A fastening member includes: a first alloy section made of aluminum alloy containing zinc in an amount of 0.005 wt % or more and 6.5 wt % or less and containing magnesium in an amount of 0.6 wt % or more and 2.0 wt % or less, and provided at a portion being in contact with at least one of the plurality of members; and a second alloy section made of an aluminum alloy containing magnesium in an amount of greater than 0.2 wt % and 2.3 wt % or less and containing copper in an amount of greater than 1.0 wt % and 8.0 wt % or less, and bonded to the first alloy section.

Conventionally, as a measure for achieving improvement in fuel economy of automobiles, weight reduction of various components has been pursued. For example, an aluminum alloy is used instead of cast iron as a material for an engine block, or a magnesium alloy is used instead of steel as a material for an engine cover or an oil pan.
In the case where the components made of the aluminum alloy or magnesium alloy as mentioned above are fastened by a conventional steel bolt, looseness is likely to occur due to a large difference between the linear expansion coefficient of the aluminum alloy or the magnesium alloy and the linear expansion coefficient of the steel, and corrosion due to contact of dissimilar metals is also likely to occur. Therefore, in order to sufficiently secure the reliability of fastening, it is necessary to deepen the screw hole of the component to lengthen the shaft section length of the steel bolt, or thicken the diameter of the steel bolt. However, the length of the shaft section of the steel bolt influences the wall thickness of the component, and meanwhile, the thickness of the steel bolt influences the width of the flange portion providing the screw hole of the component. Thus, the use of the steel bolts for fastening the components made of aluminum alloy or magnesium alloy has been an obstacle in pursuing the weight reduction.
In order to solve such a problem of steel bolts, the movement of adopting an aluminum alloy bolt as a fastening member for fastening the components made of an aluminum alloy or a magnesium alloy has also been expanded (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). In Patent Literature 1, a 6000 series aluminum alloy is disclosed as a material for a bolt which is excellent in workability at the time of manufacturing the bolt and has sufficient strength. Since the aluminum alloy bolts have small difference in linear expansion coefficient with aluminum alloys or magnesium alloys constituting various components and small galvanic corrosion, even if the screw hole of the component is made shallow or the diameter of the bolt is thinned, the reliability of the fastening can be secured, which is suitable for achieving weight reduction.
2000 series aluminum alloy is known as an aluminum alloy having a higher strength than the aforementioned 6000 series aluminum alloy. When using 2000 series aluminum alloy, it is possible to make bolts of higher strength than bolts made of 6000 series aluminum alloy.

Fastening member and rod-shaped member for fastening member


An electronic apparatus used on a user equipment side includes a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to select the mode of the relay discovery process of user equipment. In the relay discovery process, the mode determines whether the user equipment, when acting as a relay device, discovers a relayed device or is discovered by a relayed device, or whether the user equipment, when acting as a relayed device, discovers a relay device or is discovered by a relay device. After a connection is established between the relay device and the relayed device, the relayed device obtains a communication service via the relay device by means of a proximity service communication. The processing circuit is further configured to perform control, so that the user equipment carries out the relay discovery process according to the selected mode.

User equipment (UE) to network relay (UE-to-Network Relay) is a hot topic in the Proximity Service Enhancement work item of the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) R13. By controlling a remote UE to communicate with a base station via a relay UE, the network coverage can be extended, the transmission rate of a UE at an edge of a cell can be increased, and the spectrum reusability can be improved. Therefore, it is a prospective technology of the LTE-Advanced system.
At present, discovery between UEs in a proximity service may be performed in the following modes.

Electronic apparatus, information processing device and information processing method


According to an aspect, there is provided a first node for evaluating an event using a function. A corresponding computer-implemented method of operating a first node to 5 evaluate an event using a function is also provided. The function is evaluated by two parties using garbled circuits, with each party garbling a circuit representing the function, and evaluating the circuit garbled by the other party.

The recent developments in Big Data have given rise to an almost unlimited amount of data that can be potentially used to make better decisions. Data analysis algorithms make it possible to perform complex analysis of this data and find trends and anomalies. Such an analysis allows refined conclusions about current events and predictions about future events to be made. This could lead to a huge impact in domains such as healthcare (for example based on an analysis of patient information) and finance (for example based on an analysis of trading data).
However, the data to be the subject of this sort of data analysis is often collected by a wide variety of companies and institutions, for a wide variety of reasons, and is not typically available in a single location where it can be analysed. There are many reasons why such information cannot easily be stored or combined in a single location. One obvious concern is privacy; there are strong legal constraints on how privacy-sensitive information can be used (particularly for healthcare-related information), but other concerns are that certain data is valuable or classified, or the owner simply does not want to release it. These concerns are in direct conflict with a desire to perform data analysis.
In some forms of data analysis, it is desired to perform a continuous monitoring of events (e.g. data measurements) to determine if a new event meets a trigger condition, and if so to trigger an alert or other process. An example of a simple trigger condition could be "the reported value (event) is outside the allowed bandwidth or range". An example of a more complex trigger condition could be "the reported value (event) is not within one standard deviation of the mean of the last 1000 entries", to "the extrapolated prognosis over data reported in the last half year forecasts disaster for next year".


Provided are an apparatus and method for generating an image with a defocused background. According to various aspects, a preview image is used as the basis for extracting a background distribution and a defocused background is generated based on the extracted background distribution. Accordingly, it is not necessary to photograph two or more images to generate a defocused background effect.

1. Technical Field
The following description relates to special effect processing on a photographed image, and more particularly, to a technology for defocusing a background portion of the photographed image.
2. Description of the Related Art
When capturing a photograph, a user usually focuses on an interested object to be photographed. For example, in portrait photography, the effect of a defocused background is becoming very popular. With such an effect, the photographed object itself is enhanced while the background portion becomes blurred. However, many current digital photographing devices are not provided with a sensor and an aperture that are large enough to obtain the desirable photographing effect.
In order to obtain an image with defocused background, a similar optical photographing effect can be simulated by a post digital process inside the photographing device. However, when performing the related post digital process, the photographing device needs to photograph two or more images for extracting a background distribution of the photographed image, which may cause inconvenience for the user.
Furthermore, the effect achieved by the current background defocusing technology is typically limited by the intensity of the environment light. For example, the effect of the flash matting technology is limited by the influence of the flash on the photographed object. Moreover, the technique of depth from defocus requires a relatively large calculation amount, which is not desirable.

Apparatus for generating an image with defocused background and method thereof


A wavelength division multiplexing filter comprises: a first multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometer comprising a plurality of first-order Mach-Zehnder interferometers, and a second multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometer comprising a plurality of first-order Mach-Zehnder interferometers; wherein the first multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometer and the second multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometer are included in a group of multiple multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometers arranged within a binary tree arrangement, the binary tree arrangement comprising: a first set of a plurality of multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometers, the first set including the first multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and having an associated spectral response with a first spacing between adjacent passbands, and a second set of at least twice as many multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometers as in the first set, the second set including the second multi-order Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and having an associated spectral response with a second spacing between adjacent passbands that is twice the first spacing.

A unique property of photonics (e.g., compared to electronics) is its ability to carry signals over multiple optical wavelength bands within an information channel, and therefore, dramatically increase the total data rate that is transmitted through a single information channel. To fully use the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) functionality, devices that are capable of combining signals in different wavelength bands, referred to as multiplexing (MUX) WDM filters, or separating signals in different wavelength bands, referred to as demultiplexing (DEMUX) WDM filters, are typically used. A laser used in a photonic system typically includes a III-V semiconductor material within a laser cavity, and these materials have a large thermo-optic coefficient. The operating wavelength of the laser can drift 10 nm over 100° C. (0.1 nm/° C.) when the laser cavity is not temperature controlled. Temperature is typically controlled in telecom lasers for frequency locking, but direct detection-based datacenter communications may not use temperature-controlled lasers due to low cost and low power requirements. Therefore, systems with relatively large channel spacing (e.g., 20 nm), called coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) systems, may be preferred and thermally insensitive (also called "athermal") CWDM MUX/DEMUX filters with low crosstalk between adjacent wavelength channels may be desired. For example, by creating a MUX/DEMUX filter with a passband width of more than 10 nm while keeping the same channel spacing (20 nm), the laser will produce an output whose wavelength is within the wavelength band of a wavelength channel even if the temperature varies over 100° C. With such a filter, the laser providing light to the filter and a transceiver in which the filter is used could be operated temperature control free.

Wavelength division multiplexing filter for multiplexing or demultiplexing using cascaded frequency shaping


The present invention relates to an agent for preventing and treating thrombocytopenia which comprises, an an active ingredient, a muramyldipeptide derivative of the formula: ##STR1## wherein X represents an amino acid residue selected from L-alanine, L-serine and L-valine, Y represents ##STR2## wherein R.sub.1 represents a carboxyl group, n represents an integer of 1 to 6, A represents a saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 7 to 29 carbon atoms which may have branched chains, and Acyl represents an acyl group having 2 to 6 carbon atoms, and the agent exhibits excellent preventing and treating effects on thrombocytopenia when administered orally or parenterally.

Multipotential stem cells, which can differentiate to granulocytes, monocytes (macrophages), red blood cells, platelets, lymphocytes, exist in the bone marrow of higher animals such as human and mouse. The stem cells differentiate to precursory cells and the cells differentiate to the above blood cells. On the differentiation to these blood cells, several specific growth factors have been known to function to each blood cell's differentiation. For example, Interleukin-3 functions to the multipotential stem cells to induce the differentiation thereof to precursory granulocytes, and the granulocyte growth factors such as granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF, etc.) function to the precursory cells to induce the differentiation thereof and to mature into granulocytes. With respect to the platelets, precursory cells such as megakaryocytes and platelet growth factor (MK-CSF) participate in the platelets. However, the details thereof have not been clarified.
Of various platelets which are considered to have maturation function, platelets have a significant role to maintain the health independently or in cooperation with other blood cells. Therefore, when the differentiation to platelets is inhibited, some diseases caused by reduction of platelet numbers appear.
Examples of such diseases include symptomatic thrombocytopenia, idiophatic thrombocytopenia and the like caused by medical agents (an anticancer agent, etc.), radiation, blood diseases, etc., and more specific symptoms thereof include bleeding, coagulation defect and the like.
Conventionally, as the treating method for such various thrombocytopenia, only platelets transfusion which is complicated and expensive has been used. Thus, there was no agent for the prevention and treatment of such symptoms.
The compounds of the present invention are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-27079 filed by the applicant as having an excellent adjuvant activity and/or preventing and treating effects on infection by microorganisms. However, it has been unknown that the compounds of the formula (I) are effective for the prevention and treatment of thrombocytopenia.

Agent for preventing and treating thrombocytopenia


Methods are generally disclosed for forming and using a release sheet. To form the release sheet, a release coating is applied over a first surface of a base sheet. Generally, the release coating includes a fatty alcohol ester of acrylic acid and a curable monomer, and can also include a curable polymeric resin. Then, the release coating can be cured. In one particular embodiment, the release coating can be substantially free from siloxanes. The release sheet formed according to this method is also generally provided, along with methods of forming a casting sheet using the release sheet are also generally provided.

Release coatings used in durable, stain resistant, heat resistant or erasable materials as well as in release papers typically include silicone containing materials or other release agents to provide the release properties. However, the silicone groups, and particularly siloxane groups (e.g., PDMS, organo-silicones, reactive silicones like acrylate functional materials, etc.), in typical silicone release coatings can lead to severe contamination problems. Since the typical siloxane release agents in coatings are present as low molecular weight materials before curing, at this stage they are not anchored into the coating and can transfer to coating equipment and then to other materials subsequently processed on the equipment. The siloxane release agents have a low surface tension and low viscosity and thus tend to easily spread onto the equipment and then onto other materials processed on the equipment. This contamination is difficult to remove and contaminated materials such as films or papers contaminated with the siloxanes have very low surface energy spots which cause voids in coatings applied to them and poor adhesion of coatings, inks or adhesives. Once the coatings are cured, the siloxanes should be firmly anchored; however, the cured silicone release coatings have another disadvantage: in certain applications, it is desirable to apply inks or other coatings onto the release coatings and then remove such inks or coatings sometime later. For example, one might want to apply a coating or an ink to the release coating and then transfer the coating or ink to another material such as a garment at a later date, or one might want to use the release coating as an erasable substrate. However, due to the very low surface energy of typical siloxane containing release coatings, subsequently applied coatings or inks will not spread evenly and tend to bead on the surface. Additionally, coatings containing silicone release agents cannot be conveniently coated with water based acrylic or polyurethane polymers due to the low surface energy of these release coatings.
Although siloxane containing release coatings do pose problems, they are very effective and their effectiveness in many applications has not been matched by other types of release coatings. Thus, a need exists for effective durable, heat resistant and erasable release coatings which contain no siloxane release agents. Additionally, a need exists for release coatings which can be effectively printed or over coated with inks or coatings which are subsequently removable. Also, there is a need for durable, graffiti resistant and erasable materials. In addition, heat transfer papers and heat transfer decals which have internal release coatings and releasably attached polymeric coatings, such as polyurethane and acrylic polymer coatings, are desired for transfer of durable, stretchable graphics and also for transfer of textures.

Durable, heat resistant, erasable release coatings, release coated substrates, and their methods of manufacture


Provided is a frame assembly for fixing a plurality of stacked battery cells. The frame assembly may include: a frame including an upper surface, a first side surface connected to a first end of the upper surface and a second side surface connected to a second end of the upper surface, the frame being configured to enclose the plurality of battery cells; a plurality of first bus bars disposed on the first side surface; a plurality of second bus bars disposed on the second side surface; and a flexible printed circuit board disposed along the upper surface, the first side surface, and the second side surface of the frame, the flexible printed circuit board being configured to sense the plurality of battery cells.

A hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle may use, as a power source, a secondary battery installed inside the vehicle, and may be used in various fields such as a general-purpose vehicle, a leisure cart, and the like. The hybrid vehicle or the electric vehicle may drive wheels by rotating an electric motor using the electric power from the charged secondary battery. After the secondary battery is discharged, the electric vehicle may charge the secondary battery using external electric power, and the hybrid vehicle may charge the secondary battery by driving an internal combustion engine or using external electric power. In addition, a number of electric vehicle manufacturers are entering the market and the number thereof is steadily increasing.
The secondary battery may be used in the form of a single battery module obtained by clustering of a plurality of battery cells, as well as in the form of a single battery. A plurality of battery modules is connected in series and is installed in the lower part of the vehicle body, thereby generating a high voltage for driving an electric motor corresponding to the output of an internal combustion engine. In addition, when a plurality of battery cells is clustered, the terminals of the respective battery cells may be connected in series or in parallel by a frame assembly.
A flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) is obtained by fabricating a substrate made of a flexible material and coating the substrate with a thin insulating layer. The FPCB is lightweight and space-saving, and thus, thanks to these characteristics, the flexible printed circuit board has recently been employed in various fields. However, since the FPCB is a very thin unlike a general PCB, there is a problem in which the FPCB is easily torn or damaged by an external impact. Thus, various research and development efforts are under way to solve the problem.

Frame assembly and method for manufacturing same


A downhole system includes a packer assembly including a backup ring. The backup ring includes a plurality of nested leaves nested sequentially in a circumferential direction with adjacent circumferentially positioned leaves to collectively form a substantially circular shape. Each leaf includes a receiving section and an insertion section, the receiving section receiving an insertion section of an adjacent leaf. Upon radial expansion of the backup ring, the plurality of nested leaves fan out in the circumferential direction.

In the drilling and completion industry, the formation of boreholes for the purpose of production or injection of fluid is common. The boreholes are used for exploration or extraction of natural resources such as hydrocarbons, oil, gas, water, and alternatively for CO2 sequestration.
Packer systems are used to isolate zones within the borehole and create a seal between adjacent zones. High expansion functionality is desirable both for open hole and cased hole environments. Packer systems include a mandrel with a packing element disposed thereon. A support is disposed at each end of the packing element to facilitate elastic expansion of the packing element radially away from the mandrel when an axial load is placed on the packing element. In situations where there is a high differential pressure across the seal, extrusion of the seal becomes a concern. One or more backup rings are thus typically further disposed at each end of the packing element in an effort to limit any extrusion gaps to increase the pressure rating of the packer system. Although packer systems can sometimes still be functional with a small extrusion gap, a size of such an extrusion gap may affect the final performance ratings of the packer assembly.
The art would be receptive to improvements in downhole systems including expandable backup rings and methods.

Variable radius backup ring for a downhole system


Systems and methods for a liquid delivery system for a race vehicle to provide the driver of the race vehicle with readily available cool fluids are disclosed. One embodiment is directed to an insulated bag mounted in the race vehicle having a collapsible fluid bladder and a gel pack within the bag. Tubing connects the bladder to a valve for the driver to drink from. Preferably, a pump is coupled to the tubing to move fluid through the system.

The present invention is directed to an in-car hydration system. In particular, the present invention is directed to systems for storing a beverage, such as an isotonic sports drink, in a vehicle, keeping it cool, and permitting easy and quick access to the drink by the driver of the vehicle. More specifically, the system is for use in a race car or truck for use by the driver during the race.
Hydration of a race car driver is extremely important. During a race, a race car driver wears a protective suit and helmet. There is no air conditioning in a race car. Further, many races are run in summer and/or in the Southern U.S.A. As a result, the race car driver experiences a large amount of fluid loss during the race. In order for the driver to be able to compete successfully in the race, he or she will need to replenish the fluids lost or suffer a serious case of dehydration, cramps or both. Furthermore, to receive the maximum hydration benefit, the driver needs to replace the electrolytes (for example sodium and potassium) lost throughout the race.
Additionally, a race car is traveling at speeds approaching and often exceeding 200 mph. Since the race track is shared by upwards of 30 cars, it is important that the driver keep his hands on the steering wheel and stick shift and his feet on the gas pedal, clutch and brake and that there be a minimal use of his hands or feet for other activities, such as drinking fluids.
Present systems used in race cars, such as in NASCAR races, include water bottles, mounted thermos with flexible tubing used like a straw, or a fluid bag in a pouch with flexible tubing used like a straw, such as a system available from BSR Racing Products. These systems, however, suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, using a water bottle forces the driver to remove a hand from the controls in order to grasp and drink from the water bottle. Further, such a movement distracts the driver""s attention from driving, not only hurting his performance during the race but also threatening his safety and those around him. The other systems provide similar distractions. Because of the distracting nature of these systems, the driver may choose not to drink, resulting in dehydration and poor performance.
In addition, it would be beneficial if the replacement fluid were maintained cold throughout the race. A driver is much more likely to drink more fluid, and stay better hydrated, if the fluid is cold. Additionally, the liquids should be available to the driver any time he or she desires a drink. Because of the inadequate systems in place, more often than not, drivers only drink during caution laps or pit stops.
Furthermore, because the weight of the race car is so strictly regulated and controlled, it is important that the hydration system be as light as possible and not weigh much more than the fluid itself.
There are numerous patents directed to systems, devices and methods for dispensing liquids to humans. Many of these include designs for hands-free operation. Most of these have designs which are specifically directed to a particular application, such as for example, on a bicycle or for running. Very few are directed to use in a car or more specifically are designed to withstand the rigors and demands of auto or truck racing.
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for overcoming these drawbacks and meeting these objections in order to provide a driver of a race vehicle with cool liquids at any time, without compromising his or her driving.
The present invention is directed to systems and methods for delivering liquid to a driver of a race vehicle.
One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a hydration system having an insulated bag or pouch to be mounted within and preferably on the race vehicle. The insulated bag holds a collapsible bladder or reservoir for holding a liquid. Preferably, at least one cooling item, such as a gel pack, for keeping the liquid cool is located in the insulated pouch and preferably in contact with the collapsible bladder. Tubing is used to couple the collapsible bladder and transfer the liquid to a valve for the driver to drink from. The fluid is then available to the driver through the valve anytime he desires. The valve can be a bite valve.
Preferably, a pump is coupled to the tubing for ease of circulation of the fluid in and out of the collapsible bladder and to move the liquid from the bladder, through the tubing and to the valve. When the pump is activated, the liquid within the bladder is able to flow from the bladder, through the tubing to the valve and back to the bladder. After activation, the driver can bite down on the bite valve, and liquid will squirt into his mouth. As a result, the liquid is available to the driver as desired. In addition, the fluid is recirculated through the bladder which is kept cool by the gel pack. As a result, the liquid is kept cool. When the liquid is kept cool, the driver is much more likely to drink the liquid and drink more of the liquid, resulting in less likelihood of dehydration, better performance, and more rapid recovery after a vigorous race.
In a further embodiment, the pump can be activated using a button coupled to the tubing. In a further embodiment, the button is located on a covering around the tubing.
In an alternate embodiment, the pump can be activated using a switch or button which can be mounted in the race vehicle.
In a further embodiment, the tubing has disconnectors located along the tubing for quick disconnect of the tubing
In a preferred embodiment, the fluid used in the present invention is an isotonic sports drink.
Methods using these embodiments are also contemplated in this invention.
The present invention provides a hydration system which requires minimal use of the driver""s hands or feet. The present invention also provides a hydration system which allows the driver to drink fluids without taking his or her eyes off the track or road.
The present invention also provides a system wherein the fluids within the system will be maintained cool for the duration of the race.
The present invention also provides a system in which little weight beyond the fluid is added to the race vehicle.
The present invention is not limited to race cars but can also be used, for example, in race trucks.


A method for supporting a user aiming at an object with a telescope includes determining and storing a first object position of the object relative to the telescope when a user aims at the object with the telescope and the telescope is located at a first telescope position, and supporting a user when aiming at the object again with the same telescope based on the stored first object position relative to the telescope.

Objects observed through a telescope occasionally prove difficult to find again for the user of the telescope. The respective object is frequently difficult to find again, in particular if the user has moved away with the telescope from his original observation position.
A disadvantage of telescopes which have been known to date is that finding an object which has been previously aimed at with the telescope is difficult and technically complex.

Method for supporting a user aiming at an object with a telescope


The intended display aspect-ratio for video is determined automatically by analyzing an image to identify image blocks resulting from prior block-based processing of the video; comparing horizontal and vertical dimensions of those image blocks with horizontal and vertical dimensions of the image, with black border regions excluded as necessary; and determining from that comparison a display aspect ratio for the video.

Most standard interfaces for digital television signals do not require that the aspect-ratio (width to height ratio) of the displayed image is directly specified. In the absence of such a specification the aspect ratio is usually inferred from the context in which the data is presented, or from the spatial resolution of the image. For example, 'standard-definition' television is often assumed to have an aspect-ratio of 4:3; and 'high-definition' television is often assumed to have an aspect-ratio of 16:9. Some image coding standards avoid this ambiguity by specifying that 'the pixels are square'. That is to say that the horizontal and vertical spatial sampling frequencies are equal, and so the aspect ratio is equal to the ratio of the number of samples per active television line to the number of active lines per frame.
It is common for television images to be modified in 'aspect-ratio conversion' devices during the video production and editing process; this can give rise to ambiguity as to the intended ratio. These devices typically apply spatial scaling to the image. When an image is to be displayed on a display device that has an aspect-ratio different from that intended for the image data, there are two common alternative procedures that can be applied:
Blank pixels, comprising a 'black-band' or other uniform blank border (or two bands at opposite edges of the image), can be added to increase the image width or height so that the size of the image is increased (in one direction) to match the size of the display.
Pixels can be removed, or 'cropped' from one edge (or two opposite edges) of the image to reduce the image width or height to match the size of the display.
A number of methods of including an aspect-ratio definition in a video data-stream are in common use and have been standardized by bodies such as the SMPTE and ETSI. The inclusion of this 'metadata' with the image data enables processing equipment and display devices to adapt their mode of operation according to the aspect-ratio of the images being displayed or processed. However, the complexity of many image processing, video content production and distribution processes is such that errors can occur, leading to incorrect processing; and, such errors are often introduced by incorrect metadata.
Of course images can be checked by human observation, but this is neither economic nor practical in typical, large-scale television playout centers. There is thus a need for an automatic means of verifying that image data is appropriately scaled for the intended display, and that any aspect-ratio metadata associated with a video data stream accurately reflects the actual aspect-ratio of the respective image data. Where black-bands have been introduced, it can be inferred that the intended display has a different aspect ratio from the one for which the image data was originally intended. The position of the band, or bands, indicates the direction of aspect-ratio change. Measurement of the width of bands enables the magnitude of the change to be calculated.
European patent application EP 2107 521 discloses how a border region in an image can be identified; and, European patent EP 1 744 565 discloses how image data can be analyzed to detect black areas. These methods can be used to detect the presence of black-bands automatically, and this information can compared with metadata accompanying image data to assess the likely accuracy of that metadata.
However, where the image has been cropped in order to change its aspect-ratio these methods cannot be used. The present invention addresses this problem.
In this specification two exemplary aspect ratios—16:9 and 4:3—will be considered; the skilled reader will, of course, appreciate that there are other aspect ratios in use, and that the concepts described here are applicable to other ratios and combinations of ratios.

Determining aspect ratio for display of video


An error pattern analysis unit specifies positions of discarded packets in continuously transmitted groups of packets. A QoS control unit estimates the cause of a communication error based on the specified positions of discarded packets, and performs QoS control based on the estimated cause of the communication error.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wired or wireless network communication technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
In current advanced communication systems, data requiring a relatively large data communication band, for example, moving image data, is generally transmitted/received via a communication line such as the Internet.
In such transmission of moving image data requiring real-time communication, a protocol that does not compensate for a communication error, for example, RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol), is sometimes used.
In a case that sound data and moving image data are transmitted using such a protocol that does not compensate for a communication error, the prevention of occurrence of a communication error and the correction of a communication error are generally performed using a QoS (Quality of Service) technique. That is, the control of a transmission rate (rate control) is performed in accordance with a network status, the retransmission control of a communication error packet is performed, and the correction of a communication error is performed using an FEC (Forward Error Correction) technique.
A method of controlling QoS in accordance with the changes in a packet loss rate and RTT (Round Trip Time) is known. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-160824 discloses a method of reducing a data transfer rate in a case that a packet loss rate is higher than a threshold value and an RTT value is larger than the minimum RTT value stored in advance.
An example of a rate control method using a packet loss rate and RTT is disclosed in M. Handley et al., "TCP Friendly Rate Control (TFRC): Protocol Specification" RFC 3448, January 2003.
In TFRC (TCP Friendly Rate Control), an available network band is calculated using an equation illustrated in FIG. 10.
In the equation illustrated in FIG. 10, Ttcp represents an available network band to be calculated, MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit) represents the maximum size of a transmitted packet, To represents a time-out period that is the maximum waiting period before a TCP reception acknowledgement (Ack) is transmitted, and p represents a packet loss rate in 1 RTT. That is, an available band is calculated using a packet loss rate and RTT, and the calculation result is used to control a communication rate.
However, a communication error is caused by various factors. Accordingly, in some cases, QoS control may not be appropriately performed using a method in the related art.
That is, for example, a communication error is caused not only by congestion but also by noise (disturbance). The change in RTT is also caused not only by congestion but also by another factor, for example, the change in load on a receiving apparatus or a route change on a network.
If data is transmitted via a plurality of communication nodes, for example, a communication node where an error occurs and a communication node where a delay occurs may differ from each other.
That is, in some cases, the cause of a communication error occurring on a network cannot be specified using RTT and a packet loss rate. For example, even if a transfer rate is reduced in accordance with RTT and a packet loss rate when a communication error is caused by noise, the packet loss rate may not be reduced. For example, even if the number of FEC packets is increased in accordance with RTT and a packet loss rate when a communication error is caused by congestion, the amount of communication is increased and a packet loss rate may not be reduced.
That is, even if QoS control is performed in accordance with RTT and a packet loss rate obtained from a communication partner, the QoS control may not be appropriately performed.

Transmission apparatus, receiving apparatus, and method


The present disclosure discloses an optical imaging lens group including, sequentially from an object side to an image side along an optical axis, a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens and a sixth lens. The first lens has a refractive power, an object-side surface of the first lens is a concave surface, and an image-side surface of the first lens is a convex surface; the second lens has a positive refractive power; the third lens has a negative refractive power; the fourth lens has a refractive power; the fifth lens has a negative refractive power, and the sixth lens has a refractive power. An effective focal length f2 of the second lens and a radius of curvature R3 of an object-side surface of the second lens satisfy 1.5<f2/R3<2.

In recent years, mobile phones have become an indispensable communication device in people's lives. People's requirements on mobile phone functions have become stricter, especially for the camera functions which is commonly used in mobile phones. The camera mounted on the mobile phone is not only required to have high-pixel, high-resolution, large field-of-view and other characteristics, but also required to have telephoto characteristics, so that it can clearly capture objects at a further distant.
Therefore, the present invention proposes an optical imaging lens group having characteristics of long focal length, large imaging on a negative film, low sensitivity, etc. and which is suitable for portable electronic products.


A distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant named `Empire Concerto`, characterized by its uniformly mounded plant habit; very uniform flowering; decorative-type inflorescences that are about 5.4 cm in diameter; attractive light pink ray florets; and numerous inflorescences per plant.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Dendranthema grandifora and referred to by the cultivar name Empire Concerto.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in New York Mills, N.Y. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms and floret colors and good garden performance.
The new cultivar originated from a cross made by the Inventor in October, 1993, of the Dendranthema grandifora cultivar Pink Champagne (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 6,920) as the female, or seed, parent with an unidentified proprietary seedling selection as the male, or pollen, parent.
The cultivar Empire Concerto was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in New York Mills, N.Y., in Sepember, 1994. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form and ray floret color.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in New York Mills, N.Y., has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


The present application relates to a display panel and a manufacturing method. The display panel includes: a substrate; the substrate includes a display area inside and a wiring area outside; the wiring area includes external connection wires; the external connection wires are coupled with metal wires; and conductive glass tracks are correspondingly arranged at side edges of the external connection wires and the metal wires.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present application and may not constitute prior art.
In a Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturing process, a glass substrate will rub against a machine table or the air to generate a static electricity during movement and transportation. When the static electricity is accumulated to a certain extent on the glass, a huge potential difference will be generated and thus accumulated charges have enough energies to leave away from original positions and neutralize with charges having a reverse polarity. The movement of the charges is completed within a very short time, and a very large current is generated in this process, like the formation of a lightning. A position where the destructiveness of such a discharge process is occurred is mastered difficultly. If it is occurred at a metal staggered place, the electrostatic breakdown is easily caused so that a metal is shorted out and a function is abnormal. This is a particular case for a place where big pieces of metals are staggered or a metal jumper wire place.
With electrostatic protection in a TFT-LCD production process, a production environment may be controlled on one hand, for example, an environmental humidity is controlled, an electron wind is used to blow in a transmission system, and a low substrate transmission speed is set and the like. On the other hand, some electrostatic protection designs may be added on the panel design, for example, a series impedance, a lightning rod type pattern design, a design of a bidirectional protection transistor and the like are added.
However, for some tracks outside a panel such as an array test track, a cell curing track and a cell test track, since many tracks are provided at a jumper wire position, the wiring is complex and the space is small, a bidirectional transistor cannot be designed to protect a circuit. In this case, the problem of an electrostatic damage is occurred easily to result in a short circuit of the metal or the short circuit and it is irreversible. In case of the short circuit, an adjacent signal is abnormal. As a result, the array test and the cell test will appear the problem and the product yield is reduced.
Therefore, providing a display panel and a display apparatus which may guarantee the normal tracking function, reduce the scraps and thus improve the plant yield has become a technical problem to be solved by those skilled in the art urgently.

Repairing metal wire(s) and external connection wire(s) of a display panel damaged by static electricity by using conductive glass wire(s)


Embodiments of the invention relate to a computer-implemented method for quantifying a biomarker in a tissue sample of an organism. An image analysis system receives images of a stained tissue sample. Each received digital image depicts the tissue sample region at the end of an exposure interval. The system analyzes the intensity values and exposure intervals of the received digital images for determining the time when the intensity values corresponding to the plurality of exposure intervals ordered according to ascending exposure interval lengths reach a plateau (saturation residence time—SRT). The system determines the amount of a biomarker in the tissue sample and/or predicts a tumor stage and/or a treatment recommendation as a function of the SRT.

The present invention relates to the field of tissue analysis, and more specifically, to systems and methods for biomarker quantification.
Known tissue analysis approaches like tissue microarray technology offers the opportunity for high throughput analysis of tissue samples for identifying and validating drug targets and/or prognostic markers (e.g. estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2/neu) and candidate therapeutics. Automated quantitative analysis of tissue samples, however, presents several challenges: tissue sections are often highly heterogeneous in respect to tissue morphology, subcellular localization of staining, and the signal to noise ratio. Depending on the type of tumor or tissue section being analyzed, the area of interest may represent nearly the entire sample, or only a small percentage.
In order to roughly estimate the expression level of a given marker in the whole tissue sample, the tissue sample or parts thereof may be stained and the signal strength used as an indicator of the expression level. For example, some methods based e.g. on confocal and convolution/ deconvolution microscopy have been proposed to quantify expression of proteins at the cellular (or sub-cellular) level within a single high power field.
However, these approaches have several drawbacks: they are computationally intensive and laborious techniques; the antibodies and detection systems are expensive; and the light intensity signal in the images acquired in the sample depends on numerous dependencies ranging from the illumination strength of the light source, protocol parameters of the staining procedure (e.g. temperature, incubation time, composition of washing solution, etc.), the sensitivity of the image acquisition system and others. Often, if DAB is used as a stain, the signal intensity may be weak, because DAB is a light scatterer and doesn't follow Lambert-Beer law. Moreover, once the intensity of the signal received by the image acquisition system from the tissue sample reaches or exceeds a saturation level, it is impossible to distinguish differences in the amount of the biomarker based on the signal strength. Thus, biomarker quantification based on the signal strength of the stain as currently used tends to be expensive, inaccurate, subjective and limited in scope.

Biomarker quantification in a tissue sample

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The invention relates to a process for blending liquid flows, particularly in the approach system to a paper machine. It is characterized by the individual liquid flows being merged, blended with one another, and degassed, all at the same time. In addition, the invention relates to a device for implementing the process, where a degassing device 5, particularly a rotor with degassing holes, is provided in a mixing pipe 1.

The invention relates to a process for blending liquid flows, particularly in the approach system to a paper machine, as well as a device for implementing the process.
In paper-making, a pulp suspension is distributed evenly over a wire and the greater part of the water is removed from the pulp in the first part. Before the suspension is fed onto the wire, impurities, in particular, are removed. The pulp suspension also contains gas, particularly air, as free air in the form of bubbles and as dissolved air. This air, especially in the form of bubbles, causes problems in the paper production process, particularly if present in larger quantities. As a result there may be problems with foam, instabilities in the process, pulsations in the approach system to the paper machine, reduced dewatering performance and, as a further consequence, small holes may appear in the paper web.
A process to achieve maximum possible degassing is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,340. The evacuation is, however, very complex and in many cases, there is no need for complete evacuation.
In the approach system to the paper machine, different pulp components (long fibres, short fibres, broke, etc.) are currently fed into a tank and blended. The various chemicals are added (e.g. wet strength agent, dye, filler, etc.). As an alternative, the individual components and also additives can be fed into a mixing pipe.
The problem with these set-ups is that the substances are not mixed adequately and also contain a large proportion of gas, both in the individual flows of the pulp components and in the white water. EP 0 543 866 B1 shows a plant, for example, in which several pumps are used to remove the gas from the pulp that has been blended beforehand and from the white water coming from the paper machine. The plant is not capable, however, of mixing pulp components and additives.
Although the sensors for measuring quantities and consistency are located in the de-aerated pulp, there is no device here to mix the dilution water homogenously into the pulp.

Process and device for blending fluid flows


A scheduler for a server. The scheduler includes a first level generator associated with groups of connections. The scheduler includes a second level generator associated with connections corresponding to the groups of connections. The first level generator identifying which connections in the second level generator corresponds to a group in the first level generator that is to be considered for service. The second level generator identifies the connections corresponding to the group to receive service from the server. The second level generator in connection with the first level generator. A method for scheduling service of a server. An apparatus for serving connections. The apparatus includes a hierarchical scheduler connected to the server. An apparatus for serving connections. The apparatus includes a scheduler connected to the server which schedules based on intercell intervals.

Service scheduling is the primary mechanism for providing Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees on a per-VC basis in Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks. Such service scheduling schemes must satisfy a number of requirements in order to be used in practical ATM switches and multiplexers. Firstly, such a service scheduling scheme must guarantee specified service rate to each virtual connection (VC), irrespective of the traffic patterns in the VCS. Secondly, the scheduling scheme must flexibly allocate excess (i.e., temporarily unused and unallocated) bandwidth among the active VCs. Thirdly, the outgoing traffic streams of each VC and VPs must be smooth (shaped) and not bursty. Fourthly, the service rate given to a VC or a group of VCs must not exceed a specified upper bound. Most importantly, the scheduling algorithm must be simple so that the scheduling decision can be performed using only a few operations per cell time.
Previously proposed schemes such as the Weighted Round Robin (WRR), Packetized Generalized Processor Sharing (PGPS) [A. K. Parekh and R. G. Gallager. A generalized processor sharing approach to flow control in integrated services networks: The single node case. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 1(3):344-357, June 1993; S. Demers, A. Keshav and S. Shenker. Analysis and simulation of a fair queuing algorithm. Internet Research and Experience, 1, 1990, incorporated by reference herein], Self-Clocked Fair Queueing (SCFQ) [S. J. Golestani. A self-clocked fair queuing scheme for broadband applications. In Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, pages 636-646, June 1994, incorporated by reference herein], Worst Case Fair Weighted Fair Queueing (WF2Q) [C. R. Bennet and H. Zhang. WF2Q: Worst-case fair weighted fair queuing. In Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, pages 120-128, 1996, incorporated by reference herein], and Virtual Clock [L. Zhang. Virtualclock: A new traffic control algorithm for packet switched networks. ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, 9(2):101-124, May 1991, incorporated by reference herein] have either fallen short of these goals or are too complex to be implemented in high speed hardware cost-effectively.

Method and apparatus for dynamic bitmap generator scheduler


A cover assembly for attachment to the doors of a motor vehicle, to protect their exterior surfaces, includes at least two cover panels that are adjustably affixed to one another to provide a subassembly of variable effective width. Upper and lower portions of the panels are disengageably attached to the door.

The doors of automobiles and other motor vehicles are constantly exposed to denting, scratching, marring and other damage, especially in public parking facilities. This is due largely to the carelessness of people in opening the doors of their adjacent vehicles, and to the failure to adequately control the movement of shopping carts, carriages, and the like. Exposure to impact is virtually inevitable in parking lots in which the spaces are of inadequate width, and the problem is exacerbated by the prevalence of large, oversized personal-use vehicles. Regrettably, it is also not uncommon for a vehicle surface to be scratched intentionally, as a simple act of mischief or vandalism.
As far as is known, no means is presently available for readily, conveniently, and adequately protecting the surfaces of vehicle door panels (i.e., the normally painted areas below a window or window frame) from accidental or intentional damage of the kinds described.

Cover for protection of motor vehicle door exterior


An exhaust motor of vacuum device comprises an electric motor comprising a motor casing and a drive shaft, and an air bucket connected to the electric motor. The air bucket defines an air inlet side and an air outlet side, at least one rotating fan driven by the drive shaft to generate a high-pressure airflow flowing from the air inlet side to the air outlet side is provided in the air bucket. The air bucket is provided with a diversion end plate forming a plurality of diversion passages, each of the diversion passages comprises an inlet and an outlet, and the inlet is located on an original output path of the high-pressure airflow. The diversion passages divert the high-pressure airflow to flow toward the motor casing, and turn the high-pressure airflow into a heat-dissipating airflow capable of exchanging heat with the motor casing.

In the existing vacuum device, an electric motor is mainly used to drive at least one rotating fan when the exhaust motor of the vacuum device is operated. When the rotating fan rotates, the central area at the front ends of the fan blades will form a negative pressure area, so that the external air will flow toward the negative pressure area and be drawn into the rotating fan under the effect of pressure difference, and then the air is discharged by centrifugation along the fan blade surfaces. In addition, in order to accurately and effectively control the direction of air flow and simultaneously increase the air diversion rate, the rotating fan is often installs in an air bucket in the existing exhaust motor. A size of an opening on the air bucket and a distance between the opening and the rotating fan are adjusted to change the amount of air inside the air bucket and the negative air pressure value. Further, the side of the air bucket facing the drive shaft is provided with at least one air outlet hole communicating with the outside, and the air outlet hole is used for discharging the air entering the air bucket to the outside.
In addition, the existing exhaust motor is divided into thu-flow exhaust motor that can only be used to suck dry air and by-pass exhaust motor that can be used to suck dry air and humid air according to the disposing location of the air outlet hole. First, the thu-flow exhaust motor is described as follow. The air outlet hole of the thu-flow exhaust motor is provided corresponding to its electric motor. After air enters the air bucket, it will be discharged directly in the direction facing the electric motor. The thu-flow exhaust motor can dissipate heat of the electric motor while discharging the air in the direction of the electric motor, as disclosed in Taiwan patent No. 428845. However, since the air exhausted by the conventional thu-flow exhaust motor directly blows at the electric motor, the conventional thu-flow exhaust motor can only suck air that does not contain a large amount of moisture, which is commonly known as dry air, otherwise it will damage the electric motor due to short circuit caused by humidity. Furthermore, according to the structure disclosed in Taiwan patent No. 428845, it can be found that the electric motor is not provided with a casing, that is, the stator and the rotor of the electric motor are not shielded and are exposed to the outside.
On the other hand, the by-pass exhaust motor is provided with the air outlet hole on one side of the air bucket, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,462, US 20020140297, CN 106968970A and EP 1025792B1. In addition, when the by-pass type of exhaust motor is implemented, the air entering the air bucket will be discharged to the outside from the side of the air bucket. Although when the by-pass exhaust motor sucks humid air containing a large amount of moisture, short circuit will not happen to the electric motor due to moisture in the humid air; however, for the by-pass exhaust motor, since the air discharged from the air bucket cannot blow toward the electric motor, the heat generated by the operated electric motor cannot be quickly dissipated.


In one embodiment, a system for modifying ice adhesion strength of ice adhered to an object. The system includes an electrode that is electrically insulated from the object and a DC source, e.g., a battery coupled to the object and the electrode. The source generates a DC bias to an interference between the ice and the object when the ice completes the circuit. The system preferably includes an electrically insulating material disposed-between the object and the electrode. In another embodiment, a coating comprising a ferroelectric, lossy dielectric, ferromagnetic or semiconductor material is applied to a object. Electromagnetic energy causes the coating to generate heat, which melts snow and ice.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods, systems and structures for heating ice and snow and for modifying ice adhesion strength between ice and selected objects.
2. Statement of the Problem
Ice adhesion to certain surfaces causes many problems. For example, excessive ice accumulation on aircraft wings endangers the plane and its passengers. Ice on ship hulls creates navigational difficulties, the expenditure of additional power to navigate through water and ice, and certain unsafe conditions. The need to scrape ice that forms on automobile windshields is regarded by most adults as a bothersome and recurring chore; and any residual ice risks driver visibility and safety.
Icing and ice adhesion also causes problems with helicopter blades, and with public roads. Billions of dollars are spent on ice and snow removal and control. Ice also adheres to metals, plastics, glasses and ceramics, creating other day-to-day difficulties. Icing on power lines is also problematic. Icing adds weight to the power lines which causes power outages, costing billions of dollars in direct and indirect costs.
In the prior art, methods for dealing with ice adhesion vary, though most techniques involve some form of scraping, melting or breaking. For example, the aircraft industry utilizes a de-icing solution such as ethyl glycol to douse aircraft wings so as to melt the ice thereon. This process is both costly and environmentally hazardous; however, the risk to passenger safety warrants its use. Other aircraft utilize a rubber tube aligned along the front of the aircraft wing, whereby the tube is periodically inflated to break any ice disposed thereon. Still other aircraft redirect jet engine heat onto the wing so as to melt the ice.
These prior art methods have limitations and difficulties. First, prop-propelled aircraft do not have jet engines. Secondly, rubber tubing on the front of aircraft wings is not aerodynamically efficient. Third, de-icing costs are extremely high, at $2500-$3500 per application; and it can be applied up to about ten times per day on some aircraft. With respect to other types of objects, heating heating ice and snow is common. But, heating of some objects is technically impractical. Also, large energy expenditures and complex heating apparati often make heating too expensive.
The above-referenced problems generally derive from the propensity of ice to form on and stick to surfaces. However, ice also creates difficulties in that it has an extremely low coefficient of friction. Each year, for example, ice on the roadway causes numerous automobile accidents, costing both human life and extensive property damage. If automobile tires gripped ice more efficiently, there would likely be fewer accidents.
In certain embodiments of the present invention, electrical energy in the form of a direct current (xe2x80x9cDCxe2x80x9d) bias is applied to the interface between ice and the object that the ice covers. As a result, the ice adhesion strength of the ice to the surface of the object is decreased, maing it possible to remove ice from the object by wind pressure, buffeting or light manual brushing.
Other above-referenced problems would be lessened if the ice adhesion strength between ice and surfaces of objects in contact with the ice were increased. For example, if the ice adhesion strength were increased between automobile tires and icy roadways, then there would be less slippage and fewer accidents.
If a charge is generated at the interface of ice in contact with a object, it is possible to selectively modify the adhesion between the ice and the object.
In one aspect, the invention provides a power source connected to apply a DC voltage across the interface between ice and the surface upon which the ice forms. By way of example, the object having the conductive surface can be an aircraft wing or a ship""s hull (or even the paint applied to the structure). A first electrode connects with the surface; a nonconductive or electrically insulating material is applied as a grid over the surface; and a second electrode is formed by applying a conductive material, for example conductive paint, over the insulating material, but without contacting the surface. The surface area of the second electrode should be small as compared to the overall surface area protected by the system. By way of example, the surface area of the object being protected (i.e., that area sought to be xe2x80x9cice-freexe2x80x9d) should be at least about ten times larger than the surface area of the second electrode.
One or more wires connect the second electrode to the power source; while one or more wires connect the first electrode to the power source. Ice forming over the surface and the conductive grid second electrode completes the circuit. A voltage is then applied to the circuit, selectively, which controllably modifies the ice adhesion strength of the ice with the object.
A voltage regulator subsystem also preferably connects with the circuit so as to adjustably control the voltage applied across the interface and so as to achieve control over the ice adhesion strength. Ice made from different concentrations of ions can modify the optimum voltage for which the ice adhesion strength is at a minimum; and the voltage regulator subsystem thereby provides a mechanism by which the minimum can be changed selectively.
Other subsystems preferably connect with the circuit to provide other features, for example to detect whether water or ice completes the circuit. In one aspect, the power source is a DC supply (e.g., a battery) which provides voltage to the circuit and which connects to the deicing electrodes. In another aspect, a DC ammeter connects with the circuit to measure the DC conductivity of the ice (i.e., the semi-conductive layer which xe2x80x9cshortsxe2x80x9d the two electrodes when formed over the surface and any part of the grid second electrode). In another aspect, an AC supply connects with the circuit to generate AC voltages between about 10 kHz and 100 kHz, selectively. According to another aspect, an AC ammeter also connects with the circuit to measure the AC conductivity of the ice at frequencies within the 10-100 kHz range. In still another aspect, a current comparator compares the AC and DC conductivities.
These aspects thus provide circuitry which can, for example, distinguish whether the semi-conductive layer formed over the surface is ice, which might be dangerous, or surface water. The AC conductivity (in the above-mentioned range) and DC conductivity of water are substantially the same. With respect to ice, however, the AC conductivity and DC conductivity differ by two to three orders of magnitude. This difference in conductivity is measured by the respective ammeters and is compared in the current comparator. When the difference in conductivity is greater than a predetermined set point, the current comparator signals an icing alarm. At this point, for example, the voltage regulator subsystem can operate to apply a DC bias to the circuitxe2x80x94and thus to the interfacexe2x80x94at a desired field strength which sufficiently reduces the ice adhesion strength. According to one aspect of the invention, when ice is detected on an aircraft wing, the icing alarm initiates a feedback loop within the system which (a) measures ice conductivities, (b) determines appropriate bias voltages to reach minimum (or near minimum) ice adhesion conditions, and (c) applies a bias voltage to the ice-wing interface to facilitate ice removal.
Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the above-described system can be applied to surfaces of many objects where it is desired to reduce ice adhesion strength, such as on car windshields, ship hulls and power lines. In such cases, if the surface of the object is weakly conductive, it is desirable to xe2x80x9cdopexe2x80x9d the surface of the object such that it is sufficiently conductive. Doping techniques are known to those in the art. Automobile tires, for example, can be doped with iodine to make the rubber conductive. Automobile glass, likewise, can be doped with either ITO or fluoride doped SnO2 to make the windshield an acceptable semiconductor.
In preferred embodiments in accordance with the invention, the ice is doped with a salt, which increases the electrical conductivity of the ice for the DC bias and enhances the effect of the DC bias on the adhesion strength. Preferably, doping is accomplished by applying a porous material to the surface of the object to be protected. The porous material is impregnated with salt, and then the porous material releases small amounts of salt into the ice when it forms. Also, the object being protected against ice and snow may be doped in order to increase the electrical conductivity of the object, especially at its surface.
In another embodiment in accordance with the invention, a self-assembling monolayer (xe2x80x9cSAMxe2x80x9d) is applied to the surface of the object to be protected. The material forming the SAM is selected to have high adhesion to the surface. The SAM material is also selected to be either hydrophobic or hydrophilic, to decrease or increase ice adhesion strength.
In another aspect, the invention provides a system and method for deicing power lines and other objects. The surface of the object, such as power lines, is coated with a material that absorbs electromagnetic energy. The absorption of the electromagnetic energy heats the power lines above the ice""s melting point, thus melting the ice. The coating material may be a ferroelectric, a semi-conductor, or a ferromagnetic material. In one embodiment, the coating has properties that depend on a specific temperature based on either the dielectric or magnetic loss. These properties cause the absorption of electromagnetic energy and the resulting heating of the wires only when the ambient temperature drops below the ice""s melting point. Alternatively, the coating material could be turned xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d if a separate power supply is used to heat the coating.
In a particular variation, ice itself is utilized as a lossy dielectric coating at high frequency, such as at 60 kHz. Further, skin-effect heating at high frequency may be utilized to melt ice and snow on power lines.
The invention is next described further in connection with preferred embodiments, and it will become apparent that various additions, subtractions, and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

Methods and structures for removing ice from surfaces


An apparatus for removing a breast from a game bird provides first and second blades pivotally attached to a stabilizer bar projecting outwardly between the first and second blades. The stabilizer bar is generally adapted for insertion into the abdomen of a bird, and the first and second blades can be actuated using one or more handles to create a scissoring effect whereby a region of the abdomen, or the breast, is severed from the bird. Methods of removing a breast from a bird are also disclosed.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to cutting tools and more particularly to handheld machinery and methods for debreasting a game bird.
2. Background Art
Conventional knives and bladed instruments for cutting and shearing meat from game animals are known in the art. Such instruments include single bladed knives having one or more sharpened edges for cutting game meat. Some conventional edged instruments known in the art for removing meat from game animals include blades having unique geometric shapes designed for optimal meat removal. Other devices known in the art include conventional hunting and kitchen knives.
In many applications, it is generally desirable to remove only the breast from a game bird. For example, when a species of game bird such as dove, duck, quail, pheasant, grouse, woodcock, partridge, etc. is harvested, a significant portion of the desirable meat for human consumption is found in the breast region on the underside of the bird abdomen. Sportsmen and sportswomen often prefer to remove and keep only the intact breast region of a bird and discard the remainder of the carcass. The breast region typically is removed using a knife or other type of cutting instrument. In many applications, however, a conventional knife or other cutting instrument does not provide an optimal breast removal tool for cleaning wild fowl. For example, a knife may slip in the user's hand or may inadvertently pierce entirely through the bird abdomen and cause injury the user. Moreover, the cleaning process using a handheld knife is slow. In many situations, a single hunter or group of hunters may harvest several dozen birds, which can require multiple hours to clean using conventional tools and methods. Additionally, conventional tools and methods do not efficiently remove the maximum amount of consumable breast meat, and thus result in waste.
Others have attempted to improve upon conventional handheld tools and methods for cleaning game bird by providing game shears, or scissors, for removing meat. Such conventional game shears typically include opposing blades connected at a pivoting joint. However, such conventional game shears are difficult to use in many applications because the bird abdomen may inadvertently move, or slip, between the blades during use. Additionally, conventional game shears do not rigidly hold the abdomen in place as the opposing blades approach from the sides, allowing slippage of the bird and causing damage to the breast meat and potential injury to the user, and further resulting in inefficient meat removal.
What is needed are improvements in the devices and methods for removing meat from a game animal, and particularly for debreasting a game bird.


An electrostatic angle resolver has a stator for producing a patterned electrostatic field, a rotor having sensivitity to the electrostatic field, a capacitive coupling providing a signal interconnection between the rotor and the stator, and an active shield supplied with a voltage signal substantially identical to that signal present on the stator thereby diminishing degradation in the strength of the signal coupled between the rotor and the stator.

This invention relates to electrostatic transducers and more particularly to brushless printed circuit angle resolvers incorporating capacitive coupling techniques.
A number of prior art angle resolvers incorporate electrostatic coupling techniques to produce a signal indicative of angular position. One type of angle resolver is an electrostatic position transducer having the desirable features of flexibility in design configuration and low cost. The electrostatic angle resolver is essentially comprised of two variably shaped metallic plates rotated in opposition to each other to vary the plate surface area exposed between the two plates thereby creating a variable electrostatic field signal. The electrostatic charge acquired by the moving plate is reflected back to a stationary coupling or receiving plate and transformed into an electronic signal which, when analyzed reveals angular position or variations in angular position. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,579 to Wheit, U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,041 to Fletcher et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,702 to Imai, U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,318 to Farrand et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,348 to Tanaka et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,781 to Vercellotti et al.
Each of the devices disclosed in the above patents relies upon some form of external excitation. Additionally, it is likely in many applications that these devices will be used in and about metallic objects. As the rotor or stator become more closely located to a nearby metallic object, the quality or strength of the signal which is reflected from the rotor to the stator can be diminished due to the nearby grounded metallic object. Thus, a primary difficulty with the prior art in terms of location of an angle resolver depends upon the application site and nearby metallic objects. In order to avoid the interference caused by nearby metallic objects, the present invention includes a device for shielding the stator and rotor from nearby interferences so as to provide a higher quality signal and thus an improved signal for sensing angular position. By providing such shielding concepts, the present invention enables flexibility in the packaging of the angular resolver for each particular application, regardless of the proximity of metallic objects.

Electrostatic position sensing angle resolver


Various embodiments of the present invention include systems and methods for assessing the performance of an actuator of an attitude control system (ACS), such as a control moment gyroscope (CMG). In one embodiment, a system includes a support bracket assembly coupled to an actuator, wherein the actuator is configured to generate an output torque. The system also includes at least one sensor assembly that includes a sensor configured to measure the output torque about at least one axis of the support bracket assembly while the support bracket assembly remains substantially motionless.

During the past decade there has been growing interest within the space industry towards the development of small satellites. Small satellites are typically categorized as picosats (1 kg or less), nanosats (1-10 kg), microsats (10-100 kg) or minisats (100-500 kg) and range in size from softballs to refrigerators. The interest in these satellites is driven by the current constraints of traditional satellites and launch systems. As a result, there has been a significant effort to push satellite technology to smaller sizes and mass, which would enable small satellites to accomplish missions to complement the larger satellites. Examples of such missions include imaging, remote sensing, surveillance, disaster management, and blue force tracking. These missions are achieved by payloads which demand pointing capabilities from the satellites. This requires an attitude control system (ACS) with small actuators that can fit into the volume and mass constraints of small satellites.
The two major components of the ACS are the actuator and the control algorithm. Various types of actuators include the reaction wheel, magnetic rods, torque coils, thrusters, momentum wheels, and control moment gyroscope (CMG). CMGs rotate the angular momentum along a flywheel axis about a gimbal axis to produce a gyroscopic control torque as shown in FIG. 4(a). The output torque (gyroscopic torque) is amplified over the input torque required to rotate the gimbal axis (due to the satellite angular velocity) resulting in the well-known torque amplification factor which allows for higher slew rates. This property of torque amplification as well as the fact that CMGs require minimal shaft power, permits the CMG to have a much higher torque per unit mass and unit power ratio than RWs.
More specifically, the CMG is a mechanism that produces torque by a combination of two motions—spinning a flywheel about an axis referred to as the flywheel axis and the rotation of the spinning flywheel about an axis perpendicular to flywheel axis referred to as the gimbal axis. The two main components of a gyroscope are the flywheel and the gimbal. The flywheel is a spinning rotor with inertia sufficient to provide the desired angular momentum; the gimbal is a pivot about which the flywheel assembly can be rotated. The magnitude of the gyroscopic torque produced is directly proportional to the inertia of the flywheel, the angular speed of the flywheel and the rate of rotation of the gimbal. In a CMG, the inertia of the flywheel and the speed of the flywheel are constant, and the torque output is controlled by changing the rotation rate of the gimbal. The direction of the torque produced is perpendicular to both the flywheel and the gimbal axes per the right hand rule. This torque acts on the satellite structure to change its attitude. A combination of gyroscopes is used to produce a net torque in the desired direction and magnitude. There are various combinations of gyroscopes that can be used depending upon the mission requirements (box configuration, inline configuration, roof top configuration, pyramidal configuration).
Apart from the gyroscopic torque produced by the CMG, there are other torques that arise from the motion of the flywheel and gimbal that contribute to the dynamics of the satellite:                Reaction torque due to friction in the flywheel bearings.        Reaction torque due to the acceleration of the gimbal; this torque depends on the angular acceleration and the inertia of the gimbal.        Reaction torque due to the friction of the gimbal bearings and slip ring.
The motion to the flywheel and gimbal is provided by flywheel and gimbal motors. There are feedback devices (e.g., encoders and Hall-effect sensors) for sensing the angular speed and position. A slip ring is provided for continuous power supply to the flywheel motor for endless rotation of the gimbal. All these hardware are assembled together with structural components.
The output torque of the actuator is used to evaluate its performance. Certain kinds of actuators that use momentum from spinning wheels to generate torque are prone to disturbances due to misalignments and non-homogeneity of the wheels. This disturbance is termed as jitter. These actuators which contain wheels are evaluated for torque output and jitter as their performance metrics. Although there exists test beds that can evaluate the performance of large actuators, there has not been to date, an instrument to determine the performance of miniature actuators (<5 Nmm torque capacity).
ACSs are one of the most challenging spacecraft sub-systems for hardware performance verification and validation. Testing of ACSs pose many challenges as it requires simulation and control of spacecraft response to actuator inputs. Traditionally, this has been achieved using a motion platform that has three rotational degrees-of-freedom (dof) to emulate the spacecraft's attitude motion. ACS test beds developed to date for various institutions (e.g., Georgia Tech, NPS, Honeywell, AFRL to name a few) are typically for large spacecraft (>500 kg) and all, without exception, are suspension-based systems using air bearings1. Although these test beds have provided a means to validate 3-axis attitude control systems, they are limited in their testing capabilities and have several disadvantages. For example, ACS test beds using air bearings have limited range of motion about the pitch and roll axes (about ±30°)2, rendering the tests of continuous large angle maneuvers impossible. These test beds also have limits on their rotational rates as the centrifugal forces due to rotation have to be less than the dynamic capacity of the air bearing, i.e., these test beds limit the angular velocity of the simulated spacecraft thus preventing rapid retargeting maneuvers. Additionally, in order to nullify the bias torque due to gravity, these test beds require an additional dynamic mass balancing system which requires a separate control system3. The reactions due to the movement of the balancing masses induce unwanted disturbances to the spacecraft dynamics. There are additional effects/disturbances due to gravity sag associated with the size of these structures, viscous drag of the atmosphere, and the air draft from clean room blowers. Another major shortcoming of these test beds is that they cannot be used to test in an environmental chamber (thermal/vacuum) due to their complex nature and their dependency on air bearing. It is hence impossible to characterize the operational performance of the system under test in a representative space environment. FIG. 1(a) shows the schematic of a conventional test bed in which all the necessary hardware has to be integrated onto the air bearing platform. It should be noted that due to the platform's motion, an attitude determination system (ADS) is required onboard the air bearing test bed. ACS test beds for small satellites pose even harder challenges since they are more prone to viscous drags and other environmental disturbances due to their small inertia. Furthermore, it is difficult to incorporate a mass balancing system within the mass and inertia limits of these test beds. While there have been efforts in development of control strategies and actuators, there has been no transformative effort in the testing methods of attitude control system for the past fifty years1. There are currently no such test beds available for small satellites, especially for the pico (1 kg) and nano (10 kg) class.
Therefore, there exists a need for a system and method for assessing the performance of ACSs for satellites (e.g., pico and nano-satellites). It would be further advantageous for a system and method for assessing the performance of a CMG.

System and method for assessing the performance of an attitude control system for small satellites

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


A portion of first reference light plane is intercepted by a first one of a pair of angularly oriented reflective surfaces and reflected by the second of the pair of reflective surfaces as a second reference light plane at a selectable angle relative to the first reference light plane. The first and second reflective surfaces are movably mounted such that the first reflective surface can be rotated about a first axis coincident with or parallel to an incidence line in the first reflective surface which receives the first light plane and the second reflective surface can be rotated about a second axis parallel to but spaced from the first axis. The first and second reflective surfaces are mounted such that when the first reflective surface moves through an angle of a/2 degrees, the second reflective surface moves through an angle of a degrees. The first reflective surface is further mounted for rotation about a third axis coincident with or parallel to the first axis to vary the projection angle of the second reference light plane relative to the first reference light plane generator. Independent control of the rotational movement of the first reflective surface about the third axis serves to calibrate the pointing direction of the second light plane.

The present invention relates generally to the projection of light planes used in the construction industry and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for the projection of first and second reference light planes which can be oriented at a selectable angle relative to one another. The second reference light plane is generated from the first light plane and is calibrated to be in alignment with a projection axis extending from the center of origin of the first light plane.
Reference light planes, typically using laser light, are employed in numerous surveying and construction applications. Such light planes can be projected throughout a work site to substantially continuously monitor and/or control the vertical height of an earth working tool, such as the blade of a motorgrader, in relation to the planes. Reference light planes can be generated by rotating laser beam devices, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,062,634, 4,035,084 and 4,031,629, by a reflecting cone, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,820,903 and 4,679,937 or by other appropriate devices.
In many mobile earth working machines, it is desirable to control not only the vertical height of working tools of the machines but also the direction of movement of the machines in relation, respectively, to predefined horizontal and vertical reference light planes. While this can be done by providing two of the devices disclosed in the above noted patents, preferably a pair of reference planes can be provided from a single light or laser source. For example, two orthogonal reference light planes are generated from a single laser source by the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,813,171 and 4,836,669. Such orthogonal reference light planes are indeed useful in many applications such as laying out a reference grid and other survey and control applications.
Oftentimes it is also desirable to be able to tilt the "horizontal" reference light plane such that an earth working machine, paving machine or the like can produce a grade angle on the surface which is being worked or formed with the grade angle being equal to the tilt of the horizontal plane. However, the vertical reference light plane should be maintained in a true vertical orientation regardless of any tilt of the horizontal light plane to best permit the monitoring and control functions which are performed relative to the vertical light plane. While it is common to construct reference light plane generators such that they can be tilted to correspond to desired grade angles, unfortunately, known devices for generating pairs of reference light planes from a single light or laser source are limited to generating planes which are oriented at fixed angles, usually substantially orthogonal, relative to one another or in any event, the angular orientation of the pairs of light planes is not readily adjustable.
Accordingly, there is a need for a reference light plane projector for generating two reference light planes which can be oriented at a selectable angle relative to one another. Preferably, the projector includes a calibration arrangement such that one of the reference planes o light can be calibrated to be in alignment with a projection axis extending from the center of origin of the other reference plane.

Angular positioning and calibration of projected reference light planes


A method and apparatus for automatically adjusting the light intensity output of a fluorescent lamp of a document scanner. The fluorescent lamp current level control apparatus comprises preheating circuitry for applying low voltage pulses of alternating polarity across filaments of the lamp, the low voltage pulses sufficient to preheat the filaments but insufficient to cause the lamp to fluoresce; high voltage circuitry for applying high voltage pulses of alternating polarity across the lamp, the high voltage pulses sufficient to cause the lamp to fluoresce; and control circuitry for receiving a first signal (PWM (D)) indicative of a desired level of current in the filaments, sensing a current indicative of the actual level of current in the filaments, and controlling the high voltage circuitry to cause the actual level of current to tend toward the desired level of current.

A document scanner is an apparatus that converts printed text into digital data by illuminating the text with a fluorescent lamp and applying optical character recognition methods to the text. A problem with prior art document scanners is that the light intensity produced by their fluorescent lamps varies as both a function of age and temperature. For example, when a fluorescent lamp is first energized, light output increases to a maximum value as the lamp warms up, but then decreases as the lamp temperature continues to rise, .until equilibrium is reached. Moreover, darkening of the ends of the fluorescent lamp bulb causes lumen output to decrease as the lamp ages (lamps generally exhibit a significant decrease in lumen output after about 100 hours of operation). Further, lumen output may change with changes in power supply output. The need to correct these problems has increased with the advent of color document scanners, since constant light intensity is necessary for accurate reproduction of color documents.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide methods and apparatus for automatically maintaining the light output of a fluorescent lamp at a substantially uniform and controlled level. A further object of the present invention is to reduce end darkening and effects thereof, particularly in a document scanner.

Fluoresent lamp current level controller


According to one embodiment, an encoding apparatus includes a prediction unit, a classifying unit, a first transformer, a second transformer, an order controller, and an entropy coder. The prediction unit obtains a predictive residual signal to be encoded, by using a mode selected from intra-prediction modes. The first transformer obtains first transformation coefficients by subjecting the signal to an orthogonal transformation by use of a first transformation basis if the selected mode is classified into a mode having a prediction direction. The first transformation basis is preset so that a coefficient density after the orthogonal transformation is higher than a coefficient density.

In recent years, a moving-picture coding method in which encoding efficiency is greatly improved has been recommended as ITU-T REC. H.264 and ISO/IEC 14496-10 (hereinafter referred to as "H.264") jointly with ITU-T and ISO/IEC. H.264 does not rely on a prediction processing method but performs the processes of an orthogonal transformation and an inverse orthogonal transformation using a discrete cosine transformation.
For instance, WO 2008/157431 and M. Karczewicz, "Improved intra coding", ITU-T SG16/Q.6, VCEG Document, VCEG-AF15, April 2007 disclose a method for improving encoding efficiency by expanding an orthogonal transformation and an inverse orthogonal transformation in H.264, by providing each of the nine types of prediction direction determined as intra-prediction modes with a transformation basis designed to increase coefficient density after an orthogonal transformation of a generated predictive residual, and by performing an orthogonal transformation and an inverse orthogonal transformation.
However, the methods described in WO 2008/157431 and M. Karczewicz, "Improved intra coding", ITU-T SG16/Q.6, VCEG Document, VCEG-AF15, April 2007 mentioned above require an orthogonal transformation processes differing according to each intra-predation mode. To realize the methods by using hardware, eight types of configuration of hardware dedicated for orthogonal and an inverse orthogonal transformation are required, in addition to hardware dedicated to a discrete cosine transformation and an inverse discrete cosine transformation as required in H.264. As a result, circuit scale increases.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Moving-picture encoding apparatus and moving-picture decoding apparatus


A rotor for an asynchronous electrical machine comprising a magnetic ring comprising a plurality of layers of ferromagnetic metal sheets stacked axially and a squirrel cage having a plurality of conductive elements regularly distributed over the periphery of the magnetic ring and each having two opposite ends extending axially beyond the magnetic ring and each connected to a short-circuit crown, arranged axially on either side of the magnetic ring and intended to connect the ends of the conductive elements electrically. The rotor is segmented circumferentially into at least two rotor segments.

This invention relates to the field of rotating electrical machines with asynchronous technology.
More particularly, this invention relates to rotors used in such asynchronous rotating electrical machines.
An asynchronous rotating electrical machine, also called an "induction machine", is an alternating-current electrical machine principally comprising a stator, a rotor without a physical connection with the stator, and a torque transmission shaft integral with the rotor. Said rotor comprises a winding consisting of short-circuited conductors and traversed by currents induced by a magnetic field created by the currents of the stator, unlike a synchronous machine wherein the magnetic field of the rotor is created by permanent magnets or coils supplied by direct current.
The rotor of an asynchronous electrical machine may, for example, be of the "squirrel-cage" type, comprising a plurality of layers of axially stacked ferromagnetic metal sheets forming a magnetic ring and a squirrel cage. For example, a magnetic ring of 1,000 mm axial length comprises two thousand layers of axially stacked ferromagnetic metal sheets, each of 0.5 mm thickness, or one thousand five hundred and thirty-eight layers of axially stacked ferromagnetic metal sheets, each of 0.65 mm thickness.
In a manner known in itself, the squirrel cage comprises a plurality of conductive elements regularly distributed over the periphery of the magnetic ring, each having two opposite ends extending axially beyond the magnetic ring. The conductive elements are made of an electrical material, such as copper, a copper alloy or aluminum. The squirrel cage further comprises two rings or short-circuit crowns, arranged axially on either side of the magnetic ring and intended to connect the ends of the conductive elements electrically. Each conductive element is in the form of a bar extending axially on either side of the magnetic ring and inserted axially in a notch cut close to the periphery of the magnetic ring. The section of the conductive bars may be circular, ovoid, square or rectangular in shape.
The ferromagnetic sheets are intended to guide the magnetic field lines, while the conductive elements are intended to accommodate the induced currents. The magnetic ring and the squirrel cage thus form the active part of the rotor.
When the external diameter of the rotor exceeds 1,250 mm, it is difficult to produce ferromagnetic sheets to be cut into magnetic sheet rolls with a width greater than 1,250 mm. Thus, there are magnetic rings comprising a plurality of layers of ferromagnetic metal sheets, wherein each sheet metal layer comprises ferromagnetic sheet segments, for example 18 in number, each forming an angular portion of 20°, stacked in the circumferential direction. For reasons of mechanical rigidity, the angular portions of each layer of sheets are offset angularly in order to avoid the alignment of the joining planes between the segments, which would weaken the magnetic ring. Thus, the axial covering of the segments from one layer of sheets to the other makes it possible to ensure the rigidity of the magnetic ring.
However, in the event of failure of a part of the rotor, it is necessary to disassemble the rotor as a whole, which involves a considerable maintenance cost.
In addition, it is necessary to assemble such a rotor directly on the operating site of the torque transmission shaft, which is generally difficult to do and expensive.
There is therefore a need to provide an asynchronous rotor for an asynchronous electrical machine capable of being manufactured on a site other than the operating site of the torque transmission shaft. There is also a need to reduce the time and cost of maintaining such an asynchronous rotor.

Segmented rotor for an asynchronous machine and an asynchronous machine having such a segmented rotor

GE ENERGY POWER CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY LTD