Switch regions derived from an immunoglobulin (Ig) gene are used to direct recombination between a targeting construct containing a promoter, a switch region (S.sub.1), and 2) a target locus minimally containing a promoter, a switch region (S.sub.2), and a target sequence.

The basic immunoglobulin (Ig) structural unit in vertebrate systems is composed of two identical "light" polypeptide chains (approximately 23 kDa), and two identical "heavy" chains (approximately 53 to 70 kDa). The four chains are joined by disulfide bonds in a "Y" configuration, and the "tail" portions of the two heavy chains are bound by covalent disulfide linkages when the immunoglobulins are generated either by B cell hybridomas or other cell types.
A schematic of the general antibody structure is shown in FIG. 1. The light and heavy chains are each composed of a variable region at the N-terminal end, and a constant region at the C-terminal end. In the light chain, the variable region (termed "V.sub.L J.sub.L ") is composed of a variable (V.sub.L) region connected through the joining (J.sub.L) region to the constant region (C.sub.L). In the heavy chain, the variable region (V.sub.H D.sub.H J.sub.H) is composed of a variable (V.sub.H) region linked through a combination of the diversity (D.sub.H) region and the joining (J.sub.H) region to the constant region (C.sub.H). The V.sub.L J.sub.L and V.sub.H D.sub.H J.sub.H regions of the light and heavy chains, respectively, are associated at the tips of the Y to form the antibody's antigen binding portion and determine antigen binding specificity.
The (C.sub.H) region defines the antibody's isotype, i.e., its class or subclass. Antibodies of different isotypes differ significantly in their effector functions, such as the ability to activate complement, bind to specific receptors (e.g., Fc receptors) present on a wide variety of cell types, cross mucosal and placental barriers, and form polymers of the basic four-chain IgG molecule.
Antibodies are categorized into "classes" according to the C.sub.H type utilized in the immunoglobulin molecule (IgM, IgG, IgD, IgE, or IgA). There are at least five types of C.sub.H genes (C.mu., C.gamma., C.delta., C.epsilon., and C.alpha.), and some species (including humans) have multiple C.sub.H subtypes (e.g., C.gamma..sub.1, C.gamma..sub.2, C.gamma..sub.3, and C.gamma..sub.4 in humans). There are a total of nine C.sub.H genes in the haploid genome of humans, eight in mouse and rat, and several fewer in many other species. In contrast, there are normally only two types of light chain constant regions (C.sub.L) , kappa (.kappa.) and lambda (.lambda.), and only one of these constant regions is present in a single light chain protein (i.e., there is only one possible light chain constant region for every V.sub.L J.sub.L produced). Each heavy chain class can be associated with either of the light chain classes (e.g., a C.sub.H .gamma. region can be present in the same antibody as either a .kappa. or .lambda. light chain), although the constant regions of the heavy and light chains within a particular class do not vary with antigen specificity (e.g., an IgG antibody always has a C.gamma. heavy chain constant region regardless of the antibody's antigen specificity).
Each of the V, D, J, and C regions of the heavy and light chains are encoded by distinct genomic sequences. Antibody diversity is generated by recombination between the different V.sub.H, D.sub.H, and J.sub.H gene segments in the heavy chain, and V.sub.L and J.sub.L gene segments in the light chain. The recombination of the different V.sub.H, D.sub.H, and J.sub.H genes is accomplished by DNA recombination during B cell differentiation. Briefly, the heavy chain sequence recombines first to generate a D.sub.H J.sub.H complex, and then a second recombinatorial event produces a V.sub.H D.sub.H J.sub.H complex. A functional heavy chain is produced upon transcription followed by splicing of the RNA transcript. Production of a functional heavy chain triggers recombination in the light chain sequences to produce a rearranged V.sub.L J.sub.L region which in turn forms a functional V.sub.L J.sub.L C.sub.L region, i.e., the functional light chain.
During the course of B cell differentiation, progeny of a single B cell can switch the expressed immunoglobulin isotype from IgM to IgG or other classes of immunoglobulin without changing the antigen specificity determined by the variable region. This phenomenon, known as immunoglobulin class-switching, is accompanied by DNA rearrangement that takes place between switch (S) regions located 5' to each C.sub.H gene (except for C.gamma.) (reviewed in Honjo (1983) Annu. Rev. Immunol. 1:499-528, and Shimizu & Honjo (1984) Cell 36:801-803). S--S recombination brings the V.sub.H D.sub.H J.sub.H exon to the proximity of the C.sub.H gene to be expressed by deletion of intervening C.sub.H genes located on the same chromosome. The class-switching mechanism is directed by cytokines (Mills et al. (1995) J. Immunol. 155:3021-3036). Switch regions vary in size from 1 kb (S.epsilon.) to 10 kb (S.gamma..sub.1), and are composed of tandem repeats that vary both in length and sequence (Gritzmacher (1989) Crit. Rev. Immunol. 9:173-200). Several switch regions have been characterized including the murine S.mu., S.epsilon., S.alpha., S.gamma.3, S.gamma.1, S.gamma.2b and S.gamma.2a switch regions and the human S.mu. switch region (Mills et al. (1995) supra; Nikaido et al. (1981) Nature 292:845-8; Marcu et al. (1982) Nature 298:87-89; Takahashi et al. (1982) Cell 29:671-9; Mills et al. (1990) Nucleic Acids Res. 18:7305-16; Nikaido et al. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257:7322-29; Stanton et al. (1982) Nucleic Acids Res. 10:5993-6006; Gritzmacher (1989) supra; Davis et al. (1980) Science 209:1360; Obata et al. (1981) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78:2437-41; Kataoka et al. (1981) Cell 23:357; Mowatt et al. (1986) J. Immunol. 136:2674-83; Szurek et al. (1985) J. Immunol. 135:620-6; and Wu et al. (1984) EMBO J. 3:2033-40).
Observations that a single B cell can express more than one isotype simultaneously on its surface is not explained by the class-switching mechanism since S--S recombination is limited to intrachromosomal recombination and results in deletion of the exchanged C.sub.H gene. A second mechanism, called trans-splicing, has been described in which two transcripts generated from different chromosomes are joined to form a single continuous transcript (Shimizu et al. (1991) J. Exp. Med. 173:1385-1393). Transgenic mice carrying a rearranged expressible V.sub.H D.sub.H J.sub.H heavy chain .mu. gene integrated outside the mouse IgH locus were found to produce mRNA having the V.sub.H D.sub.H J.sub.H region of the transgene correctly spliced to the endogenous C.sub.H region. As with S--S recombination, the frequency of trans-splicing is low, and the factors regulating both mechanisms are not well understood.
The value and potential of antibodies as diagnostic and therapeutic reagents has been long-recognized in the art. Unfortunately, the field has been hampered by the slow, tedious processes required to produce large quantities of an antibody of a desired specificity. The classical cell fusion techniques allowed for efficient production of monoclonal antibodies by fusing the B cell producing the antibody with an immortalized cell line. The resulting cell line is called a hybridoma cell line. However, most of these monoclonal antibodies are produced in murine systems and are recognized as "foreign" proteins by the human immune system. Thus the patient's immune system elicits a response against the antibodies, which results in antibody neutralization and clearance, and/or potentially serious side-effects associated with the anti-antibody immune response.
One approach to this problem has been to develop human or "humanized" monoclonal antibodies, which are not as easily "recognized" as foreign epitopes, and avoid an anti-antibody immune response in the patient. Applications of human B cell hybridoma-produced monoclonal antibodies have promising potential in the treatment of cancer, microbial, and viral infections, B cell immunodeficiencies associated with abnormally low antibody production, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, transplant rejection and other disorders of the immune system, and other diseases. However, several obstacles remain in the development of such human monoclonal antibodies. For example, many human tumor antigens may not be immunogenic in humans and thus it may be difficult to isolate human B cells producing antibodies against human antigens.
Attempts to address the problems associated with antibodies for human therapeutics have used recombinant DNA techniques. Most of these efforts have focused on the production of chimeric antibodies having a human C.sub.H region and non-human (e.g., murine) antigen combining (variable) regions. These chimeric antibodies are generally produced by cloning the desired antibody variable region and/or constant region, combining the cloned sequences into a single construct encoding all or a portion of a functional chimeric antibody having the desired variable and constant regions, introducing the construct into a cell capable of expressing antibodies, and selecting cells that stably express the chimeric antibody. Alternatively, the chimeric antibody is produced by cloning the desired variable region or constant region, introducing the construct into an antibody-producing cell, and selecting for chimeric antibody-producing cells that result from homologous recombination between the desired variable region and the endogenous variable region, or the desired constant region and the endogenous constant region. Examples of techniques which rely upon recombinant DNA techniques such as those described above to produce chimeric antibodies are described in PCT Publication No. WO 86/01533 (Neuberger et al.), and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,816,567 (Cabilly et al.) and 5,202,238 (Fell et al.). These methods require transferring DNA from one cell to another, thus removing it from its natural locus, and thus require careful in vitro manipulation of the DNA to ensure that the final antibody-encoding construct is functional (e.g., is capable of transcription and translation of the desired gene product).
There is a clear need in the field for a method for producing a desired protein or antibody which does not require multiple cloning steps, in more efficient than conventional homologous recombination, and can be carried out in hybridoma cells.

Directed switch-mediated DNA recombination


A suction device for cleaning skin having a suction nozzle with a plurality of openings that are covered by an elastic diaphragm which is drawn into the openings by a pulsating drive force so that the diaphragm forms a plurality of pulsating secondary vacuum pumps in contact with the skin, thus, the vacuum action on the skin is divided into short variable suction pulses and the covering elastic diaphragm offers an easily exchangeable disposable hygienic protection.

The invention is directed to a device for cleaning deep into the pores of the skin according to mechanical principles.
The care of the skin holds an important place in society and represents an extremely large and competitive market. Thus, a great many methods have been invented and implemented, namely, cosmetic masks and ointments, treatments with water, steam and also mechanical suction devices.
The advantage of cosmetic means is their favorable chemical-biological effect on the skin cells, but disadvantages reside in the relatively great expenditure of time for mask treatments, as well as in the problem of reaching deeper skin layers.
Steam treatment requires special equipment and therefore likewise requires a time-consuming treatment in cosmetics practices.
In order to achieve the best possible effect in the use of cosmetic ointments it is advisable to clean the skin thoroughly beforehand and remove hardened deposits in the pores.
Treatment methods with mechanical suction devices are described in the patent literature, e.g., in FR 26 26 179 A, U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,316 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,794,035, and concern typical known devices for cleaning the skin with a vacuum pump (FR 26 26 179 A), a suction bell (U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,316) or a suction nozzle (U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,035) which are placed on the skin and comprise a connection hose between the pump and the suction bell or nozzle. In so doing, steam action and pulsating suction can also be provided, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,971. In this case, the pulsating operation serves for alternating between steam action and vacuum action on the one hand and for a massaging action on the skin on the other hand.
Overlapping treatment by means of ultrasonic waves is suggested for opening the pores. In this case, U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,368 describes a microsurgical suction handpiece with an ultrasonic source which causes a reduction in size of the tissue parts to be sucked out. This treatment has nothing to do with skin cleaning. In this instance, the use of ultrasonics serves for loosening and reducing the size of body tissue.
DE 26 11 721 B2 discloses a medical suction device for sucking tissue serum; suction device can be placed on the skin of a patient, its suction opening being covered by a tightly meshed sieve, wherein a holder for previously prepared fleece paper, containing a supporting sieve for the fleece paper, is provided behind the sieve. The skin is accordingly prevented from being sucked into the suction opening too vigorously, and the veins of the patient, which must be kept healthy for infusions which may be necessary later are treated with care. This medical device also has nothing to do with skin cleaning.
The technical problem in all known treatment methods for skin cleaning with suction devices is the risk of blood effusions and blood clots as a result of sucking blood from the capillary vessels in the upper layers of the skin, so that the skin can suffer permanent discoloration. Moreover, such devices must be very carefully cleaned or sterilized in order to prevent the transmission of skin diseases, or relatively expensive disposable tools must be used, since the suctioned skin deposits unavoidably soil the interior of the suction ducts.


A copying machine performs a panel operation necessary for copying at a step S601 and performs ACS determination for determining whether an original image is a color image, a monochrome image or an indefinite image at a step S603. Then, the copying machine performs copying at a step S605 according to a print mode responsive to a result of ACS determination. At this time, a printed paper for an indefinite image is discharged to a discharge position different from that for another printed paper. The copying machine displays the result of the ACS determination on an operation panel at a step S607. Therefore, an original determined as the indefinite image can be recognized at a glance so that a countermeasure can be immediately taken if reprinting is necessary. Consequently, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus capable of immediately performing proper processing on an original image by readily detecting an improper result of printing caused by false determination as to whether the original image is a color image or a monochrome image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image determining apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, it relates to an image determining apparatus automatically determining whether an original image is a color image or a monochrome image and an image forming apparatus comprising the image determining apparatus for forming an image with a colorant of a color or a black colorant.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a general image forming apparatus such as a color copying machine, a printing method varies with whether an original image is a color image or a monochrome image. In other words, a color image is printed with colorants of chromatic colors such as C (cyan), M (magenta) and Y (yellow), for example, while a monochrome image is printed with an achromatic black colorant.
If a user of such a color copying machine must sequentially input the types (color or monochrome) of original images and perform operations varying with the original images, however, extremely complicated operations are required. In general, therefore, a method of automatically determining the type of each original image (this operation is hereinafter referred to as ACS (auto color select)) for printing the original image in response to the result of determination is employed for the color copying machine.
Therefore, a copy of the original image can be readily formed without requiring the user to input the type (color or monochrome) of the original image or change the copy operation in response to the type of the original image.
However, the conventional image forming apparatus clearly determines only whether the original image is a color image or a monochrome image. Also as to a subtle image almost indistinguishable between a color image and a monochrome image, therefore, the conventional image forming apparatus disadvantageously determines as either a color image or a monochrome image.
If the image forming apparatus makes false determination in this case, it follows that the subtle image is printed by a false printing method based on the false determination. Therefore, the user must search for a printed image (in particular, a copy of a color image falsely printed with a black colorant is referred to as "miscopy") based on false determination every copying for recopying the image if necessary. When copying originals including a number of color images and monochrome images, therefore, the user must take the trouble of finding out miscopies from a number of copied papers for reprinting the same with extremely complicated operations.
Particularly when performing reprinting, the user must reread the original images through operations further requiring time in addition to the time for detecting the miscopies.
Further, it follows that a monochrome image falsely determined as a color image is subjected to color printing not with a black colorant but with all colorants of C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow) and K (black). This state cannot definitely be regarded as preferable in consideration of the speed and the cost required for image formation, the picture quality and the like.

Image determining apparatus capable of properly determining image and image forming apparatus utilizing the same


A method and circuit for excluding regions from an exposure calculation is described. The method includes obtaining pre-image data representing an image of a scene and dividing the image into a plurality of regions. Regions that contain a predetermined number of bright pixels are identified, bright pixels being pixels that are brighter than a threshold level of brightness. Each region that has at least the predetermined number of bright pixels from the exposure calculation are excluded.

It is a common experience among photographers that a subject of a scene is much darker than the background. For example, in outdoor photography, a subject may be situated against a bright sky, beach, or snow. In indoor photography, the subject may be situated in a relatively dark room having bright windows, ceiling lights, or other bright objects. For scenes having these characteristics, the photographer may manually adjust exposure settings so that the subject of the image is brightly lit, allowing bright background areas to become over-exposed. These exposure settings generally include shutter speed and aperture (f-stop) setting. For film-based cameras, the appropriate exposure settings will vary with the film speed. For digital cameras, the exposure setting can also include a sensitivity (ISO) value, sometimes referred to as gain. The appropriate shutter speed and aperture setting also has implications for depth-of-field. The challenge of correctly identifying optimum exposure settings for a particular scene is daunting to many photographers, novice and professional alike.
In an attempt to simplify exposure settings for novice photographers, many cameras have various automatic exposure settings which cause the camera to select an appropriate shutter speed for a particular aperture, an appropriate aperture for a particular shutter speed, or fully automatic exposure in which the camera selects an appropriate shutter speed and aperture. To achieve any automatic exposure setting, however, the camera must have some way of detecting the brightness of the image prior to taking the picture so that the exposure is adjusted appropriately for the scene.
Camera manufacturers have developed many mechanisms for automatically selecting exposure settings for particular scenes. In traditional film-based photography, the simplest auto-exposure cameras have a light meter that reads an overall amount of light in the scene as whole, and adjusts the exposure setting according to the level of light. Unfortunately, where the image contains an excessive amount of light in the background of a scene, the automatic exposure setting will result in the subject being too darkly lit, and may appear in shadow or even silhouetted in extreme cases. To reduce the effects of backlighting, some film-based cameras identify brightness levels at different regions of an image and give greater weight to the brightness at the center of the image. The result of these systems varies depending on whether the subject is centrally located when the picture is taken. In another approach, "spot metering" is performed at a central portion of the image frame. The photographer is required to align the subject with the central spot, store the exposure details for the subject, compose the picture, possibly arranging the subject off to one side, and finally take the picture. While this process generally results in a properly balanced image, it significantly increases the complexity beyond the simple "point and shoot" operation that many photographers demand.
In digital photography, it is common for a camera to determine exposure settings by utilizing the image sensor itself either during the exposure period or immediately before the exposure period. Such information may be referred to as "pre-image data" and may be used to estimate appropriate automatic exposure settings. Prior art cameras employ various algorithms using pre-image data to calculate an optimum exposure estimate. For example, the image area may be divided into a number of segments, with the average luminance calculated or estimated for each segment, with centrally-positioned segments being weighted more than peripheral segments. In this way, these advanced digital cameras mimic the functionality of existing film-based cameras. However, the algorithms used to determine an optimum exposure estimate can be complex, requiring a number of averages to be calculated, which is burdensome for small hand-held cameras or low-power devices such as cell phones that incorporate imaging functionality and have limited processing power.
Therefore, there is an unmet need for a simplified optimum exposure estimating device or method to compensate for bright background regions of a scene.

Backlight compensation using threshold detection


A diagnostic method in an aspect-oriented data processing environment is provided. The environment comprises a data processing system having an operating system for executing an application, wherein the application comprises an object class. The environment also comprises means for loading the object class at runtime and storage means for storing a diagnostic aspect. An aspect implements concerns (e.g. logging, security) that cross-cut the application. The object class of the application is loaded at runtime and the diagnostic aspect is read from the storage means. The means for loading now combines the object class with the diagnostic aspect, so that for example, diagnostics can be captured and repairs on the application can be carried out.

In today's increasingly competitive market place, quality is of the utmost concern. Users' expectations are high and thus the reliability of hardware and software is especially important. Customers do not tolerate mistakes and the later a defect is discovered, the more costly it can prove to the manufacturer.
Software is undergoing a revolution in terms of complexity and therefore is becoming difficult to maintain. One area of complexity is the maintenance of "concerns". A concern is defined as a value, a responsibility, an area of interest, a common functionality and the like, for example, logging, quality of service, security, caching and buffering. During the software lifecycle, there is often a need separate concerns in order to improve maintainability, limit the impact of change, facilitate reuse and promote traceabilty.
Object-oriented technology is one methodology that provides a partial solution to the problem, which will be discussed with reference to FIG. 2. A software object, referred to as an object, is an instance of a software class represented as an encapsulated software component comprising data attributes and functionality. The functionality within a software class is defined by software methods that are executed at run-time. Software classes are developed to represent abstract components of an object-oriented software application.
Programs written in the Java (Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems Inc) programming language are generally run in a virtual machine environment, rather than directly on hardware. Thus a Java program is typically compiled into byte-code form, and then interpreted by the Java virtual machine (JVM) into hardware commands for the platform on which the JVM is executing. An important advantage of this approach is that Java applications can run on a very wide range of platforms, providing of course that a JVM is available for each platform.
A JVM includes components necessary to load Java classes and execute software methods written in the Java programming language. Java classes are written by programmers in the Java programming language using Java instructions. Java instructions are subsequently encoded as platform independent bytecodes by a Java compiler and stored in binary Java class files until they are executed. On execution, the JVM loads a Java class file into memory and executes the software methods it contains. To execute a software method the JVM decodes and executes the bytecode instructions for the software method using a Java interpreter. Decoding a bytecode instruction involves converting the byte code instruction into one or more appropriate machine code instructions for the computer platform. The machine code instructions are subsequently executed by the computer's processor. This model of operation ensures that Java classes are stored in platform independent bytecode format until execution, and these can thus be loaded and executed on many computer platforms given the presence of a JVM capable of interpreting bytecodes.
In an interpretive environment, such as Java, instances of software classes are created during application run-time as objects in an application. In the OO environment, in order to create a new object as an instance of a class, an application needs to obtain a definition of the class. Class definitions are typically stored within a data store in a computer system such as a hard disk drive. The application loads the class definition from the data store using a software routine called a classloader. Each software application has at least one classloader, and different software applications may have different classloaders. The class, once loaded, is also used to access instances of the class originating outside the application, such as objects passed from other applications as parameter objects. The class is uniquely referenced by the application using a combination of a name of the class (e.g. Logging.class) and a reference to a classloader (e.g. myLog.classLoader) which loaded the class. Only a class with the correct unique reference can be used by the application to access a software object instance of that class. A software object is accessible to an application if the application can access data attributes of the software object and invoke software methods of the object.
FIG. 1 shows a computer system (100) that is used in the class loading process. The system (100) includes a central processing unit (CPU) (115) and a data store (120). The data store (120) is a non-volatile data storage medium such as a hard disk drive. An object-oriented class (125) is stored in binary format in data store (120). The class (125) is used to create software objects as instances of class (125) in an object-oriented application (105). The application (105) is an object-oriented application and includes a classloader (110). Alternatively, the classloader can be defined as part of the Java Runtime Environment. The classloader (110) is a software routine executable by the CPU (115). In use, the classloader (110) loads a software class from the data store (120) when the application (105) creates a new software object.
In OO the concept of modularity provides a way of identifying, encapsulating and manipulating concerns in a hierarchical architecture. In FIG. 2, a user manages "n" different class hierarchies ((200, 205 and 210)—only the parent classes, "ComputerSecurity", "BankAccount" and nth class "ClassName" are shown for simplicity). The dominant concerns in the system, for example computer security and bank accounts are cleanly encapsulated in the class hierarchy.
OO and other methodologies that exist are only advantageous in situations where there is a "clean" separation between concerns. In any non-trivial system there will also remain other concerns that do not fit neatly within the chosen decomposition, and hence their implementation is scattered across classes in the system. This is known as cross-cutting. Crosscutting poses many problems in program design, comprehension and maintenance. For example, in FIG. 2, the implementation of the PIN reset concern is scattered across several classes. It is difficult to modify that concern without incoherency arising. Identifying and modifying the concerns is time-consuming and the chances of causing errors increase.
Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) as described by Gregor Kiczales et al. in "Aspect-Oriented Programming", ECOOP, June 1997 and in "Aspect-Oriented Programming with AspectJ" by Ivan Kiselev, Sams publishing, 2002 is a technique for improving the separation of concerns in software. The central idea in AOP is that while the hierarchical modularity mechanisms of object-oriented languages are extremely useful, they are inherently unable to modularise all concerns of interest in complex systems. AOP provides a way of modularising "cross-cutting" concerns, that is, concerns that are distributed across modules, code etc. Advantageously, cross-cutting concerns can be designed and programmed in a modular way, and thereby achieve the benefits of modularity. Such well modularised, cross-cutting concerns are called aspects (i.e. the implementation of a concern) and these allow programmers to implement changes to concerns in a modular manner. With reference to FIG. 3, classes 200, 205 and the nth class (210) are shown. With AOP, the cross-cutting concerns (300, 305), namely, the attribute pinCode and the method for resetting the PIN code, can be encapsulated in a single aspect, hence aiding the developer to modify the concern in a modular fashion.
The main concepts associated with AOP will now be described in more detail.
"Join points"—well defined points in the execution of a program. E.g. Field reference, exception handler execution, class initialisation, object initialisation.
"Pointcut"—identifies the join points that are to be involved in an operation.
"Advice"—code which is executed when a pointcut is reached. "Before advice" is executed before a given pointcut, "after advice" is executed after a pointcut and "around advice" is executed instead of join points picked by a pointcut.
"Weaving"—an aspect-oriented implementation technique that inserts advice code into the underlying application to be advised at the points indicated by pointcuts. Weaving is often performed by a compiler.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a program written in Java supplemented by AOP. The program is a calendar application contained in a Java package (i.e. com.ibm.amc.cal). The aspect (i.e. aspect Trace) is a cross-cutting concern that modularizes tracing across all methods. The pointcut (i.e. pointcut all Methods( )) identifies that all methods in the package are to be involved. The before advice shows the code to be executed before the pointcut and the after advice shows the code to be executed after the pointcut. In this example, a build time tool (e.g the ajc compiler in the aspect-oriented programming language, AspectJ) composes the aspect source file(s) (i.e. aspect Trace) with the target Java source files (e.g. programCode.java) to create Java class files (e.g. className.class).
In order to assist developers of computer programs or service personnel to determine the cause of a problem or the reason for unexpected behavior of a computer system, it is known to generate and store diagnostic information for subsequent analysis. The diagnostic functions built into a product are often inadequate for the service personnel to be able to capture accurate information about the problem. Often for example, diagnosis of a problem may require very detailed diagnostics in a particular subsystem and it is not appropriate to have this level of detail permanently built into the product. Furthermore, there is a need for diagnostics to be performed in an unobtrusive manner.

Method for capturing computer application diagnostics

International Business Machines Corporation


A venetian blind includes a headrail, a storage rail, a covering unit and a retainer. The storage rail has front and rear sidewalls, each of which is formed with a horizontal rib. The storage rail further has two ends and an upper end opening disposed between the two ends. The retainer is configured as an inverted U-shaped plate, and bridges the front and rear sidewalls. The covering unit includes a plurality of horizontal slats. Lowermost ones of the slats are received within the storage rail, and are capable of being removed from the storage rail through the upper end opening. The retainer includes front and rear retaining-plate portions with open-ended slots engaging respectively the ribs of the storage rail, and is capable of being removed forcibly and upwardly from the storage rail.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a venetian blind, and more particularly to a venetian blind that includes a plurality of horizontal slats and a storage rail that receives some of the slats to adjust the length of the venetian blind.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,621 discloses a window blind that includes a storage rail or bottom rail, which defines a channel for receiving and storing unnecessary or unused slats of the window blind to enable the ready customization of the window blind to fit windows of different heights. Although the length of the window blind can be adjusted by receiving a selected number of the slats within the storage rail, it is difficult to perform such length adjustment of the window blind.


A method and corresponding apparatus for managing voice quality by optimizing the amount of attenuation placed in the echo return path based on the conditions observed during each telephone call. At the beginning of a telephone call, a pre-configured initial amount of attenuation is placed in the echo path of a communications connection that includes an echo canceller. After the call has begun, ERL is measured at a point in the communications connection that includes the attenuation. If the measured ERL is higher than necessary for the echo canceller to accurately perform double-talk detection, the attenuation in the echo path is slowly reduced from the initial amount. As the attenuation is reduced, the measured ERL reduces accordingly. When the measured ERL reduces to a minimum value required to perform double-talk detection, the reduction in attenuation is stopped.

During some telephone conversations a talker can hear a delayed copy of the talker's own voice emanating from the telephone receiver. This phenomenon is known as talker echo. Talker echo is caused by signal reflections in the telephone network and acoustics. Echo becomes increasingly annoying to the talker as the echo increases either in volume or delay relative to the talker's speech.
When an electrical wave travels down a wire, the electrical energy can be reflected back if there is a change in impedance at any point in the transmission path. In the analog portion of a telephone network this impedance mismatch occurs most significantly at the hybrid that does a 4-wire to 2-wire conversion. If the impedances are well matched very little signal is reflected. However, when there is a large impedance mismatch, most of the signal can be reflected. This reflection at the hybrid is referred to as "Hybrid Echo".
Echo cancellers are used in the telephone network to remove (cancel) these reflections (echo) to as great a degree as possible. Much of this cancellation requires the echo canceller to compare an outgoing signal, which may contain a talker's speech signals and/or noise signals, to an incoming signal. The incoming signal may at times contain noise signals, an echo of the "outgoing" talker's speech signal and/or a speech signal from a second "incoming" talker.
For an echo canceller to function properly, it needs to be able to determine if the incoming signal contains speech from a local source (near-end speech) or the echo of an outgoing signal. This determination is often referred to as "double talk" detection. A common method for double-talk detection is to compare the outgoing signal to the incoming signal. The louder the volume of the echo with respect to the volume of the outgoing signal, the more difficult this determination becomes.
The ratio of the power of the echo to the power of the outgoing signal is referred to as the echo return loss (ERL). The ERL is equal to the amount of power that is lost from the transmitted signal when the signal is echoed back. ERL is said to be "lower" when the returning echo is close to the same volume of the outgoing signal. The ERL is "higher" when the echo returns at a more reduced volume. Without echo cancellation in the telephone network, telephone calls with low ERLs have more audible echo than calls with high ERLs.
In network configurations where the ERL is low (i.e., the echo is louder) for some calls, attenuation can be put into the echo path to make the ERL higher. A problem with such an approach is that for the attenuation to affect the echo, it also must affect the volume of at least one of the two voice paths. Further, the addition of such attenuation is then present even in calls where the ERL is already high. That is, the attenuation is usually static or fixed and does not change based on actual call conditions.
Automatic gain control (AGC) methods have also existed where the power level of a signal is monitored to ensure that a desired signal level is maintained. This approach generally cannot be used in a voice system as voice power levels are very inconsistent. In addition, AGC methods are concerned only with maintaining a power level, not with avoiding low ERLs.

Dynamic attenuation method and apparatus for optimizing voice quality using echo cancellers


A stitchery scroll frame includes front and rear rollers extending transversely between side members. A stand for holding the scroll frame includes a pair of front legs and a pair of rear legs. The scroll frame is removably attached to the top of the legs by C-clips. The legs of the stand include height adjustable upper and lower sections. The front and rear legs may be adjusted to uneven heights for inclining the scroll frame. The legs on either side of the stand are connected by cross braces, which can be detached from the legs for disassembling the stand.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to stitchery scroll frames and stands for supporting them.
2. Prior Art
Large pieces of stitchery work, such as quilts or rugs, are commonly made by mounting the work on a large frame, and supporting the frame on a stand. Some frames are simple rectangular structures in which the work piece is stretched. Other frames are scroll frames that include a pair of side members, and a pair of rollers extending transversely between the side members. Opposite ends of a long work piece are stapled to the rollers, and scrolled from one roller to the other as the work progressed. The side edges of the work piece tend to flex when a user rests her hands on it, which makes the work piece unstable to work on.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,164 to Newman shows a stand with a pair of articulated vertical arms with clamps at the ends for gripping a large stitchery frame. A cross brace extending between the arms is adjustable in length for spacing the arms to fit frames of different widths. The arms are pivoted for tilting the frame to a desired working angle, but the stand may tip over if the frame is too large. U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,267 to Bard also shows a stand with an adjustable cross brace. A scroll frame is supported between a pair of vertical arms. The frame is pivoted about a pair of bolts. The angle of the frame is secured by wing nuts on the bolts. The small wing nuts cannot hold the frame securely enough, so that the frame may be inadvertently rotated when a user rests her arms on the frame. U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,065 to Selden shows a stand with a recess that can only hold a frame of a single size. The angle of the frame is adjusted by struts that precariously engage notches under support arms. The struts may easily disengage from the notches when the stand is flexed sideways, so that the frame may tip over and fall off the stand.


A communication apparatus including a short-distance communication module, wherein the short-distance communication module selectively performs one-to-one communication or one-to-many communication in short-distance communication, and sets a sampling rate for sampling transmission data of the communication apparatus to be greater than the inverse of an arrival time difference of the transmission data determined according to a maximum communication distance between communication apparatuses.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a communication apparatus, a communication system, and a communication method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In one-to-one communication in a traditional communication system, a transmitting terminal transmits data of one frame and a receiving terminal transmits an ACK signal confirming correct receipt of the frame and data to the transmitting terminal. If the data is not correctly received, the receiving terminal transmits a NACK signal. After correctly receiving an ACK signal from the receiving terminal, the transmitting terminal transmits data of the next frame to the receiving terminal. When a NACK signal is received from the receiving terminal, or an ACK signal has not been correctly received or received during a predetermined time period, the data that has already been transmitted is retransmitted.
In one-to-many communication in a traditional communication system, a single transmitting terminal transmits data to a plurality of receiving terminals; the transmitting terminal transmits the data to the receiving terminals using identifying (ID) information for each of the receiving terminals. A receiving terminal checks whether the ID information is correct and receives the data when the ID information is correct. Otherwise, the receiving terminal disposes of the received data.

Communication apparatus, communication system, and communication method


A method, a processing device, and a system for driving prediction are proposed. The method is applicable to a processing device configured in a vehicle, where the processing device is connected to an image capturing device and an output device and pre-stores a prediction model. The method includes the following steps. A video sequence around the vehicle is received from the image capturing device. Whether the video sequence satisfies the prediction model is determined so as to update the prediction model according to a driving situation of the vehicle.

An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) refers to each type of sensors installed in a vehicle and configured to sense parameters such as light, heat, and pressure and to promptly notify a driver to be cautious on all happenings based on all data collected from inside and outside the vehicle.
However, while the vehicle is driving at high speed, the driver may be more concentrated on front road conditions and less concentrated on side lane conditions, and the determination of the braking distance of the vehicle would normally require considerable driving experience, and whether the vehicle would perform an expected action would be hardly determined. Moreover, the driver's attention may inevitably decrease particularly in a high-speed road way with less winding curves where the driver would have a delayed reaction time on abnormal driving vehicles in front and side lanes or would even be unware of such abnormal driving vehicles and miss the opportunity to slow down in advance to prevent collision, thereby causing an accident.

Method, processing device, and system for driving prediction


A method for performing auto-cleaning in a printer, which is designed for printing on a substrate, may include periodically printing an auto-cleaner print on the substrate in a predetermined frequency. The method may also include scanning the auto-cleaner print to obtain scanned image data of the auto-cleaner print. The method may further include analyzing the scanned image data to determine extent of presence of artifacts indicative of dirt or ink residue. The method may also include based on the extent of presence of the artifacts modifying the frequency.

In the printing industry special attention is drawn to maintaining high quality prints. The quality of prints tends deteriorate as a result of dirt (e.g. dust) or ink residue that accumulate within the printer and affects the quality of prints.
In many printing presses, for example, a cleaner function is typically included, in which a cleaner (e.g. a wiper) wipes out dirt and ink residues from the blanket of the Intermediary Transfer Member (ITM), at a preset or predetermined frequency.
Modern printing machines, such as, for example, HP Indigo 7500 Digital Press, exhibit complete delivery of ink from the blanket onto the substrate. Auto-cleaner capacity in such presses may include printing an auto-cleaner print that includes a single color patch, covering all or most of the print area, thereby making sure that all ink residues are removed from the drum onto the substrate.
Typically, auto-cleaner frequency for such presses is predetermined with respect to substrate group which is currently used for printing. If this frequency is not optimal for a given substrate, the operator may encounter print quality issues, that may consequently lead the operator to replace blankets at a high rate to address the quality issue.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

Printer with auto-cleaning operation and method thereof


This invention relates to a novel class of plant enzymes, thioesterases having preferential hydrolase activity toward one or more medium-chain acyl-ACP substrates. Purification, especially the removal of substantially all other plant proteins, and use of the plant thioesterase is provided, including the use of the protein as a tool in gene isolation for biotechnological applications and a description of various uses for such nucleic acid sequences thereto. The enzyme is preferrably obtained from Umbellularia californica and has preferential hydrolase activity toward C12 acyl-ACP substrate.

Improved means to manipulate fatty acid compositions, from biosynthetic or natural plant sources, are needed. For example, novel oil products, improved sources of synthetic triacylglycerols (triglycerides), alternative sources of commercial oils, especially tropical oils (i.e., palm kernel and coconut oils), and plant oils found in trace amounts from natural sources are desired for a variety of industrial and food uses.
To this end, the Fatty Acid Synthetase (FAS) system in higher plants has been studied. The mechanism of production of "long-chain fatty acids", i.e., fatty acids having a carbon chain length of equal to or greater than 16 carbon atoms (C16), via the acyl carrier protein (ACP)-dependent, plastid-localized FAS of plants is relatively well characterized. However, the mechanism(s) by which plants produce fatty acids having shorter carbon chains, i.e., less than C16 atoms, has remained elusive until the invention described herein.
Medium-chain fatty acids (C8 to C14) are found in some natural plant species in abundance. For example, several species in the genus Cuphea accumulate triglycerides containing medium-chain fatty acids, e.g., Cuphea procumbens, Cuphea lutea and Cuphea inflata. Another known natural plant source of medium-chain fatty acids is the Lauraceae family: e.g., the California Bay (Umbellularia caIifornica), Pisa (Actinodophne hookeri) and Sweet Bay (Laurus nobilis) trees. Other plant sources include Ulmaceae (elm), Myristicaceae, Simarubaceae, Vochysiaceae, and Salvadoraceae.
Medium-chain fatty acids have special importance in the detergent and lubricant industries or in the formulation of edible oils with reduced caloric value or other health benefits. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,753 and Barch, A. C. & Babayan, V. K., Am. J. Clin. Nat. (1982) 36:950-962.
As such, a ready source of medium-chain fatty acids, including storage lipids which have incorporated one or more medium-chain fatty acids therein, are desired for a variety of industrial and food use fields. Once the biosynthetic pathway of medium-chain fatty acids in plants is determined, the system can be studied for application in vivo and in vitro. Studies of the mechanism may provide means to further enhance, control, modify or otherwise alter medium-chain fatty acid products or resulting triglycerides and oils. Thus, the elucidation of the factor(s) critical to the natural production of medium-chain fatty acids in plants is desired, including the purification of such factors and the characterization of element(s) and/or co-factors which enhance the efficiency of the system. Of special interest are the nucleic acid sequences corresponding to factors related to the production of such medium-chain fatty acids for applications in genetic engineering.

Plant thioesterase having preferential hydrolase activity toward C12 acyl-acp substrate


Controllers that control a building's state functions can be controlled by a master controller that the controllers choose themselves. The master controller communicates with the controllers and sensors to determine when a building state should change. When the building state should change, the master controller or another controller determines the device or devices that need to modify state values of the building, and send messages to the devices so that they can change building state. If the master controller has a fault, the working controllers can choose another master controller. When a sensor indicates that a building state needs to be changed the master controller determines which device should change state, then tells the controller that is attached to the device.

Controlling buildings is a huge problem because the amount of computing power required to determine the best device usage is so large. In the past, buildings react to actions that have already happened—for example, a thermometer drops to a low level, which turns on a furnace. To optimize a building, one must look into the future, not just react to the past. However, buildings are complex systems with hundreds of sensors, and hundreds of devices that can be controlled, which leads to billions or even trillions of possible states that must be accounted for. Trying to run such complex programs in a cloud computing environment, even if it can be done, leads to serious bandwidth and latency issues.

Distributed building automation controllers


A wafer planarization process with a conditioning tool having an electrical insulator that electrically insulates the abrasive surface of the conditioning tool. The electrical insulator extends the useful life of the abrasive surface of the conditioning tool by reducing the level of electrochemically driven corrosion.

The present invention relates generally to polishing processes, particularly the planarization process used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a planarization process having an electrically insulated pad conditioner.
During manufacture, semiconductor wafers used in semiconductor fabrication typically undergo numerous processing steps, including deposition, patterning, and etching steps. Details of these manufacturing steps for semiconductor wafers are reported by Tonshoff et al., "Abrasive Machining of Silicon", published in the Annals of the International Institution for Production Engineering Research, (Volume 39/2/1990), pp. 621-635. In each manufacturing step, it is often necessary or desirable to modify or refine an exposed surface of the wafer in order to prepare the wafer for subsequent fabrication or manufacturing steps.
One method of modifying or refining exposed surfaces of a wafer involves treating the wafer surface with a slurry containing a plurality of loose abrasive particles dispersed in a liquid. Typically, this slurry is applied to a polishing pad and the wafer surface is then moved against the pad in order to remove or take material off of the wafer surface. The slurry may also contain agents that chemically react with the wafer surface. This type of process is commonly referred to as a chemical-mechanical planarization or polishing (CMP) process.
A variation of CMP, electro-chemical-mechanical planarization or polishing (ECMP), adds electrical current flow through an electrolytic solution and the surface of the workpiece. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,619 (Uzoh et al.), which describes methods for planarizing the surface of a wafer by combining chemical mechanical planarization with electrochemical planarization methods.
Electro-chemical mechanical deposition (ECMD) methods and equipment have also been described in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,992 (Talieh), which describes a method for simultaneously depositing and polishing a conductive material on a wafer. Electrical current can also be used in a wafer planarization process for other purposes, such as, for example, detecting the end point of a processing step.
One problem with CMP, ECMP, ECMD, and other wafer planarization and polishing processes is that the process must be carefully monitored in order to achieve a desired wafer surface topography. The use history of the polishing pad, for example, may affect the polishing results. The polishing pad surface is conditioned so that it is maintained in a proper form.
The polishing pad is conditioned with an abrasive article commonly referred to as a pad conditioner. After repeated conditioning steps, the pad conditioner eventually becomes incapable of conditioning the polishing pad at a satisfactory rate and uniformity. The highly corrosive environment in which the pad conditioners are frequently used can accelerate the rate at which the pad conditioners become spent.
Replacement of a spent pad conditioner in a wafer processing system can negatively impact productivity and create undesirable changes to the wafer processing conditions. Accordingly, the efficiency of a wafer planarization process can be increased if the useful life of the pad conditioner can be increased. Similar considerations apply to other slurry and fixed abrasive polishing processes.

Insulated pad conditioner and method of using same


The present invention provides an improved gamma ray detector module and a method of operating such a detector module for more accurately determining the position of a gamma ray interaction within the detector. The detector module includes an induction array arranged at an offset angle relative other arrays utilized in the detector, whereby the relative timing of the detection of ionization electrons by the induction array and a collector or anode indicate at least one coordinate corresponding to the location of the interaction that produced the ionization electron. This secondary locating apparatus and method supplements or replaces conventional locating apparatus and methods for improving the accuracy or reducing the complexity of the detection apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to gamma ray detectors. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved gamma ray detector that can more accurately determine the position of gamma ray interactions within the detector for producing an image of a scanned object.
2. Background
Gamma ray detectors are used in a wide variety of devices and processes including, for example, positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT), contraband explosive detectors, and others. All such devices incorporate detectors capable of determining, with some degree of accuracy, the position of interactions between gamma rays and the detector components. By accumulating position measurement data corresponding to a large number of such interactions, an image of a scanned object from which the gamma rays are being emitted can be produced. These techniques are well known to those of skill in the art and need not be detailed herein.
A difficulty encountered with these detectors is that in order to scan an object efficiently and with sufficient resolution, a multiplicity of such detectors are necessary, and the positions of interactions of gamma rays with the detectors must be determined so that with a plurality of such determinations (typically in the millions) sufficient data is obtained to produce an accurate image of the object being scanned. Because each detector must be capable of generating position data for gamma ray interactions that occur within that detector, the equipment conventionally used in the acquisition of the position data, as well as the subsequent compiling and image generation (e.g., by a computer) tends to require a relatively large and expensive apparatus.
Typically, the collection of detection data by such a detector is initiated by the interaction of a gamma ray with a scintillator material provided within the detector that generates light. By determining in which of the plurality of detectors the light was emitted and the position within the triggered detector from which the light was emitted, a data point presumptively corresponding to a positron annihilation event within the scanned object is collected. By arranging a multiplicity of such detectors around at least a section of the scanned object, a large number of data points can be collected and then subsequently processed by a computer to generate an image corresponding to the collected detector data.
Conventional gamma ray detectors used in such gamma ray scanning devices typically include an expensive scintillating crystalline material (e.g., cerium doped lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) and/or bismuth germinate (BGO)) that will emit light when triggered by a gamma ray. The X-Y position resolution of such detectors is typically on the order of 20 mm2 and tends to exhibit some degree of non-uniformity in this resolution across the detector array. As a result, such detectors have an inherent level of inaccuracy with regard to the precise position (i.e., in X-Y coordinates) at which the interaction occurred. In addition, the depth of the interaction (i.e., the Z coordinate) is generally not determined, or is poorly determined, resulting in a so-called parallax error and further reducing the accuracy of the image generated from the position data.
A modular light signal triggerable detector is disclosed in Bryman's U.S. Pat. No. 6,100,532, entitled "Detector for Gamma Rays" ("Bryman I") which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Bryman I discloses a gamma ray detector for determining the position of gamma ray interactions. The detector has at least one module, and each module has a converter for converting gamma rays into charged particles. A scintillator material is provided in the detector for emitting light in response to interactions with the charged particles produced by the converter. A photodetector determines when light has been emitted from the scintillator. A two-coordinate position detector is provided for determining the X, Y and Z coordinates of interaction that produced the detected light.
A controller and signal device are associated with the detector for signaling the detection of emitted light within a photodetector and for activating the position detector. The system disclosed in Bryman I addressed some of the deficiencies of the conventional detectors and provided a gamma ray detector that can be constructed less expensively, requires fewer monitoring instruments for acquiring the required positional data, and which can more accurately determine the X, Y and Z coordinates of the gamma ray interaction.
The conversion of gamma rays in material (including heavy liquids like xenon (Xe), krypton (Kr) and other noble gases) and the production of scintillation light and charged products (electrons and positrons) within such materials are well known to those skilled in the art. Further, software tools are readily available to those working in the art for simulating the interactions of gamma rays and charged particles with the detector matter. Position sensitive detectors for charged particles, such as noble liquid ionization chambers, time-projection-chambers (TPC), and light detection arrays are commonly used instruments having position and energy resolution capabilities that can be similar to those obtained by the apparatus disclosed in more detail below.
Liquid Xe position sensitive ionization detectors with grids such as described by K. Masuda et al., A Liquid Xenon Position Sensitive Gamma-Ray Detector for Positron Annihilation Experiments, Nucl. Instr. Meth. 188 (1981) 629-38; and K. Masuda, et al., Test of a Dual-Type Gridded Ionization Chamber Using Liquid Zenon, Nucl Instr. Meth. 174 (1980) 439-46, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, may be configured to provide sub-millimeter position resolution for low energy gamma rays. Gated time projection ionization chambers (a gas drift device) have been reported. The Columbia University, for example, has disclosed a liquid Xe TPC (E. Aprile, et al., The Liquid Xenon Gamma-Ray Imaging Telescope (LXeGRIT) for Medium Energy Astrophysics, Proceedings-SPIE The International Society For Optical Engineering, SPIE Vol. 2806, pp. 337-48, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
It has also been reported that one of the disclosed embodiments of a liquid Xe ionization TPC achieved a 1 mm position resolution and energy resolution of 5.9% for gamma rays exhibiting 1 MeV energy. Additionally, Lopes et al. have reportedly constructed a liquid Xe ionization detector capable of a transaxial positioning resolution of 1 mm, a depth of interaction resolution of 5 mm, a coincidence time resolution of 1.3 ns, energy resolution at 511 keV of 17% and efficiency of 60% (see, M. Lopes, et al., Positron Emission Tomography Instrumentation: Development of a Detector Based on Liquid Xenon, Proc. Calorimetry in High Energy Physics, pages 675-80 (1999)), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
These and other articles present various configurations of instrumentation for collecting ionization signals using pads and wires, gating grids and scintillator triggers that are applied to the problem of measuring charged particle trajectories. These instruments tend to use scintillation light primarily as a fast indicator that a suitable interaction event has occurred, but do not tend to specifically localize the point of interaction.
In the KAMIOKANDE (as described in K. S. Hirata et al., Experimental Study of the Atmospheric Neutrino Flux, PHYSICS LETTERS B, Vol. 205, number 2,3, p. 416-20 (1988)) and other detectors, arrays of photodetectors provided at the surface of light-emitting liquids and/or solids have been used to localize the position of interactions of gamma rays and charged particles. In L. Barkov et al., Search for μ+→e+γ down to 10−14 branching ratio, Paul Scherer Institute proposal. R-99-05.1 (1999), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety lepton-flavor-violating decay μ+→e+γ was studied using a liquid Xe scintillation detector having an array of photo-multiplier tubes surrounding a small volume was demonstrated to give 8 mm full width half maximum (fwhm) position resolution for 1 MeV gamma rays.

Unidimensional array 3-D position sensitive ionization detector


A storage controller can perform backup processing without proceeding via a server and without the need for the server to grasp the state of pair volumes. When an instruction for backup is given from the server while data is being copied from a source volume to a target volume, the storage controller transfers the data to a backup device using differential information between the pair volumes after waiting until data about a range to be backed up and instructed by the server is copied into the target volume.

The present invention relates generally to the backup of information stored in a storage system, and, more particularly, to server-free backup of information on a storage area network (SAN).
As computer systems have treated an increasing amount of information in recent years, there is an increasing need for backing up such information. Thus, there is a tendency for the load imposed on backup processing of a server to be increased. Where a server backs up a large amount of data, the data is read from a storage system with which a source storage device to be backed up is connected, and then the data is written into a target backup device, such as a tape library, for example.
However, as the amount of data increases, the server resources (e.g., host bus adapter) used for the backup are occupied for a longer time. Thus, if another application program tries to use this host bus adapter to send and receive other data during this interval, the processing has to wait for a long time or the performance deteriorates greatly.
One means for alleviating the burden imposed on a server's backup processing to solve the above-described problems involves the backup of data using an Extended Copy command.
On the other hand, in an application where there is a large amount of I/O processing to and from a storage volume, in a case where the server issues a splitting instruction to pair volumes, an update copy from the source volume to the target volume may not be immediately ended. Rather, some time is taken until a split state is reached. To solve this problem, there is a technique that is available. In particular, when a server issues a splitting instruction to pair volumes, a storage controller continues an update copy to the target volume, while responding to the server that the pair volumes are in a split state.
Patent Reference 1: JP-A-2001-222355
Patent Reference 2: JP-A-2002-366310
However, where data is transferred to a backup device that is different from the server, it is only assured that the data in the storage device will be transferred to the server. Therefore, the consistency between the data transferred from the target volume to the backup device and the data in the source volume is not assured.
Furthermore, if a backup is performed after waiting until data to be updated is completely reflected in the target volume from the source volume, the server waits without being capable of giving an instruction for start of backup processing until the data to be updated is completely reflected in the target volume. The server needs to monitor the split state.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Storage system, backup system, and backup method


A transporter is provided for moving a substrate and a patterning device relative to one another in a lithographic apparatus. The transporter includes a beam, a driver, and a slide. The slide is supported by the beam, and the driver is disposed to move the slide relative to the beam in a transport direction. The beam has a concave interior surface transverse to the transport direction, and the slide is supported against the concave interior surface in at least two directions transverse to the transport direction.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a target portion of a substrate. Lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that circumstance, a patterning device, such as a mask, may be used to generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer) that has a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively exposed. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion in one go, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through the projection beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction.
PCT patent application No. WO 99/34257 discloses a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate in a horizontal (XY) plane relative to a remainder of the apparatus.
High stiffness and small size of such transport mechanisms are characteristic parameters for use in a lithographic apparatus. The size may be limited by the space available in the apparatus. The stiffness determines the maximum acceleration that may be used, in view of distortion and resonances, and thereby influences the throughput of the apparatus. To get a high throughput, a high stiffness is desirable. The stiffness of the transport mechanism depends, at least on part, on the stiffness of the beam, which in turn depends on the elasticity of the beam and its moment of inertia. The beam is often made of almost inelastic ceramic material to achieve a high stiffness. Use of ceramic material makes the transport mechanism expensive. Moreover, even when an almost inelastic material is used, there is still a need to achieve higher stiffness.
A further problem with this type of transport mechanism is that it is typically manufactured to very high tolerances. Deformations may cause the slide to jam on the beam.

Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method


A fold mirror for a projection display system is designed to lessen a perceived variation in white color balance of light reflected across the mirror wherein the white light is comprised of sub-beams of orthogonal polarization states. The mirror comprises a metal reflective layer and a plurality of optically transparent layers, wherein thicknesses and materials of the optically transparent layers are such that wavelength-averaged reflectance for p-polarized incident green light varies by less than 1%, wavelength-averaged reflectance for s-polarized blue light varies by less than 1.5%, and wavelength-averaged reflectance for s-polarized red light varies by about 4% over a range of angles of incidence between 0 and 65 degrees.

In a front projection system, a projector and a viewer are on the same side of a display surface, with an image from the projector reflecting from the display surface to the viewer. Front projection systems are typically on-axis projection systems in which the image is created and projected along a straight axis that is perpendicular to the display surface.
In a rear-projection system, a projector and a viewer are on the opposite sides of a screen. Rear projection television (RPTV) displays have found great consumer interest due to a large image size. A primary disadvantage of an RPTV system is a set volume and depth. In RPTV systems, minimizing the straight line projection path length by folding the optical path enables a cabinet housing a display surface and a projection light engine to be more compact. Thus, the optical path along which light propagates through these projection systems is typically folded with a large front surface mirror (FSM), known in the art as a fold mirror.
FIG. 1 provides an example of a prior art rear-projection system 1 comprising a light engine 3, a projection lens 5, a fold mirror 7, and a screen 9. The light engine 3 introduces light into the projection lens 5, which, in turn, projects the light onto the fold mirror 7 which reflects the light onto the screen 9.
In RPTV systems, images are composed by modulating the intensity of red, green, and blue components of light so as to form constantly changing images. As used herein, the term "component", or a light beam, refers to a portion of a light transmission. For example, where a light transmission contains light of various wavelengths in the visible spectrum (e.g., blue, red, and green), the light transmission may be separated into a plurality of components, each corresponding to a range of wavelengths (i.e., color bands), such as blue, red, or green, in the visible spectrum. Further, a light transmission may comprise polarized light oriented in one or more planes.
For example, a polarization-based RPTV system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,756 issued to Shimizu on Oct. 21, 2003, incorporated herein by reference. A rear-projection display system comprises a light source, a polarizing beam-splitter (PBS) that receives light from the light source, a projection lens that receives an image from the beam-splitter, a rear-projection screen, and a fold mirror that receives the image from the projection lens and reflects it onto the screen. In this system the beam-splitter having an inclined reflecting element is placed between an LCoS imager and a projection lens that projects the light onto a fold mirror whence it is reflected onto a screen. The beam-splitter receives an image, and reflects the image off the reflecting element at an angle of incidence that is substantially unequal to 45 degrees.
A part of an RPTV system, namely a polarization-based color management system, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,678,015 in the names of Yi et al issued on Jan. 13, 2004 incorporated herein by reference. The systems comprises: a dichroic filter for allowing a selected one of light components, included in an incident light emitted from a light source, to be transmitted therethrough along a travel path of the incident light while reflecting the remaining light components in a direction perpendicular to the travel path of the incident light; a first synthesizing unit for receiving the light components reflected by the dichroic filter and separating the received light components from each other, the first synthesizing unit also serving to form images respectively corresponding to the separated light components via a first liquid crystal display (LCD) and a second LCD, to synthesize the images, and to allow the synthesized image to be directed in the same direction as the incident light introduced into the dichroic filter; a second synthesizing unit for receiving the light component transmitted through the dichroic filter, forming an image corresponding to the received light component via a third LCD, and reflecting the image in a direction perpendicular to the travel path of the incident light introduced into the dichroic filter; and a third synthesizing unit for synthesizing light beams respectively containing the images formed in the first and second synthesizing units, and allowing the synthesized light to be directed in the same direction as the incident light introduced into the dichroic filter. The first synthesizing unit comprises: a first color selecting retarder; a polarized beam splitter; the first LCD; the second LCD; and a second color selecting retarder. The second synthesizing unit comprises: a third color selecting retarder; a second polarized beam splitter; and a third LCD. The third synthesizing unit may comprises a third polarized beam splitter.
In optical systems using one or more mirrors that fold the beam path to the output screen, it is desired for the white light incident on the screen to be of uniform intensity and white uniformity across the entire viewing screen although, most often, it is not achieved. Quality of the image on the screen depends, in part, on reflectance of the fold mirror defined in the art as a ratio of energy of reflected to incident light. Besides properties of the mirror, a value of reflectance depends on properties of the incident light, in particular on an angle of incidence (AOI) of the light. In RPTV systems, different portions of a beam of light impinge on a fold mirror with largely varying angles of incidence causing variations in reflectance across the mirror surface. Furthermore, since a value of reflectance depends on polarization of incident light, reflectance for differently colored sub-beams, or components, varies differently contributing to image distortion. Thus special efforts need to be taken to provide uniform intensity and white color uniformity across the viewing screen.
There are known in the art methods of modifying a fold mirror in order to reduce image distortion:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,482 in the names of Hatakeyama et al issued on Nov. 18, 2003, discloses a polygon mirror comprising a reflecting surface and a single-layer film of uneven thickness, designed to ensure that variation in reflectance is small over a wide range of angles of incidence. The method of manufacturing the prism shaped polygon mirror having a film on the reflecting surface comprises a step of forming a coated film of a solution on the reflecting surface by rotating the polygon mirror, and the solution is applied only in the area of which the distance from the axis of rotation of the polygon mirror is at least Ri in the application step, where Ri is the minimum distance between the reflecting surface and the axis of rotation.
US Pat. Appl. No. 20040141157 by Ramachandran et al discloses an image projection system comprising a asymmetrically curved mirror for distortion compensation of an optical image.
US Pat. Appl. No. 20040057116 by Ogawa, discloses an optical filter comprising a substrate and an optical conversion film inclined with respect to the substrate by being continuously thinner from one end to another end, the optical conversion film comprising two types of thin films and having different refractive indices and being alternately stacked.
The aforementioned references are all incorporated herein by reference.
Although the aforementioned methods of altering the fold mirror by using a curved reflective surface and/or uneven covering layers appear to perform their intended function, they provide elaborate and expensive solutions.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a simple and cost-effective method for image distortion reduction in a polarization-based rear-projection system.
It is another object of this invention to increase a white balance across the viewing screen by lessening the intensity difference between light of differing orthogonal polarizations reflected from the fold mirror in an optical system.
It is another object of this invention to increase the visible white balance across the viewing screen by lessening the variation in intensity of green light over a range of angles of incidence.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a mirror with a coating designed to lessen a perceived variation in white color balance of light reflected across the coating wherein the white light is comprised of sub-beams of orthogonal polarization states.

Front surface mirror for providing white color uniformity for polarized systems with a large range of incidence angles


Methods, systems, and devices for drive strength calibration for multi-level signaling are described. A driver may be configured to have an initial drive strength and to drive an output pin of a transmitting device toward an intermediate voltage level of a multi-level modulation scheme, where the output pin is coupled with a receiving device via a channel. The receiving device may generate, and the transmitting device may receive, a feedback signal indicating a relationship between the resulting voltage of the channel and an value for the intermediate voltage level. The transmitting device may determine and configure the driver to use an adjusted drive strength for the intermediate voltage level based on the feedback signal. The driver may be calibrated (e.g., independently) for each intermediate voltage level of the multi-level modulation scheme. Further, the driver may be calibrated for the associated channel.

The following relates generally to a system that includes at least one memory device and more specifically to drive strength calibration for multi-level signaling of a memory device.
Memory devices are widely used to store information in various electronic devices such as computers, wireless communication devices, cameras, digital displays, and the like. Information is stored by programing different states of a memory device. For example, binary devices may store one of two states, often denoted by a logic 1 or a logic 0. In other devices, more than two states may be stored. To access the stored information, a component of the device may read, or sense, at least one stored state in the memory device. To store information, a component of the device may write, or program, the state in the memory device.
Various types of memory devices exist, including magnetic hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), magnetic RAM (MRAM), resistive RAM (RRAM), flash memory, phase change memory (PCM), and others. Memory devices may be volatile or non-volatile. Non-volatile memory, e.g., FeRAM, may maintain their stored logic state for extended periods of time even in the absence of an external power source. Volatile memory devices, e.g., DRAM, may lose their stored state over time unless they are periodically refreshed by an external power source.
Non-binary modulation schemes, in which modulation symbols each represent more than one bit of information, may be referred to, as multi-level modulation schemes, and signaling techniques in accordance with such modulation schemes may be referred to as multi-level signaling. Some memory devices may use multi-level signaling to exchange information with other devices, and drivers may be used to drive multi-level signals across communications channels. Solutions for calibrating the drive strength of a driver for multi-level signaling may be desired.

Drive strength calibration for multi-level signaling


Some demonstrative embodiments of the invention relate to a method, device and system of database security. One demonstrative embodiment of the invention includes an intrusion detection sensor to scan transactions on a database, and generate an event based on a detection profile. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Databases are usually implemented for maintaining large amounts of the data, including sensitive and/or secret data. Accordingly, the databases may be the target of inside as well as outside attacks.
Network perimeter defense systems, e.g., firewall systems, and/or network Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) may be implemented to actively prevent intrusions to a network, for example, by blocking malicious traffic before it is allowed past a perimeter of the network.
However, although the network perimeter defense systems may be efficiently implemented for defending the network from outside attacks, such network perimeter systems may not be adapted to defend the databases against, for example, employees having valid accounts and passwords, Trojan horses, malicious data manipulation, accidental data manipulation, and/or any other attacks as known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
US Patent Application Publication 2005/0203921 to Newman et al. published Sep. 15, 2005 ("the '921 publication") describes a security solution designed to monitor and detect malicious activity against a database. The '921 publication describes an agent, which is installed on a database application for which it is to monitor and protect. The '921 publication describes the agent analyzes received events and detects/prevents any malicious activity. All malicious activity is recorded, processed and forwarded to a console.

Device, system and method of database security


A device to remove moisture from air. The device includes a container with an interior space that contains liquid saline solution. The interior space is configured to prevent the saline solution from escaping into the environment. A saline solution moving device moves the saline solution within the interior space. An air moving device moves air through the interior space. The movement of the air within the interior space exposes the air to the saline solution and enables moisture within the air to be absorbed into the saline solution.

It can be necessary to control the humidity within an environment. This can include within the interior of a vehicle, such as an aircraft, spacecraft, submarine, etc. This can also include within the interior of a building. The humidity in these environments can be high due to the exhaled air from one or more persons located in the environment. For example, a crew of persons working in a relatively small spacecraft can quickly increase the humidity to elevated levels. Some environments can also have high humidity levels regardless of the number of persons, such as a marine vehicle or building located near water.
The high humidity levels can be uncomfortable for persons in the environment. These levels can make it more difficult for a person to cool themselves. Some persons can experience difficulty in breathing at high humidity. Further, the humidity level can increase to a level that condensation occurs on objects in the environment. The condensation can damage equipment that is located in the environment, and can lead to issues such as slippery floors. High humidity levels can also lead to the growth of mold which can cause health issues as well as create a musty odor.

Humidity control via saline solution circulation


Device-wide performance guarantees may be implemented in a network element using a pull forwarding scheme by using separate processes on the network element communicating via handshake signals to enable coordination between the aspects of the network element. One class of processes execute at the ingress queues, a second class of process execut at junction points, and a final class of processes execute at the egress ports. The combination of these separate processes leads to the correct scheduling of frames in a device-wide manner as if there were a centralized scheduler with complete information about all queued frames. As a result, the performance guarantees of the intended scheduling algorithm are preserved and are provided in a device-wide manner. The scheduling algorithms that are supported include round-robin, deficit round robin, negative deficit round robin, weighted round robin, and strict priority.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication networks and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for implementing scheduling algorithms in a network element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data communication networks may include various computers, servers, nodes, routers, switches, bridges, hubs, proxies, and other network devices coupled together and configured to pass data to one another. These devices will be referred to herein as "network elements." Data is communicated through the data communication network by passing protocol data units, such as data frames, packets, cells, or segments, between the network elements by utilizing one or more communication links. A particular protocol data unit may be handled by multiple network elements and cross multiple communication links as it travels between its source and its destination over the network.
A network element may have many ports, each of which may maintain multiple data queues. For example, a network element may maintain an ingress queue at an input port for each output port, each flow being handled by that port, or may maintain ingress queues in a number of other manners. Maintaining different queues for different classes or types of traffic allows the network element to treat the different classes of traffic differently. The number of ingress and egress queues will depend on the forwarding scheme being implemented in the network element, i.e., how frames are forward from the ingress ports to the egress ports, and the scheduling algorithm used by the network element.
A scheduling algorithm selects, between queued frames, a particular frame to be handled by the network element. Since frames are queued at the ingress and egress ports, the scheduling algorithm will operate to selectively forward frames from the ingress queues to the egress queues, and from the egress queues onto the network.
Within the network element, it would be desirable to allow a scheduling algorithm to be implemented on a device-wide basis, so that frames received on different ports on the network element may be treated fairly and in accordance with the scheduling algorithm. Unfortunately, this is difficult to implement as it requires communication of information between the ingress ports and egress ports, since frames are queued in both locations. Conventionally, two forwarding schemes have been used to forward frames within a network element from the ingress ports to the egress ports—a push forwarding scheme and a pull forwarding scheme.
With a push forwarding scheme, the ingress ports control how frames are sent to the egress ports, and each ingress port makes determinations independent of the other ingress ports using a local scheduling algorithm. The egress port may also queue frames (using egress queues) and use a scheduling algorithm to decide which frame is to be forwarded next among all locally queued frames. Since there is no device-wide frame scheduling mechanism, it is difficult for a network element to preserve the performance guarantees provided by the individual scheduling algorithms, since the individual schedulers at the ingress queues make local decisions based on only local information.
With a pull forwarding scheme, the egress ports control the transfer of frames from the ingress ports. Since it is usually not economically feasible to provide a scheduler running at the egress port with information about queued frames at the ingress ports, the pull forwarding scheme has usually not allowed for the implementation of scalable network elements that can provide device-wide performance guarantees.

Method and apparatus for implementing scheduling algorithms in a network element


A method of enabling a reliable, motor-to-base merge process is designed for motors that are attached to a base with screws that mount from outside of the base. An assembly fixture receives the motor, which has a tooling hole for circumferentially locating the motor relative to the base. The assembly fixture closely receives the motor and has a tooling pin that engages the tooling hole to prevent rotation of the motor relative to the assembly fixture. During the motor-to-base merge process, the motor is inverted with the tooling pin in the tooling hole. The assembly fixture aligns the threaded screw holes in the motor with the mounting holes on the base.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved hard disk drive design and assembly process and, in particular, to an improved method of assembling a hard disk drive having a motor bracket tooling hole for an inverted motor-to-base merge process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data access and storage systems typically comprise one or more storage devices that store data on magnetic or optical storage media. For example, a magnetic storage device is known as a direct access storage device (DASD) or a hard disk drive (HDD) and includes one or more disks and a disk controller to manage local operations concerning the disks. The hard disks themselves are usually made of aluminum alloy or a mixture of glass and ceramic, and are covered with a magnetic coating. Typically, one to six disks are stacked vertically on a common spindle that is turned by a disk drive motor at several thousand revolutions per minute (rpm).
A typical HDD also utilizes an actuator assembly. The actuator moves magnetic read/write heads to the desired location on the rotating disk so as to write information to or read data from that location. Within most HDDs, the magnetic read/write head is mounted on a slider. A slider generally serves to mechanically support the head and any electrical connections between the head and the rest of the disk drive system. The slider is aerodynamically shaped to glide over moving air in order to maintain a uniform distance from the surface of the rotating disk, thereby preventing the head from undesirably contacting the disk.
Typically, a slider is formed with an aerodynamic pattern of protrusions on its air bearing surface (ABS) that enables the slider to fly at a constant height close to the disk during operation of the disk drive. A slider is associated with each side of each disk and flies just over the disk's surface. Each slider is mounted on a suspension to form a head gimbal assembly (HGA). The HGA is then attached to a semi-rigid actuator arm that supports the entire head flying unit. Several semi-rigid arms may be combined to form a single movable unit having either a linear bearing or a rotary pivotal bearing system.
The head and arm assembly is linearly or pivotally moved utilizing a magnet/coil structure that is often called a voice coil motor (VCM). The stator of a VCM is mounted to a base plate or casting on which the spindle is also mounted. The base casting with its spindle, actuator VCM, and internal filtration system is then enclosed with a cover and seal assembly to ensure that no contaminants can enter and adversely affect the reliability of the slider flying over the disk. When current is fed to the motor, the VCM develops force or torque that is substantially proportional to the applied current. The arm acceleration is therefore substantially proportional to the magnitude of the current. As the read/write head approaches a desired track, a reverse polarity signal is applied to the actuator, causing the signal to act as a brake, and ideally causing the read/write head to stop and settle directly over the desired track.
The attachment of the spindle motor to the housing or base of the hard disk drive is typically accomplished by a manual installation procedure. The spindle motor usually has a series of threaded holes in which screws mount and secure the spindle motor to the housing. Since some spindle motors must be installed "blindly" such that the threaded holes are not within the view of the person assembling the disk drive, it is both time consuming and costly to precisely align and assemble the spindle motor to the housing. Thus, an improved method of assembling spindle motors in hard disk drives would be desirable.

Method of assembling a hard disk drive having a motor bracket tooling hole for inverted motor-to-base merge process

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


An embodiment of the invention includes directing a kernel-mode driver to process at least a portion of a command stream configured to cause a graphics processing unit to perform an operation. The kernel-mode driver is used to issue a request to trigger creation of an asynchronous thread for processing the portion of the command stream.

The demands on graphics processing systems have continued to increase with the development of graphics intensive programs that require large numbers of computations and processing of large amounts of graphics related data. The operation of a graphics processing system can be disrupted by, for example, an upstream application that sends commands and data to a graphics processing unit. Because processing of the commands and data is typically serialized, upstream portions of a processing flow, for example, can be stalled (doing no productive work) while downstream portions within the processing flow are completing computations and/or resource allocation. Consequently, the serialized processing flow described above can result in the inefficient use of resources and processing delays for the graphics processing system.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved methods and apparatus for processing within a graphics processing system.

Asynchronous kernel processing for a graphics processing system