Embodiments of noise reduction systems and methods are disclosed. One method embodiment, among others, comprises transforming a residual signal to produce transform coefficients, and applying the transform coefficients to a quantization matrix and a configurable gain matrix to provide a frequency-selective weighting of the transform coefficients having a gain that is sensitive to noise levels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to video encoding, and, more particularly, is related to the reduction of noise for video encoding.
2. Related Art
With advancements in technology, significant advances have been made in video processing technology. Analog video processing, which provides limited compression through typical single scan-line or one-dimensional ("1-D") processing, has been surpassed by more efficient multiple scan-line or two-dimensional ("2-D") digital video processing. Two-dimensional digital video processing has been surpassed by horizontal, vertical and temporal or three-dimensional ("3-D") digital video processing. Even MPEG-1, which was once the predominant mainstream 3-D video codec standard, has also recently been surpassed by the more versatile and higher-bit-rate-capable MPEG-2. Presently, MPEG-2 is the predominant mainstream compression standard.
As is known in the art, video recording is susceptible to different degrees and categories of noise that negatively affects video during compression and encoding. Samples of such noise include impulsive noise, such as, but not limited to, spikes, high contrast glitches, and "salt-n-pepper effect." Another sample of such noise includes Gaussian-distributed white noise, such as, but not limited to, thermal noise and "snow," which may arise from cable ingress, interference in an analog section of a digitizer utilized during video encoding, or other phenomena.
Not only does noise degrade picture quality directly by virtue of its visual appearance, but the presence of noise degrades the quality of compressed video indirectly because, as is known in the art, an appreciable fraction of bit rate is consumed to compress the noise. This leads to two situations. First, less bit rate is readily available to compress the real signal, resulting in increased compression impairments. Second, as is known in the art, compressed noise often has a more disturbing appearance than uncompressed noise. Thus, it is desirable to remove video noise prior to compression, particularly in situations where it is desired to minimize the bit rate.
Digital video noise can be removed by a variety of known digital processing techniques such as, but not limited to, finite impulse response (FIR) linear spatial filters, nonlinear spatial filters of various types, temporal filters, and even spatio-temporal filters. The temporal filter can take many forms, however, a typical temporal filter utilizes a motion-detector to moderate a recursive (infinite impulse response (IIR)) filter, which blends each pixel from a current image with a spatially co-located pixel from a previously filtered image. A large variety of noise reduction systems can be designed with different configurations of these basic components. Such noise reduction systems typically are set to operate in a static mode, in the sense that the noise characteristics are assumed not to change over time. The settings are set based on user input or based on offline (not real-time) measurements or calculations of the digital video noise. However, in a real environment, noise characteristics change over time or from video scene to video scene. Therefore, static noise reduction methods are insufficient, especially in systems such as consumer digital video recorders in which a user is not always present to control the recorder settings to compensate for changes in noise sources that may comprise widely varying noise characteristics.
Furthermore, without additional controls, the classical motion-detecting temporal filter with a simple motion detector has difficulty separating moving objects from noise, and thus cannot always use the best noise reduction setting. Specifically, in certain scenes, the classical motion-detecting temporal filter will filter too little, leaving more noise than necessary. Alternatively, in other scenes, the temporal filter may filter too much, visibly smearing moving objects or creating "ghosts," which appear as attenuated copies of moving objects trailing behind objects as they move within a video.


Systems and methods of providing information via a computer network responsive to a request are provided. Keyword terms including a content keyword and a geographic location operator can be received via a computer network. A geographically modified keyword can be determined from the keyword terms. The geographically modified keyword indicates a product or service, and indicates a geographic location associated with the geographic location operator. A search query can be received from a user interface of a computing device, and a geographic location term in the search query can be identified. A geographic location term in a search query can be matched with the geographically modified keyword, with the geographic location term being a variant of the geographic location operator. Content can be obtained and provided from a data processing system to the user interface via the computer network, for display at the user interface.

Purveyors of information can access a networked environment such as the Internet to make information available to potential customers or viewers. Given the breadth of information available on the Internet, advertisers can attempt to direct their information to particular customers or a particular group of customers. A potential customer can access a networked environment such as the Internet in an attempt to obtain sought after information. For example a user can access a web page of the Internet through a web browser to receive information about nearly any topic of interest to the user.

Location based content matching in a computer network


According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus controls an operation of a control target device. The electronic apparatus is configured to generate a first timing signal, to delay the first timing signal by a first time and to generate a second timing signal for defining a transmission timing of control data related to control of the operation of the control target device, to transmit a data signal including the control data based on the second timing signal, to receive the data signal and to generate a third timing signal for a notification of reception of the data signal, and, to generate a fourth timing signal indicating a control timing of the control target device based on the control data, based on the third timing signal.

In recent years, technologies of controlling devices such as power converters and robots of which a control timing is important, by using wireless communication, have been developed. More specifically, a technology as follows has been developed: wireless communication is performed between a first wireless device that functions as a control master and a second wireless device that functions as a slave, and the second wireless device that receives an instruction from the first wireless device controls a control target device such as a power converter or a robot.
In the above-described technology, in order to control the control target device, it is necessary to synchronize the internal clocks of the first wireless device and the second wireless device to match control timings. Such a synchronization process is performed, for example, using CPUs provided in the first wireless device and the second wireless device.
However, the CPUs of the first wireless device and the second wireless device may be interrupted by various processes such as an interrupt process by reception of a wireless signal, a timer interrupt process by an external device, and an interrupt process by a watchdog timer. With such an interrupt process, there are concerns that the above-described synchronization process is not normally executed, and the synchronization accuracy between the first wireless device and the second wireless device is deteriorated.

Electronic apparatus, electronic system, and method


A novel flexible polyurethane foam having good vibration characteristics and being excellent in occupant posture stability, is provided.

In recent years, in the field of polyurethane foams useful for various applications, various researches and developments have been made in order to improve the characteristics suitable for the respective applications. For example, along with upgrading of automobile seats in order to improve the riding comfort of seat cushion, it is targeted to improve the impact resilience, vibration characteristics, durability, etc. With respect to the vibration characteristics, the influence of car body vibration over a human body varies depending upon the vibration frequency. However, it is considered effective for improvement of the riding comfort to take damping of vibration particularly large in a frequency range (for example from 4 to 8 Hz or from 6 to 20 Hz) to which a human is sensitive. Further, it is considered that in order to improve these characteristics, a seat cushion is effective which employs a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a higher molecular weight than one heretofore produced.
On the other hand, as a seat cushion, a combination of a metal spring with a pad material made of a flexible polyurethane foam (hereinafter referred to simply as a flexible foam) has been used in many cases. However, in recent years, there has been a trend of employing an automobile seat so-called a deep foam type whereby a metal spring is abolished by imparting spring characteristics to the flexible foam itself to meet the demand for e.g. cost down, reduction of weight, etc. The deep foam type seat has become thick, since no metal spring is used in combination.
Further, the characteristics of the flexible foam have become a factor substantially influential over the sitting comfort and riding comfort of the seat. Namely, the static characteristics and dynamic characteristics as indices for the sitting comfort and riding comfort, have been regarded as important in the development of flexible foams. Among the static characteristics, it is particularly important to control the supported feeling at the initial stage of sitting and the bottom hitting feeling at the final stage of sitting.
When a person actually sits on a seat provided with a pad material of flexible foam, the flexible foam will be compressed and deflected, and the position of e.g. the hip will sink to a certain height. As a method for measuring this static characteristic (the static sitting feeling), a test method may be employed wherein the deflection is measured in a load test in accordance with a performance test method for a pad material for an automobile seat according to JASO automobile standard B408-89 (1989), to obtain a load-deflection curve, or the deflection under a load of 500 N (Newton Load) may be used which is obtained from a load-deflection curve obtained by the measurement employing a pressure plate in accordance with JIS E7104 (2002). This pressure plate is oval with a long diameter A of 300 mm, a short diameter B of 250 mm and a thickness C of at least 35 mm and is so-called Tekken Plate.
On the other hand, the polyoxyalkylene polyol to be used as a material for the flexible foam, is usually produced by ring-opening polymerization of an alkylene oxide such as propylene oxide, which is carried out by using a sodium/potassium catalyst such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide and an initiator such as a polyhydric alcohol. By this production method, an unsaturated monool having an unsaturated bond (hereinafter referred to simply as a monool) will be formed as a by-product, and the amount of such a monool produced, will increase with an increase of the molecular weight of the polyoxyalkylene polyol (a decrease of the hydroxyl value).
In the case of a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a hydroxyl value of about 56 mgKOH/g which is commonly used as a material for elastic polyurethane foams, the amount of such a monool produced, is not so large as to bring about a problem. However, in the case of a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a high molecular weight and a low hydroxyl value, the amount of such a monool produced, will be problematic. Namely, in a case where an elastic polyurethane foam is produced by using a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a large monool content (a high total unsaturation value), there will be a problem such as a decrease in hardness or a decrease in compression set of the produced foam, or a decrease in the curing property at the time of the production of the foam. Further, even if it is attempted to produce a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a low hydroxyl value by using a sodium/potassium catalyst, the amount of the monool produced will be so large that such production will be practically difficult.
Under the circumstances, a method has been proposed wherein in order to improve the characteristics such as the riding comfort, durability, etc. for an automobile seat, a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a low monool content is used for the production of an elastic polyurethane foam (Patent Document 1).
However, it has been found that an elastic polyurethane foam represented by a deep foam type produced by using a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a low monool content, has an-extremely high impact resilience (impact resilience of core portion: 71 to 74%), whereby the riding comfort is inadequate from the viewpoint of the occupant posture stability or supporting performance during traveling. In order to solve such problems, an invention has been proposed to suppress the impact resilience by a combined use of a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a low unsaturation value and a polyoxyalkylene polyol having a low molecular weight with a hydroxyl value of from 90 to 300 mgKOH/g (Patent Document 2), but the hysteresis loss has been relatively large at a level of from 25 to 33%, such being disadvantageous from the viewpoint of the durability.
Further, with a seat of the above-mentioned deep foam type structure, the load-deflection characteristics are substantially influenced by the flexible foam itself, and it will be a seat having a relatively small difference in deflection on pressure side of from 500 N to 900 N, when the deflection under load is measured when it is pressed by the above-mentioned pressure plate from above. A seat having a small difference in deflection presents a bottom-hitting feeling and thus showed a tendency that the evaluation of the riding comfort was poor. Therefore, with a seat of deep foam type, in order to increase the difference in deflection, the thickness of the foam was increased. As a technique to increase the difference in deflection without increasing the thickness of the foam, it was proposed to use a fluorinated surfactant having a perfluoroalkyl group structure (Patent Document 3). However, a problem has been pointed out such that the effects tend to be different depending upon the structure of the fluorined surfactant.
On the other hand, in a method for producing a polyurethane foam by reacting a polyol component comprising a polyol, a catalyst, a blowing agent and other additives, with a polyisocyanate compound, it has been proposed to add a certain specific bifunctional secondary amine in order to produce a foam having a reduced inclination of the curve on pressure side at a deflection of 75% as an index for evaluating the bottom hitting feeling, which has no bottom-hitting feeling, and has all of the flexibility, the sinking degree and the vibration characteristics well balanced. However, the supported feeling was inadequate, and the durability, particularly the compression set under heat and humidity, was inadequate (Patent Document 4).
Further, a technique is known to increase the density of the surface skin layer of the foam by means of a fluorinated compound (Patent Document 5). This technique is a technique to be applied particularly for an integral skin foam and is substantially different from the content of the present invention.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-7-330843
Patent Document 2: JP-A-11-60676
Patent Document 3: JP-A-11-322875
Patent Document 4: JP-A-5-320304
Patent Document 5: JP-A-6-87945

Flexible polyurethane foam, process for its production, and seat for automobile employing it

Abstract: A flexible polyurethane foam obtainable by reacting a high molecular weight polyoxyalkylene polyol or a polymer-dispersed polyol containing fine polymer particles in the high molecular weight polyoxyalkylene polyol, with a polyisocyanate compound in the presence of a catalyst, a blowing agent and a foam stabilizer, characterized in that as at least a part of the foam stabilizer, the following fluorinated compound (F) is used in an amount of from 0.00001 to 1 part by mass per 100 parts by mass of all active hydrogen compounds:                fluorinated compound (F): a compound which is a copolymer of a fluorinated acrylate or a fluorinated methacrylate (p), an alkyl acrylate having a long chain alkyl group, an alkyl methacrylate having a long chain alkyl group, an acrylate containing an oxyalkylene group or a methacrylate containing an oxyalkylene group (q), and optional other copolymerizable monomer (r), wherein the fluorine content is from 12 to 50 mass %.


A method of optimizing the focus of a fibers laser is described, which comprises positioning the output of a fibers laser relative to a workpiece; measuring at least a portion of back reflected radiation from the workpiece (step 52); determining an integral of this; changing the relative position of the output and the workpiece one or more times (step 54,56), each time determining an integral of values for the back-reflection, and using the integrals to determine optimum focus.

Critical to the performance and quality of material processing with a fibre laser is optimisation of the focus. A typical processing arrangement has a lens with variable focus position, a gas assist delivered via a nozzle and the workpiece itself usually mounted on some form of controllable translation stage. Before the advent of high powered continuous wave (cw) fibre lasers this form of processing would be typically carried out with a high powered solid state laser of 200 W to 4 kW. Lasers of this type would be relatively low brightness M2>10 and be delivered in a large mode area multimode fibre, eg 400 μm 0.1 measured Numerical Aperture (NA) equivalent to an M2 of 60. Typically used with one to one imaging a laser of this type would produce a focus of 400 μm with a confocal parameter (ie depth of field) of +/−2 mm. Comparing to a high brightness fibre laser source the working spot size is at least an order of magnitude larger than that of a fibre laser but the confocal parameter is about 20 times larger consequently focus is less critical. The parameter M2 is defined further later on in this document.
Single mode fibre lasers are now capable of up to 10 KW in a single mode. The beam quality from a single mode fibre laser is a near perfect M2 of 1 consequently the output of a fibre laser can be focussed to a much smaller spot than conventional solid state lasers. This decreased spot size, typically as small as 10 μm diameter, creates similar intensities as conventional lasers but at a much lower power. This enables processing of for like materials at much lower powers compared with conventional lasers. It is advantageous commercially to process with as low a power as possible as there is an approximate linear relationship between the price of a fibre laser and its power. Processing with this low power requires that the focus position relative to the workpiece and gas delivery nozzle is finely optimised. A beam with an M2 of 1 and diameter 10 μm will have a confocal parameter of +/−75 μm illustrating the potential tolerance requirements of processing with a beam of this nature.

Method of and material processing apparatus for optimising the focus of a fibre laser; method of measuring changes in the focus of a fibre laser


A method and apparatus for balancing environmental disturbance torques acting upon a satellite (10) by tilting the satellite solar panels (14,16) toward or away from the sun to change the solar pressure acting upon the satellite (10) as well as the gravity gradient torque generated by different panel (14,16) tilt angles. By balancing the disturbance torque acting upon the satellite (10), satellite disturbances are minimized so that the satellite stabilization system can be made smaller and fuel used for satellite attitude control is minimized. Torque balancing is accomplished at the beginning of the mission through a linear actuator (37) at the mounting location of each solar panel (14,16) to the satellite main body (12) and, once set, is passive and does not require continuous active satellite control.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to satellite attitude control and in particular to a method and apparatus for balancing secular satellite torques by tilting of the satellite solar panels toward or away from the sun as a means of balancing the environmental disturbance torques applied to the satellite.
2. Description of Related Art
Orbiting satellite are subject to various environmental disturbance torques. For satellites in a geosynchronous orbit, the environmental disturbance torque is primarily due to solar radiation pressure. Photoelectric power generation onboard a satellite requires the exposure of large surface areas to the sun. Nominally, these areas are symmetrically disposed with respect to the satellite center of mass so that the moment of the resultant solar force is zero. However, any misalignments or asymmetries in these areas may result in the creation of a relatively large solar torque. Other environmental effects such as the satellite magnetic dipole interaction with the earth's magnetic field or the torque due to the gravity gradient across an asymmetrical mass distribution are typically made negligible by design. In some cases, they may be used to provide additional control torque to counteract the effects of unwanted environmental disturbance torques.
The net solar pressure torque experienced by a satellite in geosynchronous orbit varies over the course of a day, relative to an inertial reference system, since the central body typically rotates at an orbit rate with respect to the sun, keeping one face of the satellite pointed at the earth. However, the solar torque generated by an asymmetric disposition of the solar panels is essentially constant over a day with respect to an inertial reference system, since the panels maintain a fixed orientation to the sun.
The disturbance torque may be expressed as the sum of two terms: the diurnal average and the remainder after subtracting the average value. The average inertial torque is referred to as the secular torque while the remainder, by definition, is the periodic torque. This distinction is significant since only the secular torque causes a net change in the angular momentum of the system. The periodic torque causes diurnal variation in the angular momentum but the net change which results is zero. If the satellite attitude control system is properly designed, the change in angular momentum due to environmental disturbance torques is absorbed by the momentum management system of the satellite which must be capable of handling both the secular and periodic torques. When the angular momentum storage capacity of the momentum management system is reached, the stored angular momentum must be "dumped", typically by using the reaction control system to restore the net system angular momentum to zero or a desired momentum (bias) state. Because of the degradation in pointing accuracy during thruster activity, the angular momentum storage capacity of the satellite is typically sized to provide an interval between angular momentum dumps which is the same as the required stationkeeping interval.
In general, the secular torque may be resolved into three orthogonal inertia components with reference to the sun: overturning, windmill and pitch. The overturning and windmill components are in the orbit plane, with the windmill component being along the projection of the sun line and the overturning component of the torque being perpendicular to the projection of the sun line. The pitch component is along the orbit normal as shown in FIG. 1.
Several factors result in the creation of solar pressure disturbance torques on a satellite such as: a) solar panel alignment and variation in solar cell reflectivity; b) solar panel deformation due to dry-out and thermal expansion; c) antenna reflector and satellite body geometry; and d) differences in the satellite center of mass and center of environmental force application. The uncertainty in defining contributions from the sources is large and therefore, satellites typically require powerful attitude control torque systems such as magnetic torque systems, large momentum and/or reaction wheels, large area variations in solar sailing systems, etc.
One approach to producing a counteracting overturning torque on a satellite is to vary the distances by which the solar panels extend from the satellite body. Thus, the forces produced by the solar radiation pressure on the panels act upon the satellite over two lever brackets of different lengths and thereby produces an overturning torque on the satellite. The same effect can be achieved by making the solar panels foldable and unfoldable, like an accordion, to vary the area of the solar panel and also the location of the area center relative to the satellite center of mass. To move the solar panels in or out from the satellite body however, requires a relatively complex mechanism.
Another approach to counteracting the secular overturning torque is to rotate one of the solar panels about its sun tracking axis relative to the opposite solar panel to effect the solar panel configuration and thus producing a counteracting overturning torque acting on the satellite. Such a method however produces a windmill torque which must be compensated for by either the satellite attitude control system or by alternatingly producing negative and positive windmill torques by rotating the solar panels in the opposite direction. Since the secular overturning torque is a constant value over the course of a day, it is necessary to perform a compensating maneuver periodically throughout the day to maintain proper attitude control.
It is an object of this invention to overcome the difficulties with the known methods for producing a torque to counter disturbance torques.
It is another object of the invention to compensate for the secular overturning torque with a balancing maneuver to eliminate continued torque compensating maneuvers.

Method and apparatus for satellite torque balancing


An electronically controlled electrical power generator comprises a generator driven by a heat engine, operated by control means, and carrying an electrical load. Operation of the heat engine is at wide open throttle. Control over engine operation and electrical output of the generator is achieved by electronically manipulating the electric load, and/or adjusting excitation levels at the generator's magnetic fields, so as to change engine/generator equilibrium speed. In a beneficial embodiment, the generator is powered by an energy storage unit, to temporarily act as a motor and rotate the engine when starting, and during power absorbing strokes.

The present invention is related to the field of electric power production using combustion engines. It is further related to methods of control of electric power systems responding to load changes.
In an engine/generator system, the fuel supply to the prime mover is directly controlled by an actuator means, generally with a throttle or injection pump. Fuel supply adjustment is a method of adjusting the torque/speed characteristics of the prime mover. As the throttle is closed or the fuel injection setting reduced, the torque produced at a given rotational velocity is similarly reduced, causing the system to slow down, while wide open throttle maximizes the torque and power output at a given speed. In conventional engine/generator systems, the speed of the system is controlled by altering the torque/speed characteristic of the prime mover. This results in engine inefficiency.
An additional cause of engine inefficiency is friction. As the piston moves through the cylinder, work must be done because of friction between the piston and the cylinder. Every time the piston moves through a stroke, some energy is lost, regardless of engine power output for that piston stroke. The greater the energy output per piston stroke, the less energy lost to friction as compared to energy output.
Other sources of engine inefficiency are parasitic loads such as oil pumps and the like, which vary with engine speed, but not power output. The higher the RPM of the engine, the more energy lost to these loads, regardless of actual engine power output. Parasitic loads and cylinder friction mean that for constant power output, lower RPM will generally be more efficient.
Background Hybrid Electric Vehicles
A partial solution for inefficiency during low demand is found in systems comprising an energy storage unit (such as a battery) besides the engine-generator system. An example for such system is the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), in which the solution for the inefficient low load mode is simply to turn the engine and generator off. The power demand is supplied by the battery until a higher demand is required or until the battery reaches a low energy level. The engine and the generator are then turned on to recharge the battery and to supply power, directly or via the battery, to the vehicle.
Attempts to deal with engine inefficiency, such as with the hybrid electric vehicle have not been successful. HEVs have a problem in that involved in their usage is a substantial amount of restarting of the engine and generator, which releases fumes and is a particularly inefficient period in engine operation. Secondly, when the engine is turned off, a great amount of inertial energy is lost. This results in a waste of energy, invested in regaining the inertial energy, when the engine is restarted. Third, no currently available energy storage system is perfect; more energy must be supplied to the energy storage system than is later removed as useable electricity, with the difference being lost as heat. Energy storage systems also have limited life, in terms of number of charge/discharge cycles, and aging due to deep discharge. Even in the hybrid electric vehicle, there is substantial utility to a wide range of generator power output, providing efficiency can be maintained over this range.
Background Electrical Power Conversion
Methods for the conversion of electrical power at a given voltage, current, and frequency, to electrical power at a different voltage, current, or frequency are well known in the art. The simplest device, the transformer, is used to trade voltage for current with little loss of power to inefficiency.
Other devices convert input electrical power to an output electrical power via intermediate mechanical form, or from alternating current to alternating current of different characteristics via intermediate direct current. Power electronics are devices that usually contain transistors or similar components, and use switches to vary the electrical characteristics of their output, according to requirements. These include many variations, some of which are the bipolar transistor, the darlington pair of transistors, the field effect transistor, the pulse width modulated DC controller, the Silicon Controlled Rectifier, the DC link converter, the insulated gate bipolar transistor, the silicon controlled rectifier, the MOS controlled thyristor, as well as optically driven devices, vacuum devices, gas filled devices, and even mechanical devices. Power electronic devices can often act as variable pseudo-resistance, that is they can create voltage/current output relationships without dissipating power in the fashion of an actual resistor. The Silicon Controlled Rectifier can control how much AC power is delivered to a load.
Background Electric Generators' Control Apparatus
Electric control systems for generators are well known in the field of the art. Output of a desired frequency, voltage and current can either be achieved by controlling the operational state of the generator, or by converting the native output power of the generator to the desired voltage, frequency, current, or otherwise characterized output power.
Output characteristics of a generator are not independent, and are related by load considerations and generator internal characteristics. For example, a DC generator feeding a resistive load, when under circumstances that increase the output voltage of the generator, will also experience an increase in current flow. Often various changes in output are described with other output aspects held constant.
Engine-Generator Systems and Power Equilibrium
Engine-generator systems, in which an engine is directly mechanically linked to a generator, and providing the generator with power in the forms of torque and speed, turn at a fixed speed relation. Torque supplied by the engine is not necessarily equal to the torque absorbed by the generator. If, due to some perturbation, the generator is unable to absorb all the torque that the prime mover provides, a potentially dangerous situation may arise, for the system is not operating in equilibrium. Usually, it is the speed of the engine, and with it, the speed of the generator, which will change when the system is not operating in equilibrium, and in the case mentioned above, the speed of the system will probably increase. Sometimes the fixed mechanical linkage between the engine and generator includes some sort of gearing or mechanical advantage. In this case, then when the system is operating in equilibrium, there will be an equilibrium between the individual linkages between motor and gearing mechanism, and between gearing mechanism and generator.
The term "torque load", in the course of this specification, is used to mean the amount of torque which the generator absorbs from the engine or other prime mover, to which it is connected. It is also described as the torque in the direction counter to rotation that the generator applies to a transmission with the prime mover. A negative torque load would refer to a torque in the direction of rotation (i.e. the generator acting as a motor). The "torque of the generator" refers to the torque applied by the generator to the prime mover, in the direction of, or counter to, rotation. The prime mover in most cases may be an engine, but the term engine is used in the course of this specification to also refer to other prime movers which behave similarly to engines, with the characteristics which will be henceforth described.
An example of how torque equilibrium, or lack thereof, can affect speed, is shown in starting an engine-induction generator system, in which the induction generator is supplying electricity to a fixed frequency, fixed voltage, electrical load. When an engine-generator system is started, the speeds of the engine and generator are in fixed relation to each other, but the torques of the individual parts of the system are not. The engine is producing a torque in the direction of rotation, and for equilibrium, the generator would have to be producing an equal torque in the direction counter to rotation. However, since the speed is so low, the generator does not yet generate electricity. In fact, due to the low speeds, the generator absorbs electricity (from another power source) and produces torque in the same direction as rotation. Therefore, the torque produced by the engine is not absorbed by the generator, resulting in system speed acceleration. However, as high enough speeds are reached, the generator begins to generate electricity, and to absorb the torque produced by the engine. There is (in a matched system) at least one equilibrium point, at which the torque output of the engine matches the torque absorbed by the generator, whereupon the system ceases acceleration, and a steady speed is maintained. When changes in system output are required, these are usually made by throttling the engine, or similar methods. Throttling acts to change the torque/speed characteristics of the engine. When throttling is used, the system will often change speed to a different torque equilibrium point, due to the new engine characteristics.
In all examples of engine-generator systems, each of the engine and the generator will have a characteristic that describes how its torque changes with speed. These characteristics will determine the equilibrium speed of the combined engine/generator system.
The generator torque/speed characteristics will depend upon the type of generator it is, its level of excitation, and the load to which it is supplying electricity. Induction generators, when attached to electrical loads having fixed voltage, fixed frequency characteristics, are known to be quite stable, being that within the speed range at which they generate electricity, they have a steep torque requirement relative to their speed requirement. Thus an accidental speed change in a system involving an induction generator will be immediately followed by a large torque change, which normally causes the system to return to equilibrium speed.
Note that in the pathological condition of the engine providing greater torque output than the maximum torque load of the generator, system speed will continue to increase until the internal friction of the engine prevents further speed increase, or until the system fails. This is known as a runaway condition. The maximum torque of an induction generator is limited by the load current. A sudden reduction in load will reduce the maximum torque load of the induction generator, and may cause a runaway condition.
In AC induction machines a method may be applied for the alternation between generator and motor modes. The synchronous speed, the speed of the rotating magnetic field, of the induction machine is determined by the number of poles of the machine and the frequency of the applied AC power. The synchronous speed is given by the formula: Ns=120 f/P where: Ns is the Synchronous speed in rotations per minute; f is the frequency of the power supply in cycles per second; and P is the number of poles for which the machine is wound.
In induction generators the actual speed of the rotor is faster than the synchronous speed of the rotating field. In induction motors the actual speed of the rotor is lower than the synchronous speed of the rotating field. In fact, the motor and the generator are essentially the same machine with the main difference being in their actual speed in relation to their synchronous speed; induction machines that are marketed as motors are often placed into service as generators. Although a generator is supplying real electrical power to a load, it is consuming reactive power for excitation purposes. If an induction machine does not have a source of excitation power, then it will not develop a rotating magnetic field, and will not act as a generator.
By controlling the frequency of the input power to the excitation, a controller may increase or decrease the synchronous speed of the machine. For a given rotor RPM, the control may increase or decrease the synchronous speed to be faster or slower than the rotor RPM thereby determining the function of the induction machine as a generator or a motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,054,844 granted to Frank describes a system in which the torque applied by a motor/generator to the engine is calculated and applied to force the engine torque to have an ideal relationship to the calculated engine speed. Frank's methods of controlling the engine involve calculations and lookup tables as to how much torque the motor must force the engine to adopt so that the speed/torque relationship of the engine follows an ideal operating line. Another point Frank describes is how the engine is switched off if its speed is too low as to have non-ideal conditions. Furthermore, Frank's system is described only with reference to vehicles, and does not include other applications of engine-generator sets. Whilst the Frank apparatus controls engine power output via the torque/speed curve reflected from the wheels, with corrections for CVT dynamics terms, a need remains for a system which controls engine power output in a fashion which is independent of wheel loads.

Electronically controlled engine generator set


A brush with flexible bristles in which each bristle includes a flexion integral with the bristle to provide innate resilience to the bristle for flexing along its longitudinal axis. The brush fitted with the bristles includes a perforated brushhead for passing the bristles so as to maintain the bristles on their axis. A trapezoidal bristle grid provides for bristle density in the brush comparable the standard brush density.

The present invention relates to brushes and particularly to brushes with flexible bristles, that is, bristles that flex along their longitudinal axis.
In conventional brush construction, bristles are anchored at their lower tips in a brush base. When scrubbing pressure is applied to the upper tips, the bristles tend to deflect off their axis with consequent loss of scrubbing effectiveness. To compensate, bristles are made stiffer for maintaining scrubbing effectiveness. Stiff bristles are suitable for flat surfaces and when the surface is convex only a portion of the bristles in the overall brush length make contact with the surface. In the case of a toothbrush, bristle contact occurs at the high points of teeth contour and the intermediate recesses or hollows remain unbrushed.
There is need for a brush with bristles that flex longitudinally, that is, undergo an effective or virtual decrease in the height of the bristle, so that the brush over its entire length of bristles remains in contact with curved surfaces such as a toothbrush for brushing teeth.


A system and method is provided for dynamically self-allocating channel access for communication between communicating entities in an inter-vehicle ad hoc network. A respective entity observes communication activity over each inter-vehicle ad hoc network communication channel. Available time slots are identified within each communication channel for the respective entity to broadcast a data packet in response to the observed communication activity on a respective channel. An available communication channel and timeslot are selected to broadcast the data packet. A message is broadcast within the inter-vehicle ad hoc network that provides a schedule identifying the communication channel and time slot selected for broadcasting the data packet by the respective entity. The data packet is broadcast over the selected communication channel at the respective timeslot.

An embodiment relates generally to vehicular wireless networking, in which multiple wireless channels (e.g., frequency bands) simultaneously exist within the inter-vehicle ad hoc networks. These wireless channels include one control channel (CCH) and multiple service channels (SCH).
Data packet sharing of non-safety related information between entities such as a fixed entity (e.g., roadside equipment (RSE)), and moving vehicles typically involves the RSE broadcasting data to a moving vehicle. The RSE occupies a respective communication timeslot and broadcasts data packets to the moving vehicles over a dedicated communication channel. Since the RSE is always in a fixed location and maintains a same broadcast time, dedicating a respective channel and timeslot to a RSE is an efficient use of a broadcast network. However, a moving vehicle's attempt to be a service provider in broadcasting non-safety related information to other vehicles and entities creates complications. That is, assigning each vehicle within a network a permanent timeslot within a particular channel would create an overcrowding condition as the number of vehicles would outnumber the number of available timeslots and channels. Moreover, unlike fixed entities which are permanently stationed within the broadcast region, vehicles are transient and dedicating a timeslot in a channel to a respective vehicle that broadcasts information infrequently is not an efficient use of the broadcast network. Alternatively, allowing remote entities to randomly choose a channel and timeslot which to broadcast information may result in contention which is the collision of data packets broadcast by two or more vehicles over a same communication channel at substantially a same instant of time. A centralized processing unit can be used to organize and control a broadcast schedule of all entities in the communication network requires; however, dedicating a central processing unit to be a service provider requires oversight by an individual or organization and is costly.

Adaptive multi-channel access for vehicular networks


Tilt between a head stack and its associated disk stack in a hard disk drive (HDD) is measured by determining the deviation of a target head from its expected position (based on the position of the current head) each time electrical contact is switched from the current head to a target head. A running average tilt value is stored and used to modify the logical seek distance used in a Rotational Position Optimization (RPO) algorithm to better order I/O requests in a queue. Also, the running average tilt value can be used by the servo to pre-position the target head before electrical contact is made with the target head, to improve speed of operation.

The performance of a hard disk drive (HDD) is degraded when mechanical tilt exists between the actuator head stack and the disk stack. Such tilting can be caused by a number of factors, including HDD case warping, etc. The performance degradation arises because the mechanical tilt requires additional physical motion of the actuator when a head-switch occurs. This physical motion of the actuator to position the target head on the target track takes a finite amount of time prior to being able to successfully read/write data. As recognized herein, if this additional seek-time due to tilt is not accounted for by the system, the result can be that the target data sector is missed, which then requires a full revolution of the disk to retry the read/write operation. The present invention understands that the extra time required to move the actuator to adjust for the mechanical tilt, and the increased opportunity for missing a revolution because of not accounting for this extra time, results in reduced performance of the disk drive.
As further recognized by the present invention, without foreknowledge of the magnitude of mechanical tilt between the current and target heads, the servo must wait until electrical connection is made on the target head and a valid PES value is "seen" on the disk so that the correct seek (both direction and length) can be made. Thus, the tilt problem precludes the servo from being able to "move early" before the electrical connection is made to the target head. The delay between an "early move" and waiting until electrical connection is made also costs valuable time which degrades I/O performance.
In addition to the above considerations, the present invention, in recognizing that a Rotational Position Optimization (RPO) algorithm can be used to reorder the commands in a HDD controller queue for optimized execution, further recognizes that to make optimal choices for command ordering, the RPO algorithm must be able to accurately estimate the time required to execute each command, and this estimation depends on the seek-length that must be covered in moving the actuator to get the correct place for the next command. If the seek lengths which are used are based on "logical" seek lengths, meaning that the seek length is calculated by determining the target track (based on format calculations) and subtracting the current track, with no correction for any seek length modifications due to mechanical tilt, the estimates will be erroneous. As understood herein, by failing to account for the true "physical" seek length (which is based on the logical seek length plus correction for tilt), incorrect information may be selected from tables that are used to make seek time estimates, or incorrect information will be input to functions that are used to make seek time estimates. Under these conditions, the RPO algorithm's command ordering will not be optimum. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that the "learning" process for any adaptive RPO algorithm is degraded by inaccurate knowledge of the true physical seek length. The result can be inaccurate sorting of the command queue which ultimately leads to even further degraded I/O performance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for correcting for head tilt in HDD

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A lighting device includes a printed wiring board, a plurality of light-emitting elements, a sealing member, and a color conversion unit, and an adhesive layer. The sealing member has light transmitting properties and seals the light-emitting elements mounted on the printed wiring board. The color conversion unit includes a cover member of light transmitting properties, and a fluorescent substance layer provided on the inner surface of the cover member. The adhesive layer has light-transmitting properties, and adheres the sealing member to the fluorescent substance layer of the color conversion unit in an airtight manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting device in which blue or ultraviolet light is emitted from a light-emitting element, such as a light-emitting diode (LED), and excites fluorescent substances of different colors to produce light of different colors, so that by mixing the different colors, illumination light is emitted.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally available LEDs have a structure in which an LED chip is encapsulated in transparent molded resin. An LED of this type is disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-152609. This LED is formed by mixing a yellow fluorescent substance (which is mainly excited by blue light to thereby mainly emit yellow light) into molded resin in which an LED chip capable of emitting blue light is sealed.
The disclosed LED emits white light of high color rendering properties by mixing the blue light emitted by the LED chip with the yellow light emitted by the yellow fluorescent substance excited by the blue light.
However, in the disclosed LED, since the molded resin has the double function of sealing the LED chip and acting as a fluorescent layer, if the material and thickness of the molded resin and the concentration of the yellow fluorescent substance are designed to optimize one of the functions, the other function may be less than optimal. For instance, if the LED chip is encapsulated in molded resin of an optimal thickness for preventing ingress of moisture or corrosive gases, the efficiency of color conversion (wavelength conversion) of the fluorescent layer may not be optimal.
Further, in the disclosed LED, since the yellow fluorescent substance is mixed into the molded resin, if defects occur in the yellow fluorescent substance or air bubbles occur in the molded resin, the LED must be rejected. In other words, the fact that the molded resin of the disclosed LED has a double function reduces product yield.

Lighting device comprising a color conversion unit

Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corporation


A touch panel apparatus includes a detector configured to detect contact or approach of an object to a panel within a detection range of the panel, a controller configured to execute the detection on the entire panel and control the detection range in accordance with a result of the detection, and an output unit configure to determine and output a position corresponding to the contact or the approach of the object within the detection range controlled by the controller.

The present disclosure relates to a touch panel apparatus which is suitably applicable to a projection electrostatic-capacitance touch-panel apparatus and a touch-panel detection method.
An electrostatic-capacitance touch panel employing a projection method has been in practical use and has been used in various electronic apparatuses. In a projection electrostatic-capacitance touch-panel in which transparent electrodes are arranged in a grid pattern as two layer structures on a transparent substrate on a display panel such as a liquid crystal display panel, a touch position is detected by detecting change of electrostatic capacitance caused by a finger touch. Note that, in the electrostatic-capacitance touch panel, in addition to a case where a panel surface is directly touched by a finger, a case where a finger approaches the panel surface may be detected by change of the electrostatic capacitance.
Since the electrostatic-capacitance touch panel detects change of electrostatic capacitance, in a waiting state for detection of a touch, a signal is continuously applied to the electrodes of the touch panel so that touch detection may be performed.
FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of general driving of the electrostatic-capacitance touch panel.
In general, in the electrostatic touch panel, two states, i.e., an active state in which touch detection is being performed and an idling state in which the panel is in a standby state until a touch is detected are set.
FIG. 15A shows a driving example in the active state and FIG. 15B shows a driving example in the idling state. In FIGS. 15A and 15B, axes of ordinate denote power consumption of a driving signal and axes of abscissa denote time.
The driving example in the active state shown in FIG. 15A will be described. When the panel surface is touched by a finger, for example, the touch state should be detected in a comparatively short cycle, and therefore, a waiting time after a measurement is set to be short so that a comparatively short measurement cycle is attained. One measurement cycle is approximately 20 to 50 ms, for example. Since the measurement cycle is set to be short, excellent touch detection may be performed in accordance with movement of the finger.
The driving example in the idling state shown in FIG. 15B will be described. In a state in which the finger or the like is not touched to the touch panel, for example, the waiting time after a measurement is set to be long so that a measurement cycle is set to be long. Accordingly, power consumption of the touch panel is reduced. One measurement cycle is approximately 50 to 100 ms, for example.
When the touch state is detected in the idling state, the active state is entered. When a touch is not detected for a predetermined period of time in the active state, the idling state is entered.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-72743 discloses a configuration of an electrostatic-capacitance touch panel and a detection principle.

Touch panel apparatus and touch panel detection method


A refrigerator includes a storing unit for storing vegetables; a light emitting unit for irradiating light onto the vegetables stored in the storing unit to promote photosynthesis of the vegetables; an input unit for receiving an operation instruction on whether the light emitting unit is to be turned on or off; a timer for detecting a current time to output current time information; and a control unit for controlling the light emitting unit in response to the operation instruction. If the operation instruction requests that the light emitting unit be off, the control unit controls the light emitting unit to be off; and if otherwise, the control unit controls the light emitting unit to be on or off depending on the current time information.

In general, the refrigerator includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator to perform a cooling cycle, and thus keeps the freshness of food items for a long period of time by cold air generated through such a cooling cycle.
In such a refrigerator, a freezer compartment for preserving food items in a frozen state and a refrigerator compartment for preserving the food items in a refrigerated state are partitioned inside a main body forming external appearance thereof, so that the food items can be stored in either the refrigerator compartment or the freezer compartment according to the storage temperature of the food items.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a conventional refrigerator 10 whose refrigerator compartment is provided with a plurality of shelves 11 and a vegetable room 12 to separately store a large amount of food items such as vegetables or fruits therein.
Such a refrigerator keeps the vegetables stored therein at a low temperature by simply controlling the cold air, whereby the freshness of the vegetables can be maintained for a certain period of time. However, in case of preserving them for a long time, the freshness of the vegetables may not be maintained.
The vegetables, which belong to the plant kingdom, respire and transpire even while they are stored in a refrigerator. Therefore, in order to maintain the freshness of the vegetables stored in the refrigerator, it is necessary to suppress the respiration and the transpiration.
Accordingly, the conventional refrigerator can maintain a certain degree of freshness by keeping the vegetables at a low temperature to suppress the respiration and in a high humidity to prevent the transpiration. However, since the chlorophyll contained in the vegetables cannot be prevented from being decomposed, the freshness of the vegetables cannot be maintained due to a decrease in the concentration of chlorophyll contained in the vegetables with the lapse of a certain period of time.

Refrigerator capable of promoting photosynthesis of vegetables and control method therefor


A coupler for use in connecting together in a driving relationship a first member and a second member in a rotatable cutter assembly includes an elongate body having an axial forward end and an axial rearward end, and the elongate body containing a longitudinal bore. The elongate body further includes a collar mediate of the axial forward end and the axial rearward end, a forward body portion axially forward of the collar wherein the forward body portion is configured to drivingly engage the first member and a rearward body portion rearward of the collar wherein the rearward body portion is configured to drivingly engage the second member. The rearward body portion of the elongate body includes an elastomeric layer formed thereon.

The invention relates generally to a rotatable cutter assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to a coupler for a rotatable cutter assembly. In one aspect of the invention, the rotatable cutter assembly can be a drill assembly such as, for example, a roof bolt drill assembly, such as used in underground mining operations, that utilizes the coupler of the invention.
Expansion of an underground mine such as, for example, a coal mine, requires digging a tunnel. Initially this tunnel has an unsupported roof. In order to support and stabilize the roof in an established area in an underground tunnel, bore holes are drilled in the roof. Typically, the apparatus used to drill these holes comprises a drill with a long shaft, i.e., drill steel, attached to a drill bit. The roof drill bit is detachably mounted, either directly or through the use of a chuck, to the drill steel at the distal end thereof. To commence the drilling operation, the roof drill bit is then pressed against the roof and the drilling apparatus is operated so as to drill a bore hole in the roof. The bore holes may extend between two feet to greater than twenty feet into the roof. These bore holes are filled with resin and roof bolts are affixed within the bore holes. A roof support, such as roof panels, is then attached to the roof bolts.
One problem associated with the drilling operation for drilling the bore hole into the roof of the mine is that a large amount of noise is generated. Studies have shown that, on average, drilling noise is the most significant contributor to a roof bolting machine operator's noise exposure. Thus, hearing loss remains one of the most common occupational illnesses for underground miners.
Another problem associated with the drilling operation for drilling the bore hole into the roof of the mine is mechanical failure of one or more of the various components of the roof bolt drill assembly that typically results from one or more factors, such as, for example, the mechanical forces encountered in the drilling operation and the rigid connections between the various components of the roof bolt drill assembly.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a rotatable cutter assembly and associated components, such as couplers, that overcomes the problems of known such assemblies and associated components, particularly for drill assemblies used in roof bolt drilling operations.


The present invention provides a Cu line and method of forming the same, by which reliability (e.g., EM, BTS and the like) can be enhanced by replacing SiN by HfOx, which plays a role as a protective layer and/or an etch stop layer on a Cu line, prevents or inhibits galvanic corrosion due to Cu oxide, and inhibits or reduces additional formation of Cu oxide by gathering or scavenging oxygen atoms from —OH, O2, and H2O. The present method includes the steps of forming a trench in an insulating layer on a substrate, forming a planarized Cu layer in the trench, forming a HfOx layer on the planarized Cu layer, and thermally treating the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly, to a device having a damascene type Cu line protected by a HfOx layer and method of forming the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, Cu lines for metal wiring in semiconductor devices cannot be formed by RIE (reactive ion etching), unlike the popular aluminum metal lines. Such Cu lines are generally formed by the damascene method by designing a line layout, filling a via hole and trench with Cu, and planarizing the Cu. In doing so, SiN is typically deposited on a surface of the exposed Cu line after planarization, to be used as a diffusion barrier and etch stop layer. Hence, the surface of the final Cu line interfaces with SiN.
FIGS. 1A to 1C are cross-sectional diagrams for explaining a conventional method of forming a Cu line.
FIG. 1A shows a cross-sectional view of a Cu wire after completion of damascene and planarization processes. Referring to FIG. 1A, an insulating layer 11 is deposited on a substrate 10 provided with a prescribed device. Trenches and vias (not shown) are formed by a damascene process. The trench is filled with Cu, and the Cu is planarized to complete a Cu line 12.
FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional view of a protective layer of SiN 13 deposited on the Cu line 12. Referring to FIG. 1B, after completion of damascene and planarization processes, a protective layer 13 is formed by depositing SiN 13 on the Cu line 12.
FIG. 1C shows a magnified cross-sectional view of a part-A in FIG. 1B for explaining a problem occurring at a Cu—SiN interface.
Referring to FIG. 1C, Cu oxide 14 is formed on a surface of the Cu line 12 after completion of planarizing the Cu line 12. Specifically, the Cu oxide 14 may be formed in the planarization process and in the subsequent transfer of the substrate to other equipment for SiN deposition after completion of the planarization process. However, the Cu oxide formed on the Cu line brings about various reliability problems in many processes. The substantial problems are explained as follows.
First of all, Cu oxide may degrade adhesion between SiN 13 and Cu 12. Cu oxide 14 between SiN 13 and Cu 12 makes the corresponding interface more unstable.
Secondly, different from Al oxide, the oxygen in Cu oxide 14 tends to migrate along Cu surfaces, thereby leading to corrosion of the Cu line 12 and any metal lines in physical contact therewith.
Thirdly, Cu oxide 14 may play a role as a negative electrode in galvanic corrosion.
Fourthly, the unstable interface between Cu 12 and SiN 13 due to the Cu oxide 14 accelerates interfacial diffusion of surface atoms that are most vulnerable to electro-migration (hereinafter abbreviated EM), leading to accelerated formation of voids.
Finally, the unstable interface causes unstable adhesion, whereby hillocks can be easily formed at the interface.

Method of fabricating semiconductor device


A crimping tool system is provided for compressing a connector component onto an optical fiber cable, wherein the component includes an open end into which the cable is inserted. A tool includes a pair of jaws relatively movable toward and away from each other. Each jaw includes a first stage recessed surface area combining with the first stage recessed surface area of the other jaw to define a first stage crimping cavity sized to compress the cable sufficiently to ensure that the cable is insertable into the open end of the connector component. Each jaw includes a second stage recessed surface area combining with the second stage recessed surface area of the other jaw to define a second stage crimping cavity sized to compress the connector component onto the cable. The second stage recessed surface areas have protrusions for indenting the connector component and driving portions of the component against the cable. A rigid retention insert member surrounds the optical fiber of the cable to project the fiber, and the insert member is positionable inside an outer jacket of the cable to provide a rigid backing for the outer jacket when the connector component is crimped thereon.

There are many application tools, presses and the like for terminating a wide variety of electrical connectors to terminals, cables, wires and the like. One type of application tooling involves compression tools for crimping metal components about electrical or signal conductors or coaxial cables to form a structural or mechanical connection therebetween.
Many types of connector assemblies commonly have cylindrical components which are crimped onto the exterior of an insulated electrical wire or cable having a central conductor. The component often is fabricated of stamped and formed sheet metal material which retains its crimped configuration onto the insulated wire or cable.
One of the problems with use of terminating connections of the character described above with optical fiber cables is that crimping may damage the optical fiber and thus decrease its transmitting capabilities.
Another problem involves the interconnection of a cable, for instance, wherein an outer insulating jacket is cut back to expose the optical fiber. A connector component, such as a rear shell, is crimped onto the outer jacket, while the core terminates to various components within the shell. Often, it is difficult to insert the jacket into the shell because of close tolerances between the inside diameter of the shell and the outside diameter of the jacket. The jacket may not be truly round, or otherwise out of shape; and the jacket must be shaped or crimped before it can be inserted into the shell. Most often, a plurality of tools are utilized, including one tool to facilitate insertion of the cable into the shell, and another tool to crimp the shell onto the outside of the cable.
This invention is directed to providing a crimping tool of the character described to solve the above problems and satisfy a need for an improved multi-function crimping tool.

Crimping tool system for optical fiber cables


Since its introduction into North America over 170 years ago, the poinsettia has become a major ornamental potted plant, and is an important component of the U.S. floral industry. Susceptibility to insect pests and diseases caused by pathogens remains a problem for poinsettia production, even under greenhouse conditions. While chemical treatment can control certain insect pests and disease pathogens, such treatment can also have an adverse effect upon poinsettias. The methods described herein provide a means to genetically engineer transgenic poinsettia that express macromolecules capable of protecting the plant against the insects and pathogens. The production of transgenic plants can also be used to enhance the commercial value of poinsettia by controlling characteristics such as flower color.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for producing transgenic flowering plants. In particular, this invention is directed to methods for producing transgenic poinsettia. This invention also is directed to transgenic poinsettia that express at least one macromolecule that either confers resistance to an insect pest or to a disease-causing pathogen, or otherwise enhances the commercial value of the plant.
2. Background
The poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd., is a member of the family Euphorbiaceae. The genus Euphorbia contains 700 to 1000 species, and is characterized by a single female flower that lacks petals and typically lacks sepals. The female flower is surrounded by individual male flowers, and the entire flower is enclosed in a cup-shaped cyathium. The red, white, yellow or pink portion of the plant, popularly referred to as the "flower," consists of modified leaves or bracts.
Since its introduction over 170 years ago, the poinsettia has become the primary potted flowering plant produced and sold in North America. In 1996, for example, the USDA reported sales of poinsettia in the top 36 poinsettia production states of over 59 million pots, having a 214 million dollar wholesale value. Consequently, production of poinsettia potted plants is an important component of the U.S. floral industry.
Insect pests and diseases caused by pathogens can kill poinsettias even under greenhouse conditions. See, for example, Ecke, Jr., et al. (eds.), THE POINSETTIA MANUAL, 3rd Edition (Paul Ecke Publications 1990). Illustrative insect pests include whiteflies, mealybugs, thrips, aphids, and spider mites, which damage poinsettias by withdrawing plant fluids. Moreover, the larvae of fungus gnats and lepidopterous insects harm poinsettias by feeding on various plant structures.
Poinsettia are also susceptible to diseases caused by fungi and bacteria. Fungal infestation, such as Rhizoctonia root and stem rot or Pythium root and stem rot can cause a complete collapse of the poinsettia. While other fungal infections, such as poinsettia scab or Corynespora bract spot may not destroy the plant per se, the disfigurement ruins the commercial value of the infected plant. Similarly, certain bacteria, including Erwinia chrysanthemi, can kill an infected poinsettia plant, while others, such as Xanthomonas campestris pv. poinsettiaecola, destroy the plant's marketability.
Although chemical treatment can control certain of these insect pests and disease pathogens, such treatment can also have an adverse effect upon poinsettias. An alternative to chemical treatment is to genetically engineer transgenic poinsettia that express polypeptides capable of protecting the plant against the insects and pathogens. The production of transgenic plants can further be used to enhance the commercial value of poinsettia by controlling characteristics such as flower color, early flowering, day neutrality, free branching, dwarfness, fragrance, and superior post harvest and shipping qualities.
However, there has been no report to date on the successful production of transgenic poinsettia. Thus, a need still exists for a method to introduce foreign genes into poinsettia to enhance the survivability or commercial value of the plants.


This invention is method of creping a paper web comprising a) applying to a rotating creping cylinder an adhesive composition having a pH of about 6.5 to about 8 and comprising one or more vinylamine/N-vinyl formamide polymers composed of about 10 to about 99 mole percent vinylamine monomer and about 90 to about 1 mole percent N-vinylformamide monomer; b) pressing the paper web against the creping cylinder to effect adhesion of the paper web to the creping cylinder; and c) dislodging the paper web from the creping cylinder with a doctor blade.

This invention relates generally to a method of creping paper products in which a paper web is adhered to a creping cylinder using poly(vinylamine/vinylformamide) compositions having a pH of about 6.5 to about 8. The desired properties of tissue, including softness, bulk, stretch and absorbency, are typically achieved by the means of a steam-heated Yankee dryer cylinder and a doctor blade. A wet fiber web is largely dewatered at the pressure roll nip. At this point, the sheet is transferred to the Yankee surface and has a consistency of about 35-90%. The sheet is further dried on the hot Yankee cylinder to a typical consistency of 90-98% and removed with a doctor blade. The mechanical action of the blade results in a disruption of the fiber-fiber bonds and a formation of a microfold structure within the sheet. This process is referred to as creping.
In order to develop the crepe, the paper web has to adhere to the surface of the Yankee dryer. The adhesion is provided by applying an adhesive to the dryer. Most common Yankee adhesives are synthetic polymers such as polyaminoamides, polyamides, polyamines, polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinyl acetates, polyacrylamides and polyethers. Various low molecular weight compounds are used to modify the Yankee coating properties. Some examples of compositions of matter, apparatuses, and methods useful with creping paper are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,374,334, 5,994,449, 6,663,942, 5,660,687, 6,207,011, International Patent Applications 2006/048131 A1 and 20071005577 A2, and US Published Patent Applications 2005/0028954, 200510245669, and 200510006040.
A superior Yankee coating should form a film that provides good adhesion for efficient creping, and is also uniform, durable and soft. Uniformity of the coating is critical not only for consistent creping that affects the quality of the produced sheet, but also for even coverage of the Yankee surface to prevent premature wear of the cylinder and the blade. Durability is a characteristic of how stable the coating is on the Yankee surface, particularly at the pressure roll nip. If the coating is easily washed off, it does not protect the Yankee cylinder and leads to excessive creping blade wear. A hard coating causes blade chatter, which results in blade wear and non-uniform creping. A soft, but durable coating is preferred.
Polyaminoamides crosslinked with epichlorohydrin (PAE) are the most widely used adhesives in commercial practice by a wide margin. Depending on the grade and creping conditions, adhesion, durability and softness of the coating can be adjusted to an appropriate level by using combinations of PAE resins having various molecular weight and/or modifiers such as release oils, surfactants, humectants, phosphates, etc. Yet, the applicability of PAE resins is not universal and they do not always work for all tissue grades and conditions. The most common problem that is faced with PAE adhesives is their tendency to build up on the Yankee dryer, sometimes referred to as "hard" coating. This results in blade chatter causing picks or holes in the sheet and resulting in sheet breaks and machine downtime. Moreover, even though the amounts of epi and epi by-products are very low in the modern PAE adhesives, the industry would prefer to use non-epi adhesives if an alternative existed. However, other non-epi alternatives including polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinyl acetates, polyacrylamides and polyethers, also have deficiencies regarding the coating properties they provide in that there is not an optimum combination of coating durability, softness, adhesion and uniformity. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for improved creping adhesive compositions.
The art described in this section is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is "Prior Art" with respect to this invention, unless specifically designated as such. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 CFR §1.56(a) exists.

Method to adhere and dislodge crepe paper


This invention relates to dentifrice compositions comprising stannous fluoride and a silica abrasive having a N2 BET surface area of less than 50 m2/g and an Einlehner hardness of from 4 to 11, as well as to methods of using these compositions.

Abrasives in oral compositions debride and physically scrub the external surface of the teeth. This scrubbing action removes organic biofilm (i.e., the pellicle) on the tooth surface that is formed primarily of salivary proteins, bacteria, and bacterial byproducts. Pellicle may also be stained and discolored by foods, such as coffee, tea and berries, as well as, by tobacco smoke, cationic compounds, and chromogenic bacteria. Such physical removal of the stained pellicle is a simple and effective means of removing the undesirable surface staining and discoloration which occurs daily. Further, such physical removal of the pellicle also removes plaque bacteria on the pellicle surface, thereby minimizing the potential for gingivitis, periodontitis, and caries formation. However, oral compositions such as dentifrices should not have such high abrasiveness that potential damage to the enamel or tissue may result. As such, it is desirable to develop oral compositions that optimize the cleaning and/or polishing efficacy of the oral composition, while minimizing the harmful abrasiveness to avoid potential damage oral surfaces.
Stannous fluoride is well known for use in clinical dentistry with a history of therapeutic benefits dating back to the early 1950s. Stannous fluoride has been reported to be an effective agent for treating various oral conditions and diseases including plaque, gingivitis, sensitivity, enamel decalcification, and periodontitis, among others. However, the production of an abrasive toothpaste containing stannous fluoride has presented compatibility problems. Although silica abrasives are widely used within toothpastes, the surface hydroxyl groups on the silica particles can interact with stannous ions. Such interaction has a negative effect on the stability of stannous ions over the shelf life of the toothpaste. Silica abrasives also tend to interact with fluoride ions and thus diminish the ability of the fluoride ion source to provide soluble fluoride upon use.
Accordingly, there exists a need for silica abrasives which exhibit high stannous fluoride compatibility as well as acceptable cleaning performance and low dental abrasion.

Silica abrasives with high stannous fluoride compatibility


A method for rolling back speculative threads in symmetric-multiprocessing (SMP) environments is disclosed. In one embodiment, such a method includes detecting an aborted thread at runtime and determining whether the aborted thread is an oldest aborted thread. In the event the aborted thread is the oldest aborted thread, the method sets a high-priority request for allocation to an absolute thread number associated with the oldest aborted thread. The method further detects that the high-priority request is set and, in response, clears the high-priority request and sets an allocation token to the absolute thread number associated with the oldest aborted thread, thereby allowing the oldest aborted thread to retry a work unit associated with the absolute thread number. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed.

Speculative execution (SE), also known as thread-level speculation (TLS), requires in-order start, as well as in-order commit of threads. The workload is typically split into a sequence of work units, referred to as absolute thread numbers (ATNs), that are assigned to a group of n threads, in sequence. A complete round of allocation assigns work units to threads T0, T1, . . . , Tn-2, Tn-1. By dispatching the threads in order, and committing them in order, program semantics are preserved.
The manner in which current symmetric-multiprocessing (SMP) software runtime systems perform speculative execution is inefficient and difficult to debug. For example, current SMP systems require the kernel to track the number of conflict events (i.e., events causing threads to abort). When the number of conflict events reaches a threshold, the kernel modifies a global variable, referred to herein as an "allocation token," to initiate retries of the aborted threads. Threads operating in user space also need to update the allocation token. As a result, a lock is required to protect the allocation token. Implementing a lock that is shared between the kernel and the SMP runtime makes the design both inefficient as well as difficult to debug. For example, a sequence of code used to start speculation is shown below. A similar locking sequence is also present in the decision code.
while {lock allocation_token;if (allocation_token == thread's ATN)proceed to obtain specID;elseunlock allocation_token;continue;}
In view of the foregoing, what are needed are apparatus and methods to more efficiently roll back and retry conflicted speculative threads in SMP environments. Ideally, such apparatus and methods will remove the locking requirement associated with the allocation token.

Efficient rollback and retry of conflicted speculative threads with hardware support

International Business Machines Corporation


A concrete surface having at least a residual amount of sodium fluorophosphate. A method to reduce scaling due to freezing and thawing is also disclosed. The method comprises contacting the surface of a concrete with a system containing at least sodium fluorophosphate. The sodium fluorophosphate closes the pores to water and other foreign matter.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method to reduce scaling due to freezing and thawing of concrete, particularly when a deicer is used to deice the surface of a concrete, such as sodium chloride. By the term "concrete", throughout the disclosure and claims, it is meant a concrete, particularly a surface made up of concrete, as opposed to reinforced concrete containing rebars, which is disclaimed from the present definition of concrete as used throughout the disclosure and claims.

Method to reduce scaling due to freezing and thawing in concrete


A malware detection method and a malware detection apparatus, where the method includes running to-be-detected software in a sandbox, and recording at least one operation, and in a process of recording the at least one operation, when it is detected that any interface that has a delay attribute in the sandbox is called, determining whether delay duration corresponding to a first delay length parameter of the called interface is greater than a preset duration. When the delay duration corresponding to the first delay length parameter is greater than the preset duration, delay duration of delay execution is reduced to enable the malicious behavior to be executed in the process of recording the at least one operation executed within the preset duration after the to-be-detected software starts to run.

Computer software refers to a set of a series of computer data and instructions that are organized in a specific sequence. Malware appears shortly after emergence of the computer software. A development purpose of legitimate software is to enhance and extend an operation capability of a computer. However, a development purpose of malware is to steal and destroy computer data. A conventional malware detection method is implemented based on feature code comparison. However, malware usually evades the feature code comparison by means of morphing, packing, and the like. The morphing refers to adding a large quantity of obfuscated code to program code of software to invalidate an original feature code. The packing refers to encrypting and packing program code of software to invalidate an original feature code.
To avoid the foregoing defect, a method for detecting malware using a sandbox technology is proposed. A sandbox is a software isolation and running mechanism, and a purpose of the sandbox is to limit permission of untrusted software. The sandbox technology is frequently used to execute untested or untrusted software. To avoid a case in which the untrusted software may destroy running of other software, the sandbox technology provides virtualized disk, memory, and network resources for the untrusted software in order to protect an original status of an operating system. In a specific implementation process of the sandbox technology, all files and registry entries that are created, modified, and deleted by the untrusted software when the untrusted software is running in a sandbox are virtualized and redirected to a virtual operating system. Therefore, all operations of the untrusted software are virtual, and a real file system and a real registry are not modified, which can ensure that malware carrying a virus cannot modify a key part of an operating system and cannot destroy the operating system.
A specific operating principle of detecting malware using the sandbox technology is to simulate a completely normal environment for untrusted software to run, and record all operations performed by the untrusted software when the untrusted software runs. The operations are matched with a malicious behavior database. If a matching malicious behavior is identified, it can be considered that the untrusted software is malware. Because the method can directly enable the malware to run in the sandbox, the malware can be prevented from evading detection by means of morphing, packing, and the like, which may improve accuracy of malware detection. Compared with the conventional detection method, a detection capability of the method for detecting malware using a sandbox is greatly improved. In addition, because the method for detecting malware using a sandbox uses a universal malicious behavior database as a matching manner, a problem that a base quantity of malicious samples of the same type is extremely large may be avoided.
However, in practical application, monitoring for an extremely long time is unpractical due to a limitation of a hardware resource and a software specification. The sandbox can generally monitor only behaviors performed within several minutes after the untrusted software starts to run. Due to this limitation, the malware adds a delay operation before an outbreak of a malicious behavior. For example, a long-time sleep statement is added. The statement may delay some operations in a software running process for tens of minutes or even several hours in order to evade detection. Therefore, a defect of relatively low accuracy exists in a current malware detection method.

Malware detection method and malware detection apparatus