An automated method optimally designs plates to satisfy an order book at a steel plant so as to maximize the yield of the plates designed while using capacity fully to reduce the production of surplus slabs or plates, and satisfy order deadlines. Our method consists of four main components: (1) mother plate design, (2) slab design, (3) cast design, and (4) material allocation. A column generation framework for mother plate design is used where the problem is decomposed into a master problem and a subproblem. The master problem is used to evaluate packing patterns that should be used to fulfill the order book and the subproblem generates potential one-dimensional and two-dimensional feasible packing patterns as candidates to be evaluated by the master problem. The solution to the master problem produces a list of mother plates that need to be produced. These mother plates are transformed into candidate slabs, which are represented via an interval graph. The maximal cliques in the interval graph—maximal subsets of slabs which can be grouped together to form casts—are enumerated to generate candidate casts, from which redesign information is sent to the plate/slab design processes. The cast design process is integrated with the plate design/slab design processes in the sense that information is passed from the plate/slab design processes to the cast design process and vice versa. Finally, our method has a material allocation component to assign order plates to inventory mother-plates and slabs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automated optimization of manufacturing processes and, more particularly, to a method for production and operations scheduling for plate design in the steel industry.
2. Background Description
Steel plants produce a variety of steel products, including heavy rectangular plates. Rectangular plates are used widely in ship-building, among other industries. In modem steel plants, such plates are made-to-order according to customer needs, and thus have different dimensions, thicknesses and quality. An important problem steel manufacturers need to solve is how to efficiently transform molten steel into an order book of rectangular steel plates, given various constraints on the intermediate steel processes and equipment, and waste as little metal as possible.
In the prior art, the steel industry solved the above problem manually, or by ad-hoc computer methods. The drawback of a manual approach is that changes in manufacturing parameters cannot be easily handled, and large order books cannot be handled in an optimal fashion. Existing computer methods which attempt to solve this problem do not produce optimal or near-optimal solutions. This is because they do not systematically explore many different possible solutions but, typically, use heuristics to create a single solution. The existing heuristics are designed with the goal of producing near-optimal solutions but have no way of guaranteeing this outcome. Further, the existing computer methods require a substantial amount of human interaction, and therefore changes in manufacturing parameters cannot be easily handled, and large order books cannot be handled in an optimal fashion. Also the design process is time-consuming because of manual intervention.

Method for production design and operations scheduling for plate design in the steel industry


This invention provides structures and a fabrication process for incorporating thin film transistors in back end of the line (BEOL) interconnect structures. The structures and fabrication processes described are compatible with processing requirements for the BEOL interconnect structures. The structures and fabrication processes utilize existing processing steps and materials already incorporated in interconnect wiring levels in order to reduce added cost associated with incorporating thin film transistors in the these levels. The structures enable vertical (3D) integration of multiple levels with improved manufacturability and reliability as compared to prior art methods of 3D integration.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the fields of semiconductor integrated circuits and electrical interconnect technology, and more particularly relates to vertical or 3D integration of devices such as thin film transistors (TFTs) into back end of the line (BEOL) interconnect structures.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years 3D integration has gained significant attention as a possible pathway for increasing IC density and for reducing interconnect delays and ac power consumption (by reducing interconnect distances).
In one prior art technique for fabricating 3D integrated circuits, a process called "smart cut" wafer bonding is used to form a single crystal germanium layer above passivated metal interconnect levels on a silicon device level. This method is described, for example, in Yu. D. S et al, "Three-Dimensional Metal Gate-High-k-GOI CMOSFETs on 1-Poly-6-Metal 0.18-mm Si Devices," IEEE Electron Device Lett., vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 118-120, February 2005. This method utilizes germanium as an additional device layer stacked over the device layer in the base substrate. Ge offers the advantage of lower temperature processing compared to silicon, a critical factor for vertically integrated device structures that are formed after the first silicon device layer and metal interconnect layers.
However, this method is associated with significant manufacturing problems, which arise from the requirement for wafer bonding above an already-formed interconnect structure. In addition to the cost of wafer bonding, there are concerns with reliability of bonding above the already-formed layers. The cost of losing all of the chips on a 300 mm wafer due to a problem during bonding would be tremendous. Additionally, this type of 3D integration is limited in that it is not easily imbedded in multiple back end of the line (BEOL) wiring levels along with the interconnect structures.
In another prior art 3D vertical integration structure, multiple levels of devices are placed one above the other utilizing single crystal silicon formed by lateral epitaxial growth from a vertical column of silicon seed originating from the Si substrate. This structure is described, for example, in Wei, L. et al. "Vertically Integrated SOI Circuits for Low-Power and High-Performance Applications," IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) systems, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 351-362, June 2002.
This epitaxial growth method of vertical integration has the disadvantage that it is limited to a location close to a seed column.
In addition, Silicon devices require high temperatures for both forming the silicon layer and for later processing steps such as dopant activation. These high temperatures can cause significant degradation to the first device level and prevent the possibility of incorporating these structures in the same level as the back end of the line interconnect levels which are typically limited to a processing temperature of less than 400-450° C.
Therefore, there is a need for a simplified, cost-effective, 3D vertical integration structure and method that could be formed from primarily existing steps and would be compatible with the processing requirements of the BEOL interconnect levels. Implementation of devices into the BEOL wiring levels using primarily standard BEOL processing steps would enable a more cost effective path to 3D integration as compared with the existing prior art.

International Business Machines Corporation


A mine safety apparatus, and related method, that records movement data of a scene, visual images of the scene and correlates the movement data with the visual images. The apparatus comprises: a slope monitoring device that records location data in the scene and tracks the location data over time to identify movement and produce visual movement overlays; an image capture device that records a plurality of visual images of the scene from a location; and a processor that stitches the visual images into a panoramic image of the entire scene and for selected Points of Interest in the scene accurately determines a coordinate so that the visual movement overlays are correctly correlated with the Points of Interest.

A significant problem in open pit mining operations and civil construction is the stability of walls, such as the sloping walls of a pit. Various monitoring techniques have been described and implemented for monitoring slope stability, particularly for mining operations. A well-known technique is to use retroflecting prisms which are monitored by a laser scanner or robotic total station. The technique relies upon accurate locating of prisms which are then detected by a laser scanner to provide known reference points on the wall. Any variance from the known location is identified as wall movement. The retroreflecting prisms have the benefit of providing a strong and readily identifiable signal at a known position.
Notwithstanding the benefits of prisms they also have a number of shortcomings. Prisms can be knocked out of alignment, knocked off the wall, or otherwise fall from the wall. They can also become dirty thus reducing effectiveness. The cost of maintaining prisms to address these issues is relatively high. Even leaving aside the economic issues the safety risk of trying to replace a prism in an unstable area may be unjustifiably high. This is a particular problem since the main place that a prism is needed is often exactly the place that a prism cannot be safely located.
There are other limitations with prisms as well. For even a modest size pit the number of prisms needed may be a few hundred, which can take a significant amount of time to install and a lot of effort to maintain. The cost of a large number of prisms is also significant, in time and material costs. The same issue applies in civil construction tasks such as tunnelling.
When using prisms for slope monitoring or other monitoring tasks the monitoring identifies movement but in order to be able to take appropriate action a person needs to be able to identify on the ground where the movement is occurring. For instance, even small movement above a haul road can be dangerous if rock falls onto or into the path of vehicles on the haul road. On the other hand, small movement below the haul road may be inconsequential. Although the slope monitoring techniques are accurate to a few millimetres the current techniques for ground truthing are not sufficiently accurate to identify precisely where movement is occurring. As a result, mine working may be disrupted unnecessarily.
By "ground truthing" is meant registering the slope deformation maps produced by slope monitoring equipment with visual images of the area monitored. Preferably the visual images of the monitored area are wide angle panoramic images, but these present a particularly difficult problem for ground truthing due to photographic image distortion.
Thus, to improve safety in mining operations, photographic image distortion needs to be minimised and correlation between slope deformation maps and visual images needs to be maximised.


Asynchronous sample rate conversion is performed using a noise-shaped numerically controlled oscillator (204,420) that generates a clock (207,428) that is synchronous to the system clock (217,424) but having a time average frequency that is equal to a multiple (X) of the asynchronous sample rate frequency required for the conversion. Unwanted spectral energy in the generated clock (207,428) is noise-shaped out of the pass-band and so does not degrade signal performance. For digital-to-analog conversion, the generated clock (207) is used to time an interpolation (206) of digital data (DATA.sub.Fs) by an multiple X to produce an interpolated signal (DATA.sub.FsX) having a time average rate equal to the over-sampling frequency but being synchronized with the system clock (217). The interpolated signal (DATA.sub.FsX) is then converted (216) to an analog signal using a derivative of the system clock (217), or can be output as digital data at the rate derived from the system clock. For analog-to-digital conversion, the generated clock (428) clocks an analog-to-digital conversion (415) synchronous with the system clock but having a time average of the over-sampling frequency. It can be seen the present invention performs asynchronous sample rate conversion without the need for an analog PLL and with simplified circuitry such that no multipliers or DSP utilization is required.

In many electronics applications, analog signals must be digitally encoded or decoded at any one of a number of sample rates depending on a selected mode of operation. In the field of digital signal processing (DSP), analog conversion is required to receive/transmit analog signals to/from a digital environment. The sample rate or sample frequency (F.sub.s) used for the conversion for each application will be dependent upon the nature of the analog data. For example, DSP applications that require analog conversion at different sample rates include receiving and transmitting modem data, playing compact disk audio (F.sub.s =44.1 kHz), transmitting and receiving voice data (F.sub.s =8 kHz).
When designing a system or semiconductor device to implement multi-functional DSP, it is very limiting to only allow the system to implement functions having sample rates that are divisible from a practical crystal frequency. Thus, it is necessary to generate a clock asynchronous to the crystal to perform the sampling. In the prior art, a phase locked loop (PLL) generates the required clock for the digital-to-analog (D/A) or analog to-digital (A/D) conversions.
As seen in FIG. 1, there is shown a digital signal processing system of the prior art using a PLL to generate the sample clock used to produce the digital-to-analog conversion. System 100 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) 110 that performs a specified function on the received digital data (DATA), and outputs modified data (DATA Fs (SAMPLE)) to a D/A converter 120 to generate the required analog output. For example, system 100 could be a computer modem for converting digital data and outputting the equivalent analog data on a telephone line. In order to produce the appropriate input clock for the D/A converter 120, PLL 130 locks to a clock (CLK.sub.Fs) operating at the frequency (F.sub.s) of DATA. PLL 130 locks to CLK.sub.Fs and generates an output clock CLK.sub.FsX having a frequency equal to F.sub.s times X, wherein X is a selected number that provides the appropriate sampling clock for the D/A converter 120. In this way, the PLL is used to produce the necessary asynchronous clock, relative to the system clock (CLK.sub.Q), to properly convert the DSP 110 output data into analog data.
The use of a PLL to produce the asynchronous clock for analog conversion has significant commercial disadvantages. For example, it is difficult to make a low noise PLL device, that does not affect conversion performance. Also, verification of the device performance is complicated because long simulation times are required to simulate the mixed-mode operation of a PLL, and further a PLL circuit is much more process sensitive than standard digital circuits.
Another prior art solution to this problem of sample rate conversion is to perform additional processing within the DSP to perform the digital sample rate conversion. This conversion allows the converter to be clocked at a frequency derived from the system clock frequency. This solution eliminates the need for a PLL. However, this solution is difficult and costly to implement in terms of the increased number of instructions required and it also has higher power consumption from the increased use of the multiplier to obtain a high quality result.
As can be seen, there is a need for an accurate, simple and robust solution to asynchronous sample rate conversion that does not have the design disadvantages of the phase lock loop solution and the high signal processing requirements of the DSP solution.

Method and system for asynchronous sample rate conversion using a noise-shaped numerically control oscillator


In a monitoring arrangement for a belt drive in which a torque produced by a drive motor is transmitted by way of an endless drive belt to a rotary member to be rotated, the drive belt is provided in its longitudinal direction with markings which are adapted to be sensed and which are disposed at equal spacings from each other. First and second sensing members are arranged at a given spacing from each other in succession in the direction of travel of the belt and are operable to sense the markings on the drive belt as they move past the sensing members. The sensing members output corresponding sensing signals in response to the markings. A signal evaluation member is connected to the first and second sensing members, for interrelating the sensing signals in respect of time in dependence on the spacing between the first and second sensing members and the speed of movement of the drive belt.

The present invention is concerned generally with driving rotary members in rotation, for carrying out various operations thereon such as testing or measurement or machining operations.
For the purposes of driving rotary members of any kind in rotation, it is appropriate to use belt drives in which the drive belt is passed around the rotary member to be driven thereby, or the drive belt bears against the rotary member in substantially tangential relationship therewith. A belt drive is generally preferred whenever the situation involves driving in rotation rotary members which may be of different diameters. To provide for such a drive to a rotary member, it is only necessary for the rotary member to have a surface portion of circular cross-section, against which the drive belt can therefore bear for the purposes of driving the rotary member. The drive belt can be used not only for transmitting drive moments from a drive motor to the rotary member, but also for transmitting a braking moment to the rotary member in order to bring it to a halt. Particularly when dealing with rotary members which do not include any drive members or portions of their own, for example rotary members in the form of tubes or cylindrical rotary members, a belt drive is frequently used instead of a universally jointed shaft drive.
Particularly when the belt drive involves the transmission of high levels of torque, and particularly when the belt drive is in use over a prolonged period of time, the drive belt may suffer from a considerable amount of wear and may also be subject to fatigue of the material forming the drive belt. Those considerations not only result in impaired transmission of the torque, but they can also give rise to a major risk factor in terms of safety, in particular in the event of the drive belt suffering from a breakage as a result of wear and/or fatigue thereof.

Gebr. Hofmann GmbH & Co. KG Maschinenfabrik


An acousto-optic element array includes: acousto-optic elements each including an acousto-optic generator, a light supply, and a wave transducer; a gate driver that selects an acousto-optic element to be driven from among the acousto-optic elements; an electrical data driver that is connected to an electrical wire and transmits electrical data to an electro-optic modulator configured to control the acousto-optic generator of the selected acousto-optic element; and a wave data driver that is connected to a waveguide and transmits wave data to the wave transducer of the selected acousto-optic element.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a structure for driving an acousto-optic element array, a display apparatus using the acousto-optic element array, and a method for driving the acousto-optic element array.
2. Description of the Related Art
An acousto-optic effect is an effect in which an optical characteristic of a medium is transformed by a sound wave or an ultrasonic wave. A light beam, which is incident on a medium having a transformed optical characteristic, is differently modulated and emitted according to the degree of transformation. For example, a refractive index of the medium may be periodically changed by the acousto-optic effect. Such a medium may operate as a phase grating to diffract incident light. At this time, the intensity or the diffraction angle of the diffracted light may be changed by adjusting the intensity or frequency of the sound wave or the ultrasonic wave applied to the medium. Therefore, it is possible to implement an optical modulator that modulates an amplitude of a light beam by using an acousto-optic effect, or a scanner that deflects a light beam.
Extensive research has been conducted to develop display technologies using an optical modulator that modulates an amplitude of a light beam by using an acousto-optic effect, or a scanner that deflects a light beam.
A three-dimensional (3D) image display apparatus, which has been currently commercialized, uses binocular parallax between two eyes of a viewer. The 3D image display apparatus provides a left eye and a right eye of the viewer with a left-eye image and a right-eye image having different viewpoints, allowing the viewer to experience a three-dimensional effect. Such a 3D image display apparatus may be classified as a glass type 3D image display apparatus, which requires special glasses, and a non-glass type 3D image display apparatus, which requires no glasses.
Research has been conducted to develop a holographic 3D image display apparatus that displays a more natural 3D image. A light beam may be considered as a wave with intensity information and phase information. Holographic technology may display an image by controlling the phase of light and the intensity of light.
Research also has been conducted to develop a structure for driving an acousto-optic element array used in an ultra high definition television (UHDTV), a super high vision (SHV) television, and in the generation of a hologram.

Acousto-optic element array, display apparatus including an acousto-optic element array and method for driving an acousto-optic element array


A hanger device structurally configured to couple at an edge of a horizontal support is disclosed and described, the hanger device including a hanger support including a horizontal top support having a planar undersurface structurally configured to rest on an upper surface of the horizontal support when in use and an edge extension extending downwardly from the top support and configured to abut an edge of the horizontal support. The hanger device can further include a lower hanger coupled to and extending downwardly from the edge extension, a lower hook coupled to the lower hanger and oriented to suspend a decorative item therefrom, and an engagement lock slidably coupled to the lower hanger and configured to contact a bottom surface of the horizontal support opposite the horizontal top support to secure the hanger device to the horizontal support.

Fireplace mantles and other similar horizontally-oriented structures, shelving, and the like, are often used to hang decorative and non-decorative items from an exposed edge. In many Christmas traditions, for example, Christmas stockings are hung along a mantle, such that they hang downwardly from the mantle edge. Such stockings can similarly be hung along edges of other similarly-oriented structures, such as shelves, for example.

Devices for hanging items from horizontally-oriented structures, and associated methods


A rear sight assembly for a firearm is disclosed. The rear sight assembly contain a sight base coupled with the firearm, a sight blade pivotally coupled with the sight base and a tension member positioned between the sight base and the sight blade and configured to push the sight blade against the firearm.

Adjusting the point of impact for a handgun shooter, is traditionally a complex process requiring a level of skill, that makes it problematic for a consumer to do, without benefit of a gunsmith.
A need exists for an adjustable rear sight for a firearm.
In the following description, like reference numbers are used to identify like elements. Furthermore, the drawings are intended to illustrate major features of exemplary embodiments in a diagrammatic manner. The drawings are not intended to depict every feature of every implementation nor relative dimensions of the depicted elements, and are not drawn to scale.


A rheological lock apparatus includes a fluid chamber formed within a housing between a pair of seals. The fluid chamber contains a rheological fluid. An inner surface of the housing has a first plurality of splines projecting into the fluid chamber and extending longitudinally along a longitudinal dimension of the chamber. A driveshaft extends axially through the chamber such that the pair of seals are sealed against the driveshaft. The driveshaft includes a second plurality of splines. A field generator is coupled to one of the driveshaft or the housing to generate a field through the rheological fluid during times when the housing is substantially immobile in a borehole.

Directional drilling may be used in hydrocarbon well drilling for many different reasons. For example, it may be desirable to drill in a certain direction to provide multiple wells from a single location, to access geological formation areas that are inaccessible from the surface location, or to avoid undesirable formations.
In directional drilling, a driveshaft is coupled to a drill string, on an uphole side of the driveshaft, and a rotary steerable system (RSS), on a downhole side of the driveshaft. With the RSS, the drill bit is able to be steered in a desired direction using a "push-the-bit" method or a "point-the-bit" method. In the "push-the-bit" method, the driveshaft is directed to the desired direction by a reactive force imparted on the driveshaft from contact with the borehole. In the "point-the-bit" method, the driveshaft connected to the drill bit is flexed to direct the bit in the desired direction.
In the "point-the-bit" method, a reference housing through which the driveshaft extends is not connected to the driveshaft in a torsional direction to enable the driveshaft to rotate freely within the housing. This becomes a problem when the housing becomes stuck in the borehole.

Rheological fluid lock of shaft to housing


A method is provided for generating a three-dimensional morphable model of an element from an initial database of examples of such elements providing data allowing, for each of the elements of the initial database, a three-dimensional meshed surface based on points and on a triangular network connecting the points to be determined.

Introduced for the first time by Blanz & Vetter in 1999 ("A morphable model for the synthesis of 3d faces" by Volker Blanz and Thomas Vetter, in Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, SIGGRAPH '99, pages 187-194, New York, N.Y., USA, 1999, ACM Press/Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.), morphable models have since not ceased to increase in popularity.
These morphable models are used both in three-dimensional or 3D animation ("Mpeg-4 compatible 3D facial animation based on morphable model" by Bao-Cai Yin, Cheng-Zhang Wang, Qin Shi, and Yan-Feng Sun, in Machine Learning and Cybernetics, 2005, Proceedings of 2005 International Conference on, volume 8, pages 4936-4941 Vol. 8, August 2005; and "Statistical generation of 3D facial animation models" by Rudomin, A. Bojorquez, and H. Cuevas, in Shape Modeling International, 2002, Proceedings, pages 219-226, 2002.) and for the purposes of identity verification or recognition ("Face recognition based on fitting a 3D morphable model" by Volker Blanz and Thomas Vetter, Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Transactions on, 25(9):1063-1074, 2003; "Automatic 3D face verification from range data" by Gang Pan, Zhaohui Wu, and Yunhe Pan in Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, 2003, Proceedings. (ICASSP '03). 2003 IEEE International Conference on, volume 3, pages III-193-6 vol. 3, April 2003; "Audio- and Video-Based Biometric Person Authentication" by Alexander M. Bronstein, Michael M. Bronstein, and Ron Kimmel, 4th International Conference, AVBPA 2003 Guildford, UK, Jun. 9-11, 2003 Proceedings, chapter Expression-Invariant 3D Face Recognition, pages 62-70, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg 2003; "3d shape-based face recognition using automatically registered facial surfaces" by M. O. Irfanoglu, B. Gokberk, and L. Akarun, in Pattern Recognition, 2004, ICPR 2004, Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on, volume 4, pages 183-186 Vol. 4, August 2004.
Initially applied to the modeling of faces, these models have gradually been transposed to many other elements such as ears ("A novel 3D ear reconstruction method using a single image" by Chen Li, Zhichun Mu, Feng Zhang, and Shuai Wang, in Intelligent Control and Automation (WCICA), 2012 10th World Congress on, pages 4891-4896, IEEE, 2012; "3D morphable model construction for robust ear and face recognition" by John D Bustard and Mark S Nixon, in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2010 IEEE Conference on, pages 2582-2589. IEEE, 2010.), the human body in its entirety ("The space of human body shapes: reconstruction and parameterization from range scans" by Brett Allen, Brian Curless, and Zoran Popovic, in ACM transactions on graphics (TOG), volume 22, pages 587-594. ACM, 2003.) or even to animal skeletons ("Morphable model of quadrupeds skeletons for animating 3D animals" by Lionel Reveret, Laurent Favreau, Christine Depraz, and Marie-Paule Cani, in Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation, SCA '05, pages 135-142, New York, N.Y., USA, 2005. ACM.).
Nevertheless, whatever the studied subjects, the steps of construction remain substantially identical, namely:
1) Acquisition of 3D data serving as statistical training examples.
2) Dense registration of said training examples.
3) Creation of a vector space specific to the studied subject using a statistical analysis method such as principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA) or derivatives thereof.
The last step of this process, step 3), in particular gives rise to what is called an average vector and to deformation modes the linear combinations of which subsequently allow not only the training examples to be reformed but also new elements (new faces in the case of a morphable model of faces for example) to be generated.
However, despite the apparent simplicity of such a method, its application must solve two major problems: that of determining which points can be registered in each training example and that of carrying out this association on a sufficient number of points (conventionally several thousand).
To this end, Blanz and Vetter have proposed to use an optical flow algorithm ("Hierarchical motion-based frame rate conversion" by James R Bergen and R Hingorani, Technical report, David Sarno Research Center, 1990).
At this stage, it will be noted that the laser used for the scanning-acquisitions delivered a cylindrical representation (also called a 2.5D representation). Thus, a two-dimensional or 2D image of the texture was immediately available and capitalized upon to implement the aforementioned algorithm.
However, in addition to being very sensitive to its initialization, this algorithm requires the deformations from one example to the next to be small (in the manner of successive images of a video), there being no reason for this to be so in the general case. Moreover, cylindrical representations have the major drawback of generating occlusions. Although the latter are relatively rare in the case of faces, making the method of Blanz and Vetter usable, the same does not apply in the case of more complex shapes, such as those of ears, for which the loss of information may prove to be unacceptable.
Chen Li et al. for their part took advantage of the particular shape of the subject studied thereby, namely the ear, and of position data, namely a photo and a depth map of the ear seen in profile, to construct a triangle mesh hierarchical growth algorithm ("A novel 3D ear reconstruction method using a single image" by Chen Li, Zhichun Mu, Feng Zhang, and Shuai Wang, in Intelligent Control and Automation (WCICA), 2012 10th World Congress on, pages 4891-4896, IEEE, 2012). A depth map, also called a 2.5D image or "z map", is a pixel-based image of z-coordinates that is in general created using a 3D camera. The grayscale levels in the depth map represent height values.
Contour detection was carried out on the photo and two initial markers were placed by the operator. The intersection of the perpendicular bisector of the segment connecting these two points with the exterior contour of the ear created a third point. By iterating this method with the new point and the preceding points, the authors created 17 points that were descriptive of the exterior contour of the ear. Via an analogous process, they also created other series of points that were descriptive of interior contours.
Next, a series of triangulations allowed them to obtain a deterministic segmentation of the ear into 23552 triangles and 13601 points. Assuming the still camera used to take the photo and 3D camera used to produce the depth map were positioned in the same location, 3D coordinates could be associated with the segmentation performed, thus achieving the registration.
Nevertheless, the very nature of the data makes the convolutions of the ear inaccessible and, in the end, does not allow a simplified model to be obtained, thus limiting the potential range of applications of this approach.
Furthermore, since the matching method is based on global and not local geometric considerations, such as the intersection of a straight line starting from one end of the image with a curve present at the other end, it causes dilution or even complete loss of the semantic information conveyed by the image.
Thus, characteristic points of the ear, such as the tragus or anti-tragus, cannot be reliably associated with one or more of the constructed descriptive points.
Lastly, such as mentioned by its authors, this method has the major drawback of giving correct results only for convex shapes, chaotic results in contrast being returned for simple star- or crescent-shaped geometries for example.
Kaneko et al. ("Ear shape modeling for 3D audio and acoustic virtual reality: The shapebased average hrtf" by Shoken Kaneko, Tsukasa Suenaga, Mai Fujiwara, Kazuya Kumehara, Futoshi Shirakihara, and SaSatoshi Sekine, Audio Engineering Society Conference: 61st International Conference: Audio for Games, Audio Engineering Society, 2016.) for their part used x-ray scans of molds of ears of volunteers and privileged the use of non-rigid 3D registration methods ("A new point matching algorithm for non-rigid registration" by Haili Chui and Anand Rangarajan, Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 89(2):114-141, 2003; "Robust point set registration using gaussian mixture models" by Bing Jian and Baba C Vemuri Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Transactions on, 33(8):1633-1645, 2011.). The meshes consisted of about 3000 peaks and the deformation vectors transforming a reference mesh into the others of the database were sought using mixtures of Gaussians.

Method for establishing a deformable 3D model of an element, and associated system


An apparatus may include a chassis that can receive a sled and a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism can mechanically lock the sled to the chassis to prevent a sudden power loss that can be caused from an unexpected removal of the sled from the chassis. To avoid a sudden power loss, a voltage-sensing electrical switch lock can be implemented to the chassis to mechanically lock the sled to the chassis until the sled is ready to be removed. The sled may include one or more computing devices that need to be inactive before removing the sled. The apparatus includes a controller that may detect whether at least one of computing devices in the sled are in an active state or in an inactive state. Based on the determination of the state of the computing devices in the sled, the controller may activate the locking mechanism or de-active locking mechanism.

In traditional chassis system architecture, a chassis system includes at least one power source and one or more sleds that work individually and independently of each other. The power source may be configured to supply the required power to operate computing devices within the sleds. Sometimes, a sled needs to be replaced or repaired due to the failure of one or more of the computing devices in the sled. Therefore, an assembly technician will mechanically remove the sled from the chassis for repair or replacement of the failed computing device. The problem with this approach is that the assembly technician may not know whether the sled is ready to be removed. Alternatively, the assembly technician may pull out the sled prematurely during a shutdown operation. As a result, when the assembly technician mistakenly pulls the sled out of from the chassis while the sled is operating, a data loss may occur due to the sudden power loss to the computing devices within sled.


This invention relates to electrochromic copolymers having a specific color transition prepared from precursors containing Si, Ge, Sn, or Pb, methods of producing such copolymers and precursors, and applications utilizing the copolymers to prepare electrochromic devices.

The color switching accompanied with external bias is defined as electrochromism, where the external bias triggers either a change of molecular stack or electron transfer (redox process). Since a conjugated polymer offers the tool to tune the optical properties by structural modification, polymer electrochromics have been studied intensively. Further, a conjugated polymer which changes its color by a redox process, has high optical contrast ratio, rapid redox switching, and long-term stability have made the polymer a desired material for various electrochromic device applications.
Although various colors of the conjugated polymer at the neutral state have been shown, including colors such as blue, green, yellow, and red, only a few examples of black electrochromic polymers have been reported to date. This is due to the complexity of designing materials absorbing the entire visible region (about 390-750 nm) evenly. The donor-acceptor approach offers a low band gap polymer, which covers most of the visible region. The two distinct absorption bands, generally shown in a donor-acceptor type polymer, are adjustable by the composition of donor and acceptor unit in the polymer backbone. To absorb evenly in the visible region, randomness of the donor and acceptor distribution is needed.
The first black electrochromic polymer was prepared by using a 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene ("ProDOT") derivative as donor and a 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole ("BTD") derivative as acceptor. The random copolymer consisted of donor and acceptor units that were chemically polymerized to yield the polymer. The copolymer showed different absorption spectra varied by the choice of polymerization method, such as FeCl3 mediated polymerization or Pd-catalyzed cross coupling, and the scale of the reaction. However, the composition and randomness of ProDOT and BTD in the conjugated polymer is unchangeable, since the two aromatics are chemically bonded.
The second approach is the electrochemical polymerization of two donor-acceptor types of monomers, one covering blue and red, and the other covering green in the visible region. The resulting conjugated polymer exhibits successful color transition from black to grey, but the method holds the complexity of control of the composition via electrochemical copolymerization and the difficulty to achieve mass production.
There remains a need in the art for improved methods, in terms of convenience and efficiency, to prepare a series of black electrochromic polymers.

Electrochromic copolymers from precursors, method of making, and use thereof


One embodiment provides for a computer-implemented method comprising receiving a request to compile a set of program instructions coded in a high-level language, the set of program instructions including a pointer to a virtual memory address, the pointer having a pointer encoding including a base address and a length; while compiling the set of program instructions, decoding the base address and length from the pointer, wherein the base address specifies a first boundary for a memory allocation, the length defines a second boundary for the memory allocation and the length is an encoding of a size of the memory allocation; and generating a set of compiled instructions which, when executed, enable access to a physical address associated with a virtual address between the first boundary and the second boundary.

Capability-based addressing is a memory access technique that can be used to control access to memory within a computing system. In capability-based addressing, pointers are replaced by objects referred to as capabilities, which include some set of restrictions on the type of memory accesses that can be performed using the capability object, enabling the processor or kernel to control which processes may access which objects in memory. CHERI (Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions) is an extension of RISC Instruction Set Architectures (ISAs) to enable capability-based primitives. However, capability enhanced RISC ISAs known in the art make use of large pointers that can result in object file sizes that may be impractical for general-purpose use, particularly in mobile or handheld computing devices in which storage device and memory capacity may be constrained.


The invention relates to compounds and pharmaceutical compositions capable of treating amyloid diseases and other diseases characterized by oligomerization and/or fibrillation of amyloidogenic peptides such as amyloid beta peptide (Abeta or Aβ).

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are a large group of pathologies caused by metabolic changes in brain cells, loss of synapses and other compartments of neurons, and finally neuronal death (Neurodegenerative diseases: From Molecular Concepts to Therapeutic Targets. Editors: R. von Bernhardi, N. C. Inestrosa, Nova Publishers, 2008; Neurodegenerative diseases: Clinical aspects, Molecular Genetics and Biomarkers. Editors: D. Galimberti, E. Scarpini, Springer, 2014). This group of diseases includes Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Lewy Body dementia, Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), vascular dementia, multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), prion diseases, different ataxias, and others. Due to the increased lifespan, NDs become very common in developed countries. There are about 65 million people living with AD and PD, respectively, and in the U.S. alone, 70-80 million people are at risk of developing one of these conditions.
NDs, and AD specifically, are characterized by neuronal death in different disease-specific areas of the brain. The accumulation of proteinaceous amyloid fiber plaques in the central nervous system initiates and regulates the pathogenic cascade of AD (Hardy, J.; Selkoe, D. J. Science 2002, 297, 353-356; Hardy, J. A.; Higgins, G. A. Science 1992, 256, 184-185). A central event associated with the progression of AD is the oligomerization and subsequent aggregation of amyloid beta (Abeta or Aβ) peptide and its subsequent conversion into β-sheet rich fibers en route to the formation of amyloid plaques (Haass, C.; Selkoe, D. J. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 2007, 8, 101-112).
Aβ is derived from the transmembrane portion of the secreted protein, amyloid precursor protein (APP). Cleavage of APP results in several Aβ isoforms. The predominant species are Aβ42 and Aβ40. The longer variant of Aβ, Aβ42 is the main constituent of amyloid plaques and is far more neurotoxic than Aβ40 (Iwatsubo, T.; Odaka, A.; Suzuki, N.; Mizusawa, H.; Nukina, N.; Ihara, Y. Neuron 1994, 13, 45-53). Previously, according to the amyloid cascade hypothesis, it was believed that plaques resulting from β-sheet formation are responsible for AD onset. However, in recent years, it has been established that the prefibrillar soluble oligomers of Aβ, and not the fibers themselves, are the key neurotoxic species. The accumulation of these oligomeric intermediates leads to presynaptic loss and eventual neuronal cell death. The implication of Aβ oligomeric intermediates in cellular dysfunction and AD make them an important target for therapeutic intervention. However, the dearth of structural information about the soluble oligomers of Aβ presents a challenging task in identifying suitable strategies to modulate Aβ structure and function.
Aβ40 and Aβ42 exist predominantly as random coils in aqueous solution, and are known to sample a range of secondary structures under specific conditions (Riek, R.; Güntert, P.; Döbeli, H.; Wipf, B.; Wüthrich, K. Eur. J. Biochem. 2001, 268, 5930-5936). Under matched conditions, the aggregation of Aβ42 is more aggressive than Aβ40 (Yan, Y.; Wang, C. J. Mol. Biol. 2006, 364, 853-862). The secondary structures of both peptides are almost identical except that Aβ42 adopts a more rigid structure at its C-terminus. In the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP), both peptides adopt α-helical conformations from residues 15-24 and 29-35 with residues 16, 20, 22, and 23 exposed to solvent (Jarvet, J.; Danielsson, J.; Damberg, P.; Oleszczuk, M.; GrÃslund, A. J. Biomol. NMR 2007, 39, 63-72; Coles, M.; Bicknell, W.; Watson, A. A.; Fairlie, D. P.; Craik, D. J. Biochemistry 1998, 37, 11064-11077; Serpell, L. C. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 2000, 1502, 16-30).
Numerous small molecules have been identified that modulate the kinetic pathways of Aβ oligomerization. These molecules were principally discovered via high throughput screening (HTS), rational design based on the β-sheet structure of Aβ, and mimicry of short Aβ segments. Some effective modulators of Aβ assembly include the polyphenols (−) epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and resveratrol, the sugar derivative scyllo-inositol, molecular tweezers (MTs), Methylene Blue, ligand D-737 and its analogs, cucurbit[7]uril, β-cyclodextrins, cyclic D,L-α-peptides, a C-terminal Aβ peptide fragment, cyclic-KLVFF (D and L) and its analogues, congo red, curcumin, trimeric aminopyrazole carboxylic acid derivatives, affibody proteins, and peptoids. (Ehrnhoefer, D. E.; Bieschke, J.; Boeddrich, A.; Herbst, M.; Masino, L.; Lurz, R.; Engemann, S.; Pastore, A.; Wanker, E. E. Nat Struct Mot Blot 2008, 15, 558-566; Palhano, F. L.; Lee, J.; Grimster, N. P.; Kelly, J. W. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 7503-7510; Ladiwala, A. R. A.; Lin, J. C.; Bale, S. S.; Marcelino-Cruz, A. M.; Bhattacharya, M.; Dordick, J. S.; Tessier, P. M. J. Biol. Chem. 2010, 285, 24228-24237; McLaurin, J.; Golomb, R.; Jurewicz, A.; Antel, J. P.; Fraser, P. E. J. Biol. Chem. 2000, 275, 18495-18502; Sinha, S.; Lopes, D. H. J.; Du, Z.; Pang, E. S.; Shanmugam, A.; Lomakin, A.; Talbiersky, P.; Tennstaedt, A.; McDaniel, K.; Bakshi, R.; Kuo, P.; Ehrmann, M.; Benedek, G. B.; Loo, J. A.; KlÃrner, F.; Schrader, T.; Wang, C.; Bitan, G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 16958-16969; Necula, M.; Breydo, L.; Milton, S.; Kayed, R.; van, d. V.; Tone, P.; Glabe, C. G. Biochemistry 2007, 46, 8850-8860; McKoy, A. F.; Chen, J.; Schupbach, T.; Hecht, M. H. Chem. Biol. Drug Des. 2014, 84, 505-512; McKoy, A. F.; Chen, J.; Schupbach, T.; Hecht, M. H. J. Biol. Chem. 2012, 287, 38992-39000; Lee, H. H.; Choi, T. S.; Lee, S. J. C.; Lee, J. W.; Park, J.; Ko, Y. H.; Kim, W. J.; Kim, K.; Kim, H. I. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 7461-7465; WahlstrÃm, A.; Cukalevski, R.; Danielsson, J.; Jarvet, J.; Onagi, H.; Rebek, J.; Linse, S.; GrÃslund, A. Biochemistry 2012, 51, 4280-4289; Richman, M.; Wilk, S.; Chemerovski, M.; WÃrmlÃnder, Sebastian K. T. S.; WahlstrÃm, A.; GrÃslund, A.; Rahimipour, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 3474-348; Fradinger, E. A.; Monien, B. H.; Urbanc, B.; Lomakin, A.; Tan, M.; Li, H.; Spring, S. M.; Condron, M. M.; Cruz, L.; Xie, C.; Benedek, G. B.; Bitan, G. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2008, 105, 14175-14180; Arai, T.; Araya, T.; Sasaki, D.; Taniguchi, A.; Sato, T.; Sohma, Y.; Kanai, M. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 8236-8239; Arai, T.; Sasaki, D.; Araya, T.; Sato, T.; Sohma, Y.; Kanai, M. ChemBioChem 2014, 15, 2577-2583; Yang, F.; Lim, G. P.; Begum, A. N.; Ubeda, O. J.; Simmons, M. R.; Ambegaokar, S. S.; Chen, P. P.; Kayed, R.; Glabe, C. G.; Frautschy, S. A.; Cole, G. M. J. Biol. Chem. 2005, 280, 5892-5901; HochdÃrffer, K.; MÃrz-Berberich, J.; Nagel-Steger, L.; Epple, M.; Meyer-Zaika, W.; Horn, A. H. C.; Sticht, H.; Sinha, S.; Bitan, G.; Schrader, T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 4348-4358).
Some Aβ modulators act as ligands to induce or stabilize a secondary structure in Aβ, and thus alter its function. For example, a peptoid and an affibody protein were shown to trap Aβ into the central discordant α-helical structure and a β-hairpin conformation, reminiscent of membrane-bound Aβ and Aβ fibril structure, respectively. The interaction of the peptoid with Aβ induced an α-helical structure, which altered the aggregation kinetics of Aβ and rescued PC12 cells from cytotoxicity mediated by Aβ. (See Nerelius, C.; Sandegren, A.; Sargsyan, H.; Raunak, R.; Leijonmarck, H.; Chatterjee, U.; Fisahn, A.; Imarisio, S.; Lomas, D. A.; Crowther, D. C.; Stromberg, R.; Johansson, J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2009, 106, 9191-9196 and Hoyer, W.; Grönwall, C.; Jonsson, A.; Ståhl, S.; Härd, T. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2008, 105, 5099-5104, respectively). Despite these advances in the art, to date, there is no cure or effective therapy for reducing a patient's amyloid burden or preventing amyloid deposition in AD and other amyloid diseases.
Alphα-helical mimetics are organic scaffolds that imitate the topography of an α-helix, such as those present at protein-protein interfaces. On a molecular level, the surface functionalities of α-helical mimetics are spatially oriented in a well-defined order to mimic the side chain residues of one helical surface at positions i, i+3/i+4, and i+7. α-helical mimetics have previously been shown to act as antagonists of numerous protein-protein interactions, including HIV gp41 oligomerization, Bak BH3/Bcl-xL, p53/HDM2, HIF1α/p300, and membrane-bound α-helical intermediates of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) (Saraogi, I.; Hebda, J.; Becerril, J.; Estroff, L.; Miranker, A.; Hamilton, A. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 736-739; Kulikov, O. V.; Kumar, S.; Magzoub, M.; Knipe, P. C.; Saraogi, I.; Thompson, S.; Miranker, A. D.; Hamilton, A. D. Tet. Lett. 2015, 56, 3670-3673; Kumar, S.; Birol, M.; Miranker, A. D. Chem. Comm. 2016, 52, 6391-6394).
Previously, certain oligopyridylamide-based α-helical mimetics have been used to target the membrane-associated α-helical conformation of IAPP and were found to be strong antagonists of membrane-catalyzed IAPP aggregation. Structure-activity relationship studies were conducted to optimize the inhibitory activity against IAPP self-assembly via charge complementarity and hydrophobic interactions. In addition to in vitro solution biophysical assays confirming the inhibition of self assembly, these α-helical mimetics were shown to be effective in rescuing an insulin secreting cell line from IAPP-mediated cytotoxicity. (Kumar, S.; Schlamadinger, D.; Brown, M.; Dunn, J.; Mercado, B.; Hebda, J.; Saraogi, I.; Rhoades, E.; Hamilton, A.; Miranker, A. Chem. Biol. 2015, 22, 369-378; Hebda, J. A.; Saraogi, I.; Magzoub, M.; Hamilton, A. D.; Miranker, A. D. Chem. Biol. 2009, 16, 943-950).
IAPP and Aβ share ˜50% sequence similarity, with the Aβ(15-21) and Aβ(26-32) sequences sharing particular commonality with those of IAPP(10-16) and IAPP(21-27), respectively. These regions are further thought to participate in amyloidogenesis. These similarities likely account for the observation that many Aβ antagonists also inhibit IAPP amyloid formation and vice versa. Yet, despite certain similarities, IAPP and Aβ are implicated in vastly different diseases and conditions. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for developing compounds that would exhibit specificity and/or selectivity for Aβ versus IAPP,
As discussed herein, several disease-specific amyloidogenic proteins share similar structural and functional properties. These proteins are believed to proceed through a series of conformation switches starting from the native disordered state to soluble oligomeric intermediates which eventually terminate into highly ordered intractable fiber aggregates. An increasing body of evidence suggests that soluble oligomers of the amyloidogenic proteins are the predominant cytotoxic species associated with various amyloid-related diseases. Therefore, elucidation of the structural details of these oligomeric intermediates may provide mechanistic insight for the development of effective therapeutics. Enormous efforts have been directed to identify and characterize these oligomers with limited success because of their complex and dynamic nature. Study of Aβ oligomerization processes by Teplow et al suggested two strategies that could fit the portrait of an ideal therapeutic agent (Ono, K.; Condron, M. M.; Teplow, D. B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2009, 106, 14745-14750). (1) Conformational organization of the native monomeric state of Aβ which could potentially alter the oligomerization and other downstream functions of Aβ. (2) Destabilization of the oligomeric states to block further oligomerization and fibril formation.
The foregoing discussion is presented solely to provide a better understanding of nature of the problems confronting the art and should not be construed in any way as an admission as to prior art nor should the citation of any reference herein be construed as an admission that such reference constitutes "prior art" to the instant application.

Alpha-helix mimetics as modulators of Abeta self-assembly


The present invention is related to a food product-forming apparatus, with a movable form-body, in which the food product is formed, and a knock out cup, which executes a knock-out-movement, that removes the food product from the form-body, whereas the knock out cup comprises an at least partially permeable bottom, through which a fluid-medium can be ejected and whereas, during the knock-out movement, a fluid-medium cushion is created, at least temporarily beneath the permeable bottom. The present invention furthermore comprises a process for the production of food products.

The present invention is related to a food product-forming apparatus, with a movable form-body, in which the food product is formed, and a knock out cup, which executes a knock-out-movement, that removes the food product from the form-body, whereas the knock out cup comprises an at least partially permeable bottom, through which a fluid-medium can be ejected. The present invention furthermore comprises a process for the production of food products.
Food product forming apparatus are known from the state of the art. This apparatus comprises a knock out cup that is moving through holes in a rotating drum, to knock out the product, for example, food products formed in the drum. After the knock out cup hits the food product, the food product sticks at least partially at the surface of the knock out cup. In order to remove the product from the knock out cup, air, supplied at a high pressure up to 6 bar, which is expanded rapidly, is used to blast the product from the knock out cup. In many cases water is additionally needed to remove the product from the knock out cup. This apparatus has the disadvantages that it is noisy, that the water creates pick up problems of the product, that the product will not drop straight from the knock out and that it is difficult to divide the water evenly among several knock out cups.

Food product forming apparatus and process


This invention relates to subterranean treatment operations. More particularly, this invention provides methods that may be useful in providing void-free barriers between a subterranean formation and a portion of a well bore. A nonlimiting example of a method is a method of degrading a filter cake in a subterranean formation. Another nonlimiting example of a method is a method of producing hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation.

The present invention relates to subterranean treatment operations. More particularly, the present invention provides methods that may be useful in providing void-free barriers between a subterranean formation and a portion of a well bore.
Hydrocarbon production from subterranean formations commonly involves, inter alia, drilling a well bore that penetrates the hydrocarbon-bearing formation, and producing hydrocarbon fluids (e.g., oil and/or gas) through the well bore to the surface. When the formation is one that may be characterized as poorly or weakly consolidated, efficient hydrocarbon production may be complicated by, inter alia, well bore instability and the production of "fines" from the formation. Production of fines (e.g., particles from the formation) along with the produced fluids is undesirable, as they may damage both downhole equipment and surface equipment, and must be disposed of in an environmentally-acceptable manner.
Conventional attempts to address the problems of well bore instability and formation fines production have involved operations referred to as "gravel packing." Commonly, a gravel packing operation may involve placing a sand slurry into an annulus between a screen-wrapped perforated pipe (the "screen") and the walls of the well bore, thereby forming a sand filter between the two. The sand (often referred to as "gravel") may be of a specific size designed to prevent the passage of unconsolidated formation particles. A wide range of sizes and screen configurations are available to suit the characteristics of the gravel pack sand used. Similarly, a wide range of sizes of gravel is available to suit the characteristics of the unconsolidated or poorly consolidated particulates in the subterranean formation. The resulting structure presents a barrier to migrating formation particles, and stabilizes the weak formation, while still permitting fluid flow. The gravel, inter alia, acts to prevent the particulates from occluding the screen or migrating with the produced fluids, and the screen, inter alia, acts to prevent the gravel from entering the production tubing.
Occasionally, expandable screens have been placed in subterranean formations as an alternative to the placement of a conventional gravel pack. Once placed within the well bore, the expandable screen may be expanded or inflated against the walls of the well bore.
Conventional gravel packing operations, as well as operations involving the use of expandable screens, have been problematic. Bridging of sand particles within the gravel pack may occur, which may create voids within the gravel pack. Void spaces also may occur with expandable screens. When a well bore is drilled in a soft formation, formation material may be washed out in certain locations, which may enlarge the diameter of the bore hole in the washed-out regions. Generally, expandable screens are expanded through the use of a fixed-diameter die. Accordingly, in a uniform-diameter borehole, the expanded screen generally will make contact with substantially the entirety of the formation, and be void-free. However, in locations that have been washed out to a larger diameter, or into an irregular shape, the expanded screen will be unable to contact substantially the entirety of the formation, and voids will be present.
The presence of voids generally is undesirable, as they may result in mechanical failures, among other things. Generally, voids will reduce the ability of an expanded screen or gravel pack to filter or restrain particles or fines produced from the subterranean formation along with produced fluids. Fines may damage both downhole and surface equipment, due in part to the relatively high velocity with which fluids carrying the fines may move through the gravel pack or screen. For example, particles carried along with produced fluid may impinge on the expandable screen, abrading a hole therein. Furthermore, any produced formation material must be disposed of in an environmentally-acceptable manner, which adds expense to the cost of producing the well.

Methods for forming a permeable and stable mass in a subterranean formation


An apparatus for inverting the spatial orientation of sheet material from a desired input to a desired output orientation. The apparatus includes a cage assembly, a torque drive mechanism operative to rotate the cage assembly about a rotational axis and a sheet conveyance mechanism mounting to the cage assembly for conveying sheet material along the rotational axis of the cage assembly. The torque drive mechanism is adapted to assume input and output positions about the rotational axis wherein each position corresponds to the desired input and output orientations of the sheet material. The sheet conveyance mechanism is, further, adapted to: (i) receive sheet material when the cage assembly is in the input position, (ii) eject sheet material when the cage assembly is in the output position and (iii) retard the movement of the sheet material in response to rotation of the cage assembly by the torque drive mechanism.

Sheet material handling systems frequently require sheet material or assembled collations thereof to be turned over to match a specific downstream requirement. For example, mailpiece fabrication equipment typically requires that sheet material be oriented face-up or face down depending upon the orientation of a receiving envelope This requirement has come under increasing demand as new and old equipment have, over the course of time, been merged. That is, some mailpiece fabrication systems require a face-up orientation while others employ a face-down presentation. Effective utilization and coordination of all systems/machines becomes inefficient when specific mailpiece fabrication jobs can only be processed on specific machines.
Various inversion modules have been developed to reorient sheet material for use in sheet handling equipment. One such apparatus is a twist module wherein sheets of material are directed linearly along a spiral path typically effected by a series of twisted belts or chords. While such twist modules retain the respective leading and trailing edge position of the sheet material, such modules require a lengthy axial path to change the face-up/face-down orientation of the sheet material. Furthermore, twist modules are less reliable when handling stacked collations inasmuch as the stacked sheets tend to skew as they follow the spiral path. Moreover, such twist modules are not reconfigurable to handle straight runs wherein sheet material inversion is not required. Consequently, another module must be introduced in place of the twist module to reconfigure the sheet material handling equipment.
A need, therefore, exists for a sheet inversion apparatus which is space efficient, reliable (especially when handling stacked collations) and is reconfigurable to facilitate multiple sheet feeding requirements.
The invention will be fully understood when reference is made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


According to the invention thin sheets of foil are stiffened in a particular way by means of vault-structuring. The vault-structuring occurs either by self-organizing or following a self-organized design with a spade-shaped or drop-shaped pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a process and an apparatus for vault-structuring, in which curved material sheets are pressurized using supporting elements spaced at certain distances from each other.
2. Background Art
Numerous processes for profiling thin material sheets are known, including well-known deformation technologies such as rolling-in or embossing of beads with the aid of complicated form tools to create three-dimensional stiffening. The drawback of these mechanical deformation processes is that sophisticated and expensive form tools are required, that the material sheets to be profiled are heavily plastified, and that the surface quality of the raw material is degraded by the mechanical surface pressure.
The European patent application 0 441 618 A 1 describes a profiling technique in which polyhedral structures are produced with the aid of two embossing rolls. An apparatus is known for embossing axial beads into cans by supporting the can by axial, rigid elements on the inside and applying pressure from the outside by means of an elastic press roller (DE 35 87 768 T 2). U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,669 suggests feeding plastic foil over a roll that carries small cups into which the plastic foil is sucked by vacuum pressure. This process, however, does not enhance the inherent stability of the material. A process in which round, dome shaped structures are impressed in a foil does likewise not considerably improve the inherent stability of the material because large regions remain undeformed between the dents (French patent application no. 1,283,530).
Furthermore, a process is known in which thin material sheets or foils are profiled dent-like. In the process, the curved thin material sheet or foil is supported by line-shaped supporting elements on the inside and hydraulically pressurized from the outside. Offset quadrangular dent structures result that considerably improve the inherent stability of the material sheet (Deutsche Offenlegungsschrift 25 57 215 [=Patent Application Open To Public Inspection], German printed patent specification DE 43 11 978). In principle, this dent-profiling process differs from the one described in patent application no. 0 441 618 A 1 in that not two mechanically acting embossing rollers are required but only a supporting core on which the material sheet rests and against which it is hydraulically pressed. The hydraulic production of polyhedral structures, e.g. hexagonal profiles, has been described in the International Patent Application published as PCT/EP 94/01043, FIGS. 5b and 5c). Instead of hydraulic pressure, an unprofiled, elastic cushion or an unprofiled elastomer can be used for pressurization. The supporting elements against which the material sheet is pressed are made of a flexible material which is either fixed or can move on the core.
The purely mechanical forming process described in the European printed patent specification no. 0 441 618 A 1 considerably affects the surface quality of the raw material by great mechanical deformation. The apparatus for producing axial beads described in DE 35 87 768 T 2 uses line-shaped, axial, rigid supporting elements and an elastic pressure element. However, the inherent stability of the material furnished with axial beads in this way is insufficient because, for geometrical reasons, beads do not yield multi-dimensional inherent stability. In contrast to beads the forming techniques described in O.S. 25 57 215, DE 43 11 978, and PCT/EP 94/01043 produce multi-dimensional inherent stability by creating offset vault structures without degrading the surface quality.
One of the problems of the known vault-structuring techniques is that, where the vaults in the profiled material are deep, local stretching and elongation occur, which can be so severe that considerable plastic deformation results, weakening the material so that it may tear.
Another problem of the known vault-structuring techniques for thin material sheets or foils is that the self-organizing of the folds that bring about the improvement of the inherent stability is not, or only insufficiently, made possible in some applications. Self-organization of the vault folds means a process in which the material is folded in several dimensions in a such way that its inherent stability is enhanced. For example, such vault-structuring is effected by the curved, thin material, which is supported on the inside by supporting collars spaced at certain distances from each other or a helical, rigid supporting spiral (O.S. 25 57 215), becoming instable due to external pressure. The instability triggers multi-dimensional folding of the material and offset, quadrangular vault structures are created. Thus the thin material is transferred into a new state, the most important characteristic feature of which is its improved inherent stability. One problem of these quadrangular vault structures is that severe plastic deformation may occur in the region of the vault folds which weaken the material. If, instead of rigid ones, flexible supporting elements (e.g. of rubber) are used which are allowed to move on a core in axial direction during the vault-structuring process, hexagonal vault structures are created. Such hexagonal vaults can also be produced by hexagonal, rigid supporting elements (PCT/EP 94/01043). Studies have shown that severe plastic deformation weakening the material may occur in the area of the hexagonal vault structures as well, similar as in the case of the offset, quadrangular vault structures. In addition, the material sheets thus profiled with quadrangular or hexagonal vault structures is difficult to flatten from the cylindrical into a flat shape without substantial loss of isotropic inherent stability. Studies have shown that the lateral vault folds arranged in the direction of feed of the material sheet can be bent into a flat shape only by application of considerable force. Because in this flattening process the vault folds perpendicular to the direction of feed of the material sheet are leveled and arched somewhat, the vault folds lose a portion of their initial inherent stability. The thicker the material sheets the more serious the problem, and no isotropic inherent stability of the profiled material sheets can be achieved in this way. Therefore, the known profiling techniques are limited to angular structures such as quadrangular and hexagonal profiles. Due to this limitation, the structure of the vault folds could not yet be optimized. Such optimization includes the geometry of the structure as well as the geometrical shape of the fold itself. The structure of the vaults, such as their size and depth, determines the increase in inherent stability at a given thickness of the material. The contours of the folds must adopt such a shape that despite their being smoothed only a minimum of plastic deformation occurs.

Process and apparatus for vault-structuring of thin material sheets


A special coding scheme is disclosed for more effectively acquiring a long code and frame timing during a cell search in a CDMA communications system. A code set of length M Q-ary code words including symbols from a set of Q short codes is defined with certain properties. The primary property to be satisfied is that no cyclic shift of a code word yields a valid code word. The other properties to be satisfied are that there is a one-to-one mapping between a long code message and a valid code word, and a decoder should be able to find both the random shift (thereby implicitly finding the frame timing) and the transmitted code word (i.e., its associated long code indication message) in the presence of interference and noise, with some degree of accuracy and reasonable complexity.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the spread spectrum communications field and, in particular, to cell search activities performed by a mobile station to obtain time synchronization with a base station and acquire the cell-specific long code and frame timing information used in a code division multiple access (CDMA) communications system.
2. Description of Related Art
The cellular telephone industry has made phenomenal strides in commercial operations throughout the world. Growth in major metropolitan areas has far exceeded expectations and is outstripping system capacity. If this trend continues, the effects of rapid growth will soon reach even the smallest markets. The predominant problem with respect to such continued growth is that the customer base is expanding while the amount of electromagnetic spectrum allocated to cellular service providers for use in carrying radio frequency communications remains limited. Innovative solutions are required to meet these increasing capacity needs in the limited available spectrum, as well as to maintain high quality service and avoid rising prices.
Currently, channel access in cellular systems is primarily achieved using Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) methods. In FDMA systems, a physical communication channel comprises a single radio frequency band into which the transmission power of a signal is concentrated. In TDMA systems, a physical communications channel comprises a time slot in a periodic train of time intervals over the same radio frequency. Although satisfactory performance is being obtained from FDMA and TDMA communications systems, channel congestion due to increasing customer demand commonly occurs. Accordingly, alternate channel access methods are now being proposed, considered and implemented.
Spread spectrum is a communications technology which is finding commercial application as a new channel access method in wireless communications. Spread spectrum systems have been around since the days of World War II. Early applications were predominantly military oriented (relating to smart jamming, radar and satellites). However, there is an increasing interest today in using spread spectrum systems in other communications applications, including digital cellular radio, land mobile radio, and indoor/outdoor personal communication networks.
Spread spectrum operates quite differently from conventional TDMA and FDMA communications systems. In a direct sequence-CDMA (DS-CDMA) spread spectrum transmitter, for example, a digital symbol stream for a given dedicated or common channel at a basic symbol rate is spread to a chip rate. This spreading operation involves applying a channel unique spreading code (sometimes referred to as a signature sequence) to the symbol stream that increases its rate (bandwidth) while adding redundancy. Typically, the digital symbol stream is multiplied by the unique digital code during spreading. The intermediate signal comprising the resulting data sequences (chips) is then added to other similarly processed (i.e., spread) intermediate signals relating to other channels. A base station-unique scrambling code (often referred to as the "long code" since it is in most cases longer than the spreading code) is then applied to the summed intermediate signals to generate an output signal for multi-channel transmission over a communications medium. The dedicated/common channel-related intermediate signals advantageously then share one transmission communications frequency, with the multiple signals appearing to be located on top of each other in both the frequency domain and the time domain. Because the applied spreading codes are channel unique, however, each intermediate signal transmitted over the shared communications frequency is similarly unique, and through the application of proper processing techniques at the receiver may be distinguished from others.
In the DS-CDMA spread spectrum mobile station receiver, the received signals are recovered by applying (i.e., multiplying, or matching) the appropriate scrambling and spreading codes to despread, or removing the coding from the desired transmitted signal and returning to the basic symbol rate. Where the spreading code is applied to other transmitted and received intermediate signals, however, only noise is produced. The despreading operation thus effectively comprises a correlation process that compares the received signal with the appropriate digital code to recover the desired information from the channel.
Before any radio frequency communications or information transfer between a base station and a mobile station of the spread spectrum communications system can occur, the mobile station must find and synchronize itself to the timing reference of that base station. This process is commonly referred to as "cell searching". In a DS-CDMA spread spectrum communications system, for example, the mobile station must find downlink chip boundaries, symbol boundaries and frame boundaries of this timing reference clock. The most common solution implemented to resolve this synchronization problem has the base station periodically transmitting (with a repetition period T.sub.p), and the mobile station detecting and processing, a recognizable synchronization code c.sub.p of length N.sub.p chips as shown in FIG. 1. The synchronization code may also be referred to as a spreading code for long code masked symbols. This synchronization code is sent with a known modulation and without any long code scrambling. In one type of CDMA communications system, each base station utilizes a different, known synchronization code taken from a set of available synchronization codes. In another type of CDMA communications system, all base stations utilize the same synchronization code, with differences between base stations being identified through the use of differing phase shifts of the synchronization code for the transmissions.
In the spread spectrum receiver of the mobile station, the received signals are demodulated and applied to a filter matched to the synchronization code(s). It is, of course, understood that alternate detection schemes, such as sliding correlation, may be used for synchronization code processing. The output of the matched filter peaks at times which correspond to the reception times of the periodically transmitted synchronization code. Due to the effects of multi-path propagation, several peaks may be detected relating to a single synchronization code transmission. From processing these received peaks in a known manner, a timing reference with respect to the transmitting base station may be found with an ambiguity equal to the repetition period T.sub.p. If the repetition period equals the frame length, then this timing reference can be used to synchronize mobile station and base station communications operations with respect to frame timing.
While any length of N.sub.p in chips for the transmitted synchronization code c.sub.p may be selected, as a practical matter the length of N.sub.p in chips is limited by the complexity of the matched filter implemented in the mobile station receiver. At the same time, it is desirable to limit the instantaneous peak power P.sub.p of the synchronization code signal/channel transmissions in order not to cause high instantaneous interference with other spread spectrum transmitted signals/channels. To obtain sufficient average power with respect to synchronization code transmissions given a certain chip length N.sub.p, it may become necessary in the CDMA communications system to utilize a synchronization code repetition period T.sub.p that is shorter than a frame length T.sub.f as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Another reason for transmitting multiple synchronization codes c.sub.p within a single frame length T.sub.f is to support inter-frequency downlink synchronization in the compressed mode, as known to those skilled in the art. With compressed mode processing, downlink synchronization on a given carrier frequency is carried out during only part of a frame rather than across the entire frame. It is possible, then, with only one synchronization code c.sub.p per frame, that compressed mode processing could miss over a significant time period detecting the synchronization code completely. By transmitting multiple synchronization codes c.sub.p during each frame, multiple opportunities per frame are given for compressed mode processing detection, and at least one synchronization code transmission will be capable of being detected.
There is, however, a drawback with respect to reception and synchronization experienced with multiple synchronization code c.sub.p transmission within a single frame length T.sub.f. Again, the received signals are demodulated and applied to a filter (or correlator) matched to the known synchronization code. The output of the matched filter peaks at times that correspond to the reception times of the periodically transmitted synchronization code. From processing these peaks, a timing reference for the transmitting base station relating to the synchronization code repetition period T.sub.p may be found in a known manner. However, this timing reference is ambiguous with respect to the frame timing and thus does not present sufficient information to enable base/mobile station frame synchronization to the timing reference. By ambiguous it is meant that the boundary of the frame (i.e., its synchronization) cannot be identified from the detected synchronization code peaks alone.
The cell searching process can further involve obtaining the cell specific long code used on the downlink to scramble downlink dedicated and common channel communications. The dedicated channels comprise both traffic and control channels, and the common channels also comprise traffic and control channels (which can include the broadcast control channel or BCCH). A long code group code c.sub.lci is preferably transmitted synchronously with (and further preferably orthogonal to) the synchronization codes c.sub.p as illustrated in FIG. 3. This long code group code is sent with a known modulation and without any long code scrambling. Each long code group code c.sub.lci indicates the particular subset of a total set of long codes to which the cell specific long code utilized for the transmission belongs. For example, there may be one-hundred twenty-eight total long codes grouped into four subsets of thirty-two codes each. By identifying the transmitted long code group code c.sub.lci, the receiver can narrow its long code acquisition search in this example to only the thirty-two long codes contained in the subset identified by the received long code group code c.sub.lci.
Frame timing information may be found from a combined processing of the received synchronization codes c.sub.p and long code group codes c.sub.lci. A mobile station first identifies synchronization code timing by applying a c.sub.p -matched filter to a received signal and identifying peaks. From these peaks, a timing reference with respect to the slots may be found. Although ambiguous as to frame timing, the determined slot locations identify the timing for the simultaneous transmission of the long code group code c.sub.lci. Correlation is then performed at the known slot locations to obtain the long code group code c.sub.lci identification. From this identification, the number of possible cell specific long codes used for the transmission is reduced. Lastly, a correlation is performed against each of the reduced number of long codes (i.e., those long codes contained in the c.sub.lci identified subset) at each of the known slots to determine which cell specific long code is being used for the transmission, and provide a phase shift reference. Once the phase shift is found, frame timing is identified.
In connection with the transmission of multiple synchronization codes c.sub.p within a single frame length T.sub.f, the determination of frame timing is alternatively assisted in the manner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,330 by Dahlman et al., entitled "MOBILE STATION SYNCHRONIZATION WITHIN A SPREAD SPECTRUM COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM", filed Jun. 27, 1997, by having each of the slots include not only a synchronization code c.sub.p as in FIG. 2 described above, but also a framing synchronization code c.sub.s transmitted with a known modulation and without long code scrambling, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The synchronization code is the same in each slot and across the repeating frames. The framing synchronization codes, however, are unique for each slot in a frame, and are repeated in each frame.
To obtain frame timing information, a mobile station first identifies synchronization code timing by applying a c.sub.p -matched filter to a received signal and identifying peaks. From these peaks, a timing reference with respect to the slots can be found. While this timing reference is ambiguous as to frame timing, knowledge of the slot locations indirectly points to the location of the framing synchronization code c.sub.s, within each located slot. The mobile station then further correlates the set of known framing synchronization codes c.sub.s to the received signal at the locations of framing synchronization codes. Given that the position of each framing synchronization code c.sub.s relative to the frame boundary is known, once a correlation match is found at the location, the boundary of the frame relative thereto (and hence, the frame timing) is then also known.
Although the foregoing methods for obtaining synchronization information can provide satisfactory results, their performance capabilities under degraded radio conditions leaves much to be desired. Inevitably, in all of the above-described prior art approaches, poor radio link conditions and higher than normal interference levels can cause a mobile station to make an incorrect decision on either the long code or frame timing, or both. Consequently, additional correlations have to be performed that occupy valuable processing resources, are complex to implement, and slow down the cell searching process. Essentially, more signal energy could be collected by receiving the signal over more frame periods. However, this approach can take longer than the time deemed acceptable for handover situations. Therefore, there is a need for an effective method of obtaining both a frame timing indication and a long code indication during the cell searching process in a degraded radio environment. As described in detail below, the present invention provides such a method.

Cell searching in a CDMA communications system


A semiconductor device comprises a level shifting circuit that can be achieved without using an extra charge pump and using low voltage transistors. The level shifting circuit 10 controls the on/off state of a transfer gate, which is an n-channel transistor N1. The level shifting circuit 10 has a NAND gate 11 to which the voltage mode selection signal HVON and input signal IN are given; the p-channel transistor P2, the n-channel transistor N4, and the n-channel transistor N6 series connected between the NAND gate 11 output and the -9V charge pump output Vncp; a NAND gate 13 to which the voltage mode selection signal HVON is input, and input signal IN is input through inverter 12; and the p-channel transistor P3, the n-channel transistor N5, and the n-channel transistor N7 series connected between the NAND gate 13 output and the charge pump output Vncp.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and relates more specifically to a level shift circuit in an electrically writable and erasable semiconductor device such as a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, semiconductor devices such as nonvolatile semiconductor memory store information by inserting and removing electrons to and from floating gates. To accomplish this, a potential difference of approximately 20V must be given between a control gate and a drain. This, however, requires that the high voltage of the transistors used in the circuits of the semiconductor device be increased in order to operate at 20V. Transistor size thus increases.
A recent trend in semiconductor device design is to integrate a negative power supply into the semiconductor device and thereby relatively lower the power supply voltage Vdd that is used. More specifically, by lowering the power supply voltage used, the semiconductor device can be designed with low voltage transistors, and transistor size decreases as a result.
For example, 11 V is given to the drain and -9V is given to the word line to remove an electron from a floating gate. On the other hand, when an electron is not to be removed, 0V is given to the word line.
A circuit that operates at approximately 3 V (Vdd) is commonly used to control whether -9V or 0V is supplied. Therefore, either a level shifting circuit or a switching circuit for converting the control signal having 0V or 3V to a signal having 0V or -9V is needed. This type of level shifting circuit and switching circuit is well known from the literature.
It is generally not possible using a level shifting circuit to convert a plurality of control signals having a range 0V to the power supply voltage Vdd to signals having a range 0V to -9V in a single operation. An intermediate circuit for bridging these conversions is therefore needed. An optical coupling means is used as such an intermediate circuit. The optical coupling means is able to convert the control signals having a range 0V to Vdd to an optical signal. A circuit for converting to the signals having a range 0V to -9V receives the optical signals to convert the control signal. However, to incorporate an optical coupling means into a semiconductor device, a separate manufacturing process or other semiconductor is required, as a result, semiconductor device is manufactured at a high cost.
It is also possible to provide an intermediate level shifting circuit before a level shift circuit for converting to the signals having a range 0V to -9V. In this case, the control signals having a range 0V to Vdd are first converted to a signal varying from -9V to Vdd, and then the signal is converted to the signal having a range 0V to -9V by the level shifting circuit. In order to convert input signals having a range 0V to Vdd to signals having a range 0V to -9V, it is thus necessary to first use an intermediate level shifting circuit for temporarily converting to the signal having a range -9V to Vdd and for setting an area overlapping in the voltage conversion range before and after conversion.
However, for this intermediate level shifting circuit handles voltages having a range -9V to Vdd, a transistor having a high voltage (break down voltage) within a range Vdd to (Vdd+9V) must be used. Accordingly, it is impossible to achieve the objective of a low voltage.
A method of resolving this problem by using a negative power supply having -4V so that the operating voltage of the intermediate level shifting circuit is from -4V to the power supply voltage Vdd is also known from the literature.
However, because the amplitude of the intermediate level shifting circuit is from the power supply voltage Vdd to -4V, an intermediate circuit having a intermediate voltage -4V is needed. That is, while the required voltages are 0V and -9V, switching in one step from 0V to -9V is not possible. The intermediate level shifting circuit converts therefore a voltage from the power supply voltage Vdd to -4V, and then a conversion circuit (a second stage level shifting circuit) converts the intermediate voltage from 0V to -9V, to lower the required junction break down voltage level.
A level shifting circuit is therefore required for converting from the power supply voltage Vdd to -4V, and two level shifting circuits thus become necessary. A charge pump that is otherwise unnecessary is required for outputting -4V, and the required circuit scale and power consumption inevitably increase.