An MRI system (100) is proposed (for generating one or more images of a body-part of a patient under analysis); the MRI system (100) comprises an injector head assembly (155), for injecting at least one medical fluid into the patient, having a clock unit (340) for providing a clock signal with a clock frequency. The MRI system (100) comprises means (420-425; 445-460) for adjusting the clock frequency in response to a manual command and/or to a detection of a degradation of the images. An injector system (155,165) for use in this MRI system (100) is also proposed. Moreover, a corresponding method (500) for managing the injector head assembly (155) is proposed. A computer program (400) for implementing the method (500) and a corresponding computer program product are also proposed.

The background of the present disclosure is hereinafter introduced with the discussion of techniques relating to its context. However, even when this discussion refers to documents, acts, artefacts and the like, it does not suggest or represent that the discussed techniques are part of the prior art or are common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure.
MRI is a well-established technique that is routinely used in medical imaging applications (for example, for diagnostic/therapeutic purposes). Particularly, the MRI technique allows acquiring visual representations (images) of body-parts inside corresponding patients (and then hidden by their skin) in a substantially non-invasive manner (i.e., without performing any surgery actions).
In general terms, the MRI technique is based on the exposure of a body area under analysis to a high magnetic field. As each body-part reacts to the magnetic field in a different way according to its morphological and/or physiological structure, by measuring a response of the body-part to the magnetic field it is possible to infer corresponding characteristics of the body-part (which may be used to create its images).
Preferably, one or more medical fluids are administered to each patient during his/her analysis. For example, a contrast agent (or contrast media) may be administered, possibly along with a saline solution, to enhance the response of a corresponding target feature, i.e., a structure with specific characteristics (such as a known lesion). The contrast agent then makes any portions of the body-part with this target feature more conspicuous in the corresponding images. As a result, the target feature (which might otherwise be hardly distinguishable from other nearby structures, for example, surrounding tissues) is highlighted in the images. This significantly facilitates the task of health care professionals (HCPs), and particularly the identification and/or characterization of lesions, the monitoring of their evolution or response to medical treatments.
The contrast agent is usually administered to the patient by injection. For this purpose, an (automated) injector system may be used. The injector system pressurizes the contrast agent and injects it into the patient under predetermined injection conditions (for example, at a specific flow rate and volume). In this way, the contrast agent may be injected in a controlled, safe and efficient manner.
Any MRI system has a high sensitivity to disturbing factors that might adversely affect its operation. Therefore, an injector head assembly of the injector system (to be placed necessarily close to the patient during his/her analysis) is resistant to magnetic fields and substantially MR conditional, i.e., it is designed to avoid, or at least largely attenuate, any known cause of interference with the operation of the MRI system.
Nevertheless, in very specific situations the injector head assembly may cause degradation of the images; particularly, the images may be blemished by artefacts in the form of anomalous lines crossing them (with some portions of the body-parts that also fade or disappear). These artefacts may appear after a relatively long lifetime of the injector head assembly. Moreover, the artefacts are highly sporadic; particularly, an incidence of the artefacts in the images changes under different operative conditions of the MRI system (for example, position of the injector head assembly, room temperature).
Therefore, the identification of a cause of the artefacts and its removal is challenging. Particularly, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to reproduce the artefacts during a design phase of the injector system. Moreover, generally it is not possible to track the operative conditions under which the artefacts appear in the field. In any case, the injector system may be used with a number of different MRI systems, most of them having operative characteristics that are mainly not publicly available.
All of the above may adversely affect a quality of the images and it may cause misinterpretations in the analyses of the corresponding body-parts (and then in the diagnosis/therapy of possible lesions thereof). Moreover, this is quite disturbing for the health care professionals and it may cause corresponding complaints (with a negative effect on a corresponding customer satisfaction).

Adjustable clock frequency in an injector head assembly for an MRI system


The present invention provides a disc player comprising one or more light sources that project a constant or pulsing light onto the upper portion of a disc being played by the disc player. If a constant light source is used, the a pulsing viewing port for the disc receptacle of the disc player is employed. The pulse frequency, pulse length, pulse period, pulse interval, pulse color, pulse intensity or a combination thereof of the light source or the pulse frequency, pulse length, pulse period, pulse interval, or light transmissivity of the one or more viewing ports can be synchronized with the rotation of the spindle or platen in the disc player, with the optical data stored, or with the rotation of an image precursor on the disc. When the disc is viewed through a viewing port while the disc is being played, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional discrete image is formed by the persistence of vision. The disc player can also include an anti-piracy system to prevent unauthorized playing of digital/optical disc content. The anti-piracy system includes a verification system and access control data. When permission granting information is obtained from the disc, the verification system compares it to the access control data and either allows or disallows the disc player to play the disc.

Disc and disc player manufacturers are always searching for new products that enhance the interaction between the user and the disc player. Disc players for playing optical storage and magnetic storage discs are available commercially from companies such as Timast™, Cello™, Harmon Kardon™, Onkyo™, Symphonic™, JVC™, Pioneer™, Sony™, Kenwood™, RCA™, Technics™, AIWA™, Philipps™, Classic™, Oritron™, Grand Prix™, Panasonic™, Toshiba™, Apex™, Samsung™, Zenith™, GPX™, Tozai™, WhiteWestinghouse™, Audiovox™, Curtis™, Admiral™ and others. These generally include CD, DVD, VCD and MP3 players. Generally, only the portable CD players include a viewing window to expose a small portion of the surface of a disc being played. None of the known disc players include a pulsing or flashing light illuminating the upper surface of the CD and forming a discrete image thereon while the disc is being played. The discs generally include some form of indicia disposed on or adjacent the upper surface and some form of information storage medium viewable and readable from the lower surface. Sometimes, the information storage medium forms an iridescent rainbow image when viewed from above or below the surface of the disc. However, when the disc is played in the player, no discreet two- or three-dimensional image is formed on or projected from the upper surface of the disc. The information storage medium generally stores machine readable optical information.
Rotating discs (not optical data storage discs) that form variable light diffraction patterns when viewed under a non-pulsing light are available from companies such as LIGHTRIX HOLOGRAPHIC PRODUCTS (San Leandro, Calif.). These discs, however, do not possess a machine-readable optical information storage medium and they are not adapted to generate a discrete 2- or 3-D image by the persistence of human image when placed in a disc player while the disc player is reading the stored information.
Piracy of music and video content is a significant problem in the entertainment industries. Hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue are lost due to illegal copying of the music and/or video content. A number of anti-piracy systems to prevent or reduce the ease of such illegal copying have been developed. Some of these systems employ code embedded in the storage medium of the disc or a bar code.
Accordingly, the prior art does not disclose disc players and associated optical discs that form one or more two- or three-dimensional moving or still images by the persistence of human vision on, below or above the upper surface of the disc while the disc is being played. The art also fails to disclose such as system having an anti-piracy subsystem included therein or integrated therewith.


A cab for a vehicle, such as an all terrain vehicle, a tractor, or small construction vehicle, is constructed of twin-sheet plastic panels that can be easily assembled, preferably with snap-together interlocking features. One of the panels can be a door panel having a door hinged to a door frame to control passage through a doorway. Both the door and the door frame have spaced apart hinge knuckles that interleave along a hinge axis to allow the door to pivot about a hinge pin. The door and door frame can be molded in a single twin-sheet panel. The two walls of the panel are fused together along the outer periphery of the panel door portion and the inner periphery of the panel door frame portion. The door is separated from the door frame by cutting the each of the walls along a door perimeter between the door and door frame portions of the molded panel. Preferably, the walls are not fused along the non-hinge sides of the door perimeter so that the walls can be cut in a manner to provide an overlap at the door/door frame interface.

There are many motorized vehicles used for utility or recreation that have no cab such that the rider and any passengers are exposed to the open air and thus subjected to environmental conditions and inclement weather, which are made worse by wind effects from the speed of travel. Lawn maintenance vehicles provide one example of such vehicles. Another typically cab-less motorized vehicle is an ATV. There are approximately 800,000 ATV's sold annually, about half of which are in the utility class, and perhaps 10 or so million of all styles of ATV's in use worldwide. The utility ATV's are used by sportsmen, for hunting and fishing, farmers, ranchers and in the construction and utility industries. Snow removal using an ATV is growing in popularity.
A cab would be a desired addition to such vehicles for many of these applications. The cab would provide protection to the rider from the elements. The cab would allow the rider to sit on the vehicle in a sheltered environment, while performing activities, such as ice fishing, with the vehicle running or off. At the same time the cab should provide ventilation and good visibility.
One concern is to make the cab rugged and durable so that it can withstand impact, from tree branches or rocks common in trail and off-road riding, without being two heavy. Another, concern is to make the cab easy to assemble (if necessary) and to make it easy to install and remove from the vehicle, which is another reason favoring the use of lightweight materials.
Large industrial or commercial equipment, such as some farm or construction vehicles, often have cabs, which are sealed and heated or cooled while the vehicle is operated. However, the cabs in such large vehicles are usually permanently attached to the vehicles, and regardless, they are typically made of heavy duty construction.
Golf carts and the like sometimes have some type of structure designed to protect the riders from the elements. For example, it is common for golf carts to have a plastic or fiberglass roof mounted over the seating area by four metal posts. A transparent panel can be mounted to the front two posts to provide a windshield, however, typically the rear and sides of the cart are open to the elements. Thus, while providing lightweight and perhaps dismountable structures, they are not well suited for the higher speeds of ATVs nor do they provide an enclosed interior for the rider(s).


A solid ink stick supply system and related method for delivering solid ink sticks to an ink jet print head reservoir is disclosed. The supply system includes a housing with a keyed plate that guides the ink sticks into the proper loading position in a supply channel. A pusher rod in the supply channel transfers an ink stick onto an endless belt for delivery to the print head reservoir. A push device on the endless belt engages and delivers the ink stick to the print head reservoir. A second ink stick is transferred from the supply channel to the endless belt and is retained on the belt by a stop device. A method for efficiently loading ink sticks into the supply system is also provided.

Ink jet printers typically utilize a variety of inks, including phase change or solid inks, which are sometimes referred to as hot melt inks. Phase change inks are solid at ambient temperatures and liquid at the elevated operating temperatures of an ink jet printing device. Phase change ink is conveniently stored, transported and introduced into an ink jet printer assembly in a solid form. Prior to printing, the ink is heated to a suitable liquid phase temperature. During printer operation, liquid phase ink is supplied to the print head at the proper temperature for ejection.
Color ink jet printers typically use at least one reservoir corresponding to each different color. Separate ink jets communicate with each reservoir for printing the various ink colors. An important consideration in the design of phase change ink jet printers is providing a substantially continuous supply of liquid ink at the ink jet print head from solid ink supply means.
Early solid ink jet printers used pellets of colored cyan, yellow, magenta and black ink that were loaded into shape coded openings. The openings fed the pellets generally vertically and downwardly by gravity into the heater assembly of the printer where they entered separate reservoirs corresponding to each color. In each reservoir the ink sticks were melted into a liquid state for jetting onto the receiving medium. Other prior art solid ink jet printers used a flexible web of hot melt ink that was incrementally unwound and advanced to a heater location, or vibratory delivery of particulate solid ink to the melt chamber.
Later more successful solid ink printers, such as the Tektronix Phaser.RTM. III, the Tektronix Phaser.RTM. 300, and the Jolt printer offered by Dataproducts Corporation, used differently shaped solid ink sticks that were either passively fed by gravity or spring loaded into a feed chute. Other ink stick loading systems have utilized a horizontal feed tray in which individual ink sticks are stored end-to-end. The ink sticks are advanced in the feed tray until they fall by gravity through an aperture into a print head reservoir.
While generally adequate for their intended purposes, the prior art solid ink supply systems have a relatively limited ink stick storage capacity and are typically mechanically complex. Additionally, phase change ink color printers are now being utilized to print on wide format (E-size) media of various types. These wide-format printers consume much larger quantities of ink per print as compared to the prior art solid ink printers for standard-sized media. Accordingly, this development has emphasized the need for a large capacity ink stick supply system that provides a substantially continuous ink flow with a minimum of operator refilling requirements and mechanical failures. To assure continuous and unrestricted delivery of ink sticks to the printer, and to reduce costly down time, it is desirable that the system include provisions to prevent the individual ink sticks from adhering to adjacent surfaces in the supply system or to one another. It is also desirable to provide a simple and efficient procedure for loading a large number of multi-colored ink sticks into the supply system. The loading procedure and the supply system should cooperate to assure that the correct ink color is provided to the appropriate print head reservoir.


A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a receiver coil, at least one transmitter antenna, receiver antennas, a signal selection unit and a processing unit. The receiver coil receives a nuclear magnetic resonance signal from an object as a reception signal. The transmitter antenna transmits the reception signal by radio. The receiver antennas are arranged to receive the reception signal. The signal selection unit selects a reception signal received by a specific receiver antenna. The processing unit reconstructs an image of the object from the reception signal selected by the signal selection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, a coil system for a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and a magnetic resonance imaging method which excite nuclear spin of an object magnetically with a RF (radio frequency) signal having a Larmor frequency and reconstruct an image based on a magnetic resonance signal generated due to the excitation, and more particularly, to a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, a coil system for a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and a magnetic resonance imaging method which transmit a reception signal received by a RF receiver coil to a signal processing system by radio.
2. Description of the Related Art
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatuses are used as monitoring devices in medical field conventionally.
An MRI apparatus is an apparatus which generates gradient magnetic fields in X, Y and Z axis directions by gradient coils on an imaging area of an object set in a cylindrical static field magnet for producing a static magnetic field, resonates nuclear spins in the object magnetically by transmitting RF signals from an RF transmitter coil and reconstructs an image of the object by using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) signals generated due to an excitation.
The MRI apparatus like this employs a reception coil composed of a plurality of element coils for receiving NMR signals. Nowadays, the number of element coils included in the reception coil increases. However, the increase in the number of element coils in the reception coil increases cable wiring for transmitting reception signals obtained in the element coils to a signal processing system, and wiring of cables connected to moving element coils are subjected to various restrictions.
To address the problem of various restrictions on the cable wiring, a wireless coil system is proposed in which reception signals received by reception element coils is wirelessly transmitted to a signal processing system (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-505361).
To reduce labor of not only cable wiring for a reception coil but also other various kinds of cable wiring work, a technique employing optical communications (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,322) or wireless communications (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. H03-085145) is also proposed.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,536 discloses a wireless technique in an MRI apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,288 discloses a wireless technique including a synchronous circuit in an MRI apparatus, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,791,322 discloses a wireless technique including a compression/extension circuit for improving a dynamic range by distortion correction in an MRI apparatus.
However, in known wireless coil systems, reception element coils are movable together with a table, whereas a receiver for wireless communications in a signal processing system is fixed. Therefore, the distance between a transmitter for wireless communications connected to each of the element coils and the receiver in the signal processing system varies depending on the position of the element coil, so that it is difficult to uniformly optimize the distance between the transmitter and the receiver. If the distance between the transmitter and the receiver is nonuniform, an SNR (signal to noise ratio) is decreased by signal attenuation accompanied by space propagation of a reception signal.
One approach to address the problem is a combined use of techniques of compression/expansion of an AM (Amplitude Modulation) signal, ACSB (Amplitude Compressed Single side Band), linear modulation, and/or other techniques to keep a sufficient SNR. However, this approach cannot avoid deterioration in a reception signal caused by signal compression with respect to a dynamic range required for an MRI apparatus and a complicated circuit structure.
Moreover, known wireless coil systems have no means for keeping a uniform spatial distance between the transmitter connected to each of the reception element coils whose arrangement varies with each imaging section, as described above, and the receiver in the signal processing system. Therefore, it is necessary to limit the arrangement of the element coils to suppress variations in the SNR. In addition, the variations in the SNR lead to image quality degradation.

Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, coil system for a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and magnetic resonance imaging method


A stencil composition processing apparatus for color printing comprises a contouring means which scans data of an original picture made up of multiple figures of different colors and detects the profile and color of each figure, a contact/proximity detection means which detects for each figure as to whether there exists any other figure of different color in contact with or close to a prescribed surrounding area of the figure, and a grouping control means which groups the figures into multiple groups each including figures that have different colors and are not in contact with nor close to each other based on data provided by the contact/proximity detection means and combines the figure groups so as to cover figures of all colors that make up the original picture.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus of data processing for stencil composition which is carried out at the perforation of stencil sheets with a perforating device (e.g., printer, word processor, perforating machine), and to a method and apparatus of perforation process.
Multi-color printing based on stencils will first be explained. Initially, the operator displays a picture (e.g., sketch, illustration, image) on the screen of a processor such as a personal computer. The picture may be copied from an original picture by means of a scanner, or may be drawn and colored manually on the screen.
The operator separates the picture into multiple figures of different colors that make up the picture by operating the processor through the keyboard and mouse device. This image processing will be called here "stencil composition". Subsequently, perforating operations equal in number to the separated colors take place to produce stencil sheets.
In an example explained in the following, an original picture is made up of figures of seven colors (yellow, gray, yellow-green, blue, light-blue, green, and brown), as shown in FIG. 19A. The operator instructs the processor to read out data of the original picture and display it on the screen.
For the picture displayed, the operator carries out the color separation for extracting figures, each having one color, by erasing figures of other colors, resulting in seven figures of seven colors as shown in FIGS. 19B-19H. From these figures, seven stencil sheets for seven colors are produced.
Subsequently, printing operations take place with the seven stencil sheets which are registered and supplied with inks of the respective colors, thereby producing a complete print of color picture. The reason for the use of separate stencil sheets for individual colors is to avoid the mixing of inks of different colors existing in contact with or close to each other in case these inks would be fed to a single stencil sheet.
However, the foregoing multi-color printing scheme is deficient in that increasing the number of colors necessitates the increased number of stencil sheets, the increased number of registering operations and the increased number of repetitive printing operations, resulting in an increased operator's work and increased overall print time.

Method and apparatus of stencil composition process for color printing


Described is an improved method, system, and computer program product for implementing an improved method and system for generating performance scores for employees. Also disclosed is an approach for ranking employees which avoids the complexity and excessive resources often needed to implement employee rankings.

The invention is directed to an approach for implementing scoring and performance ranking systems/methods.
Performance appraisals are generally used to measure and quantify the job performance of employees within an organization. There are many reasons for performing such appraisals of employees. For example, such appraisals are often used to document criteria for allocating organizational rewards, to form the basis for salary, bonus, stock grants and any other type of compensation allocation decisions, and to provide reasons for promotions or disciplinary actions.
There are many approaches that can be taken to undertake performance appraisals. A common approach to assessing employee performance is to use rating system whereby managers are asked to score an individual against a number of objectives and attributes. In some companies, employees receive only receive these rating assessments from their managers. In other organizations, such assessments may also be received from other individuals and entities, such as ratings from peers, subordinates, and customers.
One problem with conventional rating systems is that they are often at a very high level of granularity. For example, many organizations provide nothing more than a set of generic ratings for employees for individual categories encapsulated by terms such as "meets expectations," "exceeds expectations," or "needs improvements." While these are generic categories that are easy to understand and apply to employee ratings, they are at too high of levels to adequately provide specific ratings to employees. Organizations often want a more granular rating/ranking system than are provided by conventional approaches. For example, an organization might have 60% of the employee ratings in the middle positions, but still need to understand how people are ranked within that group. Even if these categories are converted into numerical ratings, there are difficulties in applying these ratings to compare different employees.
Therefore, an organization may wish to use a system of employee rankings to supplement its performance rating systems. Unlike a pure numerical rating, a ranking system will attempt to generate an ordered list of the employees based upon the one or more measures of the employees' performance or ratings. Ranking allows managers in an organization to rank their workforce from 1 to N, where 1 is the highest ranking employee and N is the lowest ranking employee. With ranking, it is easy to identify for example, the top 15% of an Enterprise or the lowest 5%. This then can assist in the compensation or promotion processes. Employees are usually ranked at all levels in the organization hierarchy with each manager ranking employees under them out of their total population. In such a ranking system, it is difficult to compare employee ranks obtained at various levels.
One way to implement a ranking system is where every manager provides a rank recommendation for employees that report to that manager. This recommendation is then submitted to his supervisor who repeats the step for his larger population. This process rolls up through the multiple hierarchical levels of the organization. At the end of this process, there will be a final ordering of the 1 to N ranks for the total workforce.
The problem is that typically, ranking is a very manual and time-consuming process. Within a ranking system, it may be very difficult to determine rankings for individual employees. One reason for this is because with organizations having high employee population levels, it becomes very difficult for managers to assign individual ranks to their employees. For example, a typical high-level manager may have many hundreds or thousands of employees within his/her hierarchical chain. Manually assigning ranks to hundreds or thousands of employees is a virtually impossible task for the manager, especially given that there are exponential complexities that must be considered for organizations that have many employees at many different hierarchical levels.
Moreover, the high level managers may not even have the time, knowledge, or correct level of perspective to be able to adequately rank individual employees—the high level manager may have personal knowledge of his direct reports, and perhaps even to a few more levels of reporting beneath his direct reports. However, at some point, the chain of reporting extends far enough away from the manager such that he will not have the proper level of interaction or focus to be able to individually know and compare the employees. Therefore, these managers almost entirely have to rely on the ranking by lower managers.
To address these and other problems, some embodiments of the present invention provide an improved approach for implementing employee scorings. Also described in some embodiments is an improved approach for implementing employee ratings and rankings. Other and additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention are described in the detailed description, figures, and claims.

Method and system for implementing a scoring mechanism


A method and apparatus for performing a function on an integrated circuit having a plurality of electrical contact pads is disclosed. The apparatus includes a substrate for performing the function on the integrated circuit, the substrate having a plurality of electrical contact pads and at least one electrical test contact pad. A centering housing encompasses the integrated circuit and centers the integrated circuit with respect to the substrate such that the plurality of electrical contact pads of the integrated circuit electrically connects with the plurality of electrical contact pads of the substrate. A test connector connects integrated circuit to the substrate. The test connector includes a body, at least one electrical pin positioned on the body for interconnection with external circuitry, at least one electrical test contact pad positioned on the cover for electrical contact with the electrical test contact pad of the substrate, and a flexible membrane positioned on the body for providing a force to the integrated circuit, thereby forcing the integrated circuit in electrical connection with the test substrate.

The present invention relates to circuit board construction. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for performing a function, such as burning-in, testing or programming on an integrated circuit.
For years, it has been customary to employ printed circuit boards or printed circuit assemblies as media for mechanically holding electronic components and providing operative electrical connections between the components. Typically, printed circuit boards or printed circuit assemblies comprise an insulating substrate or layer upon which a layer of conductive metal was deposited or bonded. The metal coating layer was etched by a chemical process to form a predetermined pattern of conductive traces on the surfaces of the substrate. Alternatively, the conductive traces were deposited onto the insulator using selective deposit techniques, such as masks. These electrical conductive traces could be formed on both sides of the substrate to allow conductors to cross without coming in contact with one another. A plurality of vias or plated through holes were formed through the metal layers and the insulating substrate and were positioned to receive leads from the electronic components.
As circuit board technology developed, designers began to create circuit boards comprising many alternating insulating substrate and conductive layer pairs, resulting in sandwiched circuit boards that could accommodate a higher component density. In addition, surface mount technology allowed the leads to be soldered to solder pads on the surface of the circuit board, rather than requiring the leads to pass through and be soldered to through holes.
Electronic components themselves also underwent changes to accommodate higher density. First, integrated circuits were originally placed in dual in-line packages, each consisting of an elongated plastic or ceramic body encapsulating the integrated circuit and a plurality of electrical leads coupled to the integrated circuit and arranged in a series extending from the two long edges of the body. The leads could either be through hole soldered or surface mounted. However, the number of leads that a dual in-line package could accommodate was a function of the length of the dual in-line package body edges. Later, packages were provided having leads extending from all four edges of the body. However, the number of leads was still a function of the perimeter of the body edges.
In a further effort to increase lead density, designers developed quad-flat packs comprising generally square bodies having leads extending downward from the lower surface of the body. The leads were typically arranged in multi rows and columns, allowing the quad-flat packs to accommodate more pins than dual in-line packages. However, limitations in socket size and collective lead insertion force began to be problematic.
Presently, designers are focusing on ball grid array packaging wherein leads are replaced with a finely pitched matrix of conductive contact surfaces on the lower surface of an otherwise conventional body. The circuit board to which a ball grid array package is to be mounted is conventionally provided with a matrix of corresponding surface mounted flat pad structures upon each of which is deposited a small quantity of solder. To mount the ball grid array package to the circuit board, the ball grid array package is temporarily clamped to the board and the board is heated, causing the solder to melt fusing the corresponding surfaces together and yielding a strong mechanical and electrical connection when cooled.
Ball grid array packaging provides a powerful tool in the further miniaturization of computers. However, systems designed to burn-in, test or program the components are lagging in technology. Thus, there is a continuing need for a system which is capable of testing, burning-in, or programming an integrated circuit.

Method of performing an operation on an integrated circuit

General Dynamics Information Systems, Inc.


An athletic pants having a body joined to a waist band and legs. A cup pouch accommodating a jock cup is releasably connected to the waist band for adjusting the location of the cup pouch relative to the parts. Knee supports secured to the legs have cushions to protect a person's knees.

Greek and Roman legionnaires used body armor as protective covering as a defense against weapons and projectiles. This armor included breast, hip and leg members to protect the body and legs of legionnaires. Body armor is presently in use by the police and military. Protective sport garments are used in contact sports, such as baseball, softball, hockey, soccer, football and rugby. These garments include sport pants and trousers having jock cups and pads for protection from impacting forces from balls, sticks and player contact. Examples of protective sport garments are discloses in the following U.S. Patents.
W. T. Stall in U.S. Pat. No. 759,833 discloses a padded garment comprising a trouser having a plurality of pads permanently secured to the outer surface of its body and legs. The inner surface of the trouser is smooth and adapted to fit the wearer without irritation due to the pads. The pads include left and right thigh pads permanently secured to the materials of the trouser legs with stitching.
J. W. Atack et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035 discloses a trouser undergarment made of elastic stretchable material designed to fit the contours of the body of a person. Auxiliary pockets at the knees and thighs accommodate padding. The thigh pockets are stitched only on three sides with the top open to permit the insertion of padding.
W. L. Hull in U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,123 discloses a knee-pad having a flexible pad member attached above and below a person's knee. The pad member is attached to the legs of pants with releasable fasteners or straps having releasable connectors.
J. T. Ross in U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,726 discloses a sport pants having a trunk and legs of elastic stretchable material with hip and knee pockets for accommodating pads of resilient closed cell foam material which are removable and replaceable in the pockets for protection of the wearer. The front of the pants has a pocket for a pad or cup. The sport pants is washable underwear with padding to mitigate scrapes and bruises in athletic competition and games.
D. C. Strickland and M. T. Cheatwood in U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,222 discloses an athletic garment with guard members to protect the athletic inner thighs. The legs of the garment have pockets on the inside of the thigh portions of the garment's legs for holding pads. The pads are flexible so that they will conform to the shape of the thigh and bend when the athlete moves. In use, the pads absorb impact and shock forces of a ball or other blow to the inner thigh during sport activities. The pads are not removable from the pockets. The positions of the pads relative to the legs of the garment are not adjustable, as the pads are in fixed positions within the pockets.
The objects and advantages of the invention are embodied in the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiments of the athletic garment with adjustable jock cup pouches and padded knee supports.


In a method and apparatus for optically measuring an angle between the positions of components relative to each other, such as the wheels of a motor vehicle, in a vertical plane, light beams are directed along the sides of the angle to be measured. One light beam which is directed along one side of the angle is maintained in respect of its direction, while the light beam directed along the other side of the angle is deflected by the effect of the force of gravity.

The invention generally concerns procedures for the optical measurement of an angle defined by the positions of components relative to each other, for example the positions of the wheels on a motor vehicle, more particularly in a vertical plane, using light beams.
Thus for example when measuring camber angles in respect of motor vehicle wheels, the requirement involved is that of determining the angle of the central plane of the wheel, relative to the vertical plane.

Method and apparatus for the optical measurement of an angle between positions of components relative to each other


Compositions of human proteins, methods and regimens for reducing the occurrence and growth of skin cancer, including melanoma, are provided. The methods include steps of administering topically on the skin tumor or a skin cancer-free area of compositions containing therapeutically effective amounts of human alkaline phosphatase, transferrin and α1-antitrypsin. In some embodiments, the composition is topically administered and includes all three proteins. Alkaline phosphatase, alone or in combination with transferrin and α1-antitrypsin can also be administered by injection with or without simultaneous or sequential topical administration. Administration of compositions topically and/or by injection can be part of a more complex cancer therapy including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, and electrochemotherapy.

Over a lifetime there is an increasing potential for the development of skin cancer. It is estimated that over the lifetime 20% of United States population will develop skin cancer. A major external risk factor is sunlight. While basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas represent the majority of skin cancer cases, the leading cause of death due to skin cancer is malignant melanoma. There were 51,400 cases of melanoma in the United States in 2001, with 7800 deaths. The cure rates for basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas in developed countries is around 90% or higher. The prognosis for melanoma is less favorable; taking all age groups together, a little over 50% of patients with stage 1 disease (early stage disease) will survive 5 years free of recurrence. However, patients with disseminated disease have a median survival of less than 6 months. Clearly, of the various forms of skin cancers, malignant melanoma is the one that is the most dangerous.
Currently, the treatment of melanoma consists of local excision with a 0.5-1 cm surgical margin often associated with regional lymph node dissection. Other therapies, often combined with surgery, include radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy (dendritic cells and immune vaccines), biological response modifiers (such as interleukin-2) and hypothermia. The treatment for other skin cancers consists of mainly surgical excision; other treatments include electrocautery and curettage, chemosurgery, cryosurgery, radiotherapy and topical chemotherapy. Each technique has advantages and disadvantages as listed in a recent article [Martinez, J.-C. and Otley, C. C. (2001), "The management of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer: A review for the primary care physician," Mayo Clin. Proc. 76, 1253-1265]. Unlike many other cancers, malignant melanoma is notoriously resistant to chemotherapy. Also, while there is some evidence that melanoma may be treated with immune therapy, so far various vaccine therapies, cytokine therapy, or immune cell therapy (such as dendritic cell therapy) have met only with limited success. For example, in advanced melanoma cases only modest antitumor effects were reported with high doses of interferon (IFN)-α2b and interleukin-2, while several other cytokines were ineffective [Atkins, M. B., Elder, D. E., Essner, R., Flaherty, K. T., Gajewsky, T. F., Haluska, F. G., Hwu, P., Keilholz, U., Kirkwood, J. M., Mier, J. W., Ross, M. I., Slingluff, C. L., Sondak, V. K., Sosman, J. A., Weinstock, M. A. and King, L. (2006), "Innovations and challenges in melanoma: Summary statement from the first Cambridge conference," Clin. Cancer Res. 12 (7 Suppl), 2291s-2296s; Atkins, M. B. (2006), "Cytokine-based therapy and biochemotherapy for advanced melanoma," Clin. Cancer Res. 12 (7 Suppl), 2353s-2358s]. Furthermore, some cytokines, particularly interleukin-1β (IL-1β), actually promote tumor growth and metastasis [Elaraj, D. M., Weinreich, D. M., Varghese, S., Puhlmann, M., Hewitt, S. M., Carroll, N. M., Feldman, E. D., Turner, E. M. and Alexander, H. R. (2006), "The role of interleukin 1 in growth and metastases of human cancer xenografts," Clin. Cancer Res. 12, 1088-1096].
Another cytokine that can induce apoptotic cell death is tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) normally produced by macrophages, T lymphocytes and endothelial cells upon inflammatory stimuli [Varfolomeev, E. E. and Ashkenazi, A. (2004), "Tumor necrosis factor: an apoptosis juNKie?," Cell 116, 491-497]. As it was recently reviewed [Bennloch, M., Mena, S., Ferrer, S., Obrador, E., Asensi, M., Pellicer, J. A., Carretero, J., Ortega, A. and Estrela, J. M. (2006), "Bcl-2 and Mn-SOD antisense oligodeoxynucleotides and glutamine-enriched diet facilitate elimination of highly resistant B16 melanoma cells by tumor necrosis factor-α and chemotherapy," J. Biol. Chem. 281, 69-79], recombinant TNF-α can induce hemorrhagic necrosis and regression of tumors including melanoma, and it is being utilized for the treatment of patients with locally advanced solid tumors. Unfortunately, delivery of optimal doses of TNF-α is associated with severe toxicity that restricts its administration to sub-optimal doses.
In view of the increasing incidence of skin cancer and the difficulty to treat disseminated melanoma, a large segment of the population would benefit from the use of an agent or a combination of agents capable of inhibiting early stage melanoma and reducing or preventing the occurrence of skin cancer. In order to avoid side effects and simplify the treatment, such agent(s) should preferably act locally on the skin. Presently no effective local treatment can be offered to prevent skin cancer or to treat melanoma patients. Pre-clinical studies performed by others suggest that locally applied inhibitors of Akt kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase may be introduced into the clinical practice at some future date [Bedogni, B., O'Neill, M. S., Welford, S. M., Bouley, D. M., Giaccia, A. J., Denko, N. C. and Powell, M. B. (2004), "Topical treatment with inhibitors of the phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase/Akt and Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathways reduces melanoma development in severe combined immunodeficient mice," Cancer Res. 64, 2552-2560].

Alkaline phosphatase compositions to reduce skin cancer


Multi-wavelength light is inputted to an erbium-doped fiber as an optical amplification medium. Pump light is supplied to this erbium-doped fiber. When a transition from a state signal light on the short wavelength area in the multi-wavelength is input in the erbium-doped fiber to a state the signal light is not input, the output power of signal light on the long wavelength area in the multi-wavelength light can vary. The wavelength of pump light is selected in such a way that the output power of the signal light on the long wavelength area can not be negative when the power varies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical amplifier used in a WDM (wavelength division multiplex) transmission system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, along with the development of Internet technology, the amount of information to be transmitted through networks has been rapidly increasing. Therefore, particularly in trunk-line optical transmission systems, both a larger capacity and flexible network formation of transmission lines are required. As one of the most effective methods meeting these requirements, a WDM (wavelength division multiplex) transmission system has been commercialized. The wavelength-division multiplex transmission system is a technology to simultaneously transmitting a plurality of signals through an optical fiber and it can be implemented by multiplexing signal light with a plurality of different wavelengths. In North America and the like, the commercialization of the wavelength-division multiplex transmission system has already been promoted.
For an optical amplifier used in the wavelength-division multiplex transmission system, at present, a rare earth-doped fiber optical amplifier is the most popular in use. The rare earth-doped fiber optical amplifier provides optical amplification by adding a rare earth element to an optical fiber. For example, an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier (EDFA) is widely known. Since the rare earth-doped fiber optical amplifier has a wide gain band and can collectively amplify multi-wavelength light, the amplifier is widely used as a key component for implementing the wavelength-division multiplex transmission system.
Although conventionally the erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier amplified mainly a band of 1530–1565 nm called a "C-band (conventional band)", recently one for amplifying a band of 1570–1610 nm called an "L-band (long wavelength band)" is being developed. At present, a wavelength-division multiplex transmission system using an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier can multiplex approximately 200 waves (channels) by using both C-band and L-band together.
In the design of an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier, an inversion population ratio (or inversion population density) must be appropriately chosen so that the gain of each piece of signal light multiplexed in a wavelength band may be constant. The design method of an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier is briefly described below.
FIG. 1 shows the wavelength dependence of the gain coefficient of an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier, where the inversion population ratio of erbium is used as a parameter. The inversion population ratio is the ratio of the number of erbium elements transisting to an excitation state, to the total number of erbium elements added to an optical fiber. The gain coefficient is a gain obtained by a unit length of erbium-doped fiber. Therefore, input light is amplified in an area where a gain coefficient is positive, while the power of input light degrades in an area where the coefficient is negative.
As shown in FIG. 1, the gain of an erbium-doped fiber depends not only on the wavelength, but also on the inversion population ratio. Specifically, the larger the inversion population ratio, the larger the gain. The smaller the inversion population ratio, the smaller the gain. The following is known from the characteristic shown in FIG. 1.    (1) Since in the case of amplifying the C-band collectively, the gain-wavelength characteristic of the signal band must be flat, it is preferable for the inversion population of an erbium-doped fiber to be approximately "0.7". If the inversion population ratio is "0.7", a fairly large gain coefficient can be obtained. Therefore, the erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier for amplifying the C-band can secure a sufficient gain by using a fairly short optical fiber.    (2) Since in the case of amplifying the L-band collectively, the gain-wavelength characteristic of the signal band must be flat, it is preferable for the inversion population of an erbium-doped fiber to be approximately "0.4". If the inversion population ratio is "0.4", the gain coefficient is fairly small. Therefore, in order to make the gain of the L-band equivalent to the gain of the C-band, the fiber length of an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier for amplifying the L-band must be longer to some degree.
FIG. 2 shows the basic configuration of an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier for amplifying the L-band. This optical amplifier is often called a gain shift type erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier. The amplifier comprises an erbium-doped fiber 1 as an optical amplification medium, optical isolators 2-1 and 2-2, a wavelength-division multiplexer (ex. WDM coupler) 3 and a pump light source 4. Multi-wavelength light inputted from a transmission line is inputted to the erbium-doped fiber 1 through the optical isolator 2-1 and the WDM coupler 3. Here, pump light generated by the pump light source 4 is supplied to the erbium-doped fiber 1. Therefore, the multi-wavelength light is amplified by the erbium-doped fiber 1. Then, the amplified multi-wavelength light is outputted through the optical isolator 2-2. The configuration of an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier for amplifying the C-band is basically the same as this amplifier for amplifying the L-band. However, the lengths of the two optical fibers as optical amplification media are different.
In this optical amplifier, the output power of the pump light source 4 is, for example, controlled by a feedback system for maintaining the output power of multi-wavelength light constant. Specifically, a part of multi-wavelength light outputted from the erbium-doped fiber 1 is guided to a control circuit 12 by an optical splitter 11. Then, this control circuit 12 controls the pump light source 4 in such a way that received multi-wavelength light can be maintained at a specific level.
In a wavelength-division multiplex transmission system, a communications channel can be set for each wavelength. Therefore, the configuration of a transmission system can be flexibly modified without installing a new optical fiber or changing the connection between optical fibers. To establish a flexible transport network, an optical communications system for add/drop an optical signal with a specific wavelength in a plurality of multiplex optical signals with a plurality of different wavelengths must be implemented.
However, when one of signal light among a plurality of signal lights in the L-band is turned off, the gain of the erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier for remaining signals varies. Specifically, if signal light on the short wavelength area in the L-band is turned off, the optical power of signal light on the long wavelength area in the L-band outputted from the erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier is lowered compared with that obtained when the signal light on the short wavelength area described above is inputted. In this case, the optical power of the remaining signal light on the long-wavelength area is lowered 10 dB or more, depending on conditions. Therefore, if this phenomenon occurs, there is a possibility that a receiver cannot receive the remaining signal light on the long wavelength area, which is a problem.
It is considered that this phenomenon is due to the fact that signal light on the short wavelength area in the L-band works as the pump light for signal light on the long wavelength area. In the following description, this phenomenon is called "output power changing phenomenon" or "deviation".
The deviation can be theoretically solved by the feedback system shown in FIG. 2. Specifically, when the output optical power of an erbium-doped fiber 1 is lowered, increasing the power of the pump light source 4 by the control circuit 12 compensates for the deviation. However, in order to compensate for the deviation, a feedback system with a response speed in units of micro-seconds must be prepared, the implementation of which is difficult. Even if such a feedback system can be implemented, the stability of a control system would be a problem. Since this method aims to compensate for the deviation caused in an optical amplification medium by pump light feedback control, this cannot be a fundamental solution from the viewpoint of the optical static characteristic of an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier. Specifically, this method cannot avoid deviation itself.
In order to avoid the deviation, there is, for example, a configuration to shorten the fiber length of an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier. However, if the fiber length is shortened, as described with reference to FIG. 1, a sufficient gain can not be obtained. In order to obtain a sufficient gain with a short fiber, higher inversion population ratio is required. However, a gain varies depending on a wavelength in a case where the inversion population ratio is changed, each signal multiplexed in the multi-wavelength light cannot be amplified by a same gain.
As another solution, there is a configuration in which a plurality of short erbium-doped fibers are connected in series. However, since in this configuration, the pump light source must be prepared for each erbium-doped fiber, it is difficult to implement the miniaturization and low cost of an optical amplifier.
This problem can occur not only in an erbium-doped fiber optical amplifier, but also in optical amplifiers in other forms.

Optical amplifier for amplifying multi-wavelength light


A system for supplying LNG fuel includes a fuel supplying line connected from an LNG storage tank to an engine, a boosting pump provided on the fuel supplying line and configured to pressurize LNG outputted from the LNG storage tank and cool down in a standby mode, a high pressure pump configured to pressurize the LNG outputted from the boosting pump to high pressure, and a return line connected between the LNG storage tank and the high pressure pump, in which the LNG is returned through the return line.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a system for supplying LNG fuel and a method of operating the same.
A ship is a transport vehicle for sailing across the ocean, carrying bulk of minerals, crude oil, natural gas, several thousands of containers, etc. A ship is made of steel and moves by propulsion generated through the rotation of a propeller when it is floating on a water plane by buoyancy.
A ship generates propulsion by driving an engine. The engine moves a piston using a gasoline or diesel and rotates a crankshaft by a reciprocating motion performed by the piston, so that a shaft connected to the crankshaft rotates to drive the propeller.
However, recently, a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier is using LNG fuel supplying method of driving an engine using LNG as a fuel. This LNG fuel supplying method has also been used in other ships in addition to the LNG carrier.
It is generally known that LNG is clean fuel and LNG deposits are greater than oil reserves. LNG consumption has surged with development of a mining technique and a transporting technique. Methane, which is the main component of LNG, is generally kept in a liquid state at a temperature of −162° C. or less under 1 atmospheric pressure. The volume of the liquefied methane is approximately 1/600 of that of methane in a gaseous state as the standard state, and the specific gravity of the liquefied methane is 0.42, which is about half of the specific gravity of the crude oil.
However, the temperature and the pressure, etc. for driving the engine may be different from the state of LNG stored in a tank.
Accordingly, research and development of a technique for supplying LNG to an engine by controlling the temperature and the pressure, etc. of the stored LNG in a liquid state has continued.

System for supplying liquefied natural gas fuel and method of operating the same


An extended hold potato product comprising cut potatoes having a starch-based coating, the coating including corn starch, corn flour, and low solubility dextrin. In a preferred embodiment, the starch-based coating further includes rice flour, sodium chloride, and sodium acid pyrophosphate. After finish preparation, the potato product retains a generally crisp outer surface texture for an extended period of time. A process for preparing a potato product having an extended hold time comprises (a) washing, cutting, and blanching raw potatoes, (b) partially drying surfaces of the potatoes, (c) applying an aqueous starch-based slurry to the potatoes, the aqueous slurry including corn flour, corn starch, low solubility dextrin, and water, and then (d) parfrying and freezing the coated potatoes.

Methods for preparing and applying coatings to the outer surfaces of frozen potato products are known in the art. Coatings have been applied to potato products to achieve various goals. These goals include 1) reducing the amount of oil absorbed during frying, which results in a lower fat product, 2) improving the appearance of the product, 3) improving the texture of the product, and 4) extending the holding time of the product. Extending the holding time of the product results in a product which remains crisp for an extended amount of time after it has been prepared for consumption.
Prior attempts to extend the holding time of a potato product have included coating the potato product before parfrying with costly modified starches, wheat based flours or starches, or gums, alginates, and the like. The wheat based flours or starches contain gluten which makes the potato product unacceptable to gluten-sensitive consumers.
Accordingly, objects of the present invention are to provide a gluten free, low cost potato product with an extended hold time and an improved texture.

Slurry for extending the hold time of potato products


Experiential parsing (EP) is a technique for natural language parsing that falls into the category of dependency parsing. EP supports applications that derive meaning from chat language. An experiential language model parses chat data, and uses documented experiences with language without using automatic natural language processing (NLP) methods. A descriptive grammar is built at word level rather than a prescriptive grammar at phrase level. The experiential model is designed to understand that word “A” associates with word “B” by function “C”. The experiential model understands the relationship between words, independent of whether or not the overall phrase structure is grammatical. A high accuracy of producing the syntactic roles (such as main verb, direct object, etc.) is attained even when confronted with a variety of agrammatical inputs.

In spontaneous written human communication with commercial chatbots, errors in spelling, punctuation, and basic grammar occur regularly and unpredictably. The difficulty of automated parsing of chat language is compounded by the unpredictability of the structure of a chat. The chat could possibly be a keyword search, a single complete sentence, or contain multiple paragraphs of information, for example.
Natural language parsing can take a number of specific forms. In the context of automatic parsing, it most often takes the form of context free grammar (CFG) parsing, which is well known in the natural language processing (NLP) literature. The most accurate results for parsing come from this class of parser. CFG and probabilistic CFG parsing focus on sentences and properly constructed phrases in the language considered. To create and evaluate CFG parsing models, training and testing data is used that is written with proper grammar for the language being considered. Consequently, many test models are newspapers, book excerpts, or other edited text. When spoken language is used to create CFG models, hand-tagging and editing introduces special tags for agrammatical constructs.
Another class of parsing methods may be sub-classified as link grammars and head-dependency grammars. In each of these methods, the relationships between words is considered before the part of speech of each individual word or phrase. The importance of word relationship provides an alternative method for handling agrammatical and misspelled text.
Chat applications are ubiquitous in modern human computer interfaces, but interpreting chat language automatically has proven challenging in many scenarios. Along with the regular challenges of natural language processing, chat language introduces agrammatical and misspelled language.


An apparatus and method, according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a battery pack having a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet, a coolant source to cool the battery pack, and a proportional valve in communication with the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet, and in communication with the coolant source. A battery control module controls the proportional valve such that a direction of flow is switchable at the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet based on temperatures at the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet to provide bi-directional cooling flow through the battery pack. The battery control module directly connects the coolant outlet to the coolant inlet via the proportional valve to bypass the coolant source in response to a predetermined condition.

Electrified vehicles differ from conventional motor vehicles because electrified vehicles are selectively driven using one or more electric machines powered by a traction battery. The electric machines can drive the electrified vehicles instead of, or in addition to, an internal combustion engine. Example electrified vehicles include hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), autonomous vehicles (AVs) fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The traction battery is a relatively high-voltage battery that selectively powers the electric machines and other electrical loads of the electrified vehicle. The traction battery can include battery arrays that each include a plurality of interconnected battery cells. A cooling system is used to control a temperature of the traction battery.

Bi-directional switchable cooling flow for traction battery


A test circuit is provided, which is independent of a power supply and which enables a circuit breaker to be tested in a reliable manner. The test circuit includes a test coil which is devoid of electric potential and is wound around a totalizing current transformer. The test coil is preferably short circuited using a test switch and a connectable load. This simulates the occurrence of a residual current. The selection of an appropriate connectable load allows the sensitivity of the current circuit breaker to be tested in an advantageous manner.

Fault-current circuit breaker are used in electrical systems, in order to protect personnel against dangerous body currents. When a fault current occurs, the circuit breaker disconnects the conductors of a conductor network. The circuit breaker is used as an autonomous unit, or else as an additional module for a switching device. Such an additional module is referred to as a circuit breaker accessory.
With regard to circuit breakers, a distinction is drawn between main voltage independent, so-called FI switches (fault-current circuit breakers) and main-voltage-dependent DI circuit breakers (differential-current circuit breakers). Both switch types have a core-balance current transformer, through which the conductors of a conductor network are passed. A control winding is wound around the core-balance current transformer and is connected to an evaluation unit, via which a release is actuated. When an unacceptable fault current occurs in the conductor network, this is detected by the core-balance current transformer with the associated evaluation unit, and the release disconnects the conductors of the conductor network via a switching mechanism. The fault current at which the circuit breaker responds is referred to as the tripping fault current. The ratio of the tripping fault current to the so-called rated fault current is fixed and is defined by Standards for the various fault current types. The rated fault current is a measure of the protection class for which the respective circuit breaker is designed.
As a rule, FI/DI circuit breakers have a test device, by which the reliability of the circuit breaker can be checked. Such a test device normally connects two primary conductors to one another via a series circuit comprising a test resistor and a test winding and via a test contact (pushbutton) which can be operated, forming a test circuit. A fault current is thus produced when the test contact is closed, and this is detected by the core-balance current transformer together with the associated evaluation unit. A test device such as this can be found, for example, in the article "Fehlerstrom-Schutzschalter zum Schutz gegen gefährliche Körperströme", [Fault current circuit breaker for protection against dangerous body currents] etz, Volume 110 (1989), Issue 12, pages 580–584.
When two conductors are short-circuited for test purposes, there is a problem in that, in some circumstances, a test current will flow permanently via the test circuit for as long as the test contact is operated. This problem occurs when connection of the test circuit to the conductors of the conductor network is made on the mains voltage supply side, that is to say upstream of the circuit breaker switching mechanism, so that current continues to flow in the test circuit even after the conductors have been disconnected by the circuit breaker during the test. Thus, in conventional test devices, an auxiliary switch which is coupled to the switching mechanism of the circuit breaker is often connected in the test circuit, and interrupts the test circuit when the circuit breaker trips, in order to ensure that the current flow is reliably interrupted. However, the arrangement of an auxiliary switch on the one hand requires additional measures and on the other hand is not always possible, for example in the case of FI/DI accessories, since there is no switching mechanism for space reasons. If it is impossible to arrange any auxiliary switches, the test circuit must therefore be designed, for example, for permanently flowing test current. The design for permanent excitation is extremely complex, in particular when the circuit breaker is designed for high-rated fault currents.

Residual-current circuit breaker and a method for testing the reliability performance of a residual-current circuit breaker


A rubber composition for a base tread which achieves improved steering stability and rolling resistance properties and a tire containing the same wherein the rubber composition includes a rubber component containing (a) 20 to 60% by weight of a polybutadiene rubber containing 2.5 to 20% by weight of a 1,2-syndiotactic polybutadiene crystal, (b) 5 to 80% by weight of a tin-modified polybutadiene rubber polymerized by a lithium initiator, in which the amount of a tin atom is 50 to 3000 ppm, the amount of a vinyl bond is 5 to 50% by weight and molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) is at most 2, and (c) 10 to 75% by weight of a rubber other than (a) and (b).

The present invention relates to a rubber composition for a base tread and a tire comprising the same.
Recently, for the purpose of energy saving, various means have been applied to reducing rolling resistance of a tire (for improving rolling resistance properties) or improving steering stability of a car. An example of the means is using a rubber composition exhibiting excellent rolling resistance properties and steering stability at an inner side layer of a base tread which has two layer structure (an inner layer and a surface layer).
A rubber composition for a tire containing a polybutadiene rubber having 1 to 25% of a 1,2-syndiotactic polybutadiene crystal as a rubber component is disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-349732, but if the rubber composition is used as a base tread, there has been a problem that both of steering properties mainly related to rigidity and tan δ related to rolling resistance can not be satisfied.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rubber composition for base tread and tire comprising the same


A method of producing an aqueous suspension of calcium hydroxide which comprises passing a gaseous flow incorporating particles of calcium carbonate through a calcining furnace thermally to decompose the calcium carbonate, delivering a flow of the decomposition products formed in the furnace comprising calcium oxide particles suspended in gas comprising carbon dioxide to a vessel wherein the calcium oxide particles are contacted with water to produce an aqueous suspension of calcium hydroxide and separating the aqueous suspension from the said gas.

The present invention relates to the production of slaked lime.
Slaked lime, ie. an aqueous suspension of calcium hydroxide, is used in a variety of industrial applications. For example, a common use is in the production of precipitated calcium carbonate (pcc) by reaction with carbon dioxide.
Slaked lime is formed by reacting quicklime or calcium oxide with water. The quicklime is usually produced by thermally decomposing calcium carbonate, eg. obtained from a mineral source, such as limestone, in a furnace. Conventionally, the quicklime is obtained as a solid residue in the furnace. After cooling, the quicklime is usually handled dry, eg. packaged in bags or in bulk quantities which are stored and subsequently transported to a user. Alternatively, it may be conveyed dry directly to a user. Handling, storage and transport of dry quicklime produced in this conventional way presents problems because the quicklime is a hazardous alkaline material. Care has to be exercised to avoid accidental contact of the dry quicklime powder with water which affects properties of the product, eg. pcc, subsequently produced by use of the slaked lime obtained from the quicklime.
For pcc production, slaked lime is conventionally produced by mixing the quicklime with water in a vessel containing the water. If care is not taken when slaking conventionally produced quicklime, slaked lime produced in this way may be viscous even at relatively low solids levels and may contain grit arising from uncalcined calcium carbonate or from unreacted and water burned quicklime.


A transmitter-receiver can eliminate a distortion of a transmission signal by a simple arrangement. In a transmitter-receiver of a communication system wherein a transmission timing and a reception timing are different from each other, comparing circuits (6I, 6Q) compare a transmission signal, which is not yet amplified in a transmission-system circuit, and a reception signal in a reception-system circuit during a transmission timing period. Differences detected by the comparing circuits (6I, 6Q) are fed back to signal-compensators (5I, 5Q) inserted into the transmission-system circuit, thereby eliminating a distortion generated in a transmission signal of the transmission-system circuit.

The present invention relates to a transmitting-receiving apparatus for use with a TDMA (time-division-multiple-access) system transmitter-receiver in which a transmission timing and a reception timing are different from each other.
In radio transmitter-receivers like a portable radiotelephone, a transmission signal, processed for transmission, is amplified by a transmission amplifier and supplied to a transmission antenna from which it is transmitted via radio waves. In order to enhance the receiving state of the transmission signal transmitted via radio waves on the reception side, the transmission signal should preferably be transmitted with a transmission power raised as high as possible by the transmission amplifier.
Further, in order to accurately demodulate the transmission signal on the reception side, it is important to prevent a distortion from being generated in the transmission signal when the transmission signal is amplified by the transmission amplifier as much as possible. In particular, when a phase-modulated signal is transmitted as a transmission signal, there is then the very large possibility that a distortion generated in the transmission signal will cause a bit error on the reception side. Therefore, it is very important to prevent the distortion from being generated in the transmission signal.
An amplifier called a class-A amplifier where transistors are operating permanently on linear portions of their transfer characteristics should preferably be used as the amplifier with minimum distortion.
Battery radio transmitter-receivers like a portable radiotelephone use a limited electric power for transmission processing. Therefore, from a standpoint of battery duration, the electric power used by the amplifier should be limited as much as possible.
Accordingly, use of the class-A amplifier is not preferable from a power consumption standpoint. Specifically, although the class-A amplifier has less distortion, it should be constantly energized even in the absence of a signal. Moreover, the class-A amplifier has a poor efficiency so that, if the transmission output level is raised, then the power consumption thereof is increased considerably.
An amplifier with high efficiency, e.g., the class-C amplifier should preferably be used in order to suppress a power consumption. The class-C amplifier is of the power-amplifier stage where bias of the amplifying element is adjusted so that the drive signal voltage produces output current for less than half of the total cycle. Thus, the class-C amplifier can amplify an input signal with a small electric power and can prove a satisfactory amplifying efficiency.
However, although the amplifying efficiency of the class-C amplifier is high, a distortion is generated in an amplified signal. Therefore, when the class-C amplifier is used as a transmission amplifier, it is necessary to provide a circuit for eliminating the distortion generated in the amplified signal. As the circuit for eliminating the distortion generated in the amplified signal, there is known the following circuit. More specifically, an output from the amplifier is detected by a detecting circuit and an error signal (i.e., distortion component) is detected from a detected signal and a detected distortion component is fed back to the amplified signal, thereby the distortion can be eliminated. If such distortion eliminating circuit is provided, then the transmission processing circuit becomes complicated.


A wireless local area network for data communications between a computer and mobile units is provided with at least two cell controllers connected to the computer and one or more rf ports each connected to a primary interface of one cell controller and to a backup interface of another cell controller. A control program in the cell controller monitors data communications between the other cell controller and the rf port by a backup interface. The program is arranged to cause the second cell controller to assume primary communications functions for the rf port in the event primary communications functions between a first cell controller and the rf port are inoperative.

This invention relates to wireless data communications networks, and in particular to such networks in accordance with co-assigned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/528,697, filed Mar. 17, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein its entirety.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/528,697 discloses an arrangement for wireless local area networks, and particularly arrangement for wireless networks using the radio data communications protocol of IEEE Standard 802.11, such as the Spectrum 24 system which is available from the assignee of this application. In the referenced prior application there is disclosed an arrangement wherein access points used for a conventional IEEE Standard 802.11 wireless data communication system are replaced by simplified devices called "rf ports" in the prior application. The rf ports are connected by an interface to cell controllers which are computers programmed to perform much of the higher level MAC functions required of an access point according to Standard 802.11. As indicated in the referenced prior application, the rf ports can be simplified devices which are supplied with power over the data communications cable from the location of the cell controller. Accordingly the rf ports provide a simplified device, not only for manufacture, but also for installation.
One consideration with the arrangements as described in the referenced prior application is that a failure of a cell controller can result in a failure of communications between a wired network and the rf ports associated with that cell controller. Since a cell controller is responsible for performing higher level Standard 802.11 MAC functions of the access points, a large number of rf ports may be serviced by a single cell controller, and failure of the cell controller can result in failure of the wireless data communications network over a relatively large area. In systems which use self sufficient access points to provide wireless access to a network, the failure of an access point does not necessarily result in system failure, since access points in adjoining physical location can continue to provide communications for a mobile unit which was communicating through the failed access point.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for use in a system using a cell controller and rf port for providing wireless local area network communications.


A supervisory method and apparatus provide for detection of “partial fault” conditions such as a relatively high series impedance in the wiring, or a relatively low parallel impedance across the wiring. A non-linear element, such as a semiconductor diode, can be used as an end of line element. The element functions as a current controlled dynamic impedance such that currents through the element can be used to detect low parallel leakage currents. Higher currents through the element can be used to detect partial open circuits.

Many known alarm systems incorporate wired circuits for purposes of communicating with and/or providing electrical energy to various types of detectors and/or output devices such as sounders, strobe lights and the like all without limitation. The nature of such systems is such that a supervisory function is often provided for such wiring. Such are often monitored to determine if they are exhibiting either gross open circuit or short circuit conditions.
One prior art solution has been to terminate the spur wiring with an end of line resistor. The value of the resistor is such that it will not affect operation of output appliances such as sounders or strobe lights or the like when the spur has been energized in response to a detected alarm condition. In the absence of an alarm condition, the polarity on the spur can be reversed by the local control unit and a monitoring current provided which can be expected to flow only through the end of line resistor under normal operating circumstances.
A gross open circuit can be readily detected since the monitoring current cannot flow through the output appliances in a reverse polarity condition. Similarly, a gross short circuit can be detected as the supervisory current will exceed a normal expected value.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art alarm system 10 which incorporates a system control unit 12. Unit 12 is in communication with a plurality of detectors 14 via a wired medium 16. As is conventional, the detectors 14 can communicate their status relative to one or more sensed ambient conditions to the control unit 12 for evaluation.
Control unit 12 can also incorporate a switchable power supply 20 which is coupled to a wired output medium 22. A plurality of output devices 26 can be coupled across the output medium 22. The output medium 22 terminates in an end of line resister 30.
In normal operation, a non-alarm state, the system 10 via the switchable power supply 20 can couple a supervisory current Isup through end of line resister 30 with a polarity as indicated relative to resister 30. With the indicated polarity, the output devices or appliances 26 which could be strobe lights, horns, sirens, bells, sounders all without limitation are inactive and non responsive. Both the presence of a gross short across the wired medium 26 or an open circuit therein can be detected by the value of the supervisory current.
In the event of an alarm condition the power supply 20 reverses polarity and energizes the output appliances 26 via a drive current Id as indicated. In this condition the loop, medium 26, is not being supervised.
However, end of line resistors, and supervisory currents, as described above, while useful may not detect all such faults. For example, a high series impedance, not an open circuit, in the spur or a low parallel impedance, not a short circuit, across the spur may not be detectable using known resistor end of line techniques. In such circumstances, while the system may appear to be fault free, it may not be able to activate all of the output devices when required.
Thus there is a continuing need for supervisory circuits and methods which can detect partial fault conditions of the type described above. Preferably such circuitry and methods could be implemented without substantial additional costs and would also be preferably retrofittable on or to previously installed systems.


In one embodiment, a sacrificial layer is deposited over a base layer. The sacrificial layer is used to define a subsequently formed floating metal structure. The floating metal structure may be anchored into the base layer. Once the floating metal structure is formed, the sacrificial layer surrounding the floating metal structure is etched to create a unity-k dielectric region separating the floating metal structure from the base layer. The unity-k dielectric region also separates the floating metal structure from another floating metal structure. In one embodiment, a noble gas fluoride such as xenon difluoride is used to etch a sacrificial layer of polycrystalline silicon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit fabrication, and more particularly to processes for forming metal structures in integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Background Art
The speed at which a signal is propagated in an integrated circuit is limited by the delay through the interconnect line carrying the signal. This delay, commonly known as "RC delay," is due to the resistance and capacitance of the interconnect line. Reducing the resistance or capacitance of an interconnect line lowers its RC delay and increases signal propagation speed. Thus, reducing the RC delay of interconnect lines plays a major role in making integrated circuits run faster.
Using a low-resistance interconnect material such as copper helps lower the resulting RC delay. To reduce capacitance, the thickness of the dielectric layer separating the interconnect line from the substrate may be increased. The just mentioned dielectric layer may be made of a low dielectric constant material, also referred to as a low-k dielectric, to further reduce capacitance on the interconnect line. For similar reason, low-k dielectrics may also be used between side-by-side or overlying interconnect lines.
A low-k dielectric is also desirable in forming an inductor in an integrated circuit. The quality factor ("Q") of such an on-chip inductor is affected by the capacitance between a metal portion of the inductor and an underlying substrate, and the capacitance between metal portions of the inductor. The use of low-k dielectrics lowers capacitance in the aforementioned inductor regions, and thereby increases the Q of the inductor.
A low-k dielectric region may be formed by using a TEOS oxide to fill gaps between metal lines. The inability of the TEOS oxide to completely fill the gaps results in air gaps between the metal lines. Because air has a dielectric constant of 1, the resulting air gaps help lower capacitance. However, the formation of the resulting air gaps is not controllable, and their size varies depending on the metal etch profile and available space. Additionally, the TEOS oxide fills the space between metal layers. Various relatively complicated unity-k dielectric structures have also been proposed to lower capacitance on metal lines.

Method of forming a floating metal structure in an integrated circuit


Graphene sheets having a plurality of holes in their basal planes are described herein. Methods for making the graphene sheets can involve contacting graphene sheets with an activated gas that has contacted a helium or argon atmospheric pressure plasma. The size and/or number of holes introduced can be altered by changing the contact time, the stand-off distance, the activated gas concentration, and/or the plasma power. Polymer composites containing the perforated graphene sheets are also described.

Graphene has garnered widespread interest for use in a number of applications due to its favorable mechanical and electronic properties. The electrical conductivity of graphene can be influenced by the amount and type of chemical functionalization on the graphene and the quantity of defects in the graphene basal plane. Although pristine graphene typically displays the highest electrical conductivity values, it can sometimes be desirable to tune the electrical conductivity and adjust the band gap. Tailoring of the band gap can be accomplished by introducing a plurality of defects (holes) within the graphene basal plane. The band gap can be influenced by both the size and number of holes present.
Perforated graphene has also been found to have filtering capabilities. Indeed, it has been found that graphene with appropriately sized apertures can remove sodium ions and chlorine ions from water. This filtering capability is also believed to be adaptable to gasses, particulates, solutes, molecules and hydrocarbons, or any other nano-sized constituent from a medium.
It is known that apertures may be made by selective oxidation, by which is meant exposure to an oxidizing agent for a selected period of time. It is believed that apertures can also be laser-drilled. As described in the publication Nano Lett. 2008, Vol. 8, no. 7, pg 1965-1970, the most straightforward perforation strategy is to treat the graphene film with dilute oxygen in argon at elevated temperature. As described therein, through apertures or holes in the 20 to 180 nm range were etched in graphene using 350 mTorr of oxygen in 1 atmosphere (atm) argon at 500° C. for 2 hours. The paper reasonably suggests that the number of holes is related to defects in the graphene sheet and the size of the holes is related to the residence time. This is believed to be the preferred method for making the desired perforations in graphene structures comprising a single sheet or multiple sheets. The structures may be graphene nanoplatelets and graphene nanoribbons. Thus, apertures in the desired range can be formed by shorter oxidation times. Another more involved method as described in Kim et al. "Fabrication and Characterization of Large Area, Semiconducting Nanoperforated Graphene Materials," Nano Letters 2010 Vol. 10, No. 4, Mar. 1, 2010, pp 1125-1131 utilizes a self assembling polymer that creates a mask suitable for patterning using reactive ion etching. A P(S-blockMMA) block copolymer forms an array of PMMA columns that form vias for the RIE upon redeveloping. The pattern of holes is very dense. The number and size of holes is controlled by the molecular weight of the PMMA block and the weight fraction of the PMMA in the P(S-MMA). Either method has the potential to produce a perforated graphene sheet or sheets.
Currently, there are no methods for reliably introducing holes under about 2.5 nm in size to graphene. In the size range of about 2.5 nm to about 10 nm, current techniques for perforating graphene take many milliseconds per hole, and there is no ability to form multiple holes in a single operation. Above about 10 nm, multi-step but laborious lithography techniques can be used. None of these techniques are amenable to introducing holes over a wide surface area.
In view of the foregoing, simple techniques that allow a plurality of holes to be simultaneously introduced to a graphene sheet and the ability to adjust the hole size would be of considerable benefit in the art. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages as well.

Methods for perforating graphene using an activated gas stream and perforated graphene produced therefrom


An organic light emitting display is disclosed. According to some aspects, the display includes a substrate having a display region and a peripheral region that surrounds the display region. The display further includes a pixel in the display region, and a contact unit in the peripheral region. The contact unit is configured to receive a common power signal from an external power source. A wiring line unit on the substrate provides a driving signal to the pixel. The pixel includes a first electrode provided on the substrate, an organic light emitting layer provided on the first electrode, and a second electrode that protrudes toward the contact unit on a plane to be electrically coupled to the contact unit. As a result, the area in which the second electrode overlaps the wiring line unit in the peripheral region is reduced and the parasitic capacitance that may be generated between the second electrode and the wiring line may be reduced.

1. Field
The disclosed technology relates to an organic light emitting display, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting display capable of improving quality of a displayed image.
2. Description of the Related Technology
An organic light emitting display contains numerous pixels, which include organic light emitting diodes (OLED) that generate light. Generally, the pixels include switching transistors coupled to driving transistors for driving the OLEDs. The switching transistors are configured to control the light emission characteristics of the OLEDs in response to the switching operations of the switching transistors. in the usual configuration, the gate electrodes of the switching transistors are coupled to gate lines, the source electrodes of the switching transistors are coupled to data lines, and the source electrodes of the driving transistors are coupled to power source supply lines. Signal transmission lines configured to drive the above-described pixels may be formed on a substrate as a signal bus.
Alternatively, the OLEDs include anode electrodes, cathode electrodes, and organic light emitting layers interposed between the anode electrodes and the cathode electrodes. The cathode electrodes may be formed on the substrate to cover all of the pixels unlike the anode electrodes. With this arrangement, the cathode electrodes may overlap the plurality of signal transmission lines formed on the substrate. As a result, a parasitic capacitance is produced. The parasitic capacitance has the effect of disrupting the smooth flow of a signal so that the display quality of the organic light emitting display is reduced.


A physical layer device for a network device comprises a converter module that selectively converts an n-bit input to an m-bit output based on first and second mapping functions. A scrambler module selectively scrambles the m-bit output. An encoding module receives the m-bit output from the scrambler module and selectively maps the m-bit output based on the first mapping function to three level output signals and the m-bit output based on the second mapping function to four level output signals.

Hosts, such as computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other network enabled devices, typically communicate with other link partners over a medium. The medium may be a fiber-optic cable or copper cable. Referring now to FIG. 1A, a first network device 10-1 includes a medium access control (MAC) device 16-1 and a physical layer (PHY) device 20-1. The MAC and PHY devices 16-1 and 20-1, respectively, may communicate using a media independent interface (MII). A transmit path of the PHY device 20-1 includes a physical coding sublayer (PCS) device 22-1. A second network device 10-2 or link partner includes similar components that are labeled with the same reference number having an "−2" extension in FIG. 1A. A medium 24 connects the first and second network devices 10-1 and 10-2.
Referring now to FIG. 1B, the PCS devices 22-1 and 22-2 (collectively PCS devices 22) for 100BASE-X are shown. The PCS devices 22 include a converter module 26 that converts 4 input bits to 5 output bits. A scrambler module 28 selectively performs scrambling for 100BASE-TX according to a scrambling algorithm and not for 100BASE-FX. An encoding module 30 performs encoding such as multi-level 3 (MLT3) modulation for 100BASE-TX and non return to zero inverted (NRZI) modulation for 100BASE-FX.