A pre-hung door having a door jamb and a door connected to the door jamb. The door has an opening formed therein for receiving door hardware. A pre-hanging door clip is operatively connected to the door and the door jamb to limit relative movement between the door and the door jamb. The pre-hanging door clip includes a movement limiting structure that extends through the opening in the door and that has one end thereof engaged with the door jamb. The pre-hanging door clip also includes a locking member that extends between the door and the door jamb to cooperatively interlock with the one end of the movement limiting structure such that relative movement between the door and the door jamb is limited.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to pre-hung door assemblies including a door jamb and a door attached to the door jamb. More particularly, the invention relates to a pre-hanging clip for such pre-hung doors for use when transporting the same.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common practice to manufacture doors that are pre-hung in a frame. This simplifies the installation and reduces the cost. Pre-hung doors are conventionally utilized in most new and remodeling building constructions and include a squared frame in which a door is pre-hung (hinged). The door is properly shim spaced relative to opposing frame portions. The door and door jambs are prepped for the installation of lock sets (door hardware), but are not fitted with the knobs, striker plates, latches and such since there are unlimited models and configurations from which a user may choose. The doors are attached to the hinge jamb by hinges and the assembly requires a fastener to hold the door in a "closed" position relative to the door jambs during transport or shipment. If the door is not secured to the door jambs in a closed position, the door jamb is readily damaged. The door is preferably secured tightly to the strike jamb so that no relative movement will occur during shipment. Any movement can cause a rubbing action between the door and strike jamb which will likely cause damage to the surface of the door and jamb or at least leave unsightly marks.
Current practice is to drive nails through the strike jamb into the edge of the door to securely hold the door during shipping from point of manufacture to point of installation. The nails utilized are typically double headed to facilitate removal. The door is secured to the frame to prevent damage during shipment and handling. To prevent movement of the door during shipping and prior to installation, the door is nailed at the top and along both sides to the corresponding frame members. When installing such a pre-hung door, the nails must be pulled and the nail holes in the door must be filled before the door can be painted or otherwise finished.
The use of nails is undesirable. The nails, which will later be removed, leave holes in the edge of the door and face of the strike jamb, which must be filled, sanded and finished. Additionally, the nails driven in through the strike jamb may on occasion cause splitting of the door jamb or edge of the door. The double headed nails protrude from the surface of the backside of the door jambs and may cause damage to adjacent doors or casings during shipment. Avoiding the use of such fasteners is therefore an object of the present invention. A need exists for an improved means by which the door of a pre-hung door assembly may be secured in the closed position from the time it is completed as an assembled unit by the manufacturer until the time it is to be installed.
Currently, door retainers such as the door retainer of U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,782, are utilized to secure the pre-hung door and the frame in position relative to each other. The door retainer is formed from a plastic material and is configured to fit into the edge bore of the door and is movable to extend into the bore in the strike side of the frame provided for the latch mechanism. The retainer is internally threaded to receive a threaded locking member. The retainer is configured so that it may be inserted into the edge bore of the door through the door's face bore. The retainer is of sufficient length to extend into the bore of the strike jamb. Extending lobes on the retainer engage the arc surface of the face bore of the door to limit the entry of the retainer in the edge bore. The threaded locking member is then inserted through the backside of the bore in the strike jamb and is threadably installed in the threaded end of the retainer to effectively secure the door and frame one to the other.


A fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is provided. The FOG comprises a depolarizer that receives light from a light source, a multifunction integrated optic chip (MIOC) and a sensing coil coupled to outputs of the MIOC. The FOG also includes a polarizer coupled between an output of the depolarizer and an input of the MIOC. The polarizer mitigates polarization non-reciprocity (PNR) bias error and enhances the polarization extinction ratio (PER) of the FOG.

An interferometric fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1, includes an optical signal light source 12 that provides an optical signal to a fiber optic sensing coil 28. A typical optical signal light source includes a laser diode that provides pump light to a gain fiber. The gain fiber includes a dopant that absorbs pump light and then emits an optical signal that is suitable for delivery. Within the FOG 10, a multifunction integrated optic chip (MIOC) 20 is connected to the fiber optic sensing coil 28. The MIOC 20 includes components such as a polarizer 22, a phase modulator 26 and a Y-coupler (splitter/combiner 24) that are used in processing and controlling optical signals input to and from the fiber optic sensing coil 28. The output of the FOG 10 is an intensity that can be used to determine the phase difference between the two counter-propagating waves. A portion of the output is returned to the light source 12 through a splitter 16 and a second portion of the output is provided to a photodetector 14 through the splitter 16 for measuring the phase difference. The rotation rate of the coil about its sensing axis is obtained by dividing this phase difference by a scale factor of the FOG 10, referred to as the Sagnac scale factor.
The scale factor stability of fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs) is affected by changes in the polarization state of the light in the fiber between the optical source and the MIOC. Changes in stress within the fiber will cause the polarization state of light guided by the fiber to change. This stress may be mechanical or thermal in origin. Any change in polarization state changes the scale factor of the FOG 10 via optical filtering of the light when traversing first the section between the source and the MIOC 20 (made partly of the single mode fiber and partly of polarization maintaining fiber) then traversing the polarizing MIOC 20 itself. This optical filtering can lead to short term scale factor instability and long term degradation of the scale factor repeatability. A depolarizer 18 (e.g., Lyot depolarizer) can be placed in the optical path between the optical source 12 and the MIOC 20 for depolarizing the optical light source signal to prevent changes in its polarization state as it propagates through the FOG 10. Without the depolarizer 18, random environmental perturbations may degrade the scale factor stability via the mechanism of polarization wavelength asymmetries.
However, the existence of large amplitude polarization non-reciprocity (PNR) bias error(s) in FOGs is in large part attributed to cross-coupling and birefringence temperature sensitivities introduced by the depolarizer. The severity and structure of PNR bias error due to various FOG parameters is summarized in Table I below.
TABLE ISummary of PNR Sensitivity ParametersParameterSymbolEffectPolarization Extinctionε or PERPNR Amplitude RatioCoherence Functionγ(L)PNR AmplitudeCross-CouplingαPNR AmplitudeSagnac Scale FactorKSSFPNR Amplitude Birefringence Temperature Sensitivity      d        B        d        T  PNR Period
FIG. 2 illustrates a graph of relative PNR amplitude as a function of Lyot depolarizer cross coupling in the prior art FOG of FIG. 1. The cross-coupling is in decibels and is the cross coupling between a first component of the Lyot depolarizer and a second component L2 of the Lyot depolarizer that is coupled at about a 45° angle relative to the first component. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the PNR amplitude reduces proportional to the square-root of the cross coupling, √α. As an example, a 3 dB reduction is cross coupling is predicted to result in a 29% reduction in PNR. Extrapolation of the fit confirms that the predicted PNR amplitude is indeed 29% smaller.
In addition, tests confirm that the severity and structure of the PNR bias error is a strong function of Lyot depolarizer length. FIG. 3 is a graph of PNR bias error versus Lyot depolarizer length for a large sample set of prior art production gyros built with various depolarizer lengths. The severity of the PNR bias error is dependent on the length of the Lyot depolarizer due to variation in the coherence function term, γ(L). Unless utilizing an alternate design, the optimization of the aforementioned parameters is highly constrained.
The parameters required to minimize cross coupling and to select a minimum of the coherence function associated with the Lyot depolarizer results in degraded depolarization performance, which is an unacceptable alternative. An additional example is the MIOC. The design and manufacturing efforts required to enhance the polarization extinction ratio (PER) of the MIOC by a meaningful amount is costly due to the technology limitations of modern integrated optics chip manufacturing and testing. In order to enhance the state of the art (SoA), it is necessary to leverage an alternate FOG configuration that is capable of manipulating PNR sensitive parameters while leaving other design considerations intact.

Fiber optic gyroscope with front end polarizer

Northrop Grumman Guidance and Electronics Company, Inc.


The present invention comprises a method for improving the quality of products produced in a cigarette manufacturing process. Selected machine operating parameters for at least one machine are monitored, as well as the product being produced. Samples of the product being produced are automatically obtained and tested for quality parameters. Machine operators are notified when to manually test samples of the product for quality parameters. The machine operators can request a test of a quality parameter. The actual test measurements of the quality parameters for either the automatically obtained samples or the manually tested samples are compared against expected values and alarms are presented and the testing is resequenced when the measured quality parameters fail to meet the expected values. Also, employee solution procedures are presented to aid in problem resolution. The time periods and downtime reason when each machine is inoperative is recorded. A hierarchial set of machine operator video displays is produced. A master video display is presented to each machine operator. Also, displays are available for the machine supervisors showing information about all the machines he is supervising. Further, machines can be monitored by sets of tandem machines operating together.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for improving the quality of products produced in the cigarette manufacturing process. By having a computer monitor operating parameters of a machine while it is producing a particular product; automatically perform or request that the machine operator perform various quality tests on samples of the product being produced; compare the machine parameters and the test results to expected values; and provide rapid feedback to the machine operator using interactive video displays which easily highlight problems, allow the operator to analyze the problems, and can provide recommended solutions to the problems, the real time quality control of products being produced for use in cigarette manufacturing can be greatly improved.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
There is a great need in industry to provide feedback as rapidly as possible to machine operators in order to minimize product which fails to meet quality standards. This is particularly true in the cigarette manufacturing industry, where tremendous quantities of product can be produced in a very short time period. For example, cigarette filter rod machines generally produce filter rods at a rate in excess of 3500 rods per minute. In the past, machine operators performed manual measurements of the quality of the product they were producing and manually recorded the results on a control chart. Quality control personnel would gather the test results and perform statistical calculations to determine the quality of the product being produced. This process was very time consuming, and, if there were quality problems, large quantities of product might have to be discarded. Because of this time delay, the product might have already been used further in the production cycle, so the waste could be even more costly. Therefore, it was desirable to develop a method whereby rapid feedback is given to the machine operators concerning the quality of the product they are producing so that they can make adjustments and minimize product waste. Further, it was desirable to make this method operator friendly to minimize training and encourage use in the work place. Also, it was desirable to provide the operators with suggested solutions for the problems they encountered. The present invention satisfies these desires.
Others in the cigarette manufacturing process have taught procedures which relate to the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,214, to Osmalov, teaches a method and apparatus for controlling a cigarette maker to produce a cigarette rod with predetermined moisture content, whereby a signal processor is used to monitor inputs from moisture, density, and firmness sensors and make adjustments in the cigarette making process based on those sensor inputs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,379, to Cahill et al, teaches method to monitor quality parameters, weighting each parameter according to its importance, summing the weighted quality parameter test results, and adjusting the machine to keep the sum of the weighted quality parameter test results as close to the desired sum as possible.

Method for improving the quality of products produced in the cigarette manufacturing process


An electric machine including a closed chamber with a wall and enclosing a stator, a rotor and a first fluid and a heat exchanging unit stretching from the chamber through the wall to a fluid transporting passage. The heat exchanging unit includes conduits provided in a loop, containing a working fluid and equipped with evaporator channels and condenser channels, first heat transfer elements inside the chamber for transferring heat from the first fluid to the working fluid via the evaporator channels and second heat transfer elements in the passage for transferring heat out of the working fluid via the condenser channels to a second fluid, a first fluid propagating unit inside the chamber forcing the first fluid to circulate and a second fluid propagating unit in the passage forcing the second fluid to flow past the second heat transfer element.

Electric machines, such as electric motors, can be large and bulky. The larger they get and the more energy they generate or draw the issue of cooling gets increasingly important.
High Ingress Protection index electrical motors do for instance often use a water to air heat exchanger to cool the air inside an enclosure containing the motor. This is very convenient in marine applications for example where water is readily available, but might be not possible in some other working environments or when water close to electrical components must be avoided.
It is also known to use air-to-air heat exchangers in motors. One example on this is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,333, where motor air is cooled through passing coolant tubes with ambient air.
Another type of heat-exchanger that has been used is the heat-pipe. A single frame including a heat-pipe array for an electric motor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,532.
One interesting technology that exists is the thermosyphon cooling technique.
This technology is for instance used in relation to cooling of electric components, which is described in US 2002/0014324 and EP 2031332. EP 2031332 describes a very compact heat exchanging unit, which is interesting to use also in other areas.
Thermosyphon based cooling has also been previously used in relation to electric machines. US 2005/156470 does for instance describe the cooling of a stator using a thermosyphon unit.
Finally also U.S. Pat. No. 7,102,267 describes the use of thermosyphon technique in relation to an electric machine. In this document the heat exchanging elements used are however bulky.
It would therefore be of interest to improve on the cooling elements described in this latter document.
The present invention is therefore directed towards providing an electric machine being cooled using a more compact thermosyphon based heat exchanging structure.


The purpose of the present invention is to provide an X-ray imaging device capable of obtaining more diversified X-ray image information. To this end, the present invention comprises: an X-ray generation device for generating an X-ray; an X-ray detection device for detecting the X-ray which is generated in the X-ray generation device and penetrates the subject; and a collimator arranged between the X-ray generation device and the X-ray detection device, wherein the X-ray detection device and/or the collimator provides an X-ray imaging device configured to rotate relative to the X-ray generation device. Thus, since it is possible to adjust an X-ray detection area if necessary, the visual field of the imaging device can be adjusted such that diversified X-ray image information can be obtained.

X-ray imaging devices in the field of dental treatment can be classified into a CT scanner, a panoramic imaging device, and a cephalometric device, and appropriate devices are selected and used in accordance with the diagnosis purposes.
Of these devices, the panoramic imaging device is most frequently used for the characteristics of dental treatment. The panoramic imaging device takes tomographic images while rotating along a necessary locus to fit to the shape of a dental arch and these images are connected, so a planar panoramic image is obtained.
For the characteristics of the panoramic imaging device, it is possible to use an X-ray detection sensor with a small area relative to the CT scanner.
In this respect, the CT scanner requires a plane type detection sensor with a large area for its characteristics, but the panoramic imaging device can use a line type detection sensor extending in one direction.
As described above, the panoramic imaging device can use an expensive detection sensor in a small area, so it has the advantage that the manufacturing cost is reduced.
Panoramic imaging devices of the related art, however, use line type detectors in a fixed state. Accordingly, the fields of view (FOV) of the imaging devices are also fixed, so the obtained image information is necessarily limited.
Such a functional limit exists in the X-ray imaging device as well other than the panoramic imaging device.
Therefore, an X-ray imaging device capable of obtaining a wider range of X-ray image information is strongly required.


The several unassembled parts of a door lock assembly, nested axially within one another, are secured by axial retainer means which engage an aperture in the door lock assembly that is not used to secure inner and outer door lock assemblies to one another.

Typical door lock assemblies comprise groups of parts which are fitted to both the inside and the outside of a door. Typically, the outside assembly, that is, the assembly placed on the outside of a door, comprises multiple, axially arranged, parts for ease of assembly by an installer and to provide certain desired anti-vandalism features. Thus, a typical outside assembly might comprise first, a lock cylinder housing assembly, secondly a brass, shrouding the lock cylinder assembly ring into the inner periphery of which is placed a third part, namely a so-called ring insert. These parts are manufactured in separate pieces and are assembled on-site by nesting them axially along the axis of the bore hole found in a door.
For increasing the attractiveness of the lock, particularly the outer assembly thereof, it is also typical to finish the outside assembly in a bright and attractive finish.
However, because the door locks are manufactured, and assembled in the field from multiple pieces, it often happens that an installer (even if he is experienced) may drop one or more of the parts, thereby damaging the attractive exterior polish of the outside assembly, and thus lead to consumer dissatisfaction if the outside assembly is not replaced.
Thus, it a primary object of the invention to provide means whereby the multiple parts of a door lock assembly may be secured axially, that is, along their axis of assembly, against axial movement with respect to one another.


An improved metal coated textile and its production method where the coating of metal is deposited onto the textile through sputtering process in thickness between 20 to 2000 angstroms, with less than 5% variance in thickness across the entire length and width of the textile with width up to and over 10000 mm and length up to and over 1000 meters. The improved sputtering process utilizes longer cathodes, arrangements of metal target(s), tension controller with tension meter(s), guard(s), cylinder cover(s), and control over the textile while traveling through the chamber. The metal layer deposited is highly adhesive to the textile and is suitable for producing clothing, swim wear, diving suit, tent, cushion, wall paper, curtain, carpet, protective cover, screen window, equipment casing, and various other items. The metal layer confers characteristics such as anti-bacterial, deodorizing, improved metallic appearance and texture, electrical conductivity, heat-shielding, heat retention, and dirt repellency to the textile.

By forming a metallic, oxidized metal, or nitrogenized metal coating or a layer, of such deposit on the surface of a textile product, various types of functions can be conferred on the textile such as electrical conductivity, heat-shielding, heat retention, dirt repellency, anti-bacterial properties, deodorizing properties, enhanced visual appearance, and creation of a metallic appearance to the textile.
Various methods of depositing metal, oxidized metal or nitrogenized metal layer onto a textile are known, such as ion-beam deposit, vacuum vapor deposit, and sputtering method.
This invention is an improvement to the sputtering method as disclosed by one of the applicant along with other inventors in U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,124 and in several other subsequently disclosed patent applications and publications on sputtering process on textile and fabric products such as JP60-134068, JP60-134067, JP60-110972, JP60-75669, JP60-110971, JP60-110970, JP60-110969, JP60-134039, JP61-179377, JP61-177239, JP62-21870, JP2-62237, JP5-033272, JP8-215295, JP10-216210, JP11-021763, JP11-253539, JP2000-314039,JP2001-040546, JP2001-115252, JP2001-159071, JP2001-172761, JP2002-004170, JP2002-030566, JP2002-105853, JP2003-042296, and JP2003-313771.
More specifically, this invention relates to an improved manufacturing method and the improved textile product produced from the improved sputtering method of depositing metal, oxidized metal, and nitrogenized metal onto the textile. The improved manufacturing allows sputtering metal onto the textile at a higher rate of speed, higher precision and accuracy, which result in increased production efficiency and speed, increase in width and length of the processed textile, and improved quality of the product with higher adhesion of the deposited metal layer to the textile, and the layer of deposit may be thicker, more even, and cover the entire length and width of the textile.
As a result of this improved sputtering process and product produced from this method, the production cost for the textile is reduced, more valuable and marketable product is produced, and the product is more aesthetically pleasing, with the layer of metal deposited is more durable, and depending on the type of metal or metals deposited, confers such characteristics to the textile such as anti-bacterial quality, deodorizing quality, improved appearance and texture, electrical conductivity, heat-shielding, heat retention, and dirt repellency.


Flouorosilicone compounds of formula (I): ##STR1## wherein k is 1-17, l is 1-18, p is 1-6, R.sub.1 represents a hydrogen atom or a C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl group,. R.sub.2 represents a C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl group or the --OSi(R.sub.3).sub.3 group, and PA1 R.sub.3 represents a C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl group.. These are applicable, in the form of non-volatile oil, for topical application in field of cosmetics and dermatology.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluorosilicone compound, which is a non-volatile oil and to the use of same in the fields of cosmetics and dermatology, more particularly to use in make-ups or skin-care products.
2. Description of the Background
The use of new oils in cosmetic and dermatological preparations which are capable of improving the properties of the cosmetic or dermatological compositions has received special investigative attention from the viewpoint, in particular, of improving the consistency and ease of application of the compositions.
In addition, the oils used in such applications must inherently have good properties which make it possible to impart greater suppleness and a pleasant feel to the skin.
A great number of oils already have been proposed and are commonly used in cosmetics for the preparation of various make-up products. Among these oils, two large classes have been developed and have been widely employed in cosmetics in recent years. They are the silicone oils on the one hand and the fluorinated oils on the other.
Some of these oils, however, have the major disadvantage that they are not compatible with other oils or fatty substances employed in cosmetics or dermatology. This problem of compatibility is of paramount importance from the viewpoint of obtaining compositions which have good homogeneity.
After various studies on a large number of compounds, it has been discovered that a particular class of fluorosilicone compounds is highly compatible with various oils, especially of the hydrocarbon, perfluorinated and/or silicone types.
The state of the art relative to fluorosilicone compounds is represented substantially by Japanese Patent Application JP 06-256756, which describes, in water-repellent compositions for the treatment of glass, ceramic and metal surfaces, the use of fluorosilicone compounds of the formula: ##STR2## in which:
R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are monovalent C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 hydrocarbon groups,
Q is a divalent C.sub.2 -C.sub.10 organic group,
a is 0or 1, and
b is 1-12.

Fluorosilicone compounds in the form of oil and use of same in cosmetics


A vehicle door open-close device which makes it possible to achieve a reduction in numbers of parts and also make the deflection width size of a member 5 small, to thereby allow an effective use of a vehicle compartment to be aimed at, is produced, comprising a driving mechanism positioned inwardly from a door opening, an operation transfer mechanism to connect this driving mechanism and the vehicle door, the operation transfer mechanism being equipped with a slider member reciprocatingly and linearly moving by the aid of the driving means, and a link member connecting this slider member and the vehicle door, wherein the link member is rotatably connected to the slider member and the vehicle door, and the link member includes a straight portion and a curved portion outwardly and protrudingly curved away from a center of rotation of the vehicle door, and a straight portion 5b formed in substantially straight line in a connection part 8. And in a process of fully-opening-state or fully-closing-state of the door, the curved portion passes across the door opening seen from the rotation axis direction.

As an open-close equipment which opens and closes the back door of vehicles by power, JP-A-2000-335245 proposes a technology wherein a rack axis is moved by an electric motor and an arm member fixed to the back door is driven through a link member connected to the rack axis, so as to open-and-close the back door.
This technology is arranged in such a manner that in case where a through hole for an insertion of an arm member is prepared, the arm member is arcuately formed centering on the axial center of the back door, in order to make the size of this through hole small as much as possible, that is, in order to make the deflection width size of the arm member small, and the arm member is fixed to the back door.
According to the above-described conventional technology, circumferential edge of an arm member in a vehicle compartment also arcuately moves. Therefore, another link member for rotatably connecting the circumferential edge of a vehicle compartment and a rack axis is needed. This pushed up the number of parts and posed a problem that accuracy in mounting process is hard to obtain. In addition, space for securing the rotation range of a free end portion of the arm member is needed, to thereby pose another problem that vehicles compartment becomes narrower correspondingly.


A system, method and article for ranking a gaming session between a plurality of independent player game components. A method includes receiving one or more gaming session metrics determined at each of a group of the game components participating in a gaming session; calculating a quality metric for the gaming session based on the one or more gaming session metrics received from the group of game components; and storing the quality metric for ranking the gaming session.

1. Field
The invention is concerned with the operation of interactive computer games on a network. The invention is particularly concerned with the operation of interactive computer games where multiple players may participate in a gaming session, and with the provision of scores for a gaming session.
2. Description of the Related Art
The general architecture to support an interactive computer gaming session between multiple users in a network environment is illustrated in FIG. 1. Such an architecture, and variations thereto, is well-known to one skilled in the art.
As used herein the term computer gaming session encompasses any length of time spent playing a game. A computer gaming session may, for example, be a completed game, a completed level of a game, a completed race of a racing game, a completed lap of a race in a racing game or any other section of a game. A gaming session may be measured in units of time or in discrete game sections.
FIG. 1 illustrates three computer game terminals 2a, 2b, 2c. Each terminal is connected to each other terminal via respective network connections 4a, 4b, 4c and a network 6. The network 6 may be the Internet. A game server 8, supporting a player matching service, is also connected to the network 6 via a network connection 10. With reference to FIG. 2 there is illustrated a general architecture of a typical computer game terminal 2a. Each computer game terminal typically includes a computer game console 12 or hardware device, a player/user input device or controller 14 connected to the computer game hardware device 12, and a display 16 connected to the computer game hardware device. The computer game console 12 is adapted for connection to the network via connection 4a. Although in the example shown the controller 14 and display 16 are shown as distinct from the console 12, the computer game terminal 2a may be implemented in a variety of ways, for example with the controller, display and console forming a single integrated device.
The game console 12 includes a central processor 18 and a network interface 20. The central processor 18 provides the computation required to allow a player to take part in an interactive computer gaming session by processing instructions from the controls and providing instructions to the display 16 to allow the features of the game to be displayed to the player. The network interface 20 transmits and receives information relating to the game and the computer game terminal 2a over the network 6.
The player matching service provided by the game server 8 allows for details of interactive games to be uploaded thereto, so as they may be displayed to other users. A player, such as a player associated with computer game terminal 2a, may initiate a new interactive game, and upload details to the game server 8. The purpose of the player matching service is to enable other players to join the initiated game. The game matching service may display such details as the identity of the game to be played, the identity of the game host (i.e. the player initiating the game), and details of any other players who have registered to play the game. The gaming matching service operates to facilitate matching of players for an online gaming session, and has no involvement in the playing of the game.
Once the players for the game are registered, the communication between the computer game terminals of the registered players is on a peer-to-peer network basis. The specific communications between the computer game terminals during a game may vary. Each computer game terminal may operate autonomously and generate its own graphics for display, based on information received on the peer-to-peer network. Each computer game terminal therefore needs to receive data associated with user inputs from all other players in the game. For example, this may be done by each computer game terminal transmitting the user input data at its terminal to all other players, or by all computer game terminals transmitting their data to the host system, which in turn transmits it to the other computer game terminals.
It is known in the art for online computer gaming sessions to give rise to leaderboards that are available to all computer game terminals over the network. The concept of scoring and ranking players in videogames of the art is exclusively done on an individual basis. Players are driven by a desire to be the best and use leaderboards to prove their claims. Each online player aims to appear on a leaderboard but, due to high volumes of players this is difficult to achieve. The majority of players achieve relatively lowly positions on leaderboards and so are not motivated to continue playing the game.
There exists a need to provide a method of operating an interactive computer game that may provide greater motivation for players to continue playing the game.


A virus removal device with an ultraviolet LED may be provided that includes: an operating member; an ultraviolet LED configured to irradiate ultraviolet light onto an object under an operation of the operating member; and a driving means configured to generate a driving force so that the operating member is moved.

1. Field
Embodiments may relate to a virus removal device with an ultraviolet light emitting diode (LED).
2. Background
In general, an air conditioner includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, and the like.
Here, the air conditioner has a circulation structure in which a refrigerant discharged from the compressor is again flowed in the compressor via the condenser, the expansion valve and the evaporator. These components are connected to one another through pipes.
Specifically, the compressor is a device that liquefies a high-temperature and high-pressure gas, and the expansion valve is a device that expands a refrigerant in a vapor state at a low temperature and low pressure so that a heat exchange is easy and controls the degree of expansion of the refrigerant. The evaporator is a device that generates cool air by performing a heat exchange between external air flowed in the device by a fan and the cool refrigerant on a pipe installed in the device itself.
Meanwhile, a split-type air conditioner is composed of an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. An evaporator is provided to the indoor unit, and a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve are provided to the outdoor unit.
FIG. 1 is an internal configuration view of a general air conditioner. As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner includes a main body 10, an evaporator 50, a drain pan 70, a fan 40, a fan duct 60 and the like.
An operation of the air conditioner will be described. When the fan 40 in the fan duct 60 is driven by a motor, air is flowed in the inside of the main body 10 through a suction gate 30 positioned a lower part of the main body 10, and cool air is produced by performing a heat exchange between the air flowed in the inside of the main body 10 and a cool refrigerant in the inside of the evaporator. Condensation water collected in the drain pan 70 is discharged to a drain along a drain hose 80.
Meanwhile, the cool air produced by the heat exchange with the evaporator 50 is again flowed in the fan 40 through a suction hole of the fan duct 60 and then exhausted through an exhaustion hole of the fan duct 60 via the fan 40. The air exhausted through the exhaustion hole of the fan duct 60 is completely exhausted to the outside of the main body 10 through an exhaustion gate 20 positioned at an upper part of the main body 10.
In general, an air cleaner is a device that purifies air by filtering dust or viruses in the air. The air cleaner has a ventilation fan that sucks indoor air into a main body constituting the external appearance of the air cleaner and forcibly ventilates the sucked air to the outside of the air cleaner, and a filter that filters pollutants such as dust or viruses in the air. In the air cleaner, the indoor air is flowed by passing through the filter by a ventilation force generated by the ventilation fan, thereby purifying the indoor air.
One of such air cleaners is an air cleaner that ventilates air in an indoor space by exhausting indoor air to the outside of the indoor space and sucking outdoor air into the indoor space.
Since the air cleaner capable of performing a ventilation operation as described above should perform the exhaustion of the indoor air and the suction of the outdoor air at the same time, a ventilation fan for exhausting indoor air and a ventilation fan for sucking outdoor air are provided to the air cleaner. The air cleaner has a driving motor for driving the two ventilation fans so that the two ventilation fans are positioned at both sides of the driving motor, respectively. Thus, the driving motor rotates the two ventilation fans are rotated, thereby generating a ventilation force.
Accordingly, when the two ventilation fans are rotated under an operation of the driving motor, one ventilation fan exhausts the indoor air to the outside of the indoor space, and the other ventilation fan sucks the outdoor air into the indoor space, thereby ventilating the indoor space.

Air conditioner including virus removal device


A novel one-stage process for preparing 10α-[4′-(S,S-dioxothiomorpholin-1′-yl)]-10-deoxo-10-dihydroartemisinin (1a) by reacting a compound of the formula (1b)

WO-A-03/076446 discloses a multitude of C-10-substituted derivatives of dihydroartemisinin of the following formula
in which R1 and R2 may be a wide variety of organic radicals optionally containing heteroatom moieties, X is, for example, S, an S(═O), PR3, P—O—R3 or P—N(R4)—R3 group, with R3 and R4 being in turn organic radicals, and Z is oxygen, sulphur or an NR5 radical, with R5 being in turn an organic radical.
WO-A-00/04024 discloses further C-10-substituted derivatives of dihydroartemisinin of the general formula (1)
where Y is a halogen atom, an optionally substituted cycloalkyl, aryl, a C-bonded heteroaryl or a heterocycloalkyl radical, or is an NR1R2 group where R1 is hydrogen or an optionally substituted alkyl, alkenyl or alkynyl radical and R2 is an optionally substituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl or aralkyl radical, or else R1 and R2 together with the adjacent nitrogen atom are an optionally substituted heterocyclic group or an amino group derived from an optionally substituted amino acid ester.
Such compounds described in WO-A-03/076446 and WO-A-00/04024 are effective in the treatment of parasitic infections such as malaria, neosporosis or coccidiosis.
Also mentioned in WO-A-00/04024 is 10α-[4′-(S,S-dioxothiomorpholin-1′-yl)]-10-deoxo-10-dihydroartemisinin (1a) as a compound of the general formula (1).

WO-A-00/04024 describes the synthesis of the compounds of the general formula (1) by reacting a dihydroartemisinin of the formula (2)
where Q is a hydrogen atom or a trimethylsilyl group with a halogenating agent to form a compound of the formula (1) in which Y is a halogen atom, and subsequently reacting with a Grignard of the formula YMgX where X=halogen or with an amine of the general formula HNR1R2.
The preparation of 10α-[4′-(S,S-dioxothiomorpholin-1′-yl)]-10-deoxo-10-dihydroartemisinin (1a) is described in WO-A-00/04024 starting from dihydroartemisinin of the formula (2a) and thiomorpholine of the formula (3). According to Examples 3(a), 3(b), 6 and 7, dihydroartemisinin (2a) is reacted first with chlorotrimethylsilane and then with bromotrimethylsilane, and then 3 equivalents of thiomorpholine are added to form the compound of the formula (4). This compound of the formula (4) is isolated as an intermediate. Both reactions are effected at very low temperatures in the region of 0° C. and room temperature. The subsequent oxidation of the compound of the formula (4) affords the target compound of the formula (1a), NMO meaning 4-methylmorpholine N-oxide and TPAP=tetrapropylammonium perruthenate.

A disadvantage of this synthesis is that it is a two-stage process and 3 equivalents of the expensive thiomorpholine feedstock have to be used.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for preparing 10α-[4′-(S,S-dioxothiomorpholin-1′-yl)]-10-deoxo-10-dihydroartemisinin (1a).

Process for preparing 10α-[4′-(S,S-dioxothiomorpholin-1′-yl)]-10-deoxo-10-dihydroartemisinin

Abstract: in which X is a halogen atom with thiomorpholine dioxide at a temperature in the range of −30° C. to +20° C. is provided.


A fuse fault repair circuit includes a fuse array, a signal storage module, and a scan repair module. The fuse array includes a redundant fuse array and a non-redundant fuse array. When the fuse array is not faulty, the redundant fuse array has no signal output, and the non-redundant fuse array outputs S first logic signals. Each storage unit in the signal storage module is configured to store a first logic signal sent by one fuse unit connected thereto. The scan repair module is configured to scan the storage units in the signal storage module, determine, when a faulty storage unit is scanned, that a first fuse unit connected to the faulty storage unit is faulty, and replace the first fuse unit with a first redundant fuse unit corresponding to the first fuse unit. The first logic signal corresponding to the first redundant fuse unit is a normal signal.

One Time Programmable (OTP) is a type of memory in a semiconductor memory. An electronic fuse is a kind of OTP, and can, for example, be an anti-fuse. In the use of the semiconductor memory, especially in the case of slightly adjusting circuit parameters of the semiconductor memory and repairing some manufacturing problems of the semiconductor memory, etc., the electronic fuse has been widely used. Compared with other storage technologies, the reading operation of the electronic fuse storage is an automatic operation that cannot be customized. That is, the reading order of the electronic fuse memory will be fixed after the completion of the design.
The production and use of the electronic fuse are easily affected by the process. However, with the development of the semiconductor process, the volume of the semiconductor memory is required to be decreased, which causes the fault rate of the electronic fuse to be increased. If the electronic fuse is faulty, the semiconductor memory containing the electronic fuse will not work due to the fault, which causes a great waste of the semiconductor memory.


A cellulosic fiber of improved wettability comprising cellulosic fibers with small discrete crystal domain of ionic salt attached to the surface of the fiber. The method of making the cellulosic fiber of improved wettability is also claimed.

Cellulosic fibers find wide usage in products which require absorbency. Ground wood pulp fibers, for example, are used extensively in the absorbent cores of disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, incontinent devices and the like. Cellulose material obtains its absorbent property from the existence of polar hydroxy groups on the cellulose molecule. However, the hydrophilicity of cellulosic fibers is not 100%. This is partially due to the lack of complete accessibility of the hydroxy groups on the fiber surfaces and partially due to the existence on the surface of at least some cellulosic fibers of hydrophobic materials, such as fatty acids.
The absorbent core of many dressings, sanitary protection pads etc. comprise ground wood pulp cellulosic fibers. When the fluid to be absorbed is blood or menstrual fluid, the viscosity of the fluid is higher, and hence the transport of fluids within the absorbent core is slower than with a fluid of lesser viscosity. In the present invention, the salt present at the edge of the advancing fluid will increase the ionic strength of the fluid and thus decrease the viscosity of the fluid. This viscosity reduction will enhance the wicking rate or fluid travel in the absorbent product.
In those products in which a superabsorbent polymer is admixed with cellulosic fiber to form an absorbent core, there is competition for any applied liquid between the superabsorbent and the capillary network of the cellulosic fiber. The capillary force provided by the cellulosic fiber tries to move the liquid away from the impact zone of, for instance, a disposable diaper, while the superabsorbent tries to immobilize the fluid. If the superabsorbent swelling is dominant too early, most of the fluid will be immobilized at or near the impact zone while the rest of the absorbent material remains unused or dry. In the worse case, the impact zone can be so swollen so as to prevent capillary transport of the liquid away from the impact zone. The presence of an ionic salt causes the superabsorbent to take up fluid and thus swell and gel at a much slower rate which allows time for the capillary structure of the cellulosic fibers to move the liquid away from the impact zone into other areas of an absorbent core. Hence, the efficacy of the absorbent cores is increased.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a more wettable cellulosic fiber.
It is a further objective to provide a cellulosic fiber which has the propensity to reduce the viscosity of blood and menstrual fluid and hence provide an improved absorbent media for use in bandages, dressings and sanitary protection devices.
It is yet another objective of this invention to provide a cellulosic fiber which when used in an absorbent media in combination with a superabsorbent polymer causes the superabsorbent polymer to absorb liquid more slowly and allows for greater fluid spread within the absorptive media, hence increasing the efficacy of the absorbent media.

Cellulosic fiber of improved wettability


A method for fabricating a semiconductor device comprises: Firstly, a semiconductor fin comprising a first sub-fin and a second sub-fin protruding from a surface of a substrate is provided. An isolation structure having an opening extending therein is then provided in the semiconductor fin to electrically isolate the first sub-fin and the second sub-fin. Subsequently, a first dummy structure disposed on the first isolation structure and having at least one metal layer entirely overlapping on the first isolation structure along a long axis of the semiconductor fin is formed, wherein the metal layer laterally conformally extends downwards into the opening and extends upwards beyond the first isolation structure along the long axis of the semiconductor fin, so as to form a stepped structure overlapping on sidewalls and a bottom of the opening, a portion of the first sub-fin and a portion of the second sub-fin.

Technical Field
The disclosure relates in generally related to a semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same, and more particularly to a device with a fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) and method for fabricating the same.
Description of the Related Art
As the evolution of semiconductor process, technology node has progressed into nanometer-scale phenomena, a semiconductor device with higher functional density is provided. However, the critical sizes and features dimension of the semiconductor device are simultaneously shrunk small enough to make it challenging to produce a semiconductor device with the advantages of higher functional density without deteriorating the device performance. For overcoming the challenge, a device with a three-dimension design, such as a FinFET, is provided.
A FinFET is typically made by steps as follows: A portion of a silicon layer disposed on a substrate is removed by an etch process to form a vertical fin protruding from a surface of the substrate. A gate structure is then provided covering on the top surface and the sidewalls of the vertical fin to form a channel in the vertical fin, thereby an active region expending form the top surface to the sidewalls of the vertical fin can be identified. A gate structure is then formed on the vertical fin. In addition, a strained source/drain may be formed in the region of the vertical fin adjacent to the gate structure by an optional epitaxial growth process of strained silicon/silicon-germanium (Si/SiGe) material in order to improve the carrier mobility of the FinFET.
Generally, a FinFET structure may comprise a plurality of FinFETs each of which has a vertical fin protruding from a surface of the substrate, a gap with a step height may occur between two adjacent vertical fins after the gate structures of the corresponding FinFETs are formed on the vertical fins, and the topography of the FinFET structure may get more uneven when the gate structures that are respectively formed on different vertical fins have different device pattern density. Thus dishing problems may not still remain even if a polarization process, such as a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process, has been carried out on the surface of the FinFET structure, and the performance and yield of the subsequent processes performed on the surface of the FinFET structure may be deteriorated due to the roughness and dishing. In order to resolve the problems, a plurality of dummy stacks may be formed on insulation structures, such as shallow trench isolation (STI), disposed between two adjacent gate structures at the stage of forming the gate structures to provide an even local pattern density as well as to mitigate the dishing problems.
However, this approach still has some drawbacks. Because the dummy stacks of the prior art and the gate structures are not formed at the same plane, the dishing problems seem inevitable due to the height difference between the dummy stacks and the gate structures, such that the FinFET structure may be defect resulted from the uneven force generated by the subsequent processes performed on the surface of the FinFET structure. Therefore, there is a need of providing an improved semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same to obviate the drawbacks encountered from the prior art.

Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same


A method is directed to producing liquid fermented milk, suppressing an increase in acidity and a decrease in pH over time during refrigerated storage, keeping a refreshing flavor (sour taste) originating from yogurt lactic acid bacteria for a long time, and suppressing production of an acid during storage to maintain good quality, without requiring heating after a fermentation step, use of a particular additive, and the like. The method for producing liquid fermented milk which uses a rod-shaped lactic acid bacteria and a coccus-shaped lactic acid bacteria as lactic acid bacteria to be added to a raw material for fermented milk, and which includes a homogenization step of obtaining the liquid fermented milk at a homogenization pressure of from 50 MPa to 100 MPa.

According to "Ministerial Ordinance Regarding Compositional Standards, etc. of Milk and Dairy Products", fermented milk is defined as a product obtained by subjecting milk or a milk-like substance or the like containing solid non-fat in an amount not less than that of milk to fermentation with a lactic acid bacterium or yeast to form a paste or a liquid, or a frozen product thereof. The fermented milk is broadly classified into: (a) hard yogurt (i.e. solid fermented milk or set type yogurt) obtained mainly by filling its material into a container and then fermentating and solidifying the material in the container; (b) soft stirred type yogurt (i.e. pasty fermented milk) obtained by fermentation in a large tank or the like, and subsequent curd pulverization and optional mixing with pulp, sauce, or the like, followed by filling the obtained mixture into a container; and (c) drinkable yogurt (i.e. liquid fermented milk) obtained by fine crushing of hard yogurt or soft stirred type yogurt with a homogenizer or the like to enhance properties as a liquid, optional mixing with fruit pulp, sauce, or the like, and subsequent filling into a container.
According to the compositional standards for fermented milk in Japan (Ministerial Ordinance Regarding Compositional Standards, etc. of Milk and Dairy Products), the ratio of solid non-fat (i.e. milk solid non-fat) should be 8.0% or more, and the number of lactic acid bacteria or yeast cells per mL should be 10,000,000 or more. Further, according to the international standards for yogurt defined by FAO/WHO, yogurt is defined as follows: "Yogurt is a coagulated dairy product obtained by subjecting milk or a dairy product to lactic acid fermentation through actions of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. Additives (e.g., milk powder, skim milk powder, whey powder, and the like) can be used optionally. Microorganisms as described above in the final product must be viable and abundant."
Because fermented milk contains viable cells such as lactic acid bacteria, an increase in acidity and a decrease in pH occur owing to lactic acid and the like to be generated by the lactic acid bacteria when the fermented milk is stored for a long period of time. Therefore, owing to the increase in acidity and the decrease in pH over time, it has been difficult to keep flavor and quality constant as compared to those of a product immediately after production.
In order to solve this problem, various methods have been proposed heretofore. For example, there is a proposal concerning a method for producing yogurt containing viable lactic acid bacterium cells which comprises adding a lactic acid bacterium to a yogurt material composition to control a fermentation degree of milk in the composition to a desired one; leaving the resultant to stand at low temperature, followed by heating under such temperature and time conditions that the temperature is not lower than the limit temperature for growth arrest of the lactic acid bacterium at the high-temperature side but complete killing is not achieved; and cooling the resultant (see Patent Literature 1). Further, there is a proposal concerning fermented milk containing chitosan by which an increase in acidity can be suppressed (see Patent Literature 2).
The technology described in Patent Literature 1 involves the heating treatment after the fermentation step, and has problems in that setting and adjustment of the heating conditions are complicated, excessive supply of heat energy is required, and the flavor of yogurt may be deteriorated owing to the heating treatment. In addition, the technology described in Patent Literature 2 involves using chitosan, which is not contained in general fermented milk, as an additive, and hence has a problem in that the flavor of the fermented milk may be changed.
In addition, as other means for suppressing production of acids, there have been known, for example, a method involving adding a peroxidase (see Patent Literature 3), a method involving using Lactobacillus helveticus and Lactobacillus acidophilus in combination (see Patent Literature 4), a method involving giving a heat shock at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time after the end of fermentation (see Patent Literature 5), a method involving using a low-temperature-sensitive lactic acid bacterium (Patent Literature 6), a method involving adding Lactococcus lactis subsp. Lactis capable of producing nisin (Patent Literature 7), and a method involving maturing a fermented product at an ice temperature range after the end of fermentation (Patent Literature 8).
However, each of those methods has problem in that another additive such as the peroxidase is further added, applicable lactic acid bacteria are limited, or production may be complicated by introducing an additional step such as the heat shock treatment or the ice-temperature maturation. Yogurt is supported by consumers because of its natural and refreshing flavor obtained from its moderate acidity. However, when the acidity is suppressed during storage of the yogurt by the conventional technologies, it cannot be avoided that its natural and refreshing flavor is lost.
On the other hand, there is known a method involving liquefying gel-like fermented milk obtained by fermentation of milk by homogenization at a homogenization pressure of 100 to 150 kg/cm2 (i.e. 10 to 15 MPa) (see Non-Patent Literature 1). However, the purpose of the method is to crush the cooled fermented milk finely to liquefy the milk.

Method for manufacturing liquid fermented milk


A negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery, where the negative electrode includes a negative electrode current collector, a negative electrode active material layer, a lithium layer that is positioned between the negative electrode current collector and the negative electrode active material layer, and a primer layer that is positioned between the negative electrode current collector and the lithium layer, and a manufacturing method thereof. This results in a simple method and a negative electrode with high capacity characteristics.

As the technical development of and demand for mobile devices increases, the demand for secondary batteries as energy sources has rapidly increased. Among such secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries, which have high energy density, high operating potential, a long cycle lifespan, and a low self-discharge rate, have been commercially available and widely used.
Meanwhile, a metal oxide such as LiCoO2, LiMnO2, LiMn2O4, or LiCrO2 has been used as a positive electrode active material constituting a positive electrode of a lithium secondary battery, and metal lithium, a carbon-based material such as graphite or activated carbon, or a material such as silicon oxide (SiOx) has been used as a negative electrode active material constituting a negative electrode of the lithium secondary battery. Although, initially, metal lithium was mainly used as the negative electrode active material, since lithium atoms grow on a surface of the metal lithium as charging and discharging cycles progress, this causes a separator to be damaged, and thus the battery is damaged. Therefore, recently, a carbon-based material has been mainly used as the negative electrode active material. However, since the carbon-based material has a disadvantage in that a theoretical capacity is only about 400 mAh/g and thus capacity is small, various studies have been made to replace the carbon-based material by using silicon having a high theoretical capacity (4,200 mAh/g) as the negative electrode active material.
The lithium secondary battery is charged and discharged while repeating a process in which lithium ions of the positive electrode active material of the positive electrode are intercalated into/deintercalated from the negative electrode active material of the negative electrode.
Theoretically, intercalation and deintercalation reactions of lithium into and from a negative electrode active material are completely reversible, but in practice, more lithium is consumed than the theoretical capacity of the negative electrode active material, and only a part of the lithium is recovered during discharging. Thus, from the second charging and discharging cycle, a smaller amount of lithium ions are intercalated during charging while most of the intercalated lithium ions are deintercalated during discharging. As described above, the difference in capacity that occurs in the reactions during the first charging and discharging is called an irreversible capacity loss, and since commercialized lithium secondary batteries are manufactured in a state in which lithium ions are supplied only to a positive electrode and lithium is not present in a negative electrode, it is important to minimize the irreversible capacity loss in initial charging and discharging.
It is known that the initial irreversible capacity loss is mostly caused by an electrolyte decomposition reaction on a surface of the negative electrode active material, and the electrochemical reaction through the electrolyte decomposition causes a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film to be formed on the surface of the negative electrode active material. Although a large amount of lithium ions are consumed in the formation of the SEI film, causing the irreversible capacity loss, the SEI film formed at the beginning of charging prevents the reaction between the lithium ions and a negative electrode or other materials during charging and discharging, and functions as an ion tunnel to pass only the lithium ions therethrough so that the electrolyte decomposition reaction is further suppressed, thereby contributing to an improvement of cycle characteristics of the lithium secondary battery.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods to improve initial irreversibility caused by the formation of the SEI film and the like, and one of the methods is to achieve pre-lithiation before manufacturing a lithium secondary battery to allow a negative electrode active material to undergo a side reaction occurring during first charging in advance. As described above, when pre-lithiation is achieved, a first cycle is performed in a state in which irreversibility is reduced as much as when charging or discharging is performed on an actually manufactured secondary battery, and thus there is an advantage in that the initial irreversibility may be reduced.
A conventional pre-lithiation method may include, for example, depositing lithium on a negative electrode active material layer or adhering a lithium thin film on the negative electrode active material layer. After a lithium layer is formed on the negative electrode active material layer as described above, when an electrolyte is injected into a cell after the cell is assembled, lithium ions are diffused onto the negative electrode active material layer, so that pre-lithiation may be achieved. However, when the lithium layer formed on the negative electrode active material layer remains on the negative electrode active material layer even after pre-lithiation, the risk of a subsequent internal short circuit may be increased and there may be a risk of becoming a seed of lithium- (Li-) plating causing Li-plating.
Accordingly, there is a demand for the development of a new negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery capable of achieving more effective pre-lithiation.

Negative electrode for lithium secondary battery and manufacturing method thereof


A paint film assembly which includes a thermoformable paint film having a high gloss and DOI and a thermoformable masking film which is removably bonded to the paint film so as to better protect the paint film during shipping and handling, and during subsequent forming and processing (e.g., thermoforming and/or insert molding) of the paint film onto an article or part, while substantially retaining the surface finish of the paint film, particularly the gloss and DOI. The masking film comprises a urethane layer that is laminated or otherwise bonded to the paint film to form a masked paint film. The masking film is thermoformable and/or moldable with the paint film so as to form a thermoformable and/or moldable masked paint film. After the masked paint film is thermoformed and/or molded, the masking film is still readily removable from the paint film. The urethane layer is operatively adapted so as to at least substantially retain the high gloss and DOI of the paint film after the masked paint film is thermoformed and/or molded and the masking film is removed from the paint film.

Often one of the most important features of a product is its appearance. Automobile manufacturers are particularly concerned with the appearance of the automobiles they manufacture. Components such as, for example, automobile body panels, trim components, side view mirror housings and similar automobile parts have traditionally been spray painted to provide a desired appearance (i.e., color and finish). Recently, the spray painting of certain exterior automobile parts has been replaced with a prefabricated multi-layer paint film. In addition to other advantages, such paint films avoid the environmental problems associated with evaporating paint solvents and eliminate the need for additional paint facilities and the associated equipment, ovens, sludge disposal, and emission control systems. However, the use of prior paint films has had mixed results, particularly with regard to color and surface finish.
Such paint films typically include a decorative layer having the desired paint finish and are often pre-formed such as by thermoforming (i.e., forming the film while in a heated state). The pre-formed paint film is then adhered to the desired surface(s) of the part. When it is a plastic molded part, paint films have been adhered by being insert molded with the part. The decorative layer of some paint films have been formed by being cast onto a carrier layer. The surface of the carrier layer, on which the decorative layer is cast, is formed so as to produce the surface finish desired on the decorative layer. In addition, it has been taught to leave the carrier layer on the paint film, after the paint film is manufactured, to protect the paint film during shipping and handling and during subsequent application of the film to the part (e.g., thermoforming the paint film into a pre-formed state for bonding to the part).
Automobile manufacturers often require that the painted surfaces on their automobiles exhibit a very high gloss and DOI (i.e., Distinctness Of Image or mirror-like reflection), especially for metallic paint finishes. Casting the decorative layer onto a carrier layer having a high gloss finish has resulted in paint films with a high gloss and DOI. However, the thermoformability of some prior carrier layers has been very limited, thereby limiting the uses of the paint films to flat or lightly contoured parts. Paint films with carrier layers that exhibit improved thermoformability can be found, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,826 to Shimanski et al.. However, the thermoformability of these carrier layers is still too limited. In addition, even with prior carrier layers that exhibit sufficient thermoformability for a particular use, too often a significant reduction in the gloss and DOI of the paint film has been observed after the paint film and carrier layer have been thermoformed.
Therefore, there is a need for a better way to protect a paint film during shipping and handling and during subsequent application of the film to the part (e.g., thermoforming the paint film into a pre-formed state for bonding to the part) while substantially retaining the surface finish of the paint film, particularly the gloss and DOI.

Paint film assembly with masking film and method of making same


In a wireless communication system, a base unit transmits outgoing TDM signals within a base transmission coverage area at a first frequency. Repeaters in the base coverage area receive the outgoing signal and retransmit it within respective repeater coverage areas at respective frequencies, maintaining the same time slot orientation in TDM format. Several levels of repeaters form a hierarchy covering an expanded range. Remote subscriber units located in a coverage area receive the strongest outgoing frequency signal from a repeater/base unit in a time slot assigned to that unit for a particular call, which time slot is maintained for that call through successive levels of repeaters. Incoming TDMA signals from remote units use the same time slots used in received outgoing signals. The base unit transmits outgoing signals and receives incoming signals at the same frequency, but at different times. Each repeater receives outgoing signals from a lower level repeater (or from the base unit) at the transmission frequency of that lower level repeater, and immediately retransmits the signal in its own coverage at a different frequency. Incoming signals transmitted to any particular repeater from a remote unit in its coverage area, or from a higher level repeater, are at the outgoing transmission frequency for that repeater. Repeaters and remote units can switch between repeaters to communicate with the base unit depending upon received signal strength, thereby providing minimal interruption during communication.

1. Technical Field
The present invention pertains to a method and apparatus for attaining improved sound quality and extended range in wireless digital communication systems.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Helmkamp et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,150) disclose a wireless private branch exchange (PBX) system capable of automatic optimal configuration. Specifically, the wireless system includes a central transceiver, a plurality of fixed stations, and a plurality of portable stations capable of being carried throughout the site or area where the system is installed. Fixed stations are capable of being used as repeaters at which information from the central transceiver is received and retransmitted in a prescribed protocol to thereby extend the effective range of the central transceiver. Communications between the central transceiver and fixed stations are in a time division multiplexing (TDM) format allowing for implementation using only a single transmitter/receiver pair in each of the fixed and portable stations. The central transceiver and fixed stations are capable of selecting an optimal channel and utilize a time division duplexer to coordinate transmission and reception of signals.
The extended range of the central transceiver is divided into range levels wherein repeaters (fixed stations) situated at one level may communicate with only a single repeater of adjacent levels. Further, repeaters store and repeat certain frames destined for additional repeaters and range levels.
Bohm (U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,001) discloses a radio telephone system in the form of a private branch exchange (PBX). Specifically, the radio telephone system includes a control unit for two-way communication to mobile subscriber units via a radio bus. The radio bus includes elements for transmission and reception of information between the central unit and the mobile subscriber units. Communication from the central unit traverses several radio bus elements until an element is reached that is within radio range of the desired mobile subscriber unit. Communication by radio bus elements utilize time division multiple access (TDMA) wherein time slots may originate from different locations allowing many radio bus elements to transmit to a single receiver, while the mobile subscriber units operate as telephone stations and utilize time division multiplexing (TDM) wherein time slots are transmitted in rigid time sequences originating at a single location.
Frost (U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,848) discloses a switched network telephone subscriber distribution system. Specifically, the system includes a central radio station and radio subscriber stations, each containing two frequency agile duplex radio transceivers. The radio subscriber stations are used as repeaters for calls outside the range of the central radio station. When radio subscriber stations are busy with a call, communication between a particular radio subscriber station and the central radio station is routed on an alternative route utilizing other available radio subscriber stations. In the case of multiple central radio stations, communication from a first central radio station may be transferred to a second central radio station when all subscriber radio stations associated with the first central radio station are being utilized.
The prior art suffers from certain disadvantages. For example, central units tend to require high operating power levels to cover extended ranges, thereby increasing the risk of interference in the communications. Moreover, repeaters are capable of communication only with a single repeater of a different range level, thereby limiting the number of possible paths via which a call may be routed. Further, this restricts communication between repeaters of the same range level.

Wireless digital communication system having hierarchical wireless repeaters with autonomous hand-off


A cartridge alignment mechanism. A cartridge, detachably installed in a carriage, comprises an abutting surface symmetrical to a symmetrical plane and corresponding to an abutting datum surface, and first and second alignment surfaces respectively corresponding to first and second datum surfaces. The cartridge disposed in the carriage cause the first and second datum surfaces to abut the first and second alignment surfaces to align the cartridge in the Y and Z directions, and the abutting datum surface abuts the abutting surface in Z-direction to align the cartridge in X-direction.

The present invention relates to a cartridge alignment mechanism, and more particularly to a cartridge alignment mechanism for use in business machines such as inkjet printers.
In inkjet printing, a cartridge contains ink, and a printhead is mounted on one end of the cartridge, connected with the reservoir. The cartridge is detachably mounted on a carriage, adapted to move bidirectionally above a media sheet. When the cartridge is mounted on the carriage, it is necessary to maintain lock-in and alignment.
Single-sided alignment is generally applied in cartridge alignment. In this case, a biasing force is provided against the cartridge, forcing the cartridge to lock and remain in a single side thereof. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,018 discloses a printhead cartridge and carriage assembly in which a force loading spring pad abuts a portion of the cartridge. U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,063 discloses a unitary latch assembly, in which each latch end is provided with a cam of a low friction material in the form of a horizontal section of an inclined cylinder to abut four cartridges.
Since the biasing force is not symmetrical, however, the cartridges disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,392,063 and 4,907,018 may tilt in alignment. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,063, the cam is of a low friction material to reduce biasing due to friction. It is impossible, however, to completely eliminate friction between the cam and the cartridge.
Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,018, a leaf spring is applied to abut the sidewall of the cartridge. Accordingly, the sidewall is deformed. In this case, U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,513 discloses a compensated structure of the side wall for the cartridge to reduce deformation thereof. Nonetheless, deformation is not totally eliminated.

Cartridge alignment mechanism and method thereof


A plasma display panel in which exhaust performance is improved comprises a lower plate and a upper plate disposed opposite to each other. The lower plate comprises exhaust means for exhausting gas from the plasma display panel. The exhaust means comprises exhaust grooves formed on a front surface of a lower plate (or a back substrate). The exhaust grooves extend in a direction in which address electrodes or sustain electrodes extend.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a plasma display panel in which exhaust performance is improved.
2. Related Art
In recent years, the plasma display panel has been in the spotlight as a replacement for the cathode-ray tube display. The plasma display panel is a device in which discharge gas is filled and sealed between two substrates with a plurality of electrodes, and then a discharge voltage is applied to them, thus generating ultraviolet rays. In the device, fluorescent layers formed in a predetermined pattern are excited by the ultraviolet rays to form a desired image.
The plasma display panel comprises a back substrate and a front substrate disposed opposite to each other. A plurality of address electrodes are arranged on an upper surface of the back substrate, and these address electrodes are buried by first dielectric layers. Partition walls partition discharge cells in a matrix shape on an upper surface of the first dielectric layers. Although partition walls of stripe shape were widely used, a closed type of partition wall, quadrilateral in shape, has been primarily used in recent years in order to reduce the possibility of cross-talk between discharge cells.
An inside surface of the discharge cells partitioned by these partition walls is coated to a predetermined thickness with fluorescent layers.
The front substrate is a transparent substrate into which visible rays can be transmitted, is mainly made of glass, and is combined with the back substrate. Pairs of sustain electrodes which intersect the address electrodes are formed on a bottom surface of the front substrate. In the pairs of sustain electrodes, one sustain electrode is an X electrode, and the other sustain electrode is a Y electrode.
The pairs of sustain electrodes are buried by transparent second dielectric layers, and protective layers are formed on the bottom surface of the second dielectric layers. Since the protective layers emit secondary electrons inside the discharge cells with increased efficiency, they lower the discharge voltage applied between electrodes and protect the electrodes.
In the case of a closed type of partition walls, gas communication between the discharge cells is not smooth. Therefore, it is difficult to exhaust impure gas or to inject discharge gas.


The present invention describes clinically and medically important methods of examining, screening over time, and monitoring the outcome of a cancer patient who is undergoing treatment or therapy for his or her disease. More specifically, the invention provides a method of monitoring the progression of disease, or the effectiveness of cancer treatment, in a cancer patient by measuring the levels of one or more analytes of the plasminogen activator (uPA) system, namely, uPA, PAI-1 and the complex of uPA:PAI-1, in a sample taken from the cancer patient, preferably, before treatment, at the start of treatment, and at various time intervals during treatment. As a result of performing the method, an increase or elevation in the levels of one or more of the PA system analytes in the cancer patient compared with the levels one or more of the respective PA system analytes in normal control individuals serves as an indicator of cancer advancement or progression and/or a lack of treatment effectiveness for the patient.

The plasminogen activator (PA) system involves the serine proteases plasmin and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA); the serpins α2-antiplasmin, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-2 (PAI-2); and the uPA receptor (uPAR). During the past decade, evidence for the involvement of components of the PA system in cancer metastasis has increased and it is believed that the uPA-mediated pathway of plasminogen activation is active in the cancer process. (P. A. Andreasen et al., 1997, Int. J. Cancer, 72:1-22).
Proteolytic enzymes, such as those of the PA system, are involved in cancer invasion and metastasis by virtue of their ability to invade and degrade basement membranes and extracellular matrix proteins that surround normal tissue (J. H. DeWitte et al., 1999, Br. J. Cancer, 79:1190-1198; L. A. Liotta et al., 1982 Cancer Metastasis Rev., 1:277-297; K. Dano et al., 1985, Adv. Cancer Res., 44:139-266; P. Mignatti and D. B. Rifkin, 1993, Physiol. Rev., 73:161-195; and P. A. Andreasen et al., 1997, Ibid.). Immunohistochemical and in situ observations of uPA, plasminogen and PAI-1 distribution in adenocarcinomas show that proteinase degradation of the extracellular matrix occurs as localized invasive foci (J. Grøndahl-Hansen et al., 1991, Am. J. Pathol., 138:111-117; C. Pyke et al., 1991, Proc. Third Intl. Workshop on the Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plasminogen Activation:Elsinore, 45; C. Pyke et al., 1991, Cancer Res., 51:4067-4071). In the case of angiogenesis, there is also a functional interaction between uPA and PAI-1 (E. Bacharach et al., 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:10686-10690).
Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) is a 52 kilodalton (kDa) serine protease that is secreted by cells as an inactive, single-chain precursor called pro-uPA. Enzymatic cleavage of pro-uPA at lysine 158 produces an active heterodimer, called high molecular weight uPA (HMW-uPA), which contains two subunits A and B. When pro-uPA is secreted from cells, it binds to uPAR on the cell surface through an EGF-like domain on the A chain. Subsequent binding of plasmin to uPA can convert pro-uPA into the proteolytically active heterodimer. In turn, active uPA rapidly converts the inactive plasmin precursor, plasminogen, into enzymatically active plasmin, which is directly involved in extracellular matrix degradation, as well as in the activation of other pro-collagenases, some prometalloproteases and latent growth factors (K. Dano et al., 1985, Ibid.; M. J. Duffy, 1992, Clin. Exp. Metastasis, 10:145-155; J. R. Pollanen et al., 1991, Adv. Cancer Res., 57:273-282; L. Ossowski, 1992, Cancer Res., 52:D:6754-6760; P. Mignatti and D. B. Rifkin, 1993, Ibid.; and P. A. Andreasen et al., 1997, Ibid.). The additional cleavage of uPA after lysine 135 releases the 17 kDa amino terminal fragment (ATF), leaving the carboxy-terminal low molecular weight uPA (LMW-uPA, 33 kDa), which retains full catalytic activity. (F. Blasi et al., 1990, Seminars in Cancer Biology, 1:117-126).
Both PAI-1 and PAI-2 bind to the catalytically active B chain of uPA to regulate its enzymatic activity. By forming complexes with uPA bound to uPAR on the cell surface, PAI-1 promotes the clearance of proteolytic activities from the cell surfaces, as well as the recycling of unbound uPAR back to the cell surface, thereby regulating the overall invasive and metastatic behavior of cancer cells. (P. A. Andreasen et al., 1997, Ibid. and H. A. Chapman et al., 1997, Curr. Op. Cell Biol., 9:714-724). PAI-1 is a 50 kDa glycoprotein serine protease inhibitor that is the principal physiological inhibitor of both forms of the plasminogen activators PA and tissue plasminogen activator (TPA). PAI-1 is secreted in an active form which spontaneously converts to a latent form (G. Deng et al., 1995, Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 74:66-70), but it can be stabilized in the active form by binding to the plasma protein vitronectin (D. A. Lawrence et al., 1994, J. Biol. Chem., 269:15223-15228). Both tumor cells and capillary endothelial cells express higher levels of PAI-1 than do other cell types (K. Bajou et al., 1998, Nature Medicine, 4:923-928). High levels of PAI-1 are thought to protect the tumor stroma from degradation by the high amounts of uPA secreted by cells. (E. Bacharach et al., 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:10686-10690; P. Kristensen et al., 1990, Histochemistry, 93:559-566). Elevated levels of PAI-1 may also contribute to tumor-induced angiogenesis by protecting the extracellular matrix surrounding the tumor from proteolytic degradation (C. Pyke et al., 1991, Cancer Res., 51:4067-4071). When active uPA is bound to its receptor, the subsequent binding of PAI-1 results in internalization and degradation of the uPA:uPAR:PAI-1 complex. (M. V. Cubellis et al., 1990, The EMBO J., 9:1079-1085). This down-regulation of uPA decreases the amount of active uPA on the cell surface.
Secreted uPA can originate from several cell types, including tumor cells (G. Markus et al., 1983, Cancer Res., 43:5517-5525), adjacent stromal cells and fibroblasts (C. Pyke et al., 1991, Am. J. Pathol., 138:1059-1067). Early studies of PAI-1 and uPA:PAI-1 complexes in oncogenesis involved the use of tumor lysates and cytosols; it was found that PAI-1 levels in tumor lysates had a prognostic correlation in breast cancer. Tumor levels of PAI-1 were also analyzed in lung cancer, colon cancer and renal cell carcinoma; this inhibitor has become an unlikely prognostic marker in tumor tissue for cancer metastasis. (P. A. Andreasen et al., 1997, Ibid.).
Because the PA system components are intricately involved in the process of cancer and cancer spread in a variety of cancer types, which afflict both genders, it is a problem in the art to be able to accurately and sensitively screen over time to determine and monitor those individuals who are likely to respond, and/or who are responding to, (or not responding to), or benefiting from (or not benefiting from), anti-cancer therapy(ies), or combination therapies, particularly, molecularly targeted therapies to the plasminogen activation system. The present invention solves such a problem by providing a sensitive and reliable assay method, preferably an immunoassay, to determine levels of PA system analyte components in body fluid samples of cancer patients compared to the levels of these respective PA system components in normal individuals. In addition, the present invention is advantageous in that it is employed to monitor cancer patients undergoing cancer or anti-neoplastic therapies to treat cancers associated with the activity of PA system components to assist in the determination and examination of cancer treatment regimens and patient progress and/or outcome during the course of disease and/or anti-cancer therapy(ies).

Assays for cancer patient monitoring based on levels of analyte components of the plasminogen activator system in body fluid samples


A power supply for an image intensifier, the power supply including a DC voltage source generating a photocathode voltage; a bright source protection (BSP) resistor in series with the DC voltage source; and an oscillator in parallel with the DC voltage source and the BSP resistor, the oscillator providing an AC voltage component, the AC voltage component having a fixed pulse width, the AC voltage component being coupled to the photocathode by a diode, the pulse width and shape of the AC voltage component on the photocathode being determined by the photocathode current.

Embodiments relate generally to a power supply for image intensifiers, and more particularly to a clamped cathode power supply for an image intensifier that provides improved bright source resolution.
Image intensifiers are well known for their ability to enhance night-time vision. The image intensifier amplifies the incident light received by it to produce a signal that is bright enough for presentation to the eyes of a viewer. These devices, which are particularly useful for providing images from dark regions, have both industrial and military application. The U.S. military uses image intensifiers during night-time operations for viewing and aiming at targets that otherwise would not be visible. Low intensity visible spectrum radiation is reflected from a target, and the reflected energy is amplified by the image intensifier. As a result, the target is made visible without the use of additional light. Other examples include using image intensifiers for enhancing the night vision of aviators, for providing night vision to sufferers of retinitis pigmentosa (night blindness), and for photographing astronomical bodies.
FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary image intensifier 10. A typical image intensifier 10 includes an objective lens 12, which focuses visible and infrared radiation (collectively referred to herein as light) from a distant object onto a photocathode 14. The photocathode 14, a photoemissive semiconductor heterostructure that is extremely sensitive to low-radiation levels of light in the 580-900 nm spectral range, provides a spatially coherent emission of electrons in response to the electromagnetic radiation. Electrons emitted from the photocathode 14 are accelerated towards the input of the microchannel plate (MCP) 20. The MCP 20 amplifies the incident electrons in a spatially coherent manner. Electrons emerging from the output of the MCP 20 are accelerated toward the phosphor screen 16 (anode), which is maintained at a higher positive potential than the output of the MCP 20. The phosphor screen 16 converts the emitted electrons into visible light. An operator views the visible light image provided by the phosphor screen through an eyepiece 18.
Amplification of the ambient light incident on the image intensifier is achieved by placing an MCP 20 between the photocathode 14 and phosphor screen 16. The MCP 20 is a thin glass plate having an array of microscopic holes through it used to increase the density of the electron emission. Electrons impinging on interior sides of the holes through the MCP 20 result in the emission of a number of secondary electrons each of which, in turn, causes the emission of more secondary electrons. Thus, each microscopic hole acts as a channel-type secondary emission electron multiplier having a gain of up to ten thousand. The electron gain of the MCP 20 is controlled primarily by the potential difference between its input and output planes. A power source 22 applies power to the photocathode 14, the MCP 20 and the phosphor screen 16.
There are several methods used to extend the useful range of night vision intensifiers to and beyond light levels of approximately 10-1 footcandles. These methods modify the voltage of the cathode relative to the input of the MCP (cathode voltage) in response to input light levels.
The simplest method reduces the effective DC potential of the cathode. This is achieved by placing a high value resistor (Bright Source Protection, BSP) in series between the cathode DC power supply and the cathode. The voltage drop caused by cathode current flowing through the BSP reduces the cathode voltage and thereby reduces the accelerating potential between the cathode and the MCP. The reduced accelerating potential reduces the MCP input current somewhat.
In addition to modifying the DC potential of the cathode, some night vision intensifier power supplies impose AC signals on the cathode as well. The AC signals alternately drive the cathode into and out of conduction, reducing the MCP gain by reducing the effective input current at high light levels. Two types of AC modulation of the cathode are in common use. These are AC clamping and autogating.
Existing AC clamping of the cathode consists of superimposing a half wave rectified sinusoid on the cathode. The sinusoid is referenced to the MCP input and is coupled to the cathode of the intensifier through a diode. The anode of the diode is connected to the cathode of the intensifier. Under high light conditions the cathode of the intensifier is driven with a negative going half wave rectified sinusoid. The sinusoid is typically between 25V peak and 50V peak and 10 KHz and 50 KHz.
Autogating consists of superimposing a duty cycle modulated pulsed waveform on the cathode. The pulse waveform is referenced to the MCP input and is often capacitivly coupled to the intensifier cathode. The autogating waveform on the cathode alternately enables and disables cathode conduction. The autogating duty cycle is controlled by and responds to the light level. Increasing light levels actively reduce the conduction time of the image intensifier, thus reducing the input current and allowing use at higher light levels.
There are drawbacks to both methods of extending the useful range of night vision intensifiers. The existing AC clamping technique is straightforward to apply but extends the useful range by a minimal amount. Autogating does extend the useful range of image intensifiers by an order of magnitude or greater, but requires active electronics to sense the light level and modulate the duty cycle.
While there are methods to extend image intensifier performance in high light environments, further improvements in high light resolution of image intensifiers would be well received in the art

Clamped cathode power supply for image intensifier


An image-based technique for shredded document reconstruction includes the steps of: employing an image processing process to obtain shred images of the shredded document, and then extracting several features of shred images for reconstruction with two similarity measures, and then employing an algorithm using the shred coding scheme and average word length that is insensitive to the shredding noise on image boundaries, and then a weighted digraph is then carried out to derive the optimal shred sorting result for document reconstruction in terms of the shortest path. Experiments are presented for both the synthetic and real data sets. The results show that the proposed method has correctly merged the majority of the shredded document.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shredded document reconstruction technology and more particularly, to image-based techniques for shredded document reconstruction.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to protect secrets of paper documents, paper documents will be destroyed. Except the method of burning paper documents into ash, the best way is to cut paper documents into shreds with a shredder. Under certain demand, such as forensics and investigation sciences, shredded document reconstruction is necessary.
Currently, shredded document reconstruction is performed by assembling a big number of shreds of shredded document by labor by means of jigsaw puzzle techniques. It is natural that assembling shreds to reconstruct the document is a time-consuming task.
Further, there are other shredded document reconstruction techniques to measure the similarity between any two shreds. Most of them measure the similarity by comparing the pixels between shreds. The information of continuity of the grayscale of cut grafting is usually employed for fine shred matching. However, when the text is too small, different characters may be shown on two shreds of the same cut after removal of boundary noise. Therefore, simply comparing pixels for matching is not reasonable and may result in errors.

Image-based techniques for shredded document reconstruction