The invention relates to an electronic balance for use in an explosive environment. The invention calls for an intrinsically safe cable (1) which contains data lines in addition to the voltage supply lines. The data is serially transferred on the data lines. A first conversion unit is housed in the housing of a power pack which conversion unit receives the data arriving serially via the cable (1), converts it into parallel data and stores it so that it can be passed on in a parallel and asynchronous manner in the non-explosive area, that a second conversion unit is housed in the housing of the power pack which second conversion unit stores the data arriving in parallel manner from the non-explosive area, converts it into serial data and sends it serially via the cable (1) into the explosive area, and that the control unit (3) also contains at least a first conversion unit which receives the data arriving serially via the cable (1), converts it into parallel data, stores it and passes it on in parallel manner to the evaluation unit. The control unit contains at least one second conversion unit which stores the data arriving in parallel manner from the evaluation unit, converts it into serial data and sends it serially via the cable (1).

Balances of this type are known e.g. from Swiss patent 668,125. The use of separate data lines and an interface transducer outside of the explosive area in order to transmit data to and from the balance is also known (see e.g. D. Klausgrete: Elektronische Wagetechnik in explosiongefahrdeten Bereichen German=Electronic Weighing Technology in Explosive Areas!. Company publication of Sartorius AG (1991), pp. 43-46). General reference is also made to such US technical concepts set forth in the US Standards of the NFPA, "Standards for Intrinsically Safe Apparatus and Associated Apparatus for Use in Class I, II, and III, Division 1 Hazardous Locations," Copyright .COPYRGT. 1979 NFPA (National Fire Protection Association, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, Mass. 02269-9101; <email@example.com>).
These known solutions have the disadvantages that the installation cost is relatively high on account of the separate cables for the voltage supply and for the data transmission and that the plurality of the required data lines renders a correspondingly thick and awkward cable with multipole plugs necessary. This high installation cost is especially disadvantageous for explosive areas with their special requirements.

Electronic balance with data output for use in explosive areas


A semiconductor device and a fabrication method thereof which are capable of achieving a lightly doped drain (LDD) construction and reducing a parasitic capacitance generated between an impurity area and a word line by forming a trench in a portion of a semiconductor substrate and forming impurity areas around the trenches, include a semiconductor substrate, a plurality of trenches formed in the semiconductor substrate, first impurity areas formed along the outer surfaces of the plurality of trenches, second impurity areas formed on the bottom surfaces of the first impurity areas along the outer surfaces of the trenches, an insulating film filled in the trenches, a gate insulating film formed at a regular interval on the substrate having the insulating film filled in the trenches, and a gate electrode formed on the gate insulating film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and a fabrication method thereof, and in particular, to an improved semiconductor memory device and a fabrication method thereof which is capable of achieving a lightly doped drain (LDD) construction and reducing a parasitic capacitance generated between an impurity area and a word line by forming a trench in a portion of a semiconductor substrate and forming an impurity area around the trench.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a layout of a semiconductor memory device according to the conventional art, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the semiconductor memory device in FIG. 1. As shown in these drawings, a semiconductor substrate 1 is formed having a plurality of (N+) impurity areas (2s,2d) on the upper portion thereof 1, and on the plurality of impurity areas (N+) (2s,2d), a gate oxide film 3 is formed. On the gate oxide film 3, a plurality of polysilicon lines 4 are sequentially formed. The polysilicon lines 4 which serve as word lines are formed to cross the plurality of (N+) impurity areas (2s,2d) . And, a polysilicide layer 5 is formed on the polysilicons 4.
In the above-described semiconductor memory device according to the conventional art, since as many capacitors as the (N+) impurity areas (2s,2d) (which are parasitic capacitors) are formed between the (N+) impurity areas (2s,2d) and the polysilicon lines 4 formed on the semiconductor substrate 1, the delay time of the word lines is disadvantageously increased due to the parasitic capacitors, and it is difficult to reduce the size of a cell due to a lateral diffusion of the (N+) impurity areas (2s,2d). Furthermore, since the (N+) impurity areas (2s,2d) serve as the source and drain of a transistor, a semiconductor memory device having the LDD construction is impossible to fabricate.

Semiconductor memory device with impurity areas around trench structure


A method of making a microsphere-filled wet-laid veil involves forming a non-woven fibrous veil, contacting the veil with an impregnation binder composition having a binder and microspheres, and impregnating the microspheres of the impregnation binder composition into the veil to form a microsphere-filled wet-laid veil. The microsphere-filled wet-laid veils produced according to the method of the present invention are useful to make molded composite articles.

The present invention relates to a process of manufacturing a wet laid fibrous veil suitable for the preparation of reinforced articles. The wet laid fibrous veils comprise microspheres, which improve the rigidity or impact resistance of the reinforced articles and particularly, lightweight articles.
Microspheres have been incorporated into fibrous nonwoven reinforcements, which are useful in the production of molded composite articles to provide for the formation of lightweight composites. It has been found that the use of expanded microspheres results in a considerable savings of resin and glass fiber in dry-laid fibrous webs. Additionally, the mechanical properties of the product reinforced with the web, such as rigidity or impact resistance, are at least maintained, or even improved, and the thermal insulation capacity is enhanced.
For example, UK Patent No. 1,427,647 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,288 describe the application to, or incorporation of non-expanded microspheres into a fibrous web using a binder, such as a polyacrylonitrile latex. As the binder resin is dried and cross-linked, the microspheres are attached to the fibrous web and expanded. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,583, a method of manufacturing a bonded fibrous web comprising microspheres were described. However, these methods of adding the microspheres to the fibrous web were directed to a dry-laid process.
Fibrous webs or veils, which are one form of fibrous nonwoven reinforcements, are extremely suitable as reinforcements for many kinds of cured synthetic plastic materials, such as polyester or epoxy resin. Fibrous veils are typically made by a dry or wet-laid process. Typically, glass and mineral fibers have been integrated into the fibrous veils to provide added strength and durability to the composite article made by molding the veil. However, the use of glass fibers in a dry-laid process wears out the machines typically involved in the dry-laid process. Accordingly, integrating glass fibers in a dry-laid process may be costly.
There is a thus a need for a wet-laid process of making fibrous veils that can be used as a reinforcement in composite molding, which allows for the cost-effective incorporation of glass or other reinforcement and allows for the incorporation of microspheres for added rigidity and impact resistance. Furthermore, there is a need to obtain a continuous and efficient method of producing such fibrous reinforcements.
A method of making a microsphere-filled wet-laid veil is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises forming a non-woven fibrous veil, and impregnating microspheres into the veil to form a microsphere-filled wet-laid veil. Preferably, the step of impregnating microspheres into the veil is achieved by contacting the veil with an impregnation binder composition comprising a binder and the microspheres. In a preferred embodiment, the method comprises forming a pre-bonded veil of glass fibers without microspheres. Subsequently, the pre-bonded veil is impregnated inline with a binder composition comprising a binder and microspheres, then the microspheres are expanded.
The invention further comprises microsphere-filled wet-laid veils produced according to the above-mentioned method. Moreover, the invention comprises molded composite articles made using the wet-laid veils manufactured according to the present invention.

Process of manufacturing a wet-laid veil


A component of an Autonomous Vehicle (AV) system, the component having at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to decode data encoded in a signal, wherein the data identifies a pattern of protrusions embedded in a driving surface, the signal being received from at least one vehicle sensor resulting from a vehicle driving over the pattern of protrusions in the driving surface.

A location system of an AV needs to be reliable and precise. Although Global Positioning Systems (GPS) can be used to sense AV location, GPS not only has a precision error of around five meters, environmental factors can have a negative impact. Accuracy may be improved by combining GPS with other sensing techniques, such as Assisted GPS (AGPS) or Assisted GPS (AGPS). AGPS mostly improves Time-To-First-Fix (TTFF) rather than location accuracy. And while Multi-Frequency GPS improves location precision, its relatively higher cost has prevented its widespread adoption. AV location accuracy remains a critical problem to be addressed.

Driving surface protrusion pattern detection for autonomous vehicles


Host input to a shared application is blocked while a guest has input control. Patch instructions are written over keyboard and mouse event procedures, which are operating system subroutines defining the normal entry points to the system queue for host mouse and keyboard events generated by host-mouse and keyboard drivers. The patch instructions call a patch subroutine which were written into the host-executed application-sharing program. The patch subroutine is operable to determine whether the host has control to enter the mouse and keyboard events into the system queue. If the host is without input control, the patch subroutine drops the events and replaces the patch instructions to their prior position on the keyboard or mouse event procedures. If the host has input rights, the original keyboard or mouse event code is written over the patch instruction and returned for execution. After execution, in which the keyboard or mouse event is deposited, the patch subroutine directs a replacement of the patch instruction over the keyboard or mouse event procedure. In a preferred embodiment, the host is able to take control at any time, to ensure execution of host events.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of applications sharing between computers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Applications sharing involves the sharing of one or more applications programs between two or more computers. The one or more applications reside on a host computer, and are shared with one or more remote computers, generally identified as guests. All mouse input to a shared application is made via a shared mouse input stream and all alphanumeric input to a shared application is through a shared keyboard input stream. The shared input streams are actually part of the host system, since the shared applications reside on and are executed by the host system. The monitor of each participant involved in sharing an application displays some portion of the application's output. Each participant typically is given an opportunity to move a shared mouse cursor and make alphanumeric data entries via, for example, a mouse and keyboard, respectively, which are reflected on that participant's own display monitor as well as on the monitors' of the other applications-sharing participants.
A problem arises in the applications-sharing field when two or more participants, particularly a guest and the host, simultaneously enter data into a shared application or move the shared mouse cursor. Such actions result in unintelligible data entry, resulting from an interleaving of the simultaneous alphanumeric input from the two or more participants and confusing and chaotic movement of the shared mouse cursor, which will move haphazardly about each participant's monitor. Conventional applications-sharing systems generally prevent simultaneous shared cursor movement or data entry by two or more guests, generally through a turn-taking mechanism in the applications-sharing software which governs which participant has control to enter data or move the cursor. Nevertheless, conventional systems do not prevent the host from intruding on a guest having control by simultaneously entering keyboard input or moving the shared cursor, primarily because the input systems being shared essentially belong to the host.
A mechanism is needed, therefore, for inhibiting a host from inputting to a locally running application being shared with one or more remote guests, when one of the guests has control for entering input to the shared application. It would be advantageous to provide the guests in an applications-sharing system with controlled turns for entering input to a shared application and exclusive rights for entering the input during the turn.

Blocking host input while a remote guest has input control to a host-executed shared application


A produce (e.g. fruits and vegetables) marking system is used to etch the skin of a piece of produce with an identifying mark. The first embodiment of the system uses a laser to emit a high intensity light beam to form the identifying mark. The second and third embodiments of the system use a dot matrix printer head. In the second embodiment, the pins of the printer head directly contact the produce skin to etch an area of the skin to form the identifying mark. In the third embodiment, a thermally conductive ribbon member is placed between the printer head and the produce. The pins of the printer head impact the ribbon member thereby forming a hot spot on the ribbon member, which in turn, etches the skin of the produce to form the identifying mark.

This invention is generally directed to an apparatus and method for marking produce, i.e. fruits and vegetables, with identifying marks using initially "ink free" techniques. More particularly, the invention contemplates a produce marking system utilizing initially "ink free" techniques ranging from lasers to dot matrix printers. The present invention provides a less expensive, inventory free, ecologically friendly, rapidly changeable option to packers for replacement of currently employed adhesive label systems which often clog packing line equipment, juice screens and display cases or may inadvertently be eaten by the consumer.
The Grocers Association requires that a number, called a price look-up ("P.L.U.") number, is put on all types of fruits, especially citrus, and some types of vegetables which are sold in a loose state, as opposed to bagged or plastic-wrapped produce. The Grocers Association requires this number so it can merchandise different sizes and types of produce. The P.L.U. number represents different varieties, sizes (normally two; large, small) and geographic growing areas within the United States. Further labeling may be undertaken by an individual packer to identify brand names or specific growing region, for example, Indian River grapefruit, Vidalia onion. Some states mandate that the "country of origin" be noted, for example, tomatoes from Mexico, apples from Chile. The P.L.U. marking requirement is not limited to the United States.
P.L.U. numbers allow a check-out clerk to identify fruits and vegetables quickly and easily. A store may have the P.L.U. numbers and the associated identifying data entered into a computer. To access the data, the clerk need only read the number on the produce and enter it into the computer.
Prior to the usage of P.L.U. numbers, grocers often lost money from giveaways that resulted from mixed sizes or types of produce. The check-out clerk was always told to err on the side of the customer. This mispricing happened often which resulted in large losses for the grocery stores. The P.L.U. number aids the check-out clerk from mispricing the produce that looks the same but has a different quality value. This minimizes loss of money to a grocer due to "giveaways" that result from mixed sizes or types, and minimizes time at the check-out counter which have previously resulted from price checks. The usage of the P.L.U. numbers also aids in inventory control which previously had been a problem area.
To mark the produce with the P.L.U. number, typically, a small adhesive label is placed on the produce at the packinghouse by the packer. Labels, however, are costly and complex to manufacture and attach to the produce. The labels are expensive because the packer must purchase large inventories of labels to run different types of produce on the same packing line. There must be a 90-95% success rate of the label adhering to the produce and presently the labels are only achieving 80-85%, not including what falls off after labeling in the packinghouse and the grocery store. In addition, the labels must be stored in a dry, cool environment in a room built with HVAC controls.
Adhesive labels present several other problems, for example, when the packer changes the type of produce they are packing, the packer must physically change all of the labels so that the correct label is eventually attached to the produce which requires downtime and manpower to set up. The prior art adhesive label systems have a high operational maintenance cost. A person must be regularly assigned to the label machine to keep it operational. The labeler requires the spools of labels to be replaced when empty, and there is a need to unplug the applicator when it becomes clogged with labels.
The adhesive on the labels also has the tendency to gum up on the labeler machine, and be deposited on the belts, rollers, and any other associated machinery. These stray labels have to be cleaned from the equipment everyday. Over time, the adhesive builds up on the equipment after the stray labels are continually removed. Furthermore, when processing plants receive labeled fruit to process, i.e. squeezing fruit to make juice, the labels may clog the extractors. This requires down-time due to cleaning and maintenance.
Furthermore, the adhesive labels are not a "green" product. There is garbage from the adhesive backing along with the packaging of the label rolls. The labels use adhesive for label application, as well as using more energy for special storage.
Additionally, with the current prior art adhesive label system, it is not possible to make on-line P.L.U. number changes. Therefore, at least two rows of labelers are required to put down the proper adhesive label on the produce. For example, if large and small produce are being distinguished with P.L.U. adhesive labels, then two labelers must be used in line to apply the proper label to the produce.
In the grocery store, adhesive labels come off of the produce and sometimes stick to the wrong produce or the floor or the bins in which the produce is stored. This necessitates the need for regular cleaning of the adhesive labels.
With regard to consumers, many consumers do not care for adhesive labels. Some customers do not like having to peel the label off the produce. In addition, customers sometimes inadvertently eat or bite into the adhesive label.
Applicant believes that attempts have been made to directly mark produce with an ink jet printer using edible ink. This type of marking system, however, requires use of an ink which is not sufficiently permanent and smudges.
Additionally, lasers have been used to mark foodstuffs, such as that disclosed in German Patent No. DE 3836821. This type of laser marking system for foodstuffs employs the use of a scanning mask (a stencil of the desired mark) which controls the extent of the contact of the laser light beam on the foodstuff and thus, is an inefficient system. The prior art masking systems were not concerned with direct marking on the delicate, extremely sensitive skin of a perishable product such as fruits and vegetables.
The success of any labeling that would be acceptable to grocers and consumers depends on a several criteria. First, the label has to be easy to read so as not to slow down the check-out clerk when checking the P.L.U. number. Second, the label must have at least a 90-95% success rate of being labeled. Third, the label must be low in cost to the grocer and to the consumer. Fourth, the label must be visually acceptable to the consumer. Fifth and finally, the marking system must not damage the produce.
The present invention is intended to present a novel produce marking system which uses initially "ink free" techniques to provide a label on produce which meets these criteria. In addition, the present invention is intended to overcome or minimize known and inherent problems in prior art produce marking techniques.


A method relating to a point cloud includes defining a line of sight of a point cloud on a display of a computer, estimating a normal vector for at least one point of the plurality of points, and determining the appearance on the display of at least one point of the plurality of points based on the step of estimating a normal vector. One can use the computer to manipulate the point cloud to display a selected view of the scene and calculate the angle between the normal vector of the at least one point and a line of sight. The step of determining the appearance can include determining the transparency, color or size of the point on the display according to the angle between the normal vector and the line of sight.

The present invention relates generally to systems that document the geometry and other attributes of objects in three dimensions and, specifically, to a system that employs a scanning lidar (range finding laser) to quickly and accurately sense the position in three-dimensional space of selected points on the surface of an object to generate a point cloud model which represents the sensed positions of the selected points. The point cloud model may be transformed into a further model usable by computer-aided design (CAD) tools, including conventional CAD tools.
Mapping the geometry (shape, dimensions and location) and other attributes (e.g., color, texture and reflectance intensity) of complex real objects (whether small components such as small mechanical parts or large objects such as buildings and sites) has conventionally been a tedious and time-consuming process that has been performed manually. In addition, transforming these measurements into drawings or computer models required manual drafting or input into a CAD system for the production of the drawing or computer models.
In the building industry, conventional methods of mapping a structure requires three basic steps: field data gathering, data reduction and preparation and drafting and CAD. The gathering step is performed by a team of surveyors who manually measure and record dimensions of pertinent components of the structure such as walls, ceilings, beams, columns, doors, windows, fixtures, pipes, conduits and equipment. The surveyors attempt to determine the geometry of the components as well as the relative location of the components in the structure and record the geometry and relative location in a field notebook. That information is then organized and reduced to tables and organized sketches. A CAD operator or drafter uses these tables to generate final drawings or models.
This process is labor intensive, time consuming, and error prone. In addition, using traditional surveying methods, the number of points which can actually be measured is very limited, due to the high cost of acquiring each point in terms of time and effort. Furthermore, if it is desired to acquire color, texture and other attribute information, additional field notes must be taken (e.g., still photographs and video).

Determining appearance of points in point cloud based on normal vectors of points


Formation of an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection device having a desired breakdown voltage (BV) is disclosed. The breakdown voltage (BV) of the device can be set, at least in part, by varying the degree to which a surface junction between two doped areas is covered. This junction can be covered in one embodiment by a dielectric material and/or a semiconductor material. Moreover, a variable breakdown voltage can be established by concurrently forming, in a single process flow, multiple diodes that have different breakdown voltages, where the diodes are also formed concurrently with circuitry that is to be protected. To generate the variable or different breakdown voltages, respective edges of isolation regions can be extended to cover more of the surface junctions of different diodes. In this manner, a first diode can have a first breakdown voltage (BV1), a second diode can have a second breakdown voltage (BV2), a third diode can have a third breakdown voltage (BV3), etc. This can provide substantial efficiency and cost savings where there may be varying ESD requirements.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a continuing problem in the design, manufacture and utilization of semiconductor devices. A major source of ESD exposure to ICs is from the human body (described by the "Human Body Model", HBM). In this situation, a packaged IC acquires a charge when it is held by a human who is electrostatically charged (e.g., from walking across carpeting). A charge of about 0.6 μC can be induced on a body capacitance of 150 pF, for example, leading to electrostatic potentials of 4 kV or greater and discharging peak currents of several amperes to the IC for about 100 ns, for example. A second source of ESD is from metallic objects (described by the "Machine model", MM), which is characterized by a greater capacitance, lower internal resistance and transients that have significantly higher rise times and current levels than the HBM ESD source. A third source is described by the "charged device model" (CMD), in which the IC itself becomes charged and discharges to ground in rise times less than 500 ps in the opposite direction than the HBM and MM ESD sources.
During ESD events, current is typically discharged between one or more pins or pads exposed to the outside of an IC chip. Such ESD current flows from the pad to ground through vulnerable circuitry in the IC, which may not be designed to carry such currents. Many ESD protection techniques have been employed to reduce or mitigate the adverse effects of ESD events in integrated circuit devices. Many conventional ESD protection schemes for ICs employ peripheral circuits to carry the ESD currents from the pin or pad of the device to ground by providing a low impedance path thereto. In this way, the ESD currents flow through the protection circuitry, rather than through the more susceptible circuits in the chip.
Such protection circuitry is typically connected to I/O and other pins or pads on the IC, wherein the pads further provide the normal circuit connections for which the IC was designed. Some ESD protection circuits carry ESD currents directly to ground, and others provide the ESD current to the supply rail of the IC for subsequent routing to ground. Rail-based clamping devices can be employed to provide a bypass path from the IC pad to the supply rail (e.g., VDD) of the device. Thereafter, circuitry associated with powering the chip is used to provide such ESD currents to the ground. Local clamps are more common, wherein the ESD currents are provided directly to ground from the pad or pin associated with the ESD event. Individual local clamps are typically provided at each pin on an IC, with the exception of the ground pin or pins.
Recently, the need for higher voltage analog components has made high voltage ESD protection devices desirable.

High-voltage variable breakdown voltage (BV) diode for electrostatic discharge (ESD) applications


Provided is an automated valet parking system giving an instruction to a target vehicle by specifying a node section at which the target vehicle is located, setting a node status including information on whether passing of a node is allowed, specifying a target node that is the node including a next-passing node among unpassed nodes of the target vehicle and having a predetermined number smaller than a total number of the unpassed nodes, the next-passing node being the node through which the target vehicle passes next on the target route, and transmitting node information associated with the target node to the target vehicle. When the node status at the next-passing node is re-set from a node impassable status to a node passable status, the automated valet parking system transmits the node information of the target node ahead of the next-passing node among the unpassed nodes to the target vehicle.

In the related art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-182263 is known as a technical document relating to an automated valet parking system. This publication discloses an automated valet parking device that automatically parks a vehicle in accordance with route information to a parking space searched based on a parking place map database that manages path information to each parking space inside a parking place and available information for each parking space.


A collision detection system for a vehicle includes a sensor and a camera. The sensor measures a first data set of an object relative to the vehicle. The camera measures a second data set of the object relative to the vehicle and separately measures an image-based time-to-collision with the object based on scalable differences of captured images. A fusion module matches data from the sensor and the camera and estimates a collision threat based on the matched data. A plausibility module generates a signal if the measured image-based time-to-collision is less than a calculated steering-based time-to-collision and a braking-based time-to-collision with the object. A countermeasure module actuates a countermeasure device, such as an autonomous braking system, if the collision threat exceeds an actuation threshold and the signal from the plausibility module is received, thereby statistically reducing the rate of false actuations of the countermeasure device.

Automotive vehicles are increasingly being equipped with collision detection systems to identify objects in a host vehicle's path of travel, including pedestrians and other vehicles. To mitigate or avoid collisions, these systems are used in conjunction with countermeasure devices, such as autonomous braking, adaptive cruise control, emergency steering assistance, and warning systems. For instance, collision mitigation by braking (CMbB) is capable of performing autonomous braking up to full anti-lock brake system levels, which must be validated to ensure an exceptionally low rate of false brake actuation. Increased collision detection reliability without a prolonged and expensive validation process is desirable.

Collision detection system with a plausibiity module


A cassette for holding an electrophoretic gel. The cassette has two substantially planar wall members formed of a synthetic plastics material, each wall member having two sides and two ends. The wall members are formed integrally along each side with an array of interdigitating ribs and grooves which releasably hold the wall members in substantially parallel array spaced apart sufficiently to define between them an electrophoretic gel receiving space. The ribs and grooves also serve to form a substantially fluid tight seal down each side of the gel receiving space. A plurality of ribs extend between the upper edges of the two wall members to define a series of wells above the gel into which samples to be electrophoretically separated may be placed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cassettes for holding electrophoretic gels and, more particularly, to cassettes for electrophoretic gels formed of two parts which incorporate means to hold the two parts of the cassette together.
2. Background Art
Electrophoretic gels are gels, usually of polyacrylamide, which are used for the separation of proteins and other macromolecular compounds. The material to be separated is placed at one end of the gel and a direct electrical field is applied between the ends of the gel causing the molecules to migrate through the gel at rates dependant upon the molecular size of the compound.
Electrophoretic gels have been traditionally sold sandwiched between a pair of sheets of glass. The sheets of glass are held in an appropriate parallel spaced relationship by a pair of spacers positioned down each side of the gel. A mixture of compounds to be separated is normally introduced into one of a number of small wells formed in an upper edge of the gel before the direct current field is applied to the gel. It is usual to run a number of such mixtures simultaneously on an electrophoretic gel in a side by side arrangement. For this purpose one mixture is placed in each of a series of wells formed in the upper edge of the gel. The wells in the upper edge of the gel are usually formed by pushing a comb into the upper edge of the gel to form the wells at the time the gel is to be used or a series of small tubes are pushed into the upper edge of the gel and themselves form the wells.
The use of glass in forming the cassette has had the advantage of rigidity, good gel adhesion, chemical compatibility with the gel and good heat conductivity. It has had the disadvantage of high production cost for a disposable item and the relatively ungainly methods for forming the wells as has been described above. It has been suggested previously to form a cassette from a synthetic plastics material, however, these proposals have not been successful for a number of reasons. It proved difficult to form the walls of the cassette with sufficient rigidity while still being sufficiently thin for good heat transfer and ease of manufacture. There has also been a problem in ensuring sufficient adhesion of the gel to the plastics material. In the absence of good adhesion the gel is liable to slip out of the cassette during electrophoresis. Some plastics materials have also been found to inhibit polymerization of the gel monomer solutions flowed into the cassette during formation of the gel.


A tablet dispenser includes a housing formed by first and second shells defining a cavity therebetween. A blister tray configured to receive a plurality of tablets therein is rotatably attached to the housing. The blister tray is moveable between a closed position in which the blister tray is releasably contained within the cavity, and an open position in which at least a portion of the blister tray extends out of the cavity. An alarm unit activates at least one alert signal upon completion of a cycle period. The alarm unit is reset after the blister tray is accessed to dispense at least one tablet.

Dispensers for medication tablets are generally known in the art. People taking medication on a regular basis (for example, daily or weekly) often use dispensers to organize and store the tablets until they are used. There are various configurations of tablet dispensers, each generally designed to hold a sufficient number of tablets for a desired medication period. For example, a dispenser may be configured to hold a one month supply of tablets and be arranged so that each tablet is stored in, and accessible from, an individual compartment. Alternatively, a tablet dispenser might hold a supply of tablets in one large compartment (enough for one month, for example) or several compartments (enough for a week in each compartment), and release one tablet at a time as necessary. A tablet dispenser may also be capable of holding more than one type of tablet, and be capable of dispensing one or multiple types of those tablets in regular or semi-regular intervals. An exhaustive list of the numerous types of tablet dispensers is omitted here for convenience only, and should not be considered limiting.
Tablet dispensers generally known in the art are also designed to be child resistant, to discourage children from opening the dispenser and gaining access to the medication. Child resistant features generally focus on making it difficult for the child to remove the cap covering the medication dispenser. Dispensers and containers are made child resistant in a variety of ways, including snap tabs, squeeze tabs and rotatable push lids. The particular type of child resistant mechanism used on a given tablet dispenser usually depends on the exact form and function of the tablet dispenser itself. Thus, there are numerous tablet dispensers having child resistant features which are generally known in the art, which are eliminated here for convenience only, and should not be considered limiting.
Tablets are often sold and distributed in blister packs containing individual sealed compartments. Each individual compartment usually contains one tablet sealed therein by a thin membrane (such as foil or cellophane). To remove the tablet from the blister pack, the consumer must push hard enough on the compartment to break the membrane and force the tablet through, into the consumer's hand. Blister packs are popular with consumers since they allow visual inspection of the remaining tablets. Evidence of tampering can be easily observed since each compartment is individually sealed and obviously broken open upon use.
Blister packs have been used in combination with tablet dispensers, by inserting a blister pack into a dispenser designed to correspondingly receive blister packs containing a particular number of tablets. The blister pack's individual compartments usually fit into tablet holes in the tablet dispenser. Even if a particular blister pack is too large to fit into a tablet dispenser, a blister pack is usually made of material which can be easily trimmed to reduce the number of tablet compartments in the blister back to correspond to the number of tablet holes in the tablet dispenser.
The goal of tablet dispensers in any of the numerous configurations known in the art is to enable the consumer to more easily organize, dispense and remember to use the medication as required. To this end, tablet dispensers usually have organizational labeling on the container to help remind the consumer when to take the next tablet. For example, a daily dispenser organizing the tablets into individual compartments might label those compartments with days of the week so the consumer knows to take the tablet(s) in that compartment on the specified day. However, despite the organizational and dispensing capabilities of tablet dispensers, the consumer must himself still remember to dispense and take the tablets. The tablet dispensers known in the art do not provide for a reliable way of actively reminding the consumer when to take the next dose of medication.
Accordingly, the present invention incorporates the features of tablet dispensers, blister packs and child resistant features generally known in the art with an alarm unit which makes it easier for consumers to remember to take their medication by actively alerting the consumer to dispense a tablet at the next prescribed dosage time.


A sample data position error signal detection means is described. This invention is suited for use in a digital sector servo in a magnetic media disk drive environment. In particular, the invention relates to the detection and presentation in digital form of position error signals (PES) representative of magnitude and sign of recording head displacement from a track centerline. The circuits disclosed provide a digital representation of PES suitable for direct application to a digital signal processor which controls overall servo positioning operations. The invention detects the PES by an integration method and incorporates the innovation of requiring only two integrators to demodulate a PES having an arbitrarily large number of phases. The invention uses a phaselock oscillator having a hybrid digital/analog phase detector to generate the coherent carrier sequence for synchronous detection of PES. A further innovation of the invention is the use of a fully digital automatic gain control circuit (AGC). Prior embodiments of position demodulators have employed analog AGC approaches which are more sensitive to disk surface flaws and which cannot easily be made adaptive. Furthermore, such features as exponentiation of AGC gain control level can be readily incorporated with no penalty to circuit complexity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of digital sector servo systems for use in a magnetic disk drive.
2. Background Art
In a typical rotating medium as storage system, data is stored on magnetic or magneto optic disks in a series of concentric "tracks." These tracks are accessed by a read/write head that detects variations in a magnetic orientation of the disk surface.
The read/write head moves back and forth radially on the disk under control of a head-positioning servo mechanism so that it can be selectively positioned over a selected one of the tracks. Once in position over a track, the servo mechanism causes the head to trace a path which follows the centerline of the selected track. This maximizes head-to-track registration, and permits accurate recording and reproduction of data on the track.
In order to effectively operate the head positioning servo mechanism, it is necessary that the position of the head with respect to the tracks be known. In addition to knowing which track a head is over, it is necessary to know where on that particular track the head is positioned.
In the prior art, position information is provided through the use of special servo patterns that are reproduced by the recording heads in the drive. A servo pattern is a permanent pattern prerecorded on the storage disk at the time of assembly of the completed disk drive. The servo pattern is detected by the head, and after appropriate signal processing, yields track position information. One prior art method of providing servo position information is known as a "sector" servo method.
In the sector servo method, bursts of servo information are disposed on a disk surface in between data areas. Each servo burst contains track position information, track radial address fields and index information. Space-division multiplexing of data and servo information minimizes track misregistration effects, since both data and servo information are reproduced from the same surface with a common head. Thus, sector servo schemes are particularly useful for disk drives with high track density.
Once a track has been located, it is important that the read/write head be kept on the centerline of that track for accurate reading and writing operations. This positioning of the read/write head on the centerline of a track is known as "track following." Variations from the centerline of the track being followed produce position error signals (PES) which are used to generate a corrective input to the head positioning apparatus to move the head back to the centerline position.
One prior art method for detecting a position error signal using integration techniques in an analog servo system is disclosed in Herrington and Mueller, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 21, No. 2, July 1978, pages 804-805. The system of Herrington and Mueller has the disadvantage of being limited to a dedicated servo pattern in an analog servo system, and is intended for use with a continuous, as opposed to a sampled, pattern.
Another prior art demodulation method is disclosed in Commander and Taylor, Disk Storage Technology, IBM Publication GA26-1665-0, February 1980. Commander and Taylor's system uses a synchronously detected null-type sector servo pattern as a supplement to a dedicated servo pattern system, in what is termed a `hybrid` servo. The demodulation method relies on timing information extracted from the dedicated servo pattern and is, therefore, not directly applicable to a purely sector servo system. Further, the result of the demodulation process in the Commander and Taylor article is retained in analog form throughout the servo system and all AGC (automatic gain control) operations are performed in the analog domain.
Roalson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,776 discloses the use of a digital sequencer to obtain automatic calibration of AGC gain reference in a servo demodulator similar in construction to that of the Herrington and Mueller system. The reference does not suggest the applicability of the system to sample data use, and the AGC feedback loop is of entirely analog construction.
Betts, U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,938 discloses an extension of the elementary single phase null-type servo pattern to a multiplicity of phases. This system applies only to sector servos of the analog type. Furthermore, the circuits disclosed require use of a separate integrator for each phase of the multi-phase quadrature servo pattern. Moreover, the AGC system is complex and is essentially an analog loop with digitally selected reference input. Position signal processing is accomplished entirely by analog methods which are also complex. Additionally, in the Betts patent, the carrier required for signal detection is generated by establishing the phase of a constant frequency carrier source used in the demodulation process by a single isolated transition of the servo pattern. This method can deliver a misphased carrier if the initializing transition is corrupted by noise. Such corruption becomes increasingly likely as recording densities increase and signal-to-noise ratios fall.
Laishley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,297,734 illustrates the use of a null pattern and describes a detection method not readily extensible to accurate digital processing of the servo position error signal.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sector servo demodulation means providing, in digital form, position error signals representative of magnitude and sign of read/write head displacement from track centerline and suitable for direct application to a digital signal processor which implements the servo control algorithms.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a servo controller suitable for sector servo use, which is implemented in a digital signal processor.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide PES detection by an integration method using only two integrators to demodulate a position error signal having an arbitrarily large number of phases.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide fully digital automatic gain control in the PES detection scheme.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a means for generating a carrier signal required for synchronous detection of PES signals.

Sample data position error signal detection for digital sector servo


A composition comprises an impact modifier and a compatibilized blend of a poly(arylene ether) and an aliphatic-aromatic polyamide. The polyamide is composed of dicarboxylic acid units comprising 60 to 100 mol % of terephthalic acid units and diamine units comprising 60 to 100 mol % of 1,9-nonanediamine units and/or 2-methyl-1,8-octanediamine units. The aliphatic-aromatic polyamide has a melt viscosity greater than or equal to 2000 Pa-s at a shear of 1000 second−1 and a temperature of 330° C. and the composition has a melt viscosity greater than or equal to 160 Pascal seconds (Pa-s) at a shear of 1500 second−1 (s−1) and a temperature of 330° C.

The disclosure relates to poly(arylene ether)/polyamide compositions.
Poly(arylene ether)/aliphatic polyamide compositions are widely used and the characteristics of the compositions are a result of, at least in part, the characteristics of the poly(arylene ether) and the polyamide. Despite their wide use compositions employing aliphatic polyamides can suffer from drawbacks such as undesirably low dimensional stability, and high moisture absorption. Attempts have been made to improve the physical property profile by altering the polyamide structure to include aromatic elements. Compositions employing these aliphatic-aromatic polyamides have improved many physical properties such as heat resistance, dimensional stability and water absorption but have diminished other desirable properties. For instance, many aliphatic-aromatic polyamides have melt temperatures above the degradation temperature of many polymers. Thus these aliphatic-aromatic polyamides cannot be blended with many polymers without causing at least partial degradation of the polymer. Some aliphatic-aromatic polyamides have a melt temperature less than the degradation temperature of many polymers but these polyamides usually have inadequate dimensional stability for most applications and blends employing them typically demonstrate poor dimensional stability as well.
Additionally, poly(arylene ether)/polyamide compositions typically have at least two immiscible phases and the physical properties of the composition can be affected by the morphology of the phases.
There is a growing need for polymers and polymer blends suitable for use in low pressure/low shear processes such as blow molding, sheet extrusion and profile extrusion. Low pressure/low shear processes are significantly different from high pressure/high shear processes such as injection molding. For example, profile extrusion requires that a polymer blend be forced through a shaped die (a profile) and maintain the extruded shape until cooled. The extruded shape may be further manipulated while the polymer blend is still warm through the use of shaping tools and the shaped profile must retain its shape after manipulation. Therefore blends employed in low pressure/low shear processes typically have fairly high melt viscosity (low melt flow indices) as well as high melt strength.
Formation of a multi-phasic polymer blend having high melt viscosity and high melt strength can be difficult because the high melt viscosity can have a negative impact on the morphological relationship between the phases with a resulting negative on physical properties such as melt strength and impact strength.
Accordingly there is a need for a poly(arylene ether)/aliphatic-aromatic polyamide composition having a combination of high melt viscosity, high melt strength and low water absorption.


A robot arm assembly includes a first robot arm, a second robot arm, a third robot arm, a connecting base, a first driving assembly, a second driving assembly, a third driving assembly, and a cable receiving tube. The connecting base includes a housing and a protection cover. A sidewall of the housing defines an opening. The protection cover covers the opening and is mounted on the housing. An end of the housing defines a cable inlet. The first driving assembly rotates the first robot arm. The second driving assembly rotates the second robot arm. The third driving assembly rotates the third robot arm. The cable receiving tube is received in the first robot arm, the second robot arm, and the third robot arm.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to robot arm assemblies, and particularly to a robot arm assembly for arranging cables therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Robots are used to perform various tasks, such as spraying or cleaning a workpiece. Robots can have multi-axial arms for achieving high precision movements. Tubes or cables are inserted into the robot arms to provide liquid for spraying or cleaning. However, when robot arms are very long, it is difficult to insert the tubes or cables into a cable inlet and extend these tubes or cables along the robot arms. In addition, the tubes or cables can be easily damaged when they are bent in the robot arms.
Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (ShenZhen) CO., LTD.


A central tube assembly for a filter cartridge and a manufacturing method for the central tube assembly are provided. The central tube assembly includes a first half-tube defines a first flow passage, and having a first water inlet at an end thereof and a water output hole in a side wall thereof, a filtering membrane bent to form a first membrane layer and a second membrane layer, the first half-tube being disposed between the first membrane layer and the second membrane layer; an input-water filtering net connected to the first half-tube and disposed between the first membrane layer and the second membrane layer, a second half-tube disposed outside of a bending of the filtering membrane, defining a second flow passage, and having a water input hole in a side wall thereof and a first water outlet at an end thereof, and a produced-water filtering net.

Filtration technologies in the current household water purifier market generally include a microfiltration technology, an ultrafiltration technology, an ion exchange technology, an adsorption technology and a reverse osmosis (RO)/nano-filtration (NF) technology. For the RO/NF, the core component is a RO/NF membrane element. Compared with an industrial membrane element, the membrane in a household water purifier has a short flow passage. A water feeding manner for a traditional membrane element is that raw water is introduced in and concentrated water is discharged out in a direction parallel to a purified-water collection tube (a central tube). Since the flow passage is relatively short, the flowing speed in the membrane is poor in the case of equal water inlet flow, such that the membrane surface tends to produce a strong concentration polarization, and hence to be polluted, thus resulting in a low water use efficiency of the existing household water purifier.

Central tube component of filter element and manufacturing method thereof


A display control apparatus that assigns display target contents to a plurality of areas configured as display areas in a screen of a display apparatus mounted on a vehicle is provided. The display control apparatus comprises a content manager for managing the contents in association with content information indicating attributes of the contents, an area manager for managing the areas in association with area information indicating attributes of the areas, and a content assignment controller for generating a content list listing the contents and determining content-area combinations based on the content information and the area information in an order of the content list.

Varieties of information are provided in a vehicle compartment. For example, the information includes vehicle states such as a vehicle speed, an engine speed, a shift position, fuel, and water temperature. The other information includes a map for navigation, air conditioner setting information, and audio information. Recently, the provided information includes night views for driving assistance and information about a mobile terminal carried into the vehicle.
Varieties of display apparatuses are mounted to provide these kinds of information. The display apparatuses include a head-up display and a liquid crystal display to display maps, for navigation. Some types of meter panels to display vehicle speeds use liquid crystal displays to provide varieties of information and may be categorized as display apparatuses.
There is a tendency for increasing the information (hereinafter referred to as a content) to be provided and for mounting multiple display apparatuses. Therefore, it is important to determine which content needs to be displayed on which region (hereinafter referred to as an area) of which display apparatus.
According to the related art, there is disclosed the technology to assign multiple screen data generated from a mobile terminal to one display (e.g., see Patent Document 1). This technology assigns priorities to the screen data and display areas and determines the areas according to the priorities.
However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 disables flexible arrangement of contents.
Content-area combinations may or may not conform to each other.
Specifically, content A conforms to area A but content B does not conform to area A. The technology described in Patent Document 1 displays a less valued content in a highly prioritized area if that content is highly prioritized in contents to be displayed. As a result, the content may be displayed in an inappropriate area.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An oscillator circuit is provided having an oscillating amplifier circuit connected to a resonator. The oscillator/amplifier and resonator are preferably fabricated on a single die using semiconductor fabrication tools. Included with the circuitry is a temperature sensor or transducer, an execution unit, non-volatile memory, a modulator, and frequency synthesizer, all of which are integrated together on the substrate, along with the piezoelectric crystal resonator. The frequency synthesizer can preferably include a phase-locked loop with a divider that is in a feedback loop of the phase-locked loop, in which a divide-by value is received from a modulator that achieves finer and higher resolution frequency selectivity from the voltage-controlled oscillator, also within the phase-locked loop, as an output from the crystal oscillator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric resonator coupled to an oscillating amplifier ("crystal oscillator") and, more specifically, to a crystal oscillator embodied on the same monolithic substrate as a frequency synthesizer to offset any frequency skewing caused by, for example, temperature or fabrication process fluctuations.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art or conventional by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
Within nearly every electronic subsystem is some sort of generator that produces cyclical waveforms. The waveform generator is oftentimes referred to as an oscillator that produces a regular oscillation voltage or current. Depending on the application, an oscillator can be used to source regularly-spaced pulses or clock signals. Oscillators are generally rated depending on their stability and accuracy, frequency adjustability (i.e., tunability), and power consumption.
There are numerous types of oscillators in the marketplace. A simple kind of oscillator is an RC relaxation oscillator. A more stable and accurate oscillator, however, involves the use of a piezoelectric resonator, oftentimes referred to simply as a piezoelectric crystal or "crystal." A crystal implements the piezoelectric effect of converting mechanical vibrations into electrical impulses and vice-versa. If alternating currents or voltages are applied to the crystal, it will vibrate at a resonant frequency, and harmonic modes thereof. To initiate and amplify the piezoelectric effect, a circuit is coupled to the crystal and generally consists of an amplifier with feedback. The frequency of feedback is governed by the low impedance, resonant frequency of the crystal, and the resonant frequency (with harmonics) is governed by the type of crystal used, the orientation angle at which the crystal is formed or cut, and the transducer used to convert acoustic waves in the crystal to electrical impulses and vice-versa.
While there are many types of piezoelectric resonators, there are also many types of oscillating amplifiers coupled to the resonator. For example, the oscillator can be voltage-controlled. Crystal-based oscillators are oftentimes referred to as a voltage-controlled crystal oscillators or VCXOs. A voltage-controlled crystal oscillator can be thought of as an oscillator that can "pull" the frequency of the resonator to a different frequency from that of the resonating frequency. One mechanism used to pull the frequency is to impart an external voltage onto a varactor. The varactor can be coupled to one or both terminals of the resonator to adjust the capacitive value on the inputs. Alternatively, the varactor can be arranged as a bank of selectively coupled capacitors, whose capacitive value is adjusted by, for example, a digital signal.
In addition to voltage-controlled crystal oscillators, many crystal oscillators (XO) can also be temperature compensated. It is generally well known that piezoelectric resonators shift slightly in frequency as the operating temperature changes. In order to compensate for the frequency shift, temperature readings must be taken from the resonator, and the output from the voltage-controlled crystal oscillator must be shifted to offset the temperature skew. Thus, the frequency output from the voltage-controlled crystal oscillator can be pulled to another frequency to minimize, if not eliminate, frequency skewing caused by temperature changes.
To take into account temperature fluctuations, many conventional solutions employ a crystal oven. By placing the crystal into an oven separate and apart from the amplifier/oscillator circuit, the resonator is maintained at a constant temperature with little, if any, resonant frequency fluctuations. Alternatively, a temperature sensor can be coupled to the resonator and electrical leads extending from the resonator case to the amplifier/oscillator circuit that is spaced from the resonator. In each solution, however, the piezoelectric resonator must be housed in a specifically designed package outside of and external to an integrated circuit on which the oscillator/amplifier is formed. Electrical leads from the temperature sensor thereby extend along relatively long capacitive- and inductive-loaded leads to a separately packaged integrated circuit in which the amplifier is located.
As described herein, an integrated circuit is one that is formed on a single, monolithic substrate. The integrated circuit is formed by dicing die from a wafer and then packaging a dice removed from the wafer within a package containing leads extending from the package. Typical voltage-controlled crystal oscillators or temperature-controlled crystal oscillators (TCXO) utilize an integrated circuit on which the amplifying oscillator circuit is arranged in an integrated circuit that is separate from the piezoelectric resonator, where both are coupled by trace conductors extending from a lead of one package to the other. In addition to the loading of the temperature readings through a relatively lengthy set of trace conductor leads, and sensors placed on the external case of the resonator (rather than on the resonator itself), other disadvantages might exist. For example, the amount by which the frequency can be pulled in a typical solution is somewhat limited.
It may be desirable to change the output frequency from the oscillator by either programming the oscillator during its manufacture or possibly in the field with a more variable and flexible frequency outcome. It may also be desirable to implement field and mask programmability not only in a voltage-controlled crystal oscillator, but also for use in a temperature-controlled crystal oscillator where extremely small temperature fluctuations can be accounted for using a high resolution programmable table, modulator, and feedback dual or multi-modulus divider.
In addition to the desirability of having a more tunable output frequency that takes into account temperature fluctuations, it would also be desirable to introduce the temperature sensor directly onto the resonator and integrating the resonator onto, partially within, or within the same substrate which bears the amplifying oscillator circuit. This will shorten leads between the resonator and associated circuitry, as well as lessen the loading effects of the conventionally long leads and the deleterious, somewhat inaccurate readings taken from distally-coupled temperature sensors.

Resonator and amplifying oscillator circuit having a high resolution skew-compensated frequency synthesizer integrated on a single substrate


Certain embodiments relate to systems and methods for dynamic color shading correction, which can estimate the color shading in a captured image on the fly. The color shading may be estimated from the scene statistics of the captured image, and the estimated shading may be used for color shading correction. The color shading estimation method may separate out the color shading component from the actual image content by its unique characteristic in the gradient domain.

Images captured using digital cameras suffer from brightness and color shading distortions that can compromise the quality of captured photos. Brightness shading, also known as vignetting, is a position dependent decrease in the amount of light transmitted by an optical system causing darkening of an image near the edges. Vignetting, which affects both film and digital cameras, refers to a decrease in the amount of light transmitted by an optical system near the periphery of the lens field-of-view (FOV) causing gradual darkening of an image at the edges. Vignetting can be effectively fixed by calibrating the lens roll off distortion function of the camera.
Color shading is similar in effect and manifests as shift in color near the edges of the sensor. Color shading distortion is specific to digital cameras. The spectral sensitivity of a typical charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor is higher at the red end of the spectrum of visible light than at the blue end of the spectrum, and also extends considerably into the near infrared (IR) spectrum. The relatively high sensitivity of such sensors to IR light can cause errors in color reproduction. Therefore, in most digital sensors, the IR sensitivity is limited by a thin-film reflective IR filter at the face of the sensor that blocks the infrared wavelength while passing visible light. However, the transmittance of the IR filter shifts to shorter wavelengths as the angle of light incident on the filter increases. Accordingly, longer wavelengths (such as red light) can be blocked more at the edges of the image sensor due to larger incident light ray angles, resulting in a spatially non-uniform color temperature in the image.
Conventionally, color shading artifacts are corrected by per-unit-calibration, which measures color shading profiles of an individual image capture device under a set of illuminants from images of a flat-field scene captured by the image capture device under each illuminant in the set. The inverse of the two-dimensional profile of color shading under each illuminant is stored as a correction table to compensate for color shading artifacts in images captured by the image capture device. When capturing an image, the image capture device first employs a white balance algorithm to detect the scene illuminant from the captured data on the sensor and then selects the corresponding correction table to compensate for color shading distortion.


One method of updating a change track map involves resetting a mirror recovery map for a data volume. Just before the mirror recovery map is reset, a change track map for the data volume can be updated, using the mirror recovery map. The mirror recovery map can be reset by a data element of a data processing system, while the change track map can be updated by a control element of the data processing system.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to data storage and management generally and more particularly to a method and system for update tracking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information drives business. Companies today rely to an unprecedented extent on online, frequently accessed, constantly changing data to run their businesses. Unplanned events that inhibit the availability of this data can seriously damage business operations. Additionally, any permanent data loss, from natural disaster or any other source, will likely have serious negative consequences for the continued viability of a business. Therefore, when disaster strikes, companies must be prepared to eliminate or minimize data loss, and recover quickly with useable data.
Several techniques utilized to minimize data loss and improve the availability of data require write operations or "updates" to a data volume be tracked, logged, or journaled. For example, such update tracking is commonly used in data mirroring systems to resynchronize a snapshot data volume which has been created by detaching a mirror data volume from a corresponding primary data volume. In such a scenario, data specifying each update to a primary data volume and/or a snapshot data volume is stored following mirror data volume detachment (commonly referred to as "third-mirror breakoff" or "mirror-breakoff"). Consequently, only those regions which have been modified following mirror breakoff need be synchronized, thus conserving valuable network and data processing system resources. Similarly, such an update tracking is also used in data mirroring system to resynchronize a mirror copy when it is brought online following a detach process due to an I/O error. In another embodiment, the change tracking is used to resynchronize a secondary volume or "replica") at a disaster recovery site when an associated replication process is restarted following a network outage or failure of the secondary disaster recovery site.
Another technique commonly used to improve the accessibility of data and reduce the probability of data loss is storage virtualization. Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears from a user or user application perspective to be a single storage device. Storage virtualization is often used as part of a storage area network (SAN). A virtual storage device appears as one storage device, regardless of the types of storage devices (e.g., hard disk drives, tape drives, or the like) pooled to create the virtualized storage device. Storage virtualization may be performed in a host data processing system, a SAN fabric, or in storage devices directly. In some conventional systems (e.g., where virtualization is provided in a SAN fabric), virtualization operations are partitioned between specialized hardware (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit or "ASIC" or a proprietary architecture processor, or the like) responsible for the servicing of input/output requests (e.g., the performance of updates) and associated translation between virtual and physical addresses and generalized hardware in combination with software (e.g., a general purpose processor) responsible for establishing the address translation mappings and performing more complex operations.
Tracking updates to a data volume within such a sectioned storage virtualization system requires a transition between the operation of the aforementioned specialized hardware and generalized hardware/software combination (e.g., to perform additional processing through a "fault" mechanism which causes an interrupt and context switch) and consequently disruption of the ordinary processing of updates. As the processing of updates may or may not require a fault or other disruption, the performance of update tracking in a system where virtualization is provided in a SAN fabric may add substantial latency to the performance of write operations.

Updating a change track map based on a mirror recovery map


A charging member for charging a body to be charged includes a blade member, a supporting member which supports the blade member, and an electrode layer which is provided on the blade member and is connected to the supporting member. The electrode layer is formed after connecting the blade member to the supporting member. A charging device uses the charging member. A process unit including the charging device is detachable relative to an image forming apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a charging member and a charging device for charging a member to be charged, an image forming apparatus, such as an electrophotographic apparatus or the like, having the charging device, and a process unit detachable relative to the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A corona discharger, such as a corotron, a scorotron or the like, having a wire electrode and a shield electrode surrounding the wire electrode and having an excellent charging uniformness has been widely used as a means for uniformly charging the surface of an image carrying member, such as a photosensitive member, a dielectric member or the like, serving as a member to be charged in an image forming apparatus, such as an electrophotographic copier, an electrophotographic printer, a recording apparatus or the like.
However, the corona discharger has the following problems: An expensive high-voltage power supply is needed. Space is needed for the charger itself, as shield space for the high-voltage power supply, and the like. A large amount of corona products, such as ozone and the like, are produced, and hence additional means and mechanisms are needed in order to deal with the corona products. These factors result in a large and expensive apparatus.
In consideration of the above-described problems, the adoption of a contact charging method has recently been studied as an alternative to the corona discharger.
In contact charging, by contacting a contact charging member, to which a voltage (for example, a DC voltage of about 1-2 kV (kilovolts), or a superposed voltage composed of a DC voltage and an AC voltage) is applied from a power supply, to the surface of an image carrying member, serving as a member to be charged, the surface of the image carrying member is charged at a predetermined potential. Various contact charging methods have been devised, for example, a roller charging method (Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure (Kokai) No. 56-91253 (1981)), a blade charging method (Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure (Kokai) Nos. 56-104349 (1981) and 60-147756 (1985)), and a charging-and-cleaning method (Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure (Kokai) No. 56-165166 (1981)). (U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,980 corresponds to Japanese Patent Document Nos. 56-91253 and 56-104349.)
Among such contact charging methods, the blade charging method is particularly effective for a small image forming apparatus because it provides for an inexpensive and compact apparatus.
One of the problems associated with the contact charging methods including the blade charging method is as follows: If a pinhole portion (a surface defect portion in a member to be charged) is present in an image carrying member, such as a photosensitive member or the like, a spark discharge is apt to occur between a contact charging member, to which a voltage is applied, in contact with the surface of the image carrying member in order to charge the surface of the image carrying member and the pinhole portion in the image carrying member. If such discharge occurs once, a so-called "charge leak" phenomenon will easily subsequently occur on the surface of the image carrying member wherein charged electric charges are not held not only on the pinhole portion but also over the entire surface (the direction of the generatrix of a rotating image carrying member) of the charged region including the pinhole portion in contact with the contact charging member.
For purpose of background information, FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B) illustrate a model for explaining the charge leak phenomenon. In FIG. 6(A), a photosensitive member 1 serves as an image carrying member (a member to be charged) whose surface moves in the direction of the arrow. Pinhole portions P are present in the photosensitive member 1. A blade member 2 (hereinafter termed a "charging blade") of a contact charging member to which a voltage is applied is in contact with the surface of the photosensitive member 1 in order to charge the surface. FIG. 6(B) is an equivalent circuit of FIG. 6(A).
The pinhole portions P in the photosensitive member 1 have lower resistance values than other portions. Hence, when the charging blade 2 contacts the pinhole portions P or the surface of the charging blade 2 comes close to the pinhole portions P, spark discharges S are apt to occur between the charging blade 2 and the pinhole portions P. When the discharges S occur, potentials V.sub.A, V.sub.B, - - - V.sub.Z at respective portions applied on the surface of the photosensitive member 1 in the direction of the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive member 1 (the direction of the generatrix of the photosensitive member 1) become almost 0 V (volt). As a result, electric charges cannot be held on the surface of the photosensitive member 1 over the entire surface of the contact charging region including the pinhole portions P in contact with charging blade 2.
When the above-described charge leak portions are produced in the charging processing of the surface of the photosensitive member 1, image portions corresponding to the charge leak portions in an output image appear as white stripes in normal development and black stripes in reversal development, causing deterioration in image quality.
The pinholes P are apt to be produced, for example, during the production of an image carrying member (a member to be charged), such as a photosensitive member or the like, due to scratching, or due to dielectric breakdown. It is rather difficult to completely eliminate pinholes.
In order to prevent the above-described charge leaks, it is necessary to increase the electric resistance of the charging blade material. Since the charging blade 2 is pressed with a proper pressure utilizing rubber elasticity, the distance (the free length of the blade) between the distal end of a rigid blade supporting member made, for example, of sheet metal and a portion of the charging blade 2 in contact with the member to be charged must be considerably larger than the thickness of the blade 2. Accordingly, when a voltage is applied from the blade supporting member to the blade 2, the voltage drop in the blade 2 becomes large, causing a decrease in the potential of the portion of the blade 2 in contact with the member to be charged. Hence, it is necessary to attach a back electrode to the charging blade 2, but there has been no excellent means for producing a charging blade having a back electrode.

Charging member with a bridging electrode structure and charging device using same in an image forming apparatus


A pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine derivative represented by formula (I) and salt thereof exhibit excellent MAPKAP-K2 inhibitory activity. Accordingly, medicines comprising this compound as an active ingredient are expected to be valuable for treating or preventing diseases mediated by MAPKAP-K2 such as inflammatory injury, autoimmune diseases, asteropathia destruens, cancer and/or growth of tumor.

MAPKAP-K2 (mitogen-activated protein kinase activated protein kinase 2) is a serine/threonine kinase and operates in immediate downstream of p38 kinase in stress-induced MAPK pathway (FIG. 1).
This p38 kinase pathway is activated by various stress-related extracellular stimuli such as heat, ultraviolet ray, bacterial lipopolysaccharide or inflammatory cytokines. The activation of this pathway causes phosphorylation of transcription and initiation factors and affects cell division, apoptosis, cell differentiation, inflammatory response and infiltration of cancer cells (Martin-Blanco, Bioessays 22, 637-645).
p38 Kinase itself activates many protein kinases other than MAPKAP kinase, for example, Mnkl/2, PRAK and MSK1 (FIG. 1). This pathway is particularly important for discovery of novel anti-inflammatory drugs. A selective p38 kinase inhibitor is effective for suppressing inflammatory cytokines in both cell based model and animal model of chronic inflammation (Lee et al., Immunopharmacology 47,185-201 (2000)). However, a p38 kinase-knockout mouse is embryonic lethal. Moreover, it has been proved that cells derived from such an embryo exhibit a lot of anomaly in fundamental cellular responses. As another strategy for developing anti-inflammatory drugs, there can be mentioned a drug inhibiting this pathway in the level of MAPKAP-K2. In an unstimulated cell, MAPKAP-K2 exists in the nucleus, and it is transferred to cytosol when the cell is stimulated. It is known that this kinase phosphorylates many nuclear transcription factors and cytosolic proteins such as heat-shock protein involved in cell protection and 5-lipoxygenase involved in bioprotection and inflammation (Stokoe et al., FEBS Lett. 313, 307-313 (1992); Werz et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97, 5261-5266 (2000)); Heindenreich et al., J. Biol. Chem. 274, 14434-14443 (1999)); Tan et al., EMBO J. 15, 4629-4642 (1996)); Neufeld, J. Biol. Chem. 275, 20239-20242 (2000)). All of these substrates contain a unique amino acid motif (XX-Hyd-XRXXSXX where Hyd represents a bulky hydrophobic residue) which is required for effective phosphorylation by MAPKAP-K2 (Stokoe et al., Biochem. J. 296, 843-849 (1993)).
MAPKAP-K2 is the only substrate of p38 kinase whose special function is currently identified. The special rolls of MAPKAP-K2 in mediation of inflammatory response are remarkably demonstrated in a phenotype of MAPKAP-K2 knockout mouse (MAPKAP-K2−/−) (Kotlyarov et al., Nature Cell Biol. 1, 94-97 (1999)). This mouse is not lethal and normal except for particularly reduced inflammatory response. Recently, it has been proved that lack of MAPKAP-K2 causes particular protection of neurons from ischemic brain injury (Wang et al., J. Biol. Chem. 277, 43968-43972 (2002)). It is considered that MAPKAP-K2 regulates translation and/or stabilization of mRNA of important inflammatory cytokines. This is likely because MAPKAP-K2 phosphorylates proteins which bind to AU-rich elements found in untranslated regions of these cytokines. Identification of these proteins is now under investigation.
Furthermore, it is reported that MAPKAP-K2 has activity of repairing anomaly in DNA induced by ultraviolet ray (Isaac A. Manke et al., Molecular Cell 17, 37-48 (2005)). Inhibition of MAPKAP-K2 activity may disable repairing damaged DNA and cause death in some types of cancer cell.
From the above, MAPKAP-K2 inhibitors are effective for neurodegenerative/neurological disorders (including dementia), sepsis, autoimmune diseases, destructive osteopathy, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, diabetes mellitus, cancer, ischemic reperfusion injury, angiodysplasia, cachexia, obesity, angiogenesis, asthma and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
As MAPKAP-K2 inhibitors there have been disclosed in WO2004/054504, WO2004/054505, WO2004/055015, WO2004/055019, WO2004/058176, WO2004/058762, WO2004/099127, WO2005/009370, WO2005/007092, WO2004/076458 and WO2004/081013, but these compounds are different in structure from the compounds in the present invention.
Further, pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine derivatives are disclosed in WO2004/026872, WO2005/028445 and WO2005/077948. These compounds are, however, different in structure from the compound of the present invention or the compound of the present invention is not specifically disclosed in these literatures, as exemplified by the fact that WO2005/077948 describes only compounds wherein R3 is a methyl group but no compounds wherein R3 is a hydroxyl group or an amino group. Furthermore, the target enzymes of these compounds are also different from those of the compound of the present invention.

Pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine derivatives or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof


A system and method for compiling a clinically logical medical dossier for a patient. A list of medical conditions can be determined for the patient. A plurality of medical imaging records for the patient can be identified, and each record can be assigned to one of the conditions. A timeline of condition-specific imaging records can then be generated for each condition. A condition can be selected and the timeline of condition-specific imaging records for the selected condition can then be displayed.

When a patient sees a physician or is admitted to hospital, it is important to have a complete patient history available to the physician and other medical professionals. At the same time, it is also important that a diagnosing physician be able to easily identify the specific imaging records in the patient's medical history that are pertinent to the current condition(s) for which treatment is being sought.
Today's patients tend to have increasingly long and complex medical histories. People are living longer and previously deadly diseases and conditions are being transformed into manageable conditions. As a result, patients tend to have a greater number of ongoing medical conditions. The increased number of ongoing medical conditions means patient histories are becoming bloated with imaging records related to each of the various conditions. This can make it difficult for attending physicians to identify relevant medical imaging records when treating a patient.
Electronic medical records or electronic patient records may ensure that doctors have access to complete (or more complete) medical histories for a patient—even if they are located remote from the patient's usual care facility. As well, electronic medical record systems allow a patient's records to be remotely updated and synchronized across multiple medical facilities. While electronic patient record systems may streamline compiling and managing patient medical histories, these patient histories are still bloated. In addition, some medical imaging records such as medical images can be extremely large in size. Transferring the entirety of a patient's medical imaging records from a centralized database to the medical facility where the patient is being seen can be slow and may consume limited network resources.
A system and method for compiling a medical imaging dossier that allows a doctor to easily identify and review relevant medical imaging records for a patient may alleviate some of these issues. Such a system may also reduce the amount of data that must be transferred from central databases to clinician workstations when the patient is being diagnosed or treated.

System and method for compiling medical dossier


A rotary moving bed and process for separating a carbon dioxide from a gas stream is disclosed. The rotary moving bed can have a rotational assembly rotating on a vertical axis, and a plurality of sorbent cells positioned horizontally to the axis of rotation that fills a vertical space in the moving bed, where the sorbent cells adsorb the carbon dioxide by concentration swing adsorption and adsorptive displacement. The sorbent can be regenerated and the carbon dioxide recaptured by desorbing the carbon dioxide from the sorbent using concentration swing adsorption and desorptive displacement with steam. The gas flows in the system flow in a direction horizontal to the axis of rotation and in a direction opposite the rotational movement of the sorbent cells.

Fossil fuels currently supply the majority of the world's energy needs and their combustion is the largest source of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and is believed to contribute to global climate change. Concern over global climate warming has led to interest in capturing CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. CO2 can be removed from combustion flue gas streams by varying methods.
Combustion gases vary in composition depending on the fuel and the conditions of combustion. The combustion gases can be produced in furnaces and in gas turbines, including the combustion gases produced in the generation of electric power. The fuels used are predominantly coal and natural gas. Coal is burned in furnaces, while natural gas is burned both in furnaces and in gas turbines, but in electric power generation natural gas is mainly burned in gas turbines.
The quantities of combustion gas produced in electric power generation are very large because of the scale of furnaces and turbines used. One measure of the scale of these operations is the amount of CO2 produced in a typical 500 Megawatt power plant. For coal fired power generation, the rate of CO2 production is on the order of 100 kilograms per second; for gas fired power production it is more like 50 kilograms per second.
The challenge for flue gas CO2 capture is to do it efficiently to minimize the cost. All post-combustion CO2 capture technologies suffer from the disadvantage that the CO2 in the flue gas is present at low pressure (just about 1 atm) and in low concentrations (3 to 15%). A large amount of energy is needed to separate the CO2. For 90% recovery of 10% CO2 in a flue gas at 1 atm, the CO2 must be brought from 0.1 atm to 1 atm, and then further compressed to a delivery pressure of 150 atm. Analyses conducted at NETL shows that CO2 capture and compression using a conventional absorption process raises the cost of electricity from a newly built supercritical PC power plant by 86%, from 64 cents/kWh to 118.8 cents/kWh (Julianne M. Klara, DOE/NETL-2007/1281, Revision 1, August 2007, Exhibit 4-48 LCOE for PC Cases). Aqueous amines are considered a state-of-the-art technology for CO2 capture for PC power plants, but have a cost of $68/ton of CO2 avoided)(Klara 2007, DOE/NETL-2007/1282). Developing methods that minimize the amount of energy and other costs will be necessary if CO2 removal from flue gas is to be economical.
Methods for the removal of CO2 from gas streams, include adsorption with a solvent, adsorption with a sorbent, membrane separation, and cryogenic fractionation and combinations thereof. In absorption/adsorption processes to capture CO2, the energy needed to regenerate the sorbent or solvent is a large cost element.
The heat of adsorption is generally lower than the heat of absorption. This could make use of physical adsorbent for CO2 capture attractive because it has a lower energy requirement for the desorption reaction to release the CO2. A physical adsorbent can be used for CO2 capture. Using molecular sieves/zeolites and activated carbon, this approach for CO2 capture has been research by Inui 1988 [Inui, T., Okugawa, Y. and Yasuda, M. (1988), Relationship between properties of various zeolites and their CO2 adsorption behaviours in pressure swing adsorption operation, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 27, 1103], Chue 1995 [Chue, K. T., Kim, J. N., Yoo, Y. J., Cho, S. H. and Yang, R. T. (1995), Comparison of activated carbon and zeolite 13× for CO2 recovery from flue gas by pressure swing adsorption, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 34 (2), 591-598], Siriwrdane 2001 [Siriwardane, R. V., Shen, M., Fisher, E., and Poston, J. A., (2001) "Adsorption of CO2 on Molecular Sieves and Activated Carbon," Energy and Fuels, Vol. 15, pp. 279-284, 2001], Siriwrdane 2005a [Siriwardane, R. V., (2005a) "Solid Sorbents for Removal of Carbon Dioxide from Low Temperature Gas Streams", U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,497 B1, Jun. 21, 2005], Siriwrdane 2005b [Siriwardane, R. V., Shen, M., and Fisher, E., (2005b) "Adsorption of CO2 on Zeolites at Moderate Temperatures," Energy and Fuels, Vol. 19 No. 3, p. 1153, 2005], Muñoz et al (2006) [Muñoz, Emilio, Eva Diaz, Salvador Ordóñez, and Aurelio Vega "Adsorption of Carbon Dioxide on Alkali Metal Exchanged Zeolites"], Gingichasvili (2008) [Gingichashvili Sarah (May 19, 2008)—http://thefutureofthings.com/news/1183/co2-absorption-made-easier.html], Halmann and Steinberg (1999) [Halmann, M M and M Steinberg, (1999) Greenhouse Gas—Carbon Dioxide Mitigation: Science and Technology. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, Fla.] and Lee (2005) [Lee, Sunggyu (2005) Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing Vol 1. CRC Press].
Many physical adsorbent separation systems use pressure swing absorption (PSA) for regeneration. PSA can be used to regenerate CO2 adsorbents. It is used in environmental control applications to maintain CO2 level (Lee 2005 [Lee, Sunggyu (2005) Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing Vol 1. CRC Press]) Also, PSA is used for removal of CO2 down to very low levels in gas purification (U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,064). Applying PSA to atmospheric flue gas separation would have high energy consumption requirements (due the requirement to pull a hard vacuum when removing CO2 from a flue gas) and capital costs because of the large pressure ratios required to enable complete desorption of the CO2.
Temperature swing absorption is another well-established regeneration method. This has been applied to adsorbent regeneration by Lee (2005) [Lee, Sunggyu (2005) Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing Vol 1. CRC Press].
Such separation processes are also commonly applied for CO2 separations of gases from non combustion gas streams, e.g. natural gas purification, re-breathers, contained environment CO2 concentration control and others.

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