The present invention is to provide an inflatable bag comprising an airtight container, a cavity and a light-emitting unit. The cavity is formed at a top of the container. The cavity comprises a top opening flush with the top of the container, the opening being in communication with the container and the external. The light-emitting unit is mounted in the cavity by inserting through the opening. The light-emitting unit comprises a battery, a light-emitting member provided at a bottom in the cavity distal the opening, and a switch provided at a top projecting from the cavity. The battery is not electrically connected to the light-emitting member after inflating the container to a predetermined shape. The bag is adapted to emit light only by pressing the switch projected from the container to electrically connect the battery to the light-emitting member.

A conventional inflatable bag (or balloon) is produced by molding two plastic films and sealing edges of the films. The produced inflatable bag is hollow, airtight. Typically, techniques of filling air or gas lighter than air into an inflatable bag comprise a manual filling and an automatic filling. For manual filling, there is at least one valve formed on an inflatable bag such that a user may fill air or gas lighter than air (e.g., helium) into the bag through the valve(s) to inflate same to a predetermined shape. For automatic filling, there is no valve formed on an inflatable bag. Instead, a chemical agent pouch and chemical powder are contained in the bag in advance. A user may break the chemical agent pouch by kneading. Liquid chemical agent contained in the chemical agent pouch then leaks to react with the chemical powder. As such, gas lighter than air is generated by the reaction. As an end, the bag is automatically inflated to a predetermined shape.
The prior art inflatable bag is served as tool for decoration, entertainment, or promotion irrespective of its air or gas filling technique being manual or automatic filling. Thus, it is typical of either printing or adhering specific patterns and characters on a surface of an inflatable bag or forming an inflatable bag having a specially designed shape for attracting people as its desired purpose. However, a typical inflatable bag has no special functions other than above. Further, such inflatable bags are typically used in a daylight or good vision environment. Otherwise (i.e., in a dark or poor vision environment), neither specific patterns and characters printed or adhered on a surface of an inflatable bag nor an inflatable bag having a specially designed shape can be clearly seen by people. As a result, its purpose of attracting people is compromised.
A type of inflatable bag capable of emitting light in a dark or poor vision environment for enabling people to see clearly specific patterns and characters printed or adhered on a surface or a specially designed shape thereof is produced by some manufacturers of the art. As a result, the purpose of an inflatable bag as tool for decoration, entertainment, or promotion is substantially achieved. Moreover, such inflatable bag may be used as a beacon in case of emergency. A typical inflatable bag 10 for emitting light is shown in FIG. 1. The inflatable bag 10 is formed of plastics and is a hollow, airtight bag. The bag 10 comprises at least one internal light-emitting module 20 including a mount 21, at least one cell 22 provided in the mount 21, and a light-emitting member (e.g., electric bulb or LED (light-emitting diode)) 23 provided in the mount 21; and a plastic strip 30 having one end attached to one side of the light-emitting module 20, and the other end affixed to an inner surface of its top 11 by heating. The cell 22 is electrically connected to the light-emitting member 23 when a user fills air (or gas lighter than air) into the bag 10. The light-emitting module 20 is supported by the strip 30 and is suspended in a center of the bag 10 when the bag 10 has inflated to a predetermined shape. Further, the light-emitting member 23 may emit light.
The inflatable bag 10 is formed of transparent plastics. Also, either specific patterns or characters are printed or adhered on a surface of an inflatable bag 10 by printing or adhering. Further, the patterns 40 (or characters) are formed on transparent portions of the bag 10. Other portions thereof are formed as opaque by printing or adhering. After inflating the bag 10 to a predetermined shape, light emitted by the light-emitting member 23 may pass the transparent portions. As a result, the specific patterns 40 or characters printed or adhered on the bag 10 can be clearly seen even in a dark or poor vision environment for attracting people.
In addition, one or more inflatable bags 10 are mounted in a venue to be held later. An on/off switch 25 provided on the mount 21 is pressed to an on position for electrically connecting the cell 22 to the light-emitting member 23 prior to air (or gas lighter than air) filling. As an end, the cell 22 continuously supplies electric current to the light-emitting member 23 for emitting light.
However, the inflatable bag 10 may be not capable of emitting light when a gathering is being held due to the consumed cell 22. Thus, it is required to replace consumed cell 22 with a new one. However, it is impossible of replacing the cell 22 at this time since the light-emitting module 20 is mounted within the inflatable bag 10. Alternatively, after inflating the inflatable bag 10, the cell 22 is electrically connected to the light-emitting member 23. Also, the light-emitting module 20 is supported by the strip 30 and is suspended in a center of the bag 10. Thus, it is impossible of pressing the switch 25 to supply electric current to the light-emitting member 23. In view of above, it is found that it is very inconvenient and troublesome to use the inflatable bag 10. Thus, it is desirable to inhibit the cell 22 from electrically connecting to the light-emitting member 23 after inflating the inflatable bag 10. Further, it is desirable to electrically connect the cell 22 to the light-emitting member 23 if necessary and the cell 22 can be replaced immediately if such case is arisen. Furthermore, it is desirable to press the switch 25 after inflating the inflatable bag 10 to a predetermined shape.


The present invention relates to a system, method, and apparatus that include a novel connection between a 3D raytracing application and an editing application to allow live editing of an image representing the lighting of a 3D model. Further embodiments include a novel pin control in the editing application that allows pin control of lighting of a specific portion of the lighting image and 3D model to adjust the intensity, color, and blur of the environment within a given region. The pins can also be used to copy regions of data from the lighting image to new locations. The pins can be placed either directly by clicking in the lighting image or by clicking on the 3D model in the raytracing application to indicate where the illumination should fall or reflect.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to a three-dimensional (3D) model having image-based lighting in a computer rendering environment and specifically to a method, apparatus, and system for live editing and local control of the 3D model.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer rendering is a process used to generate images of 3D models. The goal is often an image of the digital model that looks like a photograph of the real object in the real world. This particular instance of rendering is called photorealistic rendering. Other instances of rendering include stylistic rendering for illustration purposes.
Computer generated imagery of 3D models include a description of both the materials and lighting of the 3D model. The description of the materials include how the light reflects in different directions as it strikes a specific part of the 3D model. The description of the lighting can be given as light sources emitting the lighting onto the 3D model. A specific type of light source is image-based lighting.
Image-based lighting is a 3D rendering technique which involves capturing an omni-directional representation of real-world light information as an image, typically using a specialized camera. This image is then projected onto a dome or sphere analogously to environment mapping, and for this is used to simulate the lighting for the objects in the scene. This allows highly detailed real-world lighting to be used to light a scene, instead of trying to accurately model illumination using an existing rendering technique. Image-based lighting often uses high dynamic range imaging for greater realism, though this is not universal. Almost all modern rendering software offers some type of image-based lighting, though the exact terminology used in the system may vary. Image-based lighting is also starting to show up in video games as video game consoles and personal computers are starting to have the computational resources to render scenes in real time using this technique.
Image-based lighting includes an image that represents the lighting of the 3D model. This image that is used to represent the lighting can be used to represent a distant lighting environment such as a distant sphere, and each pixel in the image corresponds to a specific location on this distant sphere. The values of the pixels in the image correspond directly to the intensity of the lighting from that location.
Lighting in the real world can have intensities spanning multiple orders of magnitude. As such, the image used to represent the lighting will typically be a high dynamic range image where each pixel can represent more than the traditional 256 intensities. For example, the image used to represent the lighting can have each pixel being represented by a 32 bit floating point number. The 32 bit floating number makes it possible to represent more than 37 orders of magnitude of lighting intensities.
A problem with existing image-based lighting is that it is difficult to setup, modify or adjust the lighting to achieve a desired illumination of the 3D model. While conventional tools exist for creating image based lighting, there is no existing solution that offers a direct integration of a 3D rendering system with an image based lighting system where the lighting information can be transferred from the 3D rendering system to the editor and back. Existing systems only allow for transferring images to the rendering application and not from the rendering system. The ability to transfer lighting from the rendering application to the editor is critical to allow for small adjustments and fine-tuning of the lighting rather than starting from scratch. Being able to transfer both to and from the 3D rendering system would make the editor an integrated component of the rendering application with a natural and fast method for adjusting the image based lighting environment. Of critical importance is the ability to interactively view a 3D model illuminated by the image based lighting environment as it is being edited.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,082 to Duiker is directed to a reality-based light environment for digital imaging in motion pictures. Duiker uses image-based lighting in the rendering of digital objects derived from image data collected from a real motion-picture set. The image data includes sets of correlated images at different exposure levels, each corresponding to a selected location. The image data is processed to define an extended dynamic range panoramic image for each selected set location. The image data is color and intensity corrected based on a scaled reference object. Although Duiker's system includes image-based lighting, Duiker's system does not integrate with an editor or adjust local portions of a 3D model.

Live editing and integrated control of image-based lighting of 3D models


A cache system is constructed in accordance with an architecture that comprises a tag array into which tags are stored that are used to determine whether a hit or a miss into the cache system has occurred. Further, the cache system comprises a data array into which cache lines of data are stored, each cache line comprising a plurality of sub-lines, and each sub-line is adapted to be written back to a system memory separate from the other sub-lines. The cache system also comprises a controller coupled to the tag and data arrays. The tag array includes a cache-line dirty bit associated with each cache line and the data array includes a plurality of dirty bits for each cache line. The plurality of dirty bits comprises one sub-line dirty bit for each sub-line.

On-chip caches are used in various microprocessor designs to improve performance by storing frequently used information in fast on-chip memories. The performance is improved because information can be retrieved quickly during program execution. Various types of cache architectures exist. A "write-back" cache, for example, allows modification of data to be carried out in the cache without immediately writing to the main memory reflect the same data modification. The memory is updated only when the data is eventually evicted from the cache, for example, to make room for new data in the cache. The write-back cache generally reduces bus traffic to main memory and generally delivers better performance and consumes less power than various other types of cache architectures. Reducing power consumption is particular beneficial in battery-operated devices such as cellular telephones.
In a write-back cache, the content of the cache may be more up-to-date than that of main system memory. The write-back cache maintains status bits to indicate whether the cache content has been modified. The status bits are referred to as "dirty" bits.
Caches are organized as a plurality of cache "lines" (also referred to as "blocks"). A cache line may comprise, for example, 64 bytes but the architectural size of a cache is determined by the cache architecture. Typically, there is one dirty bit per cache line. The dirty bit is set to a value of "1" when any byte within the cache line is modified. When the dirty bit is set to a 1, the entire cache line must be written back to the main memory when the data is eventually evicted from the cache, for example, to make room for new data. This architecture can be relatively inefficient in terms of both performance and power particularly as the cache line size becomes large because more data must be written back even though only a small number of bytes may have been modified. To overcome this problem, some write-back cache architectures partition the cache line into sub-lines. Each sub-line can be separately written back to system memory without having to write back the entire cache line.
A typical cache design consists of 3 functional blocks: the cache controller, the tag array, and the data array. To service a read request, the controller issues a read command to the tag array to look up the address to determine if there is a cache hit (i.e., whether the target data already resides in the cache). If there is a cache hit, the controller then issues a read command to the data array to retrieve the target data. If the request misses in the cache, the controller forwards the request to the next level of memory hierarchy (e.g. system memory) to read the cache line and load it into the cache. To make room in the cache for the new data, the controller must select a cache line in the cache for eviction. If the cache line being evicted has been modified (as indicated by a dirty bit that is set), the controller must write back the modified cache line (or sub-line) into the main memory. Otherwise, the controller simply overwrites the cache line with the new data.
To service a write request, the controller issues a read command to the tag array to look up the address to determine if there is a cache hit. If there is a cache hit, the controller issues a write command to the data array to update the data array with the new write data. When servicing a write request, the dirty bit is set to indicate that the cache data has been modified. Caches that implement sub-lines complicate the issue of how to implement and control dirty bits to track the state (clean or dirty) for each sub-line.

Organization of dirty bits for a write-back cache


An image processing apparatus includes an image reading portion, a storage apparatus, a transmitting portion, a receiving portion, and an image processing portion. The transmitting portion transmits an image read by the image reading portion to an external mobile terminal apparatus as a display destination of the image. The receiving portion receives a movement amount and rotation amount of the image which the mobile terminal apparatus decides based on a user operation. The image processing portion applies, to the image, a movement process in accordance with the movement amount received by the receiving portion and a rotation process in accordance with the rotation amount received by the receiving portion, and makes the storage apparatus store the image after the processing.

The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a mobile terminal apparatus, and an image processing system, more particularly, to a technology that corrects an image read by an image reading portion.
An image forming apparatus has a function (preview function) that displays a read image as a preview image for a user in a case where image forming of the image read by an image reading portion is performed. The user confirms the preview image before the image forming is performed and thereby can avoid an event where an image obliquely read and the like undergoes the image forming.
However, in the above image forming apparatus, in the case where the image obliquely read and the like is displayed as the preview image, it is necessary to set again the document on the image forming apparatus and read the image.
Another conventional image forming apparatus includes a display panel that has a touch panel function, displays a read document as a preview image on the display panel, and can execute correction of the image on the preview image by using the touch panel function. In this way, even in the case where an image obliquely read and the like is displayed as a preview image, it is possible to release the user from the burden of setting again the document, reading and correcting the image.

Image processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, mobile terminal apparatus, and image processing system


A molding mechanism including one pair of molding devices oppositely disposed in a body and each having a casing, and a number of pin elements arranged in matrix form in the casing, a board engaged in one side of the casing, and a bolt threaded through the casing for forcing the board toward the pin elements in order to fix the pin elements in place, whereby, a mold cavity is formed among the pin elements when the molding devices are moved toward an object disposed between the molding devices.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanism, and more particularly to a molding mechanism.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Typically, in order to make a wax image, plaster materials are applied onto an object, such as a head of a person and removed after that plaster materials are cured, however, it usually takes more than 40 minutes to wait until the plaster materials are cured, the model may feel uncomfortable.
For forming a plaster mold or a gypsum mold, gypsum materials are applied onto an object to be molded, the mold is suitable for making an object of definite size and definite shape.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional molding problems.


A method for configuring devices on a computer network. Configuration involves initiating a configuration session on a primary device causing the primary device to collect configuration session on a primary device causing the primary device to collect configuration logic for the primary device and one or more secondary devices. The primary device then generates a user interface having user accessible controls for selecting and returning configuration settings for the primary and secondary devices. Each selected configuration setting is then returned and applied to the primary or secondary device for which it is selected.

Generally speaking, a computer network is made up of a number of interconnected devices such as desktop computers, servers, and peripherals including printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, multifunction devices, and electronic storage devices. Each device has a number of settings to be configured from time to time. These settings include IP (Internet Protocol) addresses; subnet masks; IP gateway addresses; proxy server assignments; community names; device passwords; location descriptions; system contact; frame type selections; protocol stack selections; print resolution; duplexing; and paper tray selection just to name a few. A single setting for certain attributes, such as the IP gateway and subnet mask, may be applied across multiple devices. For devices such as printers, different settings for paper tray output and print resolution are applied to each device individually.
In the past, configuration required physically accessing each device and entering the desired settings though a control panel or other interface provided by the device. As the number of devices on the network increases, so does the difficulty in managing the configuration of the devices. This is especially true as the geography of the network expands. In today's businesses, it is not uncommon for a network to expand across buildings, across states, or even across countries—making physical access to many devices difficult if not impossible. Consequently, methods and systems have evolved for remotely accessing and configuring network devices.
One solution involves embedding a web server in each device for managing the configuration of that device. Using a conventional web browser, a system administrator can browse to the address of a particular device. The embedded web server returns a web page allowing the administrator to select configuration settings for that device. While this allows remote configuration, it requires the administrator to manually browse to and configure each device one at a time.
A second solution involves placing network devices under the control of a device management software application such as Hewlett-Packard's Web JetAdmin™. The software is usually installed on a network server or workstation. Using a conventional browser, a system administrator can browse to the device management application which in turn communicates with network devices allowing the administrator to select the configuration settings to be applied to a device individually or to a group of devices simultaneously. As new devices become available, the device administration software must be updated to provide configuration support for each new device.
What is needed is a system for simultaneously configuring a group of network devices that does not require the installation and maintenance of a software application as new devices become available on the network.

Device configuration in a distributed environment

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A wheeled luggage comprises a main frame body formed of a fixed shell and a movable shell which is pivoted at one end to one end of the fixed shell. Two elastic side shells are respectively disposed in two sides of the main frame body, so as to form a receiving space by the main frame body and the two side shells for holding articles. Two zippers are disposed at the juncture at the movable shell, two side shells, and the fixed shell. The articles are deposited in the receiving space or removed from the receiving space by opening the movable shell. A retractable handle is disposed in the top of the fixed shell. Two wheels are pivoted to the bottom of the fixed shell of the main frame body.

The present invention relates generally to a luggage, and more particularly to a novel wheeled luggage.
As shown in FIG. 1, a prior art wheeled luggage 70 comprises a rectangular shell 71, which is the main structure shaping the prior art wheeled luggage 70. The shell 71 is covered by a soft fabric for forming an outer side wall 72 and an inner side wall 73 of the wheeled luggage 70, thereby resulting in formation of a receiving space 74 in the interior of the wheeled luggage 70. The receiving space 74 is intended to hold articles, clothes, etc. The outer side wall 72 is provided with a zipper 721 by means of which the receiving space 74 is opened or closed. The wheeled luggage is provided at the bottom with two wheel 75, and at the center of the top with a handle 76 to facilitate the carrying of the wheeled luggage 70. The inner side wall 73 is provided in the inner side with an expandable pull rod 77 which can be extended out to facilitate the pulling of the wheeled luggage 70 on a surface.
The outer side wall 72 is made of a soft fabric material and is therefore incapable of protecting the articles contained in the wheeled luggage 70 against the damage that is often caused by an unexpected external force. In addition, the monotonous structural design of the prior art wheeled luggage 70 is unable to catch the fancy of the consumers.
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a novel wheeled luggage.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a novel wheeled luggage capable of protecting the articles contained in the wheeled luggage against damage.
In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objectives of the present invention are attained by a wheeled luggage comprising an annular main frame body formed of a fixed shell and a movable shell which is fastened pivotally at one end thereof with the fixed shell such that other end of the movable shell is detachably fastened with the fixed shell. Two elastic side shells are disposed at two openings of the main frame body such that a receiving space is formed by the main frame body and the two side shells for holding articles which can be removed therefrom by opening the movable shell. The fixed shell is provided on the top side with a retractable handle, and at the bottom side with two wheels pivoted thereto.

No. 103, Ta-Ming Rd., Tung Pao Village, Tan Tzu Hsian


The subject of the present invention is to provide a method for deuteration, which can obtain a compound having an aromatic ring and/or a heterocyclic ring at an improved deuteration ratio. The present invention relates to a method for deuteration of a compound having an aromatic ring and/or a heterocyclic ring, comprising reacting the compound having an aromatic ring and/or a heterocyclic ring with a heavy hydrogen source in the presence of an activated mixed catalyst of not less than two kinds of catalysts selected from among a palladium catalyst, a platinum catalyst, a rhodium catalyst, an iridium catalyst, a ruthenium catalyst, a nickel catalyst and a cobalt catalyst.

A compound having a heavy hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) is said to be useful in various purposes. For example, a deuterated compound is very useful in elucidation of reaction mechanism and substance metabolism and used widely as a labeled compound. Said compound is also known to be useful as drugs, pesticides, organic EL materials, and the like due to change in stability and property of the compound itself by isotope effect thereof. A compound having tritium is also said to be useful as a labeled compound in animal tests and the like to survey absorption, distribution, concentration in blood, excretion, metabolism and the like of drugs, etc. Therefore, research on a compound having a heavy hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) has been recently increasing also in these fields.
Various methods for obtaining these deuterated compounds have conventionally been used. Among these methods, as a method for deuterating a compound having an aromatic ring or a heterocyclic ring, the present inventors developed a method for reacting a compound having an aromatic ring with heavy water in the presence of activated platinum carbon, and a method for reacting a compound having a heterocyclic ring with heavy water in the presence of activated palladium carbon or platinum carbon (Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
Patent Document 1: International Publication No. W02004/011400
Patent Document 2: International Publication No. W02004/046066

Method of deuteration using mixed catalyst


A universal data management interface (UDMI) system includes a processing system generates a visual interface through which a user can access, manage, and manipulate data on plural different types of remote databases. The UDMI connects to multiple standard database management systems and to allow multiple users to access, manage, and manipulate data within each of the multiple standard database management systems. The UDMI also allows multiple virtual databases that reside in a single database to be available as a network service.

DBMS is a common method of storing, organizing, and manipulating data. DBMS can provide a reliable and transparent way for people to store large amounts of data. Although, DBMS makes it easier to store, manage, and manipulate low-level data (binary data), DBMS is still too complex to operate for an average user.
Many database administrators and software professionals use character-driven data interfaces. These interfaces provide freedom and power in data management and manipulation. However, these interfaces do not provide a transparent, human-friendly interaction with data. This is one reason for the use of visual interfaces that non-software professionals, computing devices, and communication devices can understand and interpret.
There are several problems associated with conventional visual interfaces. For example, access to data is limited to interfaces that are accessed through specialized software that needs to be installed on the user's computing or communication device. This implies that users can access their data only through devices that include this specialized software. Specialized software is any software that is not pre-installed on a standard computing or communication device. For example, a web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, or any software pre-installed ("usually comes with") on a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), mobile device (e.g., cell phone), or any other computing or communication device is not considered to be specialized software. On the other hand, Crystal Reports is a report generating software that does not come pre-installed with most computers; therefore, it is considered to be specialized software.
DBMSs produced by competing companies are generally incompatible. Although, most DBMSs use a standard Structured Query Language (SQL) to manage data, internal organization of different DBMSs differ considerably. Furthermore, multiple dialects of SQL are introduced when operating different DBMSs.
In an environment where access to data is restricted to specialized software, and where DBMS incompatibilities are an every day reality, there is a need for a network service that allows network users to manage and manipulate data in the background DBMS transparently by subscribing to the service through any computing or communication device connected to the network.


A 2D and 3D image display apparatus including: a display panel forming an image by spatially modulating an input image signal; a polarization conversion device converting a polarization direction of a beam incident into the polarization conversion device according to a voltage applied in synchronization with the image signal; and a switching barrier unit including first polarization units having a first polarization direction and second polarization units having a second polarization direction in an alternate manner, and transmitting the beam passing the polarization conversion device through at least one of the first polarization unit and the second polarization unit. Therefore, a 3D image can be displayed without degrading a horizontal resolution thereof by using a combination of polarization devices with low fabrication costs, which may utilize a time-sequential display method.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to an image display apparatus, and more particularly, to a two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) image display apparatus having high resolution and low fabrication costs.
2. Description of the Related Art
A 3D image is provided in accordance with the principles of stereo vision. Binocular parallax, a characteristic due to the positions of the left eye and right eye located about 65 mm apart from each other, is the most important factor producing a 3D effect. 3D image displays can be divided into displays using glasses and glassless displays. Glassless displays are divided into parallax barrier-type displays and lenticular-type displays.
The parallax barrier-type and the lenticular-type are similar to each other in that a special optical plate, for example, a barrier or a lenticular lens, is located in front of/behind a display panel to spatially divide images seen from different viewpoints. The images from different viewpoints are separated and form certain viewing zones, and thus, a user can see a 3D image only when eyes of the user are located in the corresponding viewing zones.
The parallax barrier-type display alternately provides images that should be seen respectively by the left and right eyes in the form of a vertical pattern or a photo using an extremely thin vertical lattice column, i.e., a barrier. By doing so, a vertical pattern image that is to be provided to the left eye and a vertical pattern image that is to be provided to the right eye are separated by the barrier and images from different viewpoints are seen by the left and the right eyes, respectively, so that a stereo image is perceived.
According to a parallax barrier-type display disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,377 and shown in FIG. 1, a parallax barrier 10 having openings 5 of a vertical lattice shape and masks 7 is disposed on a liquid crystal panel 3 having image information for the left eye (LE) Ln and image information for the right eye (RE) Rn of a viewer, and the image is separated through the openings 5 of the parallax barrier 10. The image information Ln input into the LE and the image information Rn input into the RE are alternately arranged in a horizontal direction on the liquid crystal panel 3.
For example, a pixel having the left image information Ln and a pixel having the right image information Rn become a set, and pixels on left and right sides of the opening 5 become pixels for different view points to form a 3D image. For example, a first image for the LE is perceived by the LE and a first image for the RE is perceived by the RE of the viewer, a second image for the LE is perceived by the LE and a second image for the RE is perceived by the RE of the viewer, and thus, left and right pixels are respectively perceived by the LE and RE.
According to the above display, the image is formed through the opening 5 and blocked by the mask 7, and thus, the images L are formed, e.g., at odd-numbered lines, and the images R are formed, e.g., at even-numbered lines, as shown in FIG. 2.
Therefore, the resolution of an image display is degraded, and the brightness of the 3D image is also degraded.
The barrier used for separating viewports is generally fabricated by printing periodically repeated stripes on a transparent film or a glass plate. However, the barrier can also be fabricated in an electrical way. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel 28 performing as the barrier is further disposed on a front surface of a display panel 46 for displaying images. The LCD 28 can actively control the shape of barrier, however, since an additional LCD panel should be disposed besides the display panel for displaying images, fabrication processes become complex and fabrication costs rise.


The instant disclosure is related to the growth of carbon-based nanostructures and associated systems and products. Certain embodiments are related to carbon-based nanostructure growth using active growth materials comprises at least two components that are capable of forming a eutectic composition with each other. In some embodiments, the growth of carbon-based nanostructures is performed using active growth materials comprising at least two types of cations.

The production of carbon-based nanostructures may potentially serve as an important tool in the production of a broad array of emerging applications including electronics and structural materials. Recent research has focused on the production of, for example, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and other techniques. The selection of an appropriate material on which to form the nanostructures is important when designing processes for the production of carbon nanostructures. However, many commonly used materials have one or more disadvantages associated with them.
Accordingly, improved compositions and methods are needed.

Synthesis of carbon-based nanostructures using eutectic compositions


A member for a backlight unit using quantum dots is provided comprising a frame where a blue LED is mounted and a light transmitting layer over the frame, wherein the light transmitting layer includes a quantum dot.

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) take up an important position in information display technologies. An LCD displays images by applying electricity to both substrates with a liquid crystal layer therebetween. Because an LCD panel itself cannot emit light, the LCD needs help the aid of a backlight to generate light.
The backlight is directly associated with brightness and power consumption of the LCD panel. Furthermore, the backlight is one of the most expensive parts of a display module. Accordingly, saving of backlight-related costs may have a crucial effect on the LCD demand. As a light source for a backlight unit, CCFLs, EEFLs, FFLs, or LEDs have been employed. A light source employing LEDs gain popularity with advantages of rapid response speed, good color gamut, and eco-friendly nature in comparison with CCFL light sources.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a white LED backlight unit according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, the white LED backlight unit includes a white LED light source 100, a light guide 200, a reflection plate 300, and a diffusing plate 400. Specifically, light emitted from the white LED light source 100 is reflected upward by the reflection plate 300. Then, reflected light passes through the light guide 200 and is diffused by the diffusing plate 400, so that white light 40 is radiated. The "white LED" means an LED emitting white light. As methods of implementing a white LED, there are a single chip method and a multichip method. In the single chip method, a blue or violet LED chip is combined with a phosphor to produce a white LED. In the multichip method, two LEDs whose colors are in a complimentary relation or different colors of LED chips are combined to embody a white LED. A white LED may also be implemented using a blue LED emitting blue light together with a phosphor.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a white LED light source using a phosphor according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 2, a white LED light source 100 using a phosphor according to the related art includes a frame 120 and a blue LED 110 that is mounted in the frame 120 and buried in a high molecular material, such as, for example, a polymer resin. A phosphor 10, for example, a YAG-based phosphor radiating yellow light (whose wavelength is about 560 nm) is contained in the high molecular material. As a result, blue light 20 emitted from the blue LED 110, which is a nitride-based semiconductor device, is partially absorbed by the YAG-based phosphor 10 which is in turn excited to emit yellow light. The blue light and the yellow light are mixed to produce white light 40. This method has advantages, such as low costs and a simple power circuit, but suffers from a low emission efficiency. Further, blue light 20 and yellow light 20 both have broad wavelength intervals, and this may cause color separation so that strobbing may be prone to occur. Accordingly, it is difficult to mass produce white LEDs having the same color coordinates.

Member for backlight unit using quantum dots and method of manufacturing the same


RF device (1) able to generate an RF acceleration voltage in a synchrocyclotron. The device comprises a resonant cavity (2) formed by a grounded conducting enclosure (5) and enveloping a conducting pillar (3) to a first end of which an accelerating electrode (4) is linked. A rotary variable capacitor (10) is mounted in the conducting enclosure at a second end of the pillar, opposite from the first end, comprising at least one fixed electrode (stator) (11) and a rotor (13) exhibiting a rotation shaft (14) supported and guided in rotation by galvanically isolating bearings (20), said rotor (13) comprising one moveable electrode (12) possibly facing the stator (11). When the shaft (14) rotates, the stator and the moveable electrode together form a variable capacitance whose value varies cyclically with time. The rotor (13) is galvanically isolated from the conducting enclosure (5) and from the pillar (3). The stator (11) is connected to the second end of the pillar (3) or to the conducting enclosure (5). The rotor is respectively coupled capacitively to the conducting enclosure or to the pillar. This makes it possible to dispense with sliding electrical contacts between the rotor and respectively the conducting enclosure or the pillar.

One type of accelerator allowing the acceleration of high-energy particles is the cyclotron. The cyclotron accelerates charged particles—for example protons—moving in an axial magnetic field and along a spiral trajectory, by applying a radiofrequency alternating voltage (also called an RF voltage) to one or more acceleration electrodes (sometimes also called "dees") contained in a vacuum chamber. This RF voltage produces an accelerating electric field in the space which separates the dees, thereby making it possible to accelerate the charged particles.
As the particles accelerate, their mass increases because of the relativistic effects. Accelerated in a uniform magnetic field, the particles therefore shift progressively out of phase with respect to the radiofrequency accelerating electric field.
In practice, two techniques are used to compensate for this phase shift: the isochronous cyclotron and the synchrocyclotron.
In a synchrocyclotron, the intensity of the magnetic field decreases slightly with radius so as to ensure correct focusing of the beam, and the frequency of the RF voltage is progressively decreased so as to compensate for the relativistic gain in mass of the accelerated particles as the radius of their trajectory increases. In this case, the frequency of the RF voltage must therefore be modulated cyclically over time: it must decrease in a constant manner during an acceleration phase between the capture and the extraction of a packet of particles, and then it must increase rapidly so as to be able to accelerate the next packet, and so on and so forth in a cyclic manner for each packet of particles.
The RF device of a synchrocyclotron thus typically comprises an accelerating electrode linked by a transmission line to a variable capacitor (sometimes also called a "RotCo"). This assembly forms a resonating RLC circuit, whose resonant frequency will vary as a function of the value of the variable capacitor. This type of variable capacitor typically comprises a rotor having moveable electrodes and a stator having fixed electrodes. When the rotor is set rotating, the moveable electrodes position themselves in a cyclic manner facing the fixed electrodes, thereby producing a cyclic variation of the capacitance as a function of time.
Such RF devices are for example known from patents GB655271 and WO2009073480 which fairly briefly disclose a Rotco.
K. A. Bajcher et al. of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna have pondered various problems related to this known design of Rotcos (K. A. Bajcher, V. I. Danilov, I. B. Enchevich, B. N. Marchenko, I. Kh. Nozdrin and G. I. Selivanov: Improvement in the operational reliability of the 680 MeV synchrocyclotron as a result of the modernisation of its RF system, Report 9-6218, Dubna, 1972).
One of the problems that they mention is the degradation of the sliding electrical contacts between the rotor and the conducting enclosure, possibly leading to poor operation, or indeed to a complete breakdown of the RF device. Another problem, which is in fact one of the consequences of the degradation of these contacts, is the degradation by electro-corrosion of the bearings which support and guide, in rotation, the shaft of the rotor.
Mints et al., in "Radio-frequency system for the 680 MEV proton synchrocyclotron" (Institute for Nuclear Research, USSR, page 423, FIGS. 4 and 5) proposes an RF device in which an additional coaxial capacitor (reference 5) is placed electrically in parallel with the bearings so as to reduce the RF currents passing through said bearings. Each bearing is moreover protected by a bronze sliding contact between a fixed part and a moveable part of the bearing. These bearings nonetheless continuing to be traversed by high RF currents, this does not satisfactorily solve the problems mentioned hereinabove.
These problems are accentuated by the fact that the RF devices for synchrocyclotrons which are undergoing development are of higher power and that their Rotcos will have to be capable of conducting RF currents of possibly up to for example 1000 A, under voltages of possibly up to for example 18000 V. The rotor will also revolve at higher speeds of possibly up to for example 7000 revolutions per minute.
These problems are moreover still topical, as attested more recently by A. Garonna in his paper "Synchrocyclotron preliminary design for a dual hardontherapy center" (MOPEC 042, conference IPAC'10—May 2010—Kyoto Japan, page 554 "frequency modulation"—second paragraph). It is proposed therein to remedy the problems mentioned by utilizing electronic modulation of the RF frequency.


A particle detector includes: a conductive nanolayer; insulating nanolayers attached to both sides of the conductive nanolayer; a nanopore formed to penetrate the conductive nanolayer and the insulating nanolayers so as to provide a migration path for a sample particle; a power supply unit configured to apply an electric field between both ends of the nanopore so as to apply a potential to the conductive nanolayer; and an electric signal measuring unit electrically connected to the conductive nanolayer and configured to measure the potential change in the conductive nanolayer induced by the sample particle as the sample particle migrates through the nanopore. The particle detector is capable of detecting a particle with high signal-to-noise ratio and resolution, scanning a sample without mechanical motion of the conductive nanolayer and analyzing DNA base sequences.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a particle detector and a method for detecting a particle. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a particle detector and a method for detecting a particle based on nanopores, wherein a conductive nanolayer and nanopores are used, capable of detecting a particle with high signal-to-noise ratio and resolution and scanning a sample without mechanical movement of the conductive nanolayer.
2. Description of the Related Art
The most important performance indices in DNA (or RNA, hereinafter simply referred to as DNA) sequencing are read length and throughput. Recently, the direct DNA sequencing technique based on measurement of electrical current in nanopores or nanochannels is drawing attentions, because of its advantages of high spatial resolution, high throughput and theoretically unlimited read length.
The current measurement is performed axially or transversely. The axial current measurement is a method of measuring ionic current through the nanopores or nanochannels. Although the system configuration for the axial current measurement is relatively simple, deconvolution of signals is difficult because signals of a plurality of bases are obtained at once since the length of the nanopores or nanochannels is much longer than the distance between each DNA base, i.e. 0.33 nm. In the transverse current measurement, electrodes arranged perpendicularly to the nanopores or nanochannels are used to measure the change in tunneling current occurring as DNA passes between the electrodes. Although high spatial resolution can be achieved by the transverse current measurement, related procedures are relatively complicated.
Accordingly, for effective single-molecule DNA sequencing, development of an easier process and a highly sensitive detection system is necessary.

Nanopore molecule detection system and molecule detection method based on potential measurement of insulated conductive thin layer


In accordance with the purposes of the present invention as described herein, an improved acoustical, compressible, polymer fiber blanket of enhanced performance characteristics is provided. The polymer fiber blanket of the present invention is constructed of a plurality of individual pieces of polymer fiber blanket that have been bonded together via heat and pressure.

Acoustical insulation is well known in the art. Acoustical insulation typically relies upon both sound absorption, i.e. the ability to absorb incident sound waves, and transmission loss, i.e. the ability to reflect incident sound waves, in order to provide sound attenuation. One of the more prevalent uses of such insulation is in the motorized vehicle field where engine compartments, fire walls, fender wells, doors, floor pans and other components of the passenger compartment shell are commonly acoustically insulated to reduce engine and road noise for the benefit and comfort of passengers.
In the automotive undercarpet industry, it is important to prevent compression of the carpet surrounding the area on which a load, i.e., a passenger's feet, is placed. By preventing compression, acoustical and insulative properties to be maintained. Various methods of manufacturing or fabricating acoustical and thermal insulators are known in the art. Typically, an automotive carpet is placed over a cotton shoddy or a uniform polymer based mat. These undercarpets are typically produced by carding, garnetting or air laid systems known in the art. Examples of other methods and products are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,374, and U.S. publication Nos. 2003/0066708 A1 and 2003/0096079.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,374 teaches a carpet for vehicles that prevents the transmission of sound and vibration into a vehicle cabin. '374 teaches a rigid polyurethane sheet laid on a metal panel, such as that of a vehicle floor. The polyurethane sheet comprises an elastomeric rubber layer, which further comprises a plurality of incompressible, square blocks which are intermittently disposed between the rigid and elastomeric layers. The rigid blocks are arranged so as to not come into contact with one another.
U.S. Pub. No. 2003/0096079 A1 teach a sound attenuating laminate for use in vehicles including a substrate having opposite first and second surfaces formed of foam, massback, thermoformable fibrous material. A first surface is attached to a vehicle panel. A non-porous polyurethane layer is applied to either portions of or the entire substrate second surface. The laminate is formed by forming the substrate in the shape of the article to which it is to be applied and then spraying the polyurethane layer onto the substrate.
U.S. Pub. No. 2003/0066708 A1 teach a sound attenuating composite article for vehicles having several layers of material. The first layer is either fiber batting or acoustic foam, the second layer is a thermoplastic material fused to the surface of the first layer, the third layer is a thermoplastic material fused to the surface of the second layer, and the forth layer is a woven or nonwoven mixture of fibers attached to the third layer of material. The article is formed by providing the first layer and then extruding a second layer of thermoplastic material onto the first layer, compressing the first and second layers and then extruding a third layer of thermoplastic material onto the second layer. Scrim material is then attached to the third layer of thermoplastic material and then all four layers are compressed via nip rolls. Finally, the article is place in a heated mold and heated via infrared radiation.
In many acoustical insulation applications and particularly those relating to motorized vehicles, high compressive strength is advantageous, especially in vehicle carpet applications so that the acoustical properties are maintained. As demonstrated by these prior art patents, it has generally been found necessary to coat a uniform substrate with one or more layers of thermoplastic material. A need is therefore identified for an improved insulation providing enhanced acoustical properties while also exhibiting compression-recovery. There is also a need for a product that can be manufactured at a lower cost and reduces waste.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multidensity liner/insulator formed from multidimensional pieces of polymer fiber blanket insulation


According to one embodiment, a disk storage apparatus includes a disk having a storage area, a storage device storing management information, and a controller. The storage area includes a plurality of areas. The management information includes information indicative of a use priority or rank of each of the areas. The information indicative of the use priority or rank is set based on a quality index relating to a read operation or a write operation. The controller selects an area which is high in the use priority or rank and is usable, by referring to the management information, and executes the write operation on the selected area.

In recent years, with the expansion of computer networks, there has been an increasing demand for an increase in storage capacity for disk storage apparatuses typified by hard disk drives (HDDs). In particular, in the field of the Internet, for example, attention has been paid to a storage environment called "cold storage". The cold storage environment is an environment in which there is a high probability that data stored in the HDD is left as such, without being accessed. In such a storage environment, it is required to construct such an environment that a large capacity of data is stored with use of a HDD in which more importance is placed on storage capacity than on access performance.
For the construction of the storage environment in which importance is placed on storage capacity, it is necessary to increase the whole storage capacity on the disk in preference to access performance. In conventional HDDs, a storage area on the disk, at which a quality relating to access performance has degraded, is rendered non-usable, and a storage area, at which a high quality can be obtained, is used.

Disk storage apparatus and method for managing storage area


A stack of an interconnect-level dielectric material layer and a disposable dielectric material layer is patterned so that at least one recessed region is formed through the disposable dielectric material layer and in an upper portion of the interconnect-level dielectric material layer. A dielectric liner layer and a metallic liner layer is formed in the at least one recessed region. At least one photoresist is applied to fill the at least one recessed region and lithographically patterned to form via cavities and/or line cavities in the interconnect-level dielectric material layer. After removing the at least one photoresist, the at least one recessed region, the via cavities, and/or the line cavities are filled with at least one metallic material, which is subsequently planarized to form at least one planar resistor having a top surface that is coplanar with top surfaces of metal lines or metal vias.

The present disclosure relates to a metal structure embedded in a dielectric material layer, and particularly to a back-end-of-line (BEOL) resistor including a patterned metallic layer embedded in a dielectric material layer and methods of forming the same.
A resistor is a passive component integrated into many semiconductor circuits to provide various useful functions. Typically, resistors in semiconductor circuits are formed employing front-end-of-line (FEOL) processing steps, which are performed before formation of the lowest level contact via structures. For example, resistors can be formed by patterning a doped polysilicon film or a metal semiconductor alloy during FEOL processing steps, thereby providing "FEOL resistors."
Although a FEOL resistor tends to provide adequate functionality, each FEOL resistor also requires an area on a semiconductor substrate, which cannot be employed to form other semiconductor devices. Thus, unlike devices formed in BEOL levels, any area used up by an FEOL resistor cannot be employed for any other type of FEOL device such as field effect transistors, bipolar transistors, diodes, capacitors, etc.

Method of forming back-end-of-line planar resistor

International Business Machines Corporation


An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, a charging roller, a transfer roller, and a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to perform an alternating bias control. During the alternating bias control, the control circuit causes the charging roller and the transfer roller to rotate in accordance with a rotation of the photosensitive drum, and controls the charging roller to alternately turn off and on to a first bias of a predetermined polarity and the transfer roller to alternately turn off and on to a second bias of the predetermined polarity, such that at least a part of a region of the photosensitive drum biased by the first bias is not biased by the second bias, and that at least a part of a region of the photosensitive drum biased by the second bias is not biased by the first bias.

A photosensitive drum of an image forming apparatus deteriorates by discharge. Therefore, when image formation is not performed (hereinafter referred to as a "during non-image formation"), the discharge may not be performed. In this case, a surface potential of the photosensitive drum may become low, and thus a repulsive force between the photosensitive drum and residual toner on the photosensitive drum may decrease. When the photosensitive drum is driven and rotated in this state, a small object (hereinafter referred to as a "contaminant") on the photosensitive drum may pass through a cleaning blade and reach a charger. Thus, in the case of an image forming apparatus employing a contact-roller-type charging, the contaminant may adhere to a charging roller, and thus the charging roller may be contaminated. The contaminant referred to herein is, for example, paper powder and an external additive component included in residual toner.
A general method of removing the contaminant adhering to the charging roller is to remove the contaminant by causing a cleaning member such as a bristle brush to contact the charging roller. However, according to this method, the contaminant may enter minute unevenness on a surface of the charging roller. In addition, this method requires the cleaning member, which leads to cost increase.

Alternate bias control of charging roller and transfer roller in image forming apparatus


A valve prosthesis (10), comprising a stent (1), a leaflet (2), and a skirt (3); the stent (1) comprises an inflow end, an outflow end, and a plurality of wavy segments axially connected; the wavy segments comprise a plurality of reticular structure units disposed circumferentially; the leaflet (2) and the skirt (3) are fixed on the stent (1) respectively; the upper portion of the skirt (3) is provided with indentations (321); the skirt (3) is fixed with the leaflet (2) by means of the indentations (321); the skirt (3) further comprises first protrusion portions (323) extending toward the direction of the outflow end of the stent; one ends of the first protrusion portions (323) are connected with the indentations (321), and the other ends of the first protrusion portions are fixed to the stent (1); by such a way, the connection strength of the skirt (3) and the stent (1) is enhanced; and besides, when the valve prosthesis (10) is implanted at a lower position, perivalvular leakage preventing height can be increased by means of the first protrusion portions (323), thereby avoiding the leakage of a part of blood from the stent (1) and further improving the perivalvular leakage preventing effect.

With the prolongation of human lives and the aging of population, the incidence of valvular diseases has been continuously increasing. According to foreign report, in European and American countries, 2%-7% of people aged over 65 have valvular disease which ranks the third and is next to the coronary heart disease and hypertension. Thousands of patients benefit from surgical valve replacement every year. However, even in developed countries, there are still a large number of patients with severe valvular disease that cannot receive the surgical treatment due to many reasons including late disease stages, advanced ages and various complications. The advent of transcatheter valve prostheses, as well as the increasing improvement of their performance, has undoubtedly brought good news to these patients, providing an effective therapeutic method.
Studies have shown that this new technique is safe and effective for patients being unable to receive the surgical valve replacement or having a high risk in surgical valve replacement. By contrast to the surgical operation, transcatheter valve replacement does not require sternotomy and extracorporeal circulation support, and is an easily accepted treatment having minimal invasion, less complications, quick postoperative recovery and less patient pain.
After continuous evolution, there have been several transcatheter valve prostheses applied to clinical practice. However, these existing products still have some drawbacks and imperfections.

SHANGHAI MICROPORT CARDIOFLOW MEDTECH CO., LTD.


A container (1) for drink is provided with a top (2) and with an outlet (4) that is located at the top and is connected to a flexible dispensing line (5), the container having a chamber (32) at the top in which the dispensing line (5) is accommodated. The dispensing line (5) is provided at its outlet end (6) with a grip element (30) that is located in or close to a cut-out (35) in the peripheral wall. By positioning the flexible tube in the chamber this tube can be hygienically protected from the environment during storage and transport of the container and mechanical damage thereto is prevented, whilst easy handling remains possible. The chamber (32) can be closed by a lid (52).

The invention relates to a container for drink provided with a top and with an outlet that is located at the top and is connected to a flexible dispensing line, the container having a chamber at the top in which the dispensing line is accommodated.
A container of this type is disclosed in International patent application Ser. No. WO 99/11563. In the case of the known container the flexible line is accommodated inside a cap that is fitted over an upper end face of the container. The container can have a plastic outer jacket with an internal flexible bag, containing a carbonated drink, such as beer. The container is placed in a closable chill chamber of a drink dispensing device and connected to a pressure line which feeds a pressure medium into the space between the flexible bag and the outer jacket. The flexible dispensing line is fed through a dispensing tap at the top of the chill chamber, which dispensing tap is in clamping engagement on the tube in order to close this off and releases the dispensing line by operation of a tap handle. On placing the container in the chill chamber a break seal at the top of the cap can be removed and the dispensing line can be removed from the cap in order to connect the outlet to the dispensing tap.
One disadvantage of the known container is that access to the dispenser tube via the opening in the cap is relatively difficult for the user. Furthermore, positioning of the end of the tube in the dispensing tap of the dispensing device is relatively difficult.

Container for drink provided with a chamber containing a flexible dispensing line


A new and distinct cultivar of Corylus plant named ‘Red Dragon,’ characterized by its outwardly spreading plant habit, twisting stems, rich dark burgundy-colored leaves, burgundy color of the catkins and leaf buds, and resistance to eastern filbert blight caused by the fungus Anisogramma anomala (Peck) E. Muller.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Corylus plant (hazelnut, filbert), botanically known as Corylus avellana, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Red Dragon'.
The new Corylus resulted from a controlled cross of female parent OSU 487.055 and male parent OSU 367.039 made in 1997 by Shawn A. Mehlenbacher and David C. Smith. Neither parent was protected by a plant patent. Hybrid seeds from the cross were harvested in August 1997, stratified, and seedlings grown in the greenhouse during the summer of 1998. From this cross, 42 seedlings with contorted growth habit were planted in the field in October 1998. 'Red Dragon' was discovered and selected by the inventors as a single plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Corvallis, Oreg., USA. It was originally assigned the designation OSU 897.078, which indicates the row and tree location of the original seedling.
The female parent OSU 487.055 is from a cross of 'Contorta'×VR 6-28 (which is a cross of 'Riccia di Talanico'בGasaway'), and the male parent OSU 367.039 is a red-leaf selection from open-pollination of 'Contorta.' The presumed pollen parent of OSU 367.039 is the red leaf cultivar 'Rode Zeller' (syn. 'Rote Zellernuss'), which has a dominant allele at the leaf anthocyanin locus. A tree of 'Rode Zeller' was near the 'Contorta' tree from which open-pollinated nuts were collected. 'Red Dragon' and OSU 487.055 carry in heterozygous state a dominant allele for complete resistance to eastern filbert blight (EFB) from 'Gasaway.' Contorted growth habit is conferred by a recessive allele from 'Contorta' (syn. Corylus avellana var. contorta).
The new cultivar was asexually reproduced by rooted suckers (tie-off layerage of the suckers) annually for three years (2003–2005) in Corvallis, Oreg. and harvested in late November to early January. The layers of 'Red Dragon' were moderately vigorous, and rooted with a higher frequency and produced more roots than most other contorted selections. Asexual reproduction was also performed by whip grafting in Corvallis, Oreg. in late spring 2004. 'Red Dragon' has been grafted on each of four rootstocks, namely: 'Barcelona,' 'Mortarella,' 'Dundee,' and 'Newberg.' 'Red Dragon' is also suitable for propagation by micropropagation. The unique features of this new Corylus are stable and reproduced true-to-type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

The State of Oregon, Acting By and Through the State Board of Higher Education; Oregon State Univ


The present invention provides a catalytic composition for use in an oxidation-reduction process for effecting the catalytic oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in gas strains comprising a water soluble iron compound, a mixture of two chelating agents, comprising Na2EDTA and Na4EDTA, and at least one stabilizer. Further the present invention provides a process for preparing the catalytic composition according to the invention, said composition being advantageous in effecting the catalytic oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in gas strains, comprising the steps of preparing a mixture of a water soluble iron compound and a stabilizing agent in an aqueous system, while the pH of the system is pH ≦2, adding a mixture of two chelating agents I and II, whereas both of the chelating agents are amine chelating agents to the mixture of the water soluble iron compound and a stabilizing agent, adding sufficient aqueous amine chelating agent II to this combined mixture to adjust a pH of 7 to 10, and heating this mixture of to get the desired concentration of chelated iron in the mixture. Therefore, the procedure of the present invention provides an alkaline aqueous chelated iron solution useful in oxidation-reduction processes for effecting the catalytic oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in gas strains and provides, as mentioned before, (1) no foaming and no sludge, (2) a minimum decomposition of the chelant during the reaction, (3) a homogeneous and very concentrated catalytic iron chelate reagent with a possible iron concentration of >40 wt % and (4) a minimum rate of absorption of CO2 into the solution and maximum rate of stripping of CO2 by air bubbling.

The use of polyvalent metal chelates in general, and of iron chelates in particular, is well known for the removal of H2S from sour gas or liquid streams. According to such oxidation-reduction processes hydrogen sulfide gas is removed from a gaseous fluid stream by a continuous catalytic oxidation-reduction system utilizing a ferric iron chelate to catalytically oxidize the hydrogen sulfide and recover elemental sulfur. That is, hydrogen sulfide is converted to elemental sulfur and the ferric chelate is reduced to the ferrous state. The ferrous chelate is subsequently oxidized again to the ferric state to continuously regenerate the ferric iron chelate catalyst.
However, chelating agents on basis of polyamino-poly-acids do not show satisfactory results because they do not operate efficiently at the high pH levels which are required to obtain good absorption of hydrogen sulfide and permit loss of iron as a precipitate of ferric hydroxide and/or ferrous sulfide from the reaction solution. Furthermore, it is generally necessary to add, for example, alkaline metal salts to the system to maintain the operating solution at the desired high pH. This means that there will be a pH value within the operating solution, which exceeds the pH level at which EDTA per Fe is effective. As a result, iron precipitates during the preparation of the solution. Still further, if a base, such as sodium carbonate, is added to a hot iron-EDTA chelate solution, it leads to the formation of foam due to undesired side reactions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,342 discloses a method for preparing an stabilizing iron chelate for use in a scrubbing solution or removing hydrogen sulfide from a gas stream, at a pH of between 5.5 and 13, by combination of two chelate agents such as polyamino polycarbonic acids and of polyhydroxy compounds. During the preparation of the concentrated iron chelate solution, tetrasodium EDTA (Na4EDTA) having a pH of between 11.5 to 13 (as a 5% aqueous solution), is added to a concentrated iron salt solution to form a concentrated iron chelate solution suited for economical transport, storage and make-up in a practical commercial operation. Results show that using this method, some of the iron precipitates, while preparing concentrated solution.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,364,871 and 3,767,689, shows that while using methods for preparing aqueous solutions of iron chelates of aminopolycarboxylic acids, the attempts to oxidize the ferrous state to the ferric state by bubbling air through the reaction mixture during the reaction at elevated temperatures apparently decomposes the aminopolycarboxylic acid. That results in the decrease of the amount of free EDTA present in the reaction mixture due to degradation of EDTA during the heat cycle.
In most of the waste streams, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide is relatively low, namely in the order of a few parts per million (ppm) to a few percent. The concentration of carbon dioxide, on the other hand, is relatively higher, in the order of some percent and even up to about 98 percents. If carbon dioxide is present during the operation of the system and treatment of the gas stream, the pH of the solution decreases rapidly in the absorber column due to the absorption of carbon dioxide in the reaction solution. In turn, when the gas stream contacts the ferric iron chelate to oxidize the hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur by formation of the ferrous state, the pH value of solution returns slowly to its initial state in the oxidizer zone wherein the ferrous ions are formed and are continuously oxidized to ferric ions, resulting from contact with oxygen.
There is a need in the art for a catalytic composition (and methods of preparation thereof) for removing hydrogen sulfide from a gaseous fluid stream which avoids the above mentioned difficulties.

Catalytic composition for oxidation of hydrogen sulfide, and methods for preparation thereof

Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI)


An air conditioner includes: an air passage extending from a suction port to a blowout port, a heat exchanger at the upstream side of the air passage, a cross flow fan in the air passage on the downstream side of the heat exchanger, and an air passage wall provided in a downstream area of the cross flow fan to reach the blowout port. A restricting section that restricts an air passage sectional area is provided at a corner section of the side wall of the air passage wall. The restricting section has a shape by which the air passage sectional area has a rectangular cross section expanding from the upstream side to the downstream side and is restricted to reduce an enlargement ratio of the air passage sectional area. Further, the restricting section has a smooth restricting surface crossing the corner section of the cross section of the air passage.

In a recent energy saving trend, there has been an increasing demand for improving the performance of an air blower of an air conditioner. The performance of an air blower is enhanced by improving the flow characteristic of the air passage in which the air blower is arranged, and by reducing the noise level.
In order to respond to the demand, in the conventional air conditioner, the performance of the air blower is improved by expanding the suction port of the air passage and by increasing the minimum distance between the stabilizer and the rear guider which are respectively arranged on the front and rear sides of the cross flow fan configuring the air blower.
However, with such means, the performance of the air blower can be improved, but the air blower becomes a low static pressure type. For this reason, there is a problem that, when a large amount of dust and dirt adhere to the air filter arranged at the suction port in actual use, that is, during high dust load, the amount of air blown out from the blowout port is not stabilized, and thereby the air flow characteristics are deteriorated.
Further, the air conditioner provided with the cross flow fan has a characteristic that, when a load is applied to the cross flow fan, in the vicinity of the side wall of each of the left and right ends of the blowout port, the flow of blown out air tends to become unstable due to the influence of the resistance of the side wall, and to generate abnormal "flapping" sound which also becomes the cause of the noise.
In order to solve the above described problem, Patent Literature 1 proposes a structure in which a protrusion is formed to extend in the vicinity of the side wall of each of the left and right end sections of the blowout port, and thereby the peeled flow of air blown out along the rear guider is smoothed so as to reduce noise.
Further, Patent Literature 1 proposes another form that is configured to reduce noise in such a manner that a protrusion having a two-stage level difference along the air flow direction of the air passage is provided at each of the side walls in the downstream area of the cross flow fan, and thereby the width of the air passage sectional area, which is expanded in the rotating shaft direction of the cross flow fan from the upstream side to the downstream side of air flow, is reduced by the two-stage level difference, so as to reduce the variation components of the air passage in the rotating shaft direction to smooth the flow of blown out air.


The present invention relates to a possibility to localize a telecommunications terminal over a local area network. More specifically, the invention provides a method for associating a port number of a powering equipment to which will be connected a telecommunications terminal with some identification characteristics of said telecommunications terminal. Furthermore, it provides a telecommunications terminal to be connected to a local area network while being localized when remotely powered. It provides also a supervisor engine like a server connected to a local area network and collecting identification characteristics of a telecommunications terminal for its localization over said local area network.

There is a need, in particular for enhanced emergency services (911 in the US, 112 in Europe) to provide a geographical localization information about the device from where an emergency call has been initiated. For devices connected to a Local Area Network LAN, like an Internet Protocol IP based telecommunications terminal e.g. an IP phone, or IP wireless base station, there exists specific protocol like Simple Network Management Protocol SNMP to centralize some information about that devices. Usually, some data collection mechanism about all the network devices will run on some management. An update of any change of some status of these devices on the network can be obtained. The type of information a device can provide to the management will depend on the Management Information Bases MIB that are supported by that device.
A device supports a MIB if the device is capable of supplying the type of information defined in the objects specified in the MIB. Most devices can provide the type information defined in the objects specified in certain standard MIBs, known as MIB I and MIB II. The format and layout of MIB II is specified in Request for Comments RFC 1213. Additional standard MIBs have been defined for information types not covered in MIB I and MIB II, and new MIBs are being developed on an ongoing basis. However, support for these standard MIBs varies from device to device. A device may only support a subset of their own proprietary MIBs, and many devices operate in more than one mode.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,639 is disclosed a method of collecting information about a device in a network for storage in a database. It is based on a regular mapping of some device type identifier to a plurality of information sets associated with that identifier. It implies a transfer of a non negligible amount of data particularly in nowadays LAN to which a high number of devices like IP telecommunications terminal will be connected.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,753 is disclosed a test instrument for testing a LAN. This test instrument once connected to that LAN, will conduct a segment discovery test in which the network devices are analyzed to detect local hosts, switches, routers, bridges and other devices, and further determine addressing information such as IP addresses, MAC addresses. A data base of these addresses of the various devices can be compiled. The type of reports chosen depend on the contents of the set of available MIBs as well as the particular ports selected for analysis. A switch typically has ports as listed according to the bridge MIB and also has interfaces which correspond to ports but may also include the backplane and SNMP agents. If the bridge MIB is available from the switch, the test instrument can obtain a list of MAC addresses of devices attached to any port. These MAC addresses are then matched by port against the data base to obtain the report of IP and MAC addresses and device names by port.
But this method cannot be applied for emergency application concerning telecommunications terminals like IP phones since MAC address does not provide any information about the physical port usually RJ45 plug to which they are connected to that LAN. And a localization of a device will only be possible if to each MAC addresses of a device connected to the LAN can be affected with certainty a corresponding valid port number. This problem appears to be crucial in this context since the user of telecommunications terminals to be connected to a LAN will be even encourage to relocate its device according to its need anywhere over the LAN infrastructure. Such advantage of the use of e.g. an IP phone will be to much restricted if it is contingent by some specific registration each time such telecommunications terminal is relocated over the LAN.

Localization of an IP telecommunications terminal over a LAN


Auto-gain correction in a precision amplifier provides continuous calibration of the gain of the two differential input stages relative to each other and thus significantly minimizes the effects of device mismatch and temperature. Auto-gain correction together with auto-zero minimizes the effects of common mode input voltage on the amplifier and eliminates the need for trim associated with the matching of the two differential input stages. Improved gain matching enhances the accuracy of the auto-zero, which further improves the accuracy of auto-gain correction, resulting in a synergy with both operating together. The implementation of the auto-zero using an input pair of series capacitors in conjunction with a common input reference and a feedback pair of series capacitors in conjunction with a common feedback reference provides for decoupling the common mode voltage of the input differential pair or feedback differential pair. Various features may be used in sub-combinations as desired.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of precision instrumentation amplifiers that provide high gain accuracy and low input offset.
2. Prior Art
The accuracy of the DC output of a linear amplifier is subject to the physical imperfections of the individual devices comprising the amplifier. The errors caused by the imperfections are Input-Offset (VOS) and Gain Error (GE). The amplifier output (VO) is the algebraic sum of the amplifier Input (VI) and Input-Offset times the amplifier Gain (GA). The Input-Offset of the amplifier is the input required for a zero output. In practice the amplifier input offset is determined from the output of the amplifier for a zero input divided by the gain of the amplifier.VO=GA*(VOS+VI)VO=GA*VOS for VI=0or VOS=VO/GA for VI=0
Generally, an instrumentation amplifier has two differential input stages with low input bias currents. FIG. 1 shows one form of an instrumentation amplifier with differential inputs INP and INN, and output VO with output reference VREF, and with 2 gain setting resistors R1 and R2. The first differential input stage (GM1) is the amplifier input path (INP & INN), the second differential input stage (GM2) is functionally identical to GM1 and is the feedback path which takes a fraction of the amplifier output (VFB−VREF) and feeds it back. These two differential inputs are then subtracted to determine an error. The output stage (GM3) adjusts the output voltage VO to try to force the error to zero, which results in the amplifier differential input and the feedback differential input being equal. If GM1 and GM2 are identical and the feedback error is zero, the ratio of the output to the feedback input is equal to the ratio of the total resistance to the feedback resistance, which is the gain of the instrumentation amplifier.
In an integrated circuit, input offsets are a result of minor defects and minor device mismatches in amplifier gain stages. Methods for obtaining extremely low input offsets have been well understood and used for many years prior to the development of monolithic integrated circuits. These methods usually involve some form of or combination of chopper amplifier, chopper stabilization and auto-zero. These techniques are very amenable to semiconductor fabrication, are effective over a very wide temperature range, eliminate the need for offset trimming and lower the overall cost of production.
Conversely, methods to obtain gain accuracy have usually required the need for trimming, and usually do not obtain gain accuracy over a wide temperature range or a wide input common mode voltage range, where the input common mode voltage is the average of the two differential inputs relative to a common ground.
The lack of gain accuracy is referred to as Gain-Error (GE). One source of Gain Error involves the accuracy of the feedback. A resistor divider network in the output path usually determines the feedback differential input. The relative accuracy of this resistor divider ratio limits the gain accuracy of the amplifier. Semiconductor techniques of resistor matching and resistor trimming allow for very accurate control of resistor divider ratios over wide temperature ranges, which in turn are very effective in minimizing the adverse impact of resistor divider ratios on gain accuracy.
The other source of gain error is the relative lack of matching of the two differential input stages of the instrumentation amplifier. These two input stages take the differential voltage at their inputs and each creates an output that will be differenced with the output of the other input stage to generate an error signal. The outputs of these input stages may be a current or a voltage, but in either case if these input stages are not identically matched, there will be a resulting gain error. Here again, trimming has been used to improve the matching of the two differential input stages. There are severe limitations to the effectiveness of trimming because the source of mismatch is not from resistors but from active semiconductor devices operating over widely differing common mode input voltage conditions and over wide temperature ranges.
FIG. 2 is an example of a chopper-stabilized instrumentation amplifier. The upper circuit path is a continuous, high-speed instrumentation amplifier, and constitutes the main amplifier. Continuous here implies that the amplifier is a linear, continuous time architecture and that there is no interruption to the signal flow. The circles at the non-inverting inputs with the label VOS represent the fact that the amplifiers are not perfect and have a finite input offset. Only one input offset VOS is shown in each amplifier, even though the amplifier may have two parallel input stages, the VOS shown being the net difference between the two differential inputs. The lower circuit path is the chopper correction path. The blocks with the X represent the choppers that are simply series switches which during one half the chopper period are connected from the input straight across to the output, and during the other half of the chopper period are connected diagonally across. The amplifier between the chopper blocks is an instrumentation amplifier that outputs a differential current proportional to the difference between the two pairs of differential input voltages. The amplifier block with the capacitors connected from output to input is used as an integrator, and integrates the differential current from the chopped instrumentation amplifier output. The output of the integrator is a differential voltage and the amplifier stage to the right of the integrator is a simple V to I (i.e., voltage to current or transconductance) conversion stage which outputs a differential current proportional to the differential voltage at the integrator output. This differential current is the correction current which is applied to the main amplifier.
The main amplifier is high bandwidth and dominates the amplifier output at high frequencies while the correction current from the chopper path dominates at low frequencies due to the error integrator in the chopper path. Offsets are extremely low frequency effects and are thus minimized by the chopper path.
The chopper-stabilized amplifier is well established in practice, and in professional and patent literature. For more recent developments, see for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 7,132,883, entitled "Chopper Chopper-Stabilized Instrumentation and Operational Amplifiers", and U.S. Pat. No. 7,209,000, entitled "Frequency Stabilization of Chopper-Stabilized Amplifiers", both of which are assigned to Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. In general, the chopper frequency selected will be dependent on many parameters in the design and application. A typical frequency might be 10 kHz to 50 kHz.
The imperfections of the instrumentation amplifier between choppers resulting in input offset errors are represented by the circles with VOS at the non-inverting inputs. The result of proper application of chopping is to reduce the effect of the input offsets by several orders of magnitude. Thus the chopper path is the low offset path and the output of the chopped instrumentation amplifier is integrated (i.e., error is continuously accumulated) providing correction to the main instrumentation amplifier. Once the two differential inputs of the chopped instrumentation amplifier are equal the differential output current is zero and the integrator maintains that value as the correction.

Auto-gain correction and common mode voltage cancellation in a precision amplifier


There is provided a sample preconcentrator. The sample preconcentrator in which a sample gas injection port is coupled to a dried gas supply source and a gas analysis system to concentrate a sample gas comprises a sample concentrating unit containing an absorbent that is composed of carbon nanotube-metal nanocomplex; a conduit switching valve for selectively coupling the sample gas injection port to the dried gas supply source and the gas analysis system and controlling the absorption and desorption of the sample gas from the sample concentrating unit; and a plurality of conduits for connecting the sample gas injection port, the dried gas supply source, the gas analysis system, the sample concentrating unit and the conduit switching valve.

Gas sensors have been widely used in the field of applications such as industrial safeties, environmental monitoring systems, food industries, medical services and other fields. A kind of gas sensors that senses only certain gases were mainly used in the prior art, but electronic nose technologies where gas sensors are configured in an array pattern to sense a pattern of responses to smells and odors have developed in recent years.
In order to analyze gas samples, for example, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by using the gas above-mentioned analysis systems such as a gas sensor, an electronic nose and gas chromatography, it is necessary to require a sample preconcentrator which can absorb and desorb the gas samples.
As one example of the sample preconcentrator, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0059364 discloses a preconcentrator for absorbing and desorbing gases using an absorbent that is composed of carbon nanotubes, and a method for fabricating the same.
More particularly, the absorbent disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0059364 is formed by directly growing carbon nanotubes on electrodes. However, the preconcentrator has problems in that it is impossible to exactly measure the gas flow rate due to the pressure drop caused by the compact growth of carbon nanotubes, and it is difficult to concentrate a variety of mixed gases to a suitable concentration since the very low growth density results in small adsorption capacity of the carbon nanotubes.
As another example of the sample preconcentrator, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0061629 discloses a sample preconcentrator having the ability of removing water vapor.
The sample preconcentrator disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0061629 includes a sample concentrating unit that has the similar configuration to the most standardized type of the conventional gas absorbing/desorbing unit [see C. J. Lu and E. T. Zellers, Analyst, Vol. 127, pp 1061-1068, 2002], where a solid absorbent, for example, Tenax or Carbotrap, which has generally been used since it has the lower absorption efficiency than other absorbents but shows the low affinity to water, which leads to a decrease in the side effects caused by water moisture, has been used as the absorbent in the sample concentrating unit, and the preconcentrator is further provided with a moisture removing unit to couple a gas sensor to the rear end of the sample preconcentrator.
Here, the sample concentrating unit serves to concentrate a sample and primarily remove water moisture, and the moisture removing unit serves to secondarily remove water moisture. In order to completely remove the water moisture, the moisture removing unit uses an absorbent, for example silica beads, which can selectively absorb water as one of the polar molecules.
As another example of the sample preconcentrator, U.S. Pat. No. 7,430,928 discloses "Method and Apparatus for Concentrating Vapors for Analysis."
In the U.S. patent, the sample concentrating unit is configured by filling the inner part of porous metal foam, which is made of nickel, with an absorbent which may absorb volatile organic compounds, and fixing the metal foam and the absorbent with a wire mesh screen. Here, the porous metal foam serves to carry out the effective heat transfer of the absorbent.
However, the metal foam has a problem in that since it is very difficult to form pores of uniform size, the absorbent which the pores are filled are not uniformly distributed, and the pores which may be formed in the metal foam have a very limited pore size.
Meanwhile, in addition to the carbon nanotube and the 2,6-diphenylene oxide porous polymer-type Tenax, the volatile organic compound absorbent, which may be used, includes graphitized carbon-type Carbopack, carbon molecular sieve-type Carbosieve, Carbopack, Carboxen, etc. However, the above-mentioned absorbents have their limits in effectively concentrating a trace of volatile organic compounds.