A container includes a flexible liner for holding fluent material, a plurality of substantially vertical rigid support walls spaced around the periphery of the liner, and a flexible skin interconnecting the walls and encircling the liner so as to laterally constrain and support the liner when fluent material is added. The container can include a bottom wall under the liner and connected to some of the support walls. Furthermore, a top platform can be removably secured over the liner so as to rest on top of the support walls. This provides the strength and rigidity to make the container system stackable. The support walls can be removably disposed in pockets or a sleeve in the flexible skin.

The present invention relates to bulk containers for flowable materials including, but not limited to, fluids. More particularly, this invention relates to a unique flexible bulk container system which is stackable both in use and in storage and is collapsible to facilitate more compact storage.
Handling flowable or fluent materials in bulk is difficult because of the weight of the material and the bulk of the container. Warehouse and in-transit storage space is often scarce and expensive. Various containers have been developed to address this handling problem. For instance, many existing container systems utilize a rigid frame, a drum, or a rigid frame with a flexible, fluid impervious liner. Some of these rigid containers can even be stacked to save space. However, these container systems are bulky, requiring considerable storage space whether they are full or empty. Such container systems are also quite heavy, whether full or empty. In an effort to reduce weight and cost, some container manufacturers have tried corrugated cardboard container walls, but the cardboard walls are not strong enough to withstand the high compression loads of stacking. Furthermore, the cardboard deteriorates if exposed to moisture.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved bulk container system.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a container system that is collapsible when not in use.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a container system with an outer body or frame that includes some flexible side walls and some rigid side walls, such that the outer body foldingly collapses for storage.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a container system that can be stored on or incorporated with a standard wooden shipping pallet.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a container system that is lightweight, strong, waterproof, durable and yet stackable.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a container system that utilizes rigid support walls removably disposed in pockets in some, but not all, sides the outer body.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a container system that is shaped like an octagon in a horizontal plane so as to allow a relatively large volume of material to be stored in a given space, utilizing a round of cylindrical liner.
Another objective of this invention is the provision of a container system that is economical to produce, easy to use and repair, and reliable.
These and other objectives will be apparent from the drawings, as well as the description and claims which follow.


An improved HTSC filter system design. An improved HTSC filter system comprises a cryocooler and dewar assembly, a heat dissipation assembly and at least one heat pipe providing a thermal coupling between said heat dissipation assembly and said cryocooler and dewar assembly. In a preferred embodiment, the cryocooler and dewar assembly is environmentally sealed within a double-walled aluminum canister, and the heat pipes are formed from stainless steel tubes having a predetermined amount of ammonia provided therein.

The present invention relates generally to high temperature superconducting (HTSC) filter systems for use in, for example, cellular PCS systems and, more particularly, to tower mountable HTSC filter systems and enclosures.
Recently, substantial attention has been devoted to the development of high temperature superconducting radio frequency (RF) filters for use in, for example, cellular telecommunications systems. However, such filters are extremely temperature sensitive, and the use of such filters within tower mounted communications systems can raise significant heat management issues.
One such issue, is the issue of cryocooler xe2x80x9ccold fingerxe2x80x9d temperature regulation, which is addressed in co-pending, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/204,897, filed on Dec. 3, 1998 and entitled xe2x80x9cTEMPERATURE CONTROL OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING THIN FILM FILTER SUBSYSTEMS,xe2x80x9d the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
However, another equally important issue, and one that is addressed herein, is the issue of heat dissipation. Stated somewhat differently, for an HTSC filter system to function properly, the heat of compression generated by a cryocooler incorporated within the system must be efficiently and reliably rejected to the ambient environment. If that heat cannot be efficiently and reliably rejected, it may have a serious impact upon system operation and, depending upon the circumstances, could result in inefficient cryocooler operation and/or cryocooler shut down.
Those skilled in the art also will appreciate that, when multiple HTSC filters are deployed, for example, within a dewar cooled by a cryocooler, and the cryocooler is mounted, for example, on a telecommunications tower, substantial durability and reliability issues may arise. For example, when a system is to be mounted at the top of a tower, the system must be able to withstand significant changes in climate and weather, and the system must be reliable and require minimal maintenance. In this latter regard, reliability can be improved, and maintenance requirements reduced, through the use of a minimal number of moving parts. Thus, where a cryocooler and associated HTSC filter system are to be mounted atop a tower, it would be desirable to utilize a cryocooler including as few moving parts as is possible. Similarly, any associated heat management system should include a minimum number of moving parts.
In view of the foregoing, it is believed that those of ordinary skill in the art would find an improved system for xe2x80x9cmanagingxe2x80x9d the heat of compression generated by a cryocooler within a tower-mounted HTSC filter system to be quite useful. It also is believed that those skilled in the art would find a tower-mounted HTSC that is highly reliable and utilizes a minimum number of moving parts to be useful.
The present invention is directed to an improved heat management system and design for a tower-mounted HTSC filter system.
In one particularly innovative aspect, a tower-mounted HTSC filter system in accordance with the present invention utilizes a plurality of heat pipes to carry heat away from a cryocooler body to a finned heat dissipation assembly. Moreover, an HTSC filter system in accordance with the present invention may comprise a environmentally sealed housing having, for example, a Stirling cycle cryocooler and dewar assembly mounted therein, a heat dissipation assembly coupled to a selected surface of the environmentally sealed housing, and a plurality of heat pipes providing a thermal coupling between the heat dissipation assembly and one or more heat rejecting blocks of the cryocooler.
In a presently preferred embodiment, the heat pipes comprise sealed stainless steel tubes that are filled with ammonia, and the environmentally sealed housing comprises a double-walled aluminum cylindrical container.


An improved women's undergarment includes a flexible, generally triangular front panel having a bottom corner and top left and top right corners and a rear waistband extending between and connecting the top left and top right corners of the front panel extending partially circumferentially rearwards therefrom. Finally, a pair of lower loop straps is included, one extending between and connecting the top left corner and bottom corner of the front panel and one extending between and connecting the top right corner and bottom corner of the front panel such that when the undergarment is being worn, the front panel being adapted to cover the female genitalia of a person wearing the undergarment with the rear waistband extending around the rear of the waist of a person wearing the undergarment and the left and right lower straps extending around and underneath the buttocks of a person.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to women's undergarments and, more particularly, to an improved women's undergarment which includes a flexible, generally triangular front panel having a bottom corner and top left and top right corners, a rear waistband extending between and connecting the top left and top right corners of the front panel extending partially circumferentially rearwards therefrom, and a pair of lower loop straps, one extending between and connecting the top left corner and bottom corner of the front panel and one extending between and connecting the top right corner and bottom corner of the front panel such that when the undergarment is being worn, the front panel covers the female genitalia with the rear waistband extending around the rear of the waist of the person wearing the undergarment and the left and right lower straps extending around and underneath the buttocks of the person thereby providing a comfortable and stylish improved women's undergarment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many different types of women's undergarments which are currently available, with various styles of underwear being designed for particular purposes. Some of the many different types of women's underwear include styles such as boy shorts, bloomers, thongs, "granny panties," and many other styles of panties. Of these, one of the most popular styles is the thong or "G"-string style of underwear which generally includes a generally triangular front panel, a waistband extending around the back of the undergarment, and a center string which extends from the bottom corner of the front panel to the center rear of the waistband. While thongs are generally useful when worn with certain types of outfits, including outfits with which it is important to not show a "panty line," one of the significant problems with thongs is that they can be uncomfortable to wear due to their tendency to "ride up" into the area between the buttocks. There is therefore a need for an improved women's undergarment which will not "ride up" and which is more comfortable for a woman to wear, yet also will not detract from the appearance of the outfits being worn by the woman due to unsightly panty lines or the like.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved women's undergarment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved women's undergarment which includes a generally triangular front panel, a rear waistband and two lower loop straps which go around the legs of the wearer from the bottom of the front panel to the top corner thereof to provide a comfortable yet secure fit.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved women's undergarment which can be worn with many different types of outfits while maintaining a preferred lack of panty lines or the such.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved women's undergarment in which the front panel completely covers the female genitalia when on the wearer.
Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved women's undergarment which is relatively simple and durable in construction and is safe, efficient, comfortable and effective in use.


A photothermographic element comprising a photosensitive silver halide, an organic silver salt and a reducing agent in concentrations such that imagewise exposure to actinic radiation generates from the silver halide a catalyst which accelerates an image-forming reaction between the organic silver salt and the reducing agent is processed by a method comprising the steps of (1) imagewise-exposing the element to actinic radiation to form a latent image therein, (2) subjecting the imagewise-exposed element to a first heating step at a temperature and for a time sufficient to intensify the latent image but insufficient to produce a visible image, and thereafter (3) subjecting the element to a second heating step at a temperature and for a time sufficient to produce a visible image. This method of "thermal latensification" serves to greatly reduce the significant speed losses that were heretofore encountered with photothermographic elements when considerable time was allowed to lapse between exposure to actinic radiation and generation of the visible image by heating.

Thermally processable imaging elements, including films and papers, for producing images by thermal processing are well known. These elements include photothermographic elements in which an image is formed by imagewise exposure to light followed by development by uniformly heating the element. Such elements typically include photosensitive silver halide, prepared in situ and/or ex situ, as a photosensitive component, in combination with an oxidation-reduction image forming combination, such as silver behenate with a phenolic reducing agent. Such elements are described in, for example, Research Disclosure, June, 1978, Item No. 17029, U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,075; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,508.
Photothermographic elements are typically processed by a method which comprises imagewise exposure of the element to actinic radiation to form a latent image therein followed by heating of the imagewise-exposed element to convert the latent image to a visible image. The simplicity of this method is highly advantageous. One of the problems exhibited by such elements, however, is an inadequate degree of latent image keeping. Thus, in certain circumstances, it is very advantageous to be able to allow the lapse of considerable time between the imagewise-exposure step and the heating step which generates the visible image. However, because of the inadequate latent image keeping characteristics of photothermographic elements, speed losses of as much as 0.1 to 0.4 Log E, or more, can be encountered with elapsed times of, for example, one to twenty-four hours between the imagewise-exposure step and the heating step. Moreover, undesirable sensitometric changes such as loss of density and/or reduction in contrast can also take place. The speed loss and undesired sensitometric changes can be entirely avoided by use of a process in which the element is subjected to the heating step immediately after it is subjected to the imagewise-exposure step. However, this severely limits the ability of the user to process the element in the most convenient manner.
Efforts have been made heretofore to improve the latent image-keeping characteristics of photothermographic elements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,439, issued Aug. 15, 1989, to Edward L. Dedio and John W. Reeves describes the incorporation of an alkyl carboxylic acid in a photothermographic element for the purpose of increasing latent image stability. In the method described in the '439 patent, the element containing the alkyl carboxylic acid is subjected to a heating step before imagewise exposure to light. The reaction that occurs in the element as a result of the heating step brings about the enhanced latent image stability. While this method is highly effective, it adds to the cost and complexity of the photothermographic element.
Other techniques for overcoming the problem of latent image instability in photothermographic elements have also been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,872, issued Oct. 5, 1982, to J. E. Reece describes the incorporation of diazepines in photothermographic elements to stabilize them against latent image fade, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,229, issued May 22, 1984, to J. E. Reece describes the use of certain diamines for the same purpose.
It is also known in the art to heat photothermographic elements prior to imagewise exposure to light for the purpose of imparting photosensitivity to the element (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,764,329, 3,802,888, 3,816,132 and 4,113,496). This technique, however, is not related to improvements in latent image-keeping characteristics.
It is toward the objective of providing a technique for enhancing the latent image stability of photothermographic elements without the need for incorporating special addenda therein that the present invention is directed.

Method for processing a photothermographic element


An adaptive image processing apparatus includes a first matching unit selecting representative candidate images from among a plurality of images included in an image pyramid and calculating a first matching score between each of the representative candidate images and a target model; a second matching unit selecting one scale level from among scale levels of the representative candidate images based on the first matching score and calculating a second matching score between each of images having scale levels included in a dense scale level range with respect to the selected scale level and the target model; a representative scale level selecting unit selecting at least one of the scale levels included in the dense scale level range as a representative scale level based on the second matching scores; and an image processing unit performing image processing based on an image having the selected representative scale level.

1. Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept relate to adaptive image processing in an image pyramid, and more particularly, to an adaptive image processing apparatus and method which sparsely extracts samples according to scale levels of an image pyramid from the image pyramid in which a plurality of images having different scale levels are aligned according to scale levels, searches for a suitable scale level around a scale level selected from the extracted samples, and performs image processing on the suitable scale level.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technology of extracting a feature point from an image, for example, an image obtained by a camera, is widely used in a computer vision field including personal authentication, three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction, and tracking. Representative examples of an algorithm for extracting a feature point from an image include a scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) algorithm and a speeded up robust feature (SURF) algorithm which may detect an object in a scale-invariant manner. For such scale-invariant characteristics, an image pyramid technique may be used.
An image pyramid technique involves converting a model to be matched and an input image into images having various scales and performing an operation according to algorithms for extracting a feature point or performing other image processing. For example, when an SIFT algorithm that is a representative algorithm for extracting a feature point in a scale-invariant manner is used, an image pyramid technique may pass a filtered image through a Gaussian filter having variances of various scales to obtain resultant images, sequentially smooth the resultant images according to adjacent scales to derive a Gaussian smoothed image, subsample the Gaussian smoothed image by a factor of two (2) to obtain resultant images, repeatedly pass the resultant images through the Gaussian filter having the variances of various scales to form an image pyramid composed of Gaussian smoothed images, and perform a series of operations for image processing on the image pyramid.
Such an image pyramid technique has a disadvantage in that an operation time is too long. This is because after an input image is resized to obtain images having various scale levels, a feature point is detected from an entire area of each image or other image processing needs to be repeatedly performed. Since a feature point is detected and operations for image processing are repeatedly performed on images having various scale levels, an operation time is increased and a false positive rate is increased.

Adaptive image processing apparatus and method based in image pyramid


A specific subject region is detected, and if a focus detection area that is encompassed in the specific subject region is present, focus detection is performed on that focus detection area. This makes it possible to reduce the influence of a conflict between far and near subjects and reduce the amount of time required for focus detection in an image capture apparatus and in a control method therefor, the image capture apparatus being for performing automatic focus detection based on contrast evaluation values for a plurality of focus detection areas that are each located at a fixed position and each has a fixed size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capture apparatus and a control method therefor, and in particular, relates to an image capture apparatus for performing automatic focus detection based on contrast evaluation values and a method for controlling the image capture apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image capture apparatus is known in which a specific subject, such as a person's face, is focused on by performing automatic focus detection based on contrast evaluation values for focus detection areas that include the specific subject among a plurality of focus detection areas that are each located at a fixed position and each has a fixed size (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-39200).
Bringing the focus to a subject is, however, not always easy when the automatic focus detection based on contrast evaluation values is applied to focus detection areas that are each located at a fixed position and each has a fixed size, unlike cases in which the positions and sizes of focus detection areas are set in accordance with a detected subject region. This is because when a single focus detection area includes a plurality of subjects that are located at very different distances, a conflict will arise between contrast evaluation values of far and near subjects.
In particular, the possibility of not being able to perform proper focus detection increases when each focus detection area includes only a small portion of a subject that is intended to be focused on. Such a situation can arise, for example, when the face of a person who is at a much closer distance than the background is intended to be focused on and automatic focus detection based on contrast evaluation values (contrast AF) is performed on a focus detection area that includes only a small portion of a face region.
In order to mitigate this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-39200 discloses a technique in which priorities are assigned to focus detection areas, and a focus detection area to be ultimately focused on is selected according to the focus detection results for focus detection areas having high priority. This technique, however, requires sorting according to priority, and also requires a longer time for focus detection because, irrespective of priority, focus detection is performed on all focus detection areas that include the face.
The focus detection based on contrast evaluation values (contrast AF) in principle has a difficulty in bringing the focus to a low-contrast subject. Thus, not the contrast on the center portion of a person's face but the contrast at the contour of the face is likely to be captured when focus detection is performed on a focus detection area that includes only a portion of the face. This may result in failing to detect the focus (failing to detect an in-focus distance) in the center portion of the face, such as the eyes and the mouth, and being able to detect the focus only in focus detection areas that include portions forming the contour of the face, such as the ears.
Incidentally, an in-focus display is known in which a frame-shaped indicator is superimposed on an EVF image in order to explicitly inform the user of focus detection areas in which the focus can be detected. In the case of the above-described example, however, there could possibly be a situation in which indicators for focus detection areas that correspond to the contour portion of the face are displayed because their focuses can be detected, but indicators for focus detection areas that correspond to the center portion of the face are not displayed because their focuses cannot be detected.
In this case, there is a problem in that it is difficult to discriminate whether or not the face is focused on because no indicates are displayed for the focus detection areas corresponding to the center portion of the face. In particular, such a situation that the focus is detected in only the contour portion is likely to occur when the face portion is underexposed and the background is bright, as in a backlight scene or when the face portion is overexposed due to direct sunlight.

Image capture apparatus and control method therefor


A rotary tightening device for a safety belt has a belt retractor including a housing and a belt take-up shaft rotatably supported in the housing. The belt-take-up shaft has one end of the safety belt connected thereto. Upon triggering of the rotary tightening device, the belt take-up shaft is rotated in a belt take-up direction of the safety belt. A drive wheel is connected to the shaft. The housing has a channel extending in a plane parallel to a radial plane of the drive wheel and extending at least partially about a circumference of the drive wheel. Mass bodies are positioned loosely adjacent to one another in the channel. The mass bodies, when accelerated, act on the drive wheel for driving it. The drive wheel has at the circumference a gearing in which the mass bodies are received for driving the drive wheel. A spacing of the gearing is substantially identical to a spacing between the mass bodies.

The invention relates to a rotary tightening device for a safety belt, particularly in motor vehicles, having a belt retractor, whose belt take-up shaft upon triggering of the rotary tightening device coupled thereto is rotated in the take-up direction of the safety belt, there being associated with the belt take-up shaft, as a drive, a driving wheel in whose plane the housing of the belt retractor forms a channel, which embraces the driving wheel over at least part of its periphery, for the through passage of mass bodies acting as driving means upon the driving wheel and lying loosely adjacent to one another in the channel.
The basic construction of a rotary tightening device having the features mentioned above is described in DE 29 31 164 A1; in the known rotary tightening device, the belt take-up shaft is provided with a driving wheel, the housing in the plane of the driving wheel having a channel which embraces the driving wheel over part of its periphery; in said channel, mass bodies are driven under the action of a pyrotechnic drive out of a tube disposed tangentially to the driving wheel or the channel and as a result of their friction-locking connection to the driving wheel, which for said purpose is provided with a circumferential contoured groove, set said driving wheel in rotation as they run through the channel. According to an embodiment, the mass bodies may take the form of balls made of a suitably hard plastics material. An outlet opening for the mass bodies may be provided at the end of the channel, the mass bodies exiting from the channel through said outlet opening and passing into a suitably provided receiving container.
A drawback of said known rotary tightening device is that the drive is effected through friction locking; consequently, on the one hand, considerable energy is lost and, on the other hand, it is difficult to tune the contoured groove and the mass bodies to one another in such a way as to produce a defined friction lock and prevent the mass bodies from becoming wedged or sliding through without power transmission. A further drawback associated with the known rotary tightening device is that-when the hard mass bodies encounter the driving wheel, because the channel for sealing reasons has only slight clearance, a mutual blocking between the periphery of the driving wheel and the mass bodies may arise in the channel, thereby impairing the efficiency of the drive in the event of triggering.
The object of the invention is therefore to improve a rotary tightening device having the features described initially in such a way that the transmission of the drive power, which is imparted to the mass bodies, to the tightening rotation of the belt take-up roller is improved.

Mass-body drive for a rotary tightening device


This all pixels read type electronic endoscope system is to read out all the pixels obtained by one exposure in an image pickup device, thereby to improve the picture quality. In this system, a CCD and a CCD driver circuit are provided, and with respect to the video signals obtained by one exposure within a 1/60 sec period, the signals of odd lines are read out in the next period and then the signals of even lines are read out in the period subsequent to the next period, and the signal data of odd line is stored in a first memory, while the signal data of even lines is stored in a second memory. The reading of the even line data is enabled by a light interception by a light chopper. And, in a mixing circuit, the pixel data of odd and even lines are mixed together, and an image for one frame is formed based on the pixel mix signal. With this, the image signals of odd and even lines which are obtained in the same exposure can be read out without increasing the clock frequency, and a high-quality image can be obtained particularly in a freeze-frame picture. Further, if a delay memory is used, high quality can be achieved also for a motion picture, and in addition, the reading of image signals can also be performed at a double speed.

This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 8-263475 and 8-263476 filed on Sept. 12, 1996, Nos. 8-267925 and 8-267926 filed on Sept. 17, 1996, which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope system, and particularly to the signal-processing for an endoscope system in which the all pixels of an image stored in an image pickup device by one exposure are read out to form an image of high quality.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the electronic endoscope system, a device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is used as the image pickup device, and in the CCD, an image signal (video signal) is obtained by reading out the charges stored by an optoelectric transducer on a pixel basis. And, in the simultaneous electronic endoscope system, color filters are placed on the upper surface of the CCD for each pixel, thereby to obtain a color image.
In FIG. 17(A), the arrangement of the above color filters is shown, and on the image pickup surface of a CCD 1, Mg (magenta), G (green), Cy (cyan), and Ye (yellow), for instance, are arranged on a pixel basis as shown. Accordingly, by a light passing through these color filters, stored charges are obtained in the CCD 1.
FIG. 17(B) shows the reading by the conventional 2-line mixed reading method, in which the stored charges of the pixels in the upper and lower lines are mixed and read out. For instance, in the first exposure, odd field video signals such as a mixed signal of line 0 and line 1, a mixed signal of line 2 and line 3 . . . are read out, and in the second exposure, even field video signals such as a mixed signal of line 1 and line 2, a mixed signal of line 3 and line 4 . . . are read out. Accordingly, the mixed signals of two lines of the CCD 1 become the signal of one line of a field image.
In FIG. 18, the signal read operation in the above CCD 1 is shown, and as shown by the field O/E signal of (A) of the same figure, odd and even fields are obtained for each 1/60 sec (vertical synchronizing period). For this, in the above period of 1/60 sec, a signal storing is performed, for instance, by the storage (exposure) time t of an electronic shutter shown in (B) of the same figure, and in the next period of 1/60 sec, the stored mixed signals are read out. As a result, as shown in (C) of the same figure, the odd field signal of n-1 (number) and the even field signal of n are obtained. The odd field signal of n-1 is made up of the mixed signals of line (0+1), line (2+3), line (4+5) . . . which are shown on the left portion of FIG. 17 (B), and the even field signal of n is made up of line (1+2), line (3+4) . . . which are shown on the right portion of FIG. 17(B).
Then, the odd field signal and even field signal are subjected to an interlaced scan to form an image for one frame, and this image is displayed on a monitor. Of course, during the above process, various signal processings are performed to form color difference signals and brightness signals from the above mixed signals, and based on these signals, the image of the inside of a subject to be observed is displayed on the monitor.

All pixels read type electronic endoscope system


Approaches for efficiently routing messages using a server pool are provided. In an embodiment, the system attempts to ensure high availability of servers by enabling clients to specify a domain name for the server pool even though the server pool comprises multiple servers, each having a distinct name. When a client initiates a session by using the server pool's domain name, the system may select an available server with a different name, and will route the request and subsequent messages during the session to the selected server. The system may select a server from the pool having the lowest load. The system may also indicate servers that subsequent messages in the session are to transit. Subsequent messages may then be routed to indicated servers to enable application services on the indicated servers to take actions based on the messages and the direction of the messages.

Applications sometimes need to establish and manage a session between computing devices. A session is a set of interactions between computing devices that occurs over a period of time. As an example, real-time communications applications such as MICROSOFT MESSENGER or Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") establish sessions between communicating devices on behalf of a user. These applications may use various mechanisms to establish sessions, such as a "Session Initiation Protocol" ("SIP"). SIP is an application-layer control protocol that devices can use to discover one another and to establish, modify, and terminate sessions between devices. SIP is an Internet proposed standard. Its specification, "RFC 3261," is available at <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3261.txt>. A specification for extensions to SIP relating to event notifications, "RFC 3265," is available at <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3265.txt>. Both of these specifications are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
Applications may use SIP with another protocol to send or receive information. As an example, an application may use SIP with Real-time Transport Protocol ("RTP") for transporting real-time data during a session. By using SIP with other protocols, applications can create and manage a session and exchange information during the session. The protocol used with SIP to exchange information may segment the information into messages. Devices may also exchange SIP messages. This exchange of messages during a session is referred to as a "dialog." SIP may use lower-level communications layers to transport a dialog's messages, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP"), which are commonly employed transport- and network-layer protocols.
A SIP network comprises entities that can participate in a dialog as a client, server, or both. SIP supports four types of entities: user agent, proxy server, redirect server, and registrar. User agents initiate and terminate sessions by exchanging messages with other SIP entities. A user agent can be a user agent client, which is generally a device that initiates SIP requests, or a user agent server, which is a device that generally receives SIP requests and responds to such requests. As examples, "IP-telephones," personal digital assistants, and any other type of computing device may be user agents. A device can be a user agent client in one dialog and a user agent server in another, or may change roles during the dialog. A proxy server is an entity that acts as a server to clients and a client to servers. In so doing, proxy servers intercept, interpret, or forward messages between clients and servers. A redirect server accepts a SIP request and generates a response directing the client that sent the request to contact an alternate network resource. A registrar is a server that accepts registration information from SIP clients and informs a location service of the received registration information.
SIP supports two message types: requests, which are sent from a client to a server, and responses, which are sent from a server to a client, generally when responding to a request. A SIP message is comprised of three parts. The first part of a SIP message is a "start line," which includes fields to indicate a message type and a protocol version. The second part of a SIP message comprises header fields whose values are represented as name-value pairs. The third part of a SIP message is the message's body, which is used to describe the session to be initiated or contain data that relates to the session. Message bodies may appear in requests or responses.
SIP messages are routed based on the contents of their header fields. To be valid, a SIP request should contain at least the following six header fields: To, From, CSeq, Call-ID, Max-Forwards, and Via. The To header field indicates the logical identity of the recipient of the request. The From header field indicates the logical identity of the initiator of the request. The Max-Forwards header field indicates the number of hops a request can make before arriving at its destination. As an example, if a message from device A transits device B before arriving at destination device C, the message is said to have made two hops (e.g., devices B and C). The Via header field indicates the path taken by the request so far (e.g., a sequence of network addresses of devices through which the request has transited) and indicates the path that should be followed when routing the response. A header may also contain Record and Record-Route fields that are used to indicate that future requests and responses should be routed through an indicated device. Various network devices may insert Record-Route header fields when forwarding a SIP message in an attempt to force subsequent messages in a dialog to be routed through the device. The Record-Route header field may contain an identifier (e.g., network address) for the device and parameters. Devices that handle a message may force the message to be routed to devices listed in a message's Route header field. The Route header field values may be based on the Record-Route header field values inserted by devices. These and other header fields are described in the SIP specification referenced above.
A SIP server may be a single point of failure and may be unable to support large numbers of simultaneous sessions. The server could be a single point of failure because all SIP messages from or to a client may transit the server and, if the server fails, the client could be unable to participate in SIP dialogs because a location service may associate the client with the failed server. A single server may be unable to support large numbers of clients because of hardware (e.g., processor or memory) and network bandwidth limitations. In such cases, large numbers of clients can be denied server support, causing failure of the applications being performed on these clients.
An effective approach to overcome these disadvantages of SIP would have significant utility.

Efficient message routing when using server pools


Explosive reagent detecting compositions are provided for detecting explosives containing chlorate and hydrogen peroxide. Such compositions include Ru-EDTA complexes, binuclear aromatic hydroxyl (BAH) and an optional lanthanide salt. Embodiments of these compositions may be combined with a compact and flexible packaging as an easy-to-use kit for detecting the presence of explosives.

Home Made Explosives (HME) and Improved Explosive Devices (IED) are weapons of choice for terrorists worldwide and at home. Critical to the safety of our service members and the public are uncovering these HMEs and IEDs before they are employed as well as investigating an incident after it occurs to prevent future occurrences. The ability to detect trace or residue explosive material can make a significant impact in prevention, mitigation and deterrence in the global effort against terrorists.
Traditional explosive detection devices uses instruments such as portable electronic devices, raman spectroscopy, capillary electrophoresis, laser electrospray with mass spectrometry, ion chromatography, and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy. Use of such instruments require specialize equipment and training, a large budget and regular maintenance. While these devices are useful, their costs, training, and limited portability may not be ideal for use by soldiers on the field. Alternatives to instruments for detecting explosives uses colorimetric explosive detection kits which detect the presence of explosives or a key ingredient in the explosive by a visual color change. This is attributed to a unique chemical reaction between the chemical of interest and a reagent. Colorimetric methods rely on several chemical reagents used in a sequence of steps to perform the necessary reaction for a color change to occur. Typically these detection capabilities rely on highly specific reactions to confidently determine the explosive present.
Much effort has been developed in the detection of a number of explosives including those that contain chlorate, hydrogen peroxide, ammonium, urea and nitrates. For instance, postassium salt of chlorate is a strong oxidizer, readily available and easily detonable when mixed with fuel. Numerous examples of HMEs exist that contain postassium chlorate such as Armstrong's mixture, black powder variants, poor man's C-4, and Sprengel explosive. Hydrogen peroxide is a strong liquid oxidizer and a critical ingredient in the preparation of explosive organic peroxides such as triacetone peroxide (TATP), hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine (HMTD), and methly ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP). The detection of hydrogen peroxide is a good indicator for the presence of these explosive peroxides. Ammonium and urea nitrates found in fertilizers are also common in HMEs because of its widespread accessibility and ease for concealment as an agricultural use product.
Colorimetric detection of explosives are generally known in the literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,846,740 titled "Method and Kit for detecting explosive substances containing certain oxidants" describes the blue color formation of chlorate detection when treated with the chemical reagent diphenylamine in the presence of sulfuric acid, dimethyl sulfoxide and ethanol. In this case the oxidation of diphenyl amine produces a colored compound which is presumably the meriquinoidal diphenylbenzidine blue intermediate known from the literature. Other colored reactions occur which have a similar reaction mechanism and collectively these are known as redox reactions. Typically redox reaction with chlorate occur with a number of aromatic amines and aromatic alcohol derivatives.
Still other methods of non-instrumented color detection chemistries of chlorate detection exist. For example, manganous sulphate in concentrated phosphoric acid reacts with chlorate to produce the violet manganic-phosphate ion. A different method for the detection of chlorate uses ammonium thiocyanate catalyzed by iron to produce a yellow color change from the oxidation of thiocyanate; however, both of these methods require heat to facilitate the reaction to occur in a timely manner.
Hydrogen peroxide is also detected by redox chemistry. Probably the most common method for the detection is the iodine-starch test. Other methods include the oxidation of ferrous ions and reaction with xylenol orange, peroxidase enzyme reactions, and a number of metal oxidations that include iron, copper, and vanadium complexes to list a few. The detection of hydrogen peroxide is a suitable indicator for the presence of organic peroxide containing HMEs. Typically this requires a stepwise procedure that begins with the decomposition of the organic peroxide to produce hydrogen peroxide followed by a second reaction step for identification.
Commercially available colorimetric kits for the detection of explosive compounds are available but with varying levels of success. A few such kits are Explosive Testing Kit (ETK) from Lindon Defense, Elite Test Kit from Field Forensics, Inc., and DropEx kits from Mistral Security, Inc. These kits use liquid reagents (sometimes in multi-step sequences) to react with the suspected explosive to perform the necessary chemical reaction for a color change to occur. This approach is sometimes referred as wet chemical analysis.
Current liquid explosive detection kits require the user to premix liquid chemicals using multiple vials of liquids and performing serial analysis using specialized collection equipment typically packaged in a bulky container. The drawbacks associated with liquid explosive detection kits is the inherent risk of liquid reagent spillage. In cases where hazardous chemicals are used (such as strong acids) personal safety equipment such as gloves and glasses are highly recommended. In addition, spillage and unintentional mixing of liquid reagents may lead to unreliable results. All of these limitations to liquid explosive detection kits can be difficult for use on the field or under stressful situations. Thus, a need exist for an easy-to-use portable, safe, fast and reliable colorimetric explosive detection kit.

Explosive detection compositions and kit

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army


The present invention provides an oligonucleotide for amplifying a nucleic acid of human cytomegalovirus and a kit for detecting human cytomegalovirus. The present invention also provides an oligonucleotide for identifying a nucleic acid of human cytomegalovirus. The present invention further provides a method of detecting human cytomegalovirus in an individual.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ubiquitous agent in human populations. Infections are generally asymptomatic, but there can be serious medical sequelae in immunocompromised individuals and in congenitally infected newborns. In immunocompromised individuals, CMV infection can result in interstitial pneumonia, retinitis progressing to blindness and disseminated infection. Infections in newborns can be severely damaging, with multiple organ involvement including the central nervous system and may also result in auditory damage. The mechanisms of pathogenesis are not understood, although it is believed that host factors, such as cellular and/or humoral immune responses might be involved.
CMV infects between 50-100% of all individuals worldwide depending on age and socioeconomic status. CMV is naturally transmitted via saliva, urine or breast milk but can also be recovered from other body secretions. In addition, CMV can be transmitted transplacentally to the fetus, by geno-urinary contact during birth or intercourse, by blood transfusion (especially white cells) and bone marrow or organ transplant.
CMV is associated with a wide variety of disease syndromes both in the immunocompetent and in the immunocompromised host, although the latter are much more frequent and associated with significantly greater morbidity and mortality. Primary infection in the immunocompetent host usually goes unnoticed. However CMV is considered to be causing 10% of the mononucleosis syndrome in adolescents and young adults and is frequently associated with acute nonA-G hepatitis. Primary infection in pregnant women is associated with the transplacental transfer of CMV to the fetus.
CMV is a significant opportunistic pathogen responsible for serious clinical consequences in a variety of immunosuppressed patient groups such as neonate and infants, persons with AIDS and individuals undergoing immunosuppressive regimes for the purpose of organ or bone marrow transplantation. As is true for other human herpes viruses, CMV establishes a life-long latent infection with its human host and is ubiquitous in the population with high infectivity rate found in the United States.
Although latent infection by CMV is widespread and reactivation of latent virus after either immunosuppression or progressive immunodeficiency is the single most important contributor to emergence of CMV disease, the site(s) of viral latency remain poorly characterized.
CMV-specific diagnosis can be achieved by a variety of techniques directly detecting viral components or indirectly measuring changes in the host immune status. Reliable diagnostic approaches require sensitive and reproducible technology based upon well defined and highly CMV-specific reagents and a detailed understanding of the molecular processes underlying CMV-infection in the human host.
An UL73-encoded structural glycoprotein (gN) expressed on the cell surface of infected cells (S. Pignatelli, et al., Arch Virol. 2002, 147:1247-56). The protein is highly polymorphic in the N-terminus, but conserved in the C-terminus (S. Pignatelli, et al. J Gen Virol. 2003, 84:647-5).

Oligonucleotides targeting the UL73 gene region and use thereof


Discloses is an apparatus and method for cleaning the edges of semiconductor wafers by using a particle withdrawing means having pre-formed, low-tack adhesive material that removes the particles from the edges of the wafers and retains the particles thus removed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for removing particles from the edges of semiconductor wafers in a manner that inhibits the return of such particles to the edges of the wafers. In another embodiment, this invention relates to a method for removing particles from the edges of semiconductor wafers and retaining the particles away from the semiconductor wafer with a pre-formed, low-tack adhesive material to cause a substantially unidirectional flow of particles away from the edges of the semiconductor wafers.
2. State of the Art
In the electronics industry, particle contamination is an important factor in the manufacture of high density integrated circuits from semiconductor wafers. Even in relatively conventional technology using micron or larger circuit patterns, submicron size particle contamination can be a problem. Today the technology is progressing into the submicron pattern size, and particle contamination is even more of a problem. Contaminant particles larger than roughly 10% of the pattern size can create damage such as pinholes which interfere with fabrication processes (such as etching, deposition and the like) and defects of that size are a sufficiently significant proportion of the overall pattern size to result in rejected devices and reduced yield. As an example, it has been found that the minimum particle size which must be removed in order to achieve adequate yield in one Megabit chip (which has a pattern size of one micron) is about 0.1 microns.
Filtration (of air and liquid), particle detection, and contaminant removal are techniques which are used in current contamination control technology in order to address the problems outlined above. For example, semiconductor fabrication is often conducted in clean rooms in which the air is highly filtered, the rooms are positively pressurized, and the personnel allowed into the room are decontaminated and specially garbed before entry is allowed.
Another previously developed method of particle removal is to place the surface to be cleaned in a chemical bath and then use an ultrasonic or a megasonic sound agitating system. In this system, the ultrasonic or megasonic sound is induced into the liquid which shakes the chemical bath and attempts to remove any particles. This has been somewhat effective against relatively large particles, but ineffective against small particles.
Another cleaning method which has been previously used is to blast the surface to be cleaned with a fluid in order to blow or wash the particles from the surface. One such method utilizing water is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,686, to Shortes, et al. and assigned to Texas Instruments, Inc. Other fluids, including air, have been used with varying degrees of success. These methods have proven to be effective against large particles, but relatively ineffective against particles in the 0.1 micron or smaller range.
Another previously developed method involving application of force to the particle exploits the mass of the particle by the use of gravity or centrifugal force. This method requires the particle to be of sufficient size to be pulled or thrown from the surface. When the particles are very small or have little mass, the forces may not be high enough to remove them. Therefore, this method is generally ineffective against submicron sized particles.
Still another line of previous attempts to remove particles is to convert them into nonparticles. This requires a knowledge of the chemistry of the particles, or a universal solvent (one that would dissolve all particles). This method uses a chemical specifically designed to attack and dissolve the particles but not the substrate they are on. It is necessary to know what the particles to be removed are and, therefore, the appropriate chemical. Since it is unlikely that the composition of all the particles will be known, it is difficult to remove all the particles with a chemical.
Another prior method to remove particles involves particle and surface interaction. This is an attempt to make the particle and the surface repel each other through the use of electricity. The problem encountered with this method is that a high electrical charge is required and, thus, it has been found to be undesirable.
One of the most common methods of particle removal involves using a brush scrubber. In this method, a brush is used to wipe the particles from the surface. It is necessary to compromise the stiffness of the brush bristles so that they are stiff enough to remove the particles yet soft enough to not damage the surface. This method is effective against relatively large particles only and is relatively ineffective on the edges of the wafers.
A final method of removing particles has been an attempt to adhere the particles to a removable film. A polymer gel or liquid is applied to the surface in an attempt to soak up all the particles. After the polymer has dried, and hopefully drawn the particles into it, the polymer is peeled off to remove the particles. This method, as with the other methods listed above, works only with relatively large particles and doesn't address the problem of particles situated at the edges of the wafers.
As the particle size decreases the particle weight become less significant as compared to other adhesive forces binding the particle to the surface which it contaminates. Removal of such small particles can potentially damage the substrate. In general, it has been found that submicron particles are the most difficult to remove. Many of the processes developed to clean integrated circuits, such as ultrasonic agitation, are not effective for micron and submicron particles and indeed, sometimes add contaminants to the substrate.
As alluded to above, another handicap of these previously developed physical removal processes is the fact that they can damage the surface being cleaned as well as introduce other particles while trying to remove them.
Additionally, prior art methods of removing particles from semiconductor wafers have focused almost exclusively on the removal of particles from the front and back surfaces of the wafer. However, by leaving particles on the sides or edges of the semiconductor wafer, it is possible for these particles to migrate to the front or back surface of the wafer by, e.g., physical, mechanical, electromechanical or other such means, and there interfere with the processing of the wafer.
Accordingly, there is a great need for a removal technique which allows for the removal of particles from the edges of semiconductor wafers. Such a removal technique should also provide a driving force sufficient for particle removal from the edges of semiconductor wafers without any substantial harm to the substrate material. Moreover, acceptable removal techniques should provide a minimum level of cleanliness in a reliable fashion.

Method and apparatus for removing particles from semiconductor wafer edges using a particle withdrawing means


An oscillatory wave drive unit includes at least one vibrator having an electromechanical energy converting element, and at least one supporting member configured to support the at least one vibrator. The oscillatory wave drive unit excites oscillation in the at least one vibrator and moves a moving body in contact with the at least one vibrator by frictional force. The oscillatory wave drive unit includes at least one moving mechanism configured to support the at least one vibrator movably in a plane parallel to the plane where the at least one vibrator and the moving body are in contact with each other, in a second direction intersecting with a first direction in which the at least one vibrator drives the moving body.

Many oscillatory wave drive units have been proposed that excite oscillation in a vibrator and move a moving body pressed against the vibrator. These are positioned as important functional components in optical instruments that must operate particularly precisely. PTL 1 and PTL 2 disclose combining a plurality of straight-type oscillatory wave drive units that can each move a moving body linearly, to move a moving body in two-dimensional directions for use as an image stabilization device.
However, combining a plurality of oscillatory wave drive units has the following serious problem to be solved. When a moving body is moved in some directions, the moving direction of the moving body and the driving direction of some of the plurality of oscillatory wave drive units intersect at right angles or at close to right angles. In this case, the oscillatory wave drive units the driving direction of which intersects with the moving direction at right angles or at close to right angles cannot contribute to driving. The frictional force due to the contact between the moving body and the oscillatory wave drive units interferes with the movement of the moving body and causes energy loss and therefore power loss. When the combination of oscillatory wave drive units is used as a drive unit for an image stabilization device, the properties of the image stabilization device are decreased.
To solve such a problem, PTL 1 and PTL 2 disclose exciting oscillation in oscillatory wave drive units in the direction in which the oscillatory wave drive units are pressed against a moving body, to reduce frictional force and to reduce power loss.

Oscillatory wave drive unit and image stabilization device


A music box includes a star wheel, a stopper, a sun wheel, a motor, a sensor, and a controller. The star wheel is configured to rotate about a first shaft. The sun wheel is fixed on a second shaft and engages the star wheel. The motor is configured to rotate the first shaft and the second shaft. The sensor is configured to detect a rotation state of the sun wheel. The controller is configured to: read a music data; control the motor to rotate at a rotational speed based on a temp; determine a start timing at which the stopper starts to release the star wheel based on a sound output timing and the rotation state; calibrate the start timing to a calibrated start timing based on a value related to the rotational speed; and control the stopper to release the star wheel at the calibrated start timing.

Music boxes for playing music are well known in the art. One such music box includes a plurality of vibration valves, star wheels provided with claws for plucking each of the vibration valves, and stoppers corresponding to the star wheels. The vibration valves correspond to different pitches and, when plucked by a claw on a star wheel, produce sound at the corresponding pitch. By providing this music box with a mechanism capable of selectively plucking the vibration valves, the music box can play any music. According to the technology of this music box, the star wheel rotates upon the disengagement of the corresponding stopper therefrom and is brought into engagement with a sun wheel. In this condition, the claws on the star wheels can be made to pluck desired vibration valves to produce arbitrary sounds. The rotational speed of the motor is changed based on the tempo of the music.

Music box for reducing misalignment of wheels


An arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) module includes a plug portion, a probe receiving portion and an AFCI test actuator for initiating a test of an AFCI protected circuit. More specifically, the plug portion includes a plurality of prongs configured to matingly engage with a standard three-prong receptacle. With this construction, upon engaging the plug portion with a AFCI protected receptacle, manipulation of the AFCI test actuator will cause a properly operating AFCI device to trip, i.e., terminate power to the AFCI protected receptacle. The module can also be provided with an AFCI circuit. The module can then be employed to protect an electrical device that is plugged into an unprotected circuit. The probe receiving portion is adapted to interconnect and expand the testing capabilities of a standard receptacle tester or, alternatively, be interconnected with various test probes associated with standard voltage testers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of electrical circuit testers and, more particularly, to an electrical circuit test module which interfaces with a standard electrical circuit tester to test arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) protected circuits.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Electrical receptacles are found throughout households and commercial locations. Actually, every room in a household or commercial location is provided with multiple receptacles so as to minimize the need for extension cords and adapters that enable multiple loads to be run through a single receptacle. During installation, the receptacles must be tested to ensure proper wiring and grounding. More specifically, in order to meet local and national code requirements, each receptacle must have the proper polarity and must be properly grounded. To test for proper wiring, an electrician will employ a testing device to ascertain if the receptacle is wired correctly. The testing device can range anywhere from a simple receptacle tester, such as Model # 61-500 made by the IDEAL® Company, to more expensive multi-testers, both digital and analog, used in electronic testing.
In addition to standard, three-prong receptacles, the National Electric Code requires that certain locations, such as in outdoor applications, kitchens, bathrooms and the like, be protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) circuit breaker or receptacle. While all circuits are protected against over current conditions by fuses or circuit breakers, standard fuses and circuit breakers will not protect against a ground leak. The GFCI breaker/receptacle will cut off power to a load in the event a predetermined current level passes between a neutral conductor and ground. The GFCI protects the consumer from electrocution in the event of a ground leak, as a leak of this type will generally not trigger a standard circuit breaker.
Unlike standard receptacles, a GFCI breaker/receptacle includes a test button used to check the functionality of the GFCI. However, the test button is only an indication of functionality, i.e., no actual load is placed on the circuit. Therefore, to properly test a GFCI breaker/receptacle, a special testing device is required. Like the testing device for standard receptacles, the special GFCI testing device can range from a durable inexpensive model, such as IDEAL® E-Z Check® model # 61-051 to a more expensive, branch circuit tester, such as IDEAL® model # 61-154. Regardless of the particular model employed, each of these devices function by simulating an actual current leak to test the GFCI protected receptacle.
As described above, a traditional circuit breaker protects against an over current condition that exceeds a particular rating for the circuit breaker. One form of over current condition occurs as a result of hazardous arcing. When arcing occurs at current levels above which the circuit breaker is rated, the circuit breaker cuts off electricity to an affected receptacle or branch circuit. However, a traditional circuit breaker will not shut down power to a receptacle where arcing occurs at current levels below which the circuit breaker is rated.
Electrical arcing, whether at low or high levels, results in the production of heat. Arc faults can generally go undetected for an extended time, while generating temperatures as high as approximately 5000° F. (2760° C.) at low current levels. If left unchecked, the heat could cause a fire. In order to ensure that electricity is shut down to a receptacle experiencing low level arcing, an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) must be employed. The National Electric Code now requires that all receptacles located in bedrooms be protected by an AFCI circuit breaker or receptacle. In a manner similar to that described above with respect to GFCI receptacles, an AFCI receptacle includes a test button that trips the AFCI function. However, also like the GFCI breaker/receptacle, the test is just an indication of functionality. No load is applied to the circuit. Therefore, a special test device is required to properly test the functionality of the AFCI device.
At present, testing devices capable of checking the performance of an AFCI protected circuit are either combined into other, more expensive, testing devices or are embodied in a tester much like the GFCI circuit/receptacle tester described above. At this point, many professionals have already invested in equipment for testing receptacles, GFCI protected circuits and the like. Without a tester capable of interfacing and expanding the capability of existing equipment, most professionals will be forced to invest in additional, more expensive equipment or carry additional, sometimes duplicative testers. Based on the above, there still exists a need for a need for a durable, low cost AFCI testing device capable of interfacing with existing circuit testing equipment, thereby enabling an electrician to adapt equipment designed for only testing GFCI protected circuits to also test AFCI protected circuits.


A microprocessor apparatus and method are provided, for selectively controlling write back of a result. The apparatus includes translation logic and extended execution logic. The translation logic translates an extended instruction into corresponding micro instructions. The extended instruction has an extended prefix and an extended prefix tag. The extended prefix precludes write back of the result, where the result is that which is produced by executing an operation prescribed by said extended instruction, and wherein the result would otherwise be written back into a destination register. The extended prefix tag indicates the extended prefix, where the extended prefix tag is an otherwise architecturally specified opcode within an instruction set for a microprocessor. The extended execution logic is coupled to the translation logic. The extended execution logic receives the corresponding micro instructions, and executes the operation to generate the result, and precludes write back of the result.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of microelectronics, and more particularly to a technique for incorporating selective results write back control features into an existing microprocessor instruction set architecture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since microprocessors were fielded in the early 1970's, their use has grown exponentially. Originally employed in the scientific and technical fields, microprocessor use has gravitated from those specialty fields into commercial consumer fields that include products such as desktop and laptop computers, video game controllers, and a host of other common household and business devices.
Along with this explosive growth in use over the past 30 years, the art has experienced a corresponding technology pull that is characterized by an escalating demand for increased speed, expanded addressing capabilities, faster memory accesses, larger operand size, more operations (e.g., floating point, single-instruction multiple data (SIMD), conditional moves, etc.), and added specialty operations (e.g., multi-media operations). This technology pull has resulted in an incredible number of advances in the art which have been incorporated in microprocessor designs such as extensive pipelining, super-scalar architectures, cache structures, out-of-order processing, burst access, branch predication, and speculative execution. Quite frankly, a present day microprocessor is an amazingly complex and capable machine in comparison to its 30-year-old predecessors.
But unlike many other products, there is another very important factor that has constrained, and continues to constrain, the evolution of microprocessor architecture. This factor, legacy compatibility, moreover accounts for a great deal of complexity in a present day microprocessor. For market-driven reasons, many producers have opted to incorporate new architectural features into updated microprocessor designs, but at the same time in these newer products they choose to retain all of the capabilities that are required to insure compatibility with older, so-called legacy application programs.
Nowhere has this legacy compatibility burden been more noticeable than can be seen in the development history of x86-compatible microprocessors. It is well known that a present day virtual-mode, 32-/16-bit x86 microprocessor is still capable of executing 8-bit, real-mode, application programs which were produced during the 1980's. And those skilled in the art will also acknowledge that a significant amount of corresponding architectural "baggage" is carried along in the x86 architecture for the sole purpose of supporting compatibility with legacy applications and operating modes. Yet, while in the past developers have been able to incorporate newly developed architectural features into existing instruction set architectures, the means whereby use of these features is enabled—programmable instructions—are becoming scarce. More succinctly, there are no more "spare" instructions in certain instruction sets of interest that provide designers with a means to incorporate newer features into an existing architecture.
In the x86 instruction set architecture, for example, there are no undefined 1-byte opcode states that have not already been used. All 256 opcode states in the primary 1-byte x86 opcode map are taken up with existing instructions. As a result, x86 microprocessor designers must presently make a choice between providing new features and abandoning legacy compatibility. If new programmable features are to be provided, then they must be assigned to opcode states. And if spare opcode states do not remain in an existing instruction set architecture, then some of the existing opcode states must be redefined to provide for the new features. Thus, legacy compatibility is sacrificed in order to provide for new feature growth.
One area of growth that is yet to be addressed in many instruction set architectures is known as selective control of results write back. Many present day application programs exhibit complex signal and data processing algorithms that exercise multiple iterative operations on a single operand in order to produce a meaningful result. In addition, it is often expected that the result will exhibit certain boundary properties, or corner properties, such as being a positive number, a negative number, generating a carry bit, or having an even number of logical ones. Furthermore, as one skilled in the art will appreciate, when execution logic in a present day microprocessor generates a result, the execution logic simultaneously updates a series of condition code bits that are stored in a special register (e.g. a result condition flags register) that indicate the corner properties of the result as described above. Hence, when an operation is executed and a corresponding result is generated, condition code logic in a microprocessor evaluates the corresponding result in view of each of the boundary conditions and sets corresponding bits in the condition codes register for subsequent query by conditional branch instructions. Generally speaking, the flow of application programs frequently is determined based upon whether a result reflects certain boundary conditions as indicated by the state of the condition codes bits.
But what often happens is that the condition bits of a result are checked following an iteration of a program loop to determine if a result has crossed a boundary (e.g., zero, overflow, etc.) or if the result yet remains within a region that is demarcated by the boundary. However, when a following instruction in a program loop examines a condition codes register to determine whether or not the result has crossed the boundary into another region, irreversible damage to the result may have already occurred. One skilled in the art will appreciate that when an operation is performed on an operand, execution logic in the microprocessor generates the result, it evaluates the boundary conditions and updates the condition codes register, and the result is written back into an architectural register specified as a destination for the result. In the case of iterative program loops, the result that is written back into the destination register typically overwrites a result computed during the previous iteration of the program loop. When this occurs, although a programmer is able to subsequently discern that a recently iterated result has crossed a certain boundary, if the boundary defines a region in which the recently iterated result becomes no longer usable, then all previous iterations of the program loop have been wasted.
Therefore, what is needed is a technique that allows a programmer to selectively control the write back of a result that is based upon the state of condition codes corresponding to the result, where the technique is to be provided within an existing microprocessor instruction set architecture, and where the microprocessor instruction set is completely populated with defined opcodes, and where incorporation of the technique allows a conforming microprocessor to retain the capability to execute legacy application programs.

Apparatus and method for selective control of results write back


A method for measuring a property of a test object with an interferometer includes: a) providing calibration information relating a focus setting for the interferometer to a position of the test object relative to a reference surface of the interferometer; b) determining the position of the test object relative to the reference surface; and c) using the interferometer to collect interferometric images of the test object for use in measuring the property of the test object.

Interferometry for optical wavefront and surface topography measurements is and has been a popular technique for high-precision measurements due to its ease of use, performance and versatility. Phase shifting interferometry ("PSI") is one interferometry technique. PSI involves precisely moving one of the surfaces of the cavity (typically the reference surface) using, for example, piezo-electric transducers (PZTs) while observing the cavity interference on a camera which is focused on the test surface. Analyzing the changes in the interference pattern allows one to calculate the complex optical field related to the difference between the test and reference surfaces. If the reference surface form is known, the test surface form can be extracted from the measured field to high precision. Focusing is typically performed manually, with the operator adjusting focus until surface features or edges are visually sharpest. If surface features are absent, however, accurate visual focusing becomes difficult so users often resort to other methods, such as placing a soft nonreflecting surface with a sharp edge (like paper) in contact with the test surface to act as a surrogate feature to focus on.
Early instruments used relatively low density imagers (i.e. VGA density, 320×240 or 640×480 pixels) because higher density imagers were either not available or too expensive at the time. The measureable spatial frequencies obtained with these imagers were modest so visual focusing was adequate. Modern instruments routinely use high density imaging formats with 1Mpix to 4Mpix cameras routine and larger formats (25Mpix) being considered.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for optimizing the optical performance of interferometers


A lens holding frame holding a lens in a lens barrel is arranged, and a contact member extending therebelow is in friction coupling with a driving axis. By applying driving pulses having such a waveform that includes a moderate rising portion followed by an abrupt falling portion to a piezoelectric element, the holding frame is moved along the direction of the optical axis. An index provided at the holding frame is exposed through a slit of lens barrel, and from the position of the lens on the holding frame, information with respect to the distance to the object is displayed. Detection of the position of the holding frame is performed by a position sensor of ferromagnetic thin film magneto-resistive element type (MR sensor) so as to obtain positional information of the lens on the holding frame based on the detection signal, and the obtained information may be displayed on a liquid crystal or other display portion provided on the lens unit or on a camera body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens unit used in a camera or the like. More specifically, it relates to an apparatus for detecting a position of an optical element constituting the lens, and to a lens unit including an apparatus for displaying distance information to the object and focal length information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a camera having automatic focus adjustment mechanism, focus adjustment is automatically performed when the lens is directed to an object to be photographed. There are various methods of focus adjustment of a lens. As an example, a lens unit is known in which part of the optical elements constituting the lens, for example, a front lens group is moved along an optical axis based on focus detection information indicative of the state of defocus with respect to an object, so that an in-focus state is realized. Since the distance information to the object to be photographed is important data when taking a photograph, the distance information to the object is displayed on a lens barrel, for example, when the lens is in-focus with respect to the object.
In cameras in which focal length can be altered, the focal length is often displayed on the lens barrel, for example.
In the conventional lens unit, a movable lens barrel, positioned in a fixed lens barrel, is rotated around a helicoid screw, or operated along a cam, so as to perform focus adjustment operations and focal length changing operations. Therefore, distance to the object or the focal length information set in the lens unit is displayed utilizing relative angle of movement between the fixed lens barrel and the movable lens barrel.
As for the method of moving the lens unit, another example includes an impact type actuator method in which drive pulses are applied to a piezoelectric causing a lens to be moved along an optical axis.
In a structure in which a driving signal is output to the impact type actuator based on focus detection information (or set information with respect to the object to be photographed) and part of the optical elements constituting a lens unit is moved along the optical axis, a movable lens barrel is not necessary (as in the conventional lens unit example above),as only the lens support frame may be moved. However, in such a structure, information with respect to the lens cannot be displayed utilizing angle of relative movement between the fixed lens barrel and the movable lens barrel.
In the driving mechanism of optical elements to which the above described impact type actuator is applied, the lens holding frame moves along a driving axis. Therefore, when a magnetized rod is provided parallel to the driving axis, a magneto-resistive element is attached to the lens holding frame and a position sensor (MR sensor) for detecting the position based on the change in the magnetic resistance is provided. Consequently, the position of the lens holding frame, that is, the position of the moving lens, may be detected. In that case, if the space between the magnetized rod and the magneto-resistive element varies, there would be error in detection. Therefore, the variation in the space between the magnetized rod and the magneto-resistive element must be within a prescribed tolerable range over a considerably long distance of movement of the optical elements. For this purpose, it is necessary that the magnetized rod be positioned parallel to the driving axis and that any swing of the lens holding frame during movement is prevented. These requirements make assembly of the lens unit quite difficult.
Other than a magnetic type position sensor, an optical sensor employing a subscale and a main scale having small slits passing and intercepting light is known. With either of the magnetic or optical sensors, a sinusoidal wave is obtained as a detection signal. An intermediate level of the detection signal is compared with an analog signal represented by the sinusoidal wave. Crossing of the signal with the intermediate level generates a pulse signal, and the number of pulse signals is counted to detect the amount of movement.
In order to increase resolution of a detected amount of movement, the width of the slit of the scale may be made narrower in the optical system, and the width of magnetization of the magnet should be made thinner in the magnetic system.
However, the narrower the slit width of the scale, or the thinner the width of magnetization, the smaller the signal from the detector and the poorer becomes the signal-to-noise ratio. Further, in the optical system, the gap between the main scale and the subscale becomes smaller, and in the magnetic system, the gap between the magnetized magnet and the magnetic detecting element becomes smaller, so that in either system, the width of acceptable variation becomes very small. As a result, very severe dimensional accuracy is required of the structure of the element and the scale, and from this point, resolution of detection is limited.
Therefore, apart from conversion of an analog signal to a digital signal at the intermediate point level, a method of interpolation has been! is known in which analog signals are divided into small pieces and digital signals are divided into small pieces so as to improve resolution in detection. Here, the term interpolation refers to the method of obtaining phase information finer than the signal frequency by dividing periodical signal output.
However, the signal obtained in the detector is a sinusoidal wave, which includes a linearly changing portion as well as a portion changing moderately with signal polarity being inverted. Therefore, resolution cannot be improved uniformly. A method to solve such a problem is disclosed, for example, in NIKKEI Mechanical, May 31, 1993. FIG. 30 is an illustration showing the method of interpolation disclosed in NIKKEI Mechanical. Here, a bar shaped permanent magnetic and ferromagnetic thin film magneto-resistive elements (hereinafter referred to as MR elements) are used as the position sensor. The details of the position sensor (MR sensor) including the MR elements will be described later.
Referring to FIG. 30, a saw tooth shaped output (4) is obtained by combining outputs (1), (2) and (3) from three MR elements. Since the position is detected by using only those portions where voltage changes largely with respect to the change in phase, accurate interpolation becomes possible.
In the conventional method of detection by the positional sensor devised to improve resolution, outputs from three MR elements have been used, which results in increased number of circuits and increased cost. Further, in this method, when the signal level changes, the amplitude of the triangular wave also changes, possibly resulting in error in detection.
Further, when a position detecting sensor is to be used for the lens unit, a reference position must be provided near the infinite position for a focus lens, and a reference position must be provided at a telephoto end or a wide end for a zoom lens. In order to detect such reference positions, the magnetic pattern of the magnetized rod may be changed. However, if such method is used, magnetization of the rod is difficult.

Apparatus for detecting and displaying position of a lens on an optical axis


The present disclosure is directed to a method for determining a plurality of buffer insertion locations in a net for an integrated circuit design. The method may comprise calculating a plurality of resistive-capacitive (RC) influences in parallel, each RC influence corresponding to one of a plurality of buffering options available for a first sub-tree for the addition of a wire segment to the first sub-tree; updating the plurality of RC influences for the addition of a buffer for the first sub-tree, the buffer comprising one of a plurality of buffer types; and merging the first sub-tree with a second sub-tree in parallel by grouping the plurality of buffering options available for the first sub-tree and a plurality of buffering options available for the second sub-tree into a plurality of merging groups, and merging at least two groups of the plurality of merging groups in parallel.

An Integrated Circuit (IC) chip may be fabricated by first conceiving a logical circuit description, and then converting the logical circuit description into a physical description (geometric layout). This process may be carried out utilizing a record of interconnections (may also be known as nets) between logical cells of the IC chip. A layout may be checked to ensure that all design requirements, for example timing requirements, are satisfied.
When designing certain IC chips, such as Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) circuits, buffers (e.g., amplifiers or inverters) may be utilized for achieving timing objectives and fixing electrical violations for interconnections. Increasing complexity of chip designs also increases the complexity and importance of buffer insertions.

Techniques for parallel buffer insertion

International Business Machines Corporation


A data management method and system to more correctly bill a customer of a reseller of telephone service, based on wholesale billing data of a telephone company. The wholesale billing data is divided into many very small parts, or cells, of information. The system accesses one cell of information at a time, and excludes a portion of the accessed information from subsequent data manipulation. Then, the system transforms the un-excluded information from one data format to another data format. The wholesale billing data can be in EBCDIC data format and the tabulated data is not in the EBCDIC data format. The tabulated data can be in a personal-computer data format. After transformation, the system generates tabulated data from the un-excluded wholesale billing data based on at least a user-preference. The tabulated data is then compared to the reseller's internally generated billing information to correct mistakes in the bills to the customer.

The present invention relates generally to a data interpreter, and more specifically to a data interpreter, which interprets the raw billing data from Regional Bell Operating Companies using personal computers.
To increase competition and reduce cost to consumers, the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 requires telephone companies, such as the Regional Bell Operating Companies, to sell local telecommunication services to resellers at rates lower than what they would otherwise offer directly to end users. With the Regional Bell Operating Companies providing a sense of security and dependability, without such laws, it would be extremely difficult for resellers to compete with them. Even if the prices among the Regional Bell Operating Companies and the resellers are the same, it is unlikely that a typical consumer would go to the resellers, instead of the well-established Regional Bell Operating Companies for services.
The Regional Bell Operating Companies have to allocate some of their capacities for the resellers, who can then sell telecom services directly to the consumers or end-users. When an end-user buys such services from a reseller, actually the end-user is buying the services from the Regional Bell Operating Companies, with the resellers serving as intermediaries. To differentiate themselves from the Regional Bell Operating Companies, the resellers typically provide additional services like long distance or Internet services.
On a monthly basis, the Regional Bell Operating Companies send to the resellers, wholesale invoices that indicate the types of services that each of their end-users has subscribed to and how much the resellers have to pay. Some resellers compare the wholesale invoices from the Regional Bell Operating Companies with their internally-generated bills. Both sets should reconcile to ensure accurate billings from the resellers to the end-users. Such a reconciliation process happens to be a very difficult task for small resellers.
The Regional Bell Operating Companies' wholesale invoices to the resellers can include hardcopies and softcopies. The hardcopies can be just a few numbers indicating the exact amount a reseller has to pay, or the hardcopies can be quite voluminous if the Regional Bell Operating Companies are willing to provide the reseller with details. If the hardcopies include only the exact amount, they would not be that useful to the resellers. For the detailed version, to manually compare the hardcopies with the resellers' internally-generated bills, column-by-column and cell-by-cell, and not to expect mistakes, is unreasonable. The best way to compare should be through the softcopies. However, extracting appropriate information from the softcopies is a challenging task.
For at least four of the Regional Bell Operating Companies, known hereinafter as the RBOCs—Bell Atlantic North, Bell Atlantic South, Bell South and Ameritech—the softcopies consist of rows and rows of texts of raw data in a mainframe-computer data format, such as EBCDIC format. The term EBCDIC typically stands for 'Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code'. This is an 8-bit code having 256 combinations that stores one alpha-numeric character or two decimal digits in one byte. Each row can be a long and continuous string of alphanumeric characters.
The RBOCs also provide resellers with record layouts describing the raw data or data specifications. The record layouts can be as thick as a telephone book. The layout can include thousands of identifiers, and each RBOC can use different identifiers for the same type of raw data. The data is usually separated into very small parts, which can be known as cells or record types. All of the cells might be of one size, such as 450 bytes or 225 bytes, and may only be partially filled with data. The size of each cell is typically defined in the record layouts.
The softcopies can be as large as 500 Mega bytes. Not only do they include information regarding services provided to the end-users, they also include tremendous amount of irrelevant information, such as information related to the networking environment, historical information or billing information with no charges. Out of the thousands of distinct identifiers, there may just be 20% of them that are related to the billing information. This makes the softcopies very difficult to decipher, let alone use.
The soft copies are generally generated by main frame computers of the RBOCs. Since the raw data is in mainframe data format, one can use mainframe computer programming languages to categorize them based on information in the record layouts. One can then query and extract relevant billing information using query languages.
However, small resellers typically do not have the luxury of using mainframe computers. They have personal computers. With millions of characters, characterized by thousands of identifiers in mainframe computer data formats, the RBOCs' wholesale invoices are extremely difficult to be analyzed by personal computers.
Thus, most resellers just give up trying to reconcile the RBOC wholesale invoices with their internally-generated bills. There may be significant errors in the resellers' bills to their customers. It is not uncommon to have inconsistencies between the RBOCs' bills and the resellers' bills of more than 20%. Many resellers are currently losing 10 to 20% of their margins just due to such billing inaccuracy.
It should be apparent from the foregoing that there is still a need for an apparatus and method to interpret the raw billing data from the RBOCs using personal computers technologies. With typical resellers only having access to personal computers, such an apparatus and method would help them compete more effectively with the RBOCs. This, in turn, will increase competition against the RBOCs and give consumers more choices of local service providers. Eventually, such competition will drive down prices of local telephone services, ultimately benefitting the general public.


A gum disposal apparatus for permitting a user to easily dispose of chewed gum includes a plurality of disposal sheets. Each of the disposal sheets is positionable around a piece of chewed gum. A cover extends around a portion of the disposal sheets to keep the disposal sheets in a stacked arrangement. A securing member secures the disposal sheets to the cover wherein individual ones of the disposal sheets may be torn away from the securing member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chewing gum receivers and more particularly pertains to a new chewing gum receiver for permitting a user to easily dispose of chewed gum.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of chewing gum receivers is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 2,850,160 describes a device for packaging various articles. Another type of chewing gum receiver is U.S. Pat. No. 2,007,042 for dispensing receivers for chewed gum.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that has certain improved features allowing for chewed gum to be easily disposed of at the discretion of the user with the disposal sheets for disposing of the chewed gum being readily carried and concealed by the user.