The present invention provides an apparatus and method for automated and rapid loading of a large number of samples for mass spectrometric analysis using various ionization methods (e.g. matrix assisted desorption by laser bombardment (MALDI) and atmosperic pressure ionization (API) methods such as electrospray). The aparatus utilizes microtiter plates to hold the sample, optical elements (e.g. fiber optic) to facilitate automated transport of the ions, and a multiple part capillary comprising at least two capillary sections joined with airtight seal by a union for use in mass spectrometry (particularly with ionization sources) to transport ions between pressure regions of a mass spectrometer for analysis is described herein. Preferably, the capillary is useful to transport ions from an elevated pressure ionization source to a first vacuum region of a mass analysis system.

The present invention relates to a means of delivering ions to a mass spectrometer. Mass spectrometry is an important tool in the analysis of a wide range of chemical compounds. Specifically, mass spectrometers can be used to determine the molecular weight of sample compounds. The analysis of samples by mass spectrometry consists of three main steps—formation of ions from sample material, mass analysis of the ions to separate the ions from one another according to ion mass, and detection of the ions. A variety of means exist in the field of mass spectrometry to perform each of these three functions. The particular combination of means used in a given spectrometer determine the characteristics of that spectrometer.
To mass analyze ions, for example, one might use a magnetic (B) or electrostatic (E) analyzer. Ions passing through a magnetic or electrostatic field will follow a curved path. In a magnetic field the curvature of the path will be indicative of the momentum-to-charge ratio of the ion. In an electrostatic field, the curvature of the path will be indicative of the energy-to-charge ratio of the ion. If magnetic and electrostatic analyzers are used consecutively, then both the momentum-to-charge and energy-to-charge ratios of the ions will be known and the mass of the ion will thereby be determined. Other mass analyzers are the quadrupole (Q), the ion cyclotron resonance (ICR), the time-of-flight (TOF), and the quadrupole ion trap analyzers.
Before mass analysis can begin, however, gas phase ions must be formed from sample material. If the sample material is sufficiently volatile, ions may be formed by electron ionization (EI) or chemical ionization (CI) of the gas phase sample molecules. For solid samples (e.g. semiconductors, or crystallized materials), ions can be formed by desorption and ionization of sample molecules by bombardment with high energy particles. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), for example, uses keV ions to desorb and ionize sample material. In the SIMS process a large amount of energy is deposited in the analyte molecules. As a result, fragile molecules will be fragmented. This fragmentation is undesirable in that information regarding the original composition of the sample—e.g., the molecular weight of sample molecules—will be impossible to determine.
For more labile, fragile molecules, other ionization methods now exist. The plasma desorption (PD) technique was introduced by Macfarlane et al. in 1974 (Macfarlane, R. D.; Skowronski, R. P.; Torgerson, D. F., Biochem. Biophys. Res Commoun. 60 (1974) 616). Macfarlane et al. discovered that the impact of high energy (MeV) ions on a surface, like SIMS would cause desorption and ionization of small analyte molecules, however, unlike SIMS, the PD process also results in the desorption of larger, more labile species—e.g., insulin and other protein molecules.
Lasers have been used in a similar manner to induce desorption of biological or other labile molecules. See, for example, VanBreeman, R. B.: Snow, M.: Cotter, R. J., Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys. 49 (1983) 35; Tabet, J. C.; Cotter, R. J., Anal. Chem. 56 (1984) 1662; or Olthoff, J. K.; Lys, I.: Demirev, P.: Cotter, R. J., Anal. Instrument. 16 (1987) 93. Cotter et al. modified a CVC 2000 TOF mass spectrometer for infrared laser desorption of involatile biomolecules, using a Tachisto (Needham, Mass.) model 215G pulsed carbon dioxide laser. The plasma or laser desorption and ionization of labile molecules relies on the deposition of little or no energy in the analyte molecules of interest. The use of lasers to desorb and ionize labile molecules intact was enhanced by the introduction of matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) (Tanaka, K.; Waki, H.; Ido, Y.; Akita, S.; Yoshida, Y.; Yoshica, T., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2 (1988) 151 and Karas, M.; Hillenkamp, F., Anal. Chem. 60 (1988) 2299). In the MALDI process, an analyte is dissolved in a solid, organic matrix. Laser light having a wavelength that is absorbed by the solid matrix but not by the analyte is used to excite the sample. Thus, the matrix is excited directly by the laser, and the excited matrix sublimes into the gas phase carrying with it the analyte molecules. The analyte molecules are then ionized by proton, electron, or cation transfer from the matrix molecules to the analyte molecules. This process, MALDI, is typically used in conjunction with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) and can be used to measure the molecular weights of proteins in excess of 100,000 daltons.
Recently, MALDI has been especially gaining acceptance as a way to ionize large molecules such as proteins. MALDI requires that samples applied to the surface of a sample support must be introduced into the vacuum system of the mass spectrometer. According to the prior art, a relatively large number of sample are introduced together on a support, and the sample support is moved within the vacuum system in such a way that the required sample is situated specifically in the focus of the laser's lens system. The analyte samples are placed on a sample support in the form of small drops of a solution, which dry very quickly and leave a sample spot suitable for MALDI. Normally a matrix substance is added to the solution for the MALDI process and the sample substances are encased in the crystals when the matrix substance crystallizes while drying. There are other methods known in the prior art, such as the application of sample substances to an already applied and dried matrix layer.
Current methods use visual control of the sample spots via microscopic observation. Thus, these are not truly automated. True automation opens up the possibility of processing large numbers of samples. It is well established within the art that microtiter plates are used for parallel processing of many samples. The body size of these plates is 80 by 125 millimeters, with a usable surface of 72 by 108 millimeters. There are commercially available sample processing systems which work with microtiter plates of this size. These originally contained 96 small exchangeable reaction vials in a 9 mm grid on a usable surface of 72 by 108 millimeters. Today, plates of the same size with 384 reaction wells imbedded solidly in plastic in a 4.5 mm grid have become standard.
The use of Atmospheric pressure ionization (API) is also well known in the prior art. Typically, analyte ions are produced from liquid solution at atmospheric pressure. One of the more widely used methods, known as electrospray ionization (ESI), was first suggested by Dole et al. (M. Dole, L. L. Mack, R. L. Hines, R. C. Mobley, L. D. Ferguson, M. B. Alice, J. Chem. Phys. 49, 2240, 1968). In the electrospray technique, analyte is dissolved in a liquid solution and sprayed from a needle. The spray is induced by the application of a potential difference between the needle (where the liquid emerges) and a counter electrode. By subjecting the sample liquid to a strong electric field, it becomes charged, and as a result, it "breaks up" into smaller particles if the charge imposed on the liquid's surface is strong enough to overcome the surface tension of the liquid (i.e., as the particles attempt to disperse the charge and return to a lower energy state). This results in the formation of finely charged droplets of solution containing analyte molecules. These droplets further evaporate leaving behind bare charged analyte ions.
Electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) was introduced by Yamashita and Fein (M. Yamashita and M. B. Fein, J. Phys. Chem. 88, 4671, 1984). To establish this combination of ESI and MS, ions had to be formed at atmospheric pressure, then introduced into the vacuum system of a mass analyzer via a differentially pumped interface. The combination of ESI and MS affords scientists the opportunity to mass analyze a wide range of samples, and ESMS is now widely used primarily in the analysis of biomolecules (e.g. proteins) and complex organic molecules.
In the intervening years a number of means and methods useful to ESMS and API-MS have been developed. Specifically, a great deal of work has focused on sprayers and ionization chambers. In addition to the original electrospray technique, pneumatic assisted electrospray, dual electrospray, and nano electrospray are now also widely available. Pneumatic assisted electrospray (A. P. Bruins, T. R. Covey, and J. D. Henion, Anal. Chem. 59, 2642, 1987) uses nebulizing gas flowing past the tip of the spray needle to assist in the formation of droplets. The nebulization gas assists in the formation of the spray and thereby makes the operation of ESI easier. Nano electrospray (M. S. Wilm, M. Mann, Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Processes 136, 167, 1994) employs a much smaller diameter needle than the original electrospray. As a result the flow rate of sample to the tip is lower and the droplets in the spray are finer. However, the ion signal provided by nano electrospray in conjunction with MS is essentially the same as with the original electrospray. Nano electrospray is therefore much more sensitive with respect to the amount of material necessary to perform a given analysis.
Sample preparation robots (e.g. Gilson) have been used in the prior art for the automated injection of sample aliquots into an ESI source. In such a case, solution is pumped continuously from a resevoir to the sprayer of an ESI source. Sample aliquots are injected into this solution stream and are thereby carried through a transfer line to the sprayer.
Many other ion production methods might be used at atmospheric or elevated pressure. For example, MALDI has recently been adapted by Victor Laiko and Alma Burlingame to work at atmospheric pressure (Atmospheric Pressure Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization, poster #1121, 4th International Symposium on Mass Spectrometry in the Health and Life Sciences, San Francisco, Aug. 25–29, 1998) and by Standing et al. at elevated pressures (Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry of Biomolecules with Orthogonal Injection+Collisional Cooling, poster #1272, 4th International Symposium on Mass Spectrometry in the Health and Life Sciences, San Francisco, Aug. 25–29, 1998; and Orthogonal Injection TOFMS Anal. Chem. 71(13), 452A (1999)). The benefit of adapting ion sources in this manner is that the ion optics and mass spectral results are largely independent of the ion production method used.
An elevated pressure ion source always has an ion production region (where ions are produced) and an ion transfer region (where ions are transferred through differential pumping stages and into the mass analyzer). The ion production region is at an elevated pressure—most often atmospheric pressure—with respect to the analyzer.
In much of the prior art the ion production region will often include an ionization "chamber". In an ESI source, for example, liquid samples are "sprayed" into the "chamber" to form ions. The design of the ionization chamber used in conjunction with API-MS has had a significant impact on the availability and use of these ionization methods with MS. Prior art ionization chambers are inflexible in that a given ionization chamber can be used readily with only a single ionization method and a fixed configuration of sprayers. For example, in order to change from a simple electrospray method to a nano electrospray method of ionization, one had to remove the electrospray ionization chamber from the source and replace it with a nano electrospray chamber (see also, Gourley et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,910, entitled Angled Chamber Seal for Atmospheric Pressure Ionization Mass Spectrometry). In a co-pending application entitled Ionization Chamber For Atmospheric Pressure Ionization, this problem is addressed by disclosing an API ionization chamber providing multiple ports for employing multiple devices in a variety of combinations (e.g., any type of sprayer, lamp, microscope, camera or other such device in various combinations). Further, any given sprayer may produce ions in a manner that is synchronous or asynchronous with the spray from any or all of the other sprayers. By spraying in an asynchronous manner, analyte from a multitude of inlets may be sampled in a multiplexed manner.
Analyte ions produced via an API method need to be transported from the ionization region through regions of differing pressures and ultimately to a mass analyzer for subsequent analysis (e.g., via TOFMS, Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS), etc.). In prior art sources, this was accomplished through use of a small orifice or capillary tube between the ionization region and the vacuum region. An example of such a prior art capillary tube is shown in FIG. 1. As depicted, capillary 7 comprises a generally cylindrical glass tube 2 having an internal bore 4. The ends of capillary 7 include a metal coating (e.g., platinum, copper, etc.) to form conductors 5 which encompass the outer surface of capillary 7 at its ends, leaving a central aperture 6 such that the entrance and exit to internal bore 3 are left uncovered. Conductors 5 may be connected to electrical contacts (not shown) in order to maintain a desired space potential at each end of capillary 7. In operation, a first electrode (one of conductors 5) of capillary 7 may be maintained at an extreme negative potential (e.g., −4,500V), while the other electrode (the other of conductors 5), which may form the first stage of a multi-stage lensing system for the final direction of the ions to the spectrometer, may be maintained at a positive potential (e.g., 160 volts).
It is often observed that the capillaries used in MS analysis acquire deposits over time. Therefore, through normal operation the capillaries need to be regularly cleaned or even replaced. To do so, the MS system must be turned off before the capillary can be removed—requiring the pumps to be shut down and the vacuum system to be broken—thereby rendering the system unavailable for hours and even days at a time.
More recently, Lee et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,883 attempted to solve this problem in the manner shown by FIG. 2. Shown in FIG. 2 is capillary 8 which comprises an outer capillary sleeve 9 surrounding an inner capillary tube 10. Sleeve 9 has substantially cylindrical inner surface 11 and outer surface 14. Similarly, tube 10 has substantially cylindrical inner surface 12 and outer surface 13. The innermost channel, or bore, of capillary 8 is substantially formed by inner surface 12 of tube 10. Capillary 8 is substantially radially symmetrical about its central longitudinal axis 15 extending from an upstream end 16 to a downstream end 17. At each end, capillary 8 has conductive end caps 18 comprising the unitary combination of a tubular body having cylindrical inner surface 20 and outer surface 21 and an end plate 22 having inner surface 23 and outer surface 24 with a central aperture. The tubular body of end cap 18 encompasses and is in circumferential engagement with a reduced diameter portion 25 of sleeve 9 adjacent to the respective ends of capillary 8, such that the external diameter of end cap 18 is substantially the same as the external diameter of sleeve outer surface 14.
In order to remove tube 10, end cap 18 at the upstream end of capillary 8 is first removed. A removal tool (not shown) is inserted into the tube as to engage the tube's inner surface 12. It is further suggested by the prior art that in order to remove tube 10 it may be necessary to apply a slight torque orthogonal to axis 15, or other appropriate means such as bonding a removal tool to the tube using an adhesive. Once the tube is withdrawn, a replacement tube may be inserted into sleeve 9. However, this too is difficult and cumbersome, requiring tools to remove and replace the inner capillary tube.
Such prior art designs for the transfer capillary have inherent limitations relating to geometry, orientation, and ease of use. The capillary according to these prior art designs is substantially fixed in the source. Only if the instrument—or at least the source—is vented to atmospheric pressure can the capillary be removed. The geometric relation of the capillary is therefore fixed with respect to the source and all its components. This implies that the ion production means—e.g. an electrospray needle, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization sprayer, or MALDI probe—must be positioned with respect to the capillary entrance. In order to change from one ion production means to another—e.g. from an electrospray needle to a nano electrospray needle—the first means must be removed from the vicinity of the capillary entrance and the second must then be properly positioned with respect to the capillary entrance. For any production means, there will be an optimum geometry between the means and the capillary entrance at which the ion current passing into the analyzer is maximized. To achieve this optimum, a positioning means must be provided for positioning the ion production means with respect to the capillary entrance. This might take the form of precision machined components, a translation stage on which the ion production means is mounted, or some other device. If the ion production means is required or desired to be remote from the source, a long, fixed length capillary would have to be produced and installed (in a fixed position) in the source.
Another limitation of prior art capillaries relates to the orientation of the capillary bore with respect to the ion production means. Such orientation can be important for the operation of the source. One major consideration in the operation of an electrospray source is the formation of large droplets from the analyte solution at the spray needle. Such droplets do not readily evaporate. If these droplets enter the capillary, they may cause the capillary to become contaminated with a residue of analyte molecules and salts. In view of this, Apfel et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,495,108 and 5,750,988 describe apparatuses for API sources wherein the axis of the bore of the capillary 110 is at an angle of 90° with respect the axis of the bore of the spray needle 111, as depicted in FIG. 3. According to Apfel et al., certain experimental conditions lead to the production of large droplets by the spray needle. These large droplets will move away from the spray needle along the axis of the sprayer. However, an electric field between the spray needle and the capillary will cause ions formed from the spray to move towards the capillary. In this way, the ions are separated from the spray droplets and the droplets do not enter the capillary. However, this orientation is fixed in the prior art source of Apfel. To change this orientation, one would have to move the spray needle.
Prior art capillaries are further limited in the geometry of the capillary bore. That is, prior art capillaries as depicted in FIGS. 1–3, are substantially straight (i.e., cylindrically symmetric) and fixed (i.e., the geometry of the capillary and its bore is fixed at the time of manufacture). However, as described in the co-pending application METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A MULTIPLE PART CAPILLARY DEVICE FOR USE IN MASS SPECTROMETRY Ser. No. 09/507,423 a capillary which can be cleaned or replaced without the need to shut down the entire mass spectrometer in which it resides now exists. The use of this capillary within the system described herein allows ionization to occur within the MALDI tray as opposed to occurring within the vacuum.
Others have disclosed atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desoprtion/ionization (AP-MALDI). Laiko et al. disclose an AP-MALDI apparatus for the transfer of ions from an atmospheric pressure ionization region to a high vacuum region, which is pneumatically assisted (PA) by a stream of nitrogen gas. (Victor V. Laiko, Michael A. Baldwin and Alma L. Burlingame, "Atmospheric Pressure Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry", Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 72, No. 4, Feb. 4, 2000) The invention of matrix-assisted laser desoprtion/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) are considered the most powerful tools for detection, identification, and characterization of biopolymers such as peptides, proteins, and DNA. MALDI and ESI enable the production of intact heavy molecular ions from a condensed phase, where MALDI is for solids and ESI is for liquids. Although, MALDI's target material density drops rapidly after laser desorption, from a high value characteristic of the initial solid phase to a very low value. Hence, a new ionization source combines atmospheric pressure and MALDI, which was called atmospheric pressure (AP) MALDI. AP-MALDI produces a uniform ion cloud under atmospheric pressure conditions. The apparatus disclosed in Laiko, i.e., for PA-AP-MALDI, is readily interchangeable with electrospray ionization on an orthoganal acceleration TOF mass spectrometer. According to Laiko, PA-AP-MALDI can detect low femtomole amounts of peptides in mixtures with good signal-to-noise ratio and with less discrimination for the detection of individual peptides in a protein digest. Thus, total sample consumption is higher for PA-AP-MALDI than vacuum MALDI, as the transfer of ions into the vacuum system is relatively inefficient.
Yet another high throughput MALDI elevated pressure mass spectrometry technique and apparatus is disclosed by Schevchenko et al. ("MALDI Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry: A Powerful Tool for Proteomic Research", Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 72, No. 9, May 1, 2000). More particularly, Shevchenko et al. disclose use of a MALDI QqTOF mass spectrometer to achieve high mass resolution and accuracy in the identification of proteins. The apparatus disclosed by Schevchenko includes interfacing an orthogonal injection TOF MS to a hybrid quadrupole TOF MS (QqTOF) to form a MALDI QqTOF instrument, whereby a collisional damping interface cools the ions before they enter the analytical quadrupole Q. According to Schevchenko, once the ions are cooled, they can be transported through the quadrupoles more efficiently for measurement of the whole mass spectrum. A precursor ion can be selected in the quadrupole Q and fragmented in the collision cell q. Measurement of the product ions in the TOF section then provides a MS/MS spectrum of the selected precursor, thus carrying out both peptide mass mapping and MS/MS measurement on the same target in the same experiment. This process provides a high mass selection of precursor ions, precise tuning of the collision energy, and a much simplified calibration procedure. Also, Schevchenko et al. suggest that such an analytical approach lends itself to automation in obtaining MALDI spectra. However, Schevchenko et al. are silent as to how this might be achieved.
Also, Franzen et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,561 (Franzen) teaches a device and method for the desorption and ionization of labile substance molecules at atmospheric pressure by MALD followed by chemical ionization (APCI). The method of Franzen consists of desorbing the analyte substances, which are mixed with decomposable substances (matrix substances) in solid form on a solid support, by laser irradiation at atmospheric pressure into a gas stream, and to add sufficient ions for proton transfer reactions to the gas stream. The objective of the method and apparatus of Franzen et al. is to transfer large molecules on solid sample support from solid state to a state of ionized gas phase molecules to be subjected to mass spectrometric analysis in an efficient manner.
The system disclosed in Franzen et al. generates ions from macromolecular substances in an area outside the vacuum, instead of within the vacuum, and separates the ionization process from the desorption process. Since new development of ion transfer from atmospheric pressure have become possible, external ionization has become effective and relatively economical. Thus, Franzen et al. recognized the problem of evaporating the non-volatile analyte substances into the surrounding gas. Therefore, the method and apparatus of Franzen et al. support the desorption process by photolytic and thermolytic processes triggered by laser photons. Consequently, the matrix material would decompose explosion-like into small gas molecules which can blast the analyte molecules into the surrounding gas. Then, the matrix molecules in the photolytic and thermolytic processes are broken down into smaller molecules. According to Franzen et al., if a matrix substance is selected in such a way that the product of its decomposition is gaseous in its normal state, the large, embedded analyte molecules would be catapulted into the gas phase. Of course, the matrix material then has to be selected such that the transfer of heat to the analyte molecules is minimal.
Moreover, in each of these systems, the samples are positioned outside of the vacuum system of the mass spectrometer for ionization (e.g., a MALDI target, sample plate, etc.). The present invention recognizes this and provides a simple and efficient method and apparatus for ionizing samples and introducing the sample ions into a mass spectrometer with the sample positioned outside of the vacuum system of the mass spectrometer.
Also, it has been recognized that a need exists for a simple, fast, efficient and reliable means of integrating a robot with various ionization sources for automating the preparation and introduction of samples into a mass spectrometer, and more particularly into an atmospheric pressure MALDI mass spectrometer. The present invention provides a novel solution to this problem.

Method and apparatus for automating an atmospheric pressure ionization (API) source for mass spectrometry


A tablet device is provided, which includes a first member, a second member and a pivot unit. The first member pivots on the second member via the pivot unit. The pivot unit includes a shaft, a twist sheet, a washer and a twist spring. The twist sheet is telescoped on the shaft. The twist spring is telescoped on the shaft and is connected to the twist sheet. The washer is disposed between the twist sheet and the twist spring. The shaft is connected to the second member. The twist sheet is fixed to the first member.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tablet device, and in particular to a tablet device with supporting stand.
Description of the Related Art
In a conventional tablet device with a supporting stand, the included angle between the tablet device and the supporting stand cannot be modified one-handed by a user. When the user desires to support the computer with the supporting stand, the included angle between the tablet device and the supporting stand must be modified by the user using both hands. This method of angle modification is annoying, since the support of the supporting stand slides easily and the tablet device may therefore fall down. The user must erect the tablet device rapidly.

Tablet device with pivot unit having twist spring


Methods and systems for natural language processing include pretraining a machine learning model that is based on a bidirectional encoder representations from transformers model, using a span selection training data set that associates a masked word with a passage. A natural language processing task is performed using the span selection pretrained machine learning model.

The present invention generally relates to natural language processing and, more particularly, to extended span selection training for natural language processing systems that use bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT).
Transformers are an approach to machine learning that are applied to sequence-to-sequence machine learning tasks that focus heavily on attention-based processes. In Transformer-based machine learning systems, an attention mechanism determines which parts of an input sequence are important.

Span selection training for natural language processing

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Exterior building siding for aesthetic and protection of the building against wind, rain and solar energy that includes attaching each horizontal plank from the top of the wall downwardly that includes a starting strip where each plank is interlocked to the plank above it. Each of the horizontal planks includes a top wall portion that fits snuggly into an “L-shaped” groove above it so that the panels can be firmly locked together vertically in a downwardly fashion to prevent any wind uplift against the siding or moisture intrusion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a building protective and aesthetic siding that is used to cover the exterior of a building and, specifically, to a building siding that includes horizontal planks that are interlocked together on top and bottom and that are installed from the top of a building wall in a downward direction.
2. Description of Related Art
Many buildings, residential dwellings and office buildings, use building siding on the exterior of the building for protecting the building from the elements and for aesthetic purposes. Typical building siding is constructed of a plurality of elongated, horizontal panels, planks, or strips that are typically overlapped from the wall bottom upwardly, with each next piece added that overlaps the piece below it. Such overlapping panels are used to protect the building from rain, solar and wind damage. The siding used on many residential and commercial buildings for the exterior is typically made of wooden planks that are overlapped, typically from the wall bottom upwardly. Plastic, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and aluminum sheets have also been used. Many of these materials are also sloped to aesthetically look like wood planks that are overlapped, one on top of the other giving each plank a slight incline instead of a substantially flat surface.
One of the problems with conventional siding that is constructed with panels or planks from the wall bottom up, i.e. each horizontal plank being covered by one on top of it, is that high winds can lift a plank reducing the siding durability.
The siding described herein adds durability and protection from wind and rain because the siding planks are placed on the building from the top down. Each of the individual horizontal planks are more securely held in place because of the top and bottom interlock connections.

Building siding with horizontal panels installed


A vent for a fluid system includes a chamber through which fluid can flow along either a first flow path or a second flow path, in which the resistance to fluid flow is relatively high when the fluid follows the first flow path and relatively low when the fluid follows the second flow path. In a preferred embodiment the chamber is substantially cylindrical and has two ports, one of which is substantially coaxial with the chamber and the other of which is substantially tangential to the chamber. The fluid flow, at least when flowing the first flow path, may include a component of higher density than the fluid, and the flow of fluid along the first flow path may act to separate the higher density component from the fluid.

Gas turbine engines typically include one or more shafts supported on oil-lubricated bearings. These bearings are housed in bearing chambers, and there are seals between the chamber and the shaft to inhibit the leakage of lubricating oil. It is usually arranged that, under normal operating conditions, the pressure outside a bearing chamber is slightly higher than the pressure within it. This differential pressure ensures that there is a continuous counterflow of air inwards through the seals and oil leakage is avoided. However, under certain transient conditions the pressures may change so that the differential pressure is reversed. In these circumstances, oil will tend to pass through the seals and out of the bearing chamber.
Various types of sealing arrangement are known that attempt to prevent oil leakage. Labyrinth seals generally require a large and heavy buffer system to operate properly; some such systems also incorporate drains to dispose of any oil that does leak, adding further weight and complexity. Carbon seals can operate with a smaller counterflow of air, which may save weight in the buffer system, but they are still prone to allow oil to escape if the differential pressure is reversed.
A separate vent may be provided for the bearing chamber, to allow an outward flow of air, when required, other than through the bearing chamber seals. Examples of such devices are simple vents, with or without restrictors, and spring-loaded valves; but oil can still escape from the bearing chamber through these devices, and so they do not solve the fundamental problem.
Any oil that does leak out of a bearing chamber may contaminate the core air flow of the engine. When gas turbine engines are installed in aircraft, typically a proportion of the core air flow is taken to supply breathable air for the crew and passengers. The "cabin odour" arising out of this sort of contamination has long been recognised as undesirable. However, in recent years it has become increasingly clear that contaminated cabin air may also represent a serious health and safety hazard.


A method for model customization according to an embodiment includes providing a user with prediction results of each of a plurality of pre-trained natural language processing models for a document subjected to analysis selected from a document set including a plurality of documents, acquiring user feedback on the prediction results from the user, generating a plurality of augmented documents from at least one of the plurality of documents based on data attributes of each of the plurality of documents and the user feedback; and retraining at least one of the plurality of natural language processing models, using training data including the plurality of augmented documents.

In general, a text data-labeling tool provides a pre-trained natural language processing model or a user-customized natural language processing model.
Providing a pre-trained model offers the benefit of ease of use for users but fails to offer customization of a model.
Providing a customized model brings about inconvenience since even users knowledgeable about computer programing and natural language processing are forced to customize a model to suit themselves for use according to the way required by the labeling tool, and users non-equipped with relevant knowledge experience difficulty in customizing a model.

Method and apparatus for customizing natural language processing model


A method of constructing a list of alternate transcripts from a recognized transcript includes generating a list of close call records, matching partial sub-histories from the recognized transcript with one of the history pairs stored in each of the records, and substituting the other of the history pairs for the partial sub-history of the recognized transcript. A close call record is generated each time a pair of partial hypotheses attempt to seed a common word. Each close call record includes history information and scoring information associated with a particular pair of partial hypotheses seeding a common word. Alternate transcripts are constructed by substituting close call histories for partial histories of the recognized transcripts, and also by substituting close call histories for partial histories of other alternate transcript.

The present invention relates to methods and systems for recognizing acoustic utterances, and more particularly, to generating alternate versions of a decoded utterance.
Handheld electronic devices (e.g., mobile phones, PDAs, etc., referred to herein as "handhelds") typically provide for user input via a keypad or similar interface, through which the user manually enters commands and/or alphanumeric data. Manually entering information may require the user to divert his attention from potentially critical activities (e.g., driving). One solution has been to equip the handheld with an embedded speech recognizer. In some cases, the speech recognizer may recognize only a constrained data set, such as a finite list of names or phone numbers; in other cases it may be able to recognize speech without constraint, for example in a dictation mode limited only by a set of valid words and rules of grammar.
Due to environmental noise, limitations in the handheld's audio receiver, and more significantly, due to limitations in computing power of the handheld, the speech recognizer may occasionally incorrectly decode the utterance from the user. To deal with such errors, some speech recognizers generate a list of N alternatives for the decoded utterance, referred to herein as the choice list (also known in the art as an N-best list), from which the user may choose the correct version.
Although there are several known techniques for creating a list of alternative utterances, such techniques tend to work best on platforms with significant processing power and relatively large amounts of available memory. Implementing these techniques on hand held platforms having limited memory resources and processing power reduces the effectiveness of the techniques.

Method of producing alternate utterance hypotheses using auxiliary information on close competitors


A document reader includes a document feeder conveying a document along a document conveyance path, a first image reader reading an image formed on a first side of the conveyed document, and a second image reader reading an image formed on a second side of the conveyed document. Each of the first and second image readers is of an optical reduction system constituted of a light source, a mirror, a lens and an image sensor. The second image reading means is unified into a single assembly including at least the mirror, the lens and the image sensor, to be thus detachably attached, as a single unit, to the document feeding means. Thus, the document reader can clearly read the images formed on the first and second sides, it requires a short period of time from image reading to image outputting, and its maintenance is readily conducted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document reader and, more particularly, to a document reader capable of reading images formed on both sides of a document while the document is automatically conveyed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional art relevant to the present invention, there has been known a document reader for reading images formed on both sides of a document while the document is automatically conveyed, the document reader comprising a document conveyance path, image reading means of an optical reduction system for reading an image formed on a first side of the document, and an image sensor of a contact type for reading an image formed on a second side of the document, wherein the document conveyance path includes, on a part thereof, a flat back-up guide plate urged by urging means, so that the image formed on the first side of the document is read by the image reading means of an optical reduction system and, then, the image formed on the second side of the document is read while the back-up guide plate urges the second side of the document toward the image sensor of the contact type, so as to compensate a disadvantage of the image sensor of the contact type having a small focal depth (see for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-182437).
Examples of an image reading system of a document reader installed in a copying machine or the like generally include a document fixing system and a document moving system.
In the document fixing system, a document is placed on a transparent platen by a user and, then, out of image reading means including a light source, a mirror group, a lens and a CCD disposed under the platen (hereinafter referred to as "image reading means of an optical reduction system"), an image formed on the document is scanned while the light source and the mirror group are moved with respect to the document, so that a light beam reflected on a mirror is focused on the CCD via the lens, whereby the image formed on the document is electronified.
On the other hand, in the document moving system, the document is scanned in a state in which the light source and the mirror group are stationary with respect to the document conveyed by an automatic document feeder (hereinafter abbreviated as an "ADF") to then pass on the platen; thus, the image is read.
Most of the recent document readers have been provided with the ADF, and further, have been configured in such a manner as to read images formed on both sides of the document to be conveyed by the ADF.
A system for reading images formed on both sides of a document has been exemplified by a system in which an image formed on a first side of the document is read by image reading means of an optical reduction system disposed under a platen while the document passes on the platen and, then, the document is reversed by the use of a switch-back path disposed on the way of a document conveyance path, and an image formed on a second side of the document is read while the document passes on the platen again.
However, in the above-described system in which the document is reversed by the use of the switch-back path, the image formed on the first side is read, the document is reversed by the use of the switch-back path, and the image formed on the second side is read while the document passes on the platen again. Therefore, much time has been required for reading the images formed on both sides.
In addition, the use of the switch-back path complicates a document conveyance control and, further, causes the high possibility of a document jam. The document jam, in particular, has been a problem to be most avoided in the document reader provided with the ADF.
In view of the above-described situations, there has been devised a system in which second image reading means is provided for reading an image formed on a second side of a document on a document conveyance path after an image formed on a first side of the document is read until the document reaches a paper discharge tray such that the images formed on both sides can be read while the document passes on a platen only once, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-182437.
However, the second image reading means has been disposed on the way of the document conveyance path in the ADF repeatedly opened or closed at frequent intervals with respect to the platen; therefore, there has been a restriction from the viewpoint of an installation space or durability against vibration. As a consequence, there has been usually adopted an image sensor of a contact type superior to the image reading means of the optical reduction system from the viewpoint of the installation space or the durability against the vibration.
In deed, the image sensor of the contact type is superior to the image reading means of the optical reduction system from the viewpoint of the installation space or the durability against the vibration, but is inferior to the image reading means of the optical reduction system from the viewpoint of a resolution or a focal depth.
Consequently, the image formed on the first side read by the image reading means of the optical reduction system is clear; however, the image formed on the second side read by the image sensor of the contact type is liable to become more unclear than the read image formed on the first side.
In view of this, most of the document readers have subjected data on the read images on the first and second sides to image processing, to then output the images, so as to achieve substantially the same quality of the image formed on the first side and the image formed on the second side.
However, such image processing imposes a heavy burden on a controller in the document reader and, hinders in shortening a time after image reading till image outputting.
In order to solve the above-described problems, it has been devised that image reading means of the optical reduction system for reading the image formed on the second side of the document, having performance similar to that of the image reading means of the optical reduction system for use in reading the image formed on the first side is replaced with the image sensor of the contact type.
As described above, the image reading means for reading the image formed on the second side is disposed on the way of the document conveyance path in the ADF repeatedly opened or closed with respect to the platen to generate vibration every time. Therefore, if the image reading means of the optical reduction system is disposed on the way of the document conveyance path in the ADF, there is induced a fear that an optical axis cannot be constantly kept caused by the deviation of an inclination angle of a mirror due to the repeated vibrations. It is indispensable to conduct a periodic maintenance in order to constantly keep the optical axis.
However, if the image reading means of the optical reduction system is merely disposed on the way of the document conveyance path in the ADF, there may occur an inconvenience that the maintenance of the image reading means of the optical reduction system cannot be conducted unless the ADF is disassembled every maintenance.
This not only requires much labor and skill for a maintenance service person but also forces a user to suffer an inconvenience of a long waiting time after the start of the maintenance till its completion.


A method and apparatus for optimizing cooling system performance using full-chip thermal analysis of semiconductor chip designs is provided. One embodiment of a novel method for optimizing the cooling of an electronic system incorporating at least one semiconductor chip includes receiving full-chip temperature data for the semiconductor chip(s) and configuring the cooling system for dissipating heat from the electronic system in accordance with the full-chip temperature data.

Semiconductor chips typically comprise the bulk of the components in an electronic system. These semiconductor chips are also often the hottest part of the electronic system, and failure of the system can often be traced back to thermal overload on the chips. Thermal management of semiconductor chips is therefore a critical parameter of electronic design, as it influences the design of the cooling system for a computing device or system incorporating the semiconductor chip.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary semiconductor chip 100. As illustrated, the semiconductor chip 100 comprises one or more semiconductor devices 102a-102n (hereinafter collectively referred to as "semiconductor devices 102"), such as transistors, resistors, capacitors, diodes and the like deposited upon a substrate 104 and coupled via a plurality of wires or interconnects 106a-106n (hereinafter collectively referred to as "interconnects 106"). These semiconductor devices 102 and interconnects 106 share power, thereby distributing a thermal gradient over the chip 100 that may range from 100 to 180 degrees Celsius in various regions of the chip 100.
Many methods currently exist for performing thermal analysis of semiconductor chips designs, e.g., to ensure that a chip constructed in accordance with a given design will not overheat and trigger a failure when deployed within an intended system. Such conventional methods, however, typically fail to provide a complete or an entirely accurate picture of the chip's operating thermal gradient. For example, typical thermal analysis models attempt to solve the temperature on the chip substrate, but do not solve the temperature in a full three dimensions, e.g., using industry standards design, package and heat sink data. Moreover, most typical methods do not account for the sharing of power among semiconductor devices and interconnects, which distributes the heat field within the chip, as discussed above. As a result, thermal management systems designed manage internal temperatures and/or thermal gradients in the chip (and/or system incorporating the chip) in operation (e.g., by dissipating heat from the chip or warming specific locations on the chip) are inefficiently designed. In fact, typical thermal management systems are designed with little or no knowledge of actual chip temperatures and gradients at all. This often leads to chip and/or system failure due to overheating or waste as excess cooling resources are directed to regions in which they are not needed.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for optimizing thermal management system performance using full-chip thermal analysis of semiconductor chip designs.

Method and apparatus for optimizing thermal management system performance using full-chip thermal analysis of semiconductor chip designs


The present disclosure relates to polymorphic Form D of bazedoxifene acetate, pharmaceutical compositions and methods of treatment using the same, and methods of preparing the same.

Bazedoxifene acetate has a chemical name of (1-[4-(2-azepan-1-yl-ethoxy)-benzyl]-2-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-3-methyl-1H-indol-5-ol acetic acid) and has the chemical structure shown below:

Bazedoxifene acetate belongs to the class of drugs typically referred to as selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). Consistent with its classification, bazedoxifene demonstrates affinity for estrogen receptors (ER) but shows tissue selective estrogenic effects. For example, bazedoxifene acetate demonstrates little or no stimulation of uterine response in preclinical models of uterine stimulation. Conversely, bazedoxifene acetate demonstrates an estrogen agonist-like effect in preventing bone loss and reducing cholesterol in an ovariectomized rat model of osteopenia. In an MCF-7 cell line (human breast cancer cell line), bazedoxifene acetate behaves as an estrogen antagonist. These data demonstrate that bazedoxifene acetate is estrogenic on bone and cardiovascular lipid parameters and antiestrogenic on uterine and mammary tissue and thus has the potential for treating a number of different disease or disease-like states in which the estrogen receptor is involved. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,998,402 and 6,479,535 and Miller, et al., Drugs of the Future, 2002, 27(2), 117-121, for further description of the bazedoxifene acetate's biological activity.
It is well known that the crystalline polymorph form of a particular drug is often an important determinant of the drug's ease of preparation, stability, solubility, storage stability, ease of formulation and in vivo pharmacology. Polymorphic forms occur where the same composition of matter crystallizes in a different lattice arrangement resulting in different thermodynamic properties and stabilities specific to the particular polymorph form. Different polymorphs of a given compound may differ from each other with respect to one or more physical properties, such as solubility and dissociation, true density, crystal shape, compaction behavior, flow properties, and/or solid state stability. In cases where two or more polymorph substances can be produced, it is desirable to have a method to make each polymorph in pure form. In deciding which polymorph is preferable in a given situation, the numerous properties of the polymorphs must be compared and the preferred polymorph chosen based on the many physical property variables. It is entirely possible that one polymorph form can be preferable in some circumstances where certain aspects such as ease of preparation, stability, etc. are emphasized. In other situations, a different polymorph may be preferred, e.g., for greater solubility and/or superior pharmacokinetics. However, preparing a polymorphic form of a drug involves many challenges because not only is it difficult to predict which polymorphic form will crystallize under certain conditions, it is also difficult to find conditions which will prevent conversion of one polymorph form to another.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present disclosure, suitable methods and materials are described below. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

Polymorphic Form D of bazedoxifene acetate and methods of preparing same


To eliminate a defect in conventional dental bleaching agent, that light for activating titanium oxide hardly reaches down to the titanium oxide at the teeth surface to be bleached, a dental bleaching agent set consists of two components of which the first component is attached to teeth surface and irradiation of light is followed after the second component is contacted on the teeth surface, the first component consisting of an organic solvent, containing at least one of a titanium oxide, a nitrogen doped titanium oxide, and a titanium oxinitride having photocatalytic activities, and preferably one or more of a metal oxide, a metal salt, and a metal powder, a thickener and water, the second component consisting of a compound that produces hydrogen peroxide in water, a thickener and a carrier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a teeth-bleaching set and the method for using such a teeth-bleaching set in removing (bleaching), by employing photocatalytic and hydrogen peroxide reactions, coloration and discoloration of teeth resulting from the deposition of pigments on the teeth.
2. Description of Conventional Art
Generally, whiteness of teeth is an important cosmetic element desired especially by young women and cases of seeking treatments for having whiter teeth increase. A method commonly in use is to use hydrogen peroxide solution.
In other words, in a common teeth-bleaching method, hydrogen peroxide with light or heat is utilized. In this method, a piece of gauze impregnated with hydrogen peroxide solution is placed on the labial surface of the teeth, and is irradiated, from side to side, with a lamp for about 30 minutes. This requires that the lamp used must be kept as close to the teeth as possible, and the hydrogen peroxide solution must be replenished approximately every five minutes to keep the gauze moist.
There is also a method, in which the irradiation of light from a lamp is replaced by applying a high frequency current for one (1) second with a high frequency electric cautery knife equipped with a spoon-shaped tip, then pausing for eight (8) seconds, and repeating this process for 6˜8 times. In yet another method, in place of a piece of gauze impregnated with hydrogen peroxide solution, a solution (paste) made by mixing a thickener with hydrogen peroxide solution is used as an agent, and is applied directly to the teeth surface.
Besides the above, there are numerous bleaching agents and methods that have been proposed in using combinations of hydrogen peroxide solution, a variety of instruments, and other agents. Among them are: a bleaching method in which a mixture of hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide solution, and diethylether is used as a bleaching agent; a method in which a paste made from kneading together sodium perborate powder and 30% by weight of hydrogen peroxide solution is used as a bleaching agent; a bleaching agent in which a mixture of hydrogen peroxide solution with orthophosphoric acid is used and a bleaching method with using it, as seen in Japanese Patent Laid-Open JP-A-08143436; a bleaching agent made by a mixture of anhydrous silicic acid with hydrogen peroxide solution and a method of bleaching a vital teeth by application of said bleaching agent, as seen in Japanese Patent Laid-Open JP-A-05320033; and dental bleaching compositions made from a dental bleaching agent (such as urea hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen carbamide peroxide and carbamide peroxide.) and a matrix material (such as carboxymethylene.), and their respective application methods, as seen in Japanese Patent Laid-Open JP-A-08113520, etc. But these conventional methods that employ hydrogen peroxide have a common shortcoming in that they require a lengthy bleaching time. Also, there is a bleaching method practiced in the United States in which urea peroxide of about 10% by weight concentration is used instead of hydrogen peroxide, but due to lengthy time required as in the use of hydrogen peroxide, the results are not satisfactory.
Instead of using hydrogen peroxide solution in bleaching as mentioned above, a dental bleaching method by using a titanium dioxide powder having photocatalytic activities and hydrogen peroxide in low concentration has been proposed, as seen in Japanese Patent Laid-Open JP-A-11092351. However, the conventional bleaching agent employing the titanium dioxide has a poor bleaching efficiency and, in order to meet the satisfactory whitening demanded by patients, a lengthy bleaching time is also needed.

Dental bleaching agent kit and the method for bleaching teeth


A crimping tool is described comprising a first crimping member, a second crimping member, at least one intermediate crimping member, a first sliding member and a second sliding member. The free ends of the first crimping member and the second crimping member form an opening of the crimping tool. The first crimping member, the at least one intermediate crimping member, and the second crimping member are sequentially hinged together via connecting devices. The first sliding member is slidably disposed on the free end of the first crimping member. The second sliding member is slidably disposed on the free end of the second crimping member. The first sliding member is adjacent to the second sliding member. The inner sides of the first crimping member, the at least one intermediate crimping member, the second crimping member, the first sliding member, and the second sliding member are formed to be pressed with the workpiece to be crimped. The crimping tool has a simple structure and good crimping performance, so that the workpiece is uniformly stressed and burrs on the workpiece can be reduced.

Pipe fittings are commonly used components in conveying systems for transporting fluids such as water, oil, and the like. A crimping tool is often used to crimp and lock the fitting interface when connecting the fittings. In order to ensure the reliability and/or sealing of the pipe connection, a crimping tool that uniformly applies force to the pipe and has a simplified structure is desired.
A crimping tool is known in the prior art that includes two semi-circular crimp members. The two semi-circular crimp members are coupled via a hinge shaft such that the two semi-circular crimp members are rotatable about the hinge shaft. A space (also referred to as a crimping space) for accommodating a workpiece to be crimped (e.g., a tubular member) is defined between the inner sides of the two semi-circular crimping members. This crimping tool performs a crimping operation when the two semicircular crimping members are rotated toward each other centering on the hinge shaft. During the crimping operation, the portion of the crimping tool that is adjacent to the hinged shaft exerts a greater pressure on the workpiece, while the open portion of the crimping tool that is remote from the hinged shaft exerts less pressure on the tubular member. Since the tube is unevenly stressed, it is deformed from a portion with a large force toward a portion with a small force to be non-circular. Moreover, wrinkles (or may be referred to as burrs) appear at the position of the tubular member adjacent to the opening portion of the crimping tool, which affects the reliability and/or sealing of the tubular connection.
Another crimping tool is known in the art that includes an inner laminate ring and an outer laminate ring. The outer laminate ring includes a plurality of outer laminate members that are hingedly joined together. The inner laminate ring includes a plurality of inner laminate members joined to the outer laminate ring and slidable relative to the outer laminate ring. For such a crimping tool, the number of crimping members is large, the structure is complicated, and the manufacturing and assembly costs are high.
Therefore, there is still room for improvement in the crimping performance of the crimping tool.


An apparatus for accurately dispensing a predetermined amount of viscous liquid such as conductive adhesive, cream solder and the like. The apparatus includes a first pressure sensor arranged in a pipe line connected between a dispensing solenoid valve and a syringe, and a second pressure sensor and an accumulator arranged in a pipe line connected between the dispensing solenoid value and an air supply so that an output is controlled in accordance with variation of an integral valve of pressure measured by the first pressure sensor integrated with a preset output time of the shifting output signal thereby controlling the dispensing of liquid based on the remaining amount of liquid in the syringe and the variation in the internal pressure in the syringe to accurately discharge the predetermined amount of liquid and prevent dripping of liquid from the syringe.

The present invention relates to a liquid dispensing apparatus adapted for accurately metering and discharging a predetermined quantity of viscous liquid such as resin material, conductive adhesive, cream solder, UV resin, silver paste and the other paste like material used in coating, dotting, fixing and injecting processes.
A liquid dispensing apparatus discussed for example in Japanese patent application laid open 63-97259. This paste dispensing apparatus comprises a syringe containing a paste or the like, an air supply for supplying air under a positive pressure to the syringe, a dispensing solenoid valve arranged between the syringe and the air supply. The solenoid valve is connected to the syringe by means of a first pipe line and to the air supply by means of a second pipe line for communicating the syringe with the air supply when the paste is dispensed from the syringe. A first pressure sensor measure a pressure in the first pipe line and a second pressure sensor measures a pressure in the second pipe line. A controller having inputs for signals of measured pressure is connected to the first and second pressure sensor. The controller also has a voltage signal output for actuating the dispensing solenoid valve to connect the first and second pipe lines to each other at the start of dispensation. The controller controls a duration of the output voltage signal until the pressure measured by the first pressure sensor reaches a preset pressure after the first and second pipe lines are communicated to each other.
The aforementioned paste dispensing apparatus further comprises an air suction device connected to the dispensing solenoid valve by a third pipe line to connect the first and third pipe lines while the first and second pipe lines are not connected to each other. The air suction device supplies air under a negative pressure to the first pipe line to prevent the paste from dripping from the syringe after completion of dispensing.
The controller outputs a voltage signal that actuates the dispensing solenoid valve to supply a positive air pressure from the air supply to the syringe thereby dispensing the paste from the syringe. A variation in the pressure measured by the first pressure sensor in relation to the amount of paste remaining in the syringe is estimated by the controller so that the amount of the paste dispensed by the syringe is constant in spite of a variation in the amount of the paste remaining in the syringe.
The aforementioned paste dispensing apparatus can be controlled to dispense a predetermined amount of paste from the syringe when the air pressure in the syringe reaches a preset pressure P as shown by a curve q in FIG. 5. The aforementioned dispensing apparatus however cannot be controlled to accurately dispense the paste from the syringe when the air pressure in the syringe does not reach the preset pressure P as shown by a curve in FIG. 5 because of change or variation of syringe inner volume, pipe line inner diameter, or compressed pressure.
The present invention solves the foregoing problems and provides an improved liquid dispensing apparatus capable of dispensing a constant amount of liquid in spite of variations in the curve of air pressure in the syringe. The present invention also quickly and effectively prevents liquid from dripping out of the syringe between repeated dispensations of the liquid.
A liquid dispensing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a syringe containing liquid, an air supply for supplying air under a positive pressure to the syringe, a dispensing solenoid valve arranged between the syringe and the air supply, a first pipe line connecting the syringe to the dispensing solenoid valve, a second pipe line connecting the dispensing solenoid valve to the air supply, a first pressure sensor for measuring the internal pressure in the first pipe line, a second pressure sensor for measuring the internal pressure in the second pipe line, an accumulator connected to the second pipe line, and a controller having a shifting output signal to the dispensing solenoid valve. The controller controls an output time of the shifting output signal in accordance with variation of an integral value of pressure measured by the first pressure sensor integrated with a preset output time of the shifting output signal after the first and second pipe lines are connected by the dispensing solenoid valve.
The liquid dispensing apparatus according to the present invention may further comprise a suction solenoid valve connected to the dispensing solenoid valve by means of a third pipe line, an air suction source connected to the suction solenoid valve by means of a fourth pipe line, a vent solenoid valve connected to the third pipe line, and an accumulator connected to the fourth pipe line wherein each of the solenoid valves are connected to the controller.
In operation, the controller of the liquid dispensing apparatus according to the present invention outputs a shift signal of a voltage signal to the dispensing solenoid valve to supply air under a positive pressure from the air supply to the syringe for a duration corresponding to a quantity of liquid remaining in the syringe, to thereby accurately dispense liquid from the syringe. In order to supply air under positive pressure corresponding to the quantity of liquid in the syringe, an amount of liquid remaining in the syringe is determined by an integrated value of pressure measured by the first pressure sensor during a predetermined voltage signal output duration thereby permitting a determination of a required dispensing time. Thus, the controller outputs a voltage signal to the dispensing solenoid valve for the determined time to supply air under a positive pressure into the syringe.
According to the present invention, variation in the rising pressure curve caused by variation of quantity of liquid remaining in the syringe as measured by the first pressure sensor is detected as a variation in the integrated value during a set time. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a problem occurring in the prior art which results from detection of the variation in the rising curve as a variation in the time required for reaching the set pressure.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the atmospheric pressure or a negative pressure from air suction devices is applied to the syringe simultaneously with the termination of the supply of air under a positive pressure to the syringe, so that the dripping of liquid from the syringe is effectively prevented.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the pressure measured at the beginning of the supply of air under pressure to the syringe until the internal pressure in the syringe reaches a preset pressure can be made even by means of an accumulator so that a duration of the output voltage signal from the controller can be controlled with high accuracy without any influence from variations in the positive pressure supplied from the air supply source. Specifically, the accumulator connected to the fourth pipe line can reduce the internal pressure in the syringe to a predetermined negative pressure in short time and prevent a variation in the internal pressure in the syringe which may be caused by pulsation in the air suction source. Furthermore, the vent opening solenoid valve connected to the third pipe line can open to reduce the internal pressure in the syringe to the atmospheric pressure in a very short time with less pipe friction and instantly stop the discharge of liquid out of the syringe to thereby greatly shorten the dispensing cycle time.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following Detailed Description of the Invention and the accompanying Drawings described below .

Apparatus for metering and discharging a liquid


Stackable trays for bags containing liquids, stacked arrangements and stacking methods are disclosed. A tray has a first surface to support one or more bags containing liquid and could include a plurality of cells adapted to receive the bags. The tray has a second surface opposite the first surface. The second surface transfers at least a portion of a load on the first surface to one or more bags containing liquid arranged below the second surface. A stacked arrangement includes multiple layers of bags containing liquid with a respective stackable tray between adjacent layers of the multiple layers. The trays could thus be used in stacking or otherwise arranging bags containing liquid in multiple layers.

Currently, beverages such as milk, juice and water and/or other liquids can be sold to consumers in plastic bags. In the present application, the term "milk bags" refers to plastic bags that hold milk for sale. Milk bags are typically filled with milk at a production location and then placed into crates for shipping to a retail or wholesale location for display and/or sale.
A representative example of a crate well known in the prior art is milk crate 100, which is plastic molded as illustrated in FIG. 1. Other milk crates of similar size and construction can be constructed of corrugated cardboard. Milk crates which hold milk bags 104 typically have a rigid frame, being square or rectangular in shape, and when such crates are stacked one crate sits on the upper edges of the side walls of the crate below. Thus, each side wall 102 supports a load from the crate(s) stacked above. It is possible to employ a collapsible crate instead, but these are not generally used because they can be labour intensive to employ. In general milk crates are not considered to be very pleasing from an esthetic point of view to consumers.
Another means of shipping, displaying and selling milk bags is shelving unit 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 which is typically constructed of metal. Shelving unit 200 consists of a frame 202 and one or more shelves 204 connected to the frame. The frame, generally, may include four vertical legs 206, which allow each shelf to be attached to the legs at each corner of the shelf. Wheels 208 can be connected to a bottom side of a bottom shelf to provide mobility. Milk bags can be placed on shelves 204 for display and sale to a consumer. Each metal shelf, except the lowest shelf, may be folded up so that a shelf underneath can be loaded. The shelves are kept in the up position by means of a pull pin. The pull pin can unintentionally slide out of its guide allowing the shelf to fall from the up position.
Depending on the volume of milk bags sold, retailers of milk bags may need to store and have on band multiple milk crates or shelving units for display to the customers in their stores. Prior art milk crates and shelving units can take up a lot of space which means that significant amount of valuable storage and display space can be taken up at a retailer. Furthermore, such prior art crates and shelves can also take up a lot of space when empty and not in use. Storage and transportation of empty milk crates and shelving units back to milk producers can also lead to an inefficient use of valuable space.
Rigid frame milk crates and shelving units also have the disadvantage of being less likely to be returned to milk producers for reuse. Rigid frame milk crates take up a lot of space when stacked. Milk bag shelving units can also lead to an inefficient use of space when transported back to a milk producer for reuse.

Stackable tray for bags containing liquids, stacked arrangements and stacking methods


A water heater fitting for draining water from a water heater that has a threaded heating element opening configured to threadably receive and support a heating element. The water heater fitting includes a body having opposite first and second ends. The body defines a fluid passage extending between and opening out of the first and second ends. The body includes a water heater connector defining the first end. The water heater connector includes a male threaded portion configured to be threadably received in the threaded heating element opening to form a threaded connection with the threaded heating element opening when the heating element is removed from the threaded heating element opening for draining water out of the water heater.

Water heaters, such as residential water heaters, require periodic draining for various reasons. In some instances, draining can be complicated if the drain is obstructed. Sediment and/or calcium deposits build up over time inside water heaters and needs to be removed. The sediment and/or calcium deposits are the result of salt, rust or alkaline impurities in the water that settle out of the water and build up along the interior surfaces of the water heater. In order to remove this sediment from the water heater, the water within the water heater is generally drained. The water heater typically includes a drain or drain valve at the bottom of the water heater, which can be opened to allow water to flow out of the water heater. After the water is drained from the water heater, the sediment can be removed. One way to remove the sediment is by removing the heating element and inserting a vacuum into the water heater through the heating element opening, as is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,569 and U.S. 2012/0298143. However, in certain circumstances, the build of sediment in the water heater may clog and block the drain, preventing the water from flowing through the drain and out of the water heater. In order to drain the water from the water heater, the drain must first be unclogged.

Water heater fitting for draining a water heater


A spacecraft has a high efficiency multi-beam antenna (MBA) system that serves a coverage region on the Earth. The coverage region subtends an angle, when viewed from the spacecraft, of at least ten degrees. The antenna system provides, within the coverage region, at least sixteen spot beams. A signal provided by the MBA system to each spot beam has a carrier to interference ratio (C/I) of no less than 20 dB. The system enables use of a three color frequency reuse scheme without recourse to signal encoding.

The assignee of the present invention manufactures and deploys spacecraft for, inter alia, communications and broadcast services from geosynchronous orbit. Market demands for such spacecraft have imposed increasingly stringent requirements on spacecraft payloads. For example, broadband service providers desire spacecraft with payloads offering increased data rate capacity at higher effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) through each of an increased number of user spot beans.
A multi-beam antenna (MBA) system generates a set of user spot beams that define a coverage area which may extend, in aggregate, across a large region on the ground. MBA's providing wide-band communications services from a geosynchronous satellite conventionally provide contiguous coverage of a region with a triangular lattice of overlapping circular antenna beams. These beams are conventionally formed using close packed clusters of circular feed horns, also centered on a triangular lattice. The feed horns illuminate, for example, offset fed parabolic reflectors to provide the desired antenna gain. Since, in order to provide contiguous coverage, the circular beams must overlap, the unique coverage area of each individual beam is normally defined as the inscribed hexagon of the edge of coverage circular gain contour, as illustrated in FIG. 1. The corners of the hexagon are located at the points where the edge of coverage gain contours from three adjacent beams cross. The sides of the hexagons represent points of approximately equal performance between adjacent beams.
An objective of many MBA systems is to enhance spectrum utilization efficiency by providing for frequency reuse among the multiple antenna beams. To avoid interference near the beam edges, known payload designs provide that unencoded signals in adjacent, and nearly adjacent, beams utilize distinctly different combinations of frequency sub band and polarization. For example, a "four-color" frequency reuse scheme, also illustrated in FIG. 1, is known, where each color of the four color scheme defines a particular combination of frequency sub band and polarization. Features of such a coverage pattern are discussed in Gehring, et al., "Trade-off for Overlapping Feed Array Configurations, 29th ESA Antenna Workshop on Multiple Beams and Reconfigurable Antennas", April 2007 (hereinafter "Gehring"), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Interference mitigation may also be achieved by various encoding schemes, as disclosed by Cottatellucci, et al., "Interference mitigation techniques for broadband satellite system", ICSSC 2006, 24th AIAA International Communications Satellite Systems Conference, 11-15 Jun. 2006, San Diego, USA (hereinafter, "Cottatellucci"), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Another objective of an MBA system is to maximize beam forming efficiency, measured as gain area product (GAP) of the MBA divided by 4π steradians (41,253 square degrees). GAP=Gmin*Acov, where Gmin is the gain over coverage area, Acov, with Acov expressed in square degrees. Known MBA systems provide a GAP of 10000-16000 and, therefore, a beam forming efficiency in the range of 24% to 39%, although higher efficiencies are desirable See: Han, C. C., et al., "Satellite Antennas", Antenna Handbook, volume 3, chapter 21, edited by Lo, Y. T., et al., ISBN 0-442-01594-1 (hereinafter, "Han"), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
As the above mentioned references, at least, make clear, there is a long-felt need for a high throughput spacecraft that more efficiently uses available frequency spectrum and improves beam forming efficiency of a multi beam antenna.


An aerocar includes a body and a multiple of wings. The multiple of wings can be selectively extendable away from a top portion of the body for a flight mode. The multiple of wings can be selectively retractable toward the top portion of the body for a roadable mode.

The present disclosure pertains to a vehicle that can be flown as a fixed wing aircraft and driven as a land vehicle. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to stackable wing architectures therefor.
Flying has always been a dream central to the history of humanity. Aerocars or roadable aircraft are defined as vehicles that may be driven on roads as well as take off, fly, and land as aircraft. Vehicles that demonstrate such capability provide operators with freedom, comfort, and the ability to arrive quickly to a destination as mobility becomes three-dimensional yet remains private and personal. Such vehicles, however, may require various trade offs to facilitate operations in the flight mode and the roadable mode.
Typically, a body of a land vehicle is relatively short to facilitate parking and road maneuverability, whereas a body of an aircraft is relatively long to facilitate flight stability and control authority. In one conventional roadable aircraft, each wing folds upward at a root and downward a mid-span location to stow against the fuselage in the land mode. Although effective, the more numerous the fold locations, the greater the weight and complexity that necessarily influences operability in each mode. Further, such wing stowage may limit operator aft and side views conducive to effective operations in the road mode.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A process for acidizing a formation where variable density acids are utilized. A substantially low density non-reactive fluid is loaded into an interval of the formation to be treated. Afterwards, a high density first stage acid is injected into the interval. Thereafter, a low density spacer fluid is injected into the interval being treated. Next, a second stage high density acid having a density lower than the first stage acid is injected into said interval. Subsequently, a low density spacer is injected into the interval. Volume increments are repeatedly injected with decreasing fluid densities until a desired zone has been treated. The entire treatment is then overflushed with an inert high density fluid.

It is a common practice to acidize subterranean formations in order to increase the permeability thereof. For example, in the petroleum industry, it is conventional to inject an acidizing fluid into a well in order to increase the permeability of a surrounding hydrocarbon-bearing formation and thus facilitate the flow of hydrocarbonaceous fluids into the well from the formation or the injection of fluids such as gas or water, from the well into the formation. Such acidizing techniques may be carried out as "matrix acidizing" procedures or as "acid-fracturing" procedures.
In acid fracturing the acidizing fluid is disposed within the well opposite the formation to be fractured. Thereafter, sufficient pressure is applied to the acidizing fluid to cause the formation to break down with the resultant production of one or more fractures therein. An increase in permeability thus is effected by the fractures reaction of the acid within the formation with little or no permeability increase being due to mechanical disruptions within the formation as in fracturing.
In matrix acidizing, the acidizing fluid is passed into the formation from the well at a pressure below the breakdown pressure of the formation. In this case, increase in permeability is effected primarily by the chemical reaction of the acid within the formation with little or no permeability increase being due to mechanical disruptions within the formation as in fracturing.
In yet another technique involving acidizing, the formation is fractured. Thereafter, an acidizing fluid is injected into the formation at fracturing pressures to extend the created fracture. The acid functions to dissolve formation materials forming the walls of the fracture, thus increasing the width and permeability thereof.
In most cases, acidizing procedures are carried out in calcareous formations such as dolomites, limestones, and dolomitic sandstones, etc. One difficulty encountered in the acidizing of such a formation is presented by the rapid reaction rate of the acidizing fluid with those portions of the formation with which it first comes into contact. This is particularly serious in matrix acidizing procedures. As the acidizing fluid is forced from the well into the formation, the acid reacts rapidly with the calcareous material immediately adjacent to the well. Thus, the acid becomes spent before it penetrates into the formation a significant distance from the well. For example, in matrix acidizing of a limestone formation, it is common to achieve maximum penetration with a live acid to a depth of only a few inches to a foot from the face of the wellbore. This, of course, severely limits the increase in productivity or injectivity of the well.
In order to increase the penetration depth, it has heretofore been proposed to add a reaction inhibitor to the acidizing fluid. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,672 issued to N. F. Carpenter, there is disclosed an acidizing process in which inhibitor, such as alkyl-substituted carboximides and alkyl-substituted sulfoxides, is added to the acidizing solution. Another technique for increasing the penetration depth of an acidizing solution is that disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,076,762 issued to W. R. Dill, wherein solid, liquid, or gaseous carbon dioxide is introduced into the formation in conjunction with the acidizing solution. The carbon dioxide acts as a coolant, thus retarding the reaction rate of the acid with the formation carbonates. Also, the carbon dioxide is said to become solubilized in the acidizing solution, thus resulting in the production of carbonic acid which changes the equilibrium point of the acid-carbonate reaction to accomplish a retarding effect.
An additional procedure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,850,098 issued to Moll et al. involves the removal of contaminants from a water well and the adjacent formation through the injection of gaseous hydrogen chloride. Still another technique for acidizing a calcareous formation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,957 issued to Every et al. In this process liquid anhydrous hydrogen chloride is forced from a well into the adjacent formations. The liquid hydrogen chloride vaporizes within the formation and the resulting gas dissolves in the formation to form hydrochloric acid which then attacks the formation.
In hydrocarbonaceous bearing formations, it is frequently necessary to use acid or some reactive fluid to remove wellbore and near wellbore damage. In deep and extensive intervals it is difficult to completely cover the zone of interest up and down the wellbore. Variations in extent of damage, permeability, and mineral content affect the reactivity of the material used to clean up the wellbore damage. Part of the interval will likely take a major part of the injected fluid leaving other parts untreated.
"Diverting" materials such as perforation ball sealers, benzoic acid, or resin are frequently used to cause acid or reactive fluid to flow into other parts of the interval. However, since most diverting solids are only slowly soluble in produced fluids, they may damage the interval being stimulated.
Consequently, even with favorable well response only partial success is currently being achieved with conventional damage removal treatments.
Therefore, what is needed is a method for acid treating a formation where all desired intervals receive a required amount of acid for stimulating purposes and which method does not require the use of diverting materials.


A fuser allows a sheet medium on which a toner image has formed to path through while heating the sheet medium, thereby fusing the toner image on the sheet medium. A plurality of first rollers are arrayed in a first direction. A plurality of second rollers are arrayed in the first direction and respectively coming in contact with the first rollers with a first pressure. The second rollers are adapted to eject the sheet medium nipped between the first rollers and the second rollers to the outside of the apparatus in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. A plurality of third rollers are arrayed in the first direction so that each of the third rollers is disposed between adjacent ones of the first rollers, the third roller adapted to be brought into contact with the sheet medium with a second pressure which is smaller than the first pressure.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of forming a toner image on a sheet-shaped recording medium (hereinafter referred to simply as "sheet medium") such as plain paper, thick paper, a postcard, an envelope, or an OHP sheet.
An image forming apparatus is known which is equipped with a fuser for fusing a toner image on a sheet medium by causing the sheet medium to which the toner image has been transferred to pass through the fuser while heating it and a sheet ejecting roller pair for ejecting the sheet medium from the apparatus.
In this type of image forming apparatus, a sheet medium tends to curl when it is heated in passing through the fuser. If the sheet medium is ejected as it is, it may be rounded at an ejecting section (e.g., sheet ejection tray). Or the leading end of a curled sheet medium may hit an already ejected sheet medium and push out the latter from the ejecting section (e.g., sheet medium ejection tray).
One conventional countermeasure against the above phenomenon is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-171963A. The sheet ejecting roller pair is formed by plural drive rollers that are spaced from each other and fixed to a drive shaft and follower rollers that are the same in number as the drive rollers and are brought into pressure contact with the drive rollers. Each roller of one of the two sets of rollers is provided with a large-diameter flange at both ends and a corresponding one the other set of rollers goes into the space between the flanges. As a result, a sheet medium being ejected is waved when viewed from the ejecting direction and thereby made stiffer (rollers for waving a sheet medium when viewed from its ejecting direction in this manner are called corrugation rollers). The sheet medium is thus prevented from being curled.
In the above apparatus, the sheet ejecting roller pair itself is given the function of waving a sheet medium; that is, the ejecting roller pair is configured so as to wave a sheet medium by its pressure contact force. Since the purpose of the sheet medium ejection pair is to eject a sheet medium, the pressure contact force of the rollers constituting the sheet ejecting roller pair needs to be strong enough to eject a sheet medium reliably irrespective of its type. This results in a problem that when a synthetic resin sheet medium is ejected after being heated by the fuser, the waved state may be permanent.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-289564A discloses an image forming apparatus in which a door cover is equipped with a roller pair which is disposed downstream of a fuser and transports a sheet medium coming from the fuser. With this configuration, the replacement of the fuser is facilitated and a sheet medium that is jammed in the fuser or a portion downstream thereof can be removed easily.
In this apparatus, the door cover is configured so as to be able to be opened and closed merely by a shaft. Therefore, the accuracy of positioning, with respect to the fuser, of the roller pair which is provided in the door cover tends to be low, which results in a problem that a sheet medium jam is prone to occur.
E-rings are known as stoppers to be attached to a shaft. Generally, the end face of a shaft to which the E-ring is attached is exposed. The exposed end face may be touched by a human hand, for example. Therefore, a state that the temperature of the shaft is high and its end face is exposed is not desirable. For example, the temperature of a shaft close to a fuser of an image forming apparatus becomes high and hence a state that its end face is exposed is not desirable.


A system and method of spatial/tabular data presentation. Display data is identified for display. Relations for the display data are identified. The display data is displayed in a data display having a tabular column and a spatial column. Data identifiers are displayed in the tabular column and spatial identifiers connected with spatial connectors according to the relations are displayed in the spatial column.

Data presentation, such as data presentation in a graphic user interface (GUI) on a display device of a computer system, is important to allow the user to understand, interpret, and use the data. Presently, data is provided in either tabular layouts, such as spreadsheets, or spatial layouts, such as trees. Tabular layouts have the disadvantage that it is difficult for the user to identify relationships between and among the data in the table. Users are unable to trace paths connecting the data in the table. Spatial layouts, such as topology viewers in systems management consoles, have the disadvantage that it is difficult for the user to scan and sort the individual pieces of data. Users can become disoriented, rendering them unable to locate a particular piece of data when the spatial layout becomes too large or too complex. Such confusion can hinder troubleshooting of problems.
A single layout lacks the flexibility to allow the user to respond efficiently to all situations in which they need to identify and interpret data. One particular type of layout may be better suited to one particular task than another. For example, studies of airline reservation systems have shown that questions involving spatial relationships, such as how to get from one location to another, are more easily answered from a spatial layout of data. Questions involving verbal concepts, such as how many flights would arrive at a particular time, are more easily answered from a tabular layout of data.
It would be desirable to have system and method of spatial/tabular data presentation that would overcome the above disadvantages.

Displaying relationships between tabular data using spatial identifiers

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention concerns the control of thyristor-type semiconductor power components (Sw) powered by an alternating current network (VS). The control signal is a pulse (Ie). It is stored in the form of magnetic induction (B), positive or negative, in a core (T) made of ferromagnetic material. At each current alternation of the network, the interrogation of the magnetic state of the strand results in the presence, or not, of a control signal on the power device (Sw).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the control of semiconductor power components.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The present invention more specifically relates to the pulse control of semiconductor power components used as switches and switching a load supplied by an A.C. network.
Current static power switches are thyristors and triacs. Structures derived from these devices are also used, which can combine several thyristors and use MOS transistors or bipolar transistors in the gate circuit.
Devices of thyristor type are reset in off position upon each zero crossing. On the assumption that the power switch must be maintained in on position, adequate control signals must be applied thereto upon each network halfwave.

Method and pulse-control circuit for a power component


Medical thermal image processing for vein or other subsurface element detection and related methods is provided. A method for thermal image processing to enhance thermal scene information includes taking an output of an infrared camera and coupling the output to a spatial high pass filter. An output of the spatial high pass filter is then applied to a scene-based noise suppression module.

Various methods have been developed for the discernment of veins in the human body. However, improved means are needed for the rapid discernment of veins across various body types, skin colors, and topical features by persons of various medical experience levels. While infrared data systems have been utilized in the past to detect subsurface structures such as veins, bones, and other biologic materials, these systems have failed to provide sufficient resolution for the various body parts sought to be imaged.
In general, scene-based methods for low-frequency spatial noise removal and dynamic range enhancement involve removing slowly varying or low spatial frequency image content which adds little value to the visual perception of veins or other important objects found in thermal imagery in general and in medical thermal imaging in particular. These slowly varying image components may be due to anomalies within the thermal camera or they may be characteristics of the actual scene. They degrade the overall image quality and reduce the information accessible to the human observer by reducing the image dynamic range available for more valuable higher spatial frequency image content.
High spatial frequency image non-uniformity has an impact on the difficulty or ease with which veins and other important objects found in thermal imaging in general, and in medical thermal imagery in particularly, are perceived by a human observer. Noise and clutter also can have the same impact. For this reason the term spatial noise is often used to describe high spatial frequency image non-uniformity and is the term used herein.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Medical thermal image processing for subcutaneous detection of veins, bones and the like

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.