Disclosed are amphiphilic peptides. Also disclosed are methods of treating proliferative disease, bacterial infection, viral infection and fungal infection, endotoxin neutralization and a method of removing biofilm. Also disclosed is the use of the amphiphilic peptides.

Despite significant improvements in living standards and biomedical technologies over the past century, the global burden of infectious diseases remains exceedingly high and is a major cause of public health, economic and social problems. According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, infectious and parasitic diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, meningitis, diarrheal diseases, HIV and malaria are the second leading causes of death worldwide. The widespread and often indiscriminate use of antibiotics in industrialized nations further fuels the problem by contributing to the rapid emergence of drug resistant pathogens, making infectious diseases increasingly difficult to control with the existing classes of antibiotics. The exploding crisis of antibiotic-resistant infections coupled with the on-going dearth in new small-molecule antibiotics development, have spurred considerable efforts toward the discovery and development of membrane active antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as an alternative class of antimicrobial agents. Naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides, also known as 'host defence peptides', were first discovered as components of the innate immunity, forming the first line of defence against invading pathogens in all living organisms. Unlike conventional antibiotics that inhibit specific biosynthetic pathways such as cell wall or protein synthesis, the majority of the cationic antimicrobial peptides exert their activities via physical disruption of the more negatively charged microbial membrane lipid bilayers to induce leakage of cytoplasmic components leading to cell death. The physical nature of membrane disruption is believed to result in a lower likelihood for drug resistance development as it becomes metabolically 'costlier' for the microorganism to mutate or to repair its membrane components at the same rate as the damage is being inflicted.
Although more than 1700 naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides from diverse sources including microorganisms, plants and animals have been isolated and characterized in the past 3 decades, only very few AMPs such as polymyxins and gramicidins are being used clinically; and mainly in topical formulations due to their high systemic toxicities. The major challenges identified with the application of antimicrobial peptides as drugs lie in the high cost in synthesizing long peptide sequences, poor stability and unknown toxicity after systemic administration. In efforts to enhance antimicrobial activities and minimize non-specific toxicities, more researchers are increasingly utilizing naturally occurring antimicrobial peptide or protein sequences as templates to perform chemical modifications such as cyclization, sequence truncations, and substitution with D-, β- or fluorinated-amino acids for the generation of new peptide analogs with broader applications for localized or systemic infections within the body. However, current approaches to optimize naturally occurring antimicrobial peptide sequences remain largely empirical at best, making it extremely difficult to delineate general structure-activity relationships especially against the backdrop of massive sequence and structural diversities. Furthermore, many of the new peptide analogs remain long (20 amino acids or more), which might induce significant immunogenicity and ultimately increase the cost for large scale manufacturing. More importantly, it has been suggested that the use of antimicrobial peptides with sequences that are too close to the host defence antimicrobial peptides may trigger the development of resistance towards innate AMPs that could inevitably compromise natural defences against infections, posing significant health and environmental risks.
At the same time, the rapid emergence of antibiotics resistant bacteria and fungi in both the nosocomial and community settings has created a significant strain on healthcare systems around the world. While global incidences of antibiotics resistant pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE) and multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp. have reached epidemic levels, the number of new antibiotics entering the clinical development pipeline has been dismal; with only three new structural classes of antibiotics including the oxazolidinones (linezolid), lipopeptides (daptomycin) and pleuromutilins (retapamulin) entering the market since 2000. This development is especially alarming given that pathogenic bacteria such as S. aureus, Enterobacter and Klebsiella are developing resistance to vancomycin and carbapenems, which are potent antibiotics traditionally reserved as the last line of defence for vulnerable patients in hospitals. With the on-going dearth in small molecular antibiotics development, the design and identification of alternative classes of antimicrobial agents with new modes of action that can effectively overcome drug resistance mechanisms is more pressing than ever.
As the majority of the antimicrobial peptides exert their antimicrobial activities through a rapid and direct membrane lytic mechanism, they possess an inherent advantage in overcoming conventional mechanisms of antibiotics resistance such as the increased expression of drug efflux pumps on microbial membranes, production of drug degradation enzymes or alteration to drug interaction sites acquired by microbes against small molecular antibiotics targeting specific biosynthetic pathways. Significant barriers limiting the successful clinical translation of antimicrobial peptides, however, include high systemic toxicities as a result of poor microbial membrane selectivities, relatively high manufacturing cost (for long peptide sequences) and susceptibility to degradation by proteases present in biological fluids such as blood serum, wound exudates or lacrimal fluids.
In view of the above, there is a need to provide alternative antimicrobial peptides. There is also a need to provide an alternative method of treating microbial infections.

Amphiphilic peptides comprising the formula I: (X

Agency for Science, Technology and Research


An example motor includes: a rotor with a plurality of alternate polarity permanent magnets; and a stator forming a like number of poles. The stator forms one or more biasing features concentrating magnetic flux at at least one location. In some examples, the stator has an interior surface unbroken by locating features, and the stator has one or more openings that form the one or more biasing features.

Permanent magnet brushless electric motors are desirable for efficiency. Brushless motors are typically more efficient and quieter than induction motors because brushless motor designs avoid rotor losses related to the "induction" process. However, such motors can exhibit increased noise and vibration at slower speeds.
Although different brushless motors can vary in configuration, brushless motors typically run on direct current and include circuitry to sequentially switch (or commutate) the direct current into one or more stator coils. In addition, most brushless motors include a plurality of permanent magnet poles attached to a rotor.


In a rotary anode X-ray tube, a disc portion is fitted into a rotary anode with a first gap therebetween and a fixed shaft is fitted into a rotary shaft to support the anode with a second gap therebetween. The disc portion and the fixed shaft are formed integral with each other to have a hollow portion therein. A cooling liquid is allowed to flow through the hollow portion. A liquid metal is filled in the first and second gaps. Dynamic pressure type bearings is formed in the second gap. A passage is formed to directly communicate the first gap to the second gap, whereby the liquid metal being directly supplied from the second gap to the first gap. Thus, the liquid metal can be fed rapidly and surely into the gap between the anode target and a cooling vessel.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sliding bearing using a liquid lubricant and a rotary anode X-ray tube using the sliding bearing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotary anode X-ray tube used in an imaging diagnostic system and the like is used at a high temperature and in a vacuum, and moreover the anode target is rotated at high speed. Such a rotary anode X-ray tube is structured as disclosed in Japanese Patent 2960089 such that the rotation axis that supports the rotary anode is supported by a sliding bearing which uses a liquid metal as a lubricant. In order to further reduce the X-ray tube in size and weight, it is required to cool the rotation target through a liquid metal. For this reason, a proposal has been made for a structure such that a gap is set between the back of the rotation target and a fixed shaft and a liquid metal is injected into the gap as a heat transfer fluid to thereby cool the rotation target.
With the rotary anode X-ray tube, when the X-ray tube apparatus is operated, the anode target reaches a high temperature due to entry of heat to it. That is, the anode target is irradiated with an electron beam and consequently reaches a high temperature. In particular, the electron bombardment surface (focal point) which is struck by electrons reaches a high temperature. For this reason, the anode target must be maintained at temperatures below the melting point of its material.
From such a point of view, techniques to cool the anode target have been developed. Among the techniques is one which uses a liquid metal as a heat transfer fluid in the vicinity of the electron bombardment surface and transfers the heat of the anode target to cooling water within a cooling box, thereby cooling the anode target.
However, the conventional rotary anode X-ray tube using the liquid metal as a heat transfer fluid for cooling has the following problem:
With the cooling mechanism which uses the liquid metal as a heat transfer fluid for cooling, it is required to surely introduce the liquid metal used as a lubricant into the gap between the cooling box integral with the fixed shaft and the anode target. The amount of the liquid metal to be filled in is limited so as not to cause leakage from the seal portion when the rotating body is stopped. When the rotating body starts rotating, the liquid lubricant is pressed against the inner part of the rotating body due to centrifugal force and then introduced from the fixed shaft into the gap between the cooling box and the anode target.
However, the liquid metal needs to pass through the narrow gap in the dynamic pressure type bearings; therefore, it takes long to introduce the liquid metal into the gap between the cooling box and the anode target.


A light emitting diode package structure is provided. The light emitting diode package structure includes first and second chips. A value of an intensity of a peak wavelength of a first shoulder wave of the first chip divided by an intensity of a peak wavelength of a first main wave of the first chip is defined as a first intensity ratio. A value of an intensity of a peak wavelength of a second shoulder wave of the second chip divided by an intensity of a peak wavelength of a second main wave of the second chip is defined as a second intensity ratio. The first and second chips satisfy “a difference between the intensities of the peak wavelengths of the first and second main waves being less than or equal to 2.5 nanometers” and “a difference between the first and second intensity ratios being greater than 0.1”.

A conventional light emitting diode includes a plurality of broadband chips. Since the broadband chips have different quantum wells (i.e., QW), an energy band gap (i.e., Eg) between the different quantum wells is different. When an electron is electrically recombined, the energy of recombination for different energy band gaps is different. The result is that a spectrum of any one of the broadband chips produced in the same batch is different from that of another one of the broadband chips produced in the same batch. In order to ensure that all of the spectrums of each of the products (i.e., the conventional light emitting diodes) are consistent with each other and meet qualified specifications, a manufacturer will only select the broadband chips that meet the qualified specifications to manufacture the products. Therefore, the aforementioned method leads to low utilization rate of the broadband chips and increases overall manufacturing costs.


A method is disclosed for determining coordinates of a target in relation to a surveying instrument wherein a first image is captured using a first camera in a first camera position and orientation, a target is selected by identifying at least one object point in the first image, and first image coordinates of the object point in the first image are measured. In at least one embodiment, a second image is captured using a second camera in a second camera position and orientation, the object point identified in the first image is identified in the second image, and second image coordinates of the object point in the second image are measured. Target coordinates of the target in relation to the rotation center of the surveying instrument are then determined based on the first camera position and orientation, the first image coordinates, the second camera position and orientation, the second image coordinates, and first and second camera calibration data. Furthermore, a surveying instrument for performing the method is disclosed.

In surveying, the use of a camera in a geodetic instrument may provide for improved user convenience and new functions. Particularly, a view such as an image or a video feed provided by the camera and shown on a display of the instrument may be used for assisting target selection and for providing the user with an overview of potential points of interest.
One apparent difference between a traditional eyepiece and a video image shown on a display, is that the display image may have an active overlay of information. Various information may be given together with the captured image to facilitate instrument usage.
For a general background of a geodetic instrument comprising a camera for capturing an image or a video feed of the view towards which the geodetic instrument is aimed, reference is made to WO 2005/059473.
Surveying instruments of this kind, i.e. which includes a camera, are sometimes referred to as video-theodolites.
In a conventional geodetic instrument, electronic distance measuring (EDM) may alternatively or additionally be used, where a modulated light beam is emitted towards a target, and light reflected against the target is subsequently detected at the geodetic instrument.
Processing of the detected signal enables determination of distance to the target by means of e.g. time of flight (TOF) measurements or phase modulation techniques. Using a TOF technique, the time of flight of a laser pulse from the geodetic instrument to a target and back again is measured and distance can thus be calculated. Using a phase modulation technique, light of different frequencies is emitted from the geodetic instrument to the target, whereby reflected light pulses are detected and the distance is calculated based on the phase difference between emitted and received pulses.

Determining coordinates of a target in relation to a survey instrument having at least two cameras


Techniques are disclosed for describing packet headers in a format that can be used by a code generation tool to generate source code that can generate any type of packet header when compiled and invoked within switch/router firmware. Such packet headers may then be used in a variety of switch diagnostic/testing functions. A code generation tool may be configured to receive a description of a packet header in the description format. The packet description language provides an easily used approach for defining fields in a packet header. Further, the code generation tool may be configured to generate packet header library for use by firmware on a network device, e.g., for testing and diagnostic functions.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments described in this disclosure generally relate to development tools, and more particularly to using auto code generation to generate packet header generation libraries for switch diagnostics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Switching and routing devices often provide the ability to run a variety of self-diagnostic and validation tests. For example, during a power on self-test (POST), a switch may generate and send a variety of packets to ports on a device to ensure such ports are functioning properly. Similarly, switching and routing devices may allow users to compose relatively simple testing scripts to test and diagnose the functioning of these devices. Such testing and validation processes frequently require the switching or routing device to generate a broad variety of network packet/frame headers. Accordingly, the firmware running on these devices typically includes modules to internally generate the packet headers needed by these testing/validation routines. Behind these modules, developers have to write code to generate headers as needed by the testing/validation routines. As new protocols (both proprietary and standardized) are developed, new header libraries have to be created and added to the firmware on the switch.
While some packet generation tools are available, they typically have a number of dependencies on other packages or libraries, as well as dependencies on specific development environments (e.g., a particular compiler version or system architecture). Thus, using these tools to generate packets in switch firmware requires developers to port any necessary source code and header files into a format appropriate for the firmware. However, the amount of space allocated in the firmware for diagnostic routines can be relatively limited. This frequently precludes developers from using full-fledged packet-generation libraries due to firmware size limitations, as these libraries do not allow them to describe packet headers using the library without fully integrating the library, which may include a variety of unneeded elements (e.g., function to transmit/inspect packets). Thus, even where developers are willing to port the necessary code or header files, doing so may result in a packet generation facility that exceeds the space limitations of switch firmware. Further, the interfaces for such library may be available only in a procedural language (e.g., the C programming language), making it difficult to invoke the functions provided by these interfaces from commonly used scripting languages, (e.g., Perl scripts). Further still, currently available packet generation tools may simply be incapable of generating certain packet header types, e.g., packet header types defined by standards developed following the version of the library or proprietary packet header definitions used by proprietary protocols.
Accordingly, porting the available packet-generation libraries just to obtain the packet header generation needed by the diagnostic/testing portions of firmware is both time consuming and can result in a bloated firmware footprint. Because of this, in many cases, it becomes easier for developers to write packet header generation libraries on a "one-off" basis.

Auto code generation to generate packet header generation library for switch diagnostics


A boat lift braking system includes a threaded shaft driven by the boat lift motor. A torsion tube disposed about the shaft carries an interiorly threaded nut that interengages the peripheral threads of the shaft. A rotor is mounted to the nut adjacent a brake pad that is supported by a ratchet component. A pawl mechanism cooperates with the ratchet component for limiting rotation of the ratchet component in a first direction and permitting rotation of the ratchet component about the shaft in a second direction. The torsion tube is connected through a reduction apparatus to the winder of the boat lift. When the lift is at rest, a torsion spring drives the torsion tube and rotor against the brake pad and the ratchet component interlocks with the pawl mechanism to hold the lift at a desired elevation. When the motor is driven to lower the lift, the shaft is driven within the torsion tube such that the rotor momentarily disengages the pad. Immediately thereafter, the torsion spring forces the rotor back against the pad and these counteracting forces continuously repeat to provide a controlled descent. When the motor is operated to raise the lift, the shaft is driven relative to the torsion tube such that the rotor and pad interlock. The ratchet component disengages the pawl and the torsion tube turns so that the lift can be elevated.

Boat lifts require the use of an appropriate braking system in order to hold the raised or hoisted marine vessel in an elevated condition. The braking system also permits the boat lift operator to lower the vessel in a controlled manner. Without an appropriate brake, the boat would freefall whenever the lift motor is deactivated. Moreover, a controlled descent would be almost impossible to achieve.
Presently, the gear box provides the required braking for most boat lifts. More particularly, braking is typically accomplished through the worm gear of the drive motor, which both supports the load at rest and allows the load to descend in a controlled fashion. This is very energy inefficient. A significant portion of the motor's power must be diverted and used to brake the supported load. Even if little or no weight is supported by the lift, during descent the motor must overcome the inherent braking force of the motor. This draws significant power away from the drive motor. As a result, an excessively large capacity motor may be required. By the same token, the operating speed of the lift is slowed substantially.


Markup-language documents are converted into compacted markup-language form by using a number of parameterized macros. A parameterized macro takes at least one parameter. When compacting markup-language documents, a sequence of elements is replaced by references to a macro and to parameter(s), where the macro, when used with the parameters, yields the sequence of elements. The macros used may either be predetermined, from a static dictionary, may be generated on the fly, or mix of both. The definitions of macros may be included in the compacted markup-language information in order to allow a recipient of the compacted markup-language information to expand the macro reference and parameter(s) into the sequence of elements which had been replaced.

When data is transmitted between a sender and a recipient (e.g. a server and a client) over a network, both the sender and recipient must know the format of the data being transmitted before the transmission takes place. For example, if the sender sends data in a form for a specific database, in order to use the data, the recipient must know what the database format being used is, and must know details about that format. If the recipient does not know what format was being used or the details of that format, data sent properly on the sender's end would be unrecognizable on the recipient's end.
As an example, a database format may comprise a series of records, where each record contains a record number of a certain size, followed by a last name field of a certain size, a first name field of a certain size, and a date field of a certain size. A header might precede these records. However, even if the sender sends data adhering perfectly to the format, unless the recipient knows the format, there is no way for the recipient to understand the data correctly.
To ensure that both the sender and the recipient have the necessary information about format, often they need to be running not only the same application, but the same version of the application. For example, if a sender sent data from a newer version of a database application to a recipient running an older version, the recipient's version may not recognize the format and as discussed above data may be lost or useless.
To help solve these problems and increase flexibility in transmissions, extensible markup language (XML), a markup language based on Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), was developed. A markup language is a language that allows content to be provided along with meta-content such as style, syntax, and semantic information in a structured way. XML is termed extensible because it is not a fixed format markup language. HTML (hypertext markup language) is a fixed format markup language, defining one format. Rather, XML is a markup language which is actually a metaformat, a language which allows the user to describe other formats. This allows a user to design a markup language and then to express it in XML. Thus XML provides a flexible standardized data storage format that allows flexibility in format and thus can facilitate interaction between sender and recipient even in the absence of pre-agreement on a strict format. To accomplish this, XML uses a text based tag system similar to (HTML) to describe and store data in a structured manner. For example, a database entry for an employee record might be represented in XML format as follows:                <employee>                    <firstname>John</firstname>            <lastname>Smith</lastname>                        </employee>This XML data includes two kinds of elements—tag elements, which begin and end with angled brackets (e.g. start tags such as "<firstname>" and end tags such as "</firstname>") and data elements, (e.g. "John"). As shown, in an XML document, start and end tags can be nested within other start and end tags. All elements that occur within a particular element have their start and end tags occur before the end tag of that particular element. This defines a tree-like structure.
The example XML above includes data elements "John" and "Smith" but also includes information (in the tag elements) indicating that data element "John" is a firstname, and that it is also part, along with lastname "Smith" of an employee record. If a sender transmits this XML file, any applications that recognize XML would be able to read this employee record, retrieve the data and understand its components.
While XML does not require a recipient to know which file format is being used and the details of the file format, it does have drawbacks. First, the file being sent is extremely bulky due to the large amount of tag elements used to describe the data. In fact, XML files can average a size of 2-10 times larger than a normal data file. These larger file sizes slow down the transmission time of data being sent and also require longer processing times. Therefore, transmitting and consuming XML can be very expensive.
To balance the competing interests of flexibility with faster transmission and small file size, some techniques referred to as binary XML can be used. Although the different binary XML techniques may vary depending on the techniques involved, two features are common in each binary XML format.
First, binary XML formats stream binary values rather than character-based values. Second, binary XML formats "tokenize" the XML tags by replacing the tag with a shorter token. For example, a binary XML format could assign the following binary representations for the tags shown above:
1: <employee>
2: </employee>
3: <firstname>
4: </firstname>
5: <lastname>
6: </lastname>
The record shown above could then be rendered as:
1 3 John 4 5 Smith 6 2
(The numbers shown above would be rendered in binary form; indentation is not meaningful but merely used to enhance comprehension when the markup-language document is displayed.) The substitution of such token representations for the text based tag results in a compressed file can yield an XML file which may be one-quarter or one-third of the size of the original XML file. The tokenization of tags occurs either according to a certain pre-defined token/tag substitutions (known to both sender and recipient, known as a "static dictionary") or according to definitions which are sent as part of the file transmitted (such transmitted definitions known as a "dynamic dictionary")
Although the file size is smaller, there are still drawbacks to binary XML techniques. First, there may be redundant substitutions which make the technique inefficient. For example, if a number is used as a tag in an uncompressed XML file, it may be encoded to a different number and then must be decoded, for no savings in space but a cost in encoding/decoding, when using binary XML. In addition, the data, even when using a binary XML technique, is not fully compressed to the smallest file size because many tags are repeated. This can be illustrated by the case in which many data records which use the same tags are contained in a single XML file. In such a case, even though a text based tag like <lastname> may be replaced by a numeric value when encoded, there will still be multiple instances of the same tag being repeated.
Thus, there is a need for a technique to encode data more efficiently and into smaller file sizes.


An image processing device for correcting at least a portion of a face image containing a person's face, includes an image acquisition unit that acquires a face image, a region extractor that extracts a pupil region containing a pupil from the face image, a determination unit that determines a presence or absence of halation in the pupil region, a first template acquisition unit that acquires a first template image which is a correction template image, a reference color acquisition unit that acquires a reference color corresponding to the person from the face image, a second template acquisition unit that generates a second template image using the first template image and the reference color, and a correction unit that composites the second template image with at least the region in the pupil region where the halation occurred to correct the halation.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to image processing techniques for correcting an image having brightness defects.
Related Art
Color defects (such as the red-eye effect) where a person's eyes appear red when photographed, may occur due to the light from a strobe when the strobe on a photographing device such as a camera illuminates and takes a picture of the person. Numerous techniques have been proposed, such as revising the color tone to its original form to correcting an image including the red-eye effect. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-040230, for instance, describes a digital camera that extracts the region in the photographed image where the red eyes occur, and corrects the color tone of the extracted region.

Image processing device and image processing method


JPEG data is efficiently recompressed and transmitted to a remote color facsimile device. Before transmission of recompressed JPEG data, an anticipated transmission time is displayed for enabling the user to easily select the desired compression ratio. To generate recompressed JPEG, a Huffman decoder is provided for decoding encoded data and temporarily generates decoded data. Table generator multiplies the predefined quantization table values by the prescribed value to generate the modified quantization table. Intermediate data generator generates the intermediate data by dividing the encoded data by ratio n, which is derived by dividing predefined quantization table by the modified quantization table. Huffman encoder encodes the intermediate data to create new encoded data. Recompressed JPEG data includes the newly coded data and the modified quantization table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication device and a communication method that enables recompression and transmission of JPEG data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some conventional color facsimile devices adjust the JPEG compression ratio by selectively using quantization tables and are therefore provided with a variety of quantization tables. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-61068 discloses selecting a quantization table depending on the state of the used phone line in compressing a color image using JPEG and transmitting the resulting JPEG data to a remote facsimile device.
However, even a simple recompression of JPEG data involves a large number of quantization tables and requires that the entire compression procedure sequence be reversed to decompress the compressed image. Specifically, prior to recompression, the image data must be decompressed to restore the original image. Note that the decompressed data will differ slightly from original image data. Then, the most suitable quantization table has to be selected to perform JPEG recompression. Recompression performed according to this method is time-consuming and prevents efficient JPEG data transmission.

Color facsimile device with data recompressing capability


In a method for unified communication of a server, a baseboard management controller (BMC) receives a first packet sent by a server, and forwards the received first packet to a physical network adapter of the BMC using a preconfigured virtual network adapter, where the first packet includes first management data or service data. The first packet is sent to an external network via the physical network adapter. The virtual network adapter is further configured to send a second packet received by the BMC to a control module of the BMC, and the control module processes the second packet.

There are two approaches for server management, typically management by an out-of-band baseboard management controller (BMC) or management by an in-band service network adapter. When boards in a server are managed by a BMC, an out-of-band network is used. When a status of an operating system (OS), a status of a Peripheral Component Interconnect express (PCIe) card, or a like situation is monitored, an in-band network needs to be relied on. As a result, both an in-band network and an out-of-band network are present for server management.
Most mainstream software in the industry supports both in-band management and out-of-band management, which imposes particular requirements on networking of a user. A server needs to provide a dedicated out-of-band management network adapter for out-of-band management and provide a service network adapter for transmission of in-band management data. In addition, the service network adapter can also be configured to transmit service data. Therefore, in the existing management method, one set of management needs to occupy at least two network adapters, resulting in a waste of service network adapter resources of a server.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for unified communication of server, baseboard management controller, and server


A merchandise checkout system in which a first scanning device is brought into service at peak times to scan the bar codes of checkout items held by waiting customers in a checkout lane. Each first scanning device is preferably a mobile unit linked with a central computer tuned to a single transceiver frequency associated with each lane so that multiple scanning units may be placed into service simultaneously. Purchase information is transmitted both to a tote display screen for review by a customer and to a temporary holding memory of the computer, linked with the computerized cash register of a lane. A specialized bagging cart is described to assist a clerk during scanning. After the checkout items are totalled, a multi-part queue number-total/subtotal slip including a bar code readable by a second scanning device at a cash register component is generated and presented to the waiting purchaser for later presentation to the cashier. The computer memory is capable of storing multiple files of purchase information associated with each lane. The cashier is thereby freed to only scan the queue number-total/subtotal slip to verify and tender the payments of customers serviced by the first scanning device, thereby increasing throughput. The queue number-total/subtotal is retrieved from the customer before payment, whereupon the customer is presented with an enlarged, organized receipt.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a merchandise checkout system for increasing the speed of throughput at peak customer volume periods and, more particularly, to a system including a computerized cash register station and an interactive portable first scanning device. The first scanning device is brought into service by auxiliary store personnel at peak times to scan the bar codes of goods held for purchase by a waiting customer in a single checkout lane; upon scanning, the purchase information is transmitted to a temporary holding memory linked with the computerized cash register, whereupon a queue slip including a queue bar code (readable by a second scanning device at the cash register) is generated and presented to the waiting purchaser for later presentation to the cashier. The cashier handles his immediate customers in an ordinary manner and subsequently scans only the queue slips of customers serviced by the first scanning device to verify and tender only the payments of these customers, thereby increasing throughput.
2. Description of Prior Art
Every consumer is familiar with the problem and frustration of waiting in line at the checkout counter during store peak volume periods. Most working persons must shop or run errands on a weekend day or late afternoon weekday, thus contributing to the peak volume as well as cutting into needed relaxation time. So, it becomes particularly frustrating to the consumer when lines build up contributing to the waste of the consumer's time.
However, even the fastest checkout clerk is limited by the serial nature of ringing up goods being purchased, and therefore reaches a maximum throughput speed. Therefore, traditionally, the only way to increase volume of throughput was to open another checkout lane. However, this too leads to problems. Customers feel unfairly treated if the last customer is first in the newly opened lane, shopping carts are jostled about, registers must be opened with accounted cash drawers, no additional lanes may be available, and so on. Accordingly, an expedient and flexible means of itemizing a customer's intended purchases for later presentation to a cashier for tendering of payment is proposed herein.
Checkout systems directed at increasing throughput are found in the prior art. Of particular interest is U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,965 issued Feb. 28, 1995, to Bravman et al., which describes a two stage retail checkout system for use during peak customer traffic, in which a customer's purchase is first itemized and totalled by a specially adapted bar-code gun (referred to therein as terminals) and then payment is made at a base cash register. The description referring to Bravman's FIG. 8A and FIG. 9A notes a single payment station operated by a cashier for receiving customers from checkout stations equipped with terminals operated by a different clerk. As antifraud measures, a cart with a bar code is scanned to identify a purchase and a transaction bar code is printed on a sales slip having assorted security-related information identified, including the cart code. The sales slip and purchases are then taken to the payment station. The payment station operator scans the sales slip bar code for cart identification and balance due.
Unlike the present invention, the Bravman patent fails to include a two-part queue slip system wherein the queue slip must be tendered for acceptance of payment, before an itemized sales is provided by the cashier. Such a two-part system provides several advantages later described. Moreover, the Bravman patent further ties the cart code with the sales slip, requiring the specialization of shopping carts. The present invention may be applied as a retrofit device and method for use in preexisting shopping facilities without the need for specialized carts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,969, issued May 17, 1994 to Dickover et al. describes a cashier checkout system with a lane configuration including a first checkout module, having a first bar code scanner and a first conveyor leading from the first scanner to the first bagging area and defining a first lane for customers. A second checkout module, having a second bar code scanner and a second conveyor leading from the second scanner to a second bagging area is positioned as an adjacent second lane. A single cashier station is positioned between both lanes for the purpose of receiving payment only; the scanners are intended for use by customers who may scan simultaneously in each lane, thereby increasing throughput time by freeing the cashier to tender a previous customer payment. Such a system has numerous disadvantages, including reliance on the skill and honor system of scanning by a customer.
Other two stage checkout systems are also known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,270, issued Jan. 12, 1993 to Taussig et al. describes a two-stage retail checkout system in which a customer's items are first scanned by a specially adapted bar-code gun which is in direct communication with a separate cash register device by means of an improved internal interface, whereupon the customer moves on to a cash register to complete the transaction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,838 issued Aug. 22, 1989, to Okiharu describes a point of sale terminal for reading bar codes which can continue registration processing even if memory units containing price look up files develop trouble.
Portable or individually held bar code scanning devices are also known in the prior art, elements of which may be incorporated into the present invention. For example, each of the following patents, U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,183 issued Jul. 2, 1991, to Tymes; U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,106 issued Jan. 31, 1995, to Kumar; U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,009 issued Jul. 18, 1989, to Zook et al.; Pat. Application No. 199,252 published by the European Patent Office on Oct. 29, 1986; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,046 issued Sep. 5, 1995, to Swartz, disclose hand held bar code guns with various combinations of components including a visual display device, a numeric key pad, additional feature buttons, a means to print a preliminary receipt, a means to read a credit card, and external communication means and data downloading means.
In particular, the Kumar patent discloses a hand held bar-code gun which has a visual display, a numeric key pad with additional feature buttons, a magnetic card swipe, the ability to print a receipt, and wireless communication ability with a register. The Kumar patent suggests that such a device furnishes all functions necessary to facilitate a complete a point of sale credit card transaction. This patent, however, fails to teach the use of the gun for increasing throughput in the manner described by the present method, nor in combination with a computerized cash register or a queue ticket having a bar-code for scanning and retrieval of the pre-scanned merchandise. The Zook and Tymes patents describe portable handheld optical bar code readers using a radio frequency transceiver to wirelessly and interactively communicate with a remote computer system. Finally, the Swartz patent describes the use of an optical bar code reader on a field-portable housing on a belt or shoulder strap which communicates with a host computer, which may be a cash register, to provide retail price information which in turn is used to update labelling of inventory. The invention of the European Patent is also an optical reader with a printer directed at labelling. Each of these patents fails to teach a use for increasing throughput in the manner described by the present method, or a combination of readers with both a computerized cash register and a bar code readable queue ticket read by a second scanner at the cash register.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,524 issued Jun. 13, 1995 to Ruppert et al. and Publication No. 90/16051 of the World Intellectual Property Organization, dated December 1990, describe the use of personal bar code scanning devices for aiding shoppers to keep track of expenditures and speeding the process of check-out. Although information is first stored by the personal scanning devices and then downloaded to the store computer, the patent fails to teach its use in combination with a queue ticket for speeding the throughput when an existing line of customers is already present.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a merchandise checkout system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


Provided is a novel carbonization treatment method for carbonizing a biomass material containing a large amount of water at an extremely low temperature, and a method for producing carbonized biomass. A water-containing biomass material is carbonized while maintaining the biomass material under treatment conditions including an oxygen-containing atmosphere and a temperature range of 70° C. or greater and less than 100° C., without a drying step for removing or reducing the water forcibly. At this time, preferably the water content (percentage) of the biomass material at the start of carbonization while maintained under the treatment conditions is within a range of 40 to 80% inclusive, and preferably the biomass material is thus maintained for two weeks or longer. Further, as the biomass material, one material or a mixture of two or more materials selected from waste biomass materials and plant (cultivated crop) biomass materials such as food waste, livestock excrement, agricultural waste, marine waste, and forest waste, can be applied.

In recent years, a large amount of organic waste has been subjected to composting treatment or carbonization treatment and reduced to soil for use as a resource. Among such organic waste, livestock feces, raw garbage, and the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as "livestock feces, etc."), which are expected to have the highest resource recovery, are often in a so-called muddy state due to the large amount of water when generated. In particular, when the livestock feces, etc., is subjected to carbonization treatment and utilized as an agricultural or industrial resource, such a large amount of water becomes problematic, requiring a water reduction process. However, in a conventional carbonization treatment device, since the carbonization treatment is performed after waste containing a large amount of water has been dried to a certain degree by heating, the problem arises that the fuel used for heating is largely consumed, releasing a significant amount of combustion gas containing harmful substances, polluting the atmosphere, and the like.
In Patent Document 1, as a carbonization treatment device for reducing the fuel consumption required for carbonization treatment, there is proposed a device that comprises a drying part for decreasing the water content by heating the waste, a carbonization part for baking and carbonizing the dried waste, a dry distillation gas heating supply part for heating and supplying a dry distillation gas generated in the carbonization part to the drying part and a carbonization tube heating chamber, and the like.
In Patent Document 2 as well, as a device for reducing the fuel consumption required for carbonization treatment of a treated object, there is proposed a device that comprises a drying furnace for heating and drying the livestock feces, a hopper for supplying the livestock feces to an interior of a drying part, a carbonization furnace for heating and carbonizing the livestock feces dried in the drying part by an electric heater, communicated with the drying part, a dry distillation gas heating chamber for heating a dry distillation gas generated in the carbonization furnace by the combustion heat of the waste and generating hot gas for drying in the drying furnace, integrally provided with an incineration heating furnace that incinerates the waste, a hot gas supply passage that connects the dry distillation gas heating chamber and drying furnace and introduces hot gas from the dry distillation gas heating chamber to the drying furnace, and a dry distillation gas passage that connects the carbonization furnace and the dry distillation gas heating chamber and introduces the dry distillation gas generated in the carbonization furnace to the dry distillation gas heating chamber.
The carbonization treatment devices proposed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 utilize a dry distillation gas generated during the treatment step to reduce the consumption of fuel required for carbonization treatment. On the other hand, in the background art section of Patent Document 3, as means for decreasing the water content of livestock feces, etc., containing a large amount of water, there is described a method for decreasing the water content by applying thermal energy, air-blowing, or the like to the livestock feces, etc., and a method for reducing the water by mixing agricultural by-products such as sawdust, rice straw, and rice husks with organic waste.


A method of forming a component for a heat exchanger is disclosed. The method comprises machining a portion of a metal sheet to form a plurality of protrusions, and forming apertures in the portion of the metal sheet so as to form a plurality of ribs defined by adjacent ones of the apertures, wherein at least one protrusion is located on each of said ribs.

Laminate heat exchangers typically comprise a plurality of stacked plates. A plurality of pins extend between adjacent plates, to separate the plates, and additionally to aid in the heat exchange between the fluids flowing through the heat exchanger and between the plates.
Currently laminated heat exchanger parts are manufactured via the chemical etching of the heat transfer surfaces to form geometric features such as the pins.

Method of forming a component for a heat exchanger


A magnetic storage system includes a disk, a head, an actuator, a read channel, and a main controller. The main controller causes the head to read a data block of a selected track of the disk at each of a plurality of fixed offsets from a center of the selected track. The main controller samples a gain in the read channel a plurality of times while the head is reading the data block at each of the plurality of fixed offsets to obtain a plurality of gain samples for each of the plurality of fixed offsets. If the data block was written off-track with a non-constant offset, the main controller determines an approximate starting position and an approximate rate of change of an off-track deviation of the data block based on the plurality of gain samples for the plurality of fixed offsets.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to magnetic storage systems and methods and, in specific embodiments, to a magnetic storage system including a head, a read channel, and a main controller, in which the main controller obtains a gain profile by sampling a gain in the read channel a plurality of times while the head is reading a data block at a plurality of fixed offsets, and the main controller determines an approximate starting position and an approximate rate of change of an off-track deviation of the data block based on the gain profile.
2. Related Art
Magnetic storage systems, such as disk drives, are commonly used in computers and other devices for the storage and retrieval of data. Users of disk drives often store important data that would be costly to replace or recreate if lost or corrupted. Thus, disk drive reliability is of great importance to many users. In order to improve disk drive reliability, disk drive manufacturers have developed a considerable number of data recovery procedures that may be employed to attempt to recover data when a data read error is encountered. Despite the efforts of disk drive manufacturers, some types of data read errors, such as those caused by non-constant off-track write events, still persist that cannot be remedied with the related art data recovery procedures.
In general, related art disk drives comprise one or more disks for storing data, an actuator, one or more transducers or heads, and a servo controller. Each head is operable to read data from and write data to concentric circular tracks on a surface of a corresponding disk. The heads are attached to the actuator, and when a head performs a read or a write operation on a disk, the actuator is moved so that the head is positioned over a center of a selected track for the operation. The movement of the actuator is controlled by the servo controller based in part on servo information read by the head from embedded servo sectors on the disk.
Using servo information to position a head of a disk drive over a center of a selected track generally permits for satisfactory performance when the disk drive operates under vibration free conditions in which the disk drive is not subject to movement from external sources. Even under vibration free conditions, there may still be some internal factors that can cause misalignment of a head with respect to a track center. A non-exhaustive list of such internal factors is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,806 entitled "Method for Fabricating a Dual Element Head", and includes spindle run out, resonances and disk flutter, thermal track shift, head settling, actuator interactions, improper servo writing, and the like.
When operating in various environments, a disk drive may be subject to external forces in the form of vibrations or shocks. Vibrations may be caused by, for example, mechanical interactions between disk drives that operate on a same computer rack, and the like. When a disk drive operates under vibration conditions, an actuator on which a head is located may be caused to oscillate and, thus, the head may be positioned farther distances away from a track center. A shock event differs from vibrations in that a shock is typically a one time external force that acts on a disk drive and causes a head to be positioned far away from a track center. A shock may be caused by, for example, a strike on a disk drive, dropping a laptop in which a disk drive is located, pounding on a disk drive, movement due to a bad bearing in a cooling fan near a disk drive, tapping or pounding on a table on which a computer housing a disk drive is located, and the like.
When a head is positioned away from a track center, such misalignment may lead to an off-track read or an off-track write. An off-track read occurs when a head is positioned away from a track center during a read operation. When there is an off-track read, the head may be unable to read data, without an error, from the track. An off-track write occurs when a head is positioned away from a track center during a write operation and the head writes data away from the track center.
Some types of off-track writes have a constant offset from track center while other types of off-track writes have a non-constant offset from track center. An off-track write with a constant offset occurs when a write operation is performed for a data block and the data block is written at substantially the same offset away from a track center over an entire physical data sector. An off-track write with a non-constant offset occurs when a write operation is performed for a data block and the data block is written at a varying offset from a track center over at least some portion of a physical data sector.
FIG. 1 is a drawing that illustrates a non-constant off-track write event. In FIG. 1, the horizontal bands 30 represent data tracks that extend circumferentially around a surface of a disk. The vertical lines 40 represent spokes where servo patterns are written in embedded servo sectors for each track. The areas between spokes in each track represent data sectors where data blocks can be stored during disk drive operation. In FIG. 1, approximately four data sectors are shown between each of the spokes, but it should be appreciated that some disk drives may have, for example, around fifteen data sectors between spokes. Also, in FIG. 1, approximately forty-three data sectors are shown for each track, but it should be appreciated that a typical disk drive may have, for example, around one thousand data sectors per track.
The area that is circled in FIG. 1 shows a data block that has been written off-track with a non-constant offset in a data sector. As shown in the circled area, the written data of the data block goes up and moves away from a track center near an end of the data sector. Thus, the data block is written off-track, because at least a portion of the data block is not positioned near the center of the track. Also, the data block written off-track has a non-constant offset because the offset of the data block varies over the data sector. Such a non-constant off-track write event may have been due to, for example, a shock that caused a head to be positioned away from the track center during a write operation.
Related art disk error recovery measures have been unable to recover data blocks written off-track with non-constant offsets. In the related art, disk error recovery has been typically performed by proceeding through a list of data recovery procedures until a data block is either recovered successfully or the recovery procedures are exhausted. Such lists of data recovery procedures commonly include thirty or more data recovery procedures such as rereads, head shifts, routines with error correcting codes, and the like. Head shifts are reads at fixed off-track positions.
In the related art, when a read error is detected for a data block, some of the recovery procedures that are typically employed to attempt to read the data of the data block include head shifts at fixed positions. For example, data blocks that are written off-track may be read repeatedly at fixed servo positions away from track center, such as 6%, 12%, −6%, −12%, and so on, until the data block is either read successfully or the number of servo positions to be tried is exhausted without success. By positioning the head at fixed off-track positions, such data recovery procedures are able to read data blocks that have been written off-track with constant offsets. However, positioning a head at fixed offsets does not permit for reading data blocks that have been written off-track with non-constant offsets, because such data blocks do not have a fixed offset value throughout an entire data sector. As a result, related art data recovery procedures have been ineffective in recovering data of data blocks written off-track with non-constant offsets.
Related art data recovery procedures in which reads are performed at fixed off-track positions to attempt to recover data are disclosed in the following patents: (1) U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,162 entitled "Customized Data Recovery Procedures Selected Responsive to Readback Errors and Transducer Head and Disk Parameters"; (2) U.S. Pat. No. 6,771,444 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Implementing Adaptive Reordering of Data Recovery Procedure Steps in a Disk Drive"; (3) U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,210 entitled "Intelligent Sector Recovery Algorithm"; and (4) U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,084 entitled "Adaptive Off-Track Recovery".
As noted above, while the related art data recovery procedures are able to recover data blocks written off-track at constant offsets, they are not able to recover data blocks written off-track with non-constant offsets. Moreover, the related art has no way to determine whether a data read error is due to an off-track write before performing recovery procedures, and has no intelligence to distinguish between a constant off-track write event and a non-constant off-track write event. As a result, needless attempts are made to read data at fixed servo positions even when the data has been written off-track with a non-constant offset and could not be recovered by positioning the head at fixed offsets.
Thus, the related art procedures "blindly" position a head off-track at fixed positions in order to try to recover data, and a large number of retries are performed at different fixed off-track increments until either the data is recovered successfully or the recovery measures are exhausted. If the head shifts at fixed servo positions are not successful in recovering data, the related art continues to perform a number of remaining data recovery procedures contained in a list even when the remaining procedures cannot recover data blocks written off-track with non-constant offsets. Thus, the related art data recovery procedures have low intelligence, high redundancy, and require extended recovery time.
An additional problem with the related art is that related art magnetic storage systems provide no way to cause a controlled positioning of a head while the head is reading data from a data sector. The related art systems only provide for controlling a positioning of a head when the head is reading data from embedded servo sectors. With such magnetic storage systems, the head must remain at a fixed position while reading data from data sectors. Because the related art systems do not provide for causing a controlled positioning of a head while the head is reading data from a data sector, the related art systems are incapable of recovering data blocks written off-track with non-constant offsets.
In light of the above mentioned problems, there is a need for a magnetic storage system that can determine whether a data block has been written off-track, and that can determine whether an offset of a data block from a track center is constant or non-constant. There is also a need for a magnetic storage system that can recover a data block written off-track with a non-constant offset. Furthermore, there is a need for a magnetic storage system that can cause a controlled positioning of a head while the head is reading data from a data sector.

Magnetic storage systems and methods allowing for recovery of data blocks written off-track with non-constant offsets


An apparatus for forming curved structures comprises a plurality of pivotally connected sections, each section having a track portion, and a strap member adapted for slidably engaging the track portion of the sections such that the sections are movable to form a radius of curvature. A method of forming a curved structure comprises providing runners having a plurality of pivotally connected sections, each section having track portions, and each runner further having two strap members slidably engaging each of the track portions. The method also includes oppositely placing the runners in a curved position such that the runners are substantially aligned and attaching studs between the runners.

This invention relates generally to the field of construction and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to apparatus and method of forming a curved structure, such as curved walls or archways, barrel ceilings and round columns.
Straight walls are typically constructed using a runner attached to the floor structure, a runner attached to the ceiling structure (or free floating) and studs positioned between and attached to the runners. The runners and studs form a structural frame to which gypsum board, such as SHEETROCK, or other wall covering can be attached. The same principles generally apply to construction of other straight structures. The runners and studs are often formed of wood, such as 2.times.4's and 2.times.6's (approximate dimensions of boards in inches). Steel runners and studs are also used, especially in commercial construction as well as in some residential construction.
It is often desirable to construct curved structures, such as curved walls or archways, barrel ceilings and round columns. The principles for constructing curved structures are much the same as those for constructing straight structures except that the runners must form a curved shape.
Various products and methods have been used to form curved structures. One such product is demonstrated in a brochure entitled "The Flex Track.TM. System," sold through Flex Trim Group, a subsidiary of Burton Creek Industries, located in Bedford, Texas. This product consists of two flexible L-shaped brackets which together comprise a flexible runner to which studs can be attached. However, due perhaps to the product's design and/or flexibility, the strength of a curved structure formed using the Flex Track.TM. is inadequate.
A method of forming a curved wall is also illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,717 to Turner, which is incorporated herein by reference. Turner teaches the use of a tabbed support bracket as a runner. This produces a flimsy curved structure and provides no method to lock or fix the radius of curvature.
Another method of constructing a curved wall is shown in a U.S. Gypsum Company brochure entitled "Interior Remodeling Systems," incorporated by reference herein. This method involves cutting the leg and web sections of a standard steel runner at intervals for the length of the arc. Next, a steel strip is placed inside both runners and attached with fasteners. The runners are then secured to the floor and ceiling structure and studs are fastened to the runners. This method provides adequate strength but is labor-intensive and costly, especially in a commercial setting since many cement-piercing nails must be used to secure the runner to a concrete foundation.
Thus, there is a need for improved apparatus and methods of forming a curved structure which provide adequate strength, minimal labor requirements, cost efficiency and flexibility in application.

Apparatus and methods of forming a curved structure


A curve fitting method is used to synchronize a reader of embedded data in a media signal. A circular reference signal is embedded in the media signal. After geometric distortion of the media signal, the reference signal is distorted, yet still detectable. The amount of distortion is derived by detecting the reference signal, and applying a curve fitting method from which the distortion is calculated.

Digital watermarking is a process for modifying physical or electronic media to embed machine-readable auxiliary data into the media. The media may be modified such that the embedded code is imperceptible or nearly imperceptible to the user, yet may be recovered through an automated reader process. Most commonly, digital watermarking is applied to media signals such as images, audio signals, and video signals. However, it may also be applied to other types of media objects, including documents (e.g., through line, word or character shifting), software, multi-dimensional graphics models, and surface textures of objects.
Digital watermarking systems typically have two primary components: an encoder that embeds the watermark in a host media signal, and a decoder that detects and reads the embedded watermark from a signal suspected of containing a watermark (a suspect signal). The encoder embeds a watermark by altering the host media signal. The reading component analyzes a suspect signal to detect whether a watermark is present. In applications where the watermark encodes information, the reader extracts this information from the detected watermark.
Several particular watermarking techniques have been developed. The reader is presumed to be familiar with the literature in this field. Particular techniques for embedding and detecting imperceptible watermarks in media signals are detailed in the assignee's co-pending application Ser. No. 09/503,881 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,403 which are hereby incorporated by reference.
One category of data hiding methods embeds auxiliary data by quantizing samples or other features of a media signal such that the quantized sample falls within a quantization bin corresponding to a desired auxiliary message symbol. The message symbols may be binary or M-ary. Preferably, the modification made to the sample to move it into the quantization bin is constrained to stay within a desired perceptual distortion tolerance. This perceptual distortion tolerance enables the auxiliary data to be hidden in a manner that is imperceptible to the viewer or listener of embedded media content. One form of such auxiliary data embedding and reading is referred to as Quantization Index Modulation or QIM. Examples of this form of data hiding is disclosed in WO9960514A1: SYSTEM, METHOD, AND PRODUCT FOR INFORMATION EMBEDDING USING AN ENSEMBLE OF NON-INTERSECTING EMBEDDING GENERATORS and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,347; which are hereby incorporated by reference.
To read embedded data, the samples of content expected to include auxiliary data are evaluated to determine which quantizer or quantization bin they represent. Symbol errors may result when samples get mapped to a different quantizer or quantization bin relative to the one used to encode them. Error correction encoding tends to mitigate symbol errors if the distortion is not significant or does not impact the embedded data adversely.
Quantization embedding techniques may be performed on samples or other signal features in various signal or transform domains of multimedia signals. To reduce the impact of distortion, the embedding domain may be chosen such that samples in that domain are relatively robust or invariant to expected types of distortion.
A challenge associated with data hiding methods, including quantization embedding techniques, is synchronizing the reader with the embedded data after the host signal carrying the embedded data has been distorted, e.g., geometrically or temporally distorted. Such forms of distortion have the effect of distorting the quantization bins. Thus, if the same quantizers or bins are used to interpret embedded data symbols in the reader as in the embedder, the reader may map distorted samples to the wrong quantizer or bin. Additional types of distortion that specifically effect quantization embedding techniques include the addition of an unknown offset or multiplication by an unknown gain.
This document details methods of synchronizing embedded data readers in quantization embedding systems for multimedia content. In the embedder, a reference signal and message symbols are encoded using a quantization embedding method. In the reader, the distorted data samples are evaluated to derive quantizers or quantization bins. The reader then uses the derived quantization information to convert the distorted data to raw symbol estimates. These raw symbol estimates are then evaluated to detect the presence of the reference signal. Once detected, the reference signal is used to determine the distortion and compensate for it by adjusting the quantization information or distorted data such that message symbols may be decoded more accurately.
Certain forms of offset and gain distortion make it difficult to recover hidden data embedded in an audio or image signal by quantization techniques. To compensate for this offset and gain distortion, an embedded data reader analyzes a statistical distribution (e.g., a histogram) of feature samples in an audio or image signal suspected of having hidden auxiliary data to derive an estimate of quantizers used to encode a reference signal (deriving an estimate of the quantizers is equivalent to estimating the offset and gain distortions). The estimated quantizers then recover the reference signal, and the reader uses the reference signal to determine and compensate for geometric or temporal distortion, like spatial scaling and rotation of image data, and time scale and speed changes of audio data. After compensating for such distortion, the reader can then more accurately recover hidden message data using quantization techniques to extract the message. The reference signal is preferably repeated in blocks of the image or audio data to enable synchronization at many points in an image or audio data stream.
Further features will become apparent with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Curve fitting for synchronizing readers of hidden auxiliary data


The present invention is a method and apparatus for providing slew rate control. The apparatus comprises a first circuit and a second circuit having an output terminal that is coupled to a first end of the first circuit. The second circuit receives a first input signal and a second input signal. The apparatus further comprises a third circuit having an output terminal that is coupled to the first end of the first circuit. The third circuit also receives the first input signal and the second input signal. The first circuit generates an output signal having a predetermined slew rate, where the output signal has a first state when the first and second input signals are in a first state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits (ICs), and more particularly, to a method and apparatus of providing a programmable slew rate control output driver for an IC.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typical integrated circuits (ICs) include a set of output drivers for driving signals provided by internal circuitry of the IC through output pads onto output transmission lines, which may be individual lines of an output bus. A typical output driver includes one or more transistors connected to a power supply and ground. Gates of the transistors are connected to internal lines providing the signals to be output.
Because output signals are often used as inputs to subsequent logic devices, the output signals must have sufficient voltage and current to drive the subsequent devices. A common practice is to buffer output signals by using transistors to ensure adequate output signal strength. However, providing each output signal with its own output buffer and driver, supplied by a power supply can create noise problems when many outputs switch state at once. For example, when several output buffers switch from one binary state to another, the output buffers and drivers tend to draw significant current (even CMOS buffer and drivers tend to draw current when the buffers switch states), which in turn tends to cause, through the inductance of the package of the IC, significant noise from the switching of signals on the output conductors of the package. Moreover, the reference voltages, such as V.sub.cc and V.sub.ss, supplied on the IC tend to deviate from their normal voltage levels when many outputs switch state at once. These problems increase when the switching rate of operation for the buffers and drivers, or the number of buffers and drivers that are switching, increases; that is, when the frequency of the switching increases, more noise results and more deviations of V.sub.cc and V.sub.ss (from normal voltage levels) also results.
One current approach to these problems has involved the use of terminating or dumping resistors at the output of an IC. These dumping resistors are configured to reduce signal ringing problems. However, the addition of components to the IC reduces the signal quality and reliability. In addition, such terminating or dumping resistors are expensive to implement.
Accordingly, there is a need in the technology for an apparatus and method of providing a programmable slew rate control output driver for an IC to permit the designer or chip user to reduce noise, power consumption, or increase the speed of the IC, without sacrificing performance.

Apparatus and method of providing a programmable slew rate control output driver


In an air bag device, a diffuser 5 is provided with a partition wall 51 partitioning a space on a case opening side of the diffuser 5 into a passenger side and a side further from the passenger; a gas guiding passage 7 for guiding gas produced by an inflator 4 to a case opening 21 is formed on the side of this partition wall 51 further from the passenger, a folded air bag 3 is packed on the passenger side of the partition wall 51, and a case-side end portion 32a of an air bag upper part 32 to constitute the upper part of the deployed air bag is disposed so as to cover the exit of the gas guiding passage 7. As a result, the end portion 32a of the air bag upper part 32 is expanded first and the air bag subsequently deploys progressively and smoothly from this air bag upper part 32 side in a controlled manner.

This invention relates to an air bag device for protecting a passenger in a vehicle.
An air bag device generally has a case installed in a front panel part of the passenger compartment of a vehicle, such as an instrument panel or the middle of a steering wheel, an air bag received inside the case in a folded state, and an inflator, which is a gas generator. An air bag device is constructed so that in the event of a vehicle collision the air bag is inflated toward the passenger side by gas generated by the inflator and catches the body of the passenger.
To control the deployment behavior of the air bag in this kind of air bag device, JP-B-07090744 discloses an air bag device of which the case is disposed in an instrument panel so as to open upward, the inflator is disposed in the front side of the case, the gas delivery opening of the inflator is disposed in a position more to the front side, and a front side part of the folded air bag is disposed above this gas delivery opening, and as a result of this, when the air bag deploys, this front side part of the air bag is expanded first and the air bag is expanded progressively and freely thereafter.
However, when the gas delivery opening of the inflator is merely disposed nearer front of the inside of the case with a construction wherein a front side part of the folded air bag is disposed above this gas delivery opening as described above, the state of the part of the air bag positioned above the gas delivery opening varies depending on the state of folding and packing of the air bag and has an influence on the deployment behavior of the air bag. Consequently, there has been the problem that it is difficult to control the deployment behavior of the air bag.
In air bag devices of the kind described above, as the arrangement of the inflator and the air bag when the two are installed inside the case, conventionally there have been the series arrangement type shown in FIG. 23 and the parallel arrangement type shown in FIG. 24.
In the series arrangement type shown in FIG. 23, a cylindrical inflator 102 is disposed at the bottom of a case 101 which opens upward, and an air bag 103 is packed on the side of the opening at the top of the case 101.
In the parallel arrangement type shown in FIG. 24, a cylindrical inflator 102 is disposed in the side nearer the front of the vehicle of an upwardly opening case 101, i.e. in the side further from the passenger, and an air bag 103 is packed in the side nearer the rear of the vehicle, i.e. the passenger side.
In the series arrangement type described above, because the air bag 103 and the inflator 102 are disposed in a vertical direction, although it is possible to make the area of the opening in the case 101 small, because the whole of the air bag 103 is pushed out by the gas generated by the inflator 102 it is not easy to control its deployment behavior.
In the parallel arrangement type, because the inflator 102 and the air bag 103 are disposed in a horizontal direction, although the gas generated by the inflator 102 can be made to deploy the air bag 103 from the upper part side thereof, because the area of the opening in the case 101 is large there are many restrictions on the installation of the air bag device in a vehicle.
In the air bag device disclosed in JP-B-07090744 as described above, by disposing a front part of the folded air bag above the inflator, i.e. on the side of the case opening, it is possible to make the area of the case opening smaller than in the above-mentioned parallel arrangement type. However, when the air bag is simply packed extending from the case opening side of the inflator to the passenger side like this, as described above, depending on the state of folding and the state of packing of the air bag, good deployment behavior is not always obtained.
As the above-mentioned inflator, substantially cylindrical ones are known and are used in air bag devices such as those for passenger seat use. In recent years, substantially cylindrical inflators of a hybrid type, charged with high-pressure gas, have been being used. In an inflator of this hybrid type, because a gas blowout part is disposed at one end of the inflator, a diffuser is disposed between the inflator and the air bag to regulate the flow of the gas being fed into the air bag from the inflator. For example constructions such as providing one gas delivery opening in the middle of the diffuser to guide the gas into the middle of the air bag or making a gas delivery opening in the diffuser on the side of the gas blowout part of the inflator small and a gas delivery opening in the diffuser on the opposite side large to balance the amounts of the gas guided into the air bag flowing to the left and right are employed.
Thus, diffusers of the related art have been disposed in order to guide gas into the air bag uniformly in the width direction thereof, and have not positively controlled the shape of the air bag during its deployment by means of their gas delivery openings. Because of this, in air bag devices of the related art, to control the deployment behavior of the air bag, tear seams and tethers have been provided on the air bag itself, and consequently there have been problems such as that the package volume of the air bag is large and that the air bag is expensive.


A plural number of bridge circuits, each having a rectifier circuit with positive half wave control electrodes and a rectifier circuit with negative half wave control electrodes, and each of the plural number of the bridge circuits is connected to one winding of a power supply transformer; the rectifier circuit with negative half wave control electrodes selected from the plurality of the bridge circuits is electrically conducted when a predetermined the rectifier circuit with positive half wave control electrodes of the plurality of the bridge circuits is electrically conducted; the rectifier circuits with positive half wave control electrodes and the rectifier circuits with negative half wave control electrodes are connected by a plurality of loads.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram showing a known heating power supply apparatus according to a patent document 1. In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes a four-winding transformer; 2, 3, 4, and 5 denote thyristor rectifiers connected to secondary coils of the four-winding transformer 1; and 14, 15, 16, and 17 denote negative resistance loads connected to each of the thyristor rectifiers 2 to 5. Reference numerals 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 denote thyristor switches as semiconductor switches connected in circuits (lines), for connecting the thyristor rectifiers 2 to 5 to the negative resistance loads 14 to 17. The loads 14 to 17 have negative resistance characteristics; and therefore, a small current at high voltage is required at initial energization, and a large current at low voltage is required at final stage energization.
As shown in FIG. 17, the known heating power supply apparatus is provided with eight circuits of the thyristor switches for switching modes on the load sides of four circuits of the thyristor rectifiers which convert alternative current to direct current in order to realize an improvement in power factor with respect to the negative resistance loads and a reduction in installed capacity. In the process when the resistive load is reduced, energization is performed by switching conductive/nonconductive states of the thyristor rectifiers and the thyristor switches into three modes: in an initial stage, "individual energization to four loads"; next, "energization to two loads in series"; and in a final stage, "energization to four loads in series."
Particularly, as shown in FIG. 18, in a large current region at the final stage, energization is performed via the thyristor rectifier 2 and two thyristor switches 9 and 10, and the thyristor rectifier 4 and three thyristor switches 6, 9, and 13; and therefore, electric power loss of the thyristor switches is large. In addition, in the drawing, a dashed line represents a current direction; a black (painted out) thyristor of the thyristors represents an energized state, and a white (not painted) thyristor represents a de-energized state.
In the known heating power supply apparatus, the thyristor switches are provided on the output sides of the thyristor rectifiers to switch between series and parallel connection; and therefore, there is a problem that there causes an increase in electric power loss.
Patent document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-1017

Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation


A permanent magnet rotor comprising a rotor rim and a plurality of permanent magnet modules arranged on the outer or inner circumference of the rotor rim. The permanent magnet modules comprise a base adapted to be fixed to the rotor rim, one or more permanent magnets, and a central magnet support structure. The base and the central magnet support structure comprise a plurality of radial holes. The permanent magnet modules are adapted so that, when bolts are inserted in the radial holes to fix the central magnet support structure to the base, at least a portion of a first and a second surface of each permanent magnet remain substantially in conforming contact with a surface of the base and a surface of the central magnet support structure, respectively.

Electrical machines, such as motors and generators having a rotor with permanent magnets are known. They are generally deemed to be reliable and require less maintenance than other generator topologies.
Modern wind turbines are commonly used to supply electricity into the electrical grid. Wind turbines of this kind generally comprise a rotor with a rotor hub and a plurality of blades. The rotor is set into rotation under the influence of the wind on the blades. The rotation of the rotor shaft either directly drives the generator rotor ("directly driven") or through the use of a gearbox. Particularly for offshore wind turbines, direct drive systems employing permanent magnets are usually chosen.
Such a direct drive wind turbine generator may have e.g. a diameter of 6-8 meters and a length of e.g. 2-3 meters. Hundreds of magnets may need to be attached, e.g. by screwing or gluing to the circumference of the rotor. It will be clear that this manufacturing process can be cumbersome.
Furthermore, if one or more of the magnets is damaged and needs to be replaced, the access to these magnets can be complicated (especially with large size generators), such that maintenance can become very expensive.
This size and type of generator however is not limited to offshore applications, and not even to the field of wind turbines only. Generators of considerable dimensions that may suffer from the same problems and/or have the same complications may also be found e.g. in steam turbines and water turbines. Also relatively large permanent magnet motors may have the same or similar problems.
Examples of permanent magnet rotors that aim at dealing with the aforementioned problems may comprise a rotor rim and a plurality of permanent magnet modules arranged on the outer or inner circumference of the rotor rim. The permanent magnet modules may extend generally along an axial direction and may be of substantially constant axial-cross section. The permanent magnet modules may comprise a base adapted to be fixed to the rim of the generator rotor and a central magnet structure. The central magnet structure may comprise one or more permanent magnets, and a central magnet support structure acting as a flux concentrator. The central magnet support structure may comprise a plurality of radial holes. The base may also comprise a plurality of radial holes aligned with the radial holes of the central magnet support structure. Bolts or screws inserted in the radial holes may be used to fix the central magnet structure to the base. Once the permanent magnet module is assembled, a first surface of each magnet should be in contact with the central magnet support structure and a second surface with the base.
However, a problem may arise when such a permanent magnet module is assembled. As the bolts are tightened, the central magnet support structure exerts a non-uniform pressure on the lateral sides or wings of the base. As a result the base of the permanent magnet module may deform and stress concentration points or areas may appear. When the base is deformed, at least one side of the permanent magnets may become detached. Consequently, when the rim rotates, during operation, the permanent magnets may vibrate. Such vibrations may increase the noise levels of the permanent magnet rotor, may accelerate wear of the central magnet structure and may reduce the magnetic flux. Consequently, the effectiveness of the flux concentrator is compromised.
It would be desirable to provide a permanent magnet rotor in which the above drawbacks are at least partially solved.


A pressure control system allows gas to be evacuated out of a semiconductor process chamber at a substantially constant rate of mass flow. A gas line connects the process chamber to a vacuum pump. A controllable valve having a variable sized opening is positioned between the process chamber and the vacuum pump. A pressure sensor is in turn positioned between the valve and the vacuum pump, proximate the inlet to the vacuum pump. The size of the variable sized opening is regulated based upon the pressure in the gas line measured by the pressure sensor. The size of the valve opening is varied to maintain the pressure measured by the pressure sensor at a constant value. As a result, because the quantity of gas flowing through the gas line is proportional to the gas pressure, a substantially constant mass flow of gas out of the chamber and into the pump can be achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor processing and, more particularly, to pressure control systems for process chambers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many semiconductor fabrication processes, or processes for fabricating integrated circuits, require that the pressure within a process chamber be varied between relatively high and relatively low pressures. For example, a chamber might be at, e.g., atmospheric pressure, for loading a semiconductor substrate into the chamber and then the chamber is pumped down or evacuated to a relatively low pressure, e.g., a vacuum, for processing of the substrate. When pumping down a process chamber from the relatively high pressure to the relatively low pressure, the pump-down rate is preferably not so large as to cause undesirable turbulence, which can stir up particles within the process chamber or within the piping network attached to the process chamber. Such turbulence or stirring up of particles is undesirable because these events can contaminate or otherwise adversely affect the quality of the process results on the substrates.
To avoid such undesirable turbulence, a process chamber pump-down typically occurs in two-steps. First, the pump-down is started through a small orifice valve, a so-called "slow-pump valve," which, because of the small size of the valve's opening, limits the rate at which gas can exit the chamber. This aids in minimizing both gas turbulence and the stirring up of particles. After some time pumping through the slow pump valve or after reaching a particular chamber pressure, a large opening valve, or so-called "fast-pump valve," is opened to complete the pump-down to the low processing pressures.
In addition to preventing the flow of exiting gas from being too large during pump-down, another pump-down requirement is that the pump-down time is preferably as short as possible, to allow for a maximum utilization of the chamber for processing. These are, however, conflicting requirements.
A vacuum pump system for a two step pump-down according to the prior art is shown in FIG. 1. The chamber pressure 10 can be measured by three different baratrons, or pressure sensors, 12, 14, and 16. The pressure sensor 16 is used for measuring and controlling the pressure of the chamber 10 during processing and is designed to measure pressures in a range of 0 to 2 Torr. The pressure sensor 12 is designed to measure pressures in a range of 0 to 1000 Torr and is used to determine if the chamber has reached atmospheric pressure and if the chamber can be opened to load or unload substrates. Optionally, a third pressure sensor 14 can also be used to more accurately measure intermediate pressures in the range between the pressures measured by sensors 16 and 12, for, e.g., processing at those intermediate pressures. The sensitive pressure sensor 16 can be provided with a valve to avoid exposure of the valve to high pressures. In that case, the pressure sensor 14 is used to detect if the pressure is below a predetermined level (e.g., 5 Torr or 10 Torr) so that the valve that brings pressure sensor 16 in communication with chamber 10 can be opened and so that the valve can be closed when the chamber pressure increases above the predetermined level. The pressure of the chamber 12 can be controlled using an optional butterfly valve or other variable opening valve or by using a variable N2 gas ballast, all indicated by reference numeral 18. A pressure sensor 20 at the pump inlet 22 is typically used for safety purposes only, to detect unsafe pressure levels. Typically, this sensor 20 is designed to measure pressures in a range of 0 to 10 Torr.
The pump-down of the chamber 10 proceeds in an uncontrolled manner, as described above; that is, the rate of mass flow of gas out of the chamber 10 can vary continuously over the course of a pump down. Typically, a slow pump valve 24 is first opened. Then, after the chamber 10 has reached a particular pressure, a fast-pump valve 26 is opened to complete the pump-down of the chamber 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,139,640 proposes a method for pumping-down a process chamber in a more controlled manner, to decrease the amount of time needed to evacuate a vacuum chamber. That patent proposes providing a pump system with a mass flow controller (MFC) in a vacuum line. The process chamber pump-down is regulated using the mass flow controller to control the exiting gas flow at a constant value. Mass flow controllers, however, are additional and relatively complex and expensive components. Undesirably, their use increases both the cost and the complexity of processing systems. Further, mass flow controllers are susceptible to contamination and their use in a pump-down line can easily become problematic.
Accordingly, there exists a continuing need for systems and methods of pumping down a process chamber while minimizing gas turbulence and the stirring up of particulate matters.


The present invention provides a low-frequency mutation enrichment sequencing method for free target DNA in plasma, comprising plasma DNA extraction and library construction, general library TT COLD PCR amplification enrichment, probe enrichment capture, PCR and sequencing of captured products, and positive and negatice double-strand error-correction low-frequency information analysis.

In recent years, genetic test and diagnosis of free Cell-free Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA) in the blood of cancer patients has become a research hotspot. Studies have shown that circulating tumor DNA in the blood may become a new marker for early diagnosis, prognosis and accurate medical treatment of tumors. The detection of tumor markers in the circulating free DNA in the blood is carried out in a manner different from that of the detection methods of traditional tissue tumor markers, with the advantages of non-invasiveness, monitoring at any time and early screening. In addition, the sampling of circulating free DNA avoids the difficulty that current molecular diagnosis requires collecting cancer tissue as a source of specimen, and thus circulating free DNA is a promising tumor marker. However, in addition to free tumor DNA, there is also free normal tissue DNA in circulating blood, and the total amount of circulating DNA varies depending on individual difference, the occurring, developing and treating periods for tumor, etc. Furthermore, the frequency of ctDAN is often much lower than the corresponding frequency of cancer tissue, in particular, the abundance of ctDNA in the plasma from patients with early-stage cancer is even at the level of 0.01%. Therefore, accurate detection of low frequency mutations is the urgent problem to be solved in the clinical application of plasma ctDNA.
In order to effectively realize accurate detection of low-frequency mutations in plasma ctDNA and to fully exploit application potential, it is necessary to powerfully combine the techniques for enrichment and amplification with highly sensitive detection techniques. However, currently the related technologies such as preMiDTM, CAPP-Seq and Duplex Sequencing can only achieve the detection of low-frequency mutations to a certain extent, and its related practical application is still limited more or less. preMiDTM integrates three technologies, i.e. mutation bias amplification ARMS, fluorescence quantitative PCR and high resolution melting curve analysis (HRM), to achieve detection of trace mutation in plasma of non-cell system, but its detection sensitivity can only reach about 1%, and only for gene analysis of some hotspot mutations. Technological principle of CAPP-Seq lies in the combination of high-throughput sequencing technology and the target area capturing technology for use in plasma ctDNA, where samples are targeted and captured, and then subjected to deep sequencing, and filtration treatment is carried out based on the relevant data; this technique can obtain not only more information about gene mutation, but also can obtain results of low-frequency mutations having a frequency of 0.2% or more at a high specificity of 98%, however, it is still far away from early screening based on plasma ctDNA. Duplex Sequencing performs forward and reverse double-stranded error correction based on a UID (unique identifier) label, which can correct almost all types of sequencing errors with detected mutation frequency of 10−7, but there is a huge limitation to this technique, namely, it requires a sequencing throughput higher than conventional sequencing. Furthermore, with respect to high-throughput sequencing for plasma ctDNA to achieve detection of about 0.01% of rare mutations, huge sample requirement is also a challenge.

Low-frequency mutations enrichment sequencing method for free target DNA in plasma