A real image mode variable magnification finder includes an objective system having a positive refracting power, an image erecting optical system for erecting an image formed by the objective system, and an eyepiece system having a positive refracting power. The objective system is composed of a first lens unit of a negative biconcave lens, a second lens unit of a positive lens, and a third lens unit of a positive meniscus lens with a convex surface directed toward the image side. The first lens unit is fixed and the second and third lens units are moved along the optical axis, thereby changing the magnification of the finder. In this way, the real image mode variable magnification finder of wide-angle design can be provided which is compact in size, has a high variable magnification ratio, and exhibits excellent performance for correction for aberration.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a real image mode variable magnification finder used in a lens shutter camera, a still video camera, or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a finder optical system which is constructed independently of a photographing optical system as in a lens shutter camera is often used in a virtual image mode finder. The virtual image mode finder, however, has the problem that if it is designed so that a variable magnification ratio increases, the diameter of a front lens must be enlarged and the view of a visual field peculiar to the finder of this type becomes unclear.
A real image mode finder, by contrast, is such that the diameter of the front lens can be diminished because an entrance pupil can be located in the forward part of the finder. Furthermore, since an image formed by an objective system is observed through an eyepiece system, the defect of the virtual image mode finder is practically obviated, and thus a finder with a good view of a field frame can be obtained.
Today, many of lens shutter cameras having variable magnification functions employ such real image mode finders. However, if an attempt is made to attain a wide-angle finder with a variable magnification ratio in excess of 2, it will be imperative to use a three-lens unit zoom system. Such finders are available in various types. In particular, each of Japanese Patent Preliminary Publication Nos. Hei 5-34595, Hei 6-160709, and Hei 6-214159 discloses a finder in which an objective system is constructed with the three-lens unit zoom system composed of lens units of negative, positive, and positive powers.
The finder disclosed in Hei 5-34595 has a half angle of view of incidence of at least 30.degree. at the wide-angle position and a variable magnification ratio as large as about 2.5, which come under the classes of a wide angle of view and a high variable magnification ratio, respectively. The objective system of this finder particularly includes a second lens unit of a positive meniscus lens with a convex surface directed toward the object side and a third lens unit of a biconvex lens. With such a configuration, when the magnification of the finder is changed, ranging from the wide-angle position to the telephoto position, the amount of movement of the second lens unit increases in the vicinity of the wide-angle position. For this reason, a restriction on a driving mechanism for moving the lens is widened, and it becomes difficult that the magnification is changed in association with a photographic lens. Moreover, the finder has the drawback that its pupil diameter is as small as 4 mm, thus making it difficult to look through the finder.
The finder disclosed in Hei 6-160709 is designed to simplify a zoom mechanism in such a way that only the second lens unit of the objective system is moved. However, its variable magnification ratio is less than 2, and hence it cannot be positively said that this finder is satisfactory for practical use.
The finder set forth in Hei 6-214159 is such that its variable magnification ratio is more than 2.5, but the half angle of view of incidence is as small as nearly 25.degree. at the wide-angle position. Although this publication also discloses a finder with a half angle of view of incidence of more than 30.degree. at the wide-angle position, the variable magnification ratio of this finder is below 2, which is unsatisfactory for practical use.

Real image mode variable magnification finder


A laser device for an exposure apparatus may include: a MOPA-type or MOPO-type laser device including a seed laser and at least one gas discharge-pumped amplifier stage that receives output light from the seed laser as an input, amplifies the light, and outputs the amplified light; and at least one of a laser gas control device that at least changes the total pressure of a laser gas in said amplifier stage in accordance with requested energy and a laser power source control device that at least changes pump intensity of discharge electrodes in said amplifier stage in accordance with said requested energy, in a case where the energy of laser output light from said laser device is to be changed discontinuously in response to a request from an exposure apparatus.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to laser devices for exposure apparatuses.
2. Related Art
There exists a MOPA-type or MOPO-type laser device for an exposure apparatus which includes a seed laser and at least one gas discharge-pumped amplifier stage that receives light outputted from the seed laser as its input, amplifies the light, and outputs the amplified light.


Systems and methods for charging multiple rechargeable energy storage systems (“RESSs”) included in one or more vehicles using a single charging system are presented. In some embodiments, a method for charging one or more RESSs may include receiving an indication that one or more charging ports of a plurality of charging ports included in a charging system have RESSs coupled thereto. Based on the indication, a charging map may be generated. One or more charging parameters may be determined based on the generated charging map. Based on the charging parameters, a switching mechanism included in the charging system may be selectively actuated to provide electrical power from a charging power source to charging ports coupled to RESSs.

Passenger vehicles often include electric batteries for operating features of a vehicle's electrical and drivetrain systems. For example, vehicles commonly include a 12V lead-acid automotive battery configured to supply electric energy to vehicle starter systems (e.g., a starter motor), lighting systems, and/or ignition systems. In electric, fuel cell ("FC"), and/or hybrid vehicles, a high voltage ("HV") battery system (e.g., a 360V HV battery system) may be used to power electric drivetrain components of the vehicle (e.g., electric drive motors and the like). For example, an HV rechargeable energy storage system ("RESS") included in a vehicle may be used to power electric drivetrain components of the vehicle.
A RESS included in a vehicle may be recharged by electrically coupling the RESS to a charging port associated with a charging system configured to provide electric energy to the RESS. In conventional charging systems, a single vehicle may be coupled to the charging system at any given time. To charge multiple vehicles simultaneously, multiple charging systems may be needed (e.g., multiple charging transformers). For example, to charge three vehicles including RESSs simultaneously, three charging stations (e.g., three charging transformers) may be needed. The additional costs and inconveniences associated with multiple charging systems may be burdensome for a charging location that desires to have the capability of charging multiple vehicles simultaneously, thereby limiting the proliferation of such locations and adoption of vehicles including RESSs.

Systems and methods for charging multiple vehicle rechargeable energy storage systems


A spatial light modulator structure is fabricated by forming moveable reflecting elements through plasma etching of silicon in a chlorine ambient. In accordance with one particular embodiment, a mirror comprising single crystal silicon is released from the surrounding material by plasma etching in an ambient including chlorine (Cl2), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and boron trichloride (BCl3). Cl2 serves as a source of reactive chlorine etching species for the plasma. SF6 provides a source of fluorine, a reactive species enhancing the rate of etching single crystal silicon. BCl3 provides boron, which becomes incorporated on the surface of the etched single crystal silicon as a passivation layer controlling etch profile. Plasma etching of the single crystal silicon to release the mirrors takes place in the absence of oxygen, in order to avoid unwanted formation of silicon oxide residue that can adversely affect mechanical and optical properties of the resulting device.

Spatial light modulators (SLMS) have numerous applications in the areas of optical information processing, projection displays, video and graphics monitors, televisions, and electrophotographic printing. Reflective SLMs are devices that modulate incident light in a spatial pattern to reflect an image corresponding to an electrical or optical input. The incident light may be modulated in phase, intensity, polarization, or deflection direction. A reflective SLM is typically comprised of an area or two-dimensional array of addressable picture elements (pixels) capable of reflecting incident lights. Source pixel data is first processed by an associated control circuit, then loaded into the pixel array, one frame at a time.
SLM devices are typically fabricated by defining moveable reflective elements. These moveable reflective elements are typically fabricated by etching along a periphery, in order to release them from the surrounding material.
Where the moveable reflective elements are formed from single crystal silicon, a plasma etching step in an ambient including oxygen, has conventionally been employed for this mirror releasing process. Use, however, of such oxygen-containing plasmas to release the moveable reflecting elements, offers certain disadvantages. For example, etching in an oxygen ambient may create residues that can undesirably affect the mechanical and optical properties of the resulting device. In addition, etching in an oxygen plasma may undesirably result in physical damage to the thin mirror structures due to plasma charging.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved methods of fabricating SLM devices.

Semiconductor etching process to release single crystal silicon mirrors


The present invention provides a backlight module, which includes a backplane, a backlight source arranged inside the backplane, a light guide plate arranged inside the backplane, an optic film assembly arranged on the light guide plate, and a split mold frame arranged inside the backplane. The split mold frame includes a plurality of spaced corner pieces respectively set on the optic film assembly. The corner pieces have a support surface that is distant from the optic film assembly for supporting thereon a liquid crystal display panel. The backlight module of the present invention uses an upper surface of a split mold frame to serve as a support surface for a liquid crystal display panel thereby enlarging the supporting area for the liquid crystal display pane, improving supporting stability and also effectively preventing the occurrence of light leakage, ensuring luminance of the backlight module, and enhancing optic grade.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of liquid crystal displaying, and in particular to a backlight module.
2. The Related Arts
Liquid crystal display (LCD) has a variety of advantages, such as thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and is thus widely used. Most of the LCDs that are currently available in the market are backlighting LCDs, which comprise a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight module. The working principle of the liquid crystal display panel is that liquid crystal molecules are interposed between two parallel glass substrates and a plurality of vertical and horizontal fine electrical wires is arranged between the two glass substrates, whereby the liquid crystal molecules are controlled to change direction by application of electricity in order to refract light emitting from the backlight module for generating images. Since the liquid crystal display panel itself does not emit light, light must be provided by the backlight module in order to normally display images. Thus, the backlight module is one of the key components of an LCD. The backlight module can be classified as two types, namely side-edge backlight module and direct backlight module, according to the position where light gets incident. The direct backlight module arranges a light source, such as a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) or a light-emitting diode (LED) at the back side of the liquid crystal display panel to form a planar light source that directly provides lighting to the liquid crystal display panel. The side-edge backlight module arranges a backlight source of LED light bar at an edge of a back panel to be located rearward of one side of the liquid crystal display panel. The LED light bar emits light that enters a light guide plate through a light incident face of the light guide plate and is projected out through a light exit face after being reflected and diffused to further transmit through an optic film assembly to form a planar light source for the liquid crystal display panel.
To support the liquid crystal display panel and to block light leakage, conventional backlight modules are provided with a mold frame. Some conventional designs of mold frame provide a split frame (as shown in FIG. 1). The split mold frame comprises a plurality of corner pieces 200 that is arranged in a spaced form and is mounted to a side plate 102 of a backplane 100. The corner pieces 200 have a cross-section of a lying T-shape. The split mold frame (such as four-corner mold frame) is generally not of sufficient support to a glass substrate due to excessive spacing between the corner pieces 200, whereby the whole glass is not supported in a uniform manner. This leads to local excessiveness of stress, causing a significant influence on the quality of the entire liquid crystal module. Further, the excessive spacing between the corner pieces may also lead to sever leakage of light, which affects the optic grade of the backlight module.

SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A basic circuit (10) includes an oscillator (11) whose frequency can be set via a frequency-determining component (15). At outputs (A1-A5), the basic circuit (10) cyclically generates pulses by which consumers (L1-L5) are driven. A switch (18) is connected in parallel to the frequency-determining component (15), said switch being controlled by the outputs (A1-A5) and changing the oscillator frequency during an output pulse. Thus, the output pulses change the oscillator frequency and thus their own pulse duration themselves.

The invention relates to a circuitry for cyclically driving several loads, comprising a basic circuit including an oscillator and successively generating pulses at several outputs, the oscillator comprising a frequency-determining component.
Circuits by which loads in the form of LEDs are cyclically driven are known. Such circuits are used in displays or ornaments, for example. The LEDs are driven by a basic circuit which, for example, is configured as an integrated circuit. The basic circuit comprises several outputs to which different LEDs are connected. In operation, the basic circuit cyclically generates pulses at the outputs so that the LEDs connected to different outputs light up. The repetition rate at which the LEDs are activated depends on the value of a frequency-determining component which is externally connected to the integrated circuit. Usually, this component is a resistor. If the resistance value is high, the repetition rate is low; and if the resistance value is low, the repetition rate of the pulses is high. With this kind of drive, all LEDs are driven by pulses of the same duration. When the LEDs have different colors, this results in different luminosities because the effectiveness of, e.g., a blue LED is lower than that of a red LED. Therefore, the blue LEDs glow less intensely than the red LEDs.

Circuit for cyclically driving several loads

Electronic Art Gallery Elektronische Werbemittel GmbH


There is provided, inter alia, a method for the prophylaxis of productive malaria infection in travelers to endemic regions comprising the administration of suitable amounts of a formulation comprising a Plasmodium antigen or an immunogenic fragment or derivative thereof and an adjuvant, comprising a lipid A derivative and a saponin in a liposome formulation.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel use of a malaria antigen to immunise against malaria infection and disease. The invention relates in particular to the use of sporozoite antigens, in particular circumsporozoite (CS) protein or immunogenic fragments or derivatives thereof, combined with suitable adjuvants, to immunise malaria naïve individuals expecting to travel to endemic regions against malaria infection.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Malaria is one of the world's major health problems. During the 20th century, economic and social development, together with anti-malarial campaigns, have resulted in the eradication of malaria from large areas of the world, reducing the affected area of the earth's land surface from 50% to 27%. Nonetheless, given expected population growth it is projected that by 2010 half of the world's population, nearly 3.5 billion people, will be living in areas where malaria is transmitted (Hay, 2004). Current estimates suggest that there are well in excess of 1 million deaths due to malaria every year, and the economic costs for Africa alone are staggering (Bremen, 2004).
These figures highlight the global malaria crisis and the challenges it poses to the international health community. The reasons for this crisis are multiple and range from the emergence of widespread resistance to available, affordable and previously highly effective drugs, to the breakdown and inadequacy of health systems and the lack of resources. Unless ways are found to control this disease, global efforts to improve health and child survival, reduce poverty, increase security and strengthen the most vulnerable societies will fail.
Malaria also poses risks to those traveling to or working in endemic regions who normally live in malaria free countries. The risks may be greater to this traveler population because they do not have any background immunity to malaria from natural exposure. Another aspect of the risk incurred by a traveler to a malaria endemic region is that the disease is often mis-diagnosed in its early stages due to the flu-like symptoms. When the severity increases and malaria is finally diagnosed, it can be too late. Within a few days of the increased symptoms, death can result, for example, from cerebral malaria, or sometimes organ (e.g. liver or kidney) failure.
One of the most acute forms of the disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum which is responsible for most of the mortality attributable to malaria. Another form of the disease is caused by Plasmodium vivax. P. vivax is the most widespread of all malarias. In addition to being present in tropical and sub-tropical regions, the ability of the parasite to complete its mosquito cycle at temperatures as low as 15 degrees Celsius, has allowed it to spread in temperate climates. However due to the fact that P. vivax infection is rarely fatal, the efforts to control P. vivax malaria (through vaccine development) are lagging behind those for P. falciparum.
An observation made 30 years ago provides strong support for the belief that an effective malaria vaccine will eventually be developed. Mice and humans can be protected against malaria by immunisation with live, radiation-attenuated malaria sporozoites. The persistence of intra-hepatic stage in vivo is required to produce and maintain protective immunity, but the underlying mechanisms have not yet been completely defined. Antibodies, CD8 and CD4 T-cells (Hoffman, 1996) have been implicated as critical effector immune mediators.
The life cycle of Plasmodium sp (eg, P. falciparum or P. vivax) is complex, requiring two hosts, man and mosquito for completion. The infection of man is initiated by the inoculation of sporozoites in the saliva of an infected mosquito. The sporozoites migrate to the liver and there infect hepatocytes (liver stage) where they differentiate, via the exoerythrocytic intracellular stage, into the merozoite stage which infects red blood cells (RBC) to initiate cyclical replication in the asexual blood stage. The cycle is completed by the differentiation of a number of merozoites in the RBC into sexual stage gametocytes which are ingested by the mosquito, where they develop through a series of stages in the midgut to produce sporozoites which migrate to the salivary gland.
The sporozoite stage of Plasmodium sp (eg, P. falciparum or P. vivax) has been identified as one potential target of a malaria vaccine. The major surface protein of the sporozoite is known as circumsporozoite protein (CS protein). This protein has been cloned, expressed and sequenced for a variety of strains, for example for P. falciparum the NF54 strain, clone 3D7 (Caspers, 1989). The protein from strain 3D7 is characterised by having a central immunodominant repeat region comprising a tetrapeptide Asn-Ala-Asn-Pro (SEQ ID NO:1) repeated 40 times but interspersed with four minor repeats of the tetrapeptide Asn-Val-Asp-Pro (SEQ ID NO:2). In other strains the number of major and minor repeats varies as well as their relative position. This central portion is flanked by an N and C terminal portion composed of non-repetitive amino acid sequences designated as the repeatless portion of the CS protein.
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals' RTS,S malaria vaccine based on CS protein has been under development since 1987 and is currently the most advanced malaria vaccine candidate being studied (Ballou, 2004). This vaccine specifically targets the pre-erythrocytic stage of P. falciparum.
RTS,S/AS02A (RTS,S plus adjuvant AS02A which contains immunostimulants QS21, 3D-MPL and an oil in water emulsion) was used in consecutive Phase I studies undertaken in The Gambia involving adults (Doherty, 1999), children aged 6-11 and 1-5 years (Bojang, 2005), which confirmed that the vaccine was safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic. Subsequently a paediatric vaccine dose was selected and studied in a Phase I study involving Mozambican children aged 1-4 years where it was found to be safe, well tolerated and immunogenic (Macete).
The RTS,S/AS02A vaccine has also shown evidence of efficacy in clinical trials in the USA and in the field in West Africa. RTS,S/AS02A induces significant IgG antibody responses to P. falciparum circumsporozoite protein and substantial T-cell immunity (Lalvani, 1999; Sun, 2003). Efficacy against P. falciparum experimental challenge in malaria-naïve volunteers in the USA has been estimated to be about 30-50% on average (Stoute, 1997; Stoute 1998; Kester, 2001). The first of these studies (Stoute, 1997) was 86% effective in a small scale trial in which 6 out of 7 individuals immunized with RTS,S/AS02A were protected. Furthermore, a field study of semi-immune adults in The Gambia (preceeded by a safety study in Gambian adults (Doherty, 1999)) showed an overall efficacy of 34% over a period of one transmission season of 15 weeks, with 71% efficacy in the first nine weeks of follow-up and 0% efficacy thereafter (Bojang, 2001). These studies (Stoute, 1997; Stoute, 1998; Bojang, 2001; Kester, 2001) show efficacy against infection.
Results were recently reported from a trial using RTS,S/AS02A in young African children. It was discovered that the CS protein based RTS,S vaccine can confer not only protection against infection under natural exposure but also protection against a wide spectrum of clinical illness caused by P. falciparum. Children who received the RTS,S vaccine experienced fewer serious adverse events, hospitalisations, and severe complications from malaria, including death, than did those in the control group (Alonso, 2004).
Furthermore, the RTS,S vaccine efficacy against both new infections or clinical episodes appears either not to wane or to do so slowly. At the end of the 6 months follow up in the trial, the vaccine remained efficacious as there was a significant difference in the prevalence of infection. This is in contrast with previous trials in malaria naïve volunteers or Gambian adults which suggested that vaccine efficacy with RTS,S was short lived (Stoute, 1998; Bojang, 2001). Furthermore, after an additional follow-up period of 12 months, it was observed that the efficacy of the vaccine against an episode of clinical malaria did not significantly wane (Alonso, 2005).
Although the vaccine formulation described above shows clinical efficacy, additional improvements are still needed in order to increase both the number of individuals protected as well as the persistence of protection. New adjuvant formulations such as a formulation which contains QS21 and 3D-MPL in a liposome containing formulation (referred to herein as adjuvant B) have demonstrated a higher potency to boost T-cell immune response in various pre-clinical and clinical investigations.
In particular, what is needed for a vaccine for people who do not come from a malaria endemic region but are traveling for a limited period of time to regions where malaria is endemic, is better protection against infection. Clinical manifestation of malaria can only occur if there is a productive infection of the liver leading to the formation of merozoites and their release from the hepatic stage. These merezoites can then infect RBC and initiate the pathogenic blood stage of the parasite resulting in symptomatic clinical malaria. If there is no productive infection following exposure (i.e. no infection of the liver and/or no release of liver merozoites), then this is known as sterile immunity. A vaccine that would significantly reduce the risk of a productive liver infection, as defined above, following mosquito bites would be highly desirable for a traveler population that does not have pre-existing immunity, because by preventing the productive hepatic infection the vaccine would prevent any subsequent clinical manifestation. This can be contrasted with the aim of vaccine development targeting children or people in endemic regions, where the major aim would be to decrease the severity of disease and/or to decrease the number of episodes of disease, but not necessarily to prevent them completely. In theory, it would not be possible to indefinitely maintain sterile protection in people in endemic regions, and therefore they need to build up their own immunity by exposure to malaria infection. Furthermore, it may not be advisable to confer sterile protection on people living in endemic regions for an extended yet limited period of time.
We describe herein a challenge clinical trial consisting of a head to head comparison of RTS,S/AS02A versus RTS,S with a different adjuvant (adjuvant B) which contains QS21 and 3D-MPL in a formulation with cholesterol-containing liposomes, in a malaria naïve population (see Examples). Both T- and B-cell mediated immunity were investigated.
The results show that in a malaria naïve adult population the RTS,S antigen in combination with adjuvant B is greater than 50% more effective at protecting against productive hepatic infection following malaria challenge than RTS,S/AS02A. Thus, the RTS,S antigen in combination with adjuvant B is more effective in terms of the sterile protection which is required for malaria naïve individuals traveling to regions where malaria is endemic. This increased efficacy conferred by adjuvant B is associated with an increased antigen specific immune response (antibodies and CD4-Th1 T-cells).


Head support devices including two side supports with a central support suspended therebetween. In some embodiments, the central support may be configured to hold and provide support to a user's chin. A connector such as a strap may be configured to connect the side supports to one another, with the connector configured to wrap around the rear of a user's head or neck.

Travel pillows are used by airplane travelers and others in order to provide support for a user's neck and head. While conventional prior art travel pillows provide support for a user's head, they often do not provide support for a user's head in a forward-leaning position, and often look unsightly. Further, certain prior art devices that do provide head support in a forward-leaning position are often not well-ventilated around a user's neck, such as that described and shown in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2013/0232693 to Myers. Additionally, conventional prior art travel pillows and the like can be bulky and unwieldy when not in use around a user's neck.

Head support device with central and side supports


A method for manufacturing thin film transistor array substrate is disclosed. The method includes sequentially depositing a semiconductor layer and an ohmic contact layer on the base substrate formed with a gate insulator and patterning the semiconductor layer and the ohmic contact layer, wherein the material of the semiconductor layer is zinc oxide, and the material of the ohmic contact layer is GaxZn1-xO, where 0<x≦1.

Thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs) have characteristics of small volume, low power consumption and non-radiation, thus become the dominant products in the flat display market. The product performance, yield and price of TFT-LCD products are determined by the array substrate and the manufacturing process thereof. Therefore, researches in the filed have been focused on how to further improve the performance of liquid crystal display.

Method for manufacturing a TFT array substrate comprising a zinc oxide semiconductor layer and an ohmic contact layer


An electrohydraulic fluid system monitors the fluid line 1, reservoir 2, motor pumps 4 and 6, accumulators 10 and drain line 13 in an electrohydraulic fluid system. The electrohydraulic fluid monitor system includes sensors 14-40 to detect temperature, pressure, fluid level and motor pump current in the electrohydraulic fluid system. Signals from these sensors are converted 54 by an analog to digital converter into digital signals read by a processor unit 58 and stored by the processor unit as data for diagnostic analysis. In one embodiment of the present invention, the processor unit 58 stores the information and compares the information to predetermined threshold amounts or to previous values and outputs a malfunction indication to a status display, responsive to results of these comparisons, which indicates the presence or nonpresence of a malfunction in the electrohydraulic fluid system. In another embodiment of the present invention, the microprocessor outputs the information to an artificial intelligence system 94. The artificial intelligence system 94 applies a set of diagnostic rules from a rule storage 96 to obtain a malfunction diagnosis or hypothesis that indicates other rules to be applied to diagnose the malfunction. As a result, the present invention rapidly detects or diagnoses malfunctions in the electrohydraulic fluid system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an electrohydraulic fluid monitor system for detecting malfunctions in an electrohydraulic fluid system and, more particularly, an apparatus and method for monitoring the electrohydraulic fluid, reservoir, motor pump, accumulators and drain line in an electrohydraulic fluid system to detect malfunctions therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrohydraulic fluid system can be used, for example, to operate steam valves in a steam turbine. An example of such an electrohydraulic fluid system is manufactured by Westinghouse and described in IL 1250-3713(1/69) and IL 1250-3713A (7/88) published by Westinghouse. The electrohydraulic fluid system controls the steam valves using high pressure electrohydraulic fluid. FIG. 1 illustrates such an electrohydraulic fluid system, further provided with sensors which will be described, presently. In FIG. 1, electrohydraulic fluid is supplied along electrohydraulic fluid line 1. The electrohydraulic fluid is pumped from the reservoir 2 to steam valves by one of the motor pumps 4 and 6 along the electrohydraulic fluid line 1. One of the motor pumps 4 or 6 operates at a time, while the other is provided as a standby. Each of the motor pumps 4 and 6 have a conventional motor, one of which operates continuously, either driving a conventional pump to pump up pressure in the system (loading) or idling (unloading), during which time the pressure drops. An electrohydraulic control unit 8 is positioned along the electrohydraulic fluid line 1 to control the pressure therein. The control block includes unloader valves, which are conventional pressure valves which open and close to maintain the pressure at a specified range. The unloader valves either divert oil to charge the system or divert it back to the reservoir. Accumulators 10 maintain the pressure in the electrohydraulic fluid line 1. The electrohydraulic fluid is supplied to steam valve hydraulic actuators to actuate steam valves 12 which control steam flow to a steam turbine (not pictured). The electrohydraulic fluid is returned to the reservoir 2 along drain line 13.
An electrohydraulic fluid system such as the one discussed above may serve a very important function, such as in the operation of the steam valves in a steam turbine, as described. For this reason, it is essential that malfunctions in the electrohydraulic system can be detected or diagnosed as quickly as possible.


A method of determining symmetry in an image, a method of determining a symmetry plane line segment of a 3D image, a method of determining a symmetry line of a 2D image, and a computer program product. The method includes a) determining at least one searching line segment within a predefined search area of an image portion, the at least one searching line segment including a reference point (x, y) at its center and an angle θ with respect to a predetermined axis of the image portion; b) for each searching line segment, determining a first local characteristic in accordance with a measurement at points adjacent the searching line segment; c) determining the symmetry in the image in accordance with a calculation based on the first local characteristic.

Human brains exhibit an approximate bilateral symmetry with respect to the inter-hemispheric (longitudinal) fissure bisecting the brain, known as the MSP. However, human brains are almost never perfectly symmetric (R. J. Davidson, K. Hugdahl, Eds., Brain Asymmetry. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press/Bradford Books, 1996). A characteristic of the longitudinal fissure is that it is filled with cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF), which is quite dark in T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images and quite bright in T2-weighted MR images.
MSP detection is often the first step in spatial normalization or anatomical standardization of brain images (J. L. Lancaster, T. G. Glass, B. R. Lankipalli, H. Downs, H. Mayberg, P. T. Fox, 'A modality-independent approach to spatial normalization of tomographic images of the human brain,' Human Brain Mapping (1995), 3: 209-223). It is also a useful first step in intrasubject inter/intramodality image registration (I. Kapouleas, A. Alavi, W. M. Alves, R. E. Gur, 'Registration of three-dimensional MR and PET images of the human brain without markers,' Radiology (1991), 181:731-739). Determination or extraction of the MSP could provide a powerful tool to detect brain asymmetry due to tumors as well as any mass effects for diagnosis. In addition, extraction of the MSP is a prerequisite for automatically determining the anterior and posterior commissures needed by the Talairach framework. The Talairach framework is a particular methodology that would be recognized by the person skilled in the art.
Due to the great importance of the MSP, its determination and extraction has attracted quite a lot of research work. One paper entitled 'Robust midsagittal plane extraction from normal and pathological 3D neuroradiology images' IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (2001), 20(3): 175˜192, by Y. Liu, R. T. Collins, W. E. Rothfus presented a cross-correlation algorithm to locate the plane that maximised bilateral symmetry. The algorithm first pre-processed the original 3D images to get edge maps. Then it calculated cross-correlation between axial slices and their reflection around an axis in the edge map to estimate the orientation that maximised the symmetry. From the estimated orientations of all the axial slices the orientation of the MSP was approximated. One of the limitations of the algorithm is its dependence on the edge map, which is quite prone to noise and skull appearances. Furthermore, the algorithm is hardly applicable to clinical environments since it is too time consuming (as long as 7 minutes for a typical volume). The two papers by the same authors entitled 'Evaluation of a robust midsagittal plane extraction algorithm for coarse, pathology 3D images' Proceedings of Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2000): 81-94, and 'Automatic bilateral symmetry (midsagittal) plane extraction from pathology 3D neuroradiological images' Proceeding of SPIE International Symposium on Medical Imaging (1998), vol. 3338: 1529-1539, respectively, have similar drawbacks.
The paper entitled 'Automatic detection of mid-sagittal plane in 3D brain images' IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (1997), 16(6): 947˜952 by B. A. Ardekani, J. Kershaw, M. Braun, I. Kanno presented a method purely based on symmetry assumption via calculation of cross correlation of grey level distribution around a plane, and took the plane with maximum cross-correlation as the approximated MSP. The algorithm was very sensitive to asymmetry in the 3D images, and could not deal with pathological images. The paper entitled 'Fully automatic identification of AC and PC landmarks on brain MRI using scene analysis' IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (1997), 16(5): 610˜616 by L. Verard, P. Allain, J. M. Travere, J. C. Baron, D. Bloyet presented a method to extract the MSP via detecting fissure lines in each axial slice. The algorithm failed in those axial slices where the lateral ventricle was present. The algorithm also failed if any of the fissure lines were not straight or too broad, as in the case of excessive CSF.
The paper entitled 'Hough transform detection of the longitudinal fissure in tomographic head images' IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (1991), 10(1):74˜81 by M. E. Brummer presented a method to extract the MSP via Hough transform (HT) for plane detection. The algorithm needed pre-processing to get appropriate gradient modulus that should be fissure line dominant, which was difficult if not impossible due to noise, skull and skin appearances. The calculation was intensive for HT transformation in all slices. In addition, an incorrect detection of a fissure line in one slice would contribute to the final extraction, because there was no way to correct automatically. If the subjects being imaged were pathological such as containing excessive amount of CSF or having tumors, the algorithm also failed.
Whilst the first method noted above by Liu et. al may deal with both normal and pathological images, none of the suggested algorithms are suitable for clinical application either due to excessively time intensive computing or due to an inability to process the real clinical data with pathology or ubiquitous asymmetry presented in axial slices.
Essentially existing methods either try to extract the MSP via strict symmetry assumption without considering the grey level features of the fissure, or try to extract the MSP via fissure line detection based on low-level image processing techniques without considering the gross symmetry property of the fissure. None of the existing methods meet the current clinical requirements in terms of speed, accuracy, and robustness to clinical data. There is also a need to meet real time requirements for image processing in so far as determining the symmetry in an image.

Method and apparatus for determining symmetry in 2d and 3d images


Described is an image processing system which is operative to automatically determine a quadrilateral object such as a character frame, page mark, or position correction mark only with a mouse click. A field is automatically specified by displaying a scanned image of a form including a black frame on a display, clicking within a character frame at the left end for each recognition field, and clicking within a character frame at the right end of the same field. In this case, a field position/size determination program scans the image in the vertical and horizontal directions from the two clicked points to detect the inner wall of the black frame, and produces a histogram by establishing rectangles between two character frames to automatically detect the number of character frames in the field and the thickness of the black line between the character frames. In addition, for a form with a page mark or position correction mark, what is the mark can be automatically detected from the surrounding is black, and the height of the mark only by clicking the inside of the mark with a mouse.

In defining an OCR form for having a character recognition program recognize a new formatted OCR form, it should be conventionally required to measure the size of the form, the relative positions and sizes of page marks, position correction marks (also called a timing or reference mark), character fields, characters with a scale and to input their values. However, the definition of OCR forms is troublesome for programmers. For example, it takes an enormous amount of time to design new dropout OCR forms (a form specially prepared for OCR, and printed with characters and character frames in colors that are not sensed by scanners).
To solve such problems, several conventional techniques have been proposed. As an example, "WinReader Hand, v. 1.5, Users' Manual, Setting of Fields," pp. 19 and 20, Media Drive Co. ("WinReader Hand" is a trademark of Media Drive Co.) describes an approach in which the image of an unfilled form with black frames is captured by a scanner and displayed on a display. All black vertical and horizontal lines are automatically detected and character recognition fields are set after the operator confirms that all rectilinear lines are properly detected.
The above approach requires less tasks by the programmer than the approach using a scale and has much simpler field definitions. The conventional character recognition program described above detects all rectilinear lines to specify fields to which attributes are set and then defines the position and size of the fields to be set with the attributes by using one of the following approaches:
1. Click inside of a ladder frame subject to setting (inside of any one of a plurality of character frames). In this case, all continuing character frames are defined and a part of the ladder frame cannot be defined as a field. PA1 2. Click the upper left corner of the ladder frame subject to setting (a ladder like object consisting of a plurality of continuing character frames) with a mouse, drag it to the lower right corner and release the mouse button. In this case also, all continuing character frames are defined as a field and a part of the ladder frame cannot be defined. PA1 3. Click inside any one character frame contained in a ladder frame subject to setting with the mouse, drag it to the inside of another character frame contained in the ladder frame and release the mouse button. This operation can define a part of the ladder frame as a field.
Even in this rectilinear line detection itself, if the scanned form is inclined (skewed), the black frame line is thin or the frame line becomes blurred due to the sensitivity of scanners or noise. As a result, all black rectilinear lines may not be properly detected. In such a case, there is a disadvantage that scanning must be performed again by carefully overwriting the lines with thin printing with a pencil or pen which can be sensed by the scanner, adjusting sensitivity of the scanners, or carefully setting the form so that no skew occurs. In addition, since the detection of black rectilinear lines is a prerequisite, when it is intended to apply this program to the frame of a dropout form printed in color which is not sensed by the OCR scanner, there also arises a disadvantage in that all frames to be detected must be overwritten with a pen or pencil to be captured by the scanner.
The field definition method in the conventional character recognition program separately performs the field definitions and the detection of rectilinear lines. Since all black vertical and horizontal lines presented in the form image captured by the scanner are automatically detected whether or not each graphic (object) is required to be detected, unnecessary graphics detection processing is performed which decreases processing speed. In addition, in the automatic detection, it is impossible to distinguish objects other than the character frames such as page marks and position correction marks from the character frames.
In addition, in the above-mentioned second method, when a small display is used or when setting is performed for a small character frame, since dragging is not an easy operation for everyone, there is a possibility that an entire character frame intended to be set cannot be included in a rectangle formed by point-and-drag by the operator, or that another character frame will be included. Thus, some skill may be necessary for the operation of the pointer. Therefore, an approach is needed in which the operator can more easily specify fields and perform the operation more quickly.
On the other hand, the conventional character recognition programs use information of attributes of character fields for recognition accuracy up and some other objects. The information on the field attributes include information in determining whether an image-cut only is acquired or recognition is executed, or those on character type. Here, "an image-cut only" means a field only for acquiring an image without character recognition. On the other hand, "execution of recognition" means a field to which character recognition is actually applied. In addition, the "character type" includes information on selection of "hand writing" or "print," on selection of "upper case" or "lower case," or setting of a "symbol," "numeral," "katakana," "hiragana," "alphabet," or "kanji."
Since setting of the field attributes prevents "0" in a numeric entry from being erroneously recognized as "O" of an alphabetic entry, and the number of sets to be compared is reduced, there is an advantage that recognition can be attained at a high speed. Since there are characters which are difficult to distinguish such as the numeral "0" and the letter "O" particularly in the recognition of hand written characters, this information is essential and it is necessary to perform the above definition for each type of form. If a definition of such attributes and detection of rectilinear lines can be attained in a series of operations, the operator can smoothly and quickly define the form.
Other techniques relating to the present invention include Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application (PUPA) Nos. 7-160811, 7-225809, and 7-57049. However, PUPA No. 7-160811 relates to a technique in which modification is performed by selecting a region of displayed binary image information with a pointing device and expanding or reducing the region. PUPA No. 7-225809 relates to a technique in which a frame to be read is generated by indicating one point at the upper left corner with indicating means. PUPA No. 7-57049 relates to a technique in which the order for reading regions such as character, table and photo regions is changed by using a mouse or the like. Therefore, they cannot recognize position information of parts of quadrilateral frames contained in an input bitmap image quickly and in a high speed.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system with a simple user interface and capable of operating at a high speed. In addition, according to one aspect of the present invention, it is intended to provide a character recognition processing system which can accommodate slight skew, improper setting of density (sensitivity) of a scanner, or blur of lines forming the frame due to noise in defining a form for OCR. Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, it is intended to provide a character recognition processing system which can easily and semi-automatically define a page mark or a position correction mark and can easily define a dropout form.

Method and apparatus for recognizing a quadrilateral object contained in an input bitmap image

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides a composition of matter for introducing an exogenous nucleic acid molecule into a target cell, comprising a liposome, a ligand polymeric scaffold, wherein the ligand can bind to a cell surface receptor or molecule. The invention also provides methods for introducing an exogenous nucleic acid molecule into a target cell using the composition of matter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the delivery of nucleic acid molecules into cells and, more specifically, to compositions and methods for the high efficiency delivery of nucleic acid molecules into cells.
2. Background Information
Methods that allow the introduction and expression of foreign or exogenous nucleic acid molecules into cells in culture are useful for manipulating the function and expression of various genes, as well as for efficiently expressing a desired protein. In addition, the ability to transfer genes to human cells provides the means to treat a wide range of genetic and acquired diseases, including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, and AIDS. Unfortunately, methods for introducing a gene of interest into a cell have provided relatively low transfection efficiencies or have been successful only in cultured cell lines.
Transfection methods can be used to replace a defective gene or to correct an error in an existing one. Replacement therapy entails inserting a gene into a cell in order to synthesize a gene product that is not being produced or is being synthesized in inadequate amounts. Corrective therapy, on the other hand, attempts to correct an error in a gene by providing conditions for a recombinational event that replaces all or part of the defective gene with the correct DNA sequence.
Various transfection methods have been developed for eukaryotic cells, particularly mammalian cells. Some transfection methods use calcium phosphate or DEAE-dextran,-as a carrier to promote the uptake of an exogenous nucleic acid molecule. Other methods use "lipofection" techniques, which incorporate the use of synthetic anionic or cationic lipids to effect the transfection. Osmotic shock, treatment of the cells with liposomal inhibitors, and high voltage electric pulses, which create pores in cell membranes, also have been used in attempts to enhance transfection efficiencies. However, the efficiencies obtained by these methods are relatively low, ranging from 0.001% to 1%, depending on the recipient cell line.
In further efforts to increase the efficiency of introducing nucleic acid molecules into cells, viral vectors have been used. For example, when retroviral vectors are used, the introduced DNA replaces some of the retroviral genes required for the production of viral structural proteins while the viral sequences directing integration into the cellular DNA remain intact. However, the use of retroviral vectors is limited to dividing cells. Adenovirus vectors also have been used with fairly high efficiency, but they only infect specific cell types. In addition, the use of viral vectors is limited by the induction of an immune response against the viral components of the vectors.
Other methods of introducing a nucleic acid molecule into a cell include complexing the nucleic acid molecule with proteins that bind to specific receptors expressed by the target cells, or by incorporating the nucleic acid molecule into liposomes, which fuse with the target cell membrane. Gene transfection of mammalian cells using cationic liposomes, for example, has achieved an efficiency of up to 15% and transferrin-poly-L-lysine mediated transfection has yielded 7% to 8% transfection efficiency. A transfection efficiency of about 90% has been achieved in a cultured cell line using a combination of transferrin and cationic liposomes.
While these approaches represent an improvement over prior techniques, a need exists for compositions and methods for introducing a nucleic acid molecule into any target cell, particularly primary mammalian cells, with efficiencies of about 50% or greater. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions for receptor/liposome mediated transfection and methods of using same


To realize transmission performances equivalent to those of an MU-MIMO BLAST ZF-THP system without increasing a signal processing amount in a base station apparatus in a downlink MU-MIMO transmission system. A transmission apparatus is provided with a plurality of transmission antennas, generates a transmission signal addressed to each reception apparatus based on information indicating spatial correlation of channels to and from a plurality of reception apparatuses, space-multiplexes the generated each transmission signal in the same wireless resource, and transmits it to each reception apparatus. The transmission apparatus includes: an ordering determination part 601 which determines an order in which a transmission signal addressed to each reception apparatus is generated based on information indicating spatial correlation of channels; a linear filter generation part 603 which generates a linear filter based on the determined order; a THP part 605 which performs a THP process by using the determined order and the linear filter; and a linear filter multiplication part 607 which multiplies an output of the THP part 605 by the linear filter.

In Long Term Evolution (LTE) of which standardization has been promoted in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a 3.9th generation wireless transmission system, for extensive improvement of spectrum efficiency from a third generation wireless transmission system, a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology in which wireless transmission is performed using a plurality of transmitting-receiving antennas has been standardized. Based on a space-multiplexing (SDM) technology which is one of the MIMO technology, enhancing in a throughput can be realized without expanding a frequency bandwidth. In addition, currently, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) has been proposed as a most-likely candidate of a 4th generation wireless transmission system, and standardization activities thereof have been performed actively. In order to achieve a peak throughput of 1 Gbps in a downlink transmission (base station apparatus to mobile station apparatus) in LTE-A, Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) in which space-multiplexing up to 8 streams is possible has been investigated. SU-MIMO is a MIMO transmission between a base station apparatus having a plurality of transmission antennas and a single mobile station apparatus having a plurality of reception antennas.
However, there is a limit to the number of reception antennas which can be arranged in a mobile station apparatus. Then, it is considered that adopting Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) in which a plurality of mobile station apparatuses carrying out concurrent access forms a virtual large-scale antenna array and in which transmission signals from a base station apparatus to each of the mobile station apparatuses is made to be space-multiplexed is indispensable to improvement of spectrum efficiency. Although MU-MIMO has already been standardized also in LTE, MU-MIMO adopted in LTE is a system referred to as a beam-forming which carries out multiplication of linear filters in a base station apparatus. In this case, since only the space-multiplexing between users such that space-multiplexed transmission signals between users are orthogonal can be performed, there is a limit to the improvement of spectrum efficiency.
Recently, an MU-MIMO technology where a nonlinear process is performed in a base station apparatus side attracts an attention, and investigation of an MU-MIMO THP technology using a nonlinear interference suppression technology which is referred to as Tomlinson Harashima Precoding (THP) such as in particular described in Non-patent Document 1 is active. MU-MIMO THP is a method where a base station apparatus carries out a modulo (Modulo) calculation and performs transmission after subtracting in advance interferences which the mobile station apparatus receives from a desired signal addressed to each of mobile station apparatuses. Performing the Modulo operation enables the signal after the interference subtraction to be prevented from diverging and an increase of a transmit power to be suppressed. The mobile station apparatus, by performing the Modulo operation again for each reception signal, can detect the desired signal with interferences removed.
MU-MIMO THP can suppress an inter-user interferences (IUI) while suppressing the divergence of the transmit power by the Modulo operation, and therefore, can realize excellent transmission performances. Meanwhile, MU-MIMO THP, by rearranging appropriately an order in which transmission signals addressed to each terminal are calculated (this is referred to as ordering), can achieve an extensive improvement of transmission performances. As an MU-MIMO THP system in which the ordering is performed, a BLAST ZF-THP system has been proposed in Non-patent Document 2.

Transmission apparatus, reception apparatus, wireless communication system, control program and integrated circuit


A process for producing a porous ceramic body comprises a) mixing a coated porogen with a silicate or a oxide ceramic precursor, wherein the porogen is decomposable to gaseous decomposition products and optionally solid products upon heating, and is coated with a coating agent; b) forming a green body from the mixture obtained in step (a); and c) firing the green body obtained in step (b) to obtain the ceramic body, whereby the porogen decomposes to form pores within the ceramic body and the coating agent is deposited at the inner surface of the pores. The porogen is coated with a coating agent which, upon firing, is deposited at the inner surface of the ceramic pores, so that porous ceramics having decreased weight and improved porosity are obtained, while maintaining at the same time good mechanical strength. A green body and a porous ceramic body obtainable with the above-mentioned process are described too.

Ceramic materials are commonly provided with a natural porosity determined by the composition and the grain structure of the raw materials, and by the driving out of the water during drying and firing. This natural porosity can be insufficient for application situations where it is important to assure a good thermal and electrical insulation, in addition to refractory properties, and where a reduced weight is required.
Various ceramic products with higher porosity levels have been developed in the art; the incorporation of pores is commonly obtained by means of so-called porogens, i.e., pore forming materials such as graphite, polymer beads or fibres, which burn, evaporate or gasify upon heating without leaving residues. Porogens are commonly premixed with the ceramic precursors and volatilize during the firing step, thus leaving pores in the ceramic body which correspond to the space originally occupied by the porogen particles.
The obtained porous ceramics, having reduced density and weight, are commonly used in a wide range of applications, such as tableware, sanitaryware, tiles, insulators, and various building and construction materials.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,721 describes porous ceramic sheets, which are obtained by mixing a ceramic powder with planar or elongate flakes, such as graphite, starch and sugar, which disappear upon application of heat to provide generally planar or elongate pores corresponding to the flakes. The sheets are used as a protective layer for electrodes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,030 discloses porous ceramic bodies characterized by a plurality of interconnected pores, obtained by mixing a powdered ceramic component, such as alumina, with pore-forming polymeric beads, such as polymethylmethacrylate beads, compressing the obtained mixture and finally heating it to vaporize the polymeric beads.
The mechanical strength of the fired ceramic is usually directly related to the ceramic's density, i.e. dense ceramics are generally stronger than porous ceramics. In fact, while the introduction of voids in the ceramic material has very positive effects on thermal and electrical insulation properties of the material and also allows a reduced weight, the presence of voids may also lead to a disadvantageous strength reduction. Dramatic reduction of modulus of rupture can be experienced when high levels of porosity are introduced in the ceramic, and in particular open porosity. Open porosity not only reduces melt strength, but also allows water and moisture to penetrate in the ceramic body, which is undesired for many traditional ceramic applications; in fact, open porosity is determined by the pores which are connected to the surface of the ceramic and linked with each other.
As known in the art, the decrease in mechanical strength may be partially avoided by controlling homogeneity of the pore distribution. US Statutory Invention Registration H48 of Apr. 1, 1986 describes a porous ceramic article obtained by using thermally degradable beads, such as polystyrene foam beads, in the presence of a binder capable of taking a set, such as an epoxy resin; after forming the desired ceramic article, heat is applied to degrade and volatilize both the beads and the binder.
US2006/0228247 describes the use of homogenizing agents, such as alcohols, isoparaffinic solvents or polyethyleneglycol, which maintain a uniform distribution of the pore-forming agents within a metal or a ceramic mass. The pore-forming agents are metal salts which are removed by water extraction after the desired article has been formed, thus avoiding high temperature vaporization or other severe measures that may alter the character of the final porous article. Nevertheless, the obtained porous ceramics are still unsatisfactory as regards mechanical strength.
Further problems associated to the use of high amounts of porogens are caused by the quick decomposition and combustion of the porogens upon heating, which may lead to cracking in a moulded body. An attempt to solve this problem is disclosed in US2005/0161849, wherein the pore-forming material is composed of inorganic particles contained in hollow organic polymer particles, such as polymer micro-balloons; the inorganic particles are transferred into the polymer particles by degassing. The presence of inorganic particles in the pore-forming material decreases the relative amount of organic material, thus avoiding the occurrence of local heat shocks during the heating step.
Therefore, there is a need for developing ceramic porous materials having decreased weight and excellent thermal and electrical insulation properties, while at the same time maintaining good mechanical strength.

Porous ceramic bodies and process for their preparation


The present invention relates to a porous media-mediated high speed filtration device for easy backwash, wherein the inflow water to be filtered is guided to an upper portion of the high speed filtration device and is filtered by downflow and porous media are backwashed for maintaining optimum filter efficiency by blocking the flow of inflow water and water to be treated after sensing the level of the inflow water or the change in the flux of the water to be treated, supplying backwash water and/or air by upflow through a backwash equipment to separate pollutants in the porous media by the collision and friction between the porous media by flowing of the porous media through the stream of the backwash water, placing the porous media in a stationary location, and discharging the pollutants through a discharge pipe of the high speed filtration device before the pollutants settle. In addition, the present invention comprises a backwash method of the high speed filtration device using porous media.

Generally, there exist various pollutants and total phosphor (T-P) in raw and sewage water, wastewater and rain water, especially which have high phosphorus loading.
For that reason, the phosphor as nutrients flowed into a water discharging area causes large amounts of algae around eutrophicated waters, having an adverse effect on the ecosystem of aquatic lives.
To remove suspended solid (hereinafter, SS) or phosphor and the like, raw water that contains pollutants and phosphor has been treated with chemicals to form floc particles to be processed by flocculation and precipitation.
For this process, large scale processing facilities such as a service water supply or a sewage disposal plant are equipped with a coagulation tank, a flocculation tank and a precipitation tank separately, which requires a large space for facilities and has great difficulties in operating and managing thereof.
Moreover, a traditional sewage water treatment device is designed to use various filtration media such as sand and the like to remove pollutants such as insoluble SS and T-P, and decrease biological oxygen demand (BOD) more effectively.
However, the amount of pollutants flowed into a sewage treatment device varies depending on the velocity of flow and the flux of sewage water, which results in ineffective filtration process. In addition, fluctuations in head loss occurred in the filtration media and in the filtration processing time requires backwashing on a regular or irregular basis, causing a difficulty in setting a backwashing cycle.
If backwashing is not performed properly in the conventional high speed filtration device, filtration efficiency is greatly reduced. Further, the conventional method of backwash is designed to supply backwash water constantly such that the water overflows the filtration device to discharge pollutants along with the backwash water requiring substantial amount of backwash water consumption. Another problem for this process is that the backwash water needs to be filtered in another sewage treatment process as well.

High speed filtration device using porous media, and backwash method thereof


Communication of a compressed message over a communication channel between message processors. The compressed message may be expressed in terms of an expressed or implicit template identification, and values of one or more parameters. Based on the template identification, the meaning of the one or more parameters may be understood, whereas the meaning of the parameter(s) may not be understood without a knowledge of the template. The template provides semantic context for the one or more parameters. The transmitting message processor may have compressed the message using the identified template. Alternatively or in addition, the receiving message processor may decompress the message using the identified template. The template itself need not be part of the compressed message as transmitted.

Our modern connected world is facilitated by message processors communicating messages back and forth. A message processor may be quite complex such as a fully capable computing system or even a collection of computing systems. On the other hand, a message processor may be quite simple, and might even be just a simple state machine (e.g., an earpiece). Message processors may also have capabilities between these two extremes. Furthermore, the capabilities of channels between message processors are just as varied. The channel may be a fiberoptic bundle, having large bandwidths on the order of many terabits (10^12 bits) of information per second, or may be much slower such as, for example, an infrared or Bluetooth connection.
In order to reduce the amount of information transmitted between message processors over a particular channel, the information is often compressed. In a typically compression technology, a dictionary of symbols is constructed, where each symbol replaces a particular sequence of bits. Huffman encoding, Arithmetic coding, and LZW coding are examples of such a dictionary-based compression technology. However, such compression technologies perform compression based on knowledge at the bit-level, and do not use semantic knowledge of the data (i.e., the meaning of the data) to perform compression.

Message encoding/decoding using templated parameters


A trimmer having first and second cutting blades. The first and second cutting blades are mounted so that first and second flat surfaces, respectively thereon, face and are substantially parallel to each other. A drive causes at least one of the first and second cutting blades to move relative to the other of the first and second cutting blades. At least one fastening assembly has first and second facing shoulders between which the first and second cutting blades reside. The at least one fastening assembly further has at least one biasing element that produces a force that biasably urges the first and second flat cutting blade surfaces towards each other.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to trimmers, such as those used to sever vegetation and, more particularly, to a trimmer having separate cutting blades with cutting edges that cooperate as relative movement between the cutting blades is effected.
2. Background Art
A well known trimmer construction consists of cooperating cutting blades that are moved, one guidingly against the other, to cause cutting edges on the cutting blades to interact to effect severance of material, such as vegetation. Myriad different designs for these trimmers are currently in existence. In one exemplary form, the separate cutting blades are elongate and have cooperating surfaces that move guidingly, one against the other, to produce a cutting action as the cutting edges thereon are caused to repetitively interact with a scissors-type action. Ideally, the cutting blade surfaces move, one against the other, without excessive binding. Exemplary mechanisms for accomplishing this, and some associated drawbacks, will now be described.
In one design, the cutting blades are operatively connected to a support bar on a frame associated with a drive mechanism, that could be an internal combustion engine, or an electrically operated motor. A number of bolts are directed through the cutting blades and are threadably connected to the support bar so that the blades become captive between the support bar and the heads of the bolts. The bolts are tightened and thereafter backed off ¼ to ½ turn to allow sufficient clearance between the blades that they can be guided, one against the other, without significant resistance.
This mechanism has an advantage that it allows the spacing between the blades to be changed after there has been wear thereon that increases the clearance to beyond what is optimal. As the clearance increases beyond a certain amount, the cutting effectiveness may diminish. The blades may at some point be prone to jamming as when material wedges between the cooperating surfaces.
The drawback with this system is that the adjustment may be made by the end user in the field. Some users may find the adjustment process difficult or confusing, whereas others may not wish to take the time necessary to adjust the bolts.
In an alternative design, a rigid spacer may be fixed between a support bar and the bottom cutting blade. A bolt is tightened until the relationship between the support bar and bottom blade is fixed. This space is not adjustable and therefor is fixed as dictated by the configuration of the spacer.
Over time, as noted above, the repetitive rubbing action of the blades, one against the other, may cause wear that increases the spacing between the cooperating cutting blade surfaces. Eventually, the clearance between the blade surfaces may be such that the blades are detrimentally movable away from each other to the point that the cutting blades will not effectively sever the material for which they are designed or become jammed by material that is being cut.
The industry continues to seek improved designs of this type of mechanism wherein the cooperating cutting blade surfaces may be consistently maintained in relationship to each other and a support bar so that optimal cutting occurs, even after there has been normal anticipated wear of the cutting blades after extended use.


An electronic test system load board electromagnetic shield is presented. The load board electromagnetic shield may have a DUT docking plate having a periphery rim on a first side with an aperture extending through the docking plate that has a waveguide chimney through which a DUT may be inserted into a socket or contactor on the load board.

In electronics testing systems, such as an integrated circuit (IC) or a system on a chip (SOC) test system, the electronic circuit testers typically test the performance of an IC, SOC or similar device. An electronic circuit tester may be used to test finished packaged devices or integrated circuits at various stages of the manufacture of the device or integrated circuit, from the initial wafer processing stage to the final packaging stage. A conventional tester typically includes a test head and electronic test and measurement instruments. The electronic test and measurements instruments, may be contained within the test head or in equipment racks that are electrically connected to the test head. The test head typically interfaces with a device or an integrated circuit through a printed circuit board known as a load board. In these test systems, the load board is used to provide an electrical and mechanical interface between the tester and the device-under-test (DUT). The load board extends measurement electronics of the automated test system to the pins or pads of the DUT. A custom load board is usually required for each unique DUT or family of DUTs.
Since the electronic circuit tester can be employed to test both packaged devices and integrated circuits in many forms, the test head is usually mounted by pivotal connections to a dolly or to the instrument rack. The pivotal connections enable the test head to be positioned in many positions including an approximately upward facing horizontal position so that the appropriate load board can be mounted on the test head of the electronic circuit tester by an operator. The test head can also be pivoted to any of many angular positions, such as to a substantially vertical position so that the load board can interface with an automated material handler, for example, to test packaged devices or integrated circuits. The automated material handler feeds each packaged device or integrated circuit to be tested (either or both of which hereafter referred to as a device or a DUT) to the electronic circuit tester.
A conventional tester 10, is shown in FIG. 1. Tester 10 comprises a test head 12 electrically connected by cables routed through a conduit 14 to rack(s) 16 of electronic test and measurement instruments, such as AC and DC signal generators for applying electrical signals to a device or integrated circuit interfaced to the test head 12, and signal analyzers, for example, a network analyzer, spectrum analyzer, oscilloscope, or other waveform digitizing or signal processing equipment, for measuring the response(s) to applied signals. Test head 12 may include circuitry that performs distribution of electrical signals, signal separation, frequency translation, amplification, attenuation, switching, or other conditioning or modification of electrical signals prior to being routed to the rack 16 or to a device or integrated circuit being tested.
Test head 12 interfaces to a device or integrated circuit through a load board 18 and a fixture board 20 mounted to the test head 12. Alternatively, prior to installation of fixture board 20, a calibration board (not shown), having a configuration similar to the fixture board may be connected to the test head 12 for calibrating the test head 12. The configuration of the load board 18 depends on the type or family of device or integrated circuit being tested, such as an analog or digital electronic circuit, while the configuration of the fixture board 20 is generally specific to the family or particular device or integrated circuit under test (DUT).
Fixture board 20 interfaces to a device-under-test (DUT) board 22 that may comprise inductors, capacitors, and other electronic components or circuit mounted to or fabricated on the DUT board for decoupling, filtering attenuating or otherwise modifying electrical signals transmitted to or received from a device or integrated circuit under test. Finally, the DUT board 22 is connected to a socket 24 for effecting electrical connection(s) between tester 10 and the actual electronic circuit or device-under-test (DUT), such as a packaged device or integrated circuit 26. Alternatively, socket 24 may be mounted directly to the load board 18.
Test head 12 is mounted to a dolly 28. Test head 12 may be mounted by pivotal connections 30 to dolly 28. Pivotal connections 30 enable test head 12 to be positioned in an approximately upward facing horizontal position so that the appropriate load board 18 and calibration or fixture board 20 and DUT board 22 with socket 24 can be mounted to test head 12 of tester 10 by an operator. Test head 12 may be pivoted to any angular position so that socket 24 may interface with an automated material handler 32, for example, which rapidly feeds each DUT 26 to the tester 10 to be tested.
Alternatively, a wafer probe (not shown) may be substituted for the socket 24 mounted to the DUT board 22. Pivotal connections 30 enable test head 12 to be pivoted to an inverted position to test devices or integrated circuits on a wafer (not shown) at a wafer probing stations (not shown).
In order to interface socket 24 to the automated material handler 32, or a wafer probe (not shown) at a wafer probing station (not shown), a frame 34 is mounted to test head 12. A handler mounting plate 36 that mates with frame 34 is mounted to the automated material handler 32 or wafer probing station (not shown) to align test head 12 with the handler or station so that packaged devices or integrated circuits or devices or integrated circuits on wafer can be tested.
Unlike most of the printed circuit boards and electronics in a test system 10, the load board 18 is not enclosed within a chassis, which means that load boards 18 are susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI) that would normally be attenuated by a chassis. It is not uncommon to find very high levels of EMI on test floors at IC test companies from area cellular telephone relay and broadcast towers or other local industrial activity. One potential method of EMI shielding is to build a screen room around the tester. However, as testers are very large, this is an expensive solution, inconvenient, wastes production or test floor space and reduces the flexibility of production or tester floor space.

Method and apparatus for electromagnetic interference shielding in an automated test system


A manufacturing method is provided for the production of high density, high carbon, sintered powder metal steels. The composition consists of iron based powder, graphite, lubricant, and possibly at least one alloying element from the group of chromium, copper, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium or vanadium. The composition is compacted in rigid tools, sintered and during cooling an isothermal or slow cooling treatment is introduced between 650.degree. C. and 750.degree. C. The isothermal or slow cooling treatment may alternatively be applied during a heat treatment cycle that is carried out after a conventional sintering cycle. The material processed as described may then be formed to high density. Forming to high density is not practical with high carbon materials that have been processed by conventional methods. The high density article is then heat treated in a manner to suit specific product requirements. The mechanical properties achieved by the claimed process offer significant benefits when compared to conventionally processed sintered powder metal articles.

In previous patent applications namely U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/644,978 filed May 15, 1996 and PCT application PCT/CA/96/00879 filed Dec. 24 1996, methods have been disclosed for the manufacture of high density powder metal articles that may contain up to 0.5% of carbon by weight. In some applications, a higher carbon content is desirable, together with high density in order to achieve specific mechanical property requirements.
Because carbon additions to iron increase hardness and reduce ductility, high density forming of higher carbon materials is usually not practical. However, in this invention, a method has been determined whereby combined selection of material composition, and thermal processing methods, can produce high carbon materials of a formable nature. High carbon materials processed in the prescribed manner to be described herein are of significantly lower hardness than usually expected, and offer advantageous forming characteristics that can be used to produce high density powder metal articles.
Forming as defined herein includes:
(a) sizing--which may be defined as a final pressing of a sintered compact to secure a desired size or dimension; PA1 (b) coining--which can be defined as pressing a sintered compact to obtain a definite surface configuration; PA1 (c) repressing--which can be defined as the application of pressure to a previously pressed and sintered compact, usually for the purpose of improving physical or mechanical properties and dimensional characteristics; PA1 (d) restriking--additional compacting of a sintered compact.
In carbon containing powder metal steels that are processed in the normal manner, FIG. 1 illustrates that as carbon content is raised, the density achieved on cold forming is significantly reduced. For example, FIG. 1 shows that at the 60 tons per square inch forming pressure, a sintered part with 0.2% carbon, a density of approximately 7.5 g/cc would be achieved. With 0.6% carbon, at the same forming pressure, a density of only 7.3 g/cc would be achieved.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved method to produce powder metal parts having improved formability at higher carbon contents.
This invention details methods of processing high carbon materials in a manner that minimizes the above reduction in formability that is usually experienced at higher carbon contents.


A method and apparatus for detecting a singing frequency in a signal processing system using two neural-networks is disclosed. The first one (a hit neural network) monitors the maximum spectral peak FFT bin as it changes with time. The second one (change neural network) monitors the monotonic increasing behavior. The inputs to the neural-networks are the maximum spectral magnitude bin and its rate of change in time. The output is an indication whether howling is likely to occur and the corresponding singing frequency. Once the singing frequency is identified, it can be suppressed using any one of many available techniques such as notch filters. Several improvements of the base method or apparatus are also disclosed, where additional neural networks are used to detect more than one singing frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to signal processing, more specifically to audio feedback detection and elimination.
2. Description of the Related Art
Audio feedback is a common problem in many audio amplification systems, where there is an acoustic coupling between a loudspeaker and a microphone within the same audio system. When the audio feedback is out of control or howling, the loudspeaker makes a very loud sound. This loud, highly annoying squeaking sound heard in an audio system due to a large portion of the audio being re-amplified back to the system with a gain exceeding the stability margin is often referred to as "howling." FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an audio system 100 illustrating the different components that affect the acoustic feedback problem. The audio system 100 is to amplify the speech by a talker 102. The microphone 112 picks up the speech 132 and generates speech signal 134. The speech signal 134 is strengthened by an amplifier 120 and becomes signal 136 which drives a loudspeaker 122 to produce sound. But in addition of picking up the speech signal 132, the microphone 112 also picks up sound signal 142 from the loudspeaker 122 and noises 133 from many sources, such as an air vent 103. The signal due to sound 142 mixed into the signal 134 can make a closed loop, as shown in FIG. 2. The closed loop can cause the feed back problem. FIG. 2 illustrates the system loss and gain for a closed loop for a particular frequency for the audio system 100 of FIG. 1. The room response affects how the sound is being acoustically reflected and directed, depending on the room design and the materials used, and the speaker-microphone placements. Such response, mainly signal loss, may be represented by system loss (L-sys) 140. The system amplifier 120, among other things, increases the amplitude of the signal. It can be represented by the amplifier gain (G-amp) 140. For each frequency, when the overall system gain (L-sys+G-amp) of the closed loop is below a threshold, the audio system is stable. When the overall system gain is above the threshold or theoretical limit, the system becomes unstable and howling occurs.
The audio system response consists of the electro-acoustic components of the loudspeaker 122 and the microphone 112, and the Digital Signal Processing (DSP)/Amplification etc. of the audio system. The direct path response depends on the distance of the talker 102 relative to the microphone 112 and is typically also related to the design of the room. Examples of such systems include many large conference rooms with single or multi-zone sound reinforcement, Public Address (PA) systems, and live musical performances. Howling also occurs quite frequently in conference rooms even without sound reinforcement if the room is equipped to provide highly full-duplex conferencing. In this case, the acoustic coupling is the same, but the audio system response typically incurs some additional delays, and some nonlinear DSP processing such as echo suppression and noise cancellation.
Acoustic feedback (howling) in any audio amplification system can cause many problems. "Howling" can disrupt a lecture, irritate audience, and can even damage equipment and people's hearing. Howling typically occurs in a particular frequency where the overall system gain is above the threshold. It is found that the howling condition may vary depending on the overall environment, such as the positions of microphones, loudspeakers, the position and/or movement of the talker, the loudness of his voice, the room arrangement etc. The changing nature of howling makes it difficult to deal with.
There are various methods in the prior art attempting to eliminate the acoustic feedback or at least reduce its detrimental effect. For example, US patent application publication US2003/0210797 and its commercial embodiment dbx Advanced Feedback Suppression discloses a method. It uses Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) to identify the frequency with the largest energy and uses polynomial interpolation to pin point the frequency if it is between the FFT bins. The frequency with the largest energy is treated as the singing frequency. Once a singing frequency is detected, the singing frequency is suppressed using notch filters. Thus the howling can be eliminated.
But most prior art methods do not provide a way to predict the occurrence of howling, i.e. predict the occurrence of howling before it actually occurs. The frequency with the largest energy in the audio spectrum is not necessarily a singing frequency. It may just be a tone that has a large energy. Prior art methods that suppress all frequencies with large energy can degrade the audio system performance even if the suppressed frequency is narrowly tailored and targeted. In many cases, random noise resonates at one or more frequency locations in the loop response. In such a case the detection is more difficult because each frequency may not always increase monotonically with time due to the non-stationary nature of the noise. An even more difficult case is when the system resonates around the peaks of the human speech spectrum (this occurs if someone talks into a microphone in an extremely high loop-gain system). The difficulty in this case lies in the discrimination between normal (but very loud speech) and speech that is about to cause howling.
Another constraint that further degrades howling detection performance is the inadequate FFT frequency resolution, which can jitter the maximum spectral energy bin to its neighboring bin. Furthermore, a detector must catch the singing frequency before the signal is clipped in the analog domain or by the A-to-D and D-to-A converters because such nonlinearity can severely corrupt the frequency analysis of the howling detector. Thus detection must occur before the signal is clipped and should be as early as possible if one wishes to eliminate the annoying squeaky loud howling tones completely.
It is desirable to have a method or apparatus to detect or predict when a howling is about to occur before it actually occurs. It is desirable to accurately predict such occurrence without too many false alarms which may degrade the overall audio system performance. A failure to properly predict necessarily means you will get the howling tone.

Feedback elimination method and apparatus


An organometallic complex for an organic light emitting device represented by formula 1, a method of preparing the same and an organic light emitting device including the same:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organometallic complex and an organic light emitting device including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electroluminescent emitting devices, which are self-emitting devices, have the advantages of having wide viewing angles, excellent contrast, and quick response, and thus have drawn a large amount of public attention. The electroluminescent emitting device is classified into two types, an inorganic light emitting device which includes an inorganic compound in an emitting layer and an organic light emitting device (OLED) which includes an organic compound in an emitting layer. The OLED has higher brightness, a lower operating voltage, a quicker response, and can realize more colors compared to the inorganic light emitting device, and thus much research thereon has been carried out.
Typically, an OLED has an anode/organic emitting layer/cathode structure. An OLED can also have various other structures, such as an anode/organic emitting layer/hole blocking layer/cathode structure, an anode/organic emitting layer/electron transport layer/cathode structure, or an anode/organic emitting layer/hole blocking layer/electron injection layer/cathode structure by interposing a hole blocking layer, an electron transport layer, and/or an electron injection layer between the emitting layer and the cathode.
A metal complex such as aluminum(III) tris(8-hydroxyquinolate) (Alq3), or bis(10-hydroxybenzo[h]quinolinato)beryllium (BeBq2) can be used as an electron transport material. Although Alq3 has excellent stability, properties thereof need to be improved. In contrast, although BeBq2 has excellent electron transport capability because of high stacking of aromatic rings among molecules, stability thereof is not sufficient. Thus, lifetime, efficiency and power input characteristics of those materials do not meet desired levels. Accordingly, there is a need for improving those characteristics.

Organometallic complex, method of preparing the same and organic light emitting device comprising the same

Abstract: where R1 through R16 are a hydrogen atom, a cyano group, a hydroxyl group, a nitro group, a halogen atom, a C1-C20 alkyl group, a C1-C20 alkoxy group, a C6-C20 aryl group, a C7-C20 arylalkyl group, a C2-C20 alkylalkoxy group, a C7-C20 arylalkoxy group, a C6-C20 arylamino group, a C1-C20 alkylamino group, a C6-C20 heteroarylamino group, and a C2-C20 hetero-ring group; and M is a bivalent metal such as Be, Mg, Zn, Ca, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni and Cu. The compound represented by Formula 1 can be effectively used in an electron transport layer or an electron injection layer. An organic light emitting device including the compound represented by Formula 1 can thus have long lifetime.


An in-car video system includes a first display device installed in a front part of a car and having a first light-sensitive element to receive remote control light output from a remote control transmitter, a second display device installed in a location posterior to the first display device and having a second light-sensitive element to receive remote control light output from a remote control transmitter, and a control section for controlling the display on the first and second display devices according to output signals of the first and second light-sensitive elements. The control section includes a display operation detecting unit operable to detect an operating state of the first or second display device according to an output of the first and second light-sensitive elements, and a moving/stationary state detecting unit operable to detect whether the car is moving or stationary. When the moving/stationary state detecting unit detects that the car is moving and the display operation state detecting unit detects the operating state of the first display device, control is effected to restrict the display on the first display device so as not to induce the driver of the car to gaze at the first display device.

This invention relates to an in-car video system.
Among the video devices for use in a car are TV tuners, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) players, and navigation systems. There are systems incorporating such video devices and capable of controlling two display devices (monitors).
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of a car interior equipped with two display devices. The first display device is a color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel 25F installed in about the center of the dashboard. The location of the color LCD panel 25F allows a driver in a driver seat DS included among the front seats and a passenger in a passenger seat PS included among the front seats to watch an image displayed on the color LCD panel 25F. The second display device is a color LCD panel 25R installed between the passenger seat PS and the driver seat DS, in the vicinity of the backrests of the two seats. The location of the color LCD panel 25R allows passengers in rear passenger seats RS to watch an image displayed on the color LCD panel 25R.
The display on the color LCD panel 25F is controlled as shown in FIG. 5 as a safety measure, that is, to prevent the driver from gazing at the display on the color LCD panel 25F or getting distracted by setting a navigation system while driving the car. As shown in FIG. 5, when the car is moving, the display of a moving image such as a TV broadcast or DVD playback is prohibited and the content of the navigation menu display is restricted, allowing only a simplified menu to be displayed. In the simplified menu, menu items used to set a destination or a route to the destination are not displayed. This is because allowing the driver to set a destination or a route to the destination when the car is moving is detrimental to safe driving.
When the car is stationary, the display of a moving image is allowed and it becomes possible to display a standard menu including all menu items for navigation.
Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2000-205887 is a prior art reference having relevance to the above description.
As described above, system control in the in-car video system is integrated at a main unit of the system. Therefore, once some restrictions are imposed on the system operation or settings, the restrictions cannot be removed by operating from the rear passenger seats RS.


A dog waste collection device for holding a disposable bag, with a handle having a proximal end for a user to hold the device and a distal end opposite the proximal end, a loop affixed to the handle at the distal end of the handle, a projection extending radially away from the loop, with the projection securing the bag to the collection device while the collection device is used to collect dog waste.

The collection and disposal of dog fecal waste is mandatory in many municipalities, aids in general sanitation, reduces insect activity, and is more sightly. The term waste will be employed as a synonym for the feces or fecal matter produced by the dogs or other living creatures.
Many dog owners or caretakers employ a device for gathering the waste off the ground and places the waste in a ubiquitous plastic bag for disposal. This system has some drawbacks; including, but not limited to, not gathering all the waste material from the ground, the possible soiling of the dog's owner during the transfer of the waste from the ground to a plastic bag, and a difficulty of those who may find it difficult to bend over to retrieve the waste.
A device which would obviate the drawbacks would be desirable.

Apparatus and method to collect canine waste