An input-output unit includes a display unit having a bendable display screen for displaying information on the bendable display screen; and a pressure-sensitive input unit containing detection means being provided below the display screen for detecting a position on the bendable display screen in response to press pressure from a view side of the bendable display screen.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an input-output unit comprising a liquid crystal display panel, EL, etc., (user interface unit) widely used with office automation machines such as copies, facsimiles, and printers and electronic machines such as personal computers, wordprocessors, handy terminals, and portable information communication machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known as a conventional input-output unit used for a control panel, etc., of an office automation machine such as a copier or facsimile or an electronic machine is a unit comprising an information input display of a liquid crystal display screen, etc., for displaying operation information of the machine and virtual operation buttons responsive to the operation information and enabling the operator to enter control information such as function selection or specification of the number of copies in the machine by pressing any of the virtual operation buttons.
Techniques related to such an input-output unit are already proposed, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Nos. Sho 62-139025 and Hei 3-124542, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. Hei 6-332602 and Sho 63-247819, etc.
Operation panel switches according to Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 62-139025 are operation panel switches for producing multiple display and are membrane switches having transparent electrodes placed on the top face of a dot matrix liquid crystal display device.
A switch mechanism using a liquid crystal display panel according to Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 3-124542 for controlling various functions of an electronic machine comprises a liquid crystal display panel for displaying symbols representing various functions of an electronic machine, a memory section for storing symbols displayed on a number of screens, a transparent pressure-sensing sensor being disposed on the front of the liquid crystal panel and switched to a function responsive to a displayed symbol group, an interface section for switching the function of the pressure-sensing sensor, and a backlight for illuminating the liquid crystal display panel from the rear.
Further, an information processing system according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-332602 comprises a liquid crystal display for displaying various pieces of information, a pressure-sensitive touch panel placed on the front of the liquid crystal display, a software keyboard being displayed on the liquid crystal display whenever necessary for receiving the coordinate position entered on the display from the pressure-sensitive touch panel, and a keyboard input auxiliary section being placed on or removed from the software keyboard and provided on the top face with projections like key buttons matched with the key layout of the software keyboard, characters matched with the key character layout of the software keyboard being displayed on the surfaces of the projections by printing, etc.
On the other hand, a touch panel input-output unit according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 63-247919 comprises a display unit having a display screen as a set of a large number of character areas and digital touch switches like a matrix superposed on the screen with the size of one partition area for sensing one coordinate position almost equaling the partition of the character area and the display pitch of the character areas of the display unit almost equaling the detection pitch of the partition areas of the digital switches, wherein the partition areas of the digital switches are placed on the character areas of the display unit in offset overlapped relation of 1/2 pitch in X and Y directions.
FIG. 24 is an exploded view to show a specific structure of a control panel of a conventional copier in various proposed techniques as described above. In such a conventional structure, an information input display consists of a translucent liquid crystal display screen 21 formed by bonding plate glasses and a touch panel 22 superposed on the display screen 21, and a panel board 24 having an opening 23 covers the information input display. The touch panel 22 is provided by forming a transparent conductive thin film matrix of ITO, etc., at predetermined pitches (for example, 4-mm pitches) on two glass substrates and then bonding the glass substrates with a slight gap between. When any position on the touch panel 22 is pressed, opposed conductive thin films are brought into local contact with each other by the press pressure, producing electric conduction. Then, a CPU circuit 25 determines the press position on the touch panel 22 based on a level change of an output signal. In FIG. 27, numeral 26 is a fluorescent lamp for illuminating the liquid crystal display screen 21 from behind, numeral 27 is a light diffusion board for diffusing illumination light of the fluorescent lamp 26 onto the full face of the liquid crystal display screen 21, and numeral 28 is an inverter circuit for turning on the fluorescent lamp 26.
In such a conventional information input display, if virtual operation buttons responsive to the available functions of the machine are displayed on the liquid crystal display screen 21 and the user Is made to press the operation buttons, the user presses any of the operation buttons. Thus, whether or not one of the virtual operation button is pressed can be checked from the relationship between the press position on the touch panel 22 and the display position of the virtual operation button. Therefore, in a conventional control panel having the information input display, the display contents of the liquid crystal display screen 21 are changed for each use function, whereby more than one function can be assigned to one virtual operation button, so that the number of physical operation buttons provided on the control panel can be decreased markedly.
However, since the touch panel is placed on the front of the liquid crystal display screen in the conventional information input display, contrast of the display screen lowers and the display contents are hard to see. To consider easy-to-see display contents, the liquid crystal display screen is made translucent as described above and a backlight must be provided on the rear side of the display screen.
Since the touch panel and liquid crystal display screen use glass substrates, if the user strongly presses the touch panel in such a situation that the sensitivity of the touch panel worsens, it is also feared that the glass substrates may be broken under press pressure.
On the other hand, if operation buttons frequently used like ten digit keys for entering the number of copies are displayed as virtual operation buttons on the information input display, the appearance of the control panel is uncluttered, but it is feared that operability will worsen. Thus, as shown in FIG. 24, in the conventional control panel, operation buttons 29 such as ten-digit keys frequently used are provided separately from the information input display and of course, a switch matrix board 31 on which input switches 30 are placed is disposed below the operation buttons 29. Since the switch matrix board 31 and the touch panel 22 are disposed side by side, if they can be formed in one piece, assembling the control panel is facilitated and lowering the manufacturing cost can also be expected.
Although input switches 30 of any structure may be placed on the matrix switch board 31 covered by the panel board 24 if they can convert press pressure of the operation buttons into an electric signal, there is a restriction that the touch panel must be transparent. If the control panel is manufactured with both the switch matrix board 31 and the touch panel 22 formed in one piece, the manufacturing cost increases.
To protect liquid crystal panels from press pressure, the inventor et al. examined techniques of combining a liquid crystal panel and a cushioning material and have found that a large number of patent applications were conducted as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. Hei 7-114010, Hei 6-75210, Hei 6-75213, Hei 6-75701, Hei 8-327975, Hei 6-337411, Hei 7-209635, etc.
A liquid crystal display unit according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-114010 comprises a liquid crystal display section having a liquid crystal display device, a light transmission section being disposed on the display side of the liquid crystal display section for transmitting light, and a shock-absorption section being placed between the light transmission section and the liquid crystal display section and made of a material having a refractive index closer to the refractive index of the light transmission section than that of air and having flexibility to the degree that it can substantially absorb deformation of the light transmission section.
Techniques for liquid crystal display units and manufacturing methods therefor are proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. Hei 6-75210, Hei 6-75213, Hei 6-75701, Hei 8-327975, etc.
Among them, the liquid crystal display unit according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-75213 comprises a liquid crystal display panel provided with a tablet board for enabling handwritten input, wherein the liquid crystal display panel and a transparent protection board on the view side of the display panel are bonded with a transparent viscous adhesive resin having a cushioning property and wherein the refractive index difference between the bond layer and the bonded members is 0.2 or less.
The liquid crystal display unit according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 8-327975 comprises a tablet board brought into intimate contact with the view side of a liquid crystal display panel via a weakly adhesive, transparent resin sheet having a cushioning property.
Further, in a light dispersion prevention structure and a manufacturing method therefor in a liquid crystal display unit according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-337411 comprising liquid crystal cells, a shock absorption layer being formed on the liquid crystal cell surface side, and a protection panel separated by the shock absorption layer from the liquid crystal cells with a gap of a given thickness between, the shock absorption layer is formed of a light dispersion prevention material and is bonded intimately to the liquid crystal cells and the protection panel in deaeration relation.
Further, in a light dispersion prevention structure and a manufacturing method therefor in a liquid crystal display unit according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-209635 comprising liquid crystal cells, a shock absorption layer being formed on the liquid crystal cell surface side, and a protection panel separated by the shock absorption layer from the liquid crystal cells with a gap of a given thickness between, the shock absorption layer is formed of a light dispersion prevention material and is bonded intimately to the liquid crystal cells and the protection panel in a sealed condition in deaeration relation and the protection panel is made of a synthetic resin with a hard layer at least on the surface.
However, in the techniques, if the cushioning material is inserted between the liquid crystal display panel and the polarizing panel and moreover the liquid crystal display panel and the polarizing panel are supported on the surroundings, an air layer exists between the liquid crystal display panel and the polarizing panel and light incident from the top of the polarizing panel is fully reflected in the gap between the liquid crystal display panel and the polarizing panel because of the refractive index difference between the polarizing plate and air, making the liquid crystal display panel poor in viewability. That is, a new problem arises.
In every technique proposed, the input switches are placed on the top of the liquid crystal display panel. Thus, the following problems remain unsolved: The input switches placed on the top cause the display screen contrast to lower, making the display contents hard to view, and the liquid crystal display screen must be made translucent and a backlight must be provided on the rear side to consider the easiness to read the display contents. Since the touch panel and the liquid crystal display screen use glass substrates, if the user strongly presses the touch panel in such a situation that the viewability of the touch panel worsens, it is feared that the glass substrates may be broken under press pressure even if the shock absorbing layer is provided; the problem also remains unsolved.


The invention relates to an imaging system equipped with an electronic viewfinder suitable for compactness and having a sufficient angle of viewing field and satisfactory optical performance, especially the ability to prevent harmful light. The imaging system comprises an image pickup optical system, an image pickup device for receiving a light beam guided by the image pickup optical system, an image display device for displaying an image thereon, a controller for converting image information obtained from the image pickup device into signals capable of being displayed on the image display device, and a viewing optical system for guiding an image appearing on the image display device to a viewer's eye. The viewing optical system comprises, in order from an image display device side, one negative lens and one positive lens.

The present invention relates generally to an imaging system such as a silver-halide camera or a digital camera, and more particularly to an imaging system equipped with an electronic viewfinder that is suitably used with a small-sized image display device, especially a liquid crystal display device.
Most silver-halide cameras or digital cameras comprise means for recording images by an image pickup optical system, and a viewing optical system for checking image pickup ranges. As the image recording means, chemical reactions on a film surface are used for silver-halide cameras, and information obtained by photoelectric conversion on an electronic image pickup device such as a CCD is used for the digital cameras.
On the other hand, the viewing optical system is often designed such that a light beam from a subject side is guided to a viewer side to form an image on the viewer's retina, thereby observing the image to be picked up. This type of viewing optical system is used with or without an image pickup optical system for forming an image that records a part of the entrance side. Among the former there is typically a single-lens reflex camera. Among the latter there is typically a real image type finder that is suitable for a zoom optical system and comprises an object optical system, an image-erecting means and an eyepiece optical system. Such finders, mounted on many commercial products, are sometimes generally called optical finders.
Instead of the optical finder, many commercially available digital cameras or video cameras incorporate an electronic finder that provides a direct view of an image formed on an electronic display device such as an LCD (liquid crystal display) to enable the viewer to check the image pickup range. Many digital cameras incorporating both the optical finder and the electronic finder, too, are commercialized.
A so-called EVF (electronic viewfinder) designed to observe virtual images on LCDs through a viewing optical system has also been proposed. For conventional products incorporating such an electronic finder, there is used a display device with a display screen having a diagonal length of about 0.5 inch (about 12 mm).
In recent years, the demand for size reductions of cameras has grown.
Currently developed LCDs are smaller in size than ever before. With this, it is now required to reduce the whole size of the viewing optical system in conformity with LCD size, increase the magnification of the viewing optical system depending on size reductions of image display devices, etc.
When a reflection type display device adapted to enter light rays from its display screen therein is used as the image display device, it is required to ensure the optical path necessary for displaying images.


An exhaust gas purifying and heat recovering system and method for sludge treatment. The system comprises: a first heat exchange flow path including first, second, and third heat exchangers, a first heat exchange medium that is circulated in the first heat exchange flow path to heat process gas for sludge treatment in the first heat exchanger, a second purification and heat exchange flow path including a heat exchange tank containing a second liquid heat exchange medium and which receives the exhaust gas after sludge treatment, and a third dirty liquid separation flow path including a dirty liquid separation tank provided between a dirty liquid outlet of the heat exchange tank and a clean liquid inlet of the heat exchange tank for separating the dirty liquid after purging the exhaust gas, the separated liquid being again directed to the clean liquid inlet of the heat exchange tank.

With the continuous development of urbanization, the amount of sewage which is generated in industrial production and daily life and which needs to be treated gradually increases, and as by-product of sewage treatment, output amount of the sludge also increases. However, sludge treatment is more difficult than sewage treatment. At present, sludge drying treatment is a relatively effective sludge treatment method. A superior drying treatment method usually adopts the direct type drying, and the dried drying media is recovered and reused.
Chinese invention patent CN201010101024.8 discloses a latent-heat-exchange-type multi-phase change sludge drying method and apparatus. This apparatus generally introduces vapor to dry the sludge after the dehydrated sludge is transported into a dryer. By constantly stirring the sludge, the sludge is sufficiently heated and evaporated out of the moisture, to achieve the purpose of drying. A latent heat pump is used to recover the vapor after the sludge is dried, and the heat energy therein is passed to a vapor generating device to generate low-temperature vapor as a supplemental heat source for drying, which is then used for sludge drying, and the exhaust gas filtered by the biological filter is harmlessly discharged into the atmosphere. The apparatus and method adopted in this patent document can dry the sludge by low-temperature vapor and the heat of the vapor in the generated exhaust gas is exchanged by the latent heat exchange pump, and the recovered heat is used as heat source for sludge drying, thereby achieving thermal cycling.
During the process of sludge drying, a large amount of exhaust gas will be released, the composition thereof is complex and diverse, which is a mixture of various organic and inorganic gases, which, if be directly discharged, will cause serious secondary pollution to the surrounding environment, will seriously damage human life's environment, and will cause loss of heat.
Therefore, there are some exhaust gas treatment methods, such as biological filtration, exhaust gas absorption tower, precipitator, etc. However, they are now difficult to achieve processing functions such as effective exhaust gas treatment and heat recovery, etc., a lot of dried exhaust gas is discharged once treated, while the heat carried by the exhaust gas is not recycled and reused, thereby increasing the energy cost of drying. Even with heat recovery apparatus, heat recovery is often inefficient, and the sludge impurities contained in the exhaust gas can clog the heat recovery apparatus, causing corrosion.
Although the apparatus of the above patent or the prior art is able to realize heat recovery and reuse of the exhaust gas after the sludge drying, the sludge impurities carried in the exhaust gas during the sludge drying process can clog the apparatus and affect the efficiency of heat recovery.
Thus, there is a need for systems and methods that can efficiently perform exhaust gas purifying and heat recovery during sludge drying.

Exhaust gas purifying and heat recovering system and method for sludge treatment

Swison Creative Environmental Solutions Co., Ltd.


The flexible printing system is comprised of a printer that has printing characteristics that can be updated. A printer cartridge comprises printer data memory that either stores new printing characteristics or stores a location from the Internet from which these characteristics can be downloaded. The printer accesses the cartridge's printer data memory and checks the stored printing characteristics. If the printer can use these characteristics and they differ from the characteristics that are presently being used by the printer, the printer updates its printing characteristics using the printer data memory's printing characteristics. In one embodiment, the printer characteristics are color tables and dithering algorithms.

Systems for printing involve trade-offs made by the manufacturer to achieve a solution that is acceptable for a majority of consumers. A printer manufacturer may have a variety of printer models, each focused on a different segment of consumers.
For example, a printer manufacturer may have one or more models that are focused on consumers wishing to print photographs that have been scanned-in or downloaded to a computer from a digital camera. The same manufacturer may also sell other printers that are color but are not marketed as photograph printers.
The different printers are typically focused on different markets and uses by storing the color tables, dithering algorithms, and print characteristics for different print media in the printer's memory. A printer that is being marketed as a photograph printer may have a different color table and dithering algorithm than, for example, a lower cost printer that is marketed towards an everyday printer for all uses.
The more models that a manufacturer offers, the greater their costs. The manufacturer must be able to support each model with technical support, sales staff training, and other costs associated with each printer.
Due to these costs, a printer manufacturer may be reluctant to enter a niche market if they do not anticipate enough sales to make the manufacturing and marketing costs for the niche printer worthwhile. This may reduce the competition available for printers in a niche market while also increasing the cost of the printers due to lack of demand.
An additional problem is that technology and materials are limited by what is available at the time of design and development of the printer. A certain color or print media that is desired by a large corporate customer may not be available when the printer is being designed and the color tables and dithering algorithms are burned into the printer's memory. The printer manufacturer must now redesign the printer to take those desired qualities into account. This results in more design costs, greater delay to market, and lost sales for the manufacturer. There is a resulting need for a more flexible printing system that can be updated rapidly and inexpensively to take into account changing markets and consumer desires.

Printing system for updating printing characteristics with a printing consumable

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A method for the real time determination of the three dimensional position of a movable target with respect to a fixed coordinate system, the method utilizing a responder mounted on the target, at least one primary transmitter/receiver of known position and a plurality of secondary transmitter/receivers of known positions.

Position determination of a movable target in three dimensional space is may be based upon range and/or angle determinations from which the coordinates of the target are determined. In radar based methods radio frequency pulsed radiation is used. The range of the target is determined by noting the round trip time of a pulse from the moment it leaves the radar system until it returns after having reflected of the target. The range is given by the product of half the round trip time times the velocity of light. The shorter the wavelength used the greater the precision of the estimated range of the target from the radar system.
Among the optical methods range estimation using light in free space (i.e., excluding waveguide technologies), the Time Of Flight (TOF) and the interferometry or heterodyne detection methods (see, e.g., Ifftimia N., Kopica M. and Spanulescu I. "Active Remote Sensing Heterodyne Technique," SPIE Vol. 2120, pp. 136-142, 1994) are most commonly used The former is the optical equivalent of the radar method and estimates the distance between the light pulse transmitter/receiver and the target by measuring the round trip time required for a light pulse to travel between the transmitter/receiver and the target. Alternatively if the transmitter and receiver are at different locations the time of flight of the light pulse from the transmitter to the receiver via the target is measured.
The heterodyne detection method uses a coherent light in an interferometer configuration and is generally more accurate than the more straightforward TOF method which is useful for measuring distances from several meters to a few kilometers. For the measurement of distances from few a millimeters to several meters interferometers using a coherent light source can be used. The interferometric method has a drawback in that there is an inherent ambiguity in counting integer fringes. The heterodyne detection method is based on the absolute distance interferometry method in which a synthetic long wavelength is produced by using two wavelengths with a small wavelength difference between them (see, e.g., Yang Z., Ting Z. and Weiming R. "Heterodyne Interferometer with a Dual Mode He-Ne Laser for Absolute Distance Interferometry," SPIE Vol. 2544, pp. 354-357, 1995).
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for accurate real three dimensional time position determination of a movable target that does not suffer from estimation ambiguities.

Method for determining the position of targets in three dimensional space by optical chirped radio frequency modulation


A system for collecting data using a non-contact IC chip to manage the data using a computer. An IC chip sends data in a non-contact manner to a reader. The reader receives and stores the data in a memory. When an IC chip of a kind different from the IC chip is present near the reader, the reader sends the data stored in the memory to that IC chip by radio. The data received by the IC chip is supplied to a computer. The reader remains in a stand-alone setting and exchanges data with an IC chip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data exchanging system, device, and method, and in particular to a system and device for exchanging data by radio.
2. Description of the Related Art
A card having a data exchanging function by radio has been developed and used in a station gate and so forth. In a system utilizing such a card, an IC chip having a receiving antenna is built in to a card, a reader installed as an infrastructure at a station gate transmits a weak electric wave, and the card, when placed within a predetermined range, returns the IC chip's unique information to the reader.
With this system, a user can pass through a gate by merely placing his/her card near the reader, while a reader manager can process collected data statistically or in any desired manner to obtain an idea of the situation regarding users to be utilized in improvement of the system and its convenience, merely by connecting the reader to a server computer.
However, in order to read the unique information sent from an IC chip using a reader and to input the read information into a server computer to be statistically processed in a desired manner, the reader must be connected to the server computer. Meeting this requirement results in increase of costs whether a new system is developed or an existing system is modified. Further, for a system having a portable reader, rather than a fixed one, the portability of the reader may be deteriorated when the reader is physically connected to a computer system.

Data exchanging system, device, and method, all utilizing IC chip


The present invention relates to an information search system, an information processing apparatus and method, and information search apparatus and method. A PC extracts, from the mail document transmitted/received by a user, words corresponding to the user's interests and records the interest data. In steps S121 and S122, upon logged in by the user, an HDD recorder requests the acquisition of interest data. On the basis of this request, the PC sends the interest data corresponding to the login user. In steps S123 and S124, the HDD recorder sends the received interest data to a server. In step S131, the server searches for the program information that matches the received interest data. In step S125, on the basis of the program information contained in the search result, the HDD recorder sets the timer-recording of a program. The present invention is applicable to programs which are installed in personal computers.

Known for the methods of recommending television programs and radio programs are initial interest registering, viewing log using, and emphasis filtering, for example.
In each of these methods, the source data is EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information or program information (program metadata) on the Web for example. The methods are classified into the above-mentioned three methods depending on how the user's preference data to be matched with these pieces of information are obtained.
In the initial interest registering method, user's favorite categories (such as drama and variety for example), favorite genre names (such as drama and music for example), and favorite entertainers' names for example are registered by the user at the time of starting the use of a recommendation service. Subsequently, matching is executed with the program metadata by use of the registered information as keywords, thereby acquiring program names to be recommended.
In the viewing log using method, every time the user views programs, the program metadata about each viewed program are accumulated, and when a predetermined amount of viewing log (or program metadata) are accumulated, the accumulated viewing log is analyzed to acquire program names for recommendation. With a device on which video recording is made onto its hard disk drive for example, an operation log such as timer video recording and starting of video recording for example by the user may be used instead of the above-mentioned viewing log. In this case, the information highly reflecting user's interest can be obtained, rather than vague program information.
In the emphasis filtering method, the viewing (or operation) log of one user is matched with the viewing logs of other users to acquire viewing logs of other users which are similar to the viewing log of the user concerned. Then, of the programs viewed by other users similar in viewing log (namely, similar in preference) to the viewing of the user concerned, those program names which have not been viewed by the user concerned are obtained for recommendation.
Use of the above-mentioned known program recommendation methods allows the recommendation of programs in which each user seems to be interested.
However, each of the above-mentioned known recommendation methods comes to extract user's interest from program metadata (namely, resulting in the acquisition of lopsided interests in television programs). And, in the structure of program metadata, each of these methods uses generally intelligible program names, thereby presenting a problem that similarly sounding programs are recommended.
Namely, each of the above-mentioned known recommendation methods cannot reflect user's daily interests to the programs, thereby failing to recommend timely and useful programs.
At the same time, each of these methods presents a problem that, when particular programs are recommended, the user cannot understand the reason of the recommendation.

Information search system, information processing apparatus and method, and information search apparatus and method


A system and a method are provided for sealing a cartridge during a recharging or a refilling of a toner hopper of the cartridge with a toner. The cartridge is filled with the toner through a toner port of the toner hopper. The toner hopper and a shutter drum assembly are separated at a first end of the cartridge. An ultrasonic welder welds a first side at the first end of the cartridge and then welds a second side at the first end of the cartridge. The ultrasonic welder seals the first end of the cartridge by bonding the shutter drum assembly to the toner hopper at the first end of the cartridge. A welding jig maintains alignment of the shutter drum assembly and the toner hopper during reassembly and/or aligns the first side and/or the second side of the cartridge prior to welding by the ultrasonic welder.

The present invention generally relates to a system and a method for sealing a cartridge. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and a method for sealing a cartridge, such as, for example, a toner cartridge during recharging or refilling of the cartridge with a toner. The cartridge may be filled with the toner through an original equipment manufacturer (hereinafter "OEM") toner port. A first separator and/or a second separator may be inserted between a shutter drum assembly and a toner hopper of the cartridge. A seal may be inserted between the shutter drum assembly and the toner hopper. Further, the system and the method may include an ultrasonic welder with a horn and a welding jig. The system and the method may seal the cartridge and/or may bond the shutter drum assembly to the toner hopper with ultrasonic energy from the horn of the ultrasonic welder.
It is generally known that a laser toner cartridge may be refilled after toner in the toner hopper has emptied. The toner is typically a powder that may be made from plastic particles. The laser toner cartridge has the toner hopper, an organic photo-conductor (hereinafter "OPC") drum and a primary charge roller (hereinafter "PCR"). The OPC drum receives a charge of static electricity from the PCR as the OPC drum is rotated by a printer motor. The OPC drum receives writing from a laser in the printer which removes the static charge at points. As the OPC drum rotates, a coating of the toner is attracted to the OPC drum by the electrical charge and is deposited on a piece of paper passing by the OPC drum. A heated roller melts the plastic particles of the toner and fuses the toner to the piece of paper.
Traditionally, the laser toner cartridge is refilled by completely separating a shutter drum holder or an OPC drum holder from the toner hopper. Additionally, the OPC drum, a gear housing and gears are removed from the cartridge. Further, a hole is drilled into a back of the gear housing and the toner hopper to allow a user to funnel toner into the toner hopper and/or refill the toner hopper with the toner. Still further, a plug is inserted into the hole to seal the toner hopper. The gears and the gear housing are reattached to the toner hopper. The toner hopper and the OPC drum holder are reassembled and the OPC drum is reinserted into the OPC drum holder. The toner hopper and the OPC drum holder are secured together with two spring clips, an adhesive and/or the like. More recently, the toner hopper and the OPC drum holder have been secured together by welding from an ultrasonic welder. However, drilling a hole in the toner hopper and separating the toner hopper and the OPC drum reduce the integrity of the reassembled cartridge. Moreover, the reassembled cartridge may leak toner if the spring clips, the adhesive or the welding fail.
A need, therefore, exists for a system and a method for sealing a cartridge which allow the toner hopper and the shutter drum holder to remain assembled during the refilling and/or recharging of the toner hopper. Additionally, a need exists for a system and a method for sealing a cartridge without requiring a hole to be drilled in the toner hopper to refill the toner hopper with the toner. Further, a need exists for a system and a method for sealing a cartridge which maintains the integrity of an original weld between the toner cartridge and the shutter drum holder. Still further, a need exists for a system and a method for sealing a cartridge which prevents leakage of the toner from the cartridge. Moreover, a need exists for a system and a method for sealing a cartridge without requiring the toner hopper to be separated from the shutter drum holder.

System and a method for sealing a cartridge


A Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation comprising two satellite subconstellations. Each of the two satellite subconstellations comprises three cross-linked satellites. The cross-linked satellites of both subconstellations lay within or near the equatorial plane, and follow a substantially circular orbit. Individual ones of the satellites within each respective subconstellation are offset from each of two adjacent satellites of at least one of the other subconstellations by a predetermined angle. Each of the satellite subconstellations relays communications between a terrestrial node and at least one mission platform in manner that minimizes the number of satellite links necessary for relaying the communications. At least one satellite from each respective subconstellation is always within a view of the terrestrial node.

In satellite based communication systems employing multiple relay satellites, it is often required to communicatively link at least two of the satellites in order to facilitate global communications between stations located, for example, on opposite sides of the earth. These relay satellites typically reside in synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately 22,300 miles. The long distances between these synchronous orbit satellites can impose costs relating to the high powered transmissions and the large antennas required to support the links between these satellites.
The use of known types of lower altitude relay satellite systems can also involve drawbacks. By example, lower altitude relay satellites can suffer from discontinuous inter-connections and also may provide only limited coverage.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a satellite relay communication system which is located at a lower altitude than synchronous orbit, and which thus shortens the communication range while providing nearly global coverage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,190, issued to Horstein et al., discloses a satellite-based cellular telecommunications system employing a constellation of telecommunications satellites in medium earth orbit. The system provides multibeam radio frequency communications links for worldwide cellular telephone service. The satellites are placed in a plurality of inclined orbits about the earth. The orbital characteristics are tailored to maximize, by example, the coverage area of the satellites, while minimizing propagation time delays and the number of beam-to-beam and satellite-to-satellite handovers. The Horstein patent discloses additional features which are said to eliminate beam-to-beam and satellite-to-satellite handovers, thereby proposing a reduction in a likelihood of dropout.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,647, issued to Hirshfield et al., discloses a communications satellite payload for providing efficient communications between user devices, such as hand held cellular telephones, and terrestrial gateways. The satellite payload simultaneously supports a plurality of independent antenna beams on both the uplink and downlink for user devices employing full duplex communications. The satellite payload is carried by one satellite of a plurality of such satellites in a low earth orbit (LEO) constellation.
Another patent of interest to this invention is U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,623, issued to Wiedeman et al. This patent discloses a wireless telephone system capable of servicing a roaming wireless telephone user. The system includes, by example, a plurality of terrestrial communications links, at least one orbiting satellite, and at least one terrestrial-based gateway. The system operates by effecting communication between a terrestrial wireless telephone end user transceiver apparatus and a terrestrial communications link via a single relay satellite. The gateway effects ultimate decision on linking in cooperation with a network database to effect hand-off from a first orbiting satellite to a second orbiting satellite.

Medium earth orbit communication satellite system


Methods and apparatus for determining which of a plurality of physical blocks associated with a logical block is more recently associated with the logical block are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for resolving associations of a first physical block and a second physical block to a logical block associated with a non-volatile memory system includes obtaining a first identifier associated with the first physical block and obtaining a second identifier associated with the second physical block. The identifiers are compared to ascertain whether the first identifier indicates that the first physical block is more recently associated with the logical block. The method also includes completing an operation arranged to provide contents associated with the logical block to the first physical block when it is determined that the first identifier indicates that the first physical block is more newly associated with the logical block.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to mass digital data storage systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for efficiently enabling a plurality of physical blocks associated with a common logical block to be substantially resolved into a single physical block.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of non-volatile memory systems such as flash memory storage systems is increasing due to the compact physical size of such memory systems, and the ability for non-volatile memory to be repetitively reprogrammed. The compact physical size of flash memory storage systems facilitates the use of such storage systems in devices which are becoming increasingly prevalent. Devices which use flash memory storage systems include, but are not limited to, digital cameras, digital camcorders, digital music players, handheld personal computers, and global positioning devices. The ability to repetitively reprogram non-volatile memory included in flash memory storage systems enables flash memory storage systems to be used and reused.
In general, flash memory storage systems may include flash memory cards and flash memory chip sets. Flash memory chip sets generally include flash memory components and a controller components. Typically, a flash memory chip set may be arranged to be assembled into an embedded system. The manufacturers of such assemblies or host systems typically acquire flash memory in component-form, as well as other components, then assemble the flash memory and the other components into a host system.
Within a file system associated with a flash memory system, memory is effectively divided into a system or directory area and a data area. The system area generally includes root directories and file allocation tables (FATs), while data files are typically included in the data area. A file system may write data in sectors, e.g., one page at a time, into physical blocks associated with the system area, while writing data in clusters, e.g., multiple pages at a time, into the data area.
Any updates associated with a logical block, or a block that is associated with a file system, are effectively propagated to a physical block which is mapped to the logical block. When the physical block which is mapped to the logical block is full, or is otherwise unable to accept an update, then a spare physical block is generally obtained, and the most recent data associated with the logical block is either copied, e.g., directly copied from the current physical block, or merged, e.g., substantially copied along with the update, into the spare physical block.
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a logical block, a current physical block that is associated with the logical block, and a spare physical block that is to replace the current physical block. A logical block 200 is mapped to a physical block 210. Specifically, contents associated with pages 202 within logical block 200 are stored in a data area of pages 212 of physical block 210 as contents 214. When pages 212 within physical block 210 are full (as shown), or are otherwise unable to accept an update associated with logical block 200, a new or spare physical block 220, which includes pages 222, may be obtained, as for example from a set of spare blocks. The most recent contents 214 stored in physical block 210, along with any updates associated with logical block 200 that are not stored into physical block 210, may be copied into physical block 220 such that physical block 220 is effectively an up-to-date physical representation of logical block 200.
At times, interruptions may occur during the course of copying or merging contents 214 from physical block 210 into physical block 220 which cause the copying or merging process to be aborted and, as a result, incomplete. By way of example, power to a non-volatile memory device which includes physical blocks 210, 220 may be lost before the completion of a copying or merging process. When power is lost before the completion of a copying or merging process, some data associated with contents 210 may be lost.
To minimize the amount of data that may be lost as a result of an interrupted copying or merging process, physical block 210 and physical block 220 may be studied to determine which of physical block 210 and physical block 220 is an old physical block and which is a new, unfinished physical block. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, when a copying or merging process is interrupted, it may be time-consuming and difficult to determine whether physical block 210 or physical block 220 is intended to be the new physical block that contains up-to-date contents and is to be associated with logical block 200.
In order to facilitate a determination of which of two physical blocks may be intended to be the new physical block that is associated with a given logical block, flags are often implemented for use with the physical blocks. One method of implementing flags for use with physical blocks is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,785, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Although the use of flags may be useful in enabling physical blocks which are in a copying or a merging process to be identified, it is often difficult to determine which of two physical blocks is a newer physical block and which is an older physical block. In addition, the use of flags often requires a partial write process when identifying physical blocks as being in either a copying or a merging process.
Therefore, what is desired is a process and a system which enables data to be efficiently restored when a copying or a merging process performed on physical blocks is interrupted before completion. That is, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for efficiently enabling a determination to be made as to which of a plurality of physical blocks is a new physical block that is intended to correspond to a particular logical block, and for enabling the most up-to-date data associated with the logical block to be provided to the new physical block.

Method and apparatus for resolving physical blocks associated with a common logical block


The insertion effects of hearing aids are determined and compensated to restore the ability to have directional hearing in individuals wearing hearing aids. In one aspect a method involves finding the ratio of the unaided head related transfer function to the aided head related transfer function and then designing a hearing aid filter that is the inverse of that derived insertion effect, thereby restoring the ability to hear interaural differences in aided systems both in level and in time of arrival to improve hearing in the presence of noise. The insertion effects can be derived either through frequency domain analyses, using the above-mentioned transfer function calculations and measurements, or in another aspect through time domain analyses, using optimal filter calculations and measurement obtained using a successive data acquisition system that is subsequently time aligned by recording trigger pulses with the data.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method for improving conventional hearing aids and, more particularly, to a method for maintaining directional hearing of an individual wearing hearing aids, either behind the ear or in the ear.
2. Description of the Background
A hearing aid is generally a simple device consisting of a microphone, an amplifier, and an output transducer. Hearing aids are classified either as in-the-ear (ITE), in which the entire device resides in the wearer's ear, or behind-the-ear (BTE), in which the amplifier, microphone, and battery are arranged behind the ear with the output transducer being generally at the ear opening. It is known to provide for some shaping of the gain or amplifier response depending upon the specific hearing deficiencies of the wearer by emphasizing higher or lower frequencies and altering the gain as appropriate. One major complaint of hearing aid wearers is that it is difficult to enjoy the benefit of the hearing aid in a noisy environment because the noise is amplified by the same amount as the signals of interest, which might be speech or music. Using filters to filter out the signals of interest from the noise has proven to be a less than satisfactory solution, because for one reason the frequencies of the signals of interest often overlap the frequencies of the noise that is masking those signals.

Method of signal processing for maintaining directional hearing with hearing aids


A first processor in a multiprocessor system for processing interrupts by a plurality of processors accepts an interrupt and executes first interrupt processing in accordance with the accepted interrupt. In the first interrupt processing, second interrupt processing corresponding to the accepted interrupt is assigned to a second processor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiprocessor system, processor and interrupt control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an interrupt system of a controller or the like, an excellent real-time capability is required for system control. The reason for this is that if an interrupt corresponding to system control occurs and the time it takes for interrupt processing to end exceeds a preset time, a malfunction will occur in system control.
The real-time capability of a system is decided by the delay time of interrupt processing. Many causes of such delay are excessive interrupt-processing steps and interruption sources. Further, since a separate interrupt cannot be accepted during interrupt processing, the time from occurrence of the interrupt to the start of processing is prolonged.
Control of interrupt processing in a multiprocessor system is very complicated. In order to deal with multiple interrupts, therefore, often a dedicated CPU is decided in advance and interrupt processing is executed solely by the decided CPU. That is, often interrupt processing is assigned to a dedicated CPU even though all CPUs are capable of accepting interrupts as far as the hardware is concerned.
For these reasons, various proposals have been made with the aim of raising the speed of interrupt processing and affording versatility. Specific examples of such proposals will be described below.
A method of enhancing real-time capability in a multiprocessor system has been proposed (e.g. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-324569). According to this proposal, when a certain CPU attains the idle state, this CPU disables interrupt handling by other CPUs and handles all interrupts. Further, register values are set in such a manner that one or a plurality of CPUs executes interrupt processing per type of interrupt, and the CPU that will execute interrupt processing is selected.
With the method of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-324569, however, only an idle CPU is capable of acquiring an interrupt. If there is no CPU that is idle, therefore, then no CPU can acquire an interrupt. Further, register values are set in such a manner that one or a plurality of CPUs executes interrupt processing per interrupt type of all types. If the hardware configuration is changed or if the causes of interrupts increase or decrease, therefore, the register value settings and the number thereof required must also be changed. The result is lack of versatility.
Further, a method of enhancing real-time capability without being affected by an interrupt controller also has been proposed (e.g., U.S. Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005/0193260). According to this proposal, interrupt tasks for processing respective interrupts are generated and interruption levels that have been decided with regard to interrupts processed by the interrupt tasks are reflected in the priorities of the interrupt tasks. When an interrupt is accepted, the interrupt task that handles the accepted interrupt is activated and control is transferred to a scheduler.
However, the proposal of U.S. Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005/0193260 is such that if many interrupts having a high degree of priority occur, a large number of high-priority tasks are activated and real-time operation cannot be assured. Further, there is the possibility that low-priority interrupt processing will not be executed for long periods of time.

Multiprocessor system, processor and interrupt control method


Aspects of the present disclosure relate to differentiating between active and inactive construction zones. In one example, this may include identifying a construction object associated with a construction zone. The identified construction object may be used to map the area of the construction zone. Detailed map information may then be used to classify the activity of the construction zone. The area of the construction zone and the classification may be added to the detailed map information. Subsequent to adding the construction zone and the classification to the detailed map information, the construction object (or another construction object) may be identified. The location of the construction object may be used to identify the construction zone and classification from the detailed map information. The classification of the classification may be used to operate a vehicle having an autonomous mode.

Autonomous vehicles use various computing systems to aid in the transport of passengers from one location to another. Some autonomous vehicles may require some initial input or continuous input from an operator, such as a pilot, driver, or passenger. Other systems, for example autopilot systems, may be used only when the system has been engaged, which permits the operator to switch from a manual driving mode (where the operator exercises a high degree of control over the movement of the vehicle) to an autonomous driving mode (where the vehicle essentially drives itself) to modes that lie somewhere in between.
When operating in the autonomous mode, these vehicles may rely heavily on pre-stored map data. Because of this, constructions zones may present significant challenges to autonomous vehicles. In particular, these areas may potentially change quickly, causing prior map data of the areas to be inaccurate or obsolete. Thus, detecting construction zones is not only important, but also deciding how the vehicle should maneuver through these zones is important. Typically, upon identifying or coming upon a construction zone, an autonomous vehicle may automatically transfer control of the vehicle to the driver in order to ensure the safety of the driver and any other passengers. However, this may be frustrating to the driver where the construction zone would not actually present a driving challenge to the autonomous vehicle such as on highways with long term construction projects.

Mapping active and inactive construction zones for autonomous driving


The invention relates to bacterium that have increased resistance to furfural and methods of preparation. The invention also relates to methods of producing ethanol using the bacterium and corresponding kits.

A wide variety of fermentation products can be made using sugars from lignocellulosic biomass as a substrate (Hahn-Hägerdal et al. 2006. Trends Biotechnol. 24:549-556; Jarboe et al. 2007 Adv. Biochem. Engin/Biotechnol. 108:237-261, Katahira et al. 2006 Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 72:1136-1143, Tokiwa et al. 2008. Can. J. Chem. 86:548-555). Prior to fermentation, however, the carbohydrate polymers cellulose and hemicellulose must be converted to soluble sugars using a combination of chemical and enzymatic processes (Um et al. 2003 Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 105-108:115-125; Wyman et al. 2005. 96:2026-2032). Chemical processes are accompanied by side reactions that produce a mixture of minor products such as alcohols, acids, and aldehydes that have a negative effect on the metabolism of microbial biocatalysts. Alcohols (catechol, syringol, etc.) have been shown to act by permeabilizing the cell membrane and toxicity correlated well with the hydrophobicity of the molecule (Zaldivar et al. 2000 Biotechnol. Bioeng. 68:524-530). Organic acids (acetate, formate, etc.) are thought to cross the membrane in neutral form and ionize within the cytoplasm, inhibiting growth by collapsing the proton motive force (Palmqvist et al. 2000. Bioresour. Technol. 74:25-33, Zaldivar et al. 1999. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 66: 203-210). The inhibitory mechanisms of aldehydes are more complex. Aldehydes can react to form products with many cellular constituents in addition to direct physical and metabolic effects (Modig et al. 2002 Biochem. J. 363:769-776, Singh et al. 1995 Mutat. Res 337:9-17). In aggregate, these minor products from chemical pretreatments can retard cell growth and slow the fermentation of biomass-derived sugars (Horvath et al. 2001. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 75:540-549, Palmqvist et al. 2000. Bioresour. Technol. 74:17-24).
Furfural (a dehydration product of pentose sugars) is of particular importance. Furfural is a natural product of lignocellulosic decomposition. Furfural is also formed by the dehydration of pentose sugars during the depolymerization of cellulosic biomass under acidic conditions (Martinez et al. 2001 Biotechnol. Prog. 17:287-293). This compound is an important contributor to toxicity of hemicellulose syrups, and increases the toxicity of other compounds (Zaldivar et al. 1999. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 65: 24-33.). Furfural content in dilute acid hydrolysates of hemicellulose has been correlated with toxicity (Martinez et al., 2000. Biotechnol. Bioengin. 69(5): 526-536). Removal of furfural by lime addition (pH 10) rendered hydrolysates readily fermentable while re-addition of furfural restored toxicity (Martinez et al. 2001. Biotechnol Prog 17: 287-293). Furfural has also been shown to potentiate the toxicity of other compounds known to be present in acid hydrolysates of hemicellulose (Zaldivar et al. 1999. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 65: 24-33; Zaldivar et al. 1999 Biotechnol. Bioeng. 66: 203-210; Zaldivar et al. 2000 Biotechnol. Bioeng. 68:524-530). Furfural has been reported to alter DNA structure and sequence (Barciszewski et al. 1997 FEBS letters. 414:457-460, Khan et al., 1995 Cancer Lett. 89:95-99), inhibit glycolytic enzymes (Gorsich et al. 2006 Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 71:339-349), and slow sugar metabolism (Hristozova et al. 2006. Enzyme Microbiol. Technol. 39:1108-1112).
Lignocellulosic biomass represents a potential feedstock for microbial conversion to renewable fuels and chemicals. Prior to fermentation, carbohydrate components (cellulose and hemicellulose) must be converted to soluble sugars using acids, enzymes, or a combination (Cheng et al. 2008 Biochem. Eng J 38:105-109; Wyman et al. 2005 Bioresour Technol. 96:2026-2032; Um et al. 2003 Appl Biochem Biotechnol 105:115-125). During steam pretreatment with mineral acids, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF) and furfural are produced as minor but toxic side products from the dehydration of hexose and pentose sugars, respectively (Martinez et al. 2000a Biotechnol Bioeng 69:526-536; Palmqvist and Hahn-Hagerdal 2000b Bioresour Technol 74:25-33). 5-HMF has been shown to retard growth and fermentation of ethanologenic E. coli (Zaldivar et al. 1999 Biotechnol Bioeng) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Almeida et al. 2008 Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 78:939-945; Palmqvist and Hahn-Hagerdal 2000a Bioresour Technol 74: 17-24; Taherzadeh et al. 2000 Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 53:701-708).
Furans can be removed from hemicellulose hydrolysates by over-liming to pH 10 at elevated temperatures (Martinez et al. 2000a Biotechnol Bioeng 69:526-536). This process requires the efficient separation of hydrolysate syrups from cellulosic fibers, specialized equipment for lime mixing, separation of syrups from insoluble calcium salts, and creates a solid waste for disposal. The development of furan-resistant biocatalysts could eliminate much of this process complexity. Several enteric bacterial genera (Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Citrobacter, Edwardsiella, Proteus) as well as yeasts have been shown to convert 5-HMF into 5-hydroxymethyl furfuryl alcohol, a less toxic compound (Boopathy et al. 1993 J Indus Microbiol 11:147-150; Palmqvist and Hahn-Hagerdal 2000a Bioresour Technol 74:17-24; Zaldivar et al. 1999 Biotechnol Bioeng 65:24-33). S. cerevisiae has been shown to produce multiple oxidoreductases (YGL157W, ADH6, and a mutated ADH1) that can reduce both 5-HMF and furfural to less toxic products (Almeida et al. 2008 Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 78:939-945; Almeida et al. 2009 Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 82: 625-638; Heer et al. 2009 Appl Environ Microbiol doi:10.1128/AEM.01649-9; Liu et al. 2009 Gene 446: 1-10). Increased expression of these genes was shown to be beneficial for some aspects of 5-HMF tolerance although none have been shown to increase the minimum inhibitory concentration of furfural. Gorisch et al. (2006 Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 71: 339-349) identified many gene inactivations in S. cerevisiae that increased sensitivity to furfural and 5-HMF. Over-expression of one gene, ZWF1 (glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase), increased tolerance to furfural.
The ability of fermenting organisms to function in the presence of these inhibitors has been researched extensively. Encapsulation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in alginate has been shown to be protective and improve fermentation in acid hydrolysates of hemicellulose (Talebnia et al. 2006 J Biotechnol. 125:377-384.). Strains of S. cerevisiae have been previously described with improved resistance to hydrolysate inhibitors (Almeida et al. 2007. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 82:340-349, Martin et al. 2007. Bioresour. Technol. 98:1767-1773, Nilsson et al. 2005. Appl. Environ. Microbiol 71:7866-7871). Escherichia coli (Gutiérrez et al. 2006 J. Bacteriol. 121:154-164), S. cerevisiae (Almeida et al. 2008 Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 78:939-945) and other microorganisms (Boopathy et al. 1993 J. Indust. Microbiol. 11:147-150) have been shown to contain enzymes that catalyze the reduction of furfural to the less toxic product, furfuryl alcohol (Zaldivar et al., 2000 Biotechnol. Bioeng. 68:524-530). In E. coli, furfural reductase activity appears to be NADPH-dependent (Gutiérrez et al. 2006. J. Bacteriol. 121:154-164). An NADPH-dependent furfural reductase was purified from E. coli although others may also be present. An NADPH-dependent enzyme capable of reducing 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (a dehydration product of hexose sugars) has been characterized in S. cerevisiae and identified as the ADH6 gene (Petersson et al. 2006. YEAST. 23:455-464).
The yqhD gene has been previously shown to encode an NADPH-dependent aldehyde oxidoreductase (Sulzenbacher et al. 2004. J. Mol. Biol. 342:489-502) that can be used for the production of propanediol (Nakamura et al. 2003. Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 14:454-459, Zhang et al. 2006 World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology. 22:945-952). This gene has also been shown to confer resistance to damage by reactive species of oxygen (Pérez et al. 2008. J. Biol. Chem. 283:7346-7353.). The dkgA gene has been shown to catalyze the reduction of 2,5-diketo-D-gluconic acid, a key step in the production of ascorbic acid (Habrych et al. 2002. Biotechnol. Prog. 18:257-2, Yum et al. 1999 Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65:3341-3346). This enzyme is also thought to function in the reduction of methylglyoxal (Jeudy er al. 2006. Proteins 62:302-307, Ko et al. 2005. J. Bacteriol 187:5782-5789). The function of the yqfA gene is unknown but is proposed to be a membrane subunit of an oxidoreductase (Karp et al. 2007 Nucleic Acids Res. 35:7577-7590) which may be involved in fatty acid metabolism (McCue et al. 2001. Nucleic Acids Res. 29:774-782).
The Escherichia coli yqhC gene (b3010) is a predicted transcriptional regulator belonging to the AraC/XylS family of DNA-binding proteins. Inferences to date concerning the likely function of yqhC have been based solely on the similarity between the deduced protein sequence and members of the AraC/XylS family. yqhC is adjacent in the E. coli genome to the yqhD and dkgA genes, which are transcribed in the opposite orientation to yqhC.
The methods of the invention allow for the identification of enzymes that regulate the growth and ethanol production of microorganisms in the presence of furfural and/or 5-HMF. Accordingly, the ability to produce microorganisms that can grow and produce ethanol in the presence of furfural is extremely important for production of alternative sources of energy.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ethanologenic bacteria with increased resistance to furfural

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.


A semiconductor laser includes a first clad layer, a first optical waveguide layer, a first barrier layer, an active layer, a second barrier layer, a second optical waveguide layer and a second clad layer formed in this order on a GaAs substrate which is a III-V group compound semiconductor. Each of the layers contains As and P, each of the first and second clad layers and the first and second optical waveguide layers is of a composition which matches with the GaAs substrate in lattice. The active layer is of a composition which induces compression strain on the GaAs substrate, and each of the first and second barrier layers is of a composition which induces tensile strain on the GaAs substrate, thereby compensating for the compression strain induced in the active layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor laser, and more particularly to compositions of semiconductor layers of a semiconductor laser.
2. Description of the Related Art
As semiconductor lasers emitting a laser beam of 0.7 to 0.85 .mu.m, there have been wide known those comprising an n-AlGaAs clad layer, an n- or i-AlGaAs optical waveguide layer, an i-AlGaAs active layer, a p- or i-AlGaAs optical waveguide layer, a p-AlGaAs clad layer and a p-GaAs capping layer formed on an n-GaAs substrate in this order. See, for instance, "Appl. Phys. Lett., 39(1981)134".
However this structure is disadvantageous in view of reliability in that since Al contained in the active layer is chemically active and is apt to be oxidized, the end face of the resonator formed by cleavage is apt to deteriorate.
Thus there has been proposed as described in "Jpn.
J. Appl. Phys., 31(1992)L1686" a semiconductor laser comprising an n-InGaP clad layer, an n- or i-InGaAsP optical waveguide layer, an i-InGaAsP active layer, a p- or i-InGaAsP waveguide layer, a p-InGaP clad layer and a-GaAs capping layer formed on an n-GaAs substrate.
However this structure is disadvantageous in that diffusion of In takes place in the course of growth of the structure, which makes unstable the state of the crystal faces, and accordingly it is impossible to generate interfaces on opposite sides of the active layer at a high quality with a stable reproducibility.
Further as semiconductor lasers emitting a laser beam of 0.98 .mu.m, there has been proposed as described, for instance, in "Appl. Phys. Lett., 62(1993)1644" those comprising an n-InGaP clad layer, an n- or i-InGaAsP optical waveguide layer, an i-GaAsP tensile strain barrier layer, an i-InGaAs compression strain active layer, an i-GaAsP tensile strain barrier layer, a p- or i-InGaAsP optical waveguide layer, a p-InGaP clad layer and a p-GaAs capping layer formed on an n-GaAs substrate.
However this structure is disadvantageous in the following points. That is, in crystal growth by MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition) method, a rapid substitution of As on P takes place upon switching of hydrogenated V group gases (PH.sub.3, AsH.sub.3) in the course of growth of the clad layer/optical waveguide layer interfaces and the barrier layer/active layer interfaces or growth reverse thereto, which makes unstable the state of the crystal faces. Accordingly it is impossible to generate the interfaces at a high quality with a stable reproducibility and the quality of crystals grown on the interfaces deteriorates.


Athletic activity may be tracked while providing encouragement to perform athletic activity. For example, a user's route may be captured during a workout and used to assemble a media presentation corresponding to the workout. Prior captured images may be assembled forming a hyperlapse video and included in a media presentation corresponding to a user's workout. Images representing locations along a workout route may be assembled and provided in the media presentation and may be shared with other users.

While most people appreciate the importance of physical fitness, many have difficulty finding the motivation required to maintain a regular exercise program. For some people, keeping statistics or records of their exercise and referring back to prior workouts may provide motivation to continue exercising and improving their fitness. In addition, the sharing of information about a workout with others may help a user stay motivated.
Recently, cameras have become available which are small enough to be carried during a workout. For example, such a camera may be mounted on a user's helmet and record images while a user rides a bike. Further, mobile devices have made image capture devices ubiquitous, thus the user and/or other athletes within visual sight of the user may use one or more image capturing devices to capture at least a portion of an athletic activity. For example, a user may carry such a camera while running. Images captured by the camera can be later assembled and played back as a video, allowing the user to relive a workout. In order to reduce the time required to relive the workout, software applications have become available enabling a user to create hyperlapse videos from a collection of images. A hyperlapse video is a time-lapse video, assembled from images taken over a distance.
Currently, if a user wants to create a hyperlapse video of a route they have previously ran or biked, they may use a camera to take pictures as they are running or biking and then create a hyperlapse video using hyperlapse media generation software. While many users may enjoy having a hyperlapse video of their workout, few users want to carry a camera or make the effort to assemble the images into a hyperlapse video.
Therefore, improved systems and methods to address these and other shortcomings in the art are desired.


In a vehicle solenoid valve, the spool that holds the actuation coil is formed with a hexagonal or octagonal inner chamber in which a cylindrical armature can slide. Owing to the different cross-sectional shapes between the spool and armature, a longitudinal fluid vent passageway is established along each edge of the chamber between the non-cylindrical walls of the chamber and the cylindrical armature so that movement of hydraulic fluid relative to the armature is promoted when the armature moves. The face of the spool that is oriented toward the valve end can be formed with radial vent grooves to further facilitate fluid venting when the armature moves.

Modern motor vehicles are equipped with numerous vehicle subsystems that are designed to increase the comfort and safety of drivers and passengers. For example, a vehicle can include an anti-lock braking system, a traction control system, a speed control system, and/or a vehicle stability enhancement control system. In turn, each subsystem can include numerous electrically-operated hydraulic actuators that use electric coils to move plungers and thereby direct hydraulic fluid to and from vehicle components such as a brake.
As recognized herein, the movement of a plunger in a hydraulic electro-mechanical valve can be retarded by the presence of hydraulic fluid in and around the plunger's passage, which represents a damping effect on plunger movement. This problem is of particular concern in systems that require very quick plunger movement. To address the problem, the plunger can be shaped to promote the relative motion of the fluid past the plunger.
As recognized herein, however, this approach not only can lead to performance degradation, but can require relatively costly manufacturing techniques. For instance, shaping the plunger typically requires removing plunger material, entailing costly machining, and the removal of plunger material undesirably reduces the electromagnetic coupling between the plunger and the activating electrical coil. The present invention has recognized these drawbacks, and has provided the below-disclosed solutions to one or more of them.

Armature with vent passages for vehicle actuator


An approach is provided for adaptive display and filtering of sensors and sensor data. A sensor manager determines one or more signals associated with one or more sensors. The sensor manager then processes and/or facilitates a processing of the one or more signals for comparison against one or more predetermined signals. The sensor manager determines one or more parameters for one or more filters based, at least in part, on the comparison, wherein the one or more filters operate, at least in part, on the one or more sensors, one or more other signals determined form the one or more sensors, or a combination thereof.

Service providers (e.g., wireless, cellular, etc.) and device manufacturers are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services. One area of development has been the integration of sensors and filters for determining contextual information for use in network services to enable such services to be, for instance, adaptive systems. For example, adaptive systems use knowledge about a user's current situation to tailor system services, functions, content, etc. in a situationally-appropriate manner based on data collected from one or more sensors. These sensors may include health and wellness sensors such as electrocardiograph (ECG) sensors, photoplethysmograph (PPG) sensors, galvanic skin response (GSR) sensors, and the like. As use of such sensors become more common, service providers and device manufacturers face significant challenges to enabling the sensors to operate continuously for prolonged periods, particularly when the sensors operate on limited battery power.

Method and apparatus for providing adaptive display and filtering of sensors and sensor data


A flexible penetration fitting is provided for sealing the hole through which a pipeline penetrates a wall of an underground containment box. The penetration fitting includes a flexible boot with a sealing flange for providing a first seal against the inside wall of the box. The sealing flange is held against the wall by a backing ring placed against the outside wall of the box. The backing ring includes a plurality of studs extending through the wall and into the box. A compression ring with a plurality of holes is placed over the sealing flange with the studs of the backing ring extending though the holes. A plurality of nuts are threaded to the studs to hold the sealing flange firmly against the inside wall of the box. The flexible boot also includes a sleeve for providing a second seal against the outside surface of the pipeline. The sleeve is stepped with different sized openings so as to be able to receive different sizes of pipelines. A hose clamp placed around the sleeve at the appropriate sized opening seals the sleeve against the pipeline.

For several years there has been a growing awareness of air and water pollution problems caused by leaking liquids such as gasoline that flow through buried pipelines such as those present at gasoline service stations. As a result, secondary containment systems have been developed for these systems. A secondary containment system typically includes a primary pipeline in which a product such as gasoline flows from an underground storage tank to a product dispenser. The system also includes a secondary pipeline that surrounds the primary pipeline. The purpose of the secondary pipeline is to contain any fluid that may leak from a damaged primary pipeline, and prevent the fluid from contaminating the surrounding ground. The secondary pipeline is generally monitored for fluid collection so that any leak in the primary pipeline can be repaired promptly.
Fittings known as bulkhead fittings or penetration fittings are generally used in combination with secondary containment systems to permit a buried pipeline to penetrate the wall or bulkhead of a containment box. Containment boxes are liquid-tight boxes associated with connections in the primary pipeline. For example, containment boxes are often provided under product dispensers, at product pumps, or at other junctions in the primary pipeline to contain any product that may leak or spill from the primary pipeline associated with such equipment. A penetration fitting prevents any such liquid that is collected in a containment box from contaminating the ground by sealing the hole in the wall through which the pipeline penetrates the wall of the containment box.
Many different types of penetration fittings have been developed. A popular type of penetration fitting is a boot made from a resilient elastomeric material which imparts flexibility to the joint between the pipeline and the containment box. One such a boot is disclosed at FIG. 22 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,896 to Webb. According to the Webb patent the containment box includes a pipe entry hole through which the pipeline extends. Surrounding the entry hole are a plurality of stud holes which assist in fastening the boot to the wall of the containment box. The boot is installed from the outside of the containment box and includes a flexible sleeve section extending from a sealing flange. While the sealing flange is located outside the box, the sleeve extends through the pipe entry hole and into the box. The sealing flange includes integral studs that extend through the stud holes of the containment box. The studs also extend through a plurality of holes in a compression ring located in the box. Nuts are threaded over the studs to press on the compression ring which in turn pulls the sealing flange against the outer surface of the wall of the containment box to effect the seal. The pipeline extends into the box through the flexible sleeve portion of the boot and is sealed to the sleeve portion with a hose clamp.
A similar penetration fitting is sold by Environ Products, Inc. of Lionville, Pa. This penetration fitting additionally includes a return bend in the flexible tube portion such that the sleeve is made of a flexible tube that first extends away from the containment box and then turns inward on itself to extend through the hole in the wall of the containment box. Such a return bend provides further flexibility to the boot.
Fittings with boot portions that are stepped to accommodate two different sizes of pipes are also known. Such penetration fittings allow a single fitting to seal against two different sizes of pipeline where the two pipelines are provided in a coaxial arrangement. Such penetration fittings can also include inserts that can be clamped in place within the flexible tube to allow a single penetration fitting to accommodate different sizes of pipelines. Examples of such penetration fittings and inserts are those sold by Total Containment, Inc. of Exton, Pa.
Because prior art penetration fittings include a boot made from a resilient material, the boot can periodically crack or tear. If the integrity of a penetration fitting is compromised due to a crack or tear in the boot, it must be replaced. However, one important problem with prior art penetration fittings is that they generally cannot be easily removed and reinstalled. Because such a penetration fitting is installed on the containment box from the outside, excavation is required to put a new penetration fitting in place. Such excavation can lead to extensive maintenance costs as well as prolonged downtime of a service station.


A logging unit logs data, including data on object generation/access and start/end of GC, information about object longevity when GC is performed, and data about a method call/return or the like. An analyzing unit organizes by object logged records, sorts that information about each object by time or size, and obtains changes in required heap size and a longevity characteristic of each object. An estimating unit uses a required heap size data and the object longevity characteristic to estimate an optimum heap size according to a criterion specified by a user.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to method and apparatus for optimizing a heap size, and program and program recording medium thereof, and more particularly to method and apparatus for automatically optimizing a heap size, and program and program recording medium thereof for obtaining an optimum heap size in a computer system that implements a garbage collection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hereinafter the term garbage collection is abbreviated to GC. Examples of computer systems that implement GC include JVM (Java Virtual Machine, Java:trademark). While the present invention will be described herein with respect to a JVM as an example of computer systems implementing GC, the systems to which the present invention can be applied are not limited to JVM.
In general, it has been difficult to estimate (predict) the amount of memory required for programs such as Java programs that dynamically reserve memory (for example, see non-patent document 1).
Among the measures of the performance of a computer running applications, a throughput and a response performance are impacted by GC. The term "throughput" herein refers to the amount of work processed by an application per unit time. The term "response performance" herein refers to the uniformity of the time between an input by a user to an output to the user. The more uniform the time is, the higher the response performance is.
During GC, a user program is stopped. If the starting frequency of GC is high, the throughput decreases because the user program stops every time when GC is started. Therefore, to improve the throughput, a larger heap size is desirable to decrease the starting frequency of GC, which is a cause of reduction in the throughput.
On the other hand, to improve the response performance, a smaller heap size is desirable to reduce processing cost per GC. This is because high processing cost per GC increases the time during which the system pauses due to the blockage of the heap by GC. If GC is not running when a transaction is provided from the user, the system can immediately respond to it. If GC is running, the system cannot respond to the transaction until the GC ends. If processing cost per one GC is high, a response time to the user during GC and a response time to the user not during GC are not uniform. Then, response performance lowered.
To solve the above described problems, the following measures have been taken. In order to improve the throughput, the heap size is set larger. In order to improve response performance, the heap size is minimized as small as possible. However, it is impossible to simultaneously meet these mutually contradictory conditions. In practice, it is extremely difficult to obtain a necessary and optimum heap size.
Therefore, a conventional practice is as follow. The heap size is increased when a heap shortage is caused, and the heap size is decreased when the response performance is degraded due to GC performance degradation caused by an enormous heap size, then each time the heap size is increased or decreased the system must be rebooted.
Further, it is a prior art that GC is frequently performed to reduce object drag time (the lag between the time an object is last accessed and the time it is collected by GC during which the heap is used unnecessarily) (for example see non-patent document 2). This is an approach to reduce the time lag (herein drag time) and to process in the Java application on a JVM. However, frequently running GC places a large burden on the system, thereby extremely reducing the throughput.
Non-patent document 1 is "Save Memory Programming, Software Patterns for System with Limited Memory" by James Noble and Charles Weir (Piason Education, p. 269).
Non-patent document 2 is "On the Effectiveness of GC in Java" by Ran Shaham, Elliot K. Kolodner, and Mooly Sagiv (The 2000 International Symposium on Memory Management (ISMM'00), October 2000).
The prior art approaches described above cannot automatically determine any optimum compromise between the throughput and the response performance when a given Java application is executed. Moreover, they provide a poor accuracy of heap estimation and require a number of trials until an optimum heap size is found, resulting in an enormous work cost.

Method and apparatus for optimizing heap size, and program and program recording medium thereof


An optical transmitter includes a circuit that controls a first frequency component and a second frequency component that are contained in an optical signal to be transmitted to be in different polarization states from each other.

One of the known phenomena is a change in quality of an optical signal when being received at an optical receiver depending on a polarization state of the optical signal transmitted from an optical transmitter. This phenomenon is caused by, for example, Polarization-Mode Dispersion (PMD), Polarization Dependent Loss (PDL), Polarization Hole Burning (PHB), or Polarization dependent Gain (PDG).
This phenomenon may degrade the quality of an optical signal having a particular polarization state.
Considering the above, the optical transmitter described in Patent Literatures 1-4 performs polarization scrambling on an optical signal to be transmitted. The process of polarization scrambling modifies the polarization state of an optical signal each time a certain period elapses. The optical transmitter of Patent Literatures 1-4 pre-equalizes an optical signal to be transmitted. Pre-equalization is a technique of applying, to an optical signal to be transmitted in advance, a change of the reverse direction to a prospective change in the polarization state of an optical signal that would occur while the optical signal is being transmitted.
Patent Literature 1: United States Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0226633
Patent Literature 2: WO 2011/096488
Patent Literature 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-109705
Patent Literature 4: United States Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0127104

Optical transmitter and method of optical transmission


An override device is proposed to permit the manual operation of a closure which is normally driven by an electric motor. The override device comprises a manual closure driving mechanism, such as a chain engaged around a pulley, which when operated first produces the translation of a first gear along its rotation axis until this first gear meshes with a second gear connected to the output shaft of the motor which normally drives the closure. During the translation of the first gear, a switch is tripped to safely interrupt power to the motor and a mechanism is operated to disengage the motor from the output shaft. Thereafter, further operation of the chain, and therefore further rotation of the pulley, is adapted to cause the first gear to rotate instead of translating, whereby the second gear is driven into rotation by the first gear thereby causing the rotation of the output shaft and the manual operation of the closure. More particularly, the first gear is prevented from rotating with a cam mechanism associated with the pulley causing the translation of the first gear and, once the first and second gears become so engaged, the first gear can rotate with the pulley.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the operation of a closure normally driven by an electric motor and, more particularly, to an override device for allowing manual operation thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art of closures operated by way of electric motors to provide each system with an override device to permit manual operation of the closure in the event, for instance, of a failure of the electric motor. Safety-wise, such an override system must also prevent the motor from operating during the manual opening or closing of the closure.
Canadian Patent No. 1,165,785 issued on Apr. 17, 1984, for instance, discloses the basics of such an override device of the prior art.
More particularly, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the aforementioned Canadian Patent, a door operator 10 comprises an electric motor 11 adapted to drive a V-belt pulley 12 mounted on the motor shaft which in turn drives, by way of a V-belt 15, a larger V-belt pulley 13 provided on an intermediate shaft 14. A chain drive 16 connects the intermediate shaft 14 to an intermediate sprocket 17 mounted on shaft 18 while a further chain drive 19 joins the shaft 18 to a drive sprocket 20 which operates an output shaft 21. The output shaft 21 which is supported on two pillow blocks 22 mounted on frame members 23 is adapted to open and close a closure, such as a garage door or the like.
A control box 25 is mounted on the frame members 23. The motor shaft is provided with a brake 27 which is operated by a lever mechanism 28. The lever mechanism 28 is connected to an arm 29 rotated by a shaft 30 entering the control box 25. More importantly with respect to the present invention, a manual release lever 31 provided on the other side of the door operator 10 from the brake 27 comprises a linkage which is not shown for allowing the brake 27 to be manually released when it is necessary to operate the door operator 10 manually.
More particularly, there is provided adjacent the manual release lever 31 a chain sprocket 32 with a chain 33 being engaged thereon for permitting manual operation thereof. When it is desired to manually operate the closure, the manual chain 33 is operated manually with the release lever 31 for the brake 27 being activated. Also, a safety interlock switch 43 is adapted to simultaneously disconnect power to the electric motor 11 in order to prevent the power to be accidentally turned on while the closure is being manually opened or closed.
A solenoid 42 operates in such a way so as to rotate the brake shaft 30, whereby when the electric motor 11 is powered to go in either direction the solenoid 42 is energized thereby causing the brake 27 to be released. The safety interlock switch 43 comprises a linkage, which is not shown, connected to the brake release arm 31 so that, if the door operator 10 is manually used, the safety interlock switch 43 is moved to the "off" position thereof thereby preventing the electric motor 11 from being accidentally switched on.
Therefore, the manual release lever 31 allows the brake 27 to be manually released thereby permitting manual operation of the closure by way of the chain 33 and sprocket 32. The manual release lever 31 also causes the safety disconnect switch to cut the power to the electric motor 11.
Accordingly, it is necessary for manually opening or closing a closure to manually operate both a brake release lever which also disconnects power to the motor, and a chain and sprocket assembly.

Override device for allowing manual operation of a closure normally driven by an electric motor


The disclosure extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for producing financial goal planning having two dimensional and three dimensional graphical representations for financial goals.

Advances in technology have provided advances financial planning capabilities for more and more users. One area that has enjoyed some of the most beneficial advances is that of improved and intuitive graphical interfaces for better depicting financial goals.
The disclosure relates generally to financial goal setting and planning over long periods of time. The disclosure relates more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to a system for producing multi-dimensional graphics that represent complex financial goals.
The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the computing systems and combinations of firmware, software and hardware, particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Creating an intuitive visual plan for achieving financial goals