A high-voltage generation apparatus raises, when switching from a state where a voltage having a predetermined polarity is output to a state where a voltage having a polarity opposite to the predetermined polarity is output, the voltage having the predetermined polarity in change amounts corresponding to the voltage having the predetermined polarity and a target voltage having the opposite polarity in a transient-state period elapsed until the voltage reaches the target voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-voltage generation apparatus, and more particularly, to a high-voltage generation apparatus capable of raising the high voltage to a target voltage at high speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus, a configuration including a photosensitive drum serving as an image bearing member for forming an image to increase a print speed for each color (also referred to as a tandem type color image forming apparatus) has been mainstream. In the tandem type color image forming apparatus, a color misregistration detection pattern image and a density detection pattern image are formed on an intermediate transfer belt, for example, and an optical sensor detects light reflected from a patch image, to perform color misregistration correction and density correction (the corrections are also referred to as calibrations) based on a detection result. The calibrations are mainly executed at timing, for example, at the time of replacement of a cartridge including a photosensitive drum, at the time of power application, and after a lapse of a predetermined time. The color misregistration detection pattern image and the density detection pattern image are together merely referred to as a patch image.
In the color image forming apparatus, when image formation is continuously performed (hereinafter also referred to as "continuous printing is performed") on a plurality of recording materials, a temperature in the apparatus rises. This rise in temperature causes the recording materials to be deformed or distorted due to effects of rises in temperature of a scanning optical unit for forming a latent image on a photosensitive drum and components in the unit so that a color misregistration amount of the image may be increased. A rise in temperature of the photosensitive drum by continuous image formation causes an image formation condition to change so that a density of the image may vary. In order to reduce a color misregistration and a density variation due to the rises in temperature, the calibrations may be executed when the rise in temperature is monitored to enter a predetermined condition even in the continuous image formation. However, an image forming operation is temporarily interrupted due to the calibrations during the continuous printing, resulting in significantly reduced productivity.
A technique for sequentially executing calibrations to correct a color misregistration and a density while performing continuous printing without reducing productivity during the continuous printing has been proposed. For example, there is a method for forming and detecting a patch image a plurality of times for each color in a non-image formation area between a trailing edge of an image and a leading edge of the subsequent image (also referred to as between images or between sheets). Thus, density control can be performed without temporarily interrupting image formation. The patch image formed in the non-image formation area between sheets is recovered by a similar cleaning mechanism to that during recovery of toner remaining on a transfer belt, e.g., a cleaning blade that abuts on the transfer belt. An apparatus using an electrostatic transfer belt as the transfer belt can clean the patch image without any difficulty. However, in an intermediate transfer belt type apparatus, a nip portion between a secondary transfer roller and an intermediate transfer belt is arranged upstream in a toner image conveyance direction of the cleaning blade. More specifically, the patch image adheres to the secondary transfer roller, and adheres to the back of a recording material that then passes through the nip portion so that the back of the recording material may be smudged. In the intermediate transfer belt type apparatus, a method for instantaneously switching a secondary transfer bias to a negative bias according to timing at which the non-image formation area passes through the nip portion to prevent the back of the recording material from being smudged is required. A circuit for outputting the secondary transfer bias is a circuit giving priority to stability during steady output. Times required to raise and lower a high voltage are approximately 50 ms to 100 ms.
In order to increase the speed of the color image forming apparatus, to form a patch image between sheets without reducing productivity, an electrical technique for applying a bias having a polarity opposite to that of a bias in an image formation area in a short time is required. More specifically, the above-mentioned times required for rise and fall are required to be further shortened. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-58510 discusses a technique for shortening a time required for fall in a configuration in which high-voltage power sources having a positive polarity and a negative polarity are provided, and are respectively turned off and turned on according to timing at which a patch image passes through a transfer nip portion. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-58510, a capacitor for rectifying and smoothing an alternating-current (AC) voltage output from a transformer for a positive bias and an electric charge charged in a capacitance of a load unit are drawn into a power source for a negative bias so that a voltage level is rapidly reduced. As a result, a time required to fall for switching an output of a high-voltage bias from a positive polarity to a negative polarity is shortened to approximately 10 ms to 20 ms (see FIG. 4 in Japanese Patent Application laid-Open No. 2008-58510). Even if a time between sheets becomes short, therefore, an output of a transfer bias can be switched to a negative polarity within a time elapsed since a trailing edge of a recording material passes through the transfer nip portion until the recording material reaches a leading edge of the patch image.
As an example in which a high voltage is raised at high speed, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-93920 discusses a technique for comparing a detected voltage of a voltage detection circuit with a second reference voltage slightly lower than a reference voltage, to slowly control a rate of charging a capacitor serving as a load when the detected voltage of the voltage detection circuit exceeds the second reference voltage. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-93920, a fast charging area, a slow charging area, and a maintenance charging area are provided in this order from the time of startup. After the start of the startup, a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal is rapidly raised by increasing its value (a time width of a high-level pulse out of high-level and low-level pulses of the PWM signal; hereinafter referred to as an on-duty width) so that an ON time of the PWM signal becomes the maximum time width. When an output voltage, which reaches the second reference voltage (exemplified as approximately 90%), is detected, switching from the fast charging area to the slow charging area is performed. An integration circuit is provided on the input side of a circuit for generating a pulse of the PWM signal. The capacitor is rapidly charged in an early stage of the time of the startup, and is then slightly charged and discharged in the slow charging area and the maintenance charging area, to reduce an overshoot or an undershoot.
Even if a time required to lower a high voltage is shortened to approximately 10 ms to 20 ms when the high voltage is switched from a positive polarity to a negative polarity, as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-58510, when an image formation speed is further increased so that a time between sheets is further shortened, a time required to form a patch image becomes difficult to ensure. FIGS. 1A to 1C illustrate a relationship among the time between sheets, a time required to switch the high voltage, and an operation for forming the patch image. A time during which the patch image can be formed in a non-image formation area between sheets is a time obtained by subtracting [a time required to raise a secondary transfer bias plus a time required to lower the secondary transfer bias] from a non-image formation time. When the time between sheets is further shortened, a ratio of the times required to raise and lower the secondary transfer bias to the non-image formation time is increased. Therefore, there is almost no time required to form the patch image, as illustrated in FIG. 1A. In order to ensure a time required to form the patch image, the time between sheets may be lengthened, as illustrated in FIG. 1B. However, a time required to detect both a color misregistration amount and a density between sheets, i.e., [a time required to form the patch image plus a time required to lower the high voltage plus a time required to raise the high voltage] is ensured so that a time between sheets is significantly lengthened, resulting in reduced productivity. When the time between sheets is further shortened, therefore, a startup capability of the high-voltage generation apparatus (hereinafter described as a capability representing the magnitude of a voltage for raising a potential at a load output unit per unit time) is further required to be rapidly improved to switch a polarity of a high-voltage output unit at high speed, as illustrated in FIG. 1C.
An issue occurring in the high-voltage generation apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-93920 as another example will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. A waveform up illustrated in FIG. 2A is an example of a waveform of a positive-polarity bias raised toward a target voltage of +2 kV, for example, using the high-voltage generation apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-93920. On the other hand, waveforms βp1 and βp2 are examples of a waveform generated when a load unit is charged with a negative potential having an opposite polarity before the high-voltage generation apparatus is started up. A time required for the startup is lengthened by an amount corresponding to a time required to discharge an electric charge charged at the negative potential. More specifically, a time required to switch a polarity of a bias at the time of transition from a non-image formation area to an image formation area, described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1C, is lengthened. FIG. 2B illustrates a case where a high-voltage generation circuit having a negative polarity is used. A waveform αn is an example of a waveform of a negative-polarity bias raised toward a target voltage of −2 kV. On the other hand, waveforms βn1 and βn2 are examples of a waveform generated when a load unit is charged with a positive potential having an opposite polarity before the high-voltage generation apparatus is started up. A time required for the startup (a time elapsed until a potential is lowered so that its polarity is changed to a negative polarity) is lengthened by an amount corresponding to a time required to discharge an electric charge charged at the positive potential.


An oscillator circuit includes: oscillating transistors; a resonance circuit that includes varactor diodes each having a cathode to which a control voltage for controlling an oscillation frequency is applied and that is coupled between a collector and a base of each of the oscillating transistors; and a bias power supply that applies the bias voltages to the anodes of the varactor diodes. The bias voltages are given negative temperature characteristics, and a variation in the oscillation frequency caused by a change in the capacitance values of the varactor diodes due to a temperature variation is corrected by varying the bias voltages corresponding to the temperature variation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oscillator circuit used for local oscillation of, for example, a television tuner.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 4 shows an oscillator circuit 1 according to the related art that is used, for example, for a low or high band of a VHF television tuner. The oscillator circuit 1 includes first and second oscillating transistors 2 and 3 provided in an integrated circuit 20 and a resonance circuit 4 provided outside the integrated circuit 20. Emitters of the first and second oscillating transistors 2 and 3 are connected to each other and are connected to a constant current source 5. Further, a collector of the first oscillating transistor 2 is connected to a power supply terminal B of the integrated circuit 20, and a collector of the second oscillating transistor 3 is connected to the power supply terminal B through a feeding resistor 6. Furthermore, the collector of the first oscillating transistor 2 and the base of the second oscillating transistor 3 are respectively connected in a high-frequency wise to a common ground point in the integrated circuit 20 by a first DC cutting capacitor 7 and a second DC cutting capacitor 8 which are provided in the integrated circuit 20.
Therefore, the first and second oscillating transistors 2 and 3 are differentially connected to each other, and the base of the first oscillating transistor 2 and the collector of the second oscillating transistor 3 are similar to each other in phase.
The integrated circuit 20 is provided with a terminal 20a. Further, first and second coupling capacitors 9 and 10 are provided in the integrated circuit 20. The base of the first oscillating transistor 2 is connected to the terminal 20a through the first coupling capacitor 9, and the collector of the second oscillating transistor 3 is connected to the terminal 20a through the second coupling capacitor 10. The resonance circuit 4 has an inductance element 4a, a varactor diode 4b, etc. One end of the resonance circuit is connected to the terminal 20a, and the other end of the resonance circuit is grounded outside of the integrated circuit 20.
Therefore, the oscillator circuit 1 forms an unbalanced oscillator circuit. An oscillation frequency is set on the basis of a tuning voltage Tu to be applied to the varactor diode 4b (for example, see JP-A-2004-172934 (FIG. 1)).
The varactor diode 4b of the resonance circuit 4 has a capacitance value with a positive temperature coefficient. Therefore, the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit has a negative temperature coefficient so as to decrease as temperature rises. In particular, when the voltage between both ends of the varactor diode is low, the capacitance value increases, and thus the frequency varies over a wide range.

Oscillator circuit suppressing variation of oscillation frequency


An amplification circuit includes a semiconductor amplification element, a current feedback circuit that is connected to a terminal close to a ground side of the semiconductor amplification element and can control gain reduction, and a voltage feedback circuit that is connected between an input terminal and an output terminal of the semiconductor amplification element and can control feedback voltage. The feedback voltage of the voltage feedback circuit may be varied according to the gain reduction controlled by the current feedback circuit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an amplification circuit amplifying a high-frequency signal.
2. Related Art
In known amplification circuit amplifying a high-frequency signal, a circuit that controls current feedback by varying resistance of a source of an FET is a semiconductor amplification element. For example, such an amplification circuit is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-270643. As shown in FIG. 3, the amplification circuit includes a pair of amplifying FETs 42 and 43 to which input signals are input, a current feedback circuit 45 provided between sources of the pair of amplifying FETs 42 and 43, and voltage feedback circuits 46 and 47 provided between drains and gates of the amplifying FETs 42 and 43. Constant current circuits 48 and 49 are connected between the ground and the sources of the amplifying FETs 42 and 43, and current flowing in the amplifying FETs 42 and 43 is constantly controlled by the constant current circuits 48 and 49.
The current feedback circuit 45 is configured by subsequently connecting, in three stages, a plurality of serial circuits in which two fixed resistors and a switching FET are serially connected. Gates of switching FETs 51, 52, and 53 of the serial circuits are connected to a control circuit 55. Any one of the switching FETs 51, 52, and 53 is turned on by a control of the control circuit 55, and thus a plurality of fixed resistors R21 to R26 is selectively connected in series, thereby varying a resistance value of current feedback resistors of the pair of amplifying FETs 42 and 43.
The voltage feedback circuits 46 and 47 include fixed resistors R27 and R28 provided between the drains and the gates of the amplifying FETs 42 and 43, respectively, and negatively feed a part of output signals back to the input side through the fixed resistors R27 and R28. In the amplification circuit, the resistance of the current feedback circuit 45 is controlled to vary gain reduction, a part of the output signals in the voltage feedback circuits 46 and 47 are negatively fed back to the input side, and thus a gain characteristic is flat with respect to frequency of the output signals.
However, the amplification circuit 41 has a problem that input impedance increases and thus return loss of input signals deteriorates, when gain reduction is to be increased as shown in FIG. 4. Thus, it is difficult to widen the range of amplification rates by increasing gain reduction.


A durable, broad-band low insertion loss RF feedthrough is formed of a straight conductor (5) centrally supported by, hermetically sealed to and axially extending through the center of a strong, rigid, impervious ceramic disk (3). The ceramic disk is hermetically sealed, directly or indirectly, to the metal barrier (11) through which the feedthrough is to propagate RF energy. The new ferrule and ferrule-less ceramic metal RF feedthroughs avoid the use of glass, conventional in existing feedthroughs. The novel feedthrough serves as the principal element of a microwave microstrip line to waveguide transition.

Solid state electronic devices, such as integrated circuits, are often housed in closed metal-walled containers or packages. The package is typically hermetically sealed and protects the electronic devices from the external environment, which sometimes contains radiation, corrosive gases or other material harmful to the confined electronic device. RF feedthroughs are used to carry RF signals through the package's metal wall between the package interior and exterior for connection to external devices. In essence, the feedthrough is a very short RF transmission line and is the conventional means to propagate RF energy through an RF barrier, such as a metal wall.
Typically feedthroughs have been constructed of glass and metal, the glass, referred to as a glass bead, located in a hole in the package wall, serves as an insulating support and dielectric that maintains a straight metal pin, the transmission line conductor, in insulated relationship with the metal package walls and as an impervious barrier to the external environment. In some instances, a single glass bead may support multiple pins.
Glass-to-metal feedthroughs of various sizes, shapes, and pin configurations have been known to the industry for over fifty years. Such feedthroughs have been formed directly within the metal wall of the package, where the wall is constructed of a nickel, cobalt and iron material, such as Kovar. They have also been constructed within a tubular ferrule of Kovar for later assembly into the package wall. The Kovar ferrule is inserted within a cylindrical aperture in the package's metal wall and soldered in place to form a relatively impervious seal.
Glasses that are highly resistive to attack by atmospheric gases, such as H.sub.2 O vapor and carbon dioxide, chemical fumes and industrial vapors are well known. One such type of glass is borosilicate glass, such as Corning 7052, a Kovar matched glass having thermal expansion characteristics closely matched to that of Kovar, Corning 7070, a Tungsten matched glass, both marketed by the Corning Company, and Kimble EN-1 marketed by the Kimble company.
In the feedthrough's construction borosilicate glass is reflowed between the central metal pin, typically a pin formed of Kovar material, and the outer ferrule. In reflowing, the melted glass forms a glass meniscus about a portion of the pin's length. Upon hardening the glass forms a strong environmental seal that resists moisture, oxidation and other harmful chemicals that might attack the integrated circuits.
A measure of the feedthrough's integrity is obtained by subjecting the feedthrough to a hermetic leakage test. In that test helium gas is placed in the sealed metal package or other enclosure in which the feedthrough has been mounted and a helium mass spectrometer type leak detector is used to detect the rate at which Helium atoms pass through the glass to metal seals, due to a defect in the glass. An acceptable package according to industry standards is one that has a helium leak rate of less than 1.times.10.sup.-8 ATM-cc/sec. He, no matter how many feedthroughs the package contains. A good individual seal should have a leak rate no greater than 1.0.times.10.sup.-10 ATM-cc/sec. He.
The performance of the borosilicate glass-to-metal feedthroughs has been well demonstrated in the industry. Presently, microelectronic packages using those feedthroughs are routinely fabricated having Helium leak rates of only 1.times.10.sup.-10 atm cubic centimeters per second.
Despite its effectiveness, glass-to-metal seals suffer a drawback. They are not durable. The glass is brittle. If the feedthrough's glass encased metal pin is deflected, bent or deformed during handling or testing, glass particles are broken at the glass meniscus surrounding the pin. That breakage compromises the integrity of the feedthrough. In some cases, radial cracks or circumferential cracks appear in the glass. Those cracks might be due to differences in thermal expansion characteristics between the glass and the pin, or some form of fatigue or from other causes, which remain unknown.
However, once even a small crack appears, the crack may propagate with repeated thermal cycling as occurs during normal use of the electronic apparatus containing the package. Once crack propagation occurs, mechanical movement of the package or mechanical stresses resulting from handling, shipping, aircraft or spacecraft vibration may aggravate the cracks and the feedthrough begins to noticeably leak. Atmospheric gases may then enter the package and damage the internal integrated circuits. Even if the initial crack in the glass does not penetrate the glass seal, the crack can expose a good portion of the length of the metal pin. When that occurs, subsequent chemical attack may corrupt the remaining portion of the pin and, ultimately, breach the seal and destroy the package integrity. Being aware of the glasses fragility, those skilled in fabricating devices containing those RF feedthroughs necessarily take extra care in handling to ensure the integrity of the product. One might hope for a more dynamic and cost efficient assembly process as would be possible if the glass seals did not require such careful handling.
In addition to its fragility, the glass seal structure is more "lossy" in its electrical characteristics than one would desire, principally due to the use of Kovar material for the central pin. Kovar is a poor electrical conductor; it is made acceptable in the glass feedthrough only by plating the exposed portion of the pin's exterior surface with higher conductivity metals, such as a layer of Nickel followed by an overlayer plating of Gold. Unfortunately, in order to form the hermetic glass-to-metal seal, the Kovar must be oxidized at those portions that are to contact the glass to allow wetting by the borosilicate glasses. That oxide surface further compromises the glass feedthrough's electrical conductivity, forcing significant restriction of current passing through the feedthrough's glass bead portion.
The pin's conductivity is dependent upon the "skin effect", described in the transmission line literature and well-known to RF engineers. That effect forces most of the current to flow essentially along the exterior surface of electrical conductors, with the electrical fields extending only a short depth below the surface. Because of that phenomenon, gold, which is highly conductive, plated on another conductor, such as Kovar, provides an excellent conduit for conduction. At RF frequencies above 20 Ghz, the skin effect is more pronounced, concentrating the RF fields at the surface and a minute depth into the conductor. Because the Kovar pin is plated with a layer of Gold, the bulk of the RF transmission takes place principally in and along the Gold plating and not significantly in the underlying highly resistive Kovar. For that reason it is permissible to use Kovar material as part of an RF transmission medium without the RF signal encountering significant resistive losses. However, in the glass to metal seal, only the portions of the Kovar pin that lie outside the glass bead may be gold plated to enhance the pin's electrical conductivity. The central portion of the Kovar pin that fits through the glass bead, however, cannot be Gold plated for the reason earlier stated and, therefore, compromises the electrical conductivity of the transmission path. The glass-to-metal feedthrough thus exhibits low electronic efficiency.
Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to improve the electronic efficiency of RF feedthroughs by enhancing the feedthrough's electrical conductivity.
A further object of the invention is to provide RF feedthroughs that are physically more hardy and durable than the glass-to-metal type by eliminating glass from the feedthrough structure.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a new feedthrough structure that may employ metals of higher electrical conductivity than Kovar.
An additional object of the invention is to increase the efficiency with which RF feedthroughs may be installed in electronic equipment.
A still additional object of the invention is to provide a glass-less RF feedthrough that has a helium leak rate of less than 1.times.10.sup.-10 atmospheres cubic centimeters per second and is of greater durability than the glass-to-metal type feedthroughs.
And an ancillary object of the invention is to provide a new feedthrough structure whose center pin may be bent or straightened as desired, without damaging the feedthrough's hermetic seal.

Millimeter wave ceramic-metal feedthroughs


Methods and apparatus are disclosed for applying network policy to communications originating at operating system virtual interfaces. In an example embodiment, a network device is networked with a switch. The network device may include a first operating system interface, a virtualization adapter, and an input output port. In an example embodiment, the virtualization adapter receives a first frame from the first operating system interface. The virtualization adapter may tag the first frame to indicate an association between the first frame and the first operating system interface. The first frame may then be transmitted with a second frame being associated with a second operating system interface, to the switch via the input output port. In an example embodiment, the switch is configured to receive the frame, examine a tag and then to enforce a network policy upon the first frame, based on the tag.

Network policy enforcement is commonly used to control network access by nodes on a network. For example, policy enforcement may be used to control a node's ability to access other nodes, to define a node's scope of privileges, to prevent denial of service attacks and to enforce firewall policies. An appropriate policy may be selected based on the identification or lack thereof of a node or a user.

Apparatus and method for applying network policy at virtual interfaces


A counterweighted fork lift truck has a vehicle body (2) with an equipment compartment (R) located underneath a driver workplace (1). The equipment compartment and contains heat-emitting components. The vehicle body (2) includes at least one step (3) which forms the lower boundary of a step recess (3a) which is inboard with respect to the lateral contour (S) of the vehicle body. At least one air intake opening (5) for the supply of cooling air into the equipment compartment (R) is located in the vicinity of the step recess (3a).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a counterweighted fork lift truck having a vehicle body with an equipment compartment located underneath a driver workplace and containing heat-emitting components. The vehicle body is provided with at least one step that forms the lower boundary of a step recess which is inboard with reference to the lateral contour of the vehicle body.
2. Technical Considerations
A generic counterweighted fork lift truck is described in DE 85 27 273 U1. On this vehicle, a cooling air duct is provided for an electric motor which is located inside an equipment compartment or adjacent to it in the vicinity of a front-end drive axle. The cooling air duct has a hose-like line that leads from an intake point, which is located in the vicinity of a hood that covers the top of the equipment compartment, through the equipment compartment, to the electric motor. The purpose of this cooling air duct is to supply cool air that is taken in from an area where the air is relatively dust-free to cool the electric motor.

Counterweighted fork lift truck with at least one air intake opening in the vicinity of a step recess


A method to recognize a facial image is described. An input facial image is normalized by scaling and rotation angle using methods of eye pupil centers detection. The input facial image is further normalized by lighting intensity. Template images are obtained either by the processing of certain images taken from different face positions, or by a preliminary reconstruction of a 3D face model based on stereo-pair images. Using the 3D model template, facial images are generated at different rotation angles. Distances between the input facial image and the template image are calculated from the Discrete Cosine Transformation (DCT) features, defined by overlapped blocks of these images. The facial image is recognized based on these distances.

Among the well-known methods of person identification by facial image is the eigenface technique (U.S. Pat. No. RE36041). This technique is based on image decomposition in an orthonormalized Karhunen-Loeve (KL) basis. The coefficients of the image decomposition are used as an image features vector. Image recognition by the eigenface technique is based on a search of a e0 template from the set E of templates, which has the least distance to the input image f among all the other templates, also presented in KL basis as
      e    0    =                    arg                                                                                min                              e          k                ⋐                                          E                                                  f          -                      e            k                                      .
The results of identification by the eigenface technique are unreliable when changes between facial images occur due to lighting conditions, as well as when there are errors in normalization of the facial image that is being recognized.
There is a method of person identification (U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,641) in which 3D models of faces are composed of 3D models of various face elements. These elements represent separate face features. Each of the face element models is given a certain code. A face feature index or vector is a sequence of pairs such as <element code, model code>.
The reason behind preventing achievement of good performance using such 3D models is that a robust three-dimensional reconstruction of objects is done by means of laser rangers, which is prohibitively expensive.
There is a method of person identification by video images (U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,370) in which a template of a person's face in a database is a "generalized face bunch graph" with its nodes corresponding to nodes of a net overlaid over the inputted facial image. Face features are determined for each of these nodes. These features are the informative characteristics of a face around the point corresponding to the graph node. These features represent absolute values of convolutions of the image with 32 two-dimensional Gabor filters. A Gabor filter is a linear filter whose impulse response is defined by a harmonic function multiplied by a Gaussian function. Because of the multiplication-convolution property (Convolution theorem), the Fourier transform of a Gabor filter's impulse response is the convolution of the Fourier transform of the harmonic function and the Fourier transform of the Gaussian function. More than one feature vector may correspond to each of these graph nodes. The feature vectors relate to different variations of the respective image element (e.g., open eyes, closed eyes). By means of an elastic bunch graph matching algorithm, the input image points corresponding to generalized graph nodes are matched. Thereafter, the obtained graph is compared with template graphs from the database.
However, errors in detection of correspondence between nodes of the generalized face bunch graph and singular points on the facial image prevent correct face recognition using the "generalized face bunch graph." Furthermore, not all components of the feature vectors based on the Gabor filters are informative for the image points. Accordingly, the distance between facial images of different people may decrease enough to result in recognition errors.

Method and system of person identification by facial image


A method of manufacturing a touch screen panel, the method including applying a resistive coating to one surface of an insulative substrate, applying an insulative protective coating to the resistive coating, depositing a conductive edge electrode pattern including a plurality of edge electrodes on the protective coating, and firing the panel until the edge electrodes etch through the protective coating and make electrical contact with the resistive coating.

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a touch screen panel in which transparent hard coat material is deposited before the edge electrodes and the wire traces so that the hard coat is under the edge electrodes to eliminate the color variation present at the edges of the panel when the transparent hard coat material is deposited over the edge electrodes and wire traces.
Touch screens are now ubiquitous and used as the input and display interface at, for example, automatic teller machines, gambling machines in casinos, cash registers, and the like. Touch screen panels generally comprise an insulative (e.g., glass) substrate and a resistive layer disposed on the insulative substrate. A pattern of conductive edge electrodes are then formed on the edges of the resistive layer. The conductive electrodes form orthogonal electric fields in the X and Y directions across the resistive layer. Contact of a finger or stylus on the active area of the panel then causes the generation of a signal that is representative of the X and Y coordinates of the location of the finger or the stylus with respect to the substrate. In this way, the associated touch panel circuitry connected to the touch panel by wires or wiring traces can ascertain where the touch occurred on the substrate. Typically, a computer program generates an option to the user (e.g., xe2x80x9cpress here for xe2x80x98yesxe2x80x99 and press here for xe2x80x98noxe2x80x99xe2x80x9d) on a monitor underneath the touch screen panel and the conductive edge electrode pattern assists in detecting which option was chosen when the touch panel was used by the user.
In the prior art, a resistive layer (e.g., tin antimony oxide) is sputtered onto a glass substrate. The conductive edge electrodes and wire traces are then deposited on the resistive layer about the periphery of the panel using a thick film paste. A SiO2 transparent hard coating is then applied to the panel over the conductive edge electrodes and wire traces to protect the panel during use.
Because of the thickness of the edge electrodes and wire traces, however, the hard coat is not planar and instead rises up at the edges of the panel causing a cosmetic defect in that color variations are present at the edges of the panel. These unacceptable color variations are a major yield issue of capacitive touch screen panels incorporating SiO2 transparent hard coatings applied by a wet chemical processes when the liquid hard coat material dams and drains around the edge electrodes and wire traces.
Furthermore, cracking and islanding of the thick-film material causes functional failures and is an additional major yield issue in capacitive touch screen manufacturing. This problem is caused by a chemical interaction between the thick-film of the edge electrodes and wire traces and the SiO2 transparent hard coating and by mechanical stress on the thick-film during densification of the SiO2 hard coating network.
If, on the other hand, the SiO2 transparent hard coat material is deposited before the edge electrodes and the wire traces so that the hard coat is under the edge electrodes and wire traces to eliminate the color variation problems, the hard coat material prevents the establishment of the correct electrical connection between the edge electrodes and the wire traces with the resistive coating.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new method of manufacturing a touch screen panel.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a method which eliminates color variations at the edges of the panel.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a method which reduces or eliminates functional failures of the touch screen panels which occur due to cracking or islanding of the thick-film of the edge electrodes and wire traces.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a method which increases the yield in the manufacture of capacitive touch screens.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a method which eliminates the SiO2 coating over the thick-film conductive material of the edge electrodes and wire traces to thereby minimize the adverse interactive effects associated with the prior art where the SiO2 coating covered the edge electrodes and the wire traces.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a touch screen panel with an SiO2 hard coat which is more fully densified.
This invention results from the realization that the color variations and the other problems associated with applying an insulative protective coating to touch screen panels over the edge electrodes and wire traces can be overcome by evenly applying the insulative protective coating to the touch screen panel before the edge electrode pattern is deposited thereon and by adding a sodium carbonate or sodium formate composition to the thick film silver/frit paste of the edge electrode and wire trace material so that the edge electrodes etch through the protective coating when the panel is fired to thus properly establish electrical contact with the resistive coating on the panel under the protective coating.
This invention features a method of manufacturing a touch screen panel in which a resistive coating is applied to one surface of an insulative substrate, an insulative protective coating is applied to the resistive coating, a conductive edge electrode pattern including a plurality of edge electrodes is deposited on the protective coating, and the panel is fired until the edge electrodes etch through the protective coating and make electrical contact with the resistive coating.
Preferably, the material of the edge electrodes includes conductive paste mixed with an additive. The insulative protective coating may be or include silicon dioxide and the additive then may include a chemical compound which is converted into a molten alkali hydroxide at elevated temperatures which dissolves the silicon dioxide of the protective coating. Typically, the chemical compound is selected from the group consisting of sodium carbonates and/or sodium formates. Usually, the conductive paste is a silver/frit composition. The additive typically comprises 1-25% by weight of the conductive paste.
The step of applying the resistive coating may include methods such as sputtering, evaporation, chemical vapor deposition, screen printing, or pad printing. The step of applying the insulative protective coating may include dip coating, meniscus coating, sputtering, evaporation, chemical vapor deposition, screen printing, or pad printing.
In one embodiment, the insulative protective coating is cured before the conductive edge electrode pattern is deposited thereon. Firing includes subjecting the panel to an elevated temperature via infrared radiation having a wavelength of between 2.5 and 6.0 microns.
In the preferred embodiment, a wire trace pattern is also deposited on the protective coating and the panel is fired until the wire trace pattern etches through the protective coating and makes electrical contact with the resistive coating. As such, the material of the wire trace pattern then includes conductive paste mixed with an additive. When the insulative protective coating includes silicon dioxide, the additive includes a chemical compound which is converted into a molten alkali hydroxide at elevated temperatures which dissolves the silicon dioxide of the protective coating.
The method may further include placing a wire trace pattern on the panel and providing electrical isolation between the wire traces and the edge electrodes. The method of providing electrical isolation may include incorporating a dielectric layer between the trace pattern and the protective coating. Electrical isolation may also be provided by incorporating a dielectric layer between the edge electrodes and the wire traces. Alternatively, by not adding an additive to the material at the wire traces, they do not etch through the protective coating and thus are electrically isolated from the edge electrodes.
This invention features a method of manufacturing a touch screen panel, the method comprising: applying a resistive coating to one surface of an insulative substrate, applying an insulative protective coating to the resistive coating, mixing a conductive paste with an additive, depositing the mixture in the form of a conductive edge electrode pattern including a plurality of edge electrodes on the protective coating, and firing the panel until the edge electrodes etch through the protective coating and make electrical contact with the resistive coating. The insulative protective coating usually includes silicon dioxide and the additive includes a chemical compound which is converted into a molten alkali hydroxide at elevated temperatures which dissolves the silicon dioxide of the protective coating. The chemical compound may be selected from the group consisting of sodium carbonates and/or sodium formates. The conductive paste may be a silver/frit composition. The additive typically comprises 1-25% by weight of the conductive paste.
In the preferred embodiment, the method further includes depositing a wire trace pattern on the protective coating and firing the panel until the wire trace pattern etches through the protective coating and makes electrical contact with the resistive coating. The material of the wire trace pattern includes conductive paste mixed with an additive. The insulative protective coating includes silicon dioxide and the additive includes a chemical compound which is converted into a molten alkali hydroxide at elevated temperatures which dissolves the silicon dioxide of the protective coating.
The method may further include the step of providing electrical isolation between the wire trace pattern and the edge electrodes. In one embodiment, a laser is used to etch the protective material and the resistive material between the edge electrodes and the wire traces.
This invention also features a touch screen panel comprising an insulative substrate; a resistive coating on one surface of the substrate; a protective coating on the resistive coating; and a conductive edge electrode pattern including a plurality of edge electrodes on the protective coating and extending to the resistive coating and making electrical contact therewith.
The panel may also include a wire trace pattern on the protective coating. A dielectric material may be disposed between the wire trace pattern and the protective coating. Alternatively, a dielectric material may be disposed over the conductive edge electrode pattern and then the wire trace pattern is on the dielectric material.

Method of manufacturing a touch screen panel


A method and apparatus for hemodynamically characterizing a neurological or fitness state by dynamic scattering light (DLS) is disclosed herein. In particular, a non-pulsatile blood-shear-rate-descriptive (BSRD) signal(s) is optically generated and analyzed. In some embodiments, the BSRD signal is generated dynamically so as to adaptively maximize (i.e. according to a bandpass or frequency-selection profile) a prominence of a predetermined non-pulsatile physiological signal within the BSRD. In some embodiments, the BSRD is subjected to a stochastic or stationary-status analysis. Alternatively or additionally, the neurological or fitness state may be computed from multiple BSRDs, including two or more of: (i) a [sub-200 Hz, ˜300 Hz] BSRD signal; (ii) a [˜300 Hz, ˜1000 Hz] signal; (iii) a [˜1000 Hz, ˜4000 Hz] signal and (iv) a [˜4000 Hz, z Hz] (z>=7,000) signal.

Detecting Emotion-State/Stress-State/Mood-State
There is an ongoing need for detecting emotional state, stress-states, and mood-states of warm-blooded (e.g. mammals or birds) individuals. Prior art techniques for detecting an emotional state are based on analyzing facial expressions, voice intonations, text generated by the subject, eye movement, pulse and blood pressure variability.
Thus, it has been known for many years that as a subject gets nervous or excited or scared, his/her pulse-rate (HR) tends to temporarily increase (i.e. relative to a baseline pulse) until the stress-state or mood-state passes. Thus, it is possible to detect a person's stress-state or mood-state using any pulse-meter or ECG device. Examples of devices for non-invasive optical measuring pulse include pulse oximeters and dynamic light scattering (DLS) devices disclosed in WO 2008/053474 and WO2012064326, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Based on the time variations pattern of HR, which is call Heart Rate Variability (HRV), some of the manifestations of the Central Nervous System (CNS) are subject to algorithmic representations. Specifically, the responses of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system are reflected in HRV. Naturally, any expressions of stress or emotions also affect the HRV pattern. Unfortunately, HRV by itself tends to be of limited reliability, specificity and accuracy. For example, due to natural variations, 'baseline' pulse rate and HRV may be difficult or impossible to accurately gauge. In addition, there may be many 'false positive' situations where a user's pulse increases for reasons (e.g. the user is climbing up the stairs) other than being in an excited emotional state,
In addition, HR and HRV are of at most limited utility when attempting to differentiate between different types of 'excited' states—i.e. between fearful and angry. In addition in order to extract HRV parameters reliably, at least 5 minutes of the measurement are required. This fact may impose additional limitations for consumer applications of HRV.
Detecting Fitness Parameters
There is an ongoing need for non-invasive and continuous methods (and related apparatus) for detecting a 'fitness-parameter' of an individual. Thus, a low fitness' score may be indicative of an elevated risk of cardio-vascular disease or reduced capability to withstand a load. Unfortunately, preventative care is often neglected, for example, due to the high cost (or inconvenience) of physician visits.
HR and HRV are also can provide some indications for cardio-vascular status however, since the same parameters respond to stress and emotional stages, they lack of specificity.
Once again, HR and HRV are useful as rough indicators but, by themselves, are not robust enough for consistently obtaining accurate readings for many subjects.
Pulsatile and Non-Pulsatile Blood
FIG. 1A schematically illustrates blood flow within a blood vessel. As illustrated, at the vessel walls due to the 'no-slip' boundary condition, blood velocity (and hence shear rate) drops off to zero.
When any pressure gradient is applied to a vessel (i.e. in the case of blood vessels, this is a 'pulsatile pressure-wave'), fluid within the vessel flows according to the pressure gradient. However, at locations near the blood vessel wall, temporal fluctuations in velocity (and shear) are not strongly correlated to those of the pulse-wave (e.g. because the blood vessel wall is not perfectly rigid). Similarly, there may be at most very weak correlation between the blood flow and pulsatile components in the very small vessels (capillary vessels), where the size of the moving particles (i.e. red blood cells (RBCs)) are comparable to the blood diameter.
As shown in FIG. 1A, in arterial vessels, at locations closer to the center-line the blood may be regarded as 'pulsatile blood' (i.e. due to its flow properties) where temporal fluctuations in velocity (and shear rate) are strongly correlated with the pulsatile pulse-pressure wave. In contrast, there is little or no correlation between temporal fluctuations of shear rate and those of the pulse-pressure wave at locations near the blood vessel wall. Thus, in FIG. 1A, blood near the wall is labeled as 'non-pulsatile blood.' The terms 'pulsatile blood' and 'non-pulsatile blood' refer to flow properties of the blood—i.e. how the blood is flowing in vivo.
Referring to FIG. 1B, it is noted that blood flow in arteries is mostly pulsatile, while in many other blood vessels (e.g. capillaries), the opposite is true.
Modulation of Blood Flow (and Blood Shear) by Physiological Signals
Reference is now made to FIG. 2.
As noted in the article "Physics of the Human Cardiovascular System" by Stefanovska and Bracic1, in addition to the HRV, the CNS affects the "blood flow variability". The CNS governs multiple physiological processes which can be expressed in terms of peripheral blood oscillations in different frequency bands. 1Physics of the human cardiovascular system by Aneta Stefanovska and Maja Bracic, Contemporary Physics, 1999, volume 40, number 1, pages 31-55
Listed in FIG. 2 (adapted from FIG. 10 of Stefanovska and Bracic) are the following categories of physiological processes, each of which functions as an 'oscillator' of the blood flow signal in a respective frequency band: (i) metabolic process(es) which modulate blood flow signal in the frequency band [˜0.01 Hz, ˜0.02 Hz]; (ii) neurogenic process(es) which modulate blood flow signal in the frequency band [˜0.02 Hz, ˜0.06 Hz]; (iii) myogenic process(es) which modulate blood flow signal in the frequency band [˜0.06 Hz, ˜0.15 Hz]; (iv) respiratory process(es) which modulate blood flow signal in the frequency band [˜0.15 Hz, ˜0.5 Hz]; and (v) heart/pulsatile process(es) which modulate blood flow signal in the frequency band [˜0.4 Hz, ˜2 Hz].
The aforementioned frequency bands are for humans—for other mammals, the frequency values may differ.
Physiological processes of each category of processes modulate the blood-flow (and also the blood-shear) 'signal.' Because blood flow (and blood-shear) signal may be considered a combination of multiple signals, physiological processes may be said to generate a 'physiological response signal' present within the blood-flow (and also the blood-shear signal)—each physiological signal may be said to 'contribute' to the overall blood-flow oscillation pattern (and also the blood-shear signal). For the present disclosure, the term 'response signal' therefore relates to the response(s) to input and/or feedback from the central nervous system as manifested within blood flow.
One example of a physiological response signal is a Mayer wave.
It is noted that the heart/pulsatile signal is the well-known 'pulsatile signal'—the pumping of blood by the heart directly influences the blood flow (and blood-shear) response signal in many locations within the circulatory system. In contrast, the 'respiratory signal' from the 'respiratory processes/oscillators' is not merely the 'breathing pattern'—instead, this refers to the indirect influence of respiration upon blood flow.
One example of a myogenic process is Mayer waves. According to Wikipedia:
Mayer waves are cyclic changes or waves in arterial blood pressure brought about by oscillations in baroreceptor and chemoreceptor reflex control systems. The waves are seen both in the ECG and in continuous blood pressure curves and have a frequency about 0.1 Hz (10-second waves). These waves were originally described by Siegmund Mayer, Ewald Hering and Ludwig Traube hence originally called "Traube-Hering-Mayer waves".
Mayer waves can be defined as arterial blood pressure (AP) oscillations at frequencies slower than respiratory frequency and which show the strongest, significant coherence (strength of linear coupling between fluctuations of two variables in the frequency domain) with efferent sympathetic nervous activity (SNA). In humans, AP oscillations which meet these properties have a characteristic frequency of approx. 0.1 Hz; 0.3 Hz in rabbits and 0.4 Hz in rats.
The hemodynamic basis of Mayer waves are oscillations of the sympathetic vasomotor tone of arterial blood vessels, because Mayer waves are abolished or at least strongly attenuated by pharmacological blockade of alpha-adrenoreceptors. Within a given biological species, their frequency is fairly stable; in humans it has been shown that this frequency does not depend on gender, age or posture. It has been suggested that Mayer waves trigger the liberation of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (NO) by cyclic changes of vascular shear stress which could be beneficial to end organ functioning.
Mayer waves are correlated with heart rate variability.
Takalo et al. (1999) state that "the frequency shift of Mayer waves to lower frequencies is associated with an increased risk of developing established hypertension."
In pulsatile blood, the heart/pulsatile shear signal is characterized by well-known features, illustrated in FIG. 2B. In arterial component of the flow, there may be signals other than the pulsatile signal—however, typically the energy of the pulsatile signal dominates that of the other physiological signals.
Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) for Non-Invasive In-Vivo Measurement of Biological Parameters
WO 2008/053474 and WO2012064326, each of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, each disclose a system and method for in vivo measurement of biological parameters by dynamic light scattering techniques.
In particular, WO 2008/053474 discloses a novel optical technique suitable for the in vivo measurement in a subject utilizing dynamic light scattering (DLS) approach. The effect of DLS are utilized for the measurement of variety of blood related parameters, such as viscosity of the blood and blood plasma, blood flow, arterial blood pressure and other blood chemistry and rheology related parameters. DLS is a well-established technique to provide data on the size and shape of particles from temporal speckle analysis. When a coherent light beam (laser beam, for example) is incident on a scattering (rough) surface, a time-dependent fluctuation in the scattering property of the surface and thus in the scattering intensity (transmission and/or reflection) from the surface is observed. These fluctuations are due to the fact that the particles are undergoing Brownian or regular flow motion as a result of non-uniform blood flow (i.e. manifested in blood-shear) and so the distance between the particles is constantly changing with time. This scattered light then undergoes either constructive or destructive interference by the surrounding particles and within this intensity fluctuation information is contained about the time scale of movement of the particles. The scattered light is in the form of speckles pattern, being detected in the far diffraction zone. The detected signal is amplified and digitized for further analysis by using the autocorrelation function (ACF) technique. The technique is applicable either by heterodyne or by a homodyne DLS setup.
The kinetics of optical manifestations of two kinds of physiological signals is measured in vivo: the pulsatile signal associated with heart beats and the post-occlusion optical signal which is induced by an artificially generated blood flow cessation. The light transmission and/or reflection signals are used as a control of the physiological response. This kind of control measurement can be carried out simultaneously with the DLS reflection measurement. The mutual correspondence between DLS and standard optical signals is subject to a comparison analysis.
Reference is now made to FIGS. 3A-3B. FIG. 3A, taken from WO 2008/053474 (and slightly modified) illustrates an apparatus for performing a DLS measurement. A coherent light source (e.g. a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)) emits coherent light to illuminate the skin (step S201)—this coherent light scatters off of red blood cells (RBCs) within blood vessels of the skin (or beneath the skin) to induce a scattered-light optical response The optical response is detected (step S205) by photodetectors to generate an electrical signal descriptive of the scattered-light optical response (see FIG. 4 of WO 2008/053474). Scattered-light-optical-response-descriptive electrical signal (i.e. one example is in FIG. 4 of WO 2008/053474; another example is the signal A(t) passed from analog electronics assembly 270 to digitizer 204 of the FIG. 2 of WO2012064326)) is processed (e.g. using autocorrelation or power spectrum analysis) (step S213) to produce a time-dependent blood-shear-rate descriptive signal or BSRD. Examples of a BSRD are illustrated in FIGS. 9-13 of WO 2008/053474). One or more physiological parameter(s) (e.g. pulse rate or blood pressure) are computed from the BSRD signal.
It is noted that red blood cells (RBCs) suspended within blood plasma do not travel at the same velocity—instead, there is a velocity distribution. The BSRD signal describes differences in velocities of red-blood-cells suspended in the blood plasma. In certain frequency domains, blood-shear is primarily due to pulse. By illuminating skin, collecting scattered light and subjecting the scattered light to speckle analysis (e.g. to analyze temporal fluctuations of speckle patterns), it is possible to derive a signal descriptive of a blood-shear over a cross section of blood vessel(s) and/or over a ensemble of blood vessels.
FIG. 4, taken from WO 2008/053474, illustrates one example of a scattered-light time-dependent optical response signal generated in step S205.
FIG. 5A illustrates one example of a time-dependent blood-shear-rate descriptive signal. FIG. 5B illustrates another example of a time-dependent blood-shear-rate descriptive signal.
Although both the signals of FIG. 5A-5B are optically and electronically generated according to steps S201-213 of FIG. 3B, there is a fundamental difference—the example of FIG. 5A is generated by computing a power spectrum integral of the optical response signal (i.e. generated in step S205) over the frequency interval [2700 Hz, 10,000 Hz] while the example of FIG. 5B is generated by computing a power spectrum integral of the optical response signal (i.e. generated in step S205) over the frequency interval [0 Hz, 548 Hz].
Inspection of FIGS. 5A and 5B shows that the blood-shear-rate descriptive signal follows that of a pulse-wave, while that of FIG. 5B does not. Thus, the BSRD (shear-rate-descriptive) signal of FIG. 5A is 'pulsatile' while that of FIG. 5B is not. The DLS spectral response will be a superposition of responses of different components across the blood vessels radius, according to the shear rate at each specific point.
When generating the signal of FIG. 5A the frequency-selection profile [2700 Hz, 10000 Hz] is employed in step S213 and the result is the pulsatile signal illustrated in FIG. 5A. In contrast, when generating the signal of FIG. 5B the frequency-selection profile [0 Hz, 548 Hz] is employed in step S213 and the result is the non-pulsatile signal illustrated in FIG. 5B.
FIG. 6A is a flow diagram for the device and method of WO 2008/053474. The illumination signal of FIG. 6A is generated in step S201 of FIG. 3B. Light of the illumination signal is reflected and/or transmitted and/or deflected by red blood cells within an 'ensemble' of blood vessels' (illustrated in FIG. 6A) to module the signal into a light response signal. The light response signal is received by photodetector(s) in step S205 of FIG. 3B to generate the response-descriptive electrical signal (illustrated in FIG. 6A).
FIG. 6B relates to the method and device of WO2012064326 where first and second photodetectors (e.g. at respective locations Loc_1, Loc_2) respectively receive the light response signal to generate respective response-descriptive electrical signals specific to the respective locations Loc_1, Loc_2). These signals are processed by analog electronic circuitry to generate yet another response-descriptive electrical signal.
As discussed in WO2012064326, there are number of differences between (i) the 'input' response-descriptive electrical signals (i.e. 'first' and 'second' signals) that are input to the subtraction analog circuitry and (ii) the output response-descriptive electrical signals—e.g. the AC component of the output signal has a much stronger contribution than in the input signals, the stochastic component of the output signal has a much stronger contribution than in the input signals.
FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a configuration for performing the method of FIG. 3B-FIG. 7B is one example of the subtraction analog circuitry of FIG. 6B.
The output of FIGS. 6A, 6B is responsive descriptive electrical signal. FIG. 8 relate to both WO 2008/053474 and WO2012064326 and is a data-flow diagram describing the processing of any response-descriptive electrical signal (e.g. that of FIG. 6A or the any response-descriptive electrical signal of FIG. 6B) is processed. Thus, BSRD signal is generated by a 'BSRD" generator 190 (e.g. implemented in any combination of analog and/or digital hardware and/or software) according to a pulsatile frequency-selection profile—e.g the profile [2700 Hz, 10000 Hz] of FIG. 5A. A pulsatile frequency-selection profile generates a 'pulsatile' BSRD from a response-descriptive electrical signal. This pulsatile signal is then analyzed by a second signal processor 194 (i.e. once again, implemented in any combination of analog and/or digital hardware and/or software) which analyzes features of the pulse-wave within the BSRD—e.g. to generate a pulse signal or a heart rate variability signal.
Measuring and/or Classifying Stress, Stress Resistance and Mood
Wikipedia defines stress as follows:                Physiological or biological stress is an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition or a stimulus. Stress is a body's method of reacting to a challenge. According to the stressful event, the body's way to respond to stress is by sympathetic nervous system activation which results in the fight-or-flight response. Because the body cannot keep this state for long periods of time, the parasympathetic system returns the body's physiological conditions to normal (homeostasis). In humans, stress typically describes a negative condition or a positive condition that can have an impact on a person's mental and physical well-being.
Stress may be categorized as (i) physical stress or (ii) non-physical stress—e.g. mental stress or emotional stress. Physical stress may be brought about by the subject's exerting him/herself. Non-physical stress includes emotional stress and mental stress. For example, unpleasant noises, unhappy thoughts, unpleasant visual images may trigger emotional stress—unpleasant noises, thoughts and visual images are examples of 'stressors'. Mental exertion such as attempting to solve difficult arithmetic or to resolve cognitive interference (e.g. taking a 'Stroop test' named after John Ridley Stroop, author of the 1935 article entitled "Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions"). Thus, mental exertion is a stressor that induces mental stress.
Stress may also be distinguished from 'stress resistance' which is a function of temperament. Thus, there are some individuals where even a slight 'stressor' (e.g. an unpleasant noise at a very low volume) induces significant stress—they may be considered 'high-strung' or 'stress prone.' In contrast, other individuals may exhibit a stronger resistance to stress, and may require a more significant 'stressor' in order to exhibit a stress-state. Some individuals may exhibit a strong resistance to certain types of stress and much less resistance to other types of stress.
Pulsatile Measurement of Stress, Mood and Related Parameters
It is known in the art to employ heart-rate (or derived parameters such as heart rate variability—HRV) as a 'classifier' for detecting emotional episodes or stress episodes. For example, if a person is very excited or angry, his/her pulse rate will increase relative to a 'baseline.'
However, it is also known that heart rate by itself can be a 'poor classifier' (i.e. by itself) for (i) detecting emotional or stress episodes and/or (ii) for classifying emotional or stress episodes. In a first example, a person's heart rate and HRV may increase for any number of reasons, including but not limited natural variations, performance of physical exercise and weather conditions. Thus, in this example relying exclusively on heart-rate may lead to a large number of 'false positives' erroneously indicating an emotional or stress episode.
In another example, both anger and intense happiness/excitement may increase a subject's heart-rate. Simply relying on elevated heart rate is inadequate for differentiating between two different types of emotional/mood episodes (i.e. anger and intense happiness).
Although pulsatile-derived classifiers may certainly be useful, and have there place, there is a need for accurate non-pulsatile techniques for detecting stress or emotional episodes.

Method and apparatus for hemodynamically characterizing a neurological or fitness state by dynamic light scattering (DLS)


A ceramic lithium indium diselenide or like radiation detector device formed as a pressed material that exhibits scintillation properties substantially identical to a corresponding single crystal growth radiation detector device, exhibiting the intrinsic property of the chemical compound, with an acceptable decrease in light output, but at a markedly lower cost due to the time savings associated with pressing versus single crystal growth.

Neutron detection is often utilized for nondestructive analysis (NDA) methods, where a deeply penetrating radiation is required to provide information from the internal structure of a target.
Neutron detectors typically fall into two categories depending on the energy of the neutrons required for analysis, where low energy or thermal neutrons are associated with capture based detectors and high energy or fast neutrons are associated with scattering based detectors. Thermal and epithermal neutron capture based detectors are often comprised of a compound including one or more of the following isotopes: He-3, Li-6, and B-10. He-3, being a noble gas, does not allow creation of solid materials, thus the number density of the associated detector is limited by the tube walls in a gas proportional counter. B-10 is possible for solid and gas detectors; however, BF3 gas is toxic and its usage is limited. B-10 lined straw detectors are quite common for large portal monitor systems, where the mechanism is a gas proportional counter. B-10 packed semiconductors offer another means of detection similar to a compact semiconductor; however, these have had difficulty in production. Lithium-6 based capture in a scintillator is a common means of detection in Cs2LiYCl6:Ce (CLYC) crystals or as an additive into liquid scintillators that measure the resulting products rather than proton recoil.
One type of neutron detector is a scintillator. Scintillating material may be formed by single crystal growth through Bridgman, Czochralski, or other methods, as well as by ceramic production methods. In the realm of optical and radiation detector materials, ceramic treatment is rapidly becoming a method of choice for x-ray imaging systems and the like that do not require spectroscopic performance or high clarity. Recent advancements with the aluminum garnet family of materials exemplifies this approach, although with a material that readily lends itself to the method. For lithium indium diselenide and the like, on the other hand, the materials present some particular challenges with respect to constituent segregation that require particular ranges for the process variables. This inhibits flexibility, both as a single crystal and as a ceramic. For single crystal growth, a single boule grown by a vertical Bridgman process, for example, may take several weeks to complete, while a ceramic typically requires 1-2 days, with nearly the same performance. Ceramic productions are not in boule form, as with Bridgman growth, where the ceramic is produced in a mould form that can range from very small volumes to volumes as large as can be handled in a hot isostatic press (HIP) compartment. Aluminum garnets for use in high energy x-ray imaging applications have been demonstrated at dimensions of 12″×12″×1″, which would be infeasible for a Bridgman or other boule-style growth.
Thus, what is still needed in the art is a process for the ceramic treatment of lithium indium diselenide and the like that allows its desirable properties to be fully exploited after a quicker formation time at a lower cost versus single crystal growth.

Ceramic radiation detector device and method


Disclosed are text processing methods and text processing apparatus in an imaging system which images text characters and associated text functions, and specifically images text underline functions. The imaging system operates to control the appearance of rules for underlining functions, by controlling the offset (O), thickness (T) and gap (G) parameters as a function of user input values and as a function of font size (F.sub.-- size) and typeface parameters (Para.sub.-- 1 and Para.sub.-- 2). A plurality of underline algorithms including a homogeneous algorithm and a composite algorithm are provided for controlling rules.

This invention relates to text processing methods and text processor apparatus forming an imaging system for generating, storing, displaying, drawing, printing and otherwise imaging text.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Text processors are well-known in the field of computers and data processors for imaging characters in fonts of different typefaces and sizes. Text processors typically define text characters with a generic definition in a character table, for example, an ASCII table, which is independent of typeface or size. The term "typeface" refers to the general appearance and design of characters and the term "font" refers to a complete set of characters having the same typeface, that is, the same general appearance and design.
Many text processors employ font metric tables specifying different font parameters so that together with the character tables the text processor generates characters with different typefaces and sizes. The font metric tables provide metric information which establishes the relative metric relationship among different characters in a font but generally such information does not establish the absolute measurements of the characters. The absolute measurements are established as the product of the font size and the metric information. One example of a font table is the Adobe Font Metrics font table (AFM file) which provides among other parameters an Underline Position and an Underline Thickness (in fractions of an em). The term "font properties" refers to any or all of the properties associated with a font such as font size, underline position of rules and thickness of rules.
Computers and data processors that use text processors are imaging systems that output the processed text in human readable form. The imaging systems typically include computer display screens for electronic output or printers for paper output. In such imaging systems, each character is drawn by a number of pixels (points) that are located and addressed by an X-axis coordinate and a Y-axis coordinate defined relative to an XY-axes system where an X-axis and an orthogonal Y-axis form a matrix of addressable pixels. Each pixel is drawn by determining the X-axis and Y-axis coordinates for the pixel and each character is drawn by determining the X-axis and Y-axis coordinates for all the pixels that are used to draw the character. The XY-axes system can have any arbitrary rotation. Typically for printers, the X-axis is across the page so that the Y-axis is down the page as read by a human viewer.
For text processors, characters are typically defined along the X-axis by a character line where many character lines for text define a page of text. Each character typically is formed with pixels from many pixel lines so that depending upon the font parameters, characters can have different shapes and sizes depending upon the pixels selected for a character both in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. For convenience, some X-axis pixel line near the bottom of a line of characters is defined as the baseline of a character line. Text processors operate to define characters along character lines and use font parameters to actually determine the pixels to be drawn for each character appearing in the character line.
Many known text processors support the function of underlining text which is a function that enables a user to choose to have text characters underlined with a "rule". A "rule" is defined to be a line of some thickness beneath the characters and parallel to the baseline of the characters. When a single rule is located beneath the line of characters, the function is single underlining. When first and second parallel, spaced-apart rules are located beneath a line of characters, the function is double underlining. When more than one (two, three or more) parallel, first and second spaced apart rules are located beneath a line of characters, the function is multiple underlining. Text processors which have single and/or double : underlining functions are known.
The term "user" refers both to human operators of an imaging system and to application programs or other parts of the imaging system which operate the system. Also, while output images produced from an imaging system may have appearances perceived by humans, the output images may be sensed by optical character readers or other electronic equipment without any human involvement.
For the underlining functions of text processors, the rules (parallel lines offset from the character line) are described in terms of offsets of the rules below the baseline and the thicknesses of the rules. In the case of the single underlining function, the offset of the single rule below the baseline and the thickness of the rule are specified. In the case of the double underlining function, the offset of the first rule below the baseline, the thicknesses of the first and second rules, and the gap between the first and second rules are specified.
The offset, thickness, and gap parameters for rules in text processors are typically functions of the typeface and size. However, for a given typeface and size, the most aesthetically pleasing values for the rule parameters depend upon other characteristics surrounding the underlined text.
Homogeneous underlining is the common method of underlining for many text processors. For homogeneous underlining, the parameters of offset, thickness, and gap for rules are functions of the font size and also are functions of the typeface. Typically, for a given size, a bolder typeface has a bolder (thicker) underline. In many text processors, only homogeneous underlining is provided and users have no choices.
Heterogeneous underlining is another method of underlining for text processors. For heterogeneous underlining, where different typefaces are in close proximity, the parameters of offset, thickness, and gap for rules are functions of font size without any dependency on typeface. Again, users have no ability to control the appearance of the underlining style.
Constant underlining is another method of underlining for text processors. Constant underlining is particularly suited, for example, to financial tables where users often wish to have the underlining to be independent of both the font size and typeface.
The printing industry, and other fields distinguished from the field of text processors, for many years have created a broad range of rules for underlining text. Such non-text processing technologies permit rules (lines offset from text) to be located, independently of the text, at any arbitrary location relative to the text. Of course, when rules can be arbitrarily placed, they provide the same appearance as rules generated by the underlining functions of text processors. However, arbitrary rule placement, independent of text placement, is not practical for text processors. Text processors with underline functions draw the underline rules as a function of imaging the text thereby greatly simplifying the imaging of rules with text.
While known text processors have provided single algorithms for rule generation and hence have greatly simplified the placement of rules using underlining functions, those text processors have also greatly limited the choices available to users and consequently the appearance of rules (lines offset from other text) in text processor documents is often not satisfactory.
In accordance with the above background, there is a need for improved text processors which allow users to select different underlining functions to achieve different styles of underlining and thereby generate displays and documents that have an improved appearance without sacrificing functional simplicity.

Composite underlining functions for text processors


A process for producing substantially pure sucralose pentaester from a mixture of 6-O-acyl-4,1' ,6' -trichloro-4,1',6'-trideoxygalactosucrose in a reaction medium comprising a tertiary amide, wherein said process comprises the steps of:. (a) recovering the 6-O-acyl-4,1' ,6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose from said mixture; PA1 (b) peracylating the 6-O-acyl-4,1' ,6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose product of step (a) to produce thereby 4,1',6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose pentaester; and PA1 (c) crystallizing the 4,1',6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose pentaester product of step (b) to produce substantially pure 4,1',6' -trichloro-4,1' ,6' -trideoxygalactosucrose pentaester.

The artificial sweetener 4,1',6'-trichloro-4,1',6'-trideoxyoalactosucrose ("sucralose") is derived from sucrose by replacing the hydroxyls in the 4, 1', and 6' positions with chlorine. (In the process of making the sweetener, the stereo configuration at the 4 position is reversed - hence the compound is a qalactosucrose.) The direction of the chlorine atoms to only the desired positions is a major synthesis problem because the hydroxyls that are replaced are of differing reactivity; two are primary and one is secondary. The synthesis is further complicated by the fact that the primary hydroxyl in the 6 position is unsubstituted in the final product.
A number of different synthesis routes for the preparation of sucralose have been developed in which the reactive hydroxyl in the 6 position is first blocked, as by an ester group, prior to the chlorination of the hydroxyls in the 4, 1', and 6' positions, followed by hydrolysis to remove the ester substituent to produce sucralose. Several of such synthesis routes involve tin-mediated syntheses of sucrose-6-esters. Illustrative are the tin-mediated routes disclosed by Navia (U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,746), Neiditch et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,329), Wingard et al. (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 870,190, filed Apr. 13, 1992--published, as EP-A-0 475 619 A1), and Walkup et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,608 - Walkup et al.-I).
The above-illustrated tin-mediated syntheses have in common the preparation of a sucrose-6-ester that can be chlorinated to produce a sucralose-6-ester (that is, sucralose having an ester group substituent at the 6 position). The sucrose-6-ester can be chlorinated by the process described in Walkup et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,463 (Walkup et al.-II). The Walkup et al.-II process produces as a product of the chlorination a mixture of 6-O-acyl-4,1',6'-trichloro-4,1',6'-trideoxyoalactosucrose ("sucralose-6-ester") in a tertiary amide solvent such as N,N-dimethylformamide. The chlorination reaction product mixture also contains water, salts, and chlorinated carbohydrate byproducts.
The present invention provides an improved method for producing sucralose from a mixture of 6-O-acyl-4,1',6'-trichloro-4,1',6'-trideoxyoalactosucrose in a tertiary amide solvent such as N,N-(dimethylformamide.


A process for the transalkylation of benzene, toluene and alkylaromatic hydrocarbons containing nine and ten carbon atoms form alkylaromatic hydrocarbons containing eight carbon atoms has been developed. The fixed bed reaction and adsorption zone contains a transalkylation catalyst and an adsorbent effective to selectively adsorb C.sub.9 and C.sub.10 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon reactants relative to the C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon products. Hydrogen and a desorbent are introduced to a first portion of the zone and an effluent containing at least one C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon product is withdrawn from a second portion of the zone. After a period of time, the desorbent is redirected to the second portion of the zone and concurrently the effluent containing at least one C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon product is withdrawn from the first portion of the zone. The alternation of introducing the desorbent to a first portion and then a second portion of the zone while concurrently withdrawing the effluent from the second portion and then the first portion of the zone is continued, thereby retaining the C.sub.9 and C.sub.10 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons within the zone until they are consumed.

C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons are generally considered to be valuable products, and para-xylene in particular is in high demand. On the other hand, C.sub.9 and C.sub.10 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons are not nearly as valuable but are typically produced as a byproduct in the same aromatic production processes used to produce C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons. Various approaches have been used to convert the less valuable C.sub.9 and C.sub.10 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons into C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons. One popular approach has been to transalkylate C.sub.9 and C.sub.10 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons along with benzene or toluene to form the C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons. Specifically, trimethylbenzenes and tetramethylbenzenes have been transalkylated along with benzene and toluene to form xylenes. However, transalkylation reactions are equilibrium limited and the product contains a mixture of unreacted C.sub.9 and C.sub.10 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons along with the desired C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons. To increase conversion, commercial processes have utilized a two-stage design with the first stage being a fixed bed reactor and the second stage being a separation unit. Unreacted C.sub.9 and C.sub.10 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons present in the reactor product stream are separated and recycled to the reactor; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,211,798.
The present invention makes use of reversible flow reactive chromatography to perform the transalkylation. Reactive chromatography in general allows for concurrent reaction and separation of the unconsumed reactants from products, thereby extending product yields beyond thermodynamic equilibrium limitations. Reactive chromatography has been applied to other classes of chemical reactions; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,494 which describes an isomerization process having two sub-beds containing a mixture of catalyst and adsorbent where the feed is introduced between the two sub-beds and the desorbent introduction is alternated between the first sub-bed and the second sub-bed. The adsorbent must selectively adsorb straight-chain hydrocarbons to the substantial exclusion of non-straight-chain hydrocarbons.
The present invention expands the application of reversible flow reactive chromatography to an entirely new class of chemical reactions, the transalkylation of alkylaromatic hydrocarbons. U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,633 describes alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons using a catalyst supported on an adsorbent, but the purpose of using the adsorbent support was to increase the activity of the catalyst, not to perform an actual separation. CA2031096 and AU9067656-A describe an alkylation process where an alkene is adsorbed on a dry cationic exchange resin in its hydrogen form and is simultaneously reacted with an aromatic hydrocarbon. The present invention uses reversible flow and the combination of catalyst and adsorbent in a single zone both to effect transalkylation and to concurrently separate the unconsumed C.sub.9 and C.sub.10 alkylaromatic hydrocarbons from the C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon products.

C.sub.8 alkylaromatic hydrocarbon production using reversible flow reactive chromatography


A circuit breaker replacement tool made of a cart with a base plate, wherein the base plate has at least two wheels. The cart has a right side and a left side with both sides connected on one end to the base plate. A height adjustable support arm holds a main linear actuator and an interlocking linear actuator for opening interlocks and installing or removing circuit breakers from circuit breaker cabinets.

Arc-flash is the result of a rapid release of energy due to an arcing fault between a phase bus plate and another phase bus plate, a neutral or a ground.
During an arc fault, the air is the conductor that creates an arc similar to an arc obtained during electric welding. The arc fault is typically manually started by a failure along the path of conduction, such as a breakdown in insulation.
The cause of the short often burns away during the initial flash. The arc flash is then sustained by the establishment of highly conductive plasma around the fault.
The plasma will conduct as much energy as is available limited only by the impedance of the arc. This massive energy discharge burns the bus plates, vaporizes the copper and causes an explosive volumetric increase. The arc blast, conservatively estimated, has an expansion of 400,000 to 1. This fiery explosion devastates everything in its path creating deadly shrapnel as it dissipates.
Several incidents have occurred in recent years which have resulted in injury and death due to these arc blasts.
The majority of arc blast incidents occurred while a circuit breaker was being installed or removed from a circuit breaker cabinet. Since removing and installing circuit breakers requires a user to be in close proximity to switchgear being installed, and on some occasions to be physically in the circuit breaker cabinet itself, it is a highly hazardous activity and a need has existed for this activity to be done by remote control or by a remotely controlled robot or similar tool.
A need has existed for a specialty installation tool designed for safety and reliability protecting a user from the deadly arc blast.
A further need exists for an attachment for, or component of, the specialty installation tool for actuating interlocks, handles, or levers required for engaging and disengaging circuit breakers from their circuit breaker cabinets. A common interlock found in circuit breakers is a foot lever interlock. Ordinarily, this interlock requires an operator to manually push the lever with their foot while they pull the circuit breaker out of the circuit breaker cabinet. Therefore, a need exists for a device to remotely actuate interlocking levers and pull the circuit breakers out of the circuit breaker cabinet for operator safety.
A further need exists for an attachment for, or component of, the specialty installation tool for securing the tool to the cabinet to help establish the relative motion between the circuit breaker and the circuit breaker cabinet.
The present embodiments meet these safety and reliability needs, prevents death, destruction and explosions for a user with a remotely operated vehicle that can install or remove circuit breakers from a cell of a circuit breaker cabinet.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.


The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing the light emitting component of a VECSEL and the corresponding VECSEL. In the method a layer stack (2) is epitaxially grown on a semiconductor substrate (1). The layer stack comprises an active region (4), an upper distributed Bragg reflector (5) and a n- or p-doped current injection layer (13) arranged between the active region (4) and the semiconductor substrate (1). A mechanical support (6) or submount is bonded to an upper side of the layer stack (2) and the semiconductor substrate (1) is subsequently removed. A metallization layer (7) is optionally deposited on the lower side of the layer stack (2) and an optically transparent substrate (8) is bonded to this lower side. The proposed method allows the manufacturing of such a component in a standard manner and results in a VECSEL with a homogenous current injection and high efficiency of heat dissipation.

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) are typically formed of a layer stack comprising an active (gain) region, sandwiched between two distributed Bragg reflectors. The layer stack is composed of appropriate dielectric and/or semiconductor layer sequences. The laser cavity is formed of the two DBRs, one of which, for outcoupling purposes, has a lower reflectance at the lasing wavelength than the other one. In case of a vertical extended cavity surface emission laser, the resonating cavity is formed between the DBR having the higher reflectance and an extended mirror. The second DBR which would be arranged inside this extended cavity can be omitted or is designed to have even lower reflectance at the lasing wavelength compared to a VCSEL.
For stable operation of such a VECSEL an optical lens is required inside the extended cavity to form a stable resonator with two flat end mirrors. Furthermore, the heat generated during operation of such a laser must be efficiently dissipated from the active region.
WO 2004/086578 A2 discloses to attach an optically transparent substrate to the free side of the layer stack inside the extended cavity. This transparent substrate is used as a heat spreader and designed to have one or more further selected properties to influence the light which is output from the laser. Examples of such further properties are polarizing properties to achieve a desired polarization of the laser radiation, a nonlinear optical response to achieve frequency doubling of the laser radiation or the provision of a curved surface to focus or defocus the output light.
The thermal conductivity of transparent substrates however is not sufficient to use them as an effective heat sink. Furthermore, a homogeneous current injection into the active region is difficult to achieve when the transparent substrate is not electrically conductive.

Vertical extended cavity surface emission laser and method for manufacturing a light emitting component of the same


An ECU includes a collision determination unit, a condition determination unit, and an output suppression unit. The collision determination unit monitors an acceleration detected by a collision sensor, and determines that a vehicle collision has occurred when the acceleration is greater than a predetermined value. The condition determination unit determines whether or not a vehicular speed absolute value is smaller than a threshold vehicular speed in a determination period lasting from the determination of collision for a predetermined time. The output suppression unit suppresses an output of a vehicle driving force when the vehicular speed absolute value is smaller than the threshold vehicular speed in the determination period.

For a vehicle equipped with a device for detecting a collision of the vehicle, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-247210 (PTD 1) discloses an art to prevent the behavior of the vehicle from becoming instable in detecting the vehicle collision by forcibly setting a brake control to a braking state when a brake pedal has not been depressed by a driver and meanwhile forcibly setting an accelerator control to a closed state when an accelerator pedal has been depressed by the driver.


A foldable flexible display device is provided. The display device includes a flexible display screen including a plurality of display sub-portions and supporting airbags. Every two adjacent supporting airbags have a folding axis therebetween. A non-light-exiting surface of each display sub-portion is provided with a supporting airbag. A switching valve is provided between two adjacent supporting airbags, and at least one supporting airbag is connected to an inflating device. When the flexible display screen is in a completely unfolded state, the switching valve is opened in such a manner that the inflating device inflates the supporting airbag.

In the related art, smart watches, mobile phones, and tablets are classified separately in accordance with screen sizes. Smart watches are portable, but merely have some simple functions due to small display area. Mobile phones and tablets in the related art are inconvenient to carry, and cannot simultaneously meet the multi-scenario and multi-function needs of the user and the portable performance. Most wearable devices in the related art are limited to combine only smart watches and mobile phones, and there is no product that combines watches, mobile phones and tablets. On the other hand, with the continuous development of flexible panel screen technology, flexible display screens are increasingly used in various terminals. However, the flexible display screen suffers from a flatness problem when being unfolded. Accordingly, improved foldable flexible display devices are needed.


An instrument for performing liposuction with a longitudinally extended rod-shaped part that, at its rear end, has a handle and a front end piece for partially introducing the rod-shaped part under the skin at a site to be treated. The rod-shaped part is, at least over a portion of its length, provided with a roughened surface. This enables the rod-shaped part to be partially introduced under the skin at the site that has already been treated with a suction instrument. At this location, the rod-shaped part can, with its roughened surface, simultaneously distribute the remaining fatty layer remnants or to remove these remnants from the remaining tissue by means of a to-and-fro movement in the longitudinal direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an instrument for performing liposuction with an elongated, rod-like part.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liposuction, i.e., the suctioning of fat is a medical process that is often practised today. A means for carrying out such a process is for example described in EP-B-0 458 989. This means incorporates a suction pipe that can be inserted under the skin into the fat layer that is to be removed. The main problem with this suctioning of fat is that the fat layer is often unevenly removed, whereby the irregularities are then noticeable on the skin surface in a way that is not aesthetically pleasing.


A transformed tuberous plant cell or a transgenic tuberous plant containing a heterologous nucleic acid that includes a sweet potato sporamin promoter operably linked to a sequence encoding a polypeptide.

Sporamin, a storage protein family, accounts for 60-80% of total soluble proteins in the tuberous roots of a sweet potato (Maeshima et al., 1985, Phytochemistry 24: 1899-1902). It is encoded by two major gene subfamilies, A and B (Hatori et al., 1989, Plant Mol Biol 13: 563-572). The genomic DNA of two sporamin genes, SPO-A1 and SPO-B1, have been isolated and characterized (Hattori and Nakamura, 1988, Plant Mol. Biol. 11: 417-426). They belong to the gene subfamilies A and B, respectively.