A video surveillance system 1 having an input device 6. The input device includes an analysis device 12 for evaluating images of a surveillance scene from a surveillance region 5, that have been recorded by a surveillance camera 3 A user 7 is represented and/or can be represented on the images, and the analysis device 12 and/or the input device 6 are/is designed for generating user object data 14, based on the images 13 with the user 7 and/or the input device 6. The input device is embodied as a mobile device 6 for the configuration of the video surveillance system 1 by the user 7 on the basis of or using the user object data 14.

The invention relates to a video surveillance system comprising an input device comprising an analysis device for evaluating images of a surveillance scene from a surveillance region, said images having been recorded by a surveillance camera, wherein a user is represented and/or can be represented on the images, wherein the analysis device and/or the input device are/is designed for generating user object data, which are generated on the basis of the images with the user and/or the input device—both called user images hereinafter. The invention also relates to a method for configuring a or the video surveillance system.
Video surveillance systems usually have one or more surveillance cameras arranged in a surveillance region. The surveillance cameras record images of the surveillance region and forward said images into a control center, for example, where the images are evaluated optionally by surveillance personnel or in an automated fashion. Automated evaluation often employs automatic image analysis methods based on the interplay of various algorithms such as, for example, image segmentation, tracking of objects or the classification of objects.
The results of the automated evaluation are provided, for example, in the control center itself or via web-browser-based solutions.
One example of a video surveillance system is described in the document DE 10 2005 0217 35 A1, which probably forms the closest prior art. Said video surveillance system comprises a plurality of surveillance cameras, which are connected to a surveillance control center via a network. In the surveillance control center, the video recordings from the surveillance cameras can be linked with outline layout data of the surveillance region. In accordance with the document, setting up the surveillance cameras in the surveillance system is associated with a high outlay since this comprised inputting the camera view point and the detection regions of the surveillance cameras in an overview plan of the surveillance regions. For simplification it is proposed that the setting-up engineer depicts edges of the outline layout interactively into the video image from a surveillance camera.

Video surveillance system and method for configuring a video surveillance system


Disclosed herein is a material having formula (A3+((4-5n)/3)-δB5+n)xTi1−xO2, wherein 0<n<0.8, δ and x is such that the material has a rutile structure, 0<n<0.8, δ is between 0 and 0.025 inclusive, A3+ is a trivalent positive ion and B5− is a pentavalent positive ion. A process for making the material, and its use as a dielectric material, are also described.

Driven by the need to develop high electrical energy storage devices and miniaturisation of electronic devices down to the micro and/or nanometer scale; increasing attention has been concentrated on the development of high or giant dielectric constant materials with good thermal stability and low dielectric loss.
To date, there are few materials systems which have a dielectric constant above 104. Examples include BaTiO3-like perovskite relaxor ferroelectric materials, such as BaTi0.9(Ni, W)0.1O3, Ba(Fe0.5Ta0.5)O3, (Ba, Sr)TiO3, Ba(Ti, Sn)O3; CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) as well as analogous compounds like CdCu3Ti4O12, Bi2/3Cu3Ti4O12 and La0.5Na0.5Cu3Ti4O12 and Li (and/or K), and Ti (and/or V) co-doped NiO. In the first BaTiO3-like perovskite system, the giant dielectric constant (about 103-104) arises from their relaxor ferroelectric characteristics with a displacive diffuse transition in the vicinity of room temperature. The dielectric constant of materials of this type, however, is significantly temperature and frequency dependent with a relatively large dielectric loss. The giant dielectric constant of the second CCTO-type family of materials can reach up to about 105. These CCTO-type materials have relatively better temperature stability since the high dielectric polarisation results from both relaxor ferroelectric and internal barrier layer capacitance (IBLC) contributions. The dielectric properties of materials of this type, however, are often strongly process-dependent. For example, the measured dielectric constant can vary over the range from a few hundred up to 105. The doped NiO and La2-xSrxNiO4 (x=⅓ or ⅛) systems are ones where the dielectric constant arises from IBLC or so called core-shell model contributions. This, again, however leads to a relatively high dielectric loss over a relatively broad temperature range.
There is therefore a need for a material which exhibits a giant dielectric constant but better temperature stability and significantly less dielectric loss by comparison with existing giant dielectric constant materials.


According to the invention a working cannula (1) is fixedly joined to a medical coupling element (3) which is placed onto a sealing cannula (2) and can be screwed onto same. The medical coupling element (3) has an actuating lever (34) and a covering plate (39). When the medical coupling element (3) is rotated by means of the actuating lever (34) in relation to the sealing cannula (2), the working cannula (1) is partially pulled into the sealing cannula (2) to such a depth that inlet openings (11) in the proximal end of the working cannula (1) are drawn into a sealing chamber (14) at the proximal end of the sealing cannula (2). This ensures that the outlet openings (6) through which, for example, fibrin adhesive can be administered into the puncture channel, do not enter an artery. In the insertion position the covering plate (39) simultaneously covers the sealing tube (5) through which the sealing material is injected.

The present invention relates to a device for introducing two-component fibrin adhesive into a puncture channel in the vicinity of an arterial or venal puncture location, according to the preamble of patent claim 1.
Many human and vetinary medical operations demand the puncturing of vessels. In particular with percutaneous transluminar coronary angioplasty (PTCA), heart operations and heart catheterisations the punctured vessels must be closed again with the utmost care. In most cases this is effected by way of direct compression of up to one hour and a pressure compress which must be applied for up to 24 hours and demand 1 to 2 days hospital attendance. As a result there is the desire to find a solution which leads to a quick and secure closure of the puncture location.
On the occasion of a meeting American Heart Association of Nov. 17, 1992 in New Orleans there was presented a method under the description of Vasoseal. With this method in each case two collagen plug of bovine collagen were injected into a puncture channel up to the location of puncture. At the mentioned meeting it was ascertained that apart from the rather seldom rejection reactions of the collagen foreign to the body there arise various further disadvantages or risks. It was ascertained that this system in many cases is ineffective and there exists a certain embolism danger. With about 46% of all cases there formed haemtomas of the magnitude of 2-6 cm. Up to the complete resorption of the bovine collagen there passes weeks to months.
This method leads furthermore to an enlarged scar formation which makes an ultrasound control more difficult. Finally the hospitalisation did not become superfluous but was at least shortened. One of the essential problems however lies in the handling, i.e. the introduction of the collagen plug into the puncture channel. Since after one another two collagen plug must be pressed into the puncture channel, the penetration for example depth for the user is difficult to ascertain. If the collagen plug are injected too deep then the collagen plug may be pushed through the puncture location into the vessel which would lead to a closure or the vessel itself is pressed closed. A new method in order to close such puncture locations quickly, reliably and without the disadvantageous collagen plug has been disclosed by the inventor in WO 94/28798.
From FR-A-2378528 there is known a double-lumen catheter for carrying out a haemodialysis. With this the blood to be dialysised is removed through the exterior lumen and through the interior lumen there is supplied the dialysised blood. The outer lumen at the same time surrounds the inner lumen at a distance and both lumens during the dialysis are introduced into the vessel of the patient.
According to EP-A-0xe2x80x2482xe2x80x2350 there is suggested an apparatus which normally is pushed over the guidewire and with which a plug is inserted into the puncture channel. Although the dilator has a smaller diameter than the cannula into which the guidewire is guided, the resistance which the cardiologist is aware on introduction is so small so that there is an extremely real danger of the outer cannula of the apparatus piercing into the vessel to be sealed. Thus then the plug is placed into the vessel instead of the puncture channel. This danger has been recognised and therefore in the same application it has been suggested, by way of a needle clamp, to measure the penetration depth of the needle when the guidewire is introduced.
It has been shown that with the use of the body""s own blood coagulation agents extracted from blood protein in the form of two-component fibrin adhesive whose components at the moment of introduction are mixed and this mixture during or directly after an intravascular operation are introduced into the puncture channel as close as possible to the vessel, there arises an optimal vessel closure. Histological examinations have confirmed these facts.
The solution of sealing the puncture channel with a two-component fibrin adhesive has a high functional safety, as various clinical trials have shown. In spite of the use of blood thinning agents a perfect sealing could not be achieved.
Whilst with the first clinical trials pactically no erroneous handlings were ascertained it has been shown that the high functional safety leads to the fact that with a further series of trials one worked very quickly and the guidelines with respect to precautionary measures were not observed. Accordingly there resulted partly insufficient sealings which required subsequent treatment. Unfortunately the sealing was carried out either too deep, by which means a part of the fibrin adhesive came into the vessel, or the sealing was carried out too far away from the vessel wall, by which means the undelivered fibrin adhesive externally penetrated ushed out on the cannula wall along the puncture channel.
As a consequence it is the object of the present invention to provide a device by way of which fibrin adhesive may be introduced into a puncture channel as exact as possible in the vicinity of an arterial or venal puncture location.
This object is achieved by a device which comprises a sealing cannula which is axially passed through by a working cannula from above to below, wherein the working cannula which serves the intravascular introduction of an instrumentation into a vessel is surrounded by the sealing cannula at a distance so that the fibrin adhesive is led from a connection piece at least from one radially aligned exit opening in the sealing cannula between this cannula and the working cannula, with the features of patent claim 1.
Further advantageous embodiment forms of the device are deduced from the dependent claims, and their significance and advantages are explained in the subsequent description.

Device for introducing fibrin adhesive into a puncture channel


A method and apparatus for parking a motorcycle includes a base and an elongate body rotatably mounted on the base. The body a trough that extends between and is accessible from either of a first end or a second end. The trough is at least as long as a wheelbase of a motorcycle and at least as wide as a motorcycle tire. A motorcycle is driven onto the body and along the trough until the motorcycle is fully supported by the body off the ground in a state of balanced equilibrium. Manual motive force is provided by the rider to rotate the body about the base while the rider remains seated to provide lateral stability to the motorcycle.

When parking a motorcycle in a confined space, such as a garage, it is preferable to turn the motorcycle around so that the motorcycle can be driven out of the confined parking space.
Turning the motorcycle around in the confined space involves a series of forward and backward movements with each series of movements moving the motorcycle through only 15 to 30 degrees of a 180 degree movement.

Method and apparatus for parking a motorcycle


To calculate sequential CRCs, a CRC pipeline may be used to calculate the sequential CRCs for a block of data The CRC pipeline includes a plurality of stages, where, in each subsequent stage a CRC calculated from a previous stage is used to calculate an offset CRC. For example, using at least one CRC calculator and CRC shifter, a stage in the pipeline removes an effect of first portion of the data represented by a previously calculated CRC from the CRC and then adds an effect of a second portion of data neighboring the first portion in a received data block to yield an offset CRC. For example, a stage may change CRC(0:63) to CRC(32:95) by removing the effect of bytes 0:31 and adding the effect of bytes 64:95. At each stage, the byte offset may get smaller until all the sequential CRCs have been calculated.

CRC is a type of hash function used to generate a checksum corresponding to a block of data, such as a communication packet. CRC may be used to detect data transmission errors. For example, a CRC value for a packet may be calculated prior to transmitting the packet and after the packet is received at a destination. These CRC values may be compared to detect data transmission errors.
CRCs can be calculated using any number of techniques which may offer different advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation. In hardware implementations, CRCs are calculated using circuit logic on, for example, an integrated circuit which may receive data blocks (e.g., data packets) as input and output CRCs corresponding to each block. Generally, the circuit logic required to calculate CRCs increases as the size of the data block increases. For example, in some implementations, halving the size of the data block being used to calculate the CRC exponentially decreases the size of the circuit logic. Thus, calculating a CRC for a large block of data by combining CRCs representing smaller blocks of data may decrease the overall size of the circuit logic needed.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially utilized on other embodiments without specific recitation.

Calculating cyclic redundancy checks over overlapping windows of streaming data


An apparatus and a method determine an area of an optical disc in which an inner area and an outer area of the optical disc having an absolute time of 99 minutes are distinguished from each other by referring to a number of ATIP syncs. The method includes counting the number of ATIP syncs for one rotation of the optical disc at a current position of a pickup when ATIP information recorded on the optical disc indicates that the pickup is currently present in an area of the optical disk that is greater than or equal to 95 minutes; and determining the current position of the pickup by comparing the number of counted ATIP syncs with a reference number of ATIP syncs. Accordingly, time spent determining the area of an optical disc and accessing the optical disc is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for reproducing an optical recording medium, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for determining an area of an optical disc, in which inner and outer regions of an optical disc with an absolute time of 99 minutes may be differentiated from each other by referring to a number of an absolute time-code in pre-groove (ATIP) syncs.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, as shown in FIG. 1, an optical disc having an absolute time of 90 minutes consists of three signal areas: a lead-in area; a program area; and a lead-out area. The lead-in area contains information recorded on the optical disc, such as location information, the type of disc, and reproduction time. In the lead-in area, which is called a table of content (TOC) area, a TOC signal is repeatedly recorded. A reproduction signal is recorded in the program area, and the ending of a program is indicated in the lead-out area. Referring to FIG. 1, except for an optical disc having the absolute time of 99 minutes, a 90-99 minute area is present only in the lead-in area (shown as 95-99 minutes in the example in FIG. 1). For access to an optical disc, time information of a pickup is converted into a logical block address (LBA) to measure a distance of movement of the pickup. In this case, current time information of the pickup is converted into −LBA when the pickup is present in the lead-in area and converted into +LBA when the pickup is present in the area other than the lead-in area, i.e., the program area or the lead-out area.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional method of determining the area of an optical disc. Referring to FIG. 2, whether current time information of a pickup is 95 minutes or more is checked using ATIP information which is recorded on an optical disc, in operation 200. If the current time information of the pickup is 95 minutes or more, the pickup is regarded as being currently positioned in a lead-in area, and current time information of the pickup is converted into −LBA, in operation 201. However, if the current time information of the pickup is less than 95 minutes, the pickup is judged to be currently located in an area other than the lead-in area, and the position of the pickup is converted into +LBA, in operation 202.
However, in the case of an optical disc having an absolute time of 99 minutes, 90-99 minute areas are present in both a lead-in area and the area other than the lead-in area, i.e., a program area or a lead-out area, as shown in FIG. 3. Therefore, whether a pickup is present in the lead-in area or an area other than the lead-in area must be determined. Otherwise, when the pickup is present in a 95-99 minute area, a seek error may occur. The area of the optical disc where a pickup is located has to be determined to measure a distance of movement of the pickup precisely. Then, the position of the pickup is converted into −LBA when the pickup is judged to be present in the lead-in area and converted into +LBA when the pickup is judged to be present in an area other than the lead-in area. Accordingly, the distance of movement of the pickup may be precisely measured, thus rendering precise access to a desired point of the optical disc.

Apparatus and method for determining precise pickup access to desired area of optical disc


A pressure sensitive adhesive is disclosed that is tack-free to the touch, but forms a permanent bond under moderate pressure. The pressure sensitive adhesive contains a tacky adhesive latex, a non-tacky latex or polymer, and an inert filler. The tacky adhesive latex provides the sealing properties, the non-tacky latex or polymer provides blocking properties and the filler absorbs oil that may adversely affect the sealing properties. The adhesive is tack-free to the touch yet becomes activated to form a permanent bond under moderate sealing pressure.

The present invention relates to a pressure sensitive adhesive composition and its application.
The majority of pressure sensitive adhesives disclosed by the prior art are tacky to the touch and present difficulties in storage and handling because they tend to exhibit "blocking" properties, i.e., they tend to adhere to themselves when stored on a reel. Thus, there exists a need for a pressure sensitive adhesive that is initially tack-free, but forms a permanent bond upon moderate sealing pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,884 to Dust et al. discloses an adhesive that is capable of forming a seal to itself with application of pressure, yet resists blocking. However, Dust et al. does not disclose the presence of a filler. As a result, silicone oil, often used in the nip for cut sheet forms to protect the fused roll, would be expected to migrate to the surface of the adhesive and interfere with the sealing operation. Thus, there is an additional need for a pressure sensitive adhesive whose adhesive properties will not be adversely affected by contact with silicone oil.


A thermal energy storage system includes a container positioned within a surrounding body of water and comprising a container wall. The wall has an interior surface exposed to and defining an internal volume of the container and has an exterior surface opposite the interior surface and exposed to the surrounding body of water. The internal volume is substantially full of water, and the container is configured to thermally separate water within the internal volume along the interior surface from water of the surrounding body of water along the exterior surface. A thermal source in thermal communication with the water within the internal volume is configured to transfer a thermal potential to the water within the internal volume.

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to thermal energy storage and, more particularly, to a system and method of storing thermal energy in an underwater storage device.
Renewable energy (RE) sources offer an alternative to conventional power sources in an age of dwindling non-renewable energy sources and high carbon emissions. However, RE sources are often not fully exploited because many forms of renewable energy are not available when the peak demand is present. For instance, RE sources may be most available during undesirable off-peak hours, or may be located in areas that are remote from population centers or locations where power is most needed, having to share the grid during peak hours along with all the other peak power sources.
RE sources may include hydro power, geothermal, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), as examples. Hydro power, for instance, when combined with a reservoir is one RE source that can be throttled up and down to match or load-follow the varying power loads. Geothermal and OTEC are also good baseload RE resources; however, viable locations for geothermal and OTEC are limited. It is to be understood that an ocean thermal energy converter, while traditionally utilized across the thermocline of an ocean, can additionally apply to fresh bodies of water that have a temperature difference between surface water and deep water. RE sources may also include solar, wind, wave, and tidal, as examples. However these sources tend to be intermittent in their ability to provide power. Energy storage is thus desired for those sources to substantially contribute to the grid energy supply.
Cost-effective storage for the electrical grid has been sought from the beginning of electrical service delivery but is not yet available. In the absence of affordable storage, the variation in power demand throughout a day, and season-to-season, requires generation assets that are utilized only part of the time, which can increase capital, operations, and maintenance costs for assets used at less than full capacity. Also, some generation assets are difficult to throttle or shut down and are difficult to quickly return to full power. Energy storage can provide a buffer to better match power demand and supply allowing power sources to operate at higher capacity and thus higher efficiency.
Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is an attractive energy storage technology that overcomes many drawbacks of known energy storage technologies. One approach for CAES is illustrated in FIG. 1. CAES system 10 includes an input power 12 which can be, for example, from a renewable energy source such as wind power, wave power (e.g., via a "Salter Duck"), current power, tidal power, or solar power, as examples. In another embodiment, input power 12 may be from an electrical power grid. In the case of a renewable energy (RE) source, such a source may provide intermittent power. In the case of an electrical power grid, system 10 may be connected thereto and controlled in a fashion that electrical power may be drawn and stored as compressed fluid energy during off-peak hours such as during late evening or early morning hours, and then recovered during peak hours when energy drawn from system 10 may be sold at a premium (i.e., electrical energy arbitrage), or to augment base load power systems such as coal to provide peaking capability by storing inexpensive base load power.
Input power 12 is coupled to mechanical power 14 to compress fluid from a fluid inlet 16, and fluid compression 18 results. Cooling may be introduced via pumps and heat exchangers or through direct contact between the compressed fluid and a cooling fluid. Fluid from fluid compression 18 is conveyed to compressed fluid storage 20 via a fluid input 22.
When it is desirable to draw stored energy from system 10, compressed fluid may be drawn from compressed fluid storage 20 via fluid output 24, and fluid expansion 26 occurs, which results in available energy that may be conveyed to, for instance, a mechanical device that extracts mechanical power 28 for electrical power generation 30. The generated electrical power may be conveyed to a grid or other device where it is desirable to have electrical power delivered. Outlet fluid 32 is expelled to the environment at generally standard or ambient pressure.
When operated close to isothermally (i.e., quasi-isothermally), system 10 includes forced-convection cooling 34 to cool the fluid from fluid compression 18 and forced-convection heating 36 to heat the fluid from fluid expansion 26. Because compressed fluid storage occurs at generally ambient temperature and pressure, both cooling 34 for fluid compression 18 and heating 36 after fluid expansion 26 may be performed using the vast amount of environmental fluid that surrounds system 10 at ambient temperature and pressure.
FIG. 2 illustrates a marine-based, quasi-isothermal implementation of CAES system 10. Components of system 10 are positioned on a platform 38 proximately to the water surface of a sea 40. Platform 38 is supported by the seafloor 42. A compressed air storage assembly 44 is positioned at an average depth 46, and a compressor/expander system (C/E) 48 is coupled to a generator 50. C/E 48 may include multiple stages of compression and expansion for quasi-isothermal operation, and a heat exchanger package (not shown in this figure) may cool or reheat the fluid between the stages of compression or expansion, respectively.
A fluid hose or pipe, or pressurized-fluid conveyance system 52 connects fluid storage bag assembly 44 with the C/E 48 at or near the surface of sea 40. When power is input 54 to C/E 48, C/E 48 operates to compress fluid, convey it to fluid storage tube assembly 44 via fluid hose or pipe 52, and store the energy therein. Power 54 may be provided via a renewable source such as wind, wave motion, tidal motion, or may be provided via the generator 50 operated as a motor which may draw energy from, for instance, a power grid. Also, C/E 48 may be operated in reverse by drawing compressed stored energy from fluid storage tube assembly 44 via fluid hose or pipe 52 to drive the generator 50 to generate AC or DC power.
While operation of CAES system 10 in a marine-based quasi-isothermal operation takes advantage of the generation of energy from cost-effective sources, quasi-isothermal CAES systems typically compress fluid in a plurality of compression stages, and with cooling or heating within or between stages achieved via pumps and heat exchangers. An adiabatic CAES system, however, allows for storing thermal energy generated during fluid compression, which is not disposed of but used subsequently to preheat the compressed air prior to or during fluid expansion.
If there are enough compression stages, the system can operate at close to isothermal efficiency simply by exchange enough heat with the external environment. However, a compression system with a large number of stages may be quite expensive.
In newer, adiabatic CAES designs, thermal energy is stored at high temperatures that require expensive media and containment systems. For example, one proposal for thermal storage includes the use of thermal storage containers filled with stone or ceramic bricks, stored at 600° C. Such a high temperature system is challenging and expensive to enclose and insulate. Water, on the other hand, has very high heat capacity, is very inexpensive, but is challenging to use as a storage medium because of its relatively low boiling point at low or moderate pressures.
It would be advantageous to have thermal energy storage systems that incorporate water or other low cost, non-toxic liquids as the energy storage medium. Given that thermal energy storage systems can be deployed both on land and offshore, or partly on land and partly offshore, it would be advantageous to have thermal energy storage systems which can incorporate low cost thermal storage in both environments.

System and method for storing thermal energy


There is provided a data similarity calculation method. The method includes: (a) acquiring a first waveform; (b) storing time series data; (c) converting the stored time series data into a waveform on two-dimensional coordinates, wherein the two-dimensional coordinates consists of a time axis and an a value axis representing values of the time series data, and the time axis is orthogonal to the value axis; (d) shifting the converted waveform in both directions of the time axis and the value axis so as to generate a second waveform; (e) calculating a similarity between the first waveform and the second waveform; and (f) extracting a shift amount in the direction of the time axis and a shift amount in the direction of the value axis when the similarity is the highest by repeatedly performing steps (d) and (e).

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a waveform similarity calculation method for calculating a similarity between waveforms indicated by time series data. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a waveform similarity calculation method which can accurately extract time series data substantially similar in waveform.
2. Description of the Related Art
Historical data which are past time series data collected at a certain sample interval from respective portions of a plant are stored in a field control system, a plant information management system, various recorders, etc. These historical data are analyzed and put to use for understanding plant's behavior or improving plant's operation. Particularly, when the same operation has been performed before, the historical data at that time can be referred to for the present operation. The following method can be conceived as a method for extracting the past operation.
(1) A person searches for a date and a time of close operation conditions from a logbook and refers to historical data at that time.
(2) The person views the historical data which are sequentially displayed in a graph, and searches for a close operation part.
(3) The close state is expressed by some kind of conditional expression and retrieved by use of a computer.
3. Citation List

Data similarity calculation method and data similarity calculation apparatus


An apparatus for determining a received signal level of a radio wave in a ray-tracing wave propagation environment includes a reception unit configured to receive the radio wave; and an analyzing unit configured to determine the received signal level of the radio wave in the ray-tracing wave propagation environment. Further, the analyzing unit is configured to analyze a correlation of the height and altitude of a surface roughness that recognizes the surface of a surrounding obstacle depending on the length of wavelength in the course of delivery of a received signal of the radio wave and analyze precisely the scattering of the received signal depending on the surface roughness to determine the received signal level of the radio wave when determining the received signal level.

A conventional ray-tracing method has been optimized to predict the wave propagation characteristic in a frequency band of the mobile communication of 10 GHz or less. Mobile communication systems to be introduced in the future use remarkably shorter wavelength of mm wave or sub-mm wave band more than 6 GHz and thus has a limit of employing the radio wave tracking method. Accordingly, it is necessary to more accurately approximate the progress of the radio wave and the magnitude of the received signal to a receiver.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the determination of a reception radius in a ray launching method of a related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, a three-dimensional ray-tracing method starts a ray-tracing by applying the ray launching method. In the ray launching method, the maximum number of rays emitted from a virtual spherical body is set to be N, the rays (where n={1, 2, 3, . . . , N}) is individually emitted in a space in order.
The rays 'n' emitted from a transmission point 100 are individual incident on a surrounding material and terrain and then are changed in their directions through diffraction and reflection. Finally, the rays pass through the reception radius 104 defined about the reception point 102 to determine the presence or absence of reception of the rays. Such series of procedures refers to as a ray-tracing. The rays that enter the reception radius are treated that the track thereof has been completed, and a following track is progressed on a subsequent ray to be emitted. In this case, the track completion may be determined by whether the rays have passed through the reception radius.
FIG. 2 illustrates the problems occurred due to a method of determining a reception radius in accordance with a related art. When using the method of determining the reception radius, the difference in a distance between the transmission point 100 and the receiving point 102 causes problems that a double counting and a dead zone occur. These problems originate from the reason that the magnitude of all rays entering the reception radius is treated to be '1'. Owing to that, reducing the magnitude of the reception radius entails the increase of a shadow area and increasing the magnitude of the reception radius entails the increase of an overlap calculation more and more, which acts as a factor that increases the error in the wave propagation characteristic.

Apparatus and method for determining received signal level in ray-tracing wave propagation environment

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A shoe has a sole and an upper releasably joined together by a peripheral releasable joining device such as a zipper. The sole has a ridgelike upwardly projecting support member which extends at least partially around the peripheral region of the sole, to form a barrier between the joining device and the interior space of the shoe.

The invention relates to a shoe, essentially comprised of a sole subassembly and an upper structure subassembly, which sole and upper structure are releasably joined together.
Typically shoes of different colors, appearance, and structure are purchased and worn based on their compatibility with specific items of clothing which the shoe wearer desires to wear. Thus, an assortment of shoes will be acquired by a wearer, not only for leisure and sports applications but also in shoes for everyday wear. It is well known that shoe soles are more costly to manufacture than shoe uppers, for reasons of the materials required and also the manufacturing steps involving machine operations and/or manual operations.
In order to satisfy the desire to wear a variety of shoes of different colors and forms to match frequent changes of clothing, heretofore it has been necessary for a wearer to accumulate a numerically large stock of different shoes. The costs of this stratagem are prohibitive for broad sectors of the population.
A shoe of the general type described initially supra is known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,440), in which the sole has a generally trough-shaped (flattened U-shaped) cross section, and the upper structure penetrates into the sole structure to the level of the upper ("inner") surface of the sole proper, or farther. In this known shoe, the said penetratingly extended part of the upper structure tends to transmit movement which is uncomfortable to the wearer. The flexing of the sole when the wearer walks or runs causes buckling and bulging of the material of the upper structure in the natural flexural zones of the shoe. Loci of rubbing develop at the lateral regions of the wearer's foot which are hazardous to a wearer seeking a long duration of wear.


Plant for charging metal carriers which contain a portion of fines and are at least partially reduced to a melter gasifier in which a melt-down gasifying zone formed by a bed is maintained, the metal carriers and carbon carriers are fed into the melter gasifier above the level of the melt-down gasifying zone. The metal carriers descend to the melt-down gasifying zone and travel through the same forming a metal melt and producing a reducing gas by coal gasification. In order to prevent a partial discharge from the melter gasifier of the metal carriers, in particular of the fine particles thereof, when charging the same, feeding of the metal carriers into the interior of the melter gasifier is effected at a vertical distance below a dome (30) terminating the melter gasifier toward the top, gravitationally and under the formation of a strand (44), and the strand (44) is surrounded by a gas jacket (45) enclosing and accompanying the freely falling strand (44) from its level of origin (at 40) onwards over a section (46) of the fall, and in this section (46) the strand (44) is supported against expansion by the gas jacket (45).

The invention relates to a method of charging metal carriers, in particular sponge iron, which contain a portion of fines and are at least partially reduced to a melter gasifier in which a melt-down gasifying zone formed by a bed is maintained, wherein the metal carriers and carbon carriers are fed into the melter gasifier above the level of the melt-down gasifying zone and descend to the melt-down gasifying zone and travel through the same forming a metal melt, in particular forming a pig iron melt, and producing a reducing gas by coal gasification, as well as to a plant for carrying out the method.
From EP-B - 0 010 627 it is known to feed in particulate iron-containing material, such as pre-reduced sponge iron, through a centrally arranged charging opening in the hood of the melter gasifier from above, with the particles dropping into the melter gasifier by the action of gravity and being slowed down in the fluidized bed present within the melter gasifier. Coal in lumpy form is charged through a charging opening arranged laterally in the hood of the melter gasifier or in the dome terminating the melter gasifier toward the top, also under the influence of gravity. The reducing gas formed in the melter gasifier is withdrawn through the centrally arranged charging opening for the iron-containing material.
A process of this kind is not suitable for processing fine-particle metal carriers, in particular fine-particle sponge iron, since the fine-particle metal carriers due to the pronounced gas flow of the reducing gas formed in the melt-down gasifying zone and withdrawn through the central charging opening arranged in the hood or in the dome of the melter gasifier would be instantly carried out of the melter gasifier. Such a discharge of the fine-particle metal carriers is further favored by the temperature prevailing in the upper region of the melter gasifier, i.e. in the region above the melt-down gasifying zone, which is too low to ensure a melt-down, i.e. agglomeration of the fine particles at the charging site to form bigger particles which in spite of the ascending gas stream could sink down into the melt-down gasifying zone.
From EP-A - 0 217 331 it is known to introduce pre-reduced fine ore into a melter gasifier and to completely reduce and melt it by means of a plasma burner while supplying a carbon-containing reducing agent. The pre-reduced fine ore or the sponge-iron powder respectively is fed to a plasma burner provided in the lower section of the melter gasifier. A disadvantage of this method is that by feeding the pre-reduced fine ore directly in the lower meltdown region, i.e. in the region where the melt collects, complete reduction can no longer be ensured and the chemical composition necessary for further processing the pig iron cannot be achieved by any means. Moreover, the charging of large amounts of pre-reduced fine ore is not feasible, on account of the fluidized bed or the fixed bed forming from coal in the lower region of the melter gasifier, as it is not possible to carry off a sufficient quantity of the melting products from the high-temperature zone of the plasma burner. The charging of major amounts of pre-reduced fine ore would lead to instant thermal and mechanical failure of the plasma burner.
From EP-B - 0 11 1176 it is known to feed a fine grain fraction of sponge iron particles into the melter gasifier through a downpipe projecting from the head of the melter gasifier into the proximity of the coal fluidized bed. At the end of the downpipe a baffle plate is provided for minimizing the velocity of the fine grain fraction, resulting in a very low exit velocity of the fine grain fraction from the downpipe. At the charging site, the temperature reigning in the melter gasifier is very low, whereby immediate melting of the supplied fine grain fraction is prevented. This and the low exit velocity from the downpipe cause a substantial portion of the supplied fine grain fraction to be carried out of the melter gasifier again together with the reducing gas generated in the same. The charging of a major amount of sponge iron particles containing a fine portion or of only a fine grain fraction is not feasible in accordance with this method.
From EP-A - 0 594 557 it is known to charge a fine grain fraction of sponge iron by means of a conveying gas directly into the fluidized bed formed by the melt-down gasifying zone in the melter gasifier. However, this is disadvantageous, since hereby the gas-circulation of the fluidized bed may be disturbed because obstructions of the fluidized bed, which acts like a filter, may ensue as a consequence of the fine grain fraction that is blown directly into the fluidized bed. As a result, eruptive outbreaks of gas may occur which will break up the clogged fluidized bed. Hereby, the gasification process for the carbon carriers and also the melt-down process for the reduced iron ore are markedly disturbed.
From EP-A - 0 576 414 it is known to feed fine-particle metal carriers to the melt-down gasifying zone via dust burners. One disadvantage associated with this process is that there may result regions with an excess of metal and regions with an excess of carbon in the melt-down gasifying zone.
The invention aims at avoiding these disadvantages and difficulties and has as its object to provide a method of the initially described kind and a plant for carrying out the method, with said method and plant allowing processing of fine-particulate metal carriers without the need of briquetting and wherein, on the one hand, discharge of the supplied fine particles in the pre-reduced or in the completely reduced state by the reducing gas generated in the melter gasifier is reliably avoided and on the other hand, if necessary, a final reduction of the fine particles is ensured. The necessity of separating the metal carriers into a coarse- and a fine-grain fraction is to be avoided. A further object to be achieved in accordance with the invention is to attain a distribution as uniform as possible of the metal carriers and the carbon carriers in the bed of the melt-down gasifying zone.
In accordance with the invention, this object is achieved in that at a vertical distance below a dome terminating the melter gasifier toward the top the metal carriers are fed into the interior of the melter gasifier gravitationally and under the formation of a strand and that the strand is surrounded by a gas jacket enclosing and accompanying the freely falling strand from its level of origin onwards over a section of the fall, and that in this section the strand is supported against expansion by the gas jacket.
Due to the fact that in accordance with the invention the strand is enclosed by a gas jacket supporting the strand, the device that charges the metal carriers into the interior of the melter gasifier, f.i. a downpipe, can be kept short, so that the metal carriers are kept compact over a longer range. By this method, discharge of finer particles of the metal carriers is strongly reduced although the downpipe can be kept short. This also offers the additional advantage of a slight mechanical load on the downpipe, resulting in a high stability of the same.
In accordance with a preferred procedure, the gas jacket is formed by a cooling gas which under the formation of a cooling jacket surrounds a downpipe conducting the metal carriers into the interior of the melter gasifier. Hereby, the gas forming the gas jacket is utilized doubly, namely on the one hand as a cooling gas for the downpipe and on the other hand as a protective jacket forming an extension of the downpipe.
Due to the formation of a cooling jacket for the downpipe it is feasible to utilize commercial high-temperature steels for the downpipe in spite of the high temperatures above the meltdown-gasifying zone, i.e. in the region of the dome that terminates the melter gasifier toward the top. It is in fact known from EP-B - 0 111 176 to provide a downpipe in a melter gasifier, with said downpipe projecting into the melter gasifier from the top to closely above the upper limit of the fluidized bed formed from coal within the melter gasifier, and to provide it with a water cooling. However, such a water cooling constitutes a high safety risk, since water intake into the melter gasifier may lead to the formation of oxyhydrogen gas and hence to explosions.
Preferably, the level of origin of the strand is fixed in a region of the melter gasifier where the maximum velocity of the reducing gas is 0.45 to 0.5 m/s. Hereby, the means for charging the metal carriers to the melter gasifier, f.i. the downpipe, can be kept short and the amount of gas consumed in forming the gas jacket can be kept low.
Preferably, the gas jacket supports the strand against expansion over a section of the height of fall in that the maximum velocity of the reducing gas is 0.2 to 0.3 m/s, thereby minimizing discharge of the fine particles of the metal carriers.
To attain a good supporting effect of the gas jacket, the gas jacket is suitably formed by a gas which flows downward and parallel to the strand and which has a velocity of flow more than ten times, preferably more than fifty times the maximum velocity of the reducing gas in the interior of the melter gasifier.
Utilizing gas from the process itself to serve as the cooling gas and for forming the gas jacket is not only economical but also prevents a change in the composition of the gas in the melter gasifier that would affect the melting-gasifying process.
A plant for carrying out the method, comprising a melter gasifier which has feed ducts for oxygen-containing gases and carbon carriers and at least partially reduced metal carriers and from which a gas discharge duct for a reducing gas departs in the region of a dome terminating the melter gasifier toward the top, and which is provided with a tap for a metal melt, in particular for pig iron and slag, is characterized in that in a dome terminating the melter gasifier toward the top, at a radial distance from at least one gas discharge duct for reducing gas, at least one feed duct with a charging unit for at least partially reduced metal carriers is provided, equipped with a downpipe ending at a distance below the wall that forms the dome, wherein said downpipe is provided with a gas supply means for the generation of a gas jacket forming at the lower end of the downpipe.
Preferably, the downpipe comprises a double jacket defining an annular gap cavity and the gas supply means opens into said annular gap cavity.
For the formation of the gas jacket, the lower end of the downpipe suitably is provided with an annular gap opening or several openings for the exit of a gas flowing through the annular gap cavity.
To attain a distribution as uniform as possible of the metal carriers in the fluidized bed it is of advantage if a plurality of downpipes is arranged at the dome of the melter gasifier, preferably is disposed in a radially symmetrical arrangement.
The invention is in particular suited to a plant for the production of metal melts, in particular pig iron, from charging substances formed of ore, in particular iron ore, and of fluxes and at least partially containing a portion of fines, which is characterized
by at least two fluidized bed reactors subsequently connected in series, wherein the ore is conducted from fluidized bed reactor to fluidized bed reactor via conveying ducts in one direction and reducing gas is conducted from fluidized bed reactor to fluidized bed reactor via reducing-gas connecting ducts in the opposite direction, and
by a melter gasifier into which there runs a feed duct conducting the reduction product from the fluidized bed reactor arranged last in the direction of the ore flow and whose gas discharge duct runs into the fluidized bed reactor arranged last in the direction of the ore flow.

Plant for charging metal carriers to melt-down gasifying zone

Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology, Inc., Foundation


A steering column for preventing separation of inner column 14a and outer column 15a is provided in the state before assembly in a vehicle body or in the state after a secondary collision without requiring additional components. The steering column includes a long engaging hole 26 extending in the axial direction and provided in the upper portion of the front section of the outer column 15a. An engaging piece 28 is integrally formed with the upper portion of the rear section of the inner column 14a, and this engaging piece 28 is moved into the long engaging hole 26 so as to be able to displace along the long engaging hole 26. When assembled in a vehicle body, as the engaging piece 28 is displaced along the long engaging hole 26, both the inner column and outer column 14a, 15a are allowed to displace relative to each other within a telescopic adjustment range. In the state before being assembled in the vehicle body, the engagement between the engaging piece 28 and the front end edge of the long engaging hole 26 prevent the inner column and outer column 14a, 15a from coming apart in the axial direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, the steering apparatus for a vehicle is constructed so as to transmit rotation of a steering wheel 1 to an input shaft 3 of a steering gear unit 2, to push or pull a pair of left and right tie rods 4 as the input shaft 3 rotates, and thus to apply a steering angle to the front wheels. The steering wheel 1 is supported by and fastened to the rear end section of a steering shaft 5, and the steering shaft 5 is inserted in the axial direction through a cylindrical shaped steering column 6 and is supported by the steering column 6 so as to be able to rotate freely. The front end section of the steering shaft 5 is connected to the rear end section of an intermediate shaft 8 by way of a universal joint 7, and the front end section of the intermediate shaft 8 is connected to the input shaft 3 by way of another universal joint 9. In the example illustrated in the figures, an electric assist apparatus that reduces the operating force for operating the steering wheel 1 is assembled. Specifically, an electric motor 10 that functions as a power source for applying auxiliary power is supported by a housing 11 that is fastened to the front end section of the steering column 6. The output torque of the electric motor 10 is applied to the steering shaft 5 by way of a gear unit or the like that is provided inside the housing 11. Here, the forward-backward direction, left-right direction (width direction) and the up-down direction correspond to each of the directions of the vehicle unless otherwise noted.
The steering apparatus that is illustrated in FIG. 17 is a tilt and telescopic steering apparatus that comprises both a tilting mechanism for adjusting the up-down position of the steering wheel 1, and a telescopic mechanism for adjusting the forward-backward position of the steering wheel 1 in accordance to the size and operating posture of the driver. More specifically, the steering column 6 is supported by the vehicle body 12 so as to be able to pivotally displace around a pivot shaft 13 that is installed in the left-right direction. The steering column 6 is constructed by fitting together the rear section of an inner column 14 and the front section of an outer column 15, or in other words, by fitting the tip end sections of the inner column 14 and outer column 15 so as to displace relative to each other in the axial direction. The steering shaft 5 is constructed by fitting together with a spline joint the rear section of an inner shaft 16 that is supported on the inner diameter side of the inner column 14 so as to only be able to rotate, and the front section of an outer shaft 17 that is supported in the inner diameter side of the outer column 15 so as to only be able to rotate, such that torque can be transmitted and so that relative displacement in the axial direction is possible. A displacement bracket 18 that is fastened to the outer column 15 is supported by a support bracket 19 that is supported by the vehicle body 12 so as to be able to displace in the up-down direction and forward-backward direction.
A long hole 20 for telescopic adjustment that extends in the axial direction of the outer column 15 is formed in the displacement bracket 18. A support bracket 19 comprises a pair of support plates 21 that hold the displacement bracket 18 from both the left and right sides. Long holes 22 for tilt adjustment that extend in the up-down direction are formed in portions of these support plates 21 that are aligned with each other. An adjustment rod 23 is inserted through the long holes 22 for tilting adjustment and the long hole 20 for telescopic adjustment. The adjustment rod 23 comprises a pair of pressure sections that hold the pair of support plates 21 from both the left-right sides, and an expansion and contraction apparatus that operates according to the operation of an adjustment lever (not illustrated in the figure) is able to expand or contract the space between these pressure sections.
When adjusting the up-down position or forward-backward position of the steering wheel 1, the adjustment lever is rotated in a specified direction around the adjustment rod 23, which expands the space between the pair of pressure sections provided on the adjustment rod 23. As a result, friction force that acts between the inside surfaces of the support plates 21 and both side surfaces of the displacement bracket 18 decreases. In this state, it is possible to adjust the position of the steering wheel 1 within the range that the adjustment rod 23 is able to displace inside the long holes 22 for tilt adjustment, and the long hole 20 for telescopic adjustment. After adjustment, the adjustment lever is rotated in the opposite direction, which contracts the space between the pair of pressure sections provided on the adjustment rod 23. As a result, friction force that acts between the inside surfaces of the support plates 21 and both side surfaces of the displacement bracket 18 increases, and the steering wheel 1 is maintained in the adjusted position.
In the steering apparatus illustrated in FIG. 17, in the state when the apparatus is assembled in the vehicle body 12 (normal state), the range in which relative displacement in the axial direction between the inner column 14 and outer column 15 is possible is regulated by the telescopic adjustment range (range in which the adjustment rod 23 is able to displace inside the long hole 20 for telescopic adjustment).
On the other hand, in the state before assembly in the vehicle body 12, or in the state in which the support bracket 19 has become separated from the vehicle body 12 due to a secondary collision, the support bracket 19 is able to displace together with the outer column 15, so the range in which relative displacement in the axial direction between the inner column 14 and outer column 15 is possible is no longer restricted by the telescopic adjustment range. Therefore, there is a possibility that the inner column 14 and outer column 15 will undergo excessive relative displacement in the extending direction of the steering column 6.
In addition to the construction illustrated in FIG. 17, construction of a telescopic steering apparatus has also been conventionally known in which the front section of the outer column that fits around the outside of the rear section of the inner column is a partial cylindrical shape, and by rotating the adjustment lever in a specified direction, the diameter of the front section of the outer column is reduced, increasing the surface pressure between the inner circumferential surface of the front section of the outer column and the outer circumferential surface of the rear section of the inner column. In this construction, even in the state before assembly in the vehicle body, or in the state in which the support bracket has become separated from the vehicle body due to a secondary collision, relative displacement in the axial direction between the inner column and the outer column is prevented by the surface pressure between the inner circumferential surface of the front section of the outer column and the outer circumferential surface of the rear section of the inner column. However, when the adjustment lever is rotated in the opposite direction, and the surface pressure between the inner circumferential surface of the front section of the outer column and the outer circumferential surface of the rear section of the inner column is reduced, relative displacement between the inner column and the outer column becomes possible, and there is a possibility that there will be excessive relative displacement in the extending direction of the steering column.
Particularly, in the state before assembly in the vehicle body, when the inner column and outer column undergo excessive relative displacement in the axial direction and the tip end sections thereof become separated from each other, extra time is then required to reassemble the inner column and outer column. In JP 2012-001189 (A), construction of a steering column is disclosed in which the inner column and outer column are prevented from separation by connecting the inner column and outer column using a connecting wire. By employing this kind of construction, the inner column and outer column are prevented from undergoing excessive relative displacement in the axial direction. However, in this kind of construction, a connecting wire becomes necessary, so there is an increase in cost due to the increase in the number of parts.


A formation fluid sample is exposed to a rigidly-supported semi-permeable membrane such as silicone rubber to permit diffusion of gases and vapors from the formation fluid into a vacuum chamber, while at the same time, blocking the passage of any liquids. The membrane-transmitted gas is analyzed in the vacuum chamber by a resonator that reacts with it. The resulting change in resonant frequency of the resonator indicates the presence of a gas that reacts with it. An ion pump or sorbent is associated with the evacuated chamber to maintain the vacuum. The ion pump or sorbent removes gases and vapors from the low-pressure chamber, which have diffused into it from the reservoir sample that is on the opposite (high-pressure) side of the semi-permeable membrane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to downhole reservoir characterization and in particular to a method and apparatus for real time identification of CO2 and H2S gases diffused out of a formation fluid sample. Formation fluid samples are obtained and gases are allowed to diffuse from these fluid samples through a silicone rubber layer backed by a sintered metal filter and perforated backing plate acting as semi-permeable membrane into an evacuated chamber. The gases are analyzed in the evacuated chamber by a resonator coated with a CO2 or H2S sorbent and a processor, which identifies gases such as CO2 and H2S and other gases or vapors extracted from a downhole reservoir fluid or sample.
2. Summary of the Related Art
To obtain hydrocarbons such as oil and gas, boreholes are drilled into the earth by rotating a drill bit attached at to the end of a drill string. Modern directional drilling systems generally employ a drill string having a bottom hole assembly (BHA) and a drill bit at an end thereof that is rotated by a drill motor (mud motor) and/or by rotating the drill string. A number of downhole devices placed in close proximity to the drill bit measure certain downhole operating parameters associated with the drill string. Such devices typically include sensors for measuring downhole temperature and pressure, azimuth and inclination measuring devices and a resistivity-measuring device to determine the presence of hydrocarbons and water. Additional downhole instruments, known as logging-while-drilling (LWD) tools, are frequently attached to the drill string to determine the formation geology and formation fluid conditions during the drilling operations.
Commercial development of hydrocarbon fields requires significant amounts of capital. Before field development begins, operators desire to have as much data as possible regarding the nature of the hydrocarbon formation, in order to evaluate the reservoir for commercial viability. Despite the advances in data acquisition during drilling using the MWD systems and wireline analysis applications, it is often desirable to conduct further testing of the hydrocarbon reservoirs in order to obtain additional data. Therefore, after the well has been drilled, the hydrocarbon zones are often tested with other test equipment such as wireline tools, which are used to further analyze and monitor the formation.
One type of post-drilling test involves producing fluid from the reservoir and collecting such fluid samples downhole in tanks for transport to surface laboratories where Pressure-Volume-Temperature (PVT) studies and fluid properties such as density, viscosity and composition are measured. Also, one can measure the downhole fluid pressure at several depths and, from this pressure gradient, calculate the fluid's density.
Fluid samples extracted downhole are typically analyzed weeks to months later in a surface laboratory to identify and quantify gases present in the fluid. It is time consuming to retrieve fluid samples downhole and send them to a surface lab for analysis of gas content. Moreover, surface analysis requires removal of the fluid sample and the tool from the borehole for testing the sample before additional exploration and/or production activities occur. Thus, there is a need for a real-time downhole method and apparatus for detection, distinction and quantification of gases in the formation.

Method and apparatus for downhole detection of CO2 and H2S using resonators coated with CO2 and H2S sorbents


A semiconductor photo detector is provided that includes a layer structure deposited over a semiconductor substrate, and having a second mesa formed on the semiconductor substrate and a first mesa formed on the second mesa, wherein an outer periphery of the second mesa is located outside of the outer periphery of the first mesa in two-dimensional view, and wherein surfaces of the first mesa and the second mesa are covered by a passivation film.

In various types of semiconductor photo detectors, p-i-n photodiode (hereinafter referred to as "PIN photodiode") is well known. This device is capable of detecting photon as photoelectric current that is generated by the following processes, in which an electric field is applied over a low concentration layer of a semiconductor (I layer) sandwiched with a p-type layer and an n-type layer to generate photo carrier in the I layer, which travels therethrough to create photoelectric current.
On the other hand, photo detectors exhibiting higher sensitivity are more useful in the field of optical communications and optical measurements. Devices referred to as avalanche photodiodes (hereinafter, abbreviated as "APD"), which utilize avalanche effect generated by applying strong electric field into a semiconductor, are often employed. A multiplier layer having higher internal electric field is included in a layer configuration of an APD, and ionization is caused in such multiplier layer in a manner similar to chain reaction to amplify photocarrier. Since the noise generated during such amplification process is a noise caused by a shot noise as represented by 2qIM2F, such amplification may be achieved, so that such noise is comparable with the thermal noise, to provide an enhanced sensibility of the detector.
The materials and the device structures of the APD may be generally classified by substrate materials (silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP) or structures (planar-structure and mesa-structure). Planar-structure elements formed on indium phosphide (InP) substrates are often employed in recent years for the APD employed in the area of the optical communications. This is because such type of elements is capable of detecting light having a wave length λ=1.55 μm, which is utilized in the optical fiber communication, such that it is convenient that indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), which is in lattice match with an InP substrate, would be employed for optical absorption layer. The use of InGaAs allows receiving light having a wave length of up to 1.6 μm at a room temperature. Another reason for the frequent use of the planar structure is that the use of such structure allows achieving enhanced long term-reliability, which is required for the optical communications.
It is known that the mesa-structure device provides easier manufacture but generally reduced long term-reliability, as compared with the planar-structure device.
A typical conventional example of a mesa-structure APD element is shown in FIG. 6. Such conventional mesa-structure APD element is configured that an n-type field-relaxing layer 603, a multiplier layer 604, a p-type field-relaxing layer 605, a p-type light absorption layer 606, a p-type buffer layer 608 and a p-type contact layer 609 are sequentially deposited on a semiconductor substrate 601, and the structure is formed by an etching process to provide the whole p-n junction as a mesa, and in addition, a passivation film 612 is formed outside thereof. A p-type electrode 610 and an n-type electrode 611 are respectively formed, and then a polishing process, a process for forming an anti-reflection film (AR coating), and a process for achieving an element isolation are carried out to produce a front surface incident-type or a back surface-incident type diode for a semiconductor photo detection.
Related literatures include the following literatures.    [Non-Patent Document 1]    Watanabe, I., et al., JOURNAL OF LIGHT WAVE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 15, No. 6, June 1997, p. 1012, entitled "Design and Performance of InAlGaAs/InAlAs Superlattice Avalanche Photodiodes", and    [Patent Document 1]    Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2005-539368.


A method and apparatus for providing an optimized page-based electronic document file and downloading the optimized file. An optimized document file is created from a non-optimized electronic document. Page contents are contiguously written in the optimized file and a page offset table is provided in the optimized file that includes page offset information used to locate individual pages and objects of the document. Shared objects, such as fonts, are included in the file after the page contents. When downloading the optimized file from a host, the page offset information is read early and is used to download a specific page requested by the user without downloading other pages in the document. In one embodiment, a viewer downloads a first portion of the requested page, while all remaining portions of the requested page are located and requested by a finder process using the page offset table. In alternative embodiments, all objects for a full page may be requested at once. The requested page can thus be downloaded with only one connection to the host. Shared objects can optionally be downloaded interleaved between portions of the page contents that reference the shared objects. Alternatively, with the use of hint tables, shared and other objects can be read in one transaction identifying byte ranges in the document. The requested page is displayed to the user on an output display device. The order elements are displayed provides quick access to useful information and to active elements.

The present invention relates generally to the storage and retrieval of data for a computer system, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for optimizing page-based data documents for fast retrieval over networks, and to a method and apparatus for accessing such optimized documents. The present invention also relates to methods and apparatus for the processing and display of electronic documents, and more particularly to the processing and display of such documents when retrieved over networks.
It has become increasingly common to create, transmit, and display documents in electronic form. Electronic documents have a number of advantages over paper documents including their ease of transmission, their compact storage, and their ability to be edited and/or electronically manipulated. An electronic document typically has information content (such as text, graphics, and pictures) and formatting information that directs how the content is to be displayed. With recent advances in multimedia technology, documents can now also include sound, full motion video, and other multimedia content.
An electronic document is provided by an author, distributor or publisher (referred to as "publisher" herein) who often desires that the document be viewed with the appearance with which it was created. This, however, creates a problem in that electronic documents are typically widely distributed and, therefore, can be viewed on a great variety of hardware and software platforms. For example, the video monitors being used to view the document can vary in size, resolution, etc. Furthermore, the various software platforms such as DOS, Microsoft Windows.TM., and Macintosh.TM. all have their own display idiosyncrasies. Also, each user or "reader" of the electronic document will have his or her own personal viewing preferences, which should be accommodated, if possible.
A solution to this problem is to provide a "portable electronic document" that can be viewed and manipulated on a variety of different platforms and can be presented in a predetermined format where the appearance of the document as viewed by a reader is as it was intended by the publisher. One such predetermined format is the Portable Document Format.TM. (PDF.TM.) developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. of Mountain View, California. An example of page-based software for creating, reading, and displaying PDF documents is the Acrobat.TM. software, also of Adobe Systems, Inc. The Adobe Acrobat software is based on Adobe's PostScript.RTM. technology, which describes formatted pages of a document in a device-independent fashion. An Acrobat program on one platform can create, display, edit, print, annotate, etc. a PDF document produced by another Acrobat program running on a different platform, regardless of the type of computer platform used. A document in a certain format or language can be translated into a PDF document using Acrobat. A PDF document can be quickly displayed on any computer platform having the appearance intended by the publisher, allowing the publisher to control the final appearance of the document.
One relatively new application for portable electronic documents is the retrieval of such documents from the "Internet", the globally-accessible network of computers that collectively provides a large amount and variety of information for users. From services of the Internet such as the World Wide Web, users may retrieve or "download" data from Internet network sites and display the data that includes information presented as text in various fonts, graphics, images, and the like having an appearance intended by the publisher. A file format such as PDF that allows any platform to view a document having an appearance as intended by a publisher is thus of great value when downloading files from such widely-accessible and platform-independent network sources such as the Internet.
One problem with previous page-based data downloading processes is that all of the data of a document is typically downloaded before any portion of the document is displayed to the user. Thus, the user must wait for an entire document to download before seeing a page or other portion of the document on the display screen. This can be inconvenient when the user wishes to use only a portion of the document, i.e., view only specific pages or a specific number of contiguous pages of a document. Some searching processes allow a word to be searched in a document and will download only the portion of the document that includes the searched word. However, this portion of the document is an isolated, separate portion that has no connection with the rest of the document. If the user wishes to view the next page after the downloaded portion, he or she must inconveniently either download the entire document or specify a search term on the next page of the document.
Acrobat and similar programs for displaying portable electronic documents such as PDF documents are often page-based, which means that the program typically organizes and displays a desired page of the document at a time. Typically, the entire document was downloaded at once, then desired pages displayed. However, Acrobat is conducive to downloading a page of a document at a time from a document file, while still allowing a user to select other pages of the document conveniently. However, for such page-based formats, the document data usually is not stored contiguously in a page order within a file, data structure, or other collection of document data ("document file" as referred to herein). For example, a document file in the PDF format may store a page having objects such as a page contents object (including text, graphics shapes, display instructions, etc.) and image objects. However, the objects may be stored in the document in a scattered or disjointed manner. For example, portions of the page contents object can be scattered in different places in a document file, and shared objects such as fonts can be stored anywhere in the file. Shared objects such as fonts can also be stored in files distinct from the document file, and even on a separate computer, or be made available through a resource service such as a font server. Since the output display device displays the page contents and shared objects based upon pointers to related objects, objects do not have to be stored sequentially or contiguously in the document file, and are typically stored in a disjointed manner.
This disjointed data storage for pages can lead to problems when attempting to download a specific page of a document desired by the user. One major problem is time delays caused by making multiple connections (or multiple request-response transactions) when downloading data. For example, a viewing program for displaying page-based data at a client computer begins downloading a PDF (or similar format) file from a remote host computer. The viewing program makes one connection to (or initiates one transaction with) the host and downloads data from the first portion of the page, then must make another connection to (or transactions with) the host to retrieve the next, disjointed portion of the page. This has the effect of slowing down the downloading of the page, since each connection (and each transaction) has a time delay and overhead associated with it. The user requesting the page thus may have to wait several seconds before the viewer receives all of the data for the page and displays the page. This problem is compounded when fonts or other such referenced objects are included on the page, since yet another connection must be made to (or transaction made with) the host to retrieve these objects before the page can be displayed.
The time delays for downloading a page can become even lengthier when a randomly-accessed page is desired to be viewed by the user. In PDF files, objects are provided in a "page tree" which the viewer consults to determine where in the document file the root of a randomly-accessed page is positioned. The page tree is a data structure in which every node must be visited in order to determine all the children objects in the tree. Thus, many page nodes may need to be visited to determine where a page root object is located in the document file. The page tree can thus be quite large, and downloading it from the document slows the downloading process. In addition, the page tree is often so large or disjointed that multiple connections to (or transactions with) the host are required to download it.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for providing optimized page-based documents and downloading desired pages from such documents without causing an excessive delay before displaying a page, or portions of a page, to the user.

Method and apparatus for displaying an electronic document with text over object


A power amplifier includes a transistor, a temperature sensor and a filter. The transistor is used to receive a bias signal and amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal. The temperature sensor is arranged in proximity to the transistor, and is used to detect a temperature of the transistor to provide a voltage signal at a control node accordingly. The filter is coupled to the temperature sensor and is used to filter the voltage signal to generate a filtered voltage. The bias signal is adjusted according to the filtered voltage.

Power amplifiers (PA) are used in virtually all electronic devices, particularly in radio frequency (RF) devices such as smartphones, WiFi hotspots and other wireless devices. A power amplifier converts a low power RF signal into a high power RF signal. When in operation, the power amplifier will continue to warm up by a current flowing therethrough, the heat generated by the power amplifier will reduce the gain, degrading the linearity and signal quality. Since the heat may be accumulated with time, the degradation of the linearity and signal quality is particularly visible during transmission of long-frame data.
Therefore, a power amplifier capable of maintaining a substantially constant gain regardless of the heat generated inside and/or outside of the power amplifier is in need.

Power amplifier capable of maintaining constant gain regardless of temperature variations


Compositions consisting of at least one TGFb receptor II homo 1b (TRH1b) subdomain or at least one TGFb receptor II homology 1 (TRH1) domain and a carrier, auxiliary or excipient. The TRH1b subdomain has a sequence with the following amino acid pattern:. Cys--X.sub.j --Lys/Arg--X.sub.k --Ser/Thr--X.sub.l --Cys--X.sub.m --Asp--X.sub.n --Asp/Glu, wherein X.sub.j, X.sub.k, X.sub.l, X.sub.m, X.sub.n, represent any amino acid and j is 4 to 5, k is 2 to 6, 1 is 4 to 9, m is 0 to 2, and n is 5 to 6. The TRH1 domain has a sequence with the following amino acid pattern:. Cys--X.sub.h --Asn/Gln--X.sub.i --Cys--X.sub.i --Lys/Arg--X.sub.k --Ser/Thr--X.sub.l --Cys--X.sub.m --Asp--X.sub.n --Asp/Glu, wherein X.sub.h, X.sub.i, X.sub.j, X.sub.k, X.sub.l, X.sub.m, X.sub.n, represent any amino acid and h is 8 to 14, i is 12 to 16, j is 4 to 5, k is 2 to 6, l is 4 to 9, m is 0 to 2, and n is 5 to 6.

The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-.beta.) superfamily is a group of cytokines that regulate many aspects of cellular function. The structural prototype for the gene superfamily is TGF-.beta.. TGF-.beta. is produced as a precursor and the precursor structure is shared by most of the members of the TGF-.beta. superfamily. The superfamily includes the TGF-.beta. family, the inhibin family, the DPP/VGl family and the Mullerian Inhibiting Substance Family.
The TGF-.beta. family includes five members, termed TGF-.beta.1 through TGF-.beta.5, all of which form homodimers of about 25 kd (reviewed in Massague, Annu. Review Cell Biol. 6:597, 1990). The family also includes TGF-.beta.1.2 which is a heterodimer containing a .beta.1 and a .beta.2 subunit linked by disulfide bonds. The five TGF-.beta. genes are highly conserved over great evolutionary distances. The mature processed cytokines produced from the members of the gene family show almost 100% amino acid identity between species, and the five peptides as a group show about 60-80% identity.
All forms of TGF-.beta. have been found to reversibly inhibit growth activity in normal, epithelial, endothelial, fibroblast, neuronal, lymphoid, and hematopoietic cell types (For review see Massague, 1990, Annu. Review Cell Biol. 6:597). In tissue culture, TGF-.beta. has been shown to inhibit cell growth by blocking both cdk-4/cyclinD activation and cdk2/cyclinE activity, events required for G1 to S phase transition (M. E. Ewen, H. K. Sluss, L. L. Whitehouse, D. M. Livingston, Cell 74, 1009 (1993) and A. Koff, M. Ohtsuki, K. Polyak, J. M. Roberts, J. Massague, Science 260, 536 (1993)). The antiproliferative action of TGF-.beta. has also been demonstrated in vivo (Silberstein and Daniel, 1987, Science 237:291-93; and Russell et al, 1988, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85:5126-30).
TGF-.beta. can also stimulate cell proliferation although the effect may be secondary to other cellular responses. For example, TGF-.beta.1 has been shown to promote the anchorage independent growth of normal rat kidney fibroblasts (Roberts et al., PNAS U.S.A. 78:5339, 1981; Roberts et al, Nature 295:417, 1982 and Twardzik et al., 1985, J. Cell. Biochem. 28:289, 1985) and it induces colony formation of AKR-2B fibroblasts (Tucker et al. Science 226:705, 1984). The inhibitory/stimulatory actions of TGF-.beta. may depend on the cell type and the physiological state of the cells.
TGF-.beta. is involved in mediation of cell adhesion. TGF-.beta. action on normal mesenchymal, epithelial and lymphoid cells, and some tumor cell lines generally results in the up-regulation of cell adhesion. This up-regulation is mediated by enhanced synthesis and deposition of extracellular matrix components, decreased pericellular proteolysis, and modification of cell adhesion receptors (Massague, 1990).
Cellular differentiation processes of many cell lineages can be positively or negatively effected by TGF-.beta.. TGF-.beta. has been shown to exert positive effects on chondrocyte and osteogenic cell types (Massague, 1990).
The biological actions of TGF-.beta. described above suggest a broad role for TGF-.beta. in the physiologic setting. The ability of TGF-.beta. to modulate DNA replication, cell differentiation, cell adhesion and extracellular matrix layout indicate a role for TGF-.beta. in the generation and modification of signals that guide morphogenic events of embryogenesis. The activity of TGF-.beta. as a promoter of extracellular matrix formation and a regulator of cell migration and development, is a major influence in inflammation and tissue repair processes. In fact, the administration of TGF-.beta.1 into wound chambers or to incisional wounds has been shown to accelerate the wound healing response in general (Sporn et al., 1983, Science, 219:1329-31; Roberts et al., 1986, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83:4167-71; and Mustoe et al., 1987, Science 237:1333-36).
The TGF-.beta. family of cytokines display an immunosuppressive activity in vitro and in vivo which is in part attributed to the antiproliferative action of TGF-.beta. on lymphocytes (Kehrl et al 1986, J. Immunol. 137:3855), T-lymphocytes (Kehrl et al 1986, J. Exp. Med. 163:1037) and thymocytes (Ristow 1986, PNAS U.S.A. 83:5531). An excess of TGF-.beta. activity in tissues may lead to an unbalanced deposition of extracellular matrix which may contribute to fibrosis, while a lack of TGF-.beta. growth inhibitory activity may lead to oncogenic transformation.
Dis-regulation of TGF-.beta. action has been implicated in the pathological processes of many diseases. TGF-.beta. has been reported to be a pathogenic mediator in HIV infections and its associated diseases (Lotz, M. and Seth, P. Annals of the N.Y. Acad. of Sciences 685:501, 1993).
TGF-.beta. has also been implicated in the development of fibrosis including pulmonary fibrosis (Baecher-Allan and Barth, Regional Immunology 5(3-4):207, 1993), and fibrosis associated with chronic liver disease (Burt, A. D., J. of Pathology 170:105, 1993), hepatic veno-occlusive and idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis, which are major causes of morbidity and mortality after bone marrow transplantation (Anscher M. S. et al. N.Engl.J.Med. 328:1592, 1993), kidney disease (Border et al., Nature 369:360:361, 1992), and radiotherapy or radiation accidents (Martin M. et al Radiation Research 134:63, 1993). TGF-.beta.2 has been found to be elevated in the eye of humans with proliferative vitreoretinopathy and in the skin in systemic sclerosis (Connor et al. J. Clin Invest. 83.:1661, 1989 and Kulozik et al., J. Clin. Invest. 86:917, 1990).
The use of TGF-.beta. and TGF-.beta. antagonists to modulate blood pressure is disclosed in PCT/US91/0449 published on Dec. 26, 1991. Recombinant TGF-.beta. obtained from Chinese Hamster Ovary cells was reported to induce rapid, significant, and sustained decreases in arterial blood pressure of cynomolgus monkeys receiving daily injections of the recombinant molecule.
The DPP/VGl family includes the bone marrow morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), termed BMP1 through BMP7, DPP and Vgl. The BMPs are osteoinductive agents present in adult bone. They are potent initiators of new bone formation and they appear to act on mesenchymal progenitor cells, directing their differentiation into both cartilage and bone-forming cells. It has also been suggested that they play an important role during embryonic skeleton formation (See Review by Rosen and Thies, in Trends in Genetics, 8(3)97, 1992 and references therein). Decapentaplegic (DPP) plays a fundamental role in dorsoventral body patterning and in imaginal disk formation in Drosophila (Padgett et al., 1987, Nature, 325:81-84). Vgl is involved in embryonic development in Xenopus laevis.
The inhibin family includes the activins and inhibins. The activins are involved in the regulation of numerous biological processes. For example, they are involved in the proliferation of many tumor cell lines, the control of secretion and expression of the anterior pituitary hormones (EG, FSH, GH, and ACTH), neuron survival, hypothalamic oxytocin secretion, erythropoiesis, placental and gonadal steroidogenesis early embryonic development and the like. Inhibin molecules also help to regulate erythropoiesis and modulate the release of FSH (Mason et al., 1985, Nature 318:659-663 and Ling et al., Nature 321:779, 1986).
The Mullerian Inhibiting Substance family includes Mullerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS) which is an important morphogenetic signal in developing reproductive systems of mammalian embryos (Cate et al, Cell 45:685-698).
The members of the TGF-.beta. superfamily may mediate signal transduction through families of related receptors. The cell surface receptors for TGF-.beta. and activin are composed of type I and type II receptor chains, both of which contain a cysteine rich extracellular domain and a cytosolic serine/threonine protein kinase domain. The type I and type II receptors form heterodimers which appears to be necessary for cytokine-dependent intracellular signalling (Massague, Cell, 69:1067, 1992 and references therein, and Lin et al., Cell 68:775, 1992).
TGF-.beta. binding proteins have been identified which do not function as signalling receptors. The proteoglycan betaglycan is the most widely distributed TGF-.beta. binding protein after receptors I and II. Betaglycan is a membrane anchored proteoglycan that binds TGF-.beta. via the core protein and it has been suggested that betaglycan acts as a receptor accessory molecule in the TGF-.beta. systems (Massague, Cell, 69:1067, 1992 and references therein).
A number of other extracellular matrix proteins have been shown to bind TGF-.beta., including decorin, biglycan, thrombospondin and the serum glycoprotein .alpha.2-macroglobulin (Y. Yamaguchi, D. M. Mann, E. Ruoslahti, Nature 346, 281 (1990); S. Scholtz-Cherry J. E. Murphy-Ullrich, J. Cell Biol. 122, 923 (1993); O'Conner-McCourt, L, M. Wakefield J. Biol. Chem. 262, 14090 (1987); and J. Massague Curr. Biol. 1, 117 (1991)). Thrombospondin has been shown to bind and activate latent TGF-.beta., but does not neutralize cytokine activity. In contrast, decorin has been shown to neutralize the anti-proliferative activity of TGF-.beta. (Yamaguchi et al., Nature 346:281, 1990). Decorin has also been found to antagonize the action of TGF-.beta. in vivo using an experimental glomerulonephritis model (Border et al., Nature 360:361, 1992).
Bovine fetuin, is one of the first glycoproteins to be purified from fetal calf serum (FCS). Fetuin is analogous to human .alpha.-2 HS-glycoprotein (.alpha.2-HS) which is believed to be produced by the liver (Kellerman et al. J. Biol. Chem. 264:14121, 1989). Fetuin has been shown to promote cell growth in vitro without any known cell surface receptor (B. T. Puck, C. A. Waldren, C. Jones, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 59, 192 (1968), and it has been shown to be a negative acute phase reactant (J. P. Lebreton, F. Joisel, J. P. Raoult, B. Lannuzel, J. P. Rogez, et al, J. Clin. Invest. 64, 118 (1979). M. Daveau, C. Davrinche, N. Djelassi, J. Lemetayer, N. Julen, et al, FEBS Lett. 273, 79 (1990)). Serum fetuin accumulates in bone (I. R. Dickson, A. R. Poole, A. Veis, Nature 256, 430 (1975), J. T. Triffitt, U. Gebauer, B. A. Ashton, M. E. Owen, Nature 262, 226 (1976), G. Rauth, O. Poschke, E. Fink, M. Eulitz, S. Tippmer, et al, Eur. J. Biochem. 204, 523 (1992)) with highest concentrations found during bone growth. It also enhances bone resorption in cultured bone explants in vitro (G. C. Colclasure, W. S. Lloyd, M. Lamkin, W. Gonnerman, R. F. Troxler, et al, J. Clin. Endocrin. Metabolism 66, 187 (1988), and increases adipogenesis (A. J. Cayatte, L. Kumbla, M. T. R. Subbiah, J. Biol. Chem 265, 5883 (1990)). Inflammation is associated with significantly reduced serum fetuin concentrations (J. P. Lebreton, F. Joisel, J. P. Raoult, B. Lannuzel, J. P. Rogez, et al, J. Clin. Invest. 64, 118 (1979). M. Daveau, C. Davrinche, N. Djelassi, J. Lemetayer, N. Julen, et al, FEBS Lett. 273, 79 (1990)). Serum fetuin concentrations are also depressed in patients with Paget's disease, an affliction of increased bone turnover which leads to disordered and thickened bone (B. A. Ashton, R. Smith, Clin. Sci. 58, 435 (1980)). In a subset of osteogenesis imperfecta patients, the loss of bone is associated with elevated serum fetuin levels.
The cDNA sequence encoding the bovine fetal protein fetuin has been reported (K. M. Dziegielewska et al., J. Biol. Chem. 265:4254, 1990). The deduced amino acid sequence indicates that the protein is a single chain preceded by a signal sequence. The sequence of fetuin shows over 70% similarity to human .alpha..sub.2 HS glycoprotein.
Decorin is a small chondroitin-dermatan sulphate proteoglycan consisting of a core protein and a single glycosaminoglycan chain. The expression of high levels of decorin in Chinese hamster ovary cells has a dramatic effect on their morphology and growth properties and this effect has been attributed in part to the ability of decorin to bind transforming growth factor-.beta. (Y. Yamaguchi et al., Nature 346:281, 1990). The administration of decorin has been found to inhibit the increased production of extracellular matrix and attenuate manifestations of glomerulonephritis in an experimental glomerulonephritis model (W. A. Border, Nature 360:361, 1992).

Compositions comprising modulators of cytokines of the TGF-.beta. superfamily