Disclosed is a driving circuit, comprising first to fifth electrical switches, a driving electrical switch and a capacitor. The control end and second end of the first switch are coupled to a driving scan line and a driving switch second end. The control end, first end and second end of the driving switch are coupled to the capacitor, a second switch second end and a fourth switch first end. The control end of the second switch is coupled to the driving scan line. The control end of the third switch is coupled to a first compensation scan line. The control end and second end of the fourth switch are coupled to a fifth switch second end and an organic light emitting diode anode. The control end and first end of the fifth switch are coupled to a second compensation scan line and the third switch control end.

A traditional organic light emitting diode driving circuit comprises two thin film transistors and a storage capacitor. One thin film transistor is a switching thin film transistor and the other thin film transistor is a driving thin film transistor. After driving for a long period of time, the threshold voltage of the driving thin film transistor drifts due to the long-term voltage application. The change in the threshold voltage of the driving thin film transistor will inevitably cause a change in the output current of the driving thin film transistor. Since the driving thin film transistor is coupled to the organic light emitting diode to drive the organic light emitting diode to emit light. The change in the output current of the driving thin film transistor will inevitably cause a change in the brightness of the organic light emitting diode, thus influencing the normal display of the organic light emitting diode.

Driving circuit and liquid crystal display device

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


The invention provides a wind turbine including a nacelle, a rotor having at least one blade attached to a hub, and an electrical supply structure for supplying electrical power from the nacelle to the rotor. The rotor is rotatably connected to the nacelle about an axis of rotation. The supply structure comprises a switch which has a connected mode in which the nacelle and the rotor are electrically connected, and a disconnected mode in which the nacelle and the rotor are electrically disconnected. Furthermore, the switch is adapted to change from the disconnected mode to the connected mode when the rotor does not rotate.

In the wind power industry there is a tendency to produce wind turbines of increasing size, whereby the size of the individual parts of the wind turbines also increase. Traditionally, electrical power is transferred from the nacelle to the rotor by use of a slip ring as the rotor is rotatably connected to the nacelle. Thus, the slip ring can be used to transfer electrical power from the stationary nacelle to the rotating rotor. Due to the increasing size of the wind turbine, the slip ring needs to be of a considerable size.
Furthermore, the slip ring may be exposed to heavy wear and may thus need regular maintenance or even replacement. Moreover, the slip ring may not always provide sufficiently good contact for transfer of high power current.


A socket plug assembly (44) on an elevator cab (10) may engage with complimentary socket plug assemblies (46) on either of two car frames (11, 13) when it is horizontally moved therebetween. A socket plug assembly (44a) on a horizontally moveable elevator cab may have a horizontal interface with a complimentary socket plug assembly (45b) mounted on an elevator car frame or landing, and one of them is moved vertically to cause engagement with the other. Socket plug assemblies (169) tethered to a cab (10) by means of an umbilical cord (168) is engageable with socket plug assemblies (170, 171) on booms (172, 173) on the elevator car frames (21, 22) or landings. An uninterruptible power supply (50) maintains power when the cab is unplugged; a transceiver (51) on the cab maintains communications with a transceiver (62) in the building when the cab is unplugged.

The sheer weight of the rope in the hoisting system of a conventional elevator limits their practical length of travel. To reach portions of tall buildings which exceed that limitation, it has been common to deliver passengers to sky lobbies, where the passengers walk on foot to other elevators which will take them higher in the building. However, the milling around of passengers is typically disorderly, and disrupts the steady flow of passengers upwardly or downwardly in the building.
All of the passengers for upper floors of a building must travel upwardly through the lower floors of the building. Therefore, as buildings become higher, more and more passengers must travel through the lower floors, requiring that more and more of the building be devoted to elevator hoistways (referred to as the "core" herein). Reduction of the amount of core required to move adequate passengers to the upper reaches of a building requires increases in the effective usage of each elevator hoistway. For instance, the known double deck car doubled the number of passengers which could be moved during peak traffic, thereby reducing the number of required hoistways by nearly half. Suggestions for having multiple cabs moving in hoistways have included double slung systems in which a higher cab moves twice the distance of a lower cab due to a roping ratio, and elevators powered by linear induction motors (LIMs) on the sidewalls of the hoistways, thereby eliminating the need for roping. However, the double slung systems are useless for shuttling passengers to sky lobbies in very tall buildings, and the LIMs are not yet practical, principally because, without a counterweight, motor components and power consumption are prohibitively large.
In order to reach longer distances, an elevator cab may be moved in a first car frame in a first hoistway, from the ground floor up to a transfer floor, moved horizontally into a second elevator car frame in a second hoistway, and moved therein upwardly in the building, and so forth, as disclosed in a commonly owned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/564,754, filed contemporaneously herewith. Since the loading and unloading of passengers takes considerable time, in contrast with high speed express runs of elevators, another way to increase hoistway utilization, thereby decreasing core requirements, includes moving the elevator cab out of the hoistway for unloading and loading, as is described in a commonly owned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/565,606, filed contemporaneously herewith.
As a cab moves from one car frame to another, or between a car frame and a landing, it is necessary to maintain power for lighting and possibly for operating the doors. It is also necessary to maintain communications with the emergency phone, and with signals indicative of the status of the doors as well as position sensors utilized in the logistics of moving the cab.

Maintaining communications and power during transfer of horizontally moveable elevator cab

by LucyMary Salmon, legal representative


A helmholtz resonator is driven by a piezoelectric element and is suited for mounting to a printed circuit board. The resonator includes a resonant chamber defined by bottom, top, and side walls, and at least two ports that provide access to the chamber. The ports are contiguous to the bottom and side walls so that any liquid entering the chamber during the printed circuit board cleaning process can exit via the ports. This arrangement overcomes the contamination problem existing in prior art resonators having a single port.

This invention is generally directed to acoustic transducers which utilize a Helmholtz resonator driven by a piezoelectric element. More specifically, this invention is directed to an acoustic transducer of this type having a design which facilitates the removal of a liquid from the Helmholtz chamber. The ability to remove liquids and contaminates from the Helmholtz chamber is particularly important where the transducer is mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB) that will undergo conventional wave soldering and cleaning processes.
The use of piezoelectric elements including monomorph and bimorph benders in loudspeakers is known. The piezoelectric element converts an electrical signal representative of a desired sound into mechanical vibrations that result in the generation of sound.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,198 issued to Jonathan Bost, a piezoelectric transducer apparatus is disclosed in which a piezoelectric driver element is simultaneously coupled to a first and second Helmholtz resonator. Each resonator is tuned to a different frequency and has a single output port disposed intermediate one wall of the resonator. Thus, the interior cavity of each Helmholtz resonator is accessible only by the single port.
A transducer including a piezoelectric driver element coupled to a Helmholtz resonator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,873,866 and 3,982,142 issued to Ralph Goble. The Helmholtz resonator disclosed in these patents consists of an enclosed cylindrical chamber having a plurality of radially aligned circular holes formed in the cylindrical sidewall of the chamber. These holes are spaced apart from the top and bottom walls which define the Helmholtz chamber.
Piezoelectrically driven Helmholtz resonators designed for mounting to a PCB are available. These resonators are generally cylindrical and are mounted at one end to the PCB. A single aperture centered in the end of the transducer opposite the PCB provides a single tuned port for the Helmholtz chamber. Since the PCB is normally disposed in a horizontal plane during a wave soldering operation, the port faces generally upward. Thus, the opportunity exists during this operation for contaminates to enter the Helmholtz chamber via this port.
Following the wave soldering step, PCB's are normally immersed in or sprayed with a cleaning solution in order to remove flux and other residues which may have been deposited during the wave soldering operation. During this cleaning operation it is likely that the cleaning liquid will enter the Helmholtz chamber via the port. Once the cleaning solution or other contaminates enter the chamber, it is very difficult to remove such contaminates from the chamber. Even if the transducer and PCB are oriented such that the port faces down, the inherent vacuum which exists in the chamber with the port obscured by the cleaning liquid prevents, or at least inhibits, the flow of the liquid from the chamber.
One solution to this problem with Helmholtz chambers having a single port consists of placing a sticker over the port during the wave soldering and cleaning operations. This sticker which is secured by an adhesive must be removed from the transducer following the cleaning operation. This solution unfortunately creates other problems. A substantial amount of labor is required to properly position the sticker over the port and later remove the sticker. Also, the additional handling required to place and remove the sticker increases the chance that adjacent components on the PCB may become misaligned or damaged. Furthermore, the inadvertent failure to remove the sticker will cause the transducer to be substantially inoperative and will be perceived by the customer as a defective feature of the product.
In light of the above explanation, it is believed to be apparent that there is an existing need for a piezoelectric driven Helmholtz transducer which is fully compatible with standard PCB processing steps, i.e., it will not need special protective procedures.

Method of mounting a piezoelectric helmholtz transducer on a printed circuit board


In a portable terminal 10 incorporating a non-contact IC 20, the non-contact IC 20 includes a card appli storage region 24 in which a card appli is stored, and the portable terminal 10 includes an appli storage region 15 in which appli's inclusive of the card appli are stored. When the non-contact IC 20 executes non-contact communication with an external R/W 30 to store the card appli selected by the external R/W 30 in the card appli storage region, a storage region for the card appli is ensured in such a manner that the card appli already stored in the appli storage region 24 is saved into the appli storage region 15. The saving of the card appli stored in the card appli storage region 24 of the non-contact IC 20 is executed using a trilateral communicating function.

An IC card has a data processing function and an information storage region in a body and so provides a high concealment performance. In recent years, by mounting the IC card in a portable terminal such as a cellular phone or PDA or embedding an IC chip having an IC card function in the portable terminal, the function of the portable terminal has been extended.
Further, as described in the following Patent Reference 1, portable terminals also emerge in which as the IC card, a non-contact IC card having a non-contact communication function for an external R/W is mounted or a non-contact IC card chip is embedded. In this specification, these portable terminals are referred to as non-contact IC incorporated portable terminals.
Where a card appli for electronic cash banking has been installed in the non-contact IC mounted in the portable terminal, by shading a POS terminal serving as the external R/W with the portable terminal, it is possible to pay a commodity buying charge using the electronic cash. At this time, a paying history and balance data are recorded in the data storage region of the non-contact IC. Further, where a card appli for a commuter ticket has been installed in the non-contact IC, by shading a ticket gate machine serving as the external R/W with the portable terminal, a person can pass through the ticket gate machine.
In the non-contact IC incorporated portable terminal, as described in the Patent Reference 1, the processing performed between the external R/W and the non-contact IC and the processing the non-contact IC and the portable terminal can be connected with each other. For example, when the banking processing of electronic cash is performed between the non-contact IC and the POS terminal, the portable terminal can perform the processing of acquiring the balance information from the non-contact IC to display the balance on the display screen of the portable terminal. In this way, three parties of the external R/W, non-contact IC and portable terminal can perform collaborated processing. This is called a trilateral communicating function or a trilateral collaborating function.
The non-contact IC can store a plurality of card appli's within a permissible range in the storage space. The external R/W specifies the card appli to be launched for the non-contact IC having entered its communication zone and the non-contact IC launches the card appli specified. Thus, non-contact communication processing for enjoying the service by the external R/W is started. In this case, it should be noted that if the non-contact IC does not have the card appli specified, it cannot enjoy the service by the external R/W.
The following Patent Reference 2 discloses a method for installing a new card appli in the IC card mounted in the portable terminal.
This method is executed using an IC card incorporating an IC card chip and a large capacity memory card chip. When a card holder makes launching processing for a card appli getting request, the portable terminal acquires the requested card appli from an IC card program issuing/managing server. If there is a necessary free space in the storage region of the IC card chip, the card appli is stored in the IC card chip. If there is no necessary free space, one or plural card appli's selected by the card holder is moved to the memory card chip and removed from the IC card chip. Thus, after the necessary free space is ensured in the IC card chip, the new card appli is stored in the IC card chip.
In this case, if the information stored by the card appli removed (e.g. banking history and balance data) must be saved, this information is taken out from the IC card chip and stored in the memory card chip.
The card appli moved from the memory card chip, when the card holder selects its use, is stored in the IC card chip again and used.    Patent Reference 1: JP-A-2003-60748    Patent Reference 2: JP-A-2004-110320

Portable terminal device incorporating non-contact IC card


Apparatus and method for producing thermoplastic corrugated tubing having substantially uniform thickness throughout comprises extruder and step of forming hollow smooth-walled extrudate. Corrugating structure immediately adjacent extruder is arranged to receive extrudate and to form corrugations therein. Such structure includes continuously moving cooperating mold blocks configured to form alternating annular peak portions, valley portions and interconnecting side wall portions in extrudate when it is blown into intimate engagement with configured mold blocks. Thickness of extrudate being corrugated is controlled to provide relatively thin extrudate portions during formation of annular valley portions and relatively thick extrudate portions during formation of annular peak and interconnecting side wall portions.

The present invention relates to a control method and apparatus for producing corrugated tubing, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for producing thermoplastic corrugated tubing having a substantially uniform thickness throughout.
In the formation of corrugated thermoplastic tubing, a hollow smooth-walled extrudate is usually formed by extrusion techniques well known in the art. A corrugator immediately downstream from the extruder receives the extrudate and reforms the shape thereof by providing a corrugated configuration. Generally, the corrugator comprises continuously moving mold blocks that mate with one another to form a molding zone where the corrugating step takes place. Differential air pressure is provided to urge the extrudate into intimate engagement with the configured surfaces of the mold blocks. These blocks are configured to form alternating annular peak portions, valley portions and interconnecting side wall portions in the extrudate formed by the extruder. Unfortunately, utilization of this normal procedure produces corrugated tubing having a variable wall thickness. The overall strength and weight distribution in the finished product varies in relationship to the varying wall thickness of the product.
Utilizing normal production techniques, such as described above, the minor diameter or valley portion of the corrugation is much thicker than desired. Also, the major diameter of the tubing or peak portion together with the interconnecting side walls are thinner than desired. Hence, apparatus and procedure for thinning out the ordinarily thick valley portions of the tubing and adding to the ordinarily thin peak and side wall portions is desirable from the standpoint of a finished product of substantial uniform thickness. Stronger tubing at lighter weight is produced.

Control apparatus for producing uniform thickness corrugated tubing


Thermally insulating pipe lagging comprising a tube of compact and flexible elastomer type material designed to come into contact with the pipe to be insulated and shaped on its inside surface to have a helical groove which provides between its adjacent turns a coil filled with air or gas when the lagging is put into place so as to surround said pipe.

Pipes or ducts that convey a fluid at a temperature that differs from the temperature of the ambient medium are generally provided with lagging that surrounds them and that performs two or three functions, namely: providing thermal insulation, protecting said pipes or ducts, and also protecting personnel who may be called upon to move about in the vicinity of said pipes or ducts when they are located at ground or floor level or within reach of a person.
Proposals have thus been made to provide such ducts or pipes with lagging made of foamed plastics material, e.g. PVC, and although such lagging is satisfactory with respect to providing thermal insulation, it is nevertheless mechanically fragile, and is also unsatisfactory for implementation in confined spaces (mine galleries, submarines, etc . . . ) where it is required that the lagging used should present a certain amount of resistance to fire and that it should not give off toxic smoke or vapor in the event of a fire. Consequently, in such applications, conventional lagging made of plastics foam is unsuitable, and instead use is made of casing based on mats of resin-impregnated fiberglass of considerable thickness, the mats being built up and allowed to set in situ, or in a variant being applied to lengths of pipe in workshops fitted for that task. Although the results obtained are satisfactory, this is achieved only at the cost of difficulty in implementation when the pipes are covered in situ, or else at the cost of a very large amount of work to dismantle the pipes, to transport them from the locations at which they are installed to lagging factories, and back again, etc . . . such that when it is necessary to equip a building or a ship that has a very large number of pipes or ducts of complex shape, then installing such insulating lagging gives rise to considerable constraints.

Thermally insulating pipe lagging and method of manufacture


A method of and apparatus for forming a volume type phase hologram comprising the steps of, after exposure of a holographic material comprising a polymeric matrix having a radiation active substance associated therewith to an interference pattern of radiation, dipping the pattern-wise exposed holographic material in a swelling solution consisting of a first solvent which can act as a good solvent for the polymer of the matrix and a second solvent which can act as a poor solvent for the polymer and has a higher boiling point than that of the first solvent, and then pulling the swollen holographic material up from the swelling solution, whereby uniformly developed holograms having a large size and high qualities can be easily produced by a simple production process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming a volume type phase hologram. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of stably forming a uniformly developed volume type phase hologram having an increased diffraction efficiency over a large area by using a monobath or single step development process in which a mixture of a good solvent with a lower boiling point and a poor solvent with a higher boiling point is utilized. The method of the present invention can be used in the production of recording materials, optical elements and other devices.
The present invention also relates to an apparatus for forming a volume type phase hologram, particularly a developing apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known in the art, holography is photographic process and according to this process in which a subject to be recorded is irradiated with a good coherent radiation such as a laser beam, the radiation amplitude and phase is modulated according to the shape of the subject, and then interference fringes of radiation reflected on or transmitted through the subject is recorded in a holographic material to form a hologram producing an optical image of the subject. Further, the optical image can be reproduced by again irradiating the hologram with the radiation. Recently, hologram have been utilized in the production of high-function and compact optical elements (HOE; Holographic Optical Element), because various functions of the optical element can be concentrated in a thin layer of the hologram, in addition to the utilization of holograms as a recording material. Typical examples of the optical elements include a reading system for bar code readers and a laser scanning system for laser printers.
Hitherto, the formation of the hologram has been carried out in a two-step development process. Namely, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the prior art formation of the hologram comprises the steps of:
exposing a holographic material to an interference pattern of radiation,
swelling the pattern-wise exposed holographic material in a first solvent as a swelling solution, and
shrinking the swollen holographic material in a second solvent as a shrinking solution. The thus obtained hologram has excellent properties such as a high diffraction efficiency and good stability. The two-step development process and the formation of the hologram using this process can be found in many patent disclosures, for example:
(1) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 53-15152, published on Feb. 10, 1989, and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,474;
(2) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 53-15153, published on Feb. 10, 1989, and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,724, U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,111 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,277;
(3) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 54-101343, published on Aug. 9, 1979, and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,441;
(4) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 54-102140, published on Aug. 11, 1979, and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,441;
(5) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 63-254485, published on Oct. 21, 1988; and
(6) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 63-266478, published on Nov. 2, 1988. Note, among these patent publications, the publications (5) and (6) above were published in Japan after the filing date of Japanese Patent Application No. 63-252501, filed on Oct. 6, 1989, which is a basic application of the present application.
Among the above publications, for example, Japanese Kokai No. 53-15153 concerns a hologram produced by causing a crosslinking reaction in accordance with an interference pattern in a recording carrier composed of a water-insoluble polymer containing in the unit structure thereof an aromatic or heterocyclic ring having a reactive site which can be replaced by a radical, and a halogen-containing compound. The water-insoluble polymer is preferably polyvinyl carbazole, and the halogen-containing compound is preferably a polyhalogen compound. Using this recording carrier, the hologram can be formed as follows: After exposure of the recording carrier to an interference pattern of radiation, the exposed recording carrier is first dipped in a first solvent having a swellability, i.e., a swelling solution to cause the carrier to swell and at the same time, to remove unreacted halogen-containing compound from the carrier. The swelling of the carrier, which corresponds to the latent hologram pattern formed in the previous exposure step, occurs throughout the overall thickness of the carrier. After completion of the swelling treatment, the swollen recording carrier is removed from the swelling solution, and then dipped in a second solvent which is a poor solvent for the recording carrier and is compatible with the first solvent, i.e., a shrinking solution. When the carrier is immersed in the shrinking solution, shrinkage of the carrier immediately occurs as a result of replacement of the first solvent with the second solvent, and thus a differential refractive index between the exposed and unexposed areas or a distribution of the refractive index is produced in a carrier. This distribution of the refraction index relies upon the formation of microporous voids caused by a separation of the solvents during the solvent substitution. Compared with the weakly exposed areas, the strongly exposed areas will produce less voids because of they are difficult to swell, and thus show a relatively increased refractive index. Upon completion of these swelling and shrinking steps, the hologram is fixedly produced in accordance with the swollen state of the carrier.
The two-step development processes described in Japanese Kokai No. 53-15153 and the related literatures listed above have problems in common. Namely, the problem caused by swelling solution remaining on the swollen carrier, just before the shrinking treatment. The inventors found that the amount of remaining swelling solution can have a remarkable effect on the optical properties of the resultant hologram, in addition to the degree of the swelling of the carrier and dissolution of the water-insoluble polymer from the carrier in the swelling solution. More particularly, if the amount of the swelling solution adhered to the carrier surface is unacceptably high, excess amounts of the swelling solution remain as droplets, which will remain as traces in the resultant hologram. Further, if lesser amounts of the swelling solution are used, a desired diffraction efficiency cannot be obtained due to the reduced swelling level and subsequent weak development.
Another problem is that of the time lag from the end of the swelling treatment to the start of the shrinking treatment. The inventors found that the swollen recording carrier, after removal from the swelling solution and before immersion in the shrinking solution, can be adversely affected by atmospheric conditions such as wind and temperature, i.e., the vaporization of the adhered swelling solution can occur, and accordingly the resultant holograms do not have uniform properties.
A third problem is that of the differential exposure of the pulling swollen carrier to the atmosphere. The inventors found that, when the swollen carrier is vertically pulled up from the swelling solution, a notable differential exposure of the carrier to the atmosphere occurs due to of the lengths of the carrier. Apparently, an upper portion of the pulling carrier is exposed to the atmosphere for a relatively long time, compared with the time of exposure of a lower portion of the carrier, and due to this longer exposure time, the development of the upper portion is weaker than that of the lower portion. The problem of the differences of the development strength is more severe for a recording carrier in which polystyrene or polyvinyl carbazole is used as a matrix polymer, in comparison with a recording carrier in which polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl pyrrolidone is used as the matrix polymer. This is because the former requires use of the volatile organic solvents as the good solvent, and the latter requires use of the substantially non-volatilizable solvents such as water, as the good solvent. Further, although such longitudinal differences of the development strength are negligible for small-sized holograms, they are particularly remarkable and serious when large-sized holograms are produced. It should be noted that, with regard to this third problem, although the value of the differences may be more or less varied, it essentially occurs in the two-step development process in which the recording carrier is removed from the developer in the course of the development and exposed to the atmosphere such as air or nitrogen gas, and is immersed again in the same or in a different developer to complete the development process. Therefore, to produce large-size and uniform holograms, there is a need for an improved development process in which the above problems are eliminated.

Method of and apparatus for forming volume type phase hologram


A control method for a vehicular drive apparatus that includes a driving power source that includes an engine and a motor, and a shift portion provided in a power transmission path from the driving power source to a drive wheel, includes staring the engine by executing an engine speed control that increases an engine speed to a predetermined engine speed or higher, and executing an engine torque generation control that generates engine torque by supplying fuel and igniting the fuel at the predetermined engine speed or higher. In the case where the controller determines that the period during which the shift of the shift portion is performed overlaps the period during which the engine is started, the engine is started by executing the engine speed control during the shift of the shift portion, and executing the engine torque generation control after the shift of the shift portion is completed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control apparatus and a control method for a vehicular drive apparatus that includes a driving power source that includes an engine and a motor, and a shift portion that transmits power output from the driving power source to a drive wheel. More specifically, the invention relates to a technology for controlling the start of an engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A control apparatus for a vehicular drive apparatus is available. The vehicular drive apparatus includes a driving power source that includes an engine and a motor, and a shift portion that transmits power output from the driving power source to a drive wheel. The control apparatus executes an engine speed control that increases an engine speed to a predetermined engine speed (for example, a self-operating speed at which the engine is completely self-operating) or higher, and executes an engine torque generation control that generates engine torque by supplying fuel and igniting the fuel at the predetermined engine speed or higher.
In the control apparatus for the vehicular drive apparatus, for example, if an accelerator pedal is depressed when a vehicle is driven in a motor-driven mode using only the motor as the driving power source, the period during which the power-on downshift of the shift portion is performed overlaps the period during which the engine is started, in some cases. In the cases, a shift control and the engine start control need to be executed taking into account, for example, fluctuations of torque due to the start of the engine. Thus, these controls are made complicated. Therefore, shift shock and engine start shock may be increased.
Accordingly, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-208417 (JP-A-2004-208417) describes a technology in which, in the case where it is determined that the period during which the shift of the shift portion is performed overlaps the period during which the engine is started, a shift determination is canceled, that is, the shift is not performed until the process of starting the engine is completed. This suppresses an increase in the shift shock or the engine start shock.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-213149 (JP-A-2006-213149) describes a control apparatus for a vehicular drive apparatus. The vehicular drive apparatus includes a differential portion and a stepped shift portion. The differential portion includes a first element connected to an engine, a second element connected to a first motor, and a third element connected to a transmitting member and a second motor. The differential portion distributes output from the engine to the first motor and the transmitting member. The stepped shift portion is provided in a power transmission path from the transmitting member to a drive wheel. The control apparatus increases an engine speed to a predetermined engine speed or higher by making the first motor function as the starter, and generates engine torque by supplying fuel and igniting the fuel at the predetermined engine speed or higher, and thus starts the engine.
In the control apparatus for the vehicular drive apparatus described in the publication No. 2006-213149, the reaction torque transmitted from the drive wheel and borne by the transmitting member is decreased during the shift of the shift portion. In other words, the reaction force for increasing the engine speed is decreased. Thus, in the case where the period during which the shift of the shift portion is performed overlaps the period during which the engine is started, the torque balance between elements of the differential portion needs to be maintained while controlling the engine speed to start the engine. This makes the controls more complicated. Thus, the shift shock or the engine start shock may be further increased.
Accordingly, the publication No. 2006-213149 describes a technology in which, in the case where it is determined that the period during which the shift of the shift portion is performed overlaps the period during which the engine is started, the engine start control is started after the shift of the shift portion is completed, or the shift control for the shift portion is started after the engine is started.
However, in the case where the engine start control is started after the shift of the shift portion is completed, or the shift control for the shift portion is started after the engine is started, the period from when a driver requests acceleration until when required driving power is output, that is, the period required to increase the torque (i.e., sum of the period required to perform the shift, and the period required to start the engine) is increased. This may deteriorate acceleration feeling. Thus, a technology for suppressing the shock due to the start of the engine, and quickly generating the engine torque has not been proposed.

Control apparatus and control method for vehicular drive apparatus


Methods and apparatus are provided for destruction of volatile organic compounds ("VOC's") from process fumes having variable amounts of such VOC's wherein a nominal amount of the fumes are passed through an oxidizer for destruction of the VOC's and the hot products from the oxidizer are fed to an afterburner that is principally made up of a matrix bed of heat resistant material. The heat from the oxidized gases heats the matrix bed. Fume flows exceeding the nominal flow are bypassed directly to an inlet port of the afterburner where they are passed through the matrix bed of the afterburner, which has been heated by the oxidized gases from the oxidizer, and are combusted into additional gaseous products in a combustion wave. The system allows for utilization of the heat produced from the oxidation of the nominal flow for destructing fume flows that exceed the nominal flow.

In a number of industries, and in particular the pharmaceutical industry, processes are used that generate fume streams that are either batched or highly cyclical. Often, these fume streams may vary with time in either flow rate, composition, concentration, or in any combination thereof. A depiction of the fume flow rate profile versus time may show a relatively short time duration of very high or rich flow, a period where the fume flow rate rapidly drops off, and a long period of relatively low flow rate. This flow rate profile may then repeat itself indefinitely.
Regional, state, or federal air pollution regulations often require that such fumes be abated, but dealing with the cyclical, highly variable fume profiles poses a particularly difficult problem when designing an abatement system. A conventional thermal oxidation system, designed for the low flow or "nominal" condition, will be overwhelmed during a high flow condition. During periods of high flow, the system will perform poorly, for example achieving poor destruction and removal efficiency (DRE), while leaving a high CO content and high formation of products of incomplete combustion (PIC's). Even though the duration of these high flow periods is short, the large quantities of unoxidized VOC's or PIC's can completely offset the long periods of good system performance to produce a system with overall poor performance.
On the other hand, if a conventional thermal oxidation system is designed for a high flow condition, then the oxidizer will operate with acceptable environmental performance at all times. The problem with designing for the high flow condition is that, during the long periods of low flow, large quantities of supplemental fuel will have to be burned to keep the system on line due to the limited turndown of the thermal oxidizer. This high fuel consumption will also lead to detrimental NO.sub.x generation.
Often, if the system is designed for the high flow condition, the thermal oxidizer may require additional oversizing to prevent flameout during those periods of dramatic flow fluctuation when fume flow either dramatically increases, or dramatically decreases. This oversizing may be such as to allow three to ten times the flow that is required to oxidize even the maximum flow case. Such design choices dramatically affect the overall system size, cost, and thermal efficiency.
These problems, or other similar problems, apply to any of the conventional abatement alternatives currently available, including incineration, thermal oxidation, regenerative thermal oxidation, recuperative thermal oxidation, and catalytic oxidation.
Another abatement alternative is to use a porous inert matrix thermal oxidizer such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,884 (Martin et al.). This is much better than the conventional abatement alternatives because the processor need be sized for no larger than the maximum flow condition and the thermal mass of the matrix can actually be utilized, resulting in a unit that can be sized for smaller than the maximum case. In such a design, during over-design-flow cases, the process operates in an off-equilibrium condition, but the thermal mass of the matrix dampens the effect of the flow fluctuations until the fluctuation passes and the control system brings the processor back into equilibrium.
Even the porous inert matrix thermal oxidizer system has some limitations. Sometimes the high fume flow case is so much larger than the nominal flow that excessive system pressure drops may be produced (in adherence to the Bernoulli equation, which states that pressure drop varies proportionately with velocity squared).
At other times, the high fume flow case is of such duration that a small sized processor would experience "thermal breakthrough" before the flow drops back to the nominal flow and allows reestablishment of the equilibrium condition. Thermal breakthrough occurs when the flow is high enough for a long enough time period that the reaction wave migrates out of the matrix entirely, leaving behind it only cold matrix. The simple solution to this problem is to install a processor that is larger, but still not as large as a processor sized for the maximum flow condition. However, this generates additional costs since the processor size increase will also necessitate a preheater system size (and cost) increase, as well as other modifications of the overall system.
This can be especially problematic when a preheating system is preferred that may possess certain inherent performance advantages, but which may possess an escalated level of cost. For example, an electrical supplemental heating system may be desirable for its ease of utility installation, excellent environmental performance at all times, and heightened safety features. However, the electric preheat package is typically more costly than an all-gas preheat package, and electricity consumption is typically three times as costly as natural gas consumption. Therefore, a relatively small increase in processor size could cause an inordinate increase in preheat capital and operating cost for such a system.
It can be seen that there is a need for a method and apparatus that will achieve adequate DRE's of VOC-containing process fumes that is capable of efficiently handling large variations in fume flow rates. In particular, there is a need for a system that can handle batch processes and processes having cyclical heat content or fume flow profiles.

Method and afterburner apparatus for control of highly variable flows


The present invention pertains to a new composition of matter in the form of a soluble Fc receptor (pHsFcR) is created. The pHsFcR has a pH-determinable binding capability for at least one antibody or complex thereof. The pHsFcR is produced using the cDNA for a transmembrane, pH-determinable Fc receptor found in nature which has the capability of binding to at least one antibody or complex thereof. The most preferred embodiment of the present invention is a secreted form of pHsFcR which is produced using a modified cDNA of the transmembrane Fc receptor; the modified cDNA is obtained by the creation of a new in-frame stop codon and the deletion of the DNA sequence encoding the transmembrane (and typically the cytoplasmic) domain of the transmembrane Fc receptor. This creates a new gene that encodes a completely soluble protein consisting of the extracellular domains of the transmembrane Fc receptor. The new gene is used in formation of an expression vector which is introduced into a procaryotic or eucaryotic cell, followed by selection for a procaryotic or eucaryotic cell comprising the modified cDNA of the desired secreted pHsFcR. The selected cells are grown, during which pHsFcR is secreted into the growth medium. The secreted pHsFcR can then be separated from the growth medium using an affinity column comprising an antibody to which the pHsFcR can bind.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a soluble Fc receptor and a method for its production.
2. Description of the Background Art
Immunoglobulins, also referred to as antibodies, are a major component of the humoral immune response of all mammals. These glycoproteins are divided into five major structural classes, each of which can be divided into subclasses. The five major classes are IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM. IgG is the most common class of immunoglobulins found in the serum.
It is the highly specific interaction between an antibody and its target antigen that makes an immunoglobulin an effective agent against an invading pathogen. The high specificity of the immunoglobulin--antigen interaction allows the immune system to attack the foreign antigen with minimal harm to the host organism.degree. In general, immunoglobulins have a high affinity for their target antigen with an average dissociation constant (Kd) for the antigen--antibody complex on the order of 10.sup.-9 to 10.sup.-12 moles/liter.
Immunoglobulins are composed of four polypeptide chains; two identical light chains, each of approximately 25 kD in molecular mass and two identical heavy chains, each of approximately 50-80 kD in molecular mass. The different classes of antibodies are distinguished by structural differences in their heavy chains. A schematic drawing of an IgG 10 is shown in FIG. 1.
Light chains 12 and 14 have been characterized as having a single amino terminal variable domain (a domain is a distinct region of tertiary protein structure), V.sub.L and a single constant domain, C.sub.L. The term variable refers to the variability in amino acid sequence found in this type of domain between antibodies with different antigen binding specificities, which antibodies are of the same immunoglobulin class and subclass. The heavy chains 16 and 18 of an IgG contain a single amino terminal variable domain, VH, followed by three constant domains, C.sub.H 1, C.sub.H 2, and C.sub.H 3, as shown in FIG. 1.
In general, an immunoglobulin, and in particular IgG, may be characterized as a Y shaped molecule in which each upper arm of the Y is formed by a pairing of a single light chain (V.sub.L+ C.sub.L) with the two most amino terminal domains of a single heavy chain (V.sub.H+ C.sub.H1). It is the pairing of the variable domains of the light and heavy chains that forms the antigen binding sites 20 and 22. The constant domain of the light chain (C.sub.L) interacts with the first constant domain of the heavy chain .(C.sub.H 1). The heavy and light chains are covalently bound to each other by a disulfide bond 24 between the paired C.sub.L and C.sub.H 1 domains. The two heavy chains dimerize through interactions between their 2nd and 3rd constant domains (C.sub.H 2 and C.sub.H 3). The two heavy chains are also covalently bound to each other through interchain disulfide bonds 26. These disulfide bonds 26 connect the two heavy chains in a region between the C.sub.H 1 and C.sub.H 2 domains that is known as the hinge region. Beneath the hinge region are oligosaccharide units (carbohydrates) 28 and 30, which are attached to the C.sub.H 2 domains within the structure. The V.sub.L and C.sub.L of the light chain paired with V.sub.H and C.sub.H 1 of the heavy chain is called an Fab, FIG. 1 at 32 and 34; and, the paired C.sub.H 2 and C.sub.H 3 domains of the IgG heavy chains is referred to as the Fc, FIG. 1 at 36, of the antibody.
Typically, immunoglobulin molecules are soluble in aqueous solution and bind to compounds in a highly specific manner with a great affinity. It is possible to produce antibodies against virtually any organic compound known to humans. These characteristics of immunoglobulins have resulted in their widespread analytical and therapeutic use throughout the biological sciences.
Fc receptor is a general term that refers to any one of several proteins that bind to the Fc region of an immunoglobulin. Fc receptors can be soluble or membrane-bound. An example of a membrane-bound Fc receptor is the FcRn from the intestines of neonatal rats. The FcRn was recently cloned and characterized by N. E. Simister and K. E. Mostov, as described in "An Fc Receptor Structurally Related to MHC Class I Antigens" Nature (London) Vol. 337, pp. 184-187 (1989).
__________________________________________________________________________ Met Gly Met Ser Gln Pro Gly Val Leu Leu Ser Leu Leu Leu Val Leu -22 -20 -15 -10 Leu Pro Gln Thr Trp Gly Ala Glu Pro Arg Leu Pro leu Met Tyr His -5 -1 +1 5 10 Leu Ala Ala Val Ser Asp Leu Ser Thr Gly Leu Pro Ser Phe Trp Ala 15 20 25 Thr Gly Trp Leu Gly Ala Gln Gln Tyr Leu Thr Tyr Asn Asn Leu Arg 30 35 40 Gln Glu Ala Asp Pro Cys Gly Ala Trp Ile Trp Glu Asn Gln Val Ser 45 50 55 Trp Tyr Trp Glu Lys Glu Thr Thr Asp Leu Lys Ser Lys Glu Gln Leu 60 65 70 Phe Leu Glu Ala Ile Arg Thr Leu Glu Asn Gln Ile Asn Gly Thr Phe 75 80 85 90 Thr Leu Gln Gly Leu Leu Gly Cys Glu Leu Ala Pro Asp asn Ser Ser 95 100 105 Leu Pro Thr Ala Val Phe Ala Leu Asn Gly Glu Glu Phe Met Arg Phe 110 115 120 Asn Pro Arg Thr Gly Asn Trp Ser Gly Glu Trp Pro Glu Thr Asp Ile 125 130 135 Val Gly Asn Leu Trp Met Lys Gln Pro Glu Ala Ala Arg Lys Glu Ser 140 145 150 Glu Phe Leu Leu Thr Ser Cys Pro Glu Arg Leu Leu Gly His Leu Glu 155 160 165 170 Arg Gly Arg Gln Asn Leu Glu Trp Lys Glu Pro Pro Ser Met Arg Leu 175 180 185 Lys Ala Arg Pro Gly asn Ser Gly Ser Ser Val Leu Thr Cys Ala Ala 190 195 200 Phe Ser Phe Tyr Pro Pro Glu Leu Lys Phe Arg Phe Leu Arg Asn Gly 205 210 215 Leu Ala Ser Gly Ser Gly Asn Cys Ser Thr Gly Pro Asn Gly Asp Gly 220 225 230 Ser Phe His Ala Trp Ser Leu Leu Glu Val Lys Arg Gly Asp Glu His 235 240 245 250 His Tyr Gln Cys Gln Val Glu His Glu Gly Leu Ala Gln Pro Leu Thr 255 260 265 Val Asp Leu Asp Ser Pro Ala Arg Ser Ser Val Pro Val Val Gly Ile 270 275 280 Ile Leu Gly Leu Leu Leu Val Val Val Ala Ile Ala Gly Gly Val Leu 285 290 295 Leu Trp Asn Arg Met Arg Ser Gly Leu Pro Ala Pro Trp Leu Ser Leu 300 305 310 Ser Gly Asp Asp Ser Gly Asp Leu Leu Pro Gly Gly Asn Leu Pro Pro 315 320 325 330 Glu Ala Glu Pro Gln Gly Val Asn Ala Phe Pro Ala Thr Ser. 335 340 344 __________________________________________________________________________
This Fc receptor (FcRn) is physiologically expressed on the luminal surface of neonatal rat intestinal epithelial cells. The FcRn was determined to optimally bind to IgG at the intestinal pH of 6-6.5 and to release bound IgG at the serosal pH of approximately 7.5. The physiological role of FcRn is to bind to maternal IgG consumed by the newborn when it drinks its mother's milk. The FcRn is then involved in the transport of the bound IgG across the intestinal epithelial barrier and the release of the IgG into the blood of the newborn. By this means the neonatal rat can passively acquire some resistance to disease. This is especially important during the first few weeks of independent life of the rat (as well as the cat) because at birth these mammals are practically agammaglobulinemic (without antibodies). FcRn, as found on the surface of neonatal rat intestinal epithelial cells, is a heterodimer consisting of an FcRn heavy chain (p51) of approximately 45-53 kD in molecular mass and a light chain (.beta..sub.2 m) of approximately 14 kD in molecular mass. The FcRn heavy chain appears to have 3 extracellular domains, a transmembrane domain and a cytoplasmic tail. The three extracellular domains of the FcRn heavy chain have significant sequence similarity to the corresponding domains of Class I Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules. This sequence similarity suggests that the FcRn may have a tertiary protein structure similar to that observed for Class I MHC molecules. The FcRn light chain is a .beta..sub.2 m (.beta.-2 microglobulin), a soluble single domain protein also found as a component of the Class I MHC molecule heterodimer.
The sequence for rat .beta..sub.2 m was published by J. Sundelin et al. Scand. J. Immunol. 27, pp. 195-199 (1988) as follows:
__________________________________________________________________________ Ile Gln Lys Thr Pro Gln Ile Gln Val Tyr Ser Arg His Pro Pro Glu 1 5 10 15 Asn Gly Lys Pro Asn Phe Leu Asn Cys Tyr Val Ser Gln Phe His Pro 20 25 30 Pro Gln Ile Glu Ile Glu Leu Leu Lys Asn Gly Lys Lys Ile Pro Asn 35 40 45 Ile Glu Met Ser Asp Leu Ser Phe Ser Lys asp Trp Ser Phe Tyr Ile 50 55 60 Leu Ala His Thr Glu Phe Thr Pro Thr Glu Thr Asp Val Tyr Ala Cys 65 70 75 80 Arg Val Lys His Val Thr Lys Leu Glu Pro Lys Thr Val Thr Trp Asp 85 90 95 Arg Asp Met. 99 __________________________________________________________________________
The transmembrane domain of the FcRn heavy chain anchors the FcRn heterodimer into the cell membrane of the intestinal epithelial cells. The hydrophobic nature of this transmembrane domain precludes the solubilization of this protein in an aqueous buffer in the absence of surfactants, which are often toxic, which can reduce the stability of proteins, and which are often difficult to remove once they have been in contact with the protein.
There are numerous potential applications for an Fc receptor which is soluble in aqueous solutions without the use of a surfactant. In addition, an Fc receptor, such as the FcRn, which is capable of binding antibodies at one pH and releasing the antibodies at another, is one that could be used in the biotechnology industry. Fc receptors can be used in medicine for the detection of antibodies under conditions of physiological pH. In addition, in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 07/819,040, of Andrew Huber et al., filed Jan. 10, 1992, it is disclosed that soluble FcRn receptors of the kind disclosed and claimed herein can be attached to a surface and used to concentrate and purify antibodies from mixtures comprising antibodies such as IgG from blood, ascites or tissue culture supernatants (growth medium in which cells are cultured).
However, the usefulness of the membrane-bound FcRn is limited by the fact that, like other transmembrane proteins, it is not readily soluble in an aqueous solution in the absence of surfactants, as described above.
Although cDNA for the membrane-bound FcRn was available from N. E. Simister, it was questionable whether a soluble FcRn could be produced. The soluble FcRn, like other proteins must be able to fold into a functional three dimensional structure. This folding of a protein in solution is a very complex process and is influenced by many factors, such as the presence of other proteins which assist in the folding process. Upon removal of the transmembrane domain from the FcRn, the resultant protein might not be able to fold properly in solution, rendering it non-functional and probably insoluble. Even if the protein were able to fold properly, it might not be secreted from the cell in which it is produced and/or it might simply be degraded within the cell. Further, depending on where the heavy chain of FcRn is truncated to remove the transmembrane domain, the truncated heavy chain might be less heat stable and might not associate with its intended light chain, which would affect its ability to bind to an antibody.
Definitions
The following definitions are for use in understanding the descriptions presented throughout the present application.
FcRn is understood to mean rat neonatal, intestinal, pH-determinable membrane-bound Fc receptor(s); PA1 pHsFcRn is understood to mean a soluble form of FcRn produced by applicants; PA1 pHFcR is understood to mean a membrane-bound fc receptor having the ability to bind to an antibody monomer or complex thereof at one pH and to release the antibody or complex thereof at another pH; PA1 sFcR is understood to mean soluble, vertebrated-derived Fc receptor in general; PA1 pHsFcR is understood to mean soluble, vertebrate-derived Fc receptor having the ability to bind to an antibody monomer or complex thereof at one pH and to release the antibody or complex thereof at another pH; PA1 .alpha.MEM is understood to mean a commercially available growth medium supplied by Irvine Scientific and Gibco/BRL; PA1 .beta..sub.2 m is understood to mean .beta..sub.2 -microglobulin; PA1 cDNA is understood to mean complementary DNA prepared from mRNA. PA1 DAF is understood to mean decay-accelerating factor; PA1 DMEM is understood to mean a commercially available growth medium supplied by Irvine Scientific and Gibco/BRL; PA1 MHC is understood to mean major histocompatibility complex; PA1 MSX is understood to mean L-methionine sulfoximine; and PA1 PI-PLC is understood to mean phosphatidylinositol--specific phospholipase C; PA1 (a) creating a gene fragment for a truncated heavy chain of the desired vertebrate-derived pHsFcR, said fragment excluding the transmembrane domain of said heavy chain; PA1 (b) forming an expression vector comprising a gene useful as a selectable marker and optionally a means of gene amplification, the pHsFcR heavy chain gene fragment from step (a), and a gene fragment for the light chain compatible with the pHsFcR heavy chain gene fragment of step (a); PA1 (c) introducing the expression vector of step (b) into a procaryotic or eucaryotic cell; PA1 (d) selecting for a procaryotic or eucaryotic cell comprising the modified and optionally amplified cDNAs of the desired vertebrate-derived pHsFcR; PA1 (e) growing the cell of step (d), from which the desired pHsFcR is harvested. PA1 (a) creating a gene fragment comprising a vertebrate-derived Fc receptor truncated heavy chain, the fragment excluding the transmembrane domain of the heavy chain but including a signal specifying the attachment of a lipid; PA1 (b) forming an expression vector comprising a gene useful as a selectable marker and optionally a means of gene amplification, the step (a) heavy chain gene fragment including the lipid attachment signal, and a gene fragment for the light chain compatible with the pHFcR heavy chain gene fragment of step (a); PA1 (c) introducing the expression vector of step (b) into a procaryotic or eucaryotic cell; PA1 (d) selecting a procaryotic or eucaryotic cell comprising the modified and optionally amplified cDNA of the desired vertebrate-derived pHFcR; PA1 (e) growing the cell of step (d) from which the desired pHFcR is obtained; PA1 (f) cleaving the pHFcR lipid linkage of the step (d) cell membrane to produce a pHsFcR.

Soluble mammal-derived Fc receptor which binds at a pH ranging from about 5.5 to 6.5 and releases at a pH ranging from about 7.5 to 8.5


The invention relates to a method of learning which is carried out in a neural network operating on the basis of the gradient back-propagation algorithm. In order to determine the new synaptic coefficients with a minimum learning period, the invention introduces parameters which privilege corrections based on the sign of the error at the start of learning and which gradually induce less coarse corrections. This can be complemented by other parameters which favor a layer-wise strategy, accelerating the learning in the input layers with respect to the output layers. It is also possible to add a strategy which acts on the entire neural network.

Neural networks are used for image processing, speech processing etc.
Neural networks are formed by automatic devices which are interconnected by synapses with associated synaptic coefficients. They enable the solution of problems which are difficult to solve by means of conventional sequential computers.
In order to carry out a given processing operation, the neural networks must learn in advance how to carry out such operations. This so-called learning phase utilizes examples where, on the basis of input data, the results to be obtained on the output are known in advance. During a first period, the neural network which has not yet been adapted to the desired task will deliver incorrect results. An error E.sup.p is then determined associated with the results obtained and those which should have been obtained and, on the basis of an adaptation criterion, the synaptic coefficients are modified in order to enable the neural network to learn the chosen example. This step is repeated for the number of examples considered to be necessary for satisfactory learning by the neural network.
A widespread method for carrying out this adaptation is the gradient back-propagation. The components of the gradient g.sub.j,L of the preceding error E.sup.p (calculated on the last layer L) are then determined for each neuron state x.sub.j,L. These components are subsequently back-propagated in the neural network, starting from its outputs, in order to determine first of all the internal components g.sub.j,l (l.noteq.L), followed by the corrections to be applied to the synaptic coefficients W.sub.ij,l of the relevant neurons. This method is described, for example in the documents:
D. E. Rumelhart, D. E. Hinton, and R. J. Williams "Learning Internal Representation by Error Propagation", in D. E. Rumelhart, and J. L. McClelland (Eds), "Parallel Distributed Processing: Exploration in the Microstructure of Cognition", Vol. 1, Foundations, MIT Press (1986). PA1 "Experiments on neural net recognition of spoken and written text", D. J. Burr, IEEE Trans. on Acoustic, speech and signal processing, Vol. 36, No. 7, July 1988, page 1162. PA1 determining the states x.sub.j,l of the neurons of a layer 1 on the basis of output potentials Y.sub.i,l-1 supplied by the neurons of the preceding layer which are connected thereto by way of synaptic coefficients W.sub.ij,l, or on the basis of input data Y.sub.i,o for the layer l=1, so that: ##EQU1## determining of the potentials Y.sub.j,l of the output neurons by application of a non-linear function F so that: EQU Y.sub.j,l =F(x.sub.j,l) PA1 l: index of the layer considered, 1.ltoreq.l.ltoreq.L PA1 j: index of the neuron in the output layer 1 PA1 i: index of the neuron in the input layer l-1 PA1 initialisation of the synaptic coefficient matrix W.sub.ij,l of the neural network, PA1 introduction of input data Y.sub.j,o.sup.p of each example p intended for learning, PA1 comparison of the results Y.sub.j,L obtained in the output layer L with the output y.sub.j.sup.p envisaged for this example p presented to the input in order to define a partial error E.sub.j.sup.p, PA1 determination of the sum E.sup.p of all partial errors E.sub.j.sup.p observed for each output neuron and for each example p, PA1 determination of the various components of the gradient g.sub.j,L =.alpha.E.sup.p /.alpha.x.sub.j,L of the error E.sup.p with respect to the states x.sub.j,L for the output layer L, PA1 carrying out the method of back propagation of the components g.sub.j,L of the gradient so that the neural network determines the components g.sub.j,l of the gradient for the other layers on the basis of the transposed synaptic coefficient matrix, PA1 determination of the subsequent variations .DELTA.x.sub.j,l, having a sign which opposes that of the corresponding component g.sub.j,l, in order to adapt the neural network, PA1 updating of the synaptic coefficj. ents on the basis of these variations .DELTA.x.sub.j,l, characterized in that for determining the subsequent variations .DELTA.x.sub.j,l of the neuron states, the method comprises a step for multiplying the components g.sub.j,l of the gradient by parameters .theta..sub.j,l in order to calculate variations .DELTA.x.sub.j,l which are proportional to -.theta..sub.j,l g.sub.j,l, where .theta..sub.j,l depends on the state of the neuron j of the layer l where .theta..sub.j,l =1 when --g.sub.j,l and x.sub.j,l have a different sign, and .theta..sub.j,l =.theta..sub.l.sup.+ when -g.sub.j,l and x.sub.j,l have the same sign, where 0.ltoreq..theta..sub.l.sup.+ .ltoreq.1. PA1 of the state x.sub.j,l of this neuron, PA1 and on the sign of the component of the gradient g.sub.j,l.
However, when such a method is carried out in a neural network, the learning periods may become very long for given applications. For example, this difficulty has been encountered in the case of the parity problem. The parity problem occurs, for example, in the case of a neural network whose inputs are linked to binary signals 1/0 and whose output is to deliver a state 1 when the number of "1" inputs is odd, and a state 0 in the opposite case. The learning problem is then due to the fact that the output state must change when a single one of the inputs changes its state, while when an even number of input state changes occurs, the output must remain unchanged.
Moreover, for example, when the neural network is used for classification problems, it may be difficult to distinguish of the classes wherebetween the minimum distance is small, because the neural network requires a long period of time for learning to differentiate between different classes. This obstructs the separation of the continuously encoded input data, particularly when some of these examples, relating to different classes, have inputs which differ only very little from one another.
The problem to be solved, therefore, consists in the reduction of the learning time of the neural network while minimizing the necessary supplementary hardware.

Learning method and neural network structure


A digital asset management system effectively provides full control of compound media assets and their specific components. The digital asset management data model supports the creation and management of multiple levels of granularity or metadata enrichment, and different sets of file types or renditions used throughout the digital asset processing life-cycle. The extensible digital asset management data model allows telecommunications service providers to augment or enrich compound media asset metadata, and thereby, optimize the relationship between media assets, and enhance storage and retrieval functionalities. The digital asset management system solves the technical problems arising from ingesting, storing, and managing rich media assets economically and efficiently.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure concerns data models and management systems for compound media assets and their specific components. In particular, this disclosure relates to a flexible and easily extensible digital asset management data model and system that uses the model to provide telecommunication service providers with the ability to efficiently acquire, catalogue, modify, store, retrieve and publish compound media assets.
2. Background Information
The ongoing dynamics within the telecommunications industry continue to create both challenges and opportunities for companies competing to identify new channels of revenue. Rapid advances in computer systems and telecommunications technologies have driven the need for methods and systems to manage an exponential demand for media content and support of a vast array of rich media services offerings. Telecommunications subscribers now receive rich media that includes any combination of audio, graphics and video data, from a wide range of sources and types (e.g., movies, news, advertisement, and sports sources). Traditional wireline or fixed services operators recognize increased competition from wireless or mobile operators resulting from the fixed-mobile substitution phenomenon or convergence of fixed-mobile service offerings. Some of the telecommunications services leveraging rich media include traditional television service, Internet service, cable television service, cellular phone service, messaging service, and combined voice and data delivery service.
The amount and types of compound media assets delivered through wireless and wireline based telecommunications devices continue to expand. For example, a movie-asset received from a content provider could be composed of a movie, several trailers, covers, digital and analogue format renditions (i.e., different file formats with accompanying rich media information), and a set of descriptive information such as intellectual property rights, pricing information, actors, writers, title, summary, description, language, dubbed languages, subtitles, and duration of each part. Hundreds of media formats exist, each with its own characteristics and proprietary format. Telecommunications service providers must integrate the rich media content, which in many cases are in disparate formats and possess other unique attributes, from various content providers and content aggregators before delivering this content to subscribers. As a result, telecommunications service providers continue to struggle to identify systems capable of efficiently and cost effectively integrating compound media assets, and managing the entire content life-cycle. In the past, no sufficiently flexible and efficient end-to-end mechanism for controlling rich media assets existed. Telecommunications service providers are now faced with difficult technical interoperability challenges related to storing, cataloguing, bundling and publishing rich media content with enriched metadata to support the content lifecycle and rapid development of new rich media service offerings.
Creating and managing various levels of granularity or metadata, and different sets of file types and formats (i.e., renditions) used throughout the digital asset processing life-cycle, and optimizing asset relationships and related search functionalities pose significant technical challenges. As one example, there is a technical challenge in defining and implementing a data model sufficiently comprehensive to eliminate inefficient methods of editing, rendering, distributing, broadcasting, publishing and creating media programming from different content providers. It is also a significant technical challenge to create a digital asset management data model which can manage unstructured compound media asset information from various content providers, and coherently model all information related to a media asset, and which has the ability to both normalize the disparate media formats into a unique flexible model, and easily incorporate new content formats. Another technical challenge lies in providing a data model which efficiently and flexibly supports metadata enrichment, and allows one to economically preserve and reuse content. Yet another technical challenge lies in providing a mechanism for efficiently cataloguing, storing and updating rich media assets, which supports higher performance during the operation and upgrade of service management logic.
A need has long existed for a flexible and easily extensible digital asset management data model and system that provide telecommunications service providers with the ability to organize and efficiently manage compound media assets. The digital asset management data model solves the technical problem of reducing the complexity of rapidly producing rich media service offerings efficiently and cost effectively.


Methods for enhancing contrast during imaging to assess cell and nuclear morphology of a sample. A contrast agent such as acetic acid, toluidine blue, hypertonic saline, hypotonic saline, Lugol""s iodine, an absorbing dye, a liposome, or a contrast agent linked to a marker are applied to a sample. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, and the sample is diagnosed using the image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of imaging. More particularly, it concerns techniques for enhancing contrast in optical techniques for biological applications.
2. Description of Related Art
Photonic technologies are playing an increasingly important role in biomedical diagnostics, resulting from improvements in optical instrumentation and an improved understanding of the interaction between light and biological tissues. At least two techniques have contributed to recent progress in biomedical optical imaging and disease diagnosis: (1) biological characterization techniques based on optical spectroscopy, and (2) imaging such as confocal microscopy and optical coherence tomographic (OCT), derived from interferometric and ultrafast optical technologies. In the first technique, highly specific in vivo identification of biological moieties at the molecular level may be accomplished using unique spectral signatures of intrinsic or extrinsic tissue chromophores. In the second, near-histological resolution imaging of sub-surface tissue microstructure may be performed even in highly scattering biological tissues by high-contrast rejection of multiply-scattered light.
Much work has been done to develop photonic technologies for diagnosing cancers and pre-cancers due to the fact that cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and in the world. In the United States alone, deaths from cancer were estimated to number 560,000 in 1997. Currently, diagnosis and treatment of cancer follow histopathologic evaluation of directed biopsies. However, the tissue removal necessitated by these techniques not only may alter the progression of disease but is also very costly. Improving the capability for in-situ monitoring of disease progression may greatly enhance the ability to detect and treat cancer and pre-cancer.
In women, cervical cancer alone will account for an estimated 14,500 new cases and 4,800 deaths in 1997. Its precursor, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), refers to a tumor growth in the cervical epithelium. Such growth is believed to originate from a single mutant cell near the basal layer of the epithelium. Rather than follow the normal maturation process, the mutant cell continues to divide without control. This results in a growing, undifferentiated group of cells, which gradually spreads from the basal layer to the surface layer of the epithelium. The disease is considered pre-invasive when it is confined to the epithelium. If detected at this stage, the disease is curable. Eventually, the basal layer may be compromised, and the transformed cells may invade the stroma. At this stage, the disease is considered invasive.
Early detection of CIN has been crucial to the reduction of the mortality caused by cervical cancer over the last decades. Currently, cytologic techniques are of widespread use in the screening of gynecologic cancers. Unfortunately, the accuracy of such techniques is not optimal. In one study of the accuracy of the Papanicolau test, it was found that sensitivity ranged from 11 to 99% and specificity from 14 to 97%. If an abnormal Pap smear is detected, further examination is often performed using a low power microscope called a colposcope. Colposcopy is used to identify the extent and grade of the lesion, and to direct any biopsies to be taken. While highly sensitive, colposcopy is unfortunately not very specific. This means that a large number of normal sites, usually inflammation or HPV infection, may be classified as diseased. Colposcopy is only performed by trained experts, making the cost of more widespread screening with this method prohibitive. In view of the above, there is a need for more accurate, automated screening and diagnostic tools to identify cervical precancers.
Work done in the area of optical spectroscopy has been aimed at aiding in the diagnosis of cancer and pre-cancer not only in gynecologic tissue but also in other kinds of tissue. Some techniques attempt to classify the tissue being probed by effectively assessing its biochemical and morphologic composition as evidenced by the light reflected, absorbed or emitted as Raman or fluorescence signals. Such techniques attempt to provide additional information that will result in improved in-situ diagnosis, allowing for better diagnostic performance by less-specialized personnel.
Confocal microscopy is an imaging technique well-suited for the evaluation of thick, turbid samples due to its ability to reject light from outside the focal volume. The technique has been used extensively in vitro and applications for in vivo and endoscopic use have been developed. Confocal microscopy has a spatial resolution on the order of 1 to 2 microns, allowing it to resolve single cells and their nuclei. This makes it a potential tool for aiding diagnosis since it may provide near-histologic resolution images in vivo. However, confocal imaging is only possible at depths of several hundred microns, as image quality is degraded by wavefront aberrations induced by the scattering in the tissue, and contrast may be reduced by multiply scattered, detected photons generated outside the confocal volume. There is therefore a need for techniques for enhancing contrast so as to improve confocal microscopy imaging.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is another imaging technique that may overcome at least some of the problems associated with multiple scattering, allowing it to image sub-surface structure in tissue. OCT detects very faint reflections of laser light directed into the tissue and determines at what depth these reflections occurred. This results in an image of the relative reflectivity of the tissue below the surface. This is related to the properties of individual cells as well as the overall structure of the tissue, both of which may change in the presence of disease.
With OCT, tomographic images of sub-surface biological microstructure may be obtained with xcx9c10 xcexcm spatial resolution. The heterodyne optical detection scheme inherent to OCT provides sensitivity to backscattered signals as small as one part in 1011 of the incident optical power; thus, extremely faint reflections may be visualized. In OCT, the specimen to be interrogated may be placed in the sample arm of an interferometer illuminated with a low-coherence light source. Interference between light returning from the reference arm and light scattered from internal sample reflections occurs only when the optical path lengths in both arms of the interferometer are matched to within the source coherence length. Thus, scanning the reference arm while monitoring the envelope of the interferometric signal generates a map of tissue reflectivity versus optical depth or xe2x80x9cA-scan,xe2x80x9d with axial resolution given by the coherence length. Cross-sectional images of tissue backscatter may be built from sequential A-scans obtained while scanning the probe beam across the tissue surface. Resulting two-dimensional data sets may be plotted as gray-scale images.
The initial clinical application of OCT was for high-resolution imaging of intraocular structure. OCT is well suited to ophthalmology because it is non-contact, easily adaptable to existing ophthalmic instrumentation, and the axial image resolution is independent of the working distance. A growing number of studies of OCT imaging in non-transparent media have also been reported. In vitro and in vivo studies have reported OCT imaging in the skin, teeth, and brain, as well as in vascular, respiratory, and gastrointestinal tissues. Recent technical advances in image acquisition time and probe miniaturization have produced the first studies on catheter and endoscopic OCT imaging in living animals and humans.
Using a catheter approximately 1 mm in diameter capable of insertion in an endoscope accessory channel, in vivo images of human esophagus, larynx, stomach, urinary bladder, and uterine cervix have been reported. Epithelial invasion of the basement membrane was distinctly visible in images of early cancers, implying that the technique may be promising for early diagnosis of tumors and precise guiding of excisional biopsy.
The success of OCT and other imaging techniques underscore many advantages in imaging subsurface morphology. However, OCT resolution is lower than that of light microscopy, the current gold standard in the tissue malignancy assessment following biopsy. Attaining the level of resolution necessary to make malignancy assessments in human epithelial tissue samples by nuclear size determination is currently unattainable through OCT. Therefore, if such assessments are to be done with OCT in-vivo, further differentiation techniques must be developed.
Despite the promise of imaging techniques discussed above, and their application to the detection of, for instance, cancer, little is understood about how to achieve optimal contrast in such images, particularly in highly-scattering tissues where early cancers and pre-cancers develop. The primary sources of signal in traditional OCT images arise from mismatches in tissue index of refraction; however, little is known about the wavelength-dependent microscopic fluctuations in the tissue refractive index and how those vary in normal and pathologic tissues.
In view of the above, it is apparent that a need exists for developing techniques to enhance contrast in different fields of biomedical imaging so that, for instance, cancers and pre-cancers may be diagnosed earlier and more easily, with greater accuracy.
In one respect, the invention is a method for enhancing contrast during imaging to assess cell and nuclear morphology of a sample. Between about 1% and about 10% by volume of acetic acid is applied to the sample. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, the sample is diagnosed with the image data. As used herein, xe2x80x9cimage dataxe2x80x9d is to be read broadly to mean any data gathered by the imaging device. The use of the word xe2x80x9cimagexe2x80x9d is not meant to connote a graphical representationxe2x80x94rather, by xe2x80x9cimagexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cimagingxe2x80x9d, it is meant any information relating to the sample gathered by one or more devices. Image data may be a string of numbers, a graphical representation, or any other data known in the art.
In other respects, the method includes applying between about 3% and about 10% by volume of acetic acid to the sample. The imaging device may include a confocal microscope. The imaging device may include an optical coherence tomography apparatus. The imaging device may include a photon migration imaging device. The imaging device may include a two-photon excited fluorescence imaging device. The imaging device may include a spectroscopy apparatus. The spectroscopy may include reflectance spectroscopy. The spectroscopy may include absorption spectroscopy. The spectroscopy may include fluorescence spectroscopy. The spectroscopy may include Raman spectroscopy. The sample may be in vitro. The sample may be in vivo.
In another respect, the invention is a method for enhancing contrast during imaging to assess cell and nuclear morphology of a sample, wherein between about 0.5% and about 10% by volume of Toluidine blue is applied to the sample. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, and the sample is diagnosed with the image data.
In another respect, the invention is a method for enhancing contrast during imaging to enhance edges of cells of a sample. Between about 2 to about 10 times physiological concentrations of hypertonic saline is applied to the sample. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, and the sample is diagnosed with the image data.
In another respect, the invention is a method for enhancing contrast during imaging to enhance edges of cells of a sample, wherein between about 0.1 to about 0.5 times physiological concentrations of hypotonic saline is applied to the sample. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, and the sample is diagnosed with the image data.
In another respect, the invention is a method for enhancing contrast during imaging to assess cell and nuclear morphology of a sample, wherein between about 5% and about 10% by volume of Lugol""s iodine is applied to the sample. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, and the sample is diagnosed with the image data.
In another respect, the invention is a method for enhancing contrast during imaging to assess cell and nuclear morphology of a sample, wherein an absorbing dye is applied to the sample. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, and the sample is diagnosed with the image data.
In other respects, the absorbing dye may include phycoerythrin. The absorbing dye may include indocyanine green. The absorbing dye may include lutetium texaphyrin. The analysis of the sample with an imaging device may include applying two or more illumination wavelengths to the sample, the scattering of the sample at the two illumination wavelengths being substantially different, analyzing the sample with an optical coherence tomography device to create image data, and diagnosing the sample with the image data.
In another respect, the invention is a method for enhancing contrast during imaging to assess cell and nuclear morphology of a sample, wherein a liposome is applied to the sample, the liposome containing a fluid of different refractive index. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, and the sample is diagnosed with the image data.
In other respects, the fluid may include water. The fluid may include bovine serum albumin.
In another respect, the invention is a method for enhancing contrast during imaging to assess cell and nuclear morphology of a sample, wherein a contrast agent linked to a marker is applied to the sample. The sample is analyzed with an imaging device to create image data, and the sample is diagnosed with the image data.
In other respects, the marker may include CA125. The marker may include EGFR. The marker may include Her-2. The marker may include Annexin-V. The marker may include proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (PCNA). The marker may include endothelial growth factor receptor (EGFR). The marker may include vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The marker may include human milkfat protein. The marker may include folate receptor.

Enhancing contrast in biological imaging

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


To provide a technique whereby a user can carry out operations in the same operating environment, regardless of whether the user uses a computer inside a network system, or uses a terminal outside the network system. A network system comprises: a first computer used by a designated user; and a plurality of second computers capable of being shared by a plurality of users. A management device, if a storage device is utilized by the first computer, allows the first computer to connect to a designated storage area and execute the boot-up program stored therein. The management device, if the storage device is utilized by an external terminal used by the designated user, allows one designated computer selected from the plurality of second computers to connect to the designated storage area and execute the boot-up program, and allows the external terminal to connect to the designated computer.

The present invention relates to network system technology.
A typical intranet has external connectivity to the Internet. Using a terminal connected to the Internet, an intranet user can access data stored on a storage device on the intranet.
In the technology to date, while it is possible for the user to access is data stored on the storage device from outside the intranet as described above, it was difficult for the user to work in the same operating environment as that when the user utilizes a computer connected to the intranet.

Utilization of storage device from external terminal in network system


A calibration system for the keyboard of an electronic musical instrument. Compression of the key causes an output signal to be generated which varies in accordance with the amount of key depression. When the key is depressed to a nominally fully depressed position, the system stores an offset value relating to the difference between the actual output signal at this point and an expected reference output signal which would occur if the keyboard were perfectly adjusted from a mechanical standpoint. The offset value is stored in the memory and added to the key output signal during the normal operate mode of the instrument so that the output signal is adjusted in accordance with the offset value stored during the calibrate mode.

The present invention relates to a keyboard, such as the keyboard for a musical instrument, and in particular to an electrical system and method for calibrating the keyboard to provide for uniformity of response.
In prior art electronic keyboards, such as those used in musical instruments such as organs and electronic pianos, an electric or electronic switch is closed when the key has been depressed a certain degree to thereby indicate to the electronic circuitry that the key has been struck. Some keyboards are touch responsive whereby the output from the keyboard varies depending on the velocity with which the key is struck. One typically used system for determining key velocity is to time the transition of the key from its undepressed state to a fully depressed state wherein the amount of time elapsed is inversely proportional to the velocity with which the key is struck. In other prior art keyboards, piezoelectric devices or other force transducers are used.
In many prior art keyboards, both those used in electronic musical instruments and in other applications, it is important to provide an output signal which corresponds to the level of key depression that the performer or keyboard operator determines is the fully depressed position of the key. The performer normally detects this through a tactile sensation, such as when the key bottoms out against a stop. However, the mechanical adjustment of keyboards and keys within a keyboard can vary substantially so that the signal indicating full key depression may occur before or after the point at which the performer or operator assumes the key has been fully depressed.
In the aforementioned Pat. No. 4,558,623, which application is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a prior art keyboard system wherein the position of the key is detected by a movable pickup that moves within an electrostatic field formed between a pair of stationary electrodes. The pickup never contacts either of the electrodes, but the voltage impressed on the pickup varies as a function of the pickup within the electric field so that as the key is depressed and the pickup is moved within the field, the voltage impressed thereon changes with position. In that particular keyboard, the voltages impressed on the stationary contacts are substantially of equal amplitude, but 180.degree. out of phase so that at the midpoint of the pickup between the stationary electrode, the voltage impressed thereon is substantially zero. The system is designed to be responsive to this critical zero voltage level and provide an output signal that indicates the key is "fully closed". Further depression of the key beyond this point produces a signal of opposite polarity, which is sensed and used by the system as an aftertouch control. The performer determines that the key has been fully depressed through a tactile sensation when the key impacts against a resilient stop, such as a Poron washer or the like.
In a keyboard such as this, it is important to generate the critical output voltage at exactly the point where the key contacts the resilient stop, or at least the performer perceives the key as contacting the resilient stop, because the time between the beginning of key closure and the sensing of the critical voltage level informs the system of the velocity with which the key is struck. Any further depression of the key beyond this point is sensed as aftertouch, which provides a variable voltage that can be processed by the system to generate tremelo or other musical effects common to aftertouch manipulation of the key.
A problem which many prior art keyboards is that the mechanical switch structure is not uniform from key to key, so that when two keys are depressed to what the performer perceives as their fully depressed positions, the trigger or switch closure signals are not produced at the same time. In the keyboard system of Pat. No. 4,558,623, for example, if one of the stationary contacts or the movable contact is bent or otherwise not perfectly mechanically adjusted, the zero voltage level will be reached at a point other than what the performer perceives as full key closure. This results in non-uniform switch response and unpredictable aftertouch control.

Method and apparatus for calibrating a keyboard


A method determines isotropic stress by means of a Hall element which includes a plate-shaped area made of a doped semiconductor material and comprises four contacts contacting the plate-shaped area and forming corners of a quadrangle, two neighboring corners of the quadrangle defining an edge thereof. At least one van der Pauw transresistance value in at least one van der Pauw measurement set-up of the Hall element is determined, wherein the four contacts of the Hall element form contact pairs, a contact pair comprising two contacts defining neighboring corners of the quadrangle. One contact pair supplies a current and the other contact pair measures a voltage. A relationship between the supplied current and the measured voltage defines the Van der Pauw transresistance value. The method comprises determining a stress signal which depends on the at least one Van der Pauw transresistance value and determining isotropic stress.

Hall elements are magnetic field sensors which are based on the Hall effect and provide an electrical output signal which is proportional to a predetermined component of the magnetic field. A Hall sensor comprises a Hall element or a cluster of Hall elements and an electronic circuit for operating the Hall element(s) and for evaluating the output signals of the Hall elements. The Hall sensor is manufactured as an integrated circuit which is embedded in a semiconductor chip. The semiconductor chip is packaged in a housing. Hall elements have an offset which arises from process- and geometry-related variations. The offset can be effectively minimized by connecting a plurality of Hall elements in parallel (cluster) and/or by operating using the known spinning current method. This is known from numerous patent documents, for example, WO 0118556, EP 548391, and DE 4302342.
The semiconductor chip packaged in the housing is subjected to mechanical stresses which depend on environmental influences such as temperature and humidity. The varying mechanical stresses cause changes in the offset of the Hall elements, as well as changes in the sensitivity of the Hall elements due to the piezo-Hall effect. Changes in the offset are effectively suppressed using the measures described above. In order to compensate for the changes in sensitivity, it is known, for example, from DE 10154495, DE 10154498, DE 102004003853, DE 102008051949, to use a stress sensor which detects the mechanical stresses, and to use its output signal to compensate for the change in sensitivity of the Hall elements caused by the piezo-Hall effect.

Method and device for sensing isotropic stress and providing a compensation for the piezo-hall effect