A positioning system for moving a device over an xy-plane has a drive mechanism with pivotable arms for moving a carriage over the xy-plane by driving it from one side. This drive mechanism allows the system to be made narrow along the other side.

This invention relates to a positioning system, and particularly to a system for positioning equipment, such as a liquid dispenser, with high precision over at least a two dimensional plane.
Coordinate positioning systems are used to carry instruments along two or three orthogonal axes to desired locations to perform some task, such as liquid dispensing, measuring, or milling. While a number of devices use such a positioning system, the system of the present invention is described for use with a liquid dispensing system that dispenses small quantities of liquid, such as dots of epoxy or an encapsulating liquid, on a printed circuit board.
FIG. 1 is a general representation of a known positioning device 10 for moving a carriage 12 that holds a liquid dispensing device 14 over a workpiece 15. Device 10 has a gantry 16 that is moved with a first motor 18 along a y-axis. Gantry 16 has a horizontal beam 20 along which a second motor 22 moves carriage 12 along an x-axis. Dispensing device 14 is moved along a vertical z-axis with a third motor 24. Movement along any or all of these axes can be accomplished with a lead screw as shown here, with a belt drive, or with a rack and pinion. Note that FIG. 1 is merely a general representation for illustrative purposes, but many other configurations for this general type of positioning device have been used; for example, a vertical beam can be moved along the x-axis, while the vertical beam supports a separate horizontal beam that is movable relative to the vertical beam.
For a given device with a positioning system, the device has a total area that the device takes up (a "footprint"), and a workable area, defined here in the xy-plane, over which the device operates on workpieces 15. To work in this workable area along the x and y axes, the device needs additional space along the x and y axes to accommodate motors and beams, bearings sufficient to hold the carriage firmly, and any other needed components. In a typical system, it is not uncommon along the x-axis for the working area W to be no more than 70% of the total width T of the device (note that FIG. 1 is not to scale). With the increasing expense of manufacturing floor space, particularly in clean room environments, it would be desirable to be able to reduce the amount of space that is needed to operate in a given work area, i.e., to reduce the footprint and thereby increase W/T along at least one axis.


A bracket full automatically securing a transformer to a utility pole, wherein the bracket includes an elongated base attached to the utility pole, a multi-linked belt for attaching the base to the utility pole, and a keeper pivotally connected to the base for automatically engaging a carrier connected to the transformer when said carrier is positioned on said keeper. The bracket further includes means for automatically locking the keeper in a closed position about said carrier and means for automatically anchoring a lower portion of the transformer to the base concurrent with the engagement of the carrier by the keeper.

Prior to the conception of the present invention, electrical transformers were mounted to utility poles with the use of a bracket connected to the transformer and secured to the pole by bolts. The bracket had a set of apertures extending therethrough which required manual alignment with a corresponding set of pre-drilled apertures in the utility pole prior to the insertion of the bolts therethrough. The transformer was typically suspended adjacent the apertures during such mounting procedures and as the transformer remained suspended, nuts adapted for threaded engagement of the bolts were secured thereon and tightened to secure the transformer bracket in pressed abutment with the utility pole. Alternatively, a mounting bracket was connected to the pole by the bolts whereby the transformer bracket was subsequently bolted to the mounting bracket. Either method required a relatively substantial amount of time during which the transformer must be suspended adjacent the pole.
Electrical transformers are extremely heavy and present a potential hazard to workers handling such devices when the transformer is being precariously suspended during mounting procedures. Inadvertent error during the suspension of such a transformer could result in its uncontrolled swinging and potential impact with workers, the equipment supporting the workers or electrical lines in the immediate work area. Therefore, it is crucial to minimize the transformer suspension time during which the transformer is mounted and dismounted from a utility pole.


A system or optimizing a flight plan for an electric aircraft is provided. The system includes, a computing device, wherein the computing device is configured t receive a plurality of measured flight data from a remote device, identify at least an aircraft requirement as a function of the plurality of measured flight data, generate at least a desired flight plan as a function of at least a plurality of measured flight data and the at least an aircraft requirement, and determine an optimized flight plan as a function of the at least a desired flight plan.

Flight plans for aircraft are generally managed by an air traffic control service. An aircraft may have several different flight paths or highways to follow to reach a specific destination tailored to the type of aircraft and its cargo. Moreover, unlike navigation in ground transportation vehicles, an aircraft must consider another dimension such as altitude when determining a path or highway to follow. Determining a flight plan with an air traffic control service may become quite involved with multiple exchanges of information, especially when determining multiple flight plans optimized for flight of varying types of aircraft.

Systems and methods for optimizing a controlled flight plan


A conference apparatus reduces or eliminates noise in audio for endpoints in a conference. Endpoints in the conference are designated as a primary talker and as secondary talkers. Audio for the endpoints is processed with speech detectors to characterize the audio as speech or not and to determine energy levels of the audio. As the audio is written to buffers and then read from the buffers, decisions for the gain settings of faders for read audio of the endpoints being combined in the speech selective mix. In addition, the conference apparatus can mitigate the effects of a possible speech collision that may occur during the conference between endpoints.

Various noises may occur during a telephone or video conference. Some of the noises may be impulsive noises, such as ticks or pops having very short duration. Other noises may be constant noises, such as the sound from an airconditioning unit. Conference participants may also create various noises by typing on a computer keyboard, eating, shuffling papers, whispering, tapping a table with a pen, or the like.
When many endpoints participate in a multi-way video/audio conference via a bridge, random noises (such as keyboard typing, paper rustling, and the like) are a constant source of irritation. Typically, the primary talker asks all other endpoints to mute their microphones, which solves the issue of the random noise interference. However, when a talker at a muted endpoint wishes to then talk, the mute button must be un-muted. Quite often, the new talker forgets to un-mute before actually speaking. Moreover, when a current talker finishes talking, the talker must remember to actuate the mute button once again, and similarly the talker often forgets. Additionally, quick muting and un-muting from one talker to another during the conference can in itself be disruptive and undesirable.
Occasionally during a conference, two or more conferees accidentally start talking almost simultaneously, interrupting each other and creating a speech collision. Usually, such a speech collision is followed by a few moments of silence from both conferees. Then, each one gently signals to the other to proceed, encouraging each other to continue speaking. This leads to the conferees to both restart talking simultaneously, creating a chain of speech collisions and embarrassing moments for both sides.
Therefore, there is a need for automatic handling of noise and speech collisions in a conference.

Speech-selective audio mixing for conference


Disclosed is a testing apparatus and a testing method using the same, the apparatus having soil in a vacuum chamber includes: a buffer chamber having an entrance/exit opening through which an object to be inspected is inserted, and a first door for opening and closing the entrance/exit opening; a testing chamber divided at one side of the buffer chamber so as to be separated therefrom, and having a connection passage communicating with the buffer chamber; a shutter unit for opening and closing the connection passage; a soil storage part disposed inside the testing chamber, and accommodating soil for testing the object to be inspected; and a vacuum generation means for suctioning air inside the buffer chamber and the testing chamber so as to create a vacuum state.

The present invention relates to a testing apparatus, and more specifically, to a testing apparatus including a vacuum chamber having a thermal condition and a vacuum condition similar to that of a space environment and provided with soil (ground) therein so as to perform a ground test of construction equipment and the like in the space environment, and a testing method using the same.
Thermal vacuum chambers, which test appropriateness of various components of a satellite in a space environment or an extreme environment, should be fundamentally maintained in a vacuum state and require a temperature adjustment performance which increases or decreases a temperature for a predetermined time so as to make a high or extremely low temperature environment.
Therefore, the thermal vacuum chamber is made of a metal material that withstands high pressures, high temperatures, extremely low temperatures, an inside thereof is sealed to make a high vacuum environment and is maintained in an extremely low temperature environment by introducing an extremely low temperature refrigerant, such as liquid nitrogen (LN2), thereinto, and the thermal vacuum chamber is formed to change a temperature therein to a high temperature by operating a heater mounted therein.
Conventional thermal vacuum chambers, which simulate a space environment, mainly simulate only a heated and vacuum environment, but soil (ground) should be provided in a chamber having a simulated heated and vacuum environment so that equipment, such as construction equipment, which is important to an interaction with ground, is tested in a space environment.
However, a case in which the conventional thermal vacuum chambers have soil is unusual. Even when a conventional thermal vacuum chamber has soil, the quantity of the soil is small so that a structure and operation of the thermal vacuum chamber are not substantially different from those of the conventional thermal vacuum chambers, and thus reliability of the ground test cannot be ensured.
However, when a great deal of ground is included in a thermal vacuum chamber, a large quantity of out-gas comes out of the ground in a process of reaching a vacuum state so that it is difficult to reach and maintain a vacuum state, but this has not been considered.
Since water, air, and the like are included in soil, when the soil is included in the thermal vacuum chamber, the soil is baked at a high temperature, and the water and air included in the soil are removed and put in the chamber. Even when the pre-conditioned soil is put in the chamber, out-gas, which is not separated from the soil, is generated in the process of reaching a vacuum state, and reaching a target vacuum state takes a long time due to the out-gas. Therefore, a problem occurs that preparing a test takes a long time and, when the quantity of soil increases, a pre-test preparation period increases in proportion to the quantity of soil.
Further, when the chamber including ground is opened due to replacement of a test specimen in the vacuum chamber or replacement of measurement equipment, the ground is in contact with air, and thus a problem occurs that the above-described pre-conditioning operation should be re-performed. When the pre-conditioning operation that requires a long time should be re-performed whenever the chamber including ground is opened, a problem of a long test time occurs, and thus efficiency is considerably decreased.
Further, when the test specimen is put in the testing chamber including soil and the testing chamber is vacuum-exhausted, various types of out-gas that comes out of the soil are attached to the test specimen, and thus the test specimen is contaminated. In this case, objectives of the test cannot be achieved, and the reliability for the performed test can be considerably decreased.

Testing apparatus having vacuum chamber, capable of ground testing, and testing method using same

KOREA INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND BUILDING TECHNOLOGY


The invention relates to an installation for coating objects, said installation having, in a manner known per se, a coating chamber which is arranged upstream from a drying chamber. The objects to be coated are carried by skids which are guided through the coating chamber and the drying chamber by means of a skid transport system. Each skid comprises two skid runners, extending parallel to the direction of displacement, and is embodied in such a way that adjacent skids can travel inside each other such that they partially overlap in the direction of displacement. In this way, the objects carried by successive skids can be separated from each other in the coating chamber such that all of the surfaces of the objects to be coated can be easily reached by the application devices.

The invention relates to an installation for coating objects, in particular vehicle bodies and parts thereof, comprising
a) a coating booth, in which at least one application device is arranged;
b) a drying booth downstream of the coating booth;
c) a plurality of skids having two skid runners which run parallel to the movement direction and each carrying at least one object to be coated;
d) a skid-conveying system, on which the skid runners of the skids rest and which guides the skids through the coating booth and the drying booth.
When operating such an installation, it is necessary to position the objects to be coated on the skids in such a way that the application devices can reach all the surfaces to be coated. This is often successfully achieved only by the successive skids being at a relatively large distance from one another and/or the objects being movably arranged on the skids. Large distances are associated with a large installation length, however; the movement of objects to be coated requires suitable apparatus or manual labour. Both lead to correspondingly high costs.


Control methods of a dialysis machine for allowing the dialysate-side detection of a recirculation in an arteriovenous shunt of a patient during ongoing hemodialysis are described. A sensor is arranged downstream of a dialyzer and detects a change of a physicochemical parameter PD of outflowing dialysis fluid. Control elements are provided to guide the dialysis fluid in a selected manner through the dialyzer or pass it by. Recirculation may be determined by passing the dialysis fluid by the dialyzer so that the dialysis fluid is guided unchanged along the sensor for calibration, switching the control elements after optional sensor calibration such that the dialysis fluid flows through the dialyzer, and adjusting a desired first blood flow value BF1 in the blood-side extracorporeal circulatory branch so that between an inlet of the extracorporeal circulatory branch and an outlet a recirculation R and, a first clearance K1 are adjusted and the parameter detected by the sensor adopts a corresponding value PD1, changing the first blood flow value BF1 to a second blood flow value BF2, wherein a second clearance K2 is adjusted, and accordingly at the sensor a new parameter value PD2 is provided and detected, and determining the recirculation R by the course of change from the parameter value PD1 to the parameter value PD2.

The present invention relates to a method of detecting recirculation in an arteriovenous shunt of a patient during ongoing hemodialysis.
Patients suffering from severe kidney insufficiency or kidney failure require dialysis, as is known. For this, the patients concerned have two options of dialysis, on the one hand in a dialysis center of a hospital and, on the other hand, self-dialysis in the domestic area with ambulant dialysis units—after having been introduced by the nephrologist in charge and trained specialized staff—.
For the purpose of the present invention, by the term "dialysis" or "hemodialysis" any chronically applicable blood purification therapy is understood which comprises hemodialysis, hemofiltration and hemodiafiltration.
For performing dialysis in a patient suffering from chronic kidney insufficiency typically a so called arteriovenous shunt constituting a direct connection of an artery to a vein is laid by operation. One of the most frequent shunts laid for dialysis treatment is the so called Cimino shunt in which—after vascular preparation—the radial artery is connected to the cephalic vein.
Such shunt permits a simple vascular puncture for receiving the cannulas required for dialysis and moreover has a sufficient blood flow for performing hemodialysis due to the pressure and flow conditions prevailing in the shunt.

Method of detecting recirculation in an arteriovenous shunt during ongoing hemodialysis and dialysis system


A heptamethine cyanine compound is represented by the formula (I): in which each of Z.sup.1 and Z.sup.2 is an atomic group that forms a five or six-membered heterocyclic ring or a five or six-membered heterocyclic ring condensed with benzene ring or naphthalene ring; each of R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 is an alkyl group or a substituted alkyl group; each of Y.sup.1 and Y.sup.2 is carboxyl, a sulfonamido group or a sulfamoyl group; X is an anion; and n is 0 or 1. The present specification also discloses a near infrared absorbing ink, a near infrared absorbing sheet and a silver halide photographic material using the heptamethine cyanine compound as a near infrared absorbing dye.

Various optical, photographic or printing materials use a near infrared absorbing dye. The near infrared absorbing dye has an absorption maximum (.lambda.max) within the near infrared region (900 to 1,100 nm). An ideal near infrared absorbing dye has no absorption within the visible region (400 to 600 nm).
An appropriate tool such as an infrared sensor can easily notice a near infrared ray, though the naked eye cannot see it. If an ink contains the ideal near infrared absorbing dye having no absorption within the visible region, the ink can record invisible information (character, image or the like) without disturbing visible information.
A sheet containing a near infrared absorbing dye is sometimes used as an optical filter. The near infrared absorbing sheet can substantially be transparent by using the ideal near infrared absorbing dye.
A silver halide photographic material is usually treated in an automatic developing machine. The machine has an infrared sensor of detecting the photographic material to conduct photographic treatment automatically. Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 1(1989)-266536, 3(1991)-226736 and European Patent No. 0703494A1 propose adding a near infrared absorbing dye to a silver halide photographic material to improve precision in detection of the material. Further, a near infrared sensitive silver halide photographic material should contain a near infrared absorbing dye as an antihalation dye, as is described in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 63(1988)-55544. The near infrared absorbing dye used in a silver halide photographic material also preferably is an ideal dye having no absorption within the visible region to avoid influence on the exposure of light within the visible region or on the formed visible image.
Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 63(1988)-55544, 1(1989)-266536, 3(1991)-226736 and European Patent No. 0703494A1 disclose various near infrared absorbing dyes. However, the known near infrared absorbing dyes have remarkable absorption within the visible region.
The absorption maximum (.lambda.max) of a dye in the form of specific aggregates is longer than that of the same dye contained in a solution. This phenomenon about J aggregates of a spectral sensitizing dye used in silver halide photographic material is reported in H. T. James, The Theory of the Photographic Process, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., (1977), pages 218 to 222. If a near infrared absorbing dye is used in the form of specific aggregates, the absorption within the visible region (shorter than the infrared region) is reduced.
Even though the known near infrared absorbing dyes are used in the form of aggregates, the dyes still have remarkable absorption within the visible region.

Heptamethine cyanine compound, near infrared absorbing ink, near infrared absorbing sheet and silver halide photographic material


In a video display apparatus and method, video data of video being displayed on a display unit are sequentially updated and temporality stored in a storage unit. The video data stored in the storage unit is written into an external storage medium according to a first external operation, and is read from the external storage medium according to a second external operation. Video based on the video data read from the external storage medium is displayed on the display unit.

This invention relates to a video display apparatus and method, and more particularly, is suitably applied to a television receiver.
Television receivers have been proposed which sequentially store video data of channels that users are watching in built-in memories after compressing and encoding the video data, and read, decode and display the video data from the built-in memories on monitors in accordance with users' playback commands (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 8-237592).
With such television receivers, the users are able to watch past scenes that the users may have missed or the like. In this description, the display of past scenes is called a replay display.
Such television receivers, however, execute the replay display only for about a dozen seconds based on the video data stored in the built-in memories. This causes the problem that users cannot create archives containing scenes that they like by storing the video data and cannot remove the data from the television receivers.
As another problem, users cannot search the stored video to find user-desired scenes.
If television receivers with such a replay display function can allow users to create archives containing user-desired scenes, to remove the archives from the television receiver, and to search video replayed for user-desired scenes, the television receivers can have significantly improved functionality.


Disclosed are compounds which inhibit the activity of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins, compositions containing the compounds and methods of treating diseases during which is expressed anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein.

Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins are associated with a number of diseases. There is therefore an existing need in the therapeutic arts for compounds which inhibit the activity of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins.
Overexpression of Bcl-2 proteins correlates with resistance to chemotherapy, clinical outcome, disease progression, overall prognosis or a combination thereof in various cancers and disorders of the immune system.
Involvement of Bcl-2 proteins in bladder cancer, brain cancer, breast cancer, bone marrow cancer, cervical cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, hepatocellular cancer, lymphoblastic leukemia, follicular lymphoma, lymphoid malignancies of T-cell or B-cell origin, melanoma, myelogenous leukemia, myeloma, oral cancer, ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, small cell lung cancer, spleen cancer, and the like is described in commonly-owned PCT US 2004/36770, published as WO 2005/049593, and PCT US 2004/37911, published as WO 2005/024636.
Involvement of Bcl-2 proteins in immune and autoimmune diseases is described in Current Allergy and Asthma Reports 2003, 3, 378-384; British Journal of Haematology 2000, 110(3), 584-90; Blood 2000, 95(4), 1283-92; and New England Journal of Medicine 2004, 351(14), 1409-1418. Involvement of Bcl-2 proteins in arthritis is disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/988,479. Involvement of Bcl-2 proteins in bone marrow transplant rejection is disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/941,196.

Apoptosis-inducing agents for the treatment of cancer and immune and autoimmune diseases

THE WALTER AND ELIZA HALL INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH


An apparatus for collecting map-generating data includes a processor configured to count, for each of road sections, the number of pieces of map-generating data received in a first period from one of at least one vehicle, identify one of the road sections for which the number of pieces of map-generating data received in the first period does not reach a target number for the one of the road sections, and predict, for the identified road section, the number of pieces of map-generating data to be received in a second period ahead after the first period, based on history of traffic volume under each environmental condition or history of the number of pieces of map-generating data previously received for the road section.

Highly accurate road maps to which an automated vehicle-driving system refers for automated driving control of a vehicle are required to accurately represent road information. Techniques have been proposed to appropriately collect information required to generate such accurate road maps (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 2007-58370 and 2017-117154).
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-58370 discloses a technique in which each of vehicle-mounted devices included in a road-map providing system transmits travel history information together with information on a travel purpose and an attribute to a road-map providing device. The road-map providing device statistically processes the travel history information for each received travel purpose and attribute, generates road-map information classified by travel purposes and attributes, and stores it in a database. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-117154 discloses a technique in which a vehicle transmits, to a management center, image data of surroundings of the vehicle in association with the travel position and time of the vehicle at obtaining the data. The management center estimates the number of travelling vehicles for each road section registered with a map database, based on received travel positions and times of vehicles, and calculates, as a cover ratio, a ratio of the estimated number of travelling vehicles to a reference number of vehicles defined for each road section. The management center determines a condition for capturing images so that the lower the cover ratio, the shorter the interval between image captures, and delivers the determined condition to the vehicles.

Apparatus and method for collecting map-generating data


A synergistic fungicidal mixture contains a fungicidally effective amount of a compound of Formula I and at least one fungicide selected from the group consisting of tricyclazole, azoxystrobin, carpropamid, probenazole, kasugamycin, and boscalid.

Rice is the staple food crop for a large part of the human population in the world today. A crop failure, for any reason, poses a real threat of starvation. Rice blast, caused by a fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae; anamorph: Pyricularia oryzae) is by far the most important disease of the many diseases that attack rice. The fungus causes lesions to form on leaves, stems, peduncles, panicles, seeds, and even roots. So great is the potential threat for crop failure from this disease that it has been ranked among the most important plant diseases of them all. The rice blast fungus is found wherever rice is grown and is a major threat. Each year it is estimated to destroy enough rice to feed more than 60 million people. Failures of entire rice crops have resulted directly from rice blast epidemics. There is a need for more effective agents for protecting plants, including rice, from damage caused by this pathogen.
Fungicides are compounds, of natural or synthetic origin, which act to protect plants against damage caused by fungi. Current methods of agriculture rely heavily on the use of fungicides. In fact, some crops cannot be grown usefully without the use of fungicides. The use of fungicides allows a grower to increase the yield and the quality of the crop and consequently, increase the value of the crop. In most situations, the increase in value of the crop is worth at least three times the cost of the use of the fungicide.
Unfortunately, no one fungicide is useful in all situations and repeated usage of a single fungicide frequently leads to the development of resistance to that and related fungicides. Consequently, research is being conducted to produce fungicides and combinations of fungicides that are safer, that have better performance, that require lower dosages, that are easier to use, and that cost less. Combinations are also being studied that produce synergism, i.e., the activity of two, or more, compounds exceeds the activities of the compounds when used alone.
It is an object of this invention to provide synergistic compositions comprising fungicidal compounds. It is a further object of this invention to provide processes that use these synergistic compositions.
In one embodiment the invention pertains to a synergistic fungicidal mixture comprising a fungicidally effective amount of a compound of Formula I and at least one fungicide selected from the group consisting of tricyclazole, azoxystrobin, carpropamid, probenazole, kasugamycin, and boscalid

Advantageously, the synergistic compositions comprising tricyclazole, probenazole, carpropamid, and/or kasugamycin with Formula I are capable of preventing or curing, or both, rice disease caused by, for example, Magnaporthe oryzae. Similarly, the synergistic compositions comprising azoxystrobin and/or boscalid with Formula I are capable of preventing or curing, or both, rice disease caused by a wide range of fungi including, for example, Basidiiomycetes and/or Ascomycetes. In accordance with this invention, synergistic compositions are provided along with methods for their use.


This invention relates to an apparatus for detecting rotational information, and includes a disk attachable to a spindle, with relative rotational information of the disk to be detected. The apparatus also includes a a rotation detection grating on the disk, a main body unit independent from the disk, an optical detection unit fixed in the main body unit, a light source, a reference grating, and a light-receiving element fixed to the optical detection unit. The rotational information of the disk relative to the optical detection unit is detected by the light-receiving element by detecting a light beam which is emitted by the light source and goes via the rotation detection grating and the reference grating. A positioning block for positioning the spindle attachable to the disk is also included. The positioning block has a V-shaped portion which is arranged so that slope surfaces thereof are substantially symmetrical about a line that connects a rotation center of the spindle to be attached to the disk and the optical detection unit. The spindle is positioned by putting the spindle on the V-shaped portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotational displacement detection apparatus. The present invention is suitable for, e.g., a rotary encoder for detecting relative rotational displacement information between a main scale and a flat board or rotational displacement information of, e.g., an origin position by irradiating a light beam onto a radial grating on the main scale which rotates relatively, and an index scale (radial grating) attached to the flat board, and detecting phase- or intensity-modulated signal light coming from these scales.
In particular, the present invention is suitable for a so-called built-in type rotary encoder in which a disk unit for fixing the main scale is independent from a main body unit for fixing a light source means, a light-receiving means, and the index scale.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, as an apparatus for measuring relative rotational displacement information (a displacement amount, velocity, acceleration, or the like) of an object with high precision, a rotary encoder (to be simply referred to as an "encoder" hereinafter) is popularly used. Also, this encoder is added with a means for detecting origin information in order to calculate the absolute position information of rotation information.
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional encoder.
Referring to FIG. 1, in a detection mechanism of an incremental signal (A and B phases) in the encoder, repetitive radial grating patterns 4 and 4Z of transmission and non-transmission (or reflection and non-reflection) portions are recorded on a main scale 3 fixed to a disk hub 8, which rotates relatively, and radial grating patterns 5A and 5B which have the same pitches as those of the patterns 4 and 4Z and have a spatial phase difference of 90.degree. therebetween are recorded on a stationary flat board (index scale) 5. After the main scale 3 and the index scale 5 are stacked to have a predetermined gap therebetween, a light beam coming from an LED 1 is irradiated onto these scales via a collimator lens 2 as a collimated light beam.
At this time, the amount of transmitted light periodically changes in correspondence with the degree of coincidence between the patterns on the two scales upon movement of the main scale. Changes in light amount at that time are detected by a light-receiving element 6 (6A and 6B) arranged on a base member 9, thus obtaining an electrical incremental signal having a sine waveform. Furthermore, the incremental signal is converted into a rectangular waveform by a binarization circuit, thus obtaining an electrical incremental signal. In this manner, rotation information of a rotation shaft 17 is detected.
On the other hand, in a detection mechanism of an origin signal (Z phase), the radial grating pattern 4Z consisting of a plurality of transmission and non-transmission (or reflection and non-reflection) portions is recorded on the main scale 3 which moves relatively, and a radial grating pattern 5Z which is identical to the pattern 4Z is also recorded on the stationary index pattern 5. After the two scales are stacked to have a predetermined gap therebetween, a collimated light is irradiated onto the two scales. Pulse-shaped signal light, which has a maximum transmitted light amount at an instance when the patterns on the two scales perfectly coincide with each other upon movement of the main scale 3, is obtained. The pulse-shaped signal light is detected by a light-receiving element 6 (6Z) arranged on the base member 9, thereby obtaining an origin signal. Furthermore, the origin signal is converted into a rectangular waveform to obtain an electrical origin signal.
Both the radial grating pattern and origin pattern are formed on each of the main scale 3 and index scale 5 used for detecting relative rotational displacement information. In many cases, both the incremental signal and origin signal are concurrently and parallelly detected using a single optical system. In this case, the detection principles of both the incremental and origin signals use the modulation effect of the transmitted light amount caused by changes in degree of overlapping between the main scale 3 and the index scale 5.
Recent encoders are required to attain a size reduction of the entire apparatus and detection of high-resolution rotational displacement information. In particular, the size reduction requirement requires not only a reduction of the size of the encoder main body but also a reduction of the length in the axial direction after the encoder is attached to a rotary member such as a motor. In order to meet such a requirement, a so-called "built-in type" encoder which does not have any rotation shaft is required. In this encoder, a disk is directly attached to the rotation shaft of, e.g., a motor, and thereafter, the encoder main body is assembled to the motor housing. Also, in this built-in type encoder, the disk (main scale) and the encoder main body (detection head) portion are spatially separated from each other.
When the user (measurement person) attaches such an encoder to, e.g., a motor, a process of fixing the disk to the rotation shaft of the motor and a process of fixing the encoder main body to the motor housing are required.
In this case, in order to accurately output A-, B-, and Z-phase signals from the encoder, the following conditions must be satisfied:
(a-1) the radial grating tracks on the disk do not decenter during rotation of the motor shaft; and PA1 (b-2) the radial grating tracks on the disk must perfectly overlap those on a parallel board (index scale) in the encoder main body.
In particular, when the encoder main body is attached to the motor housing, it is difficult, in practice, to form a high-precision fitting butt portion on the motor housing. When the position of the encoder main body is determined to have an intermediate-precision butt relationship and is fixed to the motor housing, a gap of about 100 .mu.m is formed. As a result, the attachment position of the encoder main body may be displaced by about 50 .mu.m in the x- or y-axis direction.
A case will be examined below wherein a disk 3 is decentered by 35 .mu.m in the x-axis direction, and the encoder main body with an index scale 5 is displaced by -50 .mu.m (a flat board (index scale) 5 is displaced by -50 .mu.m) in the x-axis direction.
A radial grating 4 on the disk 3 has a radius of 10 mm and a grating pitch of 25 .mu.m. An amplitude grating 4Z for origin detection, which is defined by random pitches on the disk 3, is assumed to be recorded within the radial position range of 6 to 8 mm. The disk 3 and the flat board 5 are displaced by 85 .mu.m in the x-axis direction as the sum of the decentering amount of the disk 3 and the attachment position errors of the encoder main body.
If an A-phase signal is detected at the radial position of 10 mm on the disk, the A-phase detection timing shifts by 85/25=3.4 cycles. If a Z-phase signal is detected at the radial position of 7 mm on the disk, the Z-phase detection timing shifts by 85/25.times.7/10=2.38. The relative phase shift between the A and Z phases is 3.4-2.38=1.02 cycles (note that the A-phase rectangular wave signal is used as a reference for one cycle). More specifically, the Z-phase waveform shifts by .+-.1.02 cycles or equivalent with respect to the A-phase waveform by the relative displacement of 85 .mu.m in the x-axis direction of the encoder main body and the disk.
In this case, it is difficult to synchronize (lock) the Z and A phases using a logic circuit.
As the disk 3 of the encoder is made compact (to have a smaller diameter) and the resolution becomes higher, the pitches of the radial gratings on the disk 3 and the flat board 5 become very small, and the relative positional displacement (the azimuth shift between the gratings) readily decreases the signal output. As a result, it is very difficult to set the built-in type encoder, and it is also very difficult to put such an encoder into practical applications.

Rotational displacement information detection apparatus


A camera for use with a film cartridge which camera automatically resets a camera operation upon unloading of the film cartridge, the camera includes a camera body for forming a protective enclosure. A retainer is disposed in the camera body that moves to a passive first position upon loading of the film cartridge for permitting the film cartridge to be loaded in the camera body, and that moves to a second active position for engaging the film cartridge upon unloading of the film cartridge that permits partial unloading and prevent full unloading. A logic element is received by the camera body and includes a first state that activates the camera operation and a second state that resets the camera operation. An activation operator is manually engaged for moving the logic element to the activation position, and that either engages or disengages the retainer upon unloading of the film cartridge, which engagement or disengagement consequently causes the operator to move the logic element to the reset position.

In conventional cameras, a film cartridge is loaded into a loading chamber. Film in the film cartridge is manually or automatically loaded into the camera. Images are then recorded on the film after which the film is rewound into the film cartridge. A door covering the loading chamber is opened and the film cartridge is removed so that the film can be processed.
In traditional 35 mm cameras, the film cartridge is loaded into the loading chamber in a direction perpendicular to the cartridge spool. More recently, cameras have been developed in which the film cartridge is loaded in a direction parallel to the cartridge spool or end first. Such a camera is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,514.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,514, a film cartridge is pushed down into a loading chamber. By pushing the cartridge into the chamber, an end of the cartridge contacts a sloped face of a lock lever, causing the lock lever to be moved to the right. The cartridge is pushed into the chamber against a spring. Once the cartridge is completely in the chamber, a spring forces the lock lever to the left, thereby retaining the cartridge in the chamber against the force of the spring. A cover member is then moved to the left to cover the loading chamber.
When it is desired to remove the film from the loading chamber, the cover member is moved to the right against a spring. The movement of the cover member causes the lock lever to move to the right against the spring. When the lock lever is moved far enough to the right, a portion of the lock lever disengages the upper surface of the cartridge, allowing the cartridge to move out of the loading chamber under the influence of the spring.
A problem with the mechanism in the above-described patent is that when the lock lever is moved to the right, releasing the cartridge, there is nothing further to prevent the cartridge from moving out of the loading chamber. If the camera is oriented so that the loading chamber is in a near horizontal position or upside-down, the film cartridge may be ejected completely out of the loading chamber by the spring. If the operator is not prepared to catch the ejected film cartridge, the cartridge may fall and strike a hard surface, thereby becoming damaged and possibly ruining the film contained therein.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,515 overcomes this problem by including a retainer the engages the film cartridge upon unloading of the film cartridge so that partial unloading is achieved and full unloading is prevented. Once in the partially unloaded position, the film cartridge is manually engaged by the user for exerting enough force to overcome the bias of the retainer for permitting the film cartridge to be totally unloaded.
Although the presently known and utilized systems for unloading the film cartridges are satisfactory, it is always desirable to combine camera features for simplicity and efficiency. More specifically, the prior art cameras do not link the unloading of the film with other camera features for automatically performing an operation that is needed upon loading and/or unloading of the film.
Consequently, a need exists for a camera overcoming the above-described drawbacks.

Photographic camera having automatic reset of an operation upon unloading of a film cartridge


A game includes a playing surface that is made from a fabric material such as a beach towel. The playing surface includes reinforcing members near the edges that receive retaining members to maintain the playing surface in desired position and location regardless of the base surface. The playing surface is adapted to be placed on a beach, carpeting or grass, for example. A plurality of playing pieces preferably are generally hollow shells that have an exterior surface in the shape of a desired object. The interior of the shell preferably is a negative of the exterior. The interior portion of the shell is generally hollow and can receive a moldable material such as sand to create a cast of the playing piece that can be used as a score marker. A die that is included in the game is over-sized and has generously rounded corners and edges so that the die more easily rolls along a variety of indoor or outdoor surfaces.

This invention generally relates to a game where the playing surface is depicted on a beach towel.
A variety of board games are available that provide amusement to adults and children. One shortcoming of these games is that they typically require a level hard playing surface such as a table or floor within a building. Further, these games are limited in that they are usually only convenient to be played indoors. Further, the playing pieces and cards that are associated with many games make it impractical to attempt to play the game outdoors. Further, most games come in a cardboard container which, if exposed to the elements, would likely quickly deteriorate making it difficult to maintain the various pieces of the game together.
Therefore, there is a need for a game that is available to be played outdoors yet provide the same type of enjoyment available with most indoor board games.


Provided is a substrate transport roller (2a) capable of ensuring a broad temperature-control region on a substrate, without reducing substrate transport quality. This substrate transport roller (2a) is provided in a film-forming device (1) for executing a film-forming process on the surface of a film substrate (W), transports the film substrate (W) by rotating around a center axis, and is equipped with: a center-section segment (13a) positioned in the center section in the axial direction extending along the center axis, and having a first outer-circumferential surface; end-section segments (12a, 12b) positioned on both sides on the outside in the axial direction of the center-section segment (13a), and each having a second outer-circumferential surface which contacts the substrate (W) and has a larger diameter than that of the first outer-circumferential surface; a center-section-rising-falling-temperature-medium mechanism for changing the temperature of the center-section segment (13a); and a both-end-section-rising-falling-temperature mechanism for changing the temperature of each of the end-section segments (12a, 12b) independently from the center-section segment (13a).

In recent years, as a technique of producing display devices which display images and the like, generally used is a roll-to-roll method which produces a display device in a continuous manner by transporting a substrate in a form of film which is guided by a roller in a cylindrical shape. Development of process of deposition etc. or development of materials for the substrate, as well as development of hardware for manufacturing devices is proceeding simultaneously. Particularly, for the material for the substrate, assays of using thinner substrates from a viewpoint of weight saving, and development of materials which are resistant to broad range of processing temperature are proceeding. Lately, thin film glass (glass film) excellent in gas barrier property or in translucency which is capable of being processed in a high temperature compared to a resin, and at the same time, capable of being bent as a resin film, is being developed, and thus, realization of devices with properties and characteristics which has not been available in conventional techniques are expected.
Examples for use of the roll-to-roll method includes the sputtering device disclosed in patent document 1 (see FIG. 1). This sputtering device comprises a delivering/winding chamber and a deposition roller (coating drum). In this device, a film is rolled out from a film roll in the delivering/winding chamber, and then transported with being wound on the deposition roller. The film is subjected to a sputtering deposition, and then wound up to the roll in the delivering/winding chamber again. Around the deposition roller, plural numbers of coating chambers are provided, each chamber having a sputter source disposed thereto. A film of plural layers can be formed by running the film one cycle. Each of the chambers comprises a vacuum evacuation pump. Partition walls are each provided between coating chambers, and between each of the coating chambers and the delivering/winding chamber. These partition walls are disposed in front of the deposition roller adjacently. By being adjacent to the deposition roller (with about some mm of space), these partition walls allow each coating chamber to maintain its independence of the atmosphere from each other, and to form a film different from that formed by the adjacent chamber. For a long time, resin films having a low thermal resistance have generally been objects subjected to the continuous processing of such a roll-to-roll method. In order to protect the resin films from damage by heat, deposition rollers have been cooled in many of such cases.
However, in recent years, it is being requested to perform the operation with a raised temperature of the deposition roller, in order to obtain a good film quality. In particular, with the development of resin films with higher thermal resistance such as polyimide, or thin glass of 100 μm or less capable of being subjected to a roll-to-roll processing, it is sometimes requested that the deposition roller is resistant to high temperature, for example, of up to 300° C., in order to make the best use of these thermal resistance. In a film deposition on a metal foil, even higher temperature is sometimes required. Meanwhile, there has also been a request to cool the deposition roller down to a temperature of below 0, in order to execute the treatment on an ordinary resin film at a high speed. As thus explained, there has been an increased demand for the deposition roller to be operated in broad range of temperature.
Generally, in a deposition roller, a temperature control is conducted for the substrate to have a temperature necessary for a process of deposition treatment. This temperature control is conducted by uniformly raising and lowering the temperature of outer cylindrical surface of a roll in a cylindrical shape in which accuracy in the outer diameter or cylindricity is secured by machine processing. In such conventional deposition roller, when the temperature-control region for raising temperature and lowering temperature is broadened, the following problems of 1 to 3 arise.
1) Due to a thermal expansion, change in outer diameter of cylindrical surface of the deposition roller occurs on some mm scale. That will result in a deviation in running speed or running distance of the film which is controlled by rotation of the deposition roller.
2) The deposition roller loses the accuracy in cylindricity, resulting in problems in quality of transportation such as meandering of the film.
3) In a device such as the sputtering device of the patent document 1, which comprises plural partition walls and small spaces between these partition walls and the deposition roller, the spaces between the deposition roller and each partition wall will be changed by being influenced by the change of outer diameter of the deposition roller. As a result, the properties of partition walls vary. In the worst case, the deposition roller and a partition wall contact with each other.


Methods for de-differentiating or altering the life-span of desired “recipient” cells, e.g., human somatic cells, by the introduction of cytoplasm from a more primitive, less differentiated cell type, e.g., oocyte or blastomere are provided. These methods can be used to produce embryonic stem cells and to increase the efficiency of gene therapy by allowing for desired cells to be subjected to multiple genetic modifications without becoming senescent. Such cytoplasm may be fractionated and/or subjected to subtractive hybridization and the active materials (sufficient for de-differentiation) identified and produced by recombinant methods.

Nuclear transfer first gained acceptance in the 1960's with amphibian nuclear transplantation. (Diberardino, M. A. 1980, "Genetic stability and modulation of metazoan nuclei transplanted into eggs and ooctyes", Differentiation, 17-17-30; Diberardino, M. A., N. J. Hoffner and L. D. Etkin, 1984; "Activation of dormant genes in specialized cells", Science, 224:946-952; Prather, R. S. and Robl, J. M., 1991, "Cloning by nuclear transfer and splitting in laboratory and domestic animal embryos", In: Animal Applications of Research in Mammalian Development, R. A. Pederson, A. McLaren and N. First (ed.), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.) Nuclear transfer was initially conducted in amphibians in part because of the relatively large size of the amphibian oocyte relative to that of mammals. The results of these experiments indicated to those skilled in the art that the degree of differentiation of the donor nucleus was greatly instrumental, if not determinative, as to whether a recipient oocyte containing such cell or nucleus could effectively reprogram said nucleus and produce a viable embryo. (Diberardino, M. A., N. J. Hoffner and L. D. Etkin, 1984, "Activation of dormant genes in specialized cells.", Science, 224:946-952; Prather, R. S. and Robl, J. M., 1991, "Cloning by nuclear transfer and splitting in laboratory and domestic animal embryos", In: Animal Applications of Research in Mammalian Development, R. A. Pederson, A. McLaren and N. First (ed.), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press).
Much later, in the mid 1980s, after microsurgical techniques had been perfected, researchers investigated whether nuclear transfer could be extrapolated to mammals. The first procedures for cloning cattle were reported by Robl et al (Robl, J. M., R. Prather, F. Barnes, W. Eyestone, D. Northey, B. Gilligan and N. L. First, 987, "Nuclear transplantation in bovine embryos", J. Anim. Sci., 64:642-647). In fact, Dr. Robl's lab was the first to clone a rabbit by nuclear transfer using donor nuclei from earlier embryonic cells (Stice, S. L. and Robl, J. M., 1988, "Nuclear reprogramming in nuclear transplant rabbit embryos", Biol. Reprod., 39:657-664). Also, using similar techniques, bovines (Prather, R. S., F. L. Barnes, M. L. Sims, Robl, J. M., W. H. Eyestone and N. L. First, 1987, "Nuclear transplantation in the bovine embryo: assessment of donor nuclei and recipient oocyte", Biol. Reprod., 37:859-866) and sheep (Willadsen, S. M., 1986, "Nuclear transplantation in sheep embryos", Nature, (Lond) 320:63-65), and putatively porcines (Prather, R. S., M. M. Sims and N. L. First, 1989, "Nuclear transplantation in pig embryos", Biol. Reprod., 41:414), were cloned by the transplantation of the cell or nucleus of very early embryos into enucleated oocytes.
In the early 1990s, the possibility of producing nuclear transfer embryos with donor nuclei obtained from progressively more differentiated cells was investigated. The initial results of these experiments suggested that when an embryo progresses to the blastocyst stage (the embryonic stage where the first two distinct cell lineages appear) that the efficiency of nuclear transfer decreases dramatically (Collas, P. and J. M. Robl, 1991, "Relationship between nuclear remodeling and development in nuclear transplant rabbit embryos", Biol. Reprod., 45:455-465). For example, it was found that trophectodermal cells (the cells that form the placenta) did not support development of the nuclear fusion to the blastocyst stage. (Collas, P. and J. M. Robl, 1991, "Relationship between nuclear remodeling and development in nuclear transplant rabbit embryos", Biol. Reprod., 45:455-465). By contrast, inner cell mass cells (cells which form both somatic and germ line cells) were found to support a low rate of development to the blastocyst stage with some offspring obtained. (Collas P, Barnes F L, "Nuclear transplantation by microinjection of inner cell mass and granulosa cell nuclei", Mol Reprod Devel., 1994, 38:264-267) Moreover, further work suggested that inner cell mass cells which were cultured for a short period of time could support the development to term. (Sims M, First N L, "Production of calves by transfer of nuclei from cultured inner cell mass cells", Proc Natl Acad Sci, 1994, 91:6143-6147)
Based on these results, it was the overwhelming opinion of those skilled in the art at that time that observations made with amphibian nuclear transfer experiments would likely be observed in mammals. That is to say, it was widely regarded by researchers working in the area of cloning in the early 1990's that once a cell becomes committed to a particular somatic cell lineage that its nucleus irreversibly loses its ability to become "reprogrammed", i.e., to support full term development when used as a nuclear donor for nuclear transfer. While the exact molecular explanation for the apparent inability of somatic cells to be effectively reprogrammed was unknown, it was hypothesized to be the result of changes in DNA methylation, histone acetylation and factors controlling transitions in chromatin structure that occur during cell differentiation. Moreover, it was believed that these cellular changes could not be reversed.
Therefore, it was quite astounding that in 1998, the Roslin Institute reported that cells committed to somatic cell lineage could support embryo development when used as nuclear transfer donors. Equally astounding, and more commercially significant, the production of transgenic cattle which were produced by nuclear transfer using transgenic fibroblast donor cells was reported shortly thereafter by scientists working at the University of Massachusetts and Advanced Cell Technology.
Also, recently two calves were reportedly produced at the Ishikawa Prefecture
Livestock Research Centre in Japan from oviduct cells collected from a cow at slaughter. (Hadfield, P. and A. Coghlan, "Premature birth repeats the Dolly mixture", New Scientist, Jul. 11, 1998) Further, Jean-Paul Renard from INRA in France reported the production of a calf using muscle cells from a fetus. (MacKenzie, D. and P. Cohen, 1998, "A French calf answers some of the questions about cloning", New Scientist, March 21). Also, David Wells from New Zealand reported the production of a calf using fibroblast donor cells obtained from an adult cow. (Wells, D. N., 1998, "Cloning symposium: Reprogramming Cell Fate—Transgenesis and Cloning," Monash Medical Center, Melbourne, Australia, April 15-16)
Differentiated cells have also reportedly been successfully used as nuclear transfer donors to produce cloned mice. (Wakayama T, Perry ACF, Zucconi M, Johnsoal K R, Yanagimachi R., "Full-term development of mice from enucleated oocytes injected with cumulus cell nuclei", Nature, 1998, 394:369-374).
Still further, an experiment by researchers at the University of Massachusetts and Advanced Cell Technology was recently reported in a lead story in the New York Times, January 1999, wherein a nuclear transfer fusion embryo was produced by the insertion of an adult differentiated cell (cell obtained from the cheek of an adult human donor) into an enucleated bovine oocyte. Thus, it would appear, based on these results, that at least under some conditions differentiated cells can be reprogrammed or de-differentiated.
Related thereto, it was also recently reported in the popular press that cytoplasm transferred from oocyte of a young female donor "rejuvenated" an oocyte of an older woman, such that it was competent for reproduction.
However, it would be beneficial if methods could be developed for converting differentiated cells to embryonic cell types, without the need for cloning, and the production of embryos, especially given their potential for use in nuclear transfer and for producing different differentiated cell types for therapeutic use. Also, it would be beneficial if the cellular materials responsible for de-differentiation and reprogramming of differentiated cells could be identified and produced by recombinant methods, thereby improving the efficiency of cellular reprogramming.

ES cell cytoplasm or ooplasm transfer to rejuventate recipient cells


There is provided a method of monitoring one or more specified reactions in a fluid medium sample using a thermal signature, comprising providing at least one micro-cantilever sensor, said micro-cantilever sensor comprising at least two materials having different coefficients of thermal expansion, and having a heater and piezo-resistive sensor integrated therein, calibrating the at least one micro-cantilever response to thermal changes to form a calibrated micro-cantilever response characteristic, starting the specified reaction in the fluid medium sample, pulsing the heater with one or more electrical pulses to induce heat generation in the micro-cantilever, sampling the output of the integrated piezo-resistive sensor to characterize a response of the micro-cantilever during the specified reaction in the fluid medium, and subtracting the calibrated micro-cantilever response characteristic from the sampled output to determine a characteristic of the one or more specified reactions in the fluid medium sample. There is also provided a method for measuring at least one thermal property of a fluid medium sample, and a fluid medium sample reaction detection apparatus.

There are many useful chemical and biological reactions that take place within a fluid medium. These may be the result of interaction between the fluid medium and the surrounding environment, e.g. oxidation when exposed to air, or they may be a result of mixing the fluid medium with some reagent or another fluid medium containing a reagent. Such chemical and biological reactions may be useful in a variety of areas, such as industrial processing, medical diagnostics, or the like. The use of such chemical and biological reactions often requires suitable measurement equipment, to ascertain whether a particular specified reaction has actually taken place, or further, to provide a measure of the extent of occurrence of the reactions.
There are known methods to measure the existence or extent of reactions within a fluid medium, but they each have associated disadvantages, including speed or accuracy limitations, cost or complexity to carry out, and the like. For example, whilst the binding of specific antibodies and antigens in a fluid medium can be detected using additional tagging techniques, these techniques may change the structure and affinity of binding. Meanwhile, labelling also requires complexity and amplification of weak signals. Label-free methods, where tagging is not used, can be based on methods such as surface plasmon resonance, but these methods lack the ability to carry out multiple parallel tests to allow for measuring several reactions in a hand held device.

Microcantilever sensor with bimorph actuation and piezoresistive read-out


A polymer electrolyte fuel cell is provided with a conductive separator having one or more gas flow channels for supplying and exhausting a gas to and from an electrode of the fuel cell. The gas flow channels are connected to and in fluid communication with an inlet manifold on the separator. The cell also includes a gas supply connection in fluid communication with the inlet manifold of the separator. Water accumulation in the cell can be advantageously reduced by configuring the connections to the inlet manifold so that the lowermost part of any gas flow channel connections with the inlet manifold is above the uppermost part of the gas supply connection to the inlet manifold.

The present invention relates to a fuel cell and more particularly to a fuel cell including a solid polymer electrolyte for use in portable power sources, electric vehicle power sources, domestic cogeneration systems and the like.
A fuel cell using a solid polymer electrolyte causes an electrochemical reaction between a fuel gas, such as hydrogen, and an oxidant gas, such as oxygen in air, to simultaneously generate electric power and heat. Typically, such a fuel cell includes a polymer electrolyte membrane for selectively transporting ions and a pair of electrodes arranged to sandwich the membrane. Each of the electrodes includes a catalyst layer mainly composed of carbon powder carrying a platinum metal catalyst thereon and a gas diffusion layer having both gas permeability and electron conductivity formed on the surface of the catalyst layer.
In order to prevent the supplied fuel gas and oxidant gas from leaking out of the fuel cell or the two gases from mixing, a gas seal or a gasket is arranged to sandwich the polymer electrolyte membrane on the periphery of the electrodes. The gas seal or the gasket is integrated in advance with the electrodes and the membrane. This assembly is known as MEA (membrane-electrode assembly). Next to the MEA, a conductive separator plate is arranged to mechanically secure the MEA and electrically connect the MEA with an adjacent MEA in series. In part of the separator plate contacting the MEA, a gas flow channel is formed to supply a reaction gas or exhaust generated gas or excessive gas to and from the electrode surface. The gas flow channel may be provided independently from the separator, but typically, a groove is formed on the surface of the separator plate which functions as the gas flow channel.
To supply a reaction gas to the grooves of the separator plates in a fuel cell, a pipe for supplying the gas is diverged into branches in a number corresponding to the number of the separators used. Therefore, a jig for connecting the branches to the grooves, respectively, is required. This jig is called a manifold. In particular, a manifold connecting the pipe and the grooves directly as mentioned above is called an external manifold. Another manifold of a simpler structure is called an internal manifold. The internal manifold can consist of a hole penetrating the separators. Inlets of the gas flow channels are formed to communicate with the hole, from which the reaction gas is directly supplied to the gas flow channels.
The hole should have a cross sectional area that is larger than the total cross sectional area of the gas flow channels of the combined separator plates. If the hole area is too small, a pressure loss in the manifold results and increases during the gas supply, thereby increasing the workload required for the gas supply which can be satisfied by using a blower or the like. As a result, the overall system may decrease in efficiency. In order to avoid such a problem and the unwanted pressure loss in the manifold, a larger area is required for the hole.
A fuel cell generates heat during operation. Therefore, it is preferable to cool the fuel cell to keep it within a suitable temperature condition. In general, a cooling section through which a cooling medium is passed is inserted between the separators in every one to three cells. In most cases, the cooling section is provided by forming a cooling medium flow channel on the rear surface of the separator plate. To form a common cell stack, the MEAs and the separators are can be arranged to form a stack of 10-200 cells. Then, an end plate is arranged on each end of the cell stack with an intervening current collector plate and an insulating plate. The cell stack and plates can be secured with fastening rods at the both ends.
As conventional fuel cells, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-343400 proposes a fuel cell in which a gas supply or exhaust pipe is arranged so that the bottom of the pipe's inner wall is positioned at the same level as or lower than the bottom of the manifold penetrating the separator plates. Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-223922 proposes a fuel cell in which an outlet (exhaust) manifold is vertically elongated so that the manifold communicates with an outlet of the gas flow channel at an upper part thereof and connected with a gas exhaust pipe at a lower part thereof.
Typical polymer electrolyte materials include polymers having perfluoro sulfonic acid and perfluoro sulfonate groups. In membrane form, this class of materials develop ion conductivity when they contain moisture and, thus, the fuel gas and oxidant gas are usually humidified before supplying the gases to the cell. However, if the supplied gas is humidified to have a dew point higher than the operation temperature of the fuel cell, condensation occurs in the gas flow channel or inside the electrode and, in extreme circumstances, accumulates water in the fuel cell. Additional water can accumulate because the reaction on the cathode side generates water. As a result, the performance of the fuel cell becomes unstable or deteriorated. Such a phenomenon caused by too much moisture, in which deterioration in fuel cell performance and unstable operation occur, is called flooding. If this phenomenon occurs on the anode side, a shortage of the fuel gas occurs, which is fatal to the fuel cell. More specifically, if the fuel cell is forced into operation in a state where the fuel gas is lacking, carbon associated with the anode catalyst reacts with water in the atmosphere to generate electrons and protons. Accordingly, carbon is leached from the catalyst layer, destroying the catalyst layer of the anode. Therefore, flooding on the anode side is of significant importance.
If the fuel cell is used for a power generation system, procedures including the humidification of the supply gas need to be systematized. For the purposes of obtaining a simple system and improving efficiency thereof, it is preferable to humidify the supply gas to have a dew point as low as possible. Therefore, in general, the supply gas is humidified to have a dew point slightly lower than the fuel cell temperature so as to avoid flooding, improve the system efficiency and simplify the system.
However, in order to achieve higher performance of the fuel cell, the polymer electrolyte membrane needs to be improved in ion conductivity. For that purpose, it is preferable to humidify the supply gas to have almost 100% relative humidity or higher. In view of durability of the polymer electrolyte membrane, it is also preferable to supply the gas with high humidity.
If the gas is humidified to have the relative humidity of almost 100%, the supplied gas causes condensation with a high possibility in the upstream of the fuel cell stack. The condensed water is then supplied to the stack in a mist state. If the separator plate surface is arranged parallel to the gravity direction and the inlet manifold for the gas supply is provided in an upper part of the separator plate in the gravity direction, the mist flows locally into cells which are relatively close to the gas supply pipe. As a result, flooding occurs in these cells, deteriorating their performance. If the inlet manifold is not provided in the upper part of the separator plate, the mist remains in the inlet manifold, making the gas supply unstable. Further, the amount of gas supply may differ among the cells.
In the fuel cell disclosed by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-343400, the gas supply or exhaust pipe is misaligned with the projected surface of the manifold. This may possibly cause a wasteful region that does not contribute to the power generation in the separator plate surface. On the other hand, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-223922 merely specifies the arrangement of the outlet manifold. Therefore, a phenomenon ascribable to an inlet manifold may possibly occur to make the operations of the fuel cell unstable.
To address the above problems, the present invention provides a fuel cell which allows a substantially uniform gas supply to the unit cells in the cell stack. More specifically, the present invention provides a compact, highly reliable solid polymer fuel cell, substantially free from the adverse retention of condensed water in a manifold and capable of supplying a gas uniformly and stably without deteriorating or destabilizing the fuel cell performance.


A display device for a vehicle includes: a plurality of imaging units configured to capture images around the vehicle; an image compositing unit configured to composite the images captured by the imaging units to generate a composite image; an image display unit configured to display the composite image generated by the image compositing unit; and an acquiring unit configured to acquire information about an object around the vehicle. The imaging units are arranged such that imaging areas thereof overlap with each other. The image compositing unit is configured to set a boundary between the captured images in the composite image such that the boundary is provided in a part where the imaging areas of the imaging units overlap with each other. In a case where the acquiring unit acquires the information about the object, the image compositing unit changes the boundary.

Conventionally, various methods for displaying surroundings of a vehicle have been proposed. For example, JPH4-239400A discloses an on-board surveillance camera device including an imaging means, an image processing means, and a display means. The imaging means is mounted on a vehicle to capture images around the vehicle in desired directions. The image processing means converts and composites the images captured by the imaging means so that the driver of the vehicle can easily see the image. The display means displays the images composited by the image processing means.
By the way, in a case where a display device for a vehicle includes a plurality of imaging units configured to capture images around the vehicle, the images captured by the imaging units may be composited to generate a composite image, and this composite image may be displayed on a display (for example, an inboard touch panel). In such a case, depending on the position of an object around the vehicle, it may be difficult to appropriately generate the composite image near the boundary of the images captured by the imaging units.

Display device for vehicle and parking assist system


According to one embodiment, an acoustic correction apparatus includes: a signal obtaining module configured to obtain an acoustic signal from a target space including an object and an external space; a signal output module configured to output to the target space a measurement signal; a coefficient identifying module configured to identify, on the basis of a response acoustic signal, a correction coefficient of a correction filter that reduces a resonance frequency component of a resonance in the object; a filtering module configured to use the correction filter, and filter the signal provided to the object; a noise cancelling module configured to remove, on the basis of the acoustic signal, a noise component comprised in the acoustic signal from the filtered signal; and an output module configured to output the acoustic signal, from which the noise component is removed by the noise cancelling module, to the object.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an acoustic correction apparatus and an acoustic correction method for processing an output acoustic signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Portable acoustic reproducing apparatuses with which users can listen to reproduced sounds such as music using headphones and earphones are widely available to the general public. When a user listens to music and the like with these headphones and earphones, the sound the user listens to may deteriorate due to resonance phenomena caused by headphones and earphones closing the ears and noise caused by external environments.
In order to prevent the resonance phenomena, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) No. 2000-92589 describes an apparatus that has an earphone with which a microphone is integrated (hereinafter, referred to as earphone-microphone), and measures and obtains acoustic characteristics of ear canals using the earphone-microphone, thereby correcting resonance characteristics of the ear canals using an adaptive equalization filter.
In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) No. 2000-92589, however, the microphones are used only for correcting the resonance characteristics, and not used for noise cancelling. Further, since the microphone is arranged on the side of the ear canals for correcting the resonance phenomena, additional microphones are needed when microphones for noise cancelling are necessary.

Acoustic correction apparatus and acoustic correction method


Disclosed is a method for displaying a plurality of objects on a display (105). Each object has at least a first attribute and a second attribute. The method sets a range of first attributes to be displayed. A set of objects is then displayed having the same second attribute on a radial line of an ellipse based on a comparison between the range and the first attribute of the objects. Desirably the method is used for displaying information regarding a plurality of broadcast programs on the display, each broadcast program having attributes comprising at least time of transmission and channel of transmission. In that implementation a display period is set. The method then compares the time of broadcast transmission of one or more programs with the display period and then displays (eg. 600) information regarding a set of programs (602, 604, 606) having the same channel of transmission (eg. 12) on at least one radial line of an ellipse, based on the comparison. The described arrangements are particularly useful in displaying television electronic program guide (EPG) information.

When viewing broadcast television programs, for example upon a digital television set, a viewer often desires information about forthcoming programs in order to plan future viewing. Such program information may be supplied to the digital television in an electronic form known as an Electronic Program Guide (EPG). An EPG includes program information contained in a file or data stream with a known format, which can be parsed and presented to the viewer as a visual display. The viewer may then navigate the visual display using a remote control device to find or identify program information and issue commands to the television.
The EPG can, in principle, contain information about an unlimited number of channels and programs for broadcast by each channel. Presenting all the available program data to the viewer on a single display screen is impractical, as the information may need to be rendered in a size too small to be readily understood. Further, the simplicity of the typical remote control interface limits the ability of the viewer to interact with the display, which can make the task of navigation tedious and unpleasant.
Current EPG displays present a subset of the information to the viewer in a linear arrangement that may be scrolled by the viewer using simple "Up" and "Down" controls to uncover or reveal the content of the EPG not presently displayed (so-called "off-screen content"). Such linear scrolling is visually monotonous and can quickly exhaust the viewer's patience. Moreover, the viewing display of a digital television can vary widely in size and aspect ratio, and the typical linear display is unable to adapt to these different conditions. A need therefore exists for a visually interesting yet readily comprehensible manner of presenting the program information obtained from an EPG that is adaptable to different classes of consumer digital television displays. Such a presentation is desirable to be easily navigable by the simple controls of the typical remote control.

Displaying EPG information on a digital television


Technologies for a long-lived 3D multimode microwave cavity are disclosed. In the illustrative embodiment, a series of overlapping holes are drilled into a monolithic block of aluminum forming a cavity. The dimensions of the cavity formed by the overlapping holes can be made long by drilling a long series of holes in a row and can be made high by drilling holes a certain depth into the cavity. If two dimensions of the cavity are bigger than the diameter of the holes used to create the cavity, then the cavity can support electromagnetic waves that cannot propagate through the holes, leading to a long lifetime in the cavity. A superconducting qubit or other non-linear element can be inserted into the cavity, which can controllably interact with each of several modes of the cavity. In this way, the modes of the cavity can act as components in a quantum memory.

Quantum computing promises advances in solving problems that cannot be addressed with a classical computer, such as performing specific algorithms to efficiently solve certain problems, including, for example, factoring large numbers and performing simulations of large quantum systems. Superconducting quantum computing is a promising candidate, having demonstrated high-fidelity one- and two-qubit gates.
Like all quantum computing systems, a superconducting quantum computing system requires storage of qubits with low loss and small amounts of noise. Many proposals have been made, but the loss and noise present in superconducting quantum memories remains a limiting factor in superconducting quantum computing systems.

Technologies for long-lived 3D multimode microwave cavities


Provided is a scanning electron microscope. The scanning electron microscope is capable of removing a charge generated on a side wall of a deep hole or groove, and inspects and measures a bottom portion of the deep hole or groove with high accuracy. Therefore, in the scanning electron microscope that includes an electron source 201 that emits a primary electron, a sample stage 213 on which a sample is placed, a deflector 207 that causes the sample to be scanned with the primary electron, an objective lens 203 that focuses the primary electron on the sample, and a detector 206 that detects a secondary electron generated by irradiating the sample with the primary electron, a potential applied to the sample stage is controlled to have a negative polarity with respect to a potential applied to the objective lens during a first period in which the sample is irradiated with the primary electron, and the potential applied to the sample stage is controlled to have a positive polarity with respect to the potential applied to the objective lens during a second period in which the sample is not irradiated with the primary electron.

When a sample is scanned with primary electrons, a scanning electron microscope detects secondary electrons generated by primary electron beams interacting with the sample, and outputs a microscope image based on an amount of the detected secondary electrons. In particular, a structure can be visualized with nanometer resolution without destroying the sample. Thus, the scanning electron microscope has been widely used for inspection and measurement of a semiconductor device that enhances integration by miniaturization of a structure. Here, the secondary electrons include not only (true) secondary electrons having an energy of 50 [eV] or less, but also backscattered electrons that are detected by a detector of the scanning electron microscope and have an energy of 50 [eV] or more, which are secondary electrons in a broad sense, so to speak.
In recent years, high integration of the semiconductor device has been achieved not only by miniaturization but also by three-dimensional formation of a structure. Therefore, the semiconductor device may have a complicated laminated structure. It is necessary for the scanning electron microscope, which performs such inspection and measurement of a sample, to clearly visualize not only an outermost surface of a laminated film but also a bottom portion of a very deep hole or a very deep groove (hereinafter, referred to as a "deep hole or groove") formed in the laminated film. In addition, the laminated film has a structure including an insulator in many cases. Thus, it is necessary to inspect and measure the bottom portion of the deep hole or groove while preventing an effect of a charge.
Meanwhile, as a technique for removing a charge of a sample (insulator), examples are as follows. PTL 1 discloses a method of performing primary electron scanning for removing a charge, which is different from primary electron beam scanning for acquiring an image by using a primary electron irradiation energy, during swing back deflection. Specifically, in the primary electron scanning for removing the charge, an irradiation energy of the primary electrons is set as an irradiation energy that causes a positive charge to be formed, whereby a negative charge generated on a sample surface is removed.
As another method, there is a method by light irradiation as disclosed in PTL 2. Irradiation is performed with light beams having an energy larger than that of a work function of an insulator, so that a fact that photoelectrons are emitted from a sample, and the sample can be positively charged is used.

Scanning electron microscope and sample observation method using scanning electron microscope


The present disclosure relates to processes for preparing dronedarone or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent arrhythmia, the incidence of which increases with age. It is estimated that 8% of all people over the age of 80 experience this type of abnormal heart rhythm and AF accounts for one-third of hospital admissions for cardiac rhythm disturbances. Over 2.2 million people are believed to have AF in the Unites States alone. Fuster, et al Circulation 2006 114 (7): e257-354. Although atrial fibrillation is often asymptomatic it may cause palpitations or chest pain. Prolonged atrial fibrillation often results in the development of congestive heart failure and/or stroke. Heart failure develops as the heart attempts to compensate for the reduced cardiac efficiency while stroke may occur when thrombi form in the atria, pass into the blood stream and lodge in the brain. Pulmonary emboli may also develop in this manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,510 discloses alkylaminoalkyl derivatives of benzofuran, benzothiophene, indole and indolizine, processes for their preparation and compositions containing them. WO 2013/014480 discloses a process for manufacturing dronedarone comprising reduction of the compound of formula (II) to the compound of formula (I) as shown below:

WO 2012/127174 discloses a process involving a Fries rearrangement converting, for example, the compound of formula (8) to the compound of formula (9) followed by coupling of the compound of formula (9) and dibutylamino propyl chloride to afford the compound of formula (I).

European patent application EP2617718A1 discloses processes for preparing dronedarone comprising reacting the intermediate
where L is a leaving group with dibutylaminopropanol.
The above disclosures notwithstanding, there remains a need for alternate or improved processes for preparing dronedarone.

Process for preparing dronedarone and salts thereof


At a high pressure refuel depot that dispenses high pressure hydrogen or compressed natural gas to vehicles, the thermal energy (heat) generated by the high flow rate of the high pressure refueling gas is evacuated from the on board fuel tank[s] of vehicles eliminating the need for refueling pre treatments such as a slow fill, secondary precooling, and pressure overfill otherwise used to achieve a full vehicle tank refill. In an example, a high pressure fuel depot refilling line is operatively interconnected to an on board vehicle tank having a gas flow circuit wherein the refuel gas itself is circulated within the on board tank to absorb the compression heat of refueling and then to an external radiator before being released into the tank.

When high pressure gases, such as hydrogen ("H2") and compressed natural gas (CNG) are used as fuels in motor vehicles, a fuel depot infrastructure for efficient consumer refueling of the vehicles must also be developed. Typically, in the use of hydrogen gas to power fuel cells, or in the use of compressed natural gas, to power internal combustion engines in motor vehicles, present practice is that high pressure fuel is stored is dispensed to and stored in on board fuel tanks maintained at a maximum design pressure in the range of about 5000 psi for hydrogen and about 3600 psi for CNG. Higher pressures in the range of about 10,000 psi are likely to be utilized as a result of consumer preference for longer vehicle range after a refill, and as the art progresses. In the instance of a fuel cell powered vehicle, utilization of the hydrogen input into the fuel cell stack occurs at about 30 psi. An increase in the energy efficiency of the overall system of fuel depots and vehicle tanks and refueling systems and their interrelationships is a desired goal.
Hydrogen powered vehicles may use high pressure hydrogen storage tanks to store hydrogen on board to power vehicle fuel cell stacks. Herein, reference to high pressure hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles also correlates the use of the invention with high pressure compressed natural gas powered vehicles. [For clarity at times, when hydrogen is referred to in the specification "hydrogen" is a term intended to be interchangeable with compressed natural gas in the high pressure environment discussed herein.] In consumer vehicles, the use of multiple cylindrically shaped small fuel tanks rather than one large tank is preferred for design purposes. Various designs for high pressure hydrogen refueling stations have been proposed to deal with refueling efficiencies. When the on board fuel tanks of a hydrogen powered vehicle are filled with hydrogen, the pressurized on board gas in the tanks may be characterized as having multiple forms of energy: 1) chemical energy associated with the hydrogen fuel itself (consumed in powering the vehicle), and 2) thermodynamic energy, namely, mechanical and thermal energy associated with the physics of high pressure refueling of the on board tank from sources of fuel at the refuel depot.
Hydrogen and CNG fueled vehicles have high pressure on board fuel gas storage tanks. During a high pressure refueling process, the interiors of the on board tanks become heated as a result of fuel gas compression as the tank pressure increases and other refueling parameters affect the refill. After refueling, the interior temperature of the tank and the pressure within the tank both decrease slowly as the fuel gas is consumed during vehicle operation. Conventionally, it is not possible to obtain a full refill tank pressure without pressure compensation during the course of refueling; namely, the charge of fuel pressure input into and stored in the tank must be, at refill, initially in excess of the tank design pressure. Without pressure compensation (an initial overfill), vehicle mileage range is reduced because a full fill is not obtained. When higher optimum tank design pressures are encountered, this condition is exacerbated. In one response to the overfill dilemma, a slower flow rate may be used during refill, which will result in a lower internal tank temperature, and higher pressure, and increased capacity over time. An undesirable consequence of a slower flow rate during refueling to avoid heat build up is self evident—a longer refueling time. Another solution proposes to cool the station fuel gas before refueling; cooling, however, requires substantial energy, thereby reducing the overall efficiency of a hydrogen economy. Pre-cooling the fuel gas is generally unnecessary when fill pressures are at 5000 psi or lower, however, as pressures approach or exceed 10,000 psi, cooling becomes an important factor in the refueling process. A pressure overfill as an option likewise requires additional energy expense where additional gas compression is involved and further increases the heat generated in the tank as a result of high pressure compression during the refill process. In any case, secondary treatment of the refill gas is generally unnecessary when tank fill pressures are at 5000 psi or lower. As tank pressures exceed 3600 psi (for CNG) and 5000 psi (for hydrogen) and approach or exceed 10,000 psi, secondary treatment such as cooling becomes an important factor in the refueling process to achieve a full tank capacity fill. When a full fill is achieved, overall vehicle range per each tank refill thereby increases, energy required for a refill (such as for precooling or a pressure overfill) is reduced, time is saved, and overall customer satisfaction increases.

Gas cooling methods for high pressure fuel storage tanks on vehicles powered by compressed natural gas or hydrogen


New and improved methods and products are disclosed relating to softness of fibrous webs. Increased softness, among other things, is obtained by abrading the surface of the web to create fuzziness from protruding fibers.

The type and amount of fibers that extend out of a sheet have been known to effect the perceived softness of that sheet. Although, tissue sheets are principally discussed herein, it should be recognized that this invention is not limited to tissue sheets or products, but may be applicable to any type of paper product, as well as other types of material, such as non-woven and woven fabrics, where softness or the amount of loose fibers on the surface of the product is desirable. All other factors remaining equal, a tissue sheet that has more loose fibers on its surface, i.e., one that is fuzzier, should be perceived as being softer than a tissue sheet that has less loose fibers on its surface. By loose fibers as used herein, it is meant that one end of the fiber is not bonded to other fibers in the tissue sheet and is protruded above the bonded surface of the sheet. The desirability of increasing the number of loose fibers on the surface of a sheet to increase perceived softness has been know. For example, Wand. U.S. Pat. No. 3,592,732, discloses using a brush to lift the fibers from the surface of a tissue or towel sheet to increase softness.

Method of mechanical softening of sheet material