic devices that extends the PLL capabilities of the devices without the necessity for extending the operating frequency range of any part of the PLL circuitry.

Phase-locked loop circuitry for programmable logic devices


An image is rendered on a display having a limited number of primary colors by (104) combining input data representing the color of a pixel to be rendered with error data to form modified input data, determining in a color space the simplex (208—typically a tetrahedron) enclosing the modified input data and the primary colors associated with the simplex, converting (210) the modified image data to barycentric coordinates based upon the primary colors associated with the simplex and (212) setting output data to the primary having the largest barycentric coordinate. calculating (214) the difference between the modified input data and the output data for the pixel, thus generating error data, applying (106) this error data to at least one later-rendered pixel, and applying the output data to the display and thus rendering the image on the display. Apparatus and computer-storage media for carrying out this process are also provided.

This invention relates to a method for rendering color images. More specifically, this invention relates to a method for half-toning color images in situations where a limited set of primary colors are available, and this limited set may not be well structured. The method of the present invention is particularly, although not exclusively, intended for use with color electrophoretic displays
Half-toning has been used for many decades in the printing industry to represent gray tones by covering a varying proportion of each pixel of white paper with black ink. Similar half-toning schemes can be used with CMY or CMYK color printing systems, with the color channels being varied independently of each other.
However, there are many color systems in which the color channels cannot be varied independently of one another, in as much as each pixel can display any one of a limited set of primary colors (such systems may hereinafter be referred to as "limited palette displays" or "LPD's"); the ECD patent color displays are of this type. To create other colors, the primaries must be spatially dithered to produce the correct color sensation. It is known to effect such spatial dithering by using, for any desired color, only the primary colors at the vertices of a tetrahedron which contains the desired color; see, for example:                Arad, N., Shaped, D., Baharav, Z., & Lin, Q. (1999). Barycentric Screening and Ostromoukhov, Victor, and Roger D. Hersch. "Multi-color and artistic dithering." Proceedings of the 26th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques. ACM Press/Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1999.Both these documents effect dithering by means of a threshold-array based screening method, which is a simple dithering method that has been found not to give good results in ECD patent displays.
Standard dithering algorithms such as error diffusion algorithms (in which the "error" introduced by printing one pixel in a particular color which differs from the color theoretically required at that pixel is distributed among neighboring pixels so that overall the correct color sensation is produced) can be employed with limited palette displays. However, such standard algorithms are typically intended for use with a limited palette which is "well structured", in the sense that the distances in the appropriate color space between the primary colors are substantially constant. There is considerable literature on the problems of designing optimal color palettes that perform well with error diffusion; see, for example:                Kolpatzik, Bernd W., and Charles A. Bouman. "Optimized Universal Color Palette Design for Error Diffusion." Journal of Electronic Imaging 4.2. (1995): 131-143.However, in ECD and similar limited palette displays, in which the limited palette is defined by the colors capable of being generated by the system, the limited palette may not be well structured, i.e., the distances between the various primaries in the color space may differ greatly from one another.
FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a schematic flow diagram of a prior art palette based error diffusion method, generally designated 100. At input 102, color values xi,j are fed to a processor 104, where they are added to the output of an error filter 106 (described below) to produce a modified input ui,j. The modified inputs ui,j are fed to a quantizer 108, which also receives details of the palette {Pk} of the output device. The quantizer 108 determines the appropriate color for the pixel being considered, given by:
      y          i      ,      j        =      arg                                        min                  P          k                                                                u                          i              ,              j                                -                      P            k                                      and feeds to appropriate colors to the device controller (or stores the color values for later transmission to the device controller). Both the modified inputs ui,j and the outputs are fed to a processor 110, which calculates error values ei,j, where:ei,j=ui,j−yi,j The error values ei,j are then fed to the error filter 106, which serves to distribute the error values over one or more selected pixels. For example, if the error diffusion is being carried out on pixels from left to right in each row and from top to bottom in the image, the error filter 106 might distribute the error over the next pixel in the row being processed, and the three nearest neighbors of the pixel being processed in the next row down. Alternatively, the error filter 106 might distribute the error over the next two pixels in the row being processed, and the nearest neighbors of the pixel being processed in the next two rows down. It will be appreciated that the error filter need not apply the same proportion of the error to each of the pixels over which the error is distributed; for example when the error filter 106 distributes the error over the next pixel in the row being processed, and the three nearest neighbors of the pixel being processed in the next row down, it may be appropriate to distribute more of the error to the next pixel in the row being processed and to the pixel immediately below the pixel being processed, and less of the error to the two diagonal neighbors of the pixel being processed.
Unfortunately, it has been found that if one attempts to use conventional error diffusion methods such as that shown in FIG. 1 to ECD and similar limited palette displays, severe artifacts are generated which may render the resultant images unusable. For example, in one type of artifact, (hereinafter called a "transient" artifact) when stepping from one input color to a next very different color, the spatial transient can be so long that the output never settles to the correct average even across the size of object being rendered. In another type of artifact (hereinafter called a "pattern jumping" artifact), for a constant color input image, the output jumps between two different sets of primaries at a seemingly random position in the image. Although both sets of primaries should ideally produce output close to the color being requested, the resultant output is not robust because small changes in the system can cause these switching between the two sets and the texture change at such a jump is also noticeable and unpleasant.
The present invention seeks to provide a method of rendering color images which can be used with palettes which are not well structured, and may be large, without producing transient and pattern jumping artifacts to which standard error diffusion methods are susceptible.


The present invention relates to the technical field of communications, and in particular, to the technology of obtaining a roaming number of a callee based on an HLR system and fetching the roaming number of the callee from a visited MSC. The invention provides a distributed HLR system and a method for obtaining a roaming number of a callee, the method includes: determining, by a user database device of a distributed HLR system, an HLR front end corresponding to an identification number according to the corresponding relationship information after obtaining the identification number of a callee from a received SRI request message, sending a PRN request message of the callee via the determined HLR front end, and obtaining a roaming number of the callee from a returned PRN response message. After a user database device of a distributed HLR system receives an SRI request message, an HLR front end on which an MAP process of the callee takes place is taken as the exit of the PRN request message, so that the path through which the PRN request message reaches the MSC on which the callee registers may be shortened, the network resources may be saved, and the time delay of a service may be reduced.

In a communication network, data such as user subscription information, authentication information and dynamic information (for example, home location) is stored in an HLR. With the continuous development of networks and services, the HLR evolves to a user data storage network with a large capacity, a distributed mode, high reliability, a separated architecture, a uniform data model and an open interface. Therefore, the HLR no longer presents in the physical form of a single system; instead, it presents as a network having a layered architecture with different functions, which is referred to as "distributed HLR system" in the industry.
As shown in FIG. 1, a distributed HLR system may be consisted of a plurality of user database devices and a plurality of HLR front ends. Where, the user database devices are used to store user data, and the HLR front ends are used to accomplish the conversion from an Mobile Application Part (MAP) Protocol to an Internal Standard Protocol. In order to improve the overall reliability of the system, a service system, such as MSC, Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Service Control Point (SCP), interacts with an HLR front end, and the HLR front end interacts with a user database device; a plurality of user database devices in a distributed HLR system store the same user data and synchronize the user data in real time so as to improve the security of the data; a plurality of devices in the distributed HLR system may be geographically widely deployed based on the IP bearer, so that they have the geographic disaster recovery capability.
At present, in a mobile communication network, a distributed HLR system employs the application mode as shown in FIG. 2. A distributed HLR system provides services to users in a plurality of signaling areas; in each signaling area, an HLR front end of the distributed HLR system is set proximately with a Signaling Transfer Point (STP) device and an MSC to reduce the link construction; the STP in each signaling area is responsible for routing an MAP signaling between different signaling areas according to the number range.
In the above application mode, it is hypothesized that a user A with the number of 1390011001 in a signaling area 1 calls a user B with the number of 1390012001 in a signaling area 2 via an MSC 1, the procedure of fetching a roaming number of a callee from a visited MSC is as shown in FIG. 3, which includes the following processes.
S301: The MSC 1 initiates an MAP request message for Send Routing Information (SRI) via a proximate HLR front end (for example, an HLR front end A).
S302: A user database device initiates an MAP operating process for Provide Roaming Number (PRN) via the HLR front end A according to a registration MSC number of the user B (which is MSC 2 herein).
S303: The HLR front end A generally selects a proximate STP 1 for the routing of a PRN request message to the MSC 2.
S304: The MSC 2 returns the roaming number of the user B in a PRN response message after receiving the PRN request message (no matter whether the user B registers in an MSC of the home network or registers in an MSC of the roaming network, the network allocates a roaming number to the user B).
The PRN response message reaches the user database device via the STP 2, the STP 1 and the HLR front end A.
S305: The user database device feeds back the roaming number of the user B to the MSC 1 via an SRI response message.
S306: The MSC 1 initiates to the MSC 2 a call to the user B according to the roaming number of the user B.
It can be seen from the above procedure that, in the prior art, when fetching the roaming number of the callee from the visited MSC (i.e., determining the routing of the callee according to the roaming number of the callee), the distributed HLR system selects the HLR front end that functions as the entrance of the SRI request message as the exit of the PRN request message. The inventors of the present invention find that, in such a method for fetching the roaming number of the callee from the visited MSC, the routing of the PRN message is circuitous, which increases the load of the STP interfaces and links of the signaling network, thus wasting the network resources and bringing larger time delay of a service.

Distributed HLR system and method for obtaining roaming number of callee


The invention is a non-ridged, semi-buoyant vehicle. In detail, the invention includes a pressure stabilized gasbag having front and rear ends and an aerodynamic shape capable of producing lift, and longitudinal, vertical and horizontal axis, the tail end of the gasbag extending outward along the horizontal axis from each side of the longitudinal axis toward said front end at an acute angle to the horizontal axis. A horizontal tail surface is mounted outboard of the rear end of the gasbag, having a trailing edge extending outward along the horizontal axis from each side of the longitudinal axis toward the front end at the acute angle to the horizontal axis. A horizontal ridged beam is mounted outboard of the rear end of the gasbag that extends outward along the horizontal axis from each side of the longitudinal axis toward the front end at the acute angle to the horizontal axis with the horizontal tail surface mounted to the beam. The preferred acute angle is approximately 20 degrees. The gasbag further includes a plurality of vertical catenary curtains attached between the top and bottom surfaces of the gasbag. A vertical extending flexible bean is attached to each of catenary curtains. These straps have top and bottom ends extending out of the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of said gasbag. Top and bottom attachment fittings are mounted by a first end to the top and bottom ends, respectively, of the ridged beam and by their second ends to the top and bottom ends, respectively, of the flexible straps.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of airships and, in particular, to a non-ridged aerodynamic lift producing vehicle with improved lifting gas distribution such that center of buoyancy is more closely aligned with the center of gravity of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
There are basically two main types of fully lighter-than-air vehicles; the ridged type or as it is more commonly called the "dirigible" and the non-ridged type or "blimp". Blimps basically comprise a single or multi-number of non-ridged gasbags wherein internal inflation pressure is used to form the external shape of the vehicle. A typical example of this design is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,418 "Elongated Inflatable Structures For Flying Device Bodies" by M. Eymard the shape of the vehicle. The other basic type of lighter-than-air vehicle is the ridged design wherein an internal support structure is covered with a flexible material that serves as the outer skin. The vehicle may consist of a single gas chamber wherein the outer skin serves as the "gas bag" or can have numerous internal gasbags. An example of this concept can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,112 "Vectored Thrust Airship" by F. N. Piasecki, et al. However, both examples require that they be simultaneously loaded and unloaded in order to prevent the vehicle from "flying off." In fact, such vehicles must be tethered when on the ground during such operations. A particular limitation of the non-ridged design is that the cargo compartment and propulsion system must be mounted on gondola at the bottom of the vehicle. The gondola is typically supported by catenary cables or curtains attached to the top of the gasbag. The dirigible design allows most if not all these components to be mounted within the main body of the vehicle; although most all incorporates a gondola of some sort. However, when the vehicle is extremely large there costs become prohibitive because the complexity of the internal structure. A problem with both designs is that, as fuel is consumed, the vehicle becomes lighter.
These two examples are true lighter-than-air vehicles in that the gas filled balloon generates all the lift. However, having the external contour of the vehicle in an aerodynamic lift producing shape can reduce the overall size of such vehicles and generally cost, for any given payload. Such aircraft are not totally buoyant and take off in a manner similar to a conventional aircraft. In such designs, it is common practice to use a ridged internal frame (the dirigible concept) in order to maintain the proper contour. For example U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,719 "Airship" by J. R., Fitzpatick, Jr. While the Fitzpatick, Jr. design uses a ridged skin, most use a flexible gasbag with an internal frame structure.
Of course there are non-ridged designs such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,778,585 "Dynamic Lift Airship" by D. B. Tschudy. D. B. Tschudy's design includes a multi-lobe gasbag with a general aerodynamic shape, formed by catenary cables extending between the upper and lower surfaces of the vehicle.
However, there are problems with such vehicles, especially when they are very large. The generation of dynamic lift from the gasbag the vehicle creates bending in the gasbag, which are much greater than found in conventional fully buoyant vehicles. Secondly, the lift-generating body is much more aerodynamically unstable and therefore requires much larger tail surfaces than conventional vehicles, which in turn creates even greater loads on the air bag. These two factors would tend to point toward the use of a ridged internal structure. However, it has been found designing a ridged internal structure that's light enough and simple enough to produce at a reasonable cost does not appear to be feasible at the present time. Thus a pressure-stabilized structure appears to provide the only viable solution.
Prior art approaches such as disclosed by D. B. Tschudy addresses the above issue in that a metal support structure at the rear of the airship gas bag is used to absorb and distribute loads induced by the elevators into the gas bag. However, it is a complicated assembly. The three main lobes terminate in the same plane and the support structure includes 3 connected cup shaped caps that attach to the ends of the three lobes. While such an approach provides some benefit, it would have insufficient effect in very large vehicle. In addition, it does address the issue of the need to align the center of buoyancy with the center of gravity.
Thus, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a non-ridged partially buoyant vehicle having a low drag shape.
It is another primary object of the invention to provide a non-ridged partially buoyant vehicle that allows the vehicle mass and buoyancy centers to align while providing additionally providing increased support for large tail surfaces.
It is another primary object of the invention to provide a non-ridged partially buoyant vehicle that has an improved tail assembly load distribution system.

Semi-buoyant vehicle with aerodynamic lift capability


A display device is disclosed, wherein the display device comprises a light source configured to emit light, a projection lens configured to transfer the light to a display surface, at least one other optical element, and a lens disposed optically between the light source and the projection lens, wherein the lens is configured to enable a first transfer of the light from the light source to the at least one other optical element, and the lens is configured to enable a second transfer of the light from the at least one other optical element to the projection lens.

Projection devices including both front display and rear display systems generally include one or more optical elements. These optical elements may include lenses and redirecting elements such as mirrors for processing, redirecting, and focusing light onto a display surface. In some projection devices, a relay lens and mirror may be arranged within the light path to transfer and focus light received from a light source onto an image-producing element (such as a microdisplay) for image creation. The image-producing element may then be configured to redirect light toward a projection lens.
Some projection devices may be configured to have a reduced size along one or more dimensions compared to conventional devices. For example, thin rear projection devices are configured to have a reduced depth so that the display may be mounted to a wall or like surface. Likewise portable front projection devices may have reduced size along one or more dimensions for increased portability. However, the arrangement and size of the optical elements used in these devices may impose a lower limit on the dimensions of the devices. For example, the use of a single relay lens may allow the construction of a smaller or thinner projection device relative to the use of a pair of relay lenses. However, the power of the single relay lens may have to be increased to achieve the same optical effect as the pair of relay lenses. The higher power single lens may be larger and more expensive to construct, and may therefore limit the size and increase the cost of a projection device.


A clamp assembly is disclosed for detachably retaining a curved laying pipe along the correspondingly curved edge of an auger support plate in a rolling mill laying head. The clamp assembly comprises a boss fixed to and projecting from the curved edge of the support plate. The boss has a first opening extending therethrough and an exterior support surface. A generally U-shaped clamp has a bridging web joining mutually spaced cheeks with second openings extending therethrough. The cheeks are configured and arranged to straddle the boss with their second openings in alignment with the first opening in the boss, and with the bridging web coacting with the exterior support surface of the boss to confine a segment of the laying pipe therebetween. A pin extends in an inserted position through the aligned first and second openings in the boss and the cheeks.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to laying heads of the type used in rolling mills to form hot rolled rods and other like products into rings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a rolling mill laying head, a hot rolled rod is directed through a three dimensionally curved laying pipe removably held on the edge of an auger shaped support plate by a series of clamps. The support plate forms part of a pipe support that is rotated at high speeds to thereby form the rod exiting from the laying pipe into a continuous series of rings.
The clamps are typically held in place by pins which in turn are secured by retaining bolts. During mill operation, the hot rolled rod travels through the laying pipe at high speeds and is forced to follow the curvature of the pipe, resulting in frictional wear of the pipe interior. When wear becomes severe, which occurs at intervals dictated by the rod material, temperature and speed, the laying pipe must be changed. When making a pipe change, all clamps must first be removed before the worn laying pipe can be replaced with a new pipe, and the clamps must then be reinstalled once the replacement pipe is in place. This necessitates removal and replacement of the retaining bolts, a labor intensive and time consuming procedure, resulting in protracted mill downtime that adversely affects production and mill efficiency.
There exists a need, therefore, for an improved clamp assembly that not only securely retains the laying pipe in place, but that also can be more easily and rapidly removed and reinstalled when changing laying pipes.


A refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator includes a body defining a storage space; a door selectively shielding the storage space; a container connecting part disposed in the storage space or the door; a water supply container separably coupled to the container connecting part, the water supply container including an opening for injecting water; an ice making device for making ice using the water supplied from the water supply container; a water supply passage fluidly connecting the water supply container to the ice making device, the water supply passage extending in an inside direction of the water supply container; and a pump connected to the water supply passage to supply the water within the water supply container into the ice making device. According to the refrigerator, installation cost is reduced, and quality and reliability are improved.

In general, a refrigerator is a home appliance that can store foods at low temperatures in an inside storage space shielded by a refrigerating compartment door. In detail, the refrigerator can store the foods at an optimum state by cooling the storage space using cooling air generated through heat exchange with refrigerant changed to low temperature and low pressure conditions in a cooling cycle.
As dietary life changes, the size of the refrigerator tends to increase more and more, and multiple functions are provided to the refrigerator. Accordingly, refrigerators having various structures and convenient devices are brought to the market upon consideration of user requirements.
Representative examples of the convenient devices include an ice making device for making ice and an ice/water dispenser. The ice making device and the dispenser for providing the ice or water to a user may be disposed in the refrigerator and the refrigerating compartment door.
The ice making device generally uses a method in which water is directly filled in a tray for making the ice or a method in which the water is filled in a water supply container having a water capacity for making the ice once, and then the water supply container is fitted to supply the water stored in the water supply container to the tray for making the ice.
However, in such a structure, the ice making device can make ice only once. If the water supply container having a large capacity is used, water within the water supply container is frozen due to the nature of a temperature of a freezing compartment. As a result, it is impossible to continuously perform a proper function of the ice making device.
To solve the above-described limitations, a refrigerator has been developed in which a water supply line is directly connected to a household water pipe to continuously make water available to the ice making device. Also, the water supply is connected to the dispenser to dispense drinking water through the dispenser.
Since the refrigerator having such a structure uses the household water pipe as a water source, the refrigerator must be disposed adjacent to the water pipe, or a relative long water supply line must be provided. As a result, installation costs of the refrigerator increases, and an installation place of the refrigerator is limited.
Korean Granted Patent No. 10-0346975 discloses a refrigerator in which a water supply container is disposed in a refrigerating compartment, and water within the water supply container is guided to an ice tray via a water supply pipe by a pump inside the water supply container. In such a structure, an auxiliary water supply container is disposed in the refrigerating compartment, and the water for making ice is continuously supplied into the ice tray to continuously make the ice without requiring a direct connection to a water pipe.
Korean Laid-open Patent No. 10-2006-0068745 discloses a refrigerator in which a mineral water bottle is seated in an upside-down manner to supply water into a water tank, and the water is dispensed to the outside through a dispenser communicating with the water tank. In such a structure, the water of the bottle disposed in a refrigerating compartment door is dispensed into the dispenser without requiring a direct connection to a water pipe.


A common application of X-ray fluoroscopy is in monitoring the location of a catheter inside a body. Such catheters may be used for balloon angioplasty, laser ablation, or like procedures that are now often used in place of traditional invasive surgery. Reliable and fast determination of the tip location from the fluoro images using the digital image processing technique is required. The present invention relates to a method for tracking a catheter probe or similar object during a fluoroscopic procedure as may be utilized, for example, in conjunction with apparatus and methods that confine full X-ray dosage to a central area, compensating for the reduced X-ray dosage in the peripheral areas by computer imaging enhancement.

Interventional radiology procedures are becoming more prevalent for the detection and treatment of many diseases and injuries. Often an interventional radiology procedure involves the viewing of a catheter, or needle, as it is directed into a desired position within the body. Catheter based medical procedures are commonplace and include such medical treatments as balloon angioplasty, laser ablation, the installation of stints and many other valuable treatments. In such medical procedures the progress of the catheter is typically monitored, within a patient's body, by an X-ray fluoroscope imaging system.
During a catheterization procedure, physicians and technicians need to position themselves next to the patient, in order to control the catheter. The overall X-ray exposure to such medical personnel can be higher than the X-ray exposure to the patient because medical personnel may do several X-ray fluoroscopic procedures in a single day and receive multiple dosages of X-ray radiation. For example, neuroangiographic procedures to repair an aneurysm or malformation may take as long as ten hours, during which the patient and physician are exposed to X-ray radiation much of the time. If the physician performs several such procedures a year, the physician quickly may exceed the recommended maximum dosage of radiation. The results of this potential for overexposure has been for highly trained physicians and other technical medical personnel to reduce their work load or to not wear their radiation monitor. Similarly, concern over overexposure may cause a physician to hurry a procedure, thus increasing the chances of making a mistake.
One way to reduce X-ray exposure from fluoroscopy is to use various shielding techniques. Staff can be protected with lead aprons, imaging chain canopies, lead gloves, and eye shields. Patients can be protected with gonad shields, etc. Many of these techniques are not often used because they interfere with the clinical procedure in one way or another.
In X-ray fluoroscopy it is well known that the dosage of the X-ray radiation is inversely proportional to the quantum noise in the viewed image. Prior art methods of X-ray dose reduction have addressed lowering the rate of dosage. For example, a nominal operational rate for X-ray fluoroscope is 30 frames/sec which may result in an exposure of approximately 10 R/min skin dose. Prior art methods have attempted to reduce exposure by reducing the operational rate, for example, from 30 frames/sec. to 15 frames/sec. Such techniques have not been successful since a reduced frame rate necessitates an increased dosage rate per frame to minimize the quantum noise, the net result being no significant reduction in exposure.
Other techniques for reducing the dosage of X-ray radiation include operating the fluoroscopy imaging system in a zoom mode; in other words, limiting the X-ray radiation to a small region and electronically magnifying that region to form the entire viewed image. Zoom mode imagery is not popular among some medical personnel because the zoomed image only permits a physician to view a small segment of a patient's body. Such a limited view makes it difficult for a physician to orient the placement of a catheter in a body, and prevents a physician from anticipating upcoming obstacles in the body until they appear in the zoomed image. In addition, in zoom mode, some X-ray systems increase the X-ray tube output dose such as to maintain a constant level of light output from the image intensifier. In that case, there is no dose saving to the patient.
As was stated above, a common application of X-ray fluoroscopy is in monitoring the location of a catheter inside a body. Such catheters may be used for balloon angioplasty, laser ablation, or like procedures that are now often used in place of traditional invasive surgery. Reliable and fast determination of the tip location from the fluoro images using the digital image processing technique is required. The fluoro images are noisy and the catheter is small.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for efficiently tracking a catheter in procedures such as that hereinbefore mentioned for reducing X-ray radiation exposure to both patients and medical personnel without adversely affecting either the area of interest the X-ray fluoroscope procedure is being used to view, or the physician's ability to view the peripheral regions surrounding the area of interest.

Method for tracking a catheter probe during a fluoroscopic procedure


An ultrasound imaging apparatus is disclosed for identifying anatomical objects in a field of view. The apparatus comprises an image interface for receiving 3D medical image data of a patient, and a segmentation unit for segmenting anatomical objects of the patient in the 3D medical image data and for providing segmentation data of the anatomical objects. An ultrasound acquisition unit including an ultrasound probe is included for acquiring ultrasound data of the patient. The apparatus further comprises a position determining unit for determining a position of the ultrasound probe, wherein the position determining unit includes a calibration unit for calibrating the position of the ultrasound probe on the basis of anatomical features of the patient. An identification unit is included in the apparatus for identifying the anatomical objects within the field of view of the ultrasound probe on the basis of the segmentation data and the position of the ultrasound probe.

In the field of medical imaging systems it is generally known to combine different images of a patient acquired by different medical analysis systems in order to improve the diagnostic possibilities. In particular, ultrasound systems are known which combine ultrasound images and pre-operative image data of a patient derived from a different imaging system. The ultrasound system is provided with a probe position tracking system to determine the position of the ultrasound probe at the patient's body to correlate the corresponding ultrasound images with the pre-operative volume analysis data. The positioning system enables a continuous spatial alignment of the pre-operative data and the live ultrasound data.
The position tracking systems rely on a calibration based e.g. on artificial markers which can be identified in the pre-operative and the ultrasound data and which can be correlated to each other so that the alignment of the data can be determined. The position tracking system may also comprise an electromagnetic tracking system which determines an offset between a sensor coordinate system and an ultrasound coordinate system. Such a probe positioning system is e.g. known from WO 2012/117381 A1.
The probe positioning systems usually have a high accuracy in the vicinity of the markers, however, the accuracy is reduced if the probe is moved away from the markers. Further, if a misalignment between the pre-operative data and the ultrasound data occurs, a manual readjustment is necessary, which is time-consuming and requires detailed expert knowledge.

Feature-based calibration of ultrasound imaging systems


Image transform apparatus for processing pixel image data, comprising:                at least one low pass extractor for extracting a low pass component from a series of image pixels, at least one low pass downsampler associated with said at least one low pass extractor for producing downsampled versions of respective extracted low pass components, at least one high pass extractor for extracting a high pass component from a series of image pixels, at least one high pass downsampler associated with said at least one high pass extractor for producing downsampled versions of respective extracted low pass components, and control and iteration circuitry associated with said low pass extractor and said high pass extractor for: feeding complementary sets of pixels from an image to said respective extractors, receiving respective low and high pass components from respective high and low pass downsamplers, and iteratively feeding complementary sets of pixels from a downsampled version of said most recently formed low pass component to respective high and low pass extractors and receiving further respective low and high pass components until a stop condition is reached. The corresponding reverse transform uses assumptions about localized step or edge behavior in the image.

The present invention relates to image and video processing and, more particularly, but not exclusively to image and video processing for upsampling, compression, decompression, motion detection and like applications, the processing being based on assumptions about localized behavior of the image data in the probabilistic sense.
Video and image compression reduce the amount of data that needs to be stored or transferred and therefore are instrumental in making feasible numerous digital media applications such as digital TV, streaming over the Internet, digital cameras for personal use and for surveillance, and video for cellular phones. The theoretical topics involved in video and image compression include information theory, signal processing and psycho-visual aspects of human vision.
Video Compression
The need for video compression arises from the fact that uncompressed digital images (or video streams) demand huge amounts of storage and/or network bandwidth. On the other hand most compression is lossy and thus a compressed image is a degraded image. Compression is primarily measured by the quality of performance per bit rate. (hereunder QBR). Other important characteristics are flexibility and scalability, particularly for applications involving streaming. For many applications, a possibility of editing the data without accompanying degradation of the signal is helpful. Such a possibility allows for an 'encode once deliver anywhere' capability which is not really available today.
Codec scalability refers to the ability to adapt to variable bit-rates, say for varying levels of available bandwidth. A connection say over the Internet may vary over time in the amount of available bandwidth, and a single image or video source file encoded using scalable codec can be streamed and played-back at different bit-rates for different end devices or over different connections. The ability to provide codec scalability today is limited.
Existing Solutions
Image compression generally works by exploiting redundancy within the image and video compression generally exploits both inter and intra-frame redundancy.
Some solutions, such as vector quantization and matching pursuit, try to exploit such redundancy directly. Other solutions exploit redundancy through the use of transforms such as Direct Cosine Transform (DCT) and the Wavelet transform (WL), which are designed to achieve sparse representation of images. The use of transforms bypasses the complexity issue and the fact that the direct solutions are non-general. Existing solutions can be divided into three groups:
DCT based applications, to which most current commercial compression products belong, for example MPEG 1, 2, & 4; H263, L, 4; Microsoft, and RealNetworks, etc,
Wavelets based applications, for example JPEG2000, and
Others—non-DCT non-scalable applications, for example Matching Pursuit, Vector Quantization, Object Oriented.
Shortcomings of Existing Solutions
DCT based algorithms are most common today and include the industry leaders in the sense of quality per bit rate (QBR). Nevertheless they are far from being a sufficient solution for the crucial bandwidth and storage issues with which the industry is faced. In addition DCT based algorithms lack a natural solution for other important properties such as spatial and temporal scalability and editing capabilities. It is also believed that DCT is at the end of its improvement curve, so that dramatic improvement may only be expected from non-DCT solutions.
Wavelet based applications claim the potential to be comparable to DCT solutions in terms of QBR and also to be scalable. But the potential is not yet implemented in video, mainly because of the shift invariance problem, which is discussed in greater detail below.
As for the third group, as mentioned above, they are non-general and thus it is yet to be seen whether they can deliver reasonable performance for anything beyond a narrow range of solutions.
Requirements for Successful Image Data Compression.
There is a requirement for am image compression technique that is able to answer to the following requirements:
As high as possible quality per bit-rate;
As sharp as possible an upsampling tool;
The ability to provide compressed data streaming that can support fast changes of bit rate,
The ability to retain precision following repeated editing tasks; and
Codec scalability for effective video streaming over packetized networks at a large scale. Scalability must be sufficient to overcome the variations in bit-rate access speeds, end-device resolutions, CPU power, and even variability of bit-rate within a single IP session.
A device and technique optimized for all of the above requirements may be expected to reduce the infrastructure requirement for storage and transport of multiple bit-rate files or expensive trans-rating per channel, and provide best streaming quality per available bandwidth and end device limitations.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, an image processing device and technique which provides a scalable codec to optimize the above features in a way which is simply not available today.

Image processing using probabilistic local behavior assumptions


A wheel suspension for a motor vehicle includes an electric vibration damper which is affixed to the vehicle body and which has a generator that can be driven by translational wheel movements of the vehicle wheel in order to generate an induced voltage. The stator and the rotor of the generator are interconnected via at least one gear stage, wherein a gear element of the gear stage is a drive gear wheel of a rack-and-pinion drive that is drivingly connected to a wheel carrier of the wheel suspension, with the wheel carrier following the wheel movements.

The invention relates to a wheel suspension for a motor vehicle.
The wheel suspension of a motor vehicle may have an electric shock absorber, which attenuates the operational vehicle vibrations. The electric shock absorber may include a generator which converts the vibration energy into electrical energy that can be supplied via corresponding power electronics to the onboard electrical system of the vehicle.
DE 101 15 858 A1 discloses an electric vibration damper of this type with a generator driven by the operational up and down movements of the vehicle wheel, thereby generating an induced voltage.
For driving the generator disclosed in DE 101 15 858 A1, a ball screw drive is provided which includes a threaded nut cooperating with a threaded spindle and being associated in fixed rotational engagement with the lower spring plate of a suspension spring. The threaded spindle in turn drives a rotor shaft of the generator to generate an induced voltage. Alternatively, the ball screw can also be constructed as a rack-and-pinion gear.
The generator of the electric damper disclosed in DE 101 15 858 A1 is seated on an upper supporting spring plate which is pivotally mounted on the vehicle body at a pivot point. Moreover, the generator is arranged inside the suspension spring. As a result, the installation space available for the generator is greatly reduced. Moreover, the resultant rotational movement of the rotor operating in the generator is small under normal driving operation, so that the generator can operate only with a reduced overall efficiency.


Embodiments provide a hybrid supercapacitor exhibiting high energy and power densities enabled by a high-performance lithium-alloy anode coupled with a porous carbon cathode in an electrolyte containing lithium salt. Embodiments include a size reduced silicon oxide anode, a boron-doped silicon oxide anode, and/or a carbon coated silicon oxide anode, which may improve cycling stability and rate performance. Further embodiments include a hybrid supercapacitor system using a Li-active anode in an electrolyte including LiPF6 in a mixture of ethylene carbonate, diethyl carbonate, and dimethyl carbonate (EC:DEC:DMC, 2:1:2 by vol.) and 10 wt % fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC), which may reduce the self-discharge rate.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments disclose a supercapacitor with a high-performance lithium-alloy anode, and in particular a supercapacitor with a boron doped lithium-alloy anode and a highly porous carbon (C) cathode.
Background of the Related Art
The expanding market of portable electronic devices and, especially, the emergence of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles have created increasing demand for advanced energy storage techniques that can provide high energy and power densities and long cycling life. Two energy storage systems that are typically used in practical applications of portable electronic devices are lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and supercapacitors (SCs). These two systems generally represent two extremes of the design space.
Generally, LIBs can deliver high energy densities (150-250 Wh/kg) by utilizing Faradaic reactions throughout the active materials comprising the batteries. However, this mechanism may lead to low power densities (<1000 W/kg) since solid-state ion diffusion in bulk electrodes is generally slow. LIBs may also suffer from short cycling lives (<1000 cycles) due to degradation of material structures.
On the opposite extreme, SCs typically offer high power densities (˜10,000 W/kg) because of the fast physical sorption rates of charges on the surfaces of active materials comprising the capacitors. This mechanism may also enable long cycling lives (>100,000 cycles) because it generally does not cause major structural changes. However, as only the surface is typically utilized, the energy densities of SCs are very limited (e.g., 5-10 Wh/kg).
Hybrid supercapacitors or supercapacitor-battery hybrid energy storage systems have been proposed as a way to incorporate the advantages of both LIBs and SCs into one system. Existing supercapacitor systems consist of SC electrodes (activated carbon) as cathodes to ensure high power density through adsorption/desorption of anions and LIB electrodes as anodes to provide high energy density by lithium (Li) insertion/extraction in a non-aqueous electrolyte. (See FIG. 1). For example, an energy density of 147 Wh/kg at 150 W/kg may be achieved by coupling a graphene-based three-dimensional porous carbon cathode and a Fe3O4/graphene nanocomposite anode. However, with such prior art systems, high energy densities are only achieved at very low power densities, and energy densities generally decrease significantly with increasing power densities.
An ideal anode in a hybrid supercapacitor system should have the following features: 1) the working voltage should be low so that the system is able to fully utilize the voltage window of the electrolyte to enable high energy density; 2) the anode should have high specific capacity to increase the energy density; 3) the anode should have excellent rate capability to match the high-power cathode to achieve high power density; and, 4) the cycling life should be long to improve cycling stability of the hybrid system.
None of the anode materials used in the prior art of hybrid supercapacitor systems meets all of these requirements. For example, Li4Ti5O12 and TiO2 have good cycling stability but high voltage (1.5 V) and low capacity (around 200 mAh/g). Graphite, on the other hand, shows the lowest lithiation voltage (0.1 V), but also low capacity (370 mAh/g) and mediocre rate performance.
Silicon nanostructures, such as nanowires, nanotubes, and nano/micro-sized particles have been used in hybrid supercapacitors in an attempt to achieve the benefits described above, but preparation of Si nanostructures may involve chemical/physical vapor deposition or highly toxic HF etching, which may incur additional costs.
Consequently, a supercapacitor system with high energy density at high power density, along with long cycling life, has not yet been demonstrated with the prior art. One reason for this is due to a lack of high performance anodes employed with the supercapacitor system.


The present invention is a method for determining the optimum operating practice for an industrial process. The methodology includes a combination of process control steps and data analysis techniques to investigate responses to controlled “black box” process inputs, e.g., coal and air feeds for coal-fired furnaces in the case studies above. A unique time-dependent perturbation is applied to individual process feed streams to give a signature in the data that permits the filtering and detection of various measured responses, e.g., continuous emission monitor readings for NOx, SO2, CO2, CO, and opacity for regulated electric utility furnaces. The perturbation is implemented using the plant control system. Individual control signal set points are perturbed for each piece of equipment supplying process inputs of interest. As a result, complex commercial processes can be evaluated for optimization without changing the normal configuration of the system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to any physical process that is carried out in a closed system (sometimes referred to as a "black box") with input and output streams. The primary purpose of this invention is to characterize and optimize specific responses or output streams from complex industrial processes. The invention is demonstrated here in two case studies that characterize NOx emissions from different coal-fired boilers for the energy industry; however, it is applicable to characterize any measurable conserved quantity (e.g., mass, energy and momentum) in all industrial processes. This invention permits the study of complex commercial processes without changing the normal configuration, using short-duration tests, and with high accuracy. Accordingly, this invention may be applied to define best operating practices for all industrial processes or, through automation, be applied to give intelligent feedback control.
2. Description of the Related Art
The current industrial testing methods employed to characterize or optimize complex processes include single parameter tests, factorial-design tests, fractional factorial screening tests, mixture-design tests, simplex optimization methods, and neural network optimization methods. All of these experimental methods require long duration tests to obtain statistically significant results that are process independent. These methods are used sparingly because of the difficulty and high cost associated with completing such tests in commercial-scale process equipment.
The particular application reported here is for coal-burning furnaces used for power and industrial steam generation. This is predominantly important in electric utility power generation applications, which are highly regulated by Federal and State environmental authorities. The method of the present invention falls within the field of optimization of the staged combustion process for reducing NOx emissions and maintaining or improving furnace performance. Optimization requires feedback for control of the diverse equipment in the fuel delivery system designs used by the industry.
Fuel and Air Delivery System Equipment Control
Coal-fired boilers typically have multiple arrangements of coal pulverizing mills, each mill supplying coal through multiple pipes to multiple burners within the boiler. Each parallel coal supply path typically originates at a respective pulverizer mill and terminates at the individual burner mounted in the boiler. Each coal pipe has its own characteristic mechanical system performance/resistance properties for the two phase flow of primary air and coal, and this varies for each parallel coal pipe path at any given time and boiler load, based upon a number of system factors relating to both equipment and process variables. For example, equipment such as a forced draft fan, air heater, mill exhauster fan, coal feeder, coal pulverizer, coal classifier, riffle box/splitter, fixed orifice, piping system, air flow and coal flow monitor, coal damper, burner isolation valve, burner, boiler, and process parameters such as elevation, air temperature, air pressure, air flow, coal flow, coal density, coal moisture, coal composition and coal particle size all impact the performance/resistance characteristics of the fuel delivery system. In other words, as the boiler load changes and as the individual mechanical factors vary for each coal pipe, the resistance changes for the total coal delivery system and each individual coal pipe within that system.
Coal flow balancing of multiple burners is a difficult problem for plant engineers and operators. It is typically performed as an iterative series of manual coal flow measurements and adjustments of flow restrictive devices in the coal piping. With the introduction of manual coal dampers, coal flow has been balanced by adjusting each manual damper in each of the pulverized coal pipes that supplies the burners from a single mill. The coal flow rates in each pipe are measured manually by sampling with a coal probe traversing across the coal pipe area. While this approach has the potential to achieve approximate balance, changes in fuel consumption, operating conditions and wear on the orifice plates result in uncontrollable coal flow balance variations. However, as a problem attendant to the use of coal flow and air flow control, oxygen is increased in the coal mixture, exacerbating the NOx production problem.
Combustion System Designs for NOx Emission Control
Two-stage combustion methods are combustion techniques (NOx reduction techniques) for reducing the concentration of NOx generated in the furnace exhaust gas. The two-stage combustion methods are classified into the following two approaches. One approach is to reduce the NOx generation of a furnace as a whole, while the other approach is to reduce the NOx generation of a single burner.
In the approach to reduce the NOx concentration of a furnace as a whole, the air ratio (ratio of the amount of supplied air to the amount of necessary air for completely combusting an amount of fuel; the air ratio of unity corresponds to one stoichiometric equivalent) in the burner zone of the furnace is maintained below unity. In this fuel-rich condition, generated NOx is chemically reduced, and hence NOx reduction is achieved. The unburned carbon resulting from this approach is completely combusted with air added through an air inlet provided downstream of the burner zone.
In the approach to reduce the NOx generation of a single solid fuel burner (simply a burner, in some cases hereafter) such as a pulverized-coal burner, secondary and tertiary air flows are swirled, thereby delaying the mixing thereof with the flow of pulverized-coal burning with primary air alone. By virtue of this, a large chemical reduction region is formed (such a burner is called a low-NOx burner, hereafter).
These techniques have achieved a reduction of NOx concentration in the exhaust gas down to 130 ppm (fuel ratio=fixed carbon/volatile matter=2, nitrogen content in the coal=1.5%, and unburned carbon content in the ash=5% or less). Nevertheless, the regulated value of NOx concentration in the exhaust gas has been tightened year by year, and the required value of NOx concentration in the exhaust gas for the near future is 100 ppm or less.
Low NOx burners capable of reducing NOx generation down to 100 ppm or less have been developed. Such burners include: a burner having an internal flame stabilizing zone for reinforcing the NOx-reduced combustion in the burner section; and a burner having a flame stabilizing region for bridging between an internal flame stabilizing zone as described above and an external flame stabilizing zone provided in the outer periphery of the combustion nozzle through which the mixture of pulverized coal and carrier gas flows.
These designs are inherently reserved for new furnaces. However, in existing designs in the United States, retrofitting is a more economical objective for operating systems. In addition, the achieved ratios of air to coal in these units does not represent the optimal, achievable rates.

Perturbation test method for measuring output responses to controlled process inputs


An adaptive container loading assembly is provided and includes a container forming assembly, a container shuttle assembly, and a product transport assembly. The container forming provides a plurality of varying sized containers. The container shuttle assembly is positioned adjacent to the container forming assembly and includes a linear synchronous motor guideway shaped in an endless loop, and a plurality of transport vehicles moveable about the guideway, each transport vehicle a leading shuttle and a trailing shuttle spaced apart by a determined distance to accommodate and receive the plurality of varying sized containers. The product transport assembly is positioned adjacent the container shuttle assembly and includes a robot arm to position product in the plurality of varying sized containers.

Product packaging for food provides protection, tampering resistance, and product information of processed food before it is delivered to the consumer.
A container, which is typically used for packaging, is generally made of chip board or paper board, but is not limited to these materials. Examples of this type of container are cereal boxes, boxes of snack cakes, and boxes containing a frozen food meal. These containers are usually made by a container forming machine that produces one or more sized containers that are either stored or and then sent downstream to be loaded.
There are many known techniques for loading containers for food packaging including the following two main packaging methods for cartoning: (1) load the product into the container through the side or end of the container, and (2) load the product through the top of the container. These containers are usually made by a machine producing one size at a time that is either stored or and then sent downstream to be packaged by a loading assembly that loads product into the container. However, known loading assemblies are fit to handle one sized container at a time. There is a need to efficiently load varying size containers using a unitary assembly without downtime to adjust the machine performing loading of the containers.


Methods and apparatuses for distributing slice area of objects more uniformly to optimize the build process of additive manufacturing techniques are disclosed. For example, a slice area distribution of a 3D design is calculated. Further, it is determined if the calculated slice area distribution and/or other aspects of the 3D design meets a criteria based on one or more quality metrics. If the calculated slice area distribution and/or other aspects of the 3D design do not meet the criteria, the 3D design is adjusted. The determination and adjustment may be performed iteratively until the calculated slice area distribution and/or other aspects of the 3D meet the criteria.

Methods of additive manufacturing may involve building objects on a layer by layer basis. Depending on the distribution and orientation of the object(s) to be built, the area of an object to be built for one layer (e.g., area per height) may be different (e.g., larger or smaller) than the area of the object to be built for a different layer. These areas of an object to be built at a particular layer may be referred to as a slice area.
The different areas for different layers means that the building time (e.g., scanning time) at a particular layer with a large area of the object to be built may be, for example, much longer, than the building time at a different layer that has a relatively small area of the object to be built. The longer building time at a particular layer can lead to greater heat generation at the layer, which can lead to issues in the build quality of that layer. For example, the differences in heat generation for different layers can cause different levels of shrinkage for the different layers, thus leading to uneven builds and quality. In addition, the differences in building time for different layers can result in different densities of the materials at the different layers, color differences on the object surface, and bad surface quality of the object. Further, the dimensions of the object may not come out as expected due to the differences in building time for the different layers.
Accordingly, there is a need for apparatuses and methods for better distributing slice area of objects between layers for improved building of the objects using additive manufacturing techniques.

Slice area distribution for obtaining improved performance in additive manufacturing techniques