A projection apparatus and image display apparatus. The apparatus includes a three-color light source that emits a plurality of color lights having different wavelengths, and a diffraction type optical element that performs diffusion forming of individual color lights. A field lens makes the diffusion-formed individual color lights into parallel lights, and a liquid crystal panel has a microlens array with a plurality of microlenses arranged in a matrix at the incident regions of the individual parallel color lights. A pixel section has three pixel openings arranged oppositely to the individual microlenses.

In recent years, in liquid crystal projectors to enlarge and project the image on a liquid crystal panel by a projection optical system, low price, long lifetime and high contrast have been advanced, and there has been an increase in cases of using the liquid crystal projector at home. Recently, even in the liquid crystal projectors, it is strongly desired to realize high-fine images on a large screen, and the number of pixels of a liquid crystal panel increases year-over-year.
Although the number of pixels of the liquid crystal panel has been thus increasing on a year-over-year basis, correspondingly increasing the size of the liquid crystal panel is contrary to the demand for miniaturization of a display apparatus, and hence the pixel size is reduced to deal with the high-pixel.
However, the pixel size reduction increases the ratio per pixel occupied by various types of wirings formed within individual pixels such as data lines, scan lines and capacity lines, and various types of electronic devices such as thin film transistors and thin film diodes. Therefore, the area (the aperture part) enabling transmission or reflection of the lights contributing to an image display may be narrowed by these various types of wirings and these various types of electronic devices.
In general, the ratio of the aperture part per pixel (the aperture ratio) is approximately 50% to 70%, and the light transmitting through the liquid crystal panel is decreased as the aperture ratio is lowered. Hence, various techniques for increasing the number of pixels by improving the display mode instead of a considerable reduction of the pixel size have been conventionally proposed.
For example, patent document 1 proposes the display mode that divides white light into three colors of red, green and blue, and irradiates different color lights to adjacent three dots, respectively, and also periodically switches the light paths of these color lights. It is described that because this enables 1-pixel full color display with individual dots, the number of pixels can be increased about three times that of the existing display mode in which the full color display has been performed with three adjacent dots.
Patent document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-105362

Projection apparatus and image display apparatus with individual color light diffusion and microlens array


A power converter circuit includes an input switching circuit, an isolation circuit, a rectifier circuit that includes a least a pair of rectifiers, and an output circuit. The input switching circuit receives a first voltage and generates an AC voltage. The isolation circuit has a primary side configured to receive the AC voltage from the input switching circuit and a secondary side. The secondary side communicates with the rectifier circuit and the output circuit. The output circuit includes a secondary inductor and a diode. The secondary inductor communicates with a primary inductor and either the rectifier circuit or the secondary side. The diode communicates with the primary inductor, the secondary inductor, and the rectifier circuit. The secondary inductor inhibits current flow through the rectifier circuit and forces current flow through the diode when no voltage is applied to the primary side of the isolation circuit.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Switching power converters typically convert a DC voltage into an AC voltage by operating switching elements and then employ a rectifier and smoothing circuit to convert the AC voltage back to a DC voltage. A control circuit may control a duty cycle of the switching elements. Switching power converters allow for a variable output voltage by varying the duty cycle of the switching elements. The ratio of the output voltage and the input voltage is typically determined by the duty cycle of the switching elements.
As newer integrated circuits may provide for more electronic functions in smaller packages, it is essential for power converters to become smaller. One way to reduce the size of a power converter is to increase the operating frequency of the switching elements. However, as the frequency of the switching elements increase, the power loss of the power converter also increases. Increasing the frequency of the switching elements tends to increase electromagnetic interference generated by the power converter.
In order to minimize the disadvantages associated with increasing the frequency of the switching elements, it is desirable for the switching elements to turn on and off when the voltage and/or current of the switching elements becomes zero. By using power transistors as the switching elements, a parasitic output capacitance associated with the power transistors may be used to create a resonating LC circuit with a parasitic leakage inductance of an isolation transformer. The resonating LC circuit renders the current and voltage associated with the power transistors into a sinusoidal waveform forcing the current and voltage to pass through a zero crossing. The power transistors are then turned on and off at the zero crossing of the sinusoidal waveform. This minimizes overlap of falling current and rising voltage when the elements turn off and rising current and falling voltage when the elements turn on. This type of switching is often referred to as soft switching, whereas conventional switching is often referred to as hard switching.
In a conventional full bridge converter utilizing either type of switching, freewheeling current is generated in a rectifier portion of the converter when the switching elements turn on and off. The freewheeling current causes a relatively high reverse recovery current through one of the rectifiers when one of the switching elements turns on and through the other rectifier when the other switching elements turn on. The reverse recovery current causes voltage spikes at the blocking diode. The reverse recovery current also causes the temperature of the rectifier to increase, which correspondingly increases the reverse recovery current and corresponding voltage spike at that diode. Eventually, the voltage spikes rise to a level that exceed the rating of the typical output rectifier utilized on the secondary side of the transformer.
One attempt to limit the freewheeling current and corresponding voltage spikes have utilized a diode between the voltage rails at the output of the converter. The diode is placed in a location that is advantageous, as the voltage stress on the diode is substantially less than the voltage stress upon the output rectifiers, so that the diode may be used as a freewheeling diode. The output current flows through the freewheeling diode and consequently decreases or limits the reverse recovery current through the rectifiers when the switching elements of the bridge are all off. However, conventional output inductors or chokes do not insure that all output current flows through the freewheeling diode placed between the voltage rails. In a typical case, most of the freewheeling current flows through the output rectifiers rather than through the freewheeling diode. This leads to a higher reverse recovery current through the output rectifiers.
Another attempt to limit freewheeling current uses a secondary inductor having a first end connected to a primary inductor and a diode connected to a second end of the secondary inductor. The secondary inductor inhibits current flow through the pair of rectifiers when no voltage is applied to the primary side of the isolation circuit.
An alternative method to minimize losses due to reverse recovery current is by implementing a soft switch that switches at zero voltage on the leading leg switching elements and zero current on the lagging leg switching elements. Such circuits are often typically referred to as zero voltage zero current switching (ZVZCS) converters. A conventional ZVZCS full bridge converter is depicted in FIG. 1. The conventional ZVZCS converter uses a coupled choke N4 that is in phase with an output choke N3. A cathode of diode Dd is connected to a first side of N3. An anode of Dd is connected a first side of N4. A capacitor Ch is connected to the anode of Dd and a negative rail of the output circuit. A cathode of diode Dc is connected to a second side of N4, and an anode of Dc is connected to the negative rail of the output circuit. A cathode of Df is connected to the cathode of Dd and an anode of Df is connected to the negative rail of the output circuit. Ch is charged through a resonance leakage inductance of N4 during the active period. During the freewheeling period, Ch discharges causing current flowing through the primary side to reset to zero. Although this circuit is efficient, it requires many components, which limits the ability to minimize the size of the circuit.

Zero voltage zero current switching converter


Polymorphic soybean DNA loci useful for genotyping between at least two varieties of soybean. Sequences of the loci are useful for providing the basis for designing primers and probe oligonucleotides for detecting polymorphisms in soybean DNA. Polymorphisms are useful for genotyping applications in soybean. The polymorphic markers are useful to establish marker/trait associations, e.g. in linkage disequilibrium mapping and association studies, positional cloning and transgenic applications, marker-aided breeding and marker-assisted selection, hybrid prediction and identity by descent studies. The polymorphic markers are also useful in mapping libraries of DNA clones, e.g. for soybean QTLs and genes linked to polymorphisms.

1. Field of the Invention
Disclosed herein are soybean polymorphisms, nucleic acid molecules related to such polymorphisms and methods of using such polymorphisms and molecules as molecular markers, e.g. in genotyping.
2. Related Art
Polymorphisms are useful as molecular markers, also termed genetic markers, for genotyping-related applications in the agriculture field, e.g. in plant genetic studies and commercial breeding. Such uses of polymorphisms are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,385,835; 5,437,697; 5,385,835; 5,492,547; 5,746,023; 5,962,764; 5,981,832 and 6,100,030.
In particular, the use of molecular markers in breeding programs has accelerated the genetic accumulation of valuable traits into a germplasm compared to that achieved based on phenotypic data only. Herein, "germplasm" includes breeding germplasm, breeding populations, collection of elite inbred lines, populations of random mating individuals, and biparental crosses. Molecular marker alleles (an "allele" is an alternative sequence at a locus) are used to identify plants that contain a desired genotype at multiple loci, and that are expected to transfer the desired genotype, along with a desired phenotype to their progeny. Molecular marker alleles can be used to identify plants that contain the desired genotype at one marker locus, several loci, or a haplotype, and that would be expected to transfer the desired genotype, along with a desired phenotype to their progeny.
The highly conserved nature of DNA, combined with the rare occurrences of stable polymorphisms, provide molecular markers which can be both predictable and discerning of different genotypes. Among the classes of existing molecular markers are a variety of polymorphisms indicating genetic variation including restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms (RFLPs), amplified fragment-length polymorphisms (AFLPs), simple sequence repeats (SSRs), single feature polymorphisms (SFPs), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion/deletion polymorphisms (Indels).
Molecular markers vary in their stability and genomic abundance. SNPs are particularly useful as molecular markers because they are more stable than other polymorphisms and are abundant in plant genomes (Bi et al. Crop Sci. 46:12-21 (2006), Kornberg, DNA Replication, W.H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco (1980)). Because the number of molecular markers for a plant species is limited, the discovery of additional molecular markers is critical for genotyping applications including marker-trait association studies, gene mapping, gene discovery, marker-assisted selection and marker-assisted breeding. The discovery and identification of polymorphisms for use as molecular markers requires a substantial sequencing and bioinformatics effort, requiring large scale sequencing from two or more evolutionarily diverged lines or populations.
Evolving technologies make certain molecular markers more amenable for rapid, large scale use. In particular, technologies such as high-throughput screening for SNP detection indicate that SNPs may be preferred molecular markers.

Soybean polymorphisms and methods of genotyping


A printing apparatus including a tape drive for transferring a tape carrying a marking medium, and a printhead which is operable to transfer marking medium from such a tape to print an image, the tape drive including a pair of tape spool supports, upon one of which a supply spool is mountable and upon a second one of which a take up spool is mountable, each tape spool support being drivable by a respective motor, the tape drive further including a controller to control each of the motors, wherein the tape drive is operable to position a tape adjacent the printhead such that a spacing between adjacent portions of tape from which ink is removed in successive printing operations is less than 0.5 mm.

In a so called thermal transfer printing apparatus, the printhead includes a plurality of thermal heating elements which are selectively energisable by a controller during printing to warm and soften pixels of ink from the tape and to transfer such pixels to the substrate. Such printheads typically include a very large number of thermal printing elements, for example approximately 300 thermal printing elements per inch of the array, in order to be able to print high resolution images. The printhead presses the tape against the substrate such that the pixels of ink contact the substrate before the web of the tape is peeled away, thus transferring the pixels of ink from the tape to the substrate.
Such printing apparatus includes drive apparatus for moving the tape relative to the printhead, to present fresh tape, from which pixels of ink are yet to be removed, to the printhead, such that successive printing operations can be carried out. By enabling such movement and selectively energising the printing elements in each of a plurality of positions along the substrate and tape, a desired image can be built up from printed dots.
It has long been known to provide tape drives which include two spool supports, one of which supports a supply spool on which unused tape is initially wound, and the other of which supports a take-up spool, onto which the tape is wound after it has been used. Tape extends between the spools in a tape path. Each of the spool supports, and hence each of the spools of tape, is drivable by a respective motor.
It is known to provide thermal transfer printing apparatus in two different configurations. In the first, so called "intermittent" configuration, the substrate to be printed and the tape are held stationary during a printing operation, whilst the printhead is moved across the area of the substrate to be printed. Once the printing operation is complete, the printhead is lifted away from the tape, and the tape is advanced to present a fresh region of tape to the printhead for the next printing operation.
In the second, so called "continuous" configuration, the substrate to be printed moves substantially continuously and the tape is accelerated to match the speed of the tape before the printhead is brought into thermal contact with the tape and the printing operation is carried out. In this configuration, the printhead is maintained generally stationary during each printing operation.
The tape used in thermal transfer printers is thin. Therefore it is important to ensure that the tension in the tape extending between the two spools is maintained at a suitable value or within a suitable range of tensions, in particular to enable the web to peel cleanly away from the heated ink. Too much tension in the tape is likely to lead to the tape being deformed or broken, whilst too little tension will inhibit the correct operation of the device. A slack tape is likely to affect print quality.
In the case of a printing apparatus in continuous configuration, it is also necessary to accurately control the speed of the tape, to ensure that it matches the speed of the substrate. A typical thermal transfer printer operates with substrate that advances at linear speeds between approximately 0.01 meter per second and approximately 2 meters per second. Typical substrate accelerations are up to approximately 12 meters per second per second.
In order to avoid wasting tape, whilst maintaining acceptable print quality, it is advantageous to be able accurately to control the movement of the tape, so as to position the next portion of tape to be used directly adjacent a portion of the tape from which the ink has previously been removed. It is desirable for a spacing between adjacent regions of tape from which pixels are removed to create an image, to be less than 1 mm.
It is also important to ensure that the regions of tape from which ink is removed during successive printing operations do not overlap, so that the printhead does not attempt to remove ink from a region of the tape from which the ink has already been removed. However, it is known to interlace images, such that a previously used region of tape is reused, but in the second and/or subsequent printing operations, different pixels of ink are removed from the tape to create an image. Such a method is described in the applicant's earlier patent, GB2289441, also published as U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,251.
Tape drives of various types have been proposed, for example a tape drive which includes a stepper motor for driving a take up spool so as to pull tape through along a tape path between a supply spool and the take up spool. Such a tape drive also includes a mechanical clutch for setting and maintaining the tension in the tape. Such tape drives are mechanically complex and regular maintenance of the clutch is required. Furthermore, since the supply spool is operated at a fixed torque, the tension in the tape varies as the diameter of the supply spool varies over time.
Another example of a known tape drive is one in which a take up spool and a supply spool are rotated by respective stepper motors. The stepper motors are driven in a co-ordinated manner to transfer the tape from the supply spool to the take up spool and to accurately position the tape adjacent the printhead, whilst maintaining the tension in the tape. Various methods of determining and maintaining the tension of the tape have been proposed. Such methods require the measured tension in the tape to be compared with the desired tension, and for a correction to be applied. Therefore, such methods incur a delay of at least one printing operation between the tension in the tape falling outside an acceptable range and the correction being applied.
Stepper motors have a limited update rate of the motor, owing to the inherent step size of the motor. For example, a typical stepper motor has a maximum resolution of 3200 microsteps per revolution of the motor. This limits the ability of the motor control system to accurately position the tape, which in turn sets a minimum spacing between adjacent regions of tape from which ink can be removed, which the motor control system is able to achieve. It is only possible to make a change to the operation of a stepper motor with each step. It is not possible to initiate a change whilst a stepper motor is mid-step. Therefore a motor control system which includes stepper motors includes inherent delays which are liable to cause accuracy to be limited to a certain extent.
Stepper motors are typically run in open loop control using microsteps to achieve the necessary step resolution. Angular rotor motion produced at each of the motor poles is guaranteed by the motor construction however the intervening positions produced by the microstepping cannot guarantee exact step size thus producing a positional error. This limits the ability of the tape drive to reduce the spacing between adjacent regions of tape from which ink can be removed, without risking overlapping images, which jeopardises print quality.
Known motor control systems provide accuracy which enables a user to print a series of images with a minimum spacing of 0.5 mm between adjacent portions of the tape from which ink has been removed by successive printing operations. The exact size of the spacing will be dependent upon many factors including the size of the image, the speed and acceleration of the substrate and the quality of the ribbon reel used in the printer.
A further example of a known tape drive includes a pressure roller in the tape path, which is driven by a motor. The roller directly controls the speed and position of the tape. The tape spools are driven through a mechanical clutch which maintains the tape tension between acceptable limits. Such tape drives are mechanically complex. The tape drive is typically uni-directional and this tends to cause tape wastage.
A still further example of a known tape drive is one in which two DC motors are used to drive the spools of tape (as described in FR 2783459, for example). Both of the motors operate in torque control mode and a roller which is positioned near to the printhead is used to determine the movement of the tape along the tape path. Such a tape drive includes rollers on the inked side of the tape which can require regular maintenance. Furthermore, desired printing speeds and tape accelerations are increasing leading to difficulties in operating such a drive.

Printing apparatus and method of operating a printing apparatus


A method for updating firmware includes receiving, at a device, an updated installation package. The updated installation package includes an updated version of an installation package, which belongs to a set of installation packages stored on the device for installation of firmware on the device. The method further includes updating the set of installation packages by replacing the installation package with the updated installation package. The method further includes installing updated firmware in volatile memory of the device based on the updated set of installation packages. The method further includes storing an image of the updated firmware in nonvolatile storage of the device. Additionally, the method includes, during a boot process, loading the image from the nonvolatile memory of the device onto the volatile memory of the device, to enable running the updated firmware from the volatile memory, and verifying the authenticity of the updated firmware.

Firmware is a type of software that provides low-level control of a hardware device. Typically, to interact with the hardware device, a software application will communicate with the firmware, which will interact with the hardware device as needed to enable the software application to utilize the hardware device. A device's firmware may need to be updated for various reasons, such as for the installation of new features or for fixing a bug. Updating firmware of a device can be performed in various ways. For example, updated firmware can be received via a cable, such as a universal serial bus (USB) cable or an Ethernet cable. For another example, in the case of a remote firmware update, the firmware can be received wirelessly, such as over wireless fidelity (WiFi).


A camera has a zoom optical system, which includes three lens groups disposed on an optical axis, for being set at least between a wide-angle end and a telephoto end. A zoom motor with plural barrels is movable in first and second moving region continuous with each other, for moving the zoom optical system along the optical axis. The first moving region is adapted to zoom the zoom optical system. A flash emitter emits flash light to a photographic field within an illuminating angular range. A cam groove has a transmission section and a non-transmission section. The transmission section operates in combination with a driving pin when the zoom motor is in the first moving region, for changing the illuminating angular range. The non-transmission section operates when the zoom motor is in the second moving region, for keeping the illuminating angular range unchanged.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having a zoom flash device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a camera having a zoom flash device including a zoom optical system and a flash emitter, and in which emission of flash light in the flash emitter can be optimized in any zoom position from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end in the zoom optical system.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
A zoom flash device is known, which has a zoom optical system, in which a zoom motor drives and zooms the zoom optical system, and in which an illuminating angular range of flash light is changed according to zooming. To change the illuminating angular range, angles of portions of a reflector are changed. Also, distances from a Fresnel lens to a flash discharge tube and the reflector are changed.
JP-A 4-235511 discloses the zoom optical system of a type in which one of plural lens groups is a focusing lens group. A zoom position and an object distance are considered to calculate and obtain an in-focus position. The focusing lens group is moved to the in-focus position for focusing. A focusing motor, which is additional to the zoom motor, is driven to move the focusing lens group to the in-focus position. To move the focusing lens group with precision, a rotary encode is combined with the focusing motor, detects a rotational angle of the focusing motor to control a stop of the focusing motor.
When the focusing lens group in the zoom optical system is moved to the in-focus position according to a certain object distance, there is a tendency in that a moving amount of the focusing lens group is higher in zooming to the wide-angle side and smaller in zooming to the telephoto side. According to the prior art, definition of a rotary encoder is predetermined so as to obtain sufficient precision at a wide-angle end.
If the zoom optical system has a high zoom ratio, this tendency becomes more conspicuous. A rotary encoder of a high precision is required for obtaining sufficient precision in focusing at the wide-angle end, and causes a high cost. Furthermore, a moving amount of the focusing lens group at a telephoto end is specifically high. There occurs a problem in taking long time in the focusing operation. So it is conceivable to move all the lens groups together for focusing at the wide-angle end by use of rotation of the zoom motor.
However, there occurs a problem in use of a zoom flash device in a camera in which focusing is effected at the wide-angle end by driving the zoom motor. As the illuminating angular range is changed according to rotation of the zoom motor, the illuminating angular range is changed also in the course of focusing at the wide-angle end. This lowers distribution in emitting flash light when the zoom optical system is set at the wide-angle end.
In view of the foregoing problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a zoom flash device including a zoom optical system and a flash emitter, and in which an illuminating angular range of flash light can be determined suitably so that emission of flash light in the flash emitter can be optimized in any zoom position from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end in the zoom optical system.
In order to achieve the above and other objects and advantages of this invention, a camera has a zoom optical system, which includes plural lens groups disposed on an optical axis, for being set at least between a wide-angle end and a telephoto end. A lens moving mechanism is movable in first and second moving regions continuous with each other, for moving the zoom optical system along the optical axis, the first moving region being adapted to zoom the zoom optical system. A flash emitter emits flash light to a photographic field within an illuminating angular range. An illuminating range changer has a transmission section and a non-transmission section, the transmission section operating when the lens moving mechanism is in the first moving region, for changing the illuminating angular range, the non-transmission section operating when the lens moving mechanism is in the second moving region, for keeping the illuminating angular range unchanged.
The second moving region is adapted to focus the zoom optical system.
When the lens moving mechanism is in the first moving region, the transmission section decreases the illuminating angular range according to movement of the zoom optical system to the telephoto end. When the lens moving mechanism is in the second moving region, the non-transmission section maximizes the illuminating angular range.
The transmission section moves the flash emitter in a direction along the optical axis.
The flash emitter includes a flash discharge tube for emitting the flash light. A Fresnel lens or flash emitting window is disposed in front of the flash discharge tube, for passing the flash light from the flash discharge tube. The illuminating range changer adjusts a distance of the flash discharge tube from the flash emitting window in a backward direction, the transmission section increases the distance for the flash emitting window to decrease the illuminating angular range, and the non-transmission section minimizes the distance.
The first moving region corresponds to a section between a predetermined zoom position and the telephoto end, and second moving region corresponds to a section between the wide-angle end and the predetermined zoom position. The predetermined zoom position is defined one zoom step shifted from the wide-angle end toward the telephoto end.
The lens moving mechanism includes a zoom motor. The illuminating range changer includes a transmission plate for moving in response to rotation of the zoom motor. A driving pin is formed to project from the transmission plate, for being in a first stroke when the lens moving mechanism is in the first moving region, and being in a second stroke when the lens moving mechanism is in the second moving region. A transmission lever moves the flash emitter by swinging. A cam groove is formed in the transmission lever, for receiving the driving pin, having the transmission section and the non-transmission section, the transmission section being pushed by the driving pin in the first stroke to swing, the non-transmission section keeping free the driving pin in the second stroke, to disconnect the transmission lever from the driving pin.
The transmission plate slides, and the first and second strokes are collinear with each other.
The transmission plate is a transmission rack. Furthermore, a transmission gear train includes input and output gears, the input gears being driven by the zoom motor, the output gear being meshed with the transmission rack.
The flash emitter further includes a flash case for containing the flash discharge tube and for being moved by the transmission lever.
Furthermore, there is a stationary barrel. The lens moving mechanism further includes at least one intermediate barrel, coupled helically with an inside of the stationary barrel, rotated relative to the stationary barrel by the zoom motor, for moving along the optical axis. A movable barrel is contained in the intermediate barrel, for supporting the zoom optical system. At least one cam mechanism moves the movable barrel along the optical axis in response to rotation of the intermediate barrel.


An inspection system (20) has an image capture device (10) that is mounted onto a wafer prober (15) for the electrical verification of electronic components (60) having an emissive display (61). The image capture device (10) includes a lens (31) that collects the image generated by the emissive display (61). The image is passed to mirrors (36,37) which redirect a portion of the image into a pickup device (41). The emissive display (61) is partitioned into subregions (62-65) to facilitate the capturing of the image. As the image of each of the subregions (62-65) is collected by image capture device (10), the other subregions (62-65) are deactivated.

This invention relates, in general, to electronic components and, more particularly, to apparatuses for inspecting electronic components that have an emissive display.
A new generation of electronic components combines an integrated circuit with an emissive display. These electronic components are used in a variety of applications such as wireless communication devices. For example, an emissive display can be used on a paging device to display information sent to the person holding the paging device. The emissive display typically consists of a sequence of individual pixels that are arranged in an array. Each pixel has a varying intensity and represents a dot in the emissive display. Preferably, each pixel can be generated by a light emitting diode (LED) or similar device.
One problem with the fabrication of electronic components that have emissive displays arises in the final testing process. Before the electronic component is sent to a customer, the electronic component must be tested to verify that each pixel in the emissive display is operating properly. This is generally done by placing the electronic component under a camera that has a resolution, which is equal to or greater than the resolution of the emissive display. A sequence of known test patterns is then generated in the emissive display. The patterns of the emissive display are captured by the camera and analyzed to determine if the captured image of the emissive display matches the known pattern.
As technology evolves, the density of pixels in emissive displays generally increases. To accurately capture an image generated by an emissive display, the resolution of the camera must also be improved. This is typically done by upgrading the camera in the testing apparatus with a more expensive camera that has the required resolution.
Hence, a need exists to provide an inspection system that can be used on emissive displays that have varying resolutions. It would be advantageous if the inspection system did not require replacement of a camera as the resolution of the emissive displays varies and could be used to test emissive displays that are of different sizes or configurations.

Wafer prober having an emissive display inspection system and method of use


A flexible touch-based scrolling system receives user input comprising a gesture on a touchscreen. The system compares the gesture velocity with one or more velocity ranges. For example, the system determines whether the gesture velocity is above a threshold velocity or below a threshold velocity. The system selects between different types of movement (e.g., smooth scrolling movement, page-by-page movement) of the visual information in the user interface, based on the comparison of the gesture velocity with the velocity ranges. For example, the system selects smooth scrolling movement if the gesture velocity is below a threshold velocity, and the system selects page-by-page movement if the gesture velocity is above the threshold velocity.

The design of an effective user interface poses many challenges. One challenge is how to provide a user with an optimal amount of visual information or functionality, given the space limitations of a display and the needs of a particular user. This challenge can be especially acute for devices with small displays, such as smartphones or other mobile computing devices, because there is often more information available to a user performing a particular activity (e.g., browsing for audio or video files in a library of files) than can fit on the display.
Although there have been a variety of advances in user interfaces, there remains room for improvement.


The radar apparatus includes a laser light emitting section successively emitting laser lights, a reflection light detecting section receiving, as reflection lights, the laser lights reflected from an object, and generating light reception signals containing reflection signals respectively derived from the reflection lights and having signal levels depending on intensities of the reflection lights, an integrating section generating an integrated signal by integrating the light reception signals, the integrated signal containing the reflection signals being integrated, a phase shifted signal generating section generating a phase shifted signal by delaying the integrated signal by a predetermined time, a differential signal calculating section calculating, as a differential signal, a difference between the integrated signal and the phase-shifted signal, and a detector section detecting the object on the basis of a peak waveform of the differential signal caused by a rising edge of the reflection signals being integrated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radar apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
There is known a radar apparatus configured to transmit a laser light, receive the laser light reflected from a reflecting object, and determines a distance to the reflecting object on the basis of a time between a moment of transmission of the laser light and a moment of reception of the laser light. For example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-236661.
In order to accurately determine a reception time at which the laser light is received, such a radar apparatus includes a signal processing circuit operating to detect a time width during which a reflection signal having a signal level depending on the received laser light exceeds a predetermined threshold, and compensate for an error in the reception time depending on the intensity of the received laser light. The reason why such a compensation is performed is that the reflection signal originating from the received laser light has characteristics that it rises sharply, and falls slowly, and that the rising edge slope and the falling edge slope varies depending on the intensity of the received laser light. If a time at which the reflection signal exceeds the predetermined threshold is simply determined as the reception time of the reflected laser light, the reception time thus determined varies depending on the intensity of the received laser light.
Accordingly, in the conventional radar apparatus as described above, a mid-time between a time at which the reflection signal exceeds the predetermined threshold and a time at which the reflection signal falls below the predetermined threshold is calculated, and a correction time by which the calculated mid-time is corrected is calculated on the basis of the intensity of the received light. More specifically, the correction time is determined by referring to a graph showing a correspondence relation between the correction time and the time width during which the reflection signal exceeds the predetermined threshold. This correspondence relation is obtained in advance through experiment or simulation. The mid-time is subtracted by the correction time, and then determined as the reception time of the reflected laser light at which the reflection signal is largely at its peak.
It is also known as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-177350 to improve the detection sensitivity of a radar apparatus of the type described above, in which a laser light is emitted by a predetermined number of times repeatedly for a given emission area, and a plurality of light reception signals each containing a reflection signal resulting from this multiple emission of the laser light are integrated in order to increase the intensity of the reflection signal corresponding to the laser light reflected from a reflecting object.
In such a radar apparatus, if a laser light reflected from a reflecting object having a very large intensity is received, which may occur in a case where the light reflecting object is in the close vicinity of the radar apparatus, or the light reflecting object has a very high reflectivity for the laser light, the signal level of the reflection signal produced corresponding to the received laser light may have a signal level beyond the level which signal processing circuits included in the radar apparatus can deal with. As a result, the reflection signal is saturated, and its waveform is deformed.
Especially, in the case where a plurality of light reception signals are integrated to improve the detection sensitivity, the above problem of the signal saturation and the waveform deformation can easily occur.
If there occurs the saturation and deformation of the reflection signal, it becomes difficult to accurately determine the reception time of the laser light even when the correction as disclosed in Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-236661 is performed.
Incidentally, the radar apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-177350 in which the light reception signals containing the reflection signals are integrated to improve the detection sensitivity is configured to eliminate background noise from the integrated signal in order to further improve the detection sensitivity. In more detail, in this radar apparatus, during a period in which a polygon mirror having a plurality of reflecting surfaces for reflecting a laser light generated by a laser diode is in a state where a switching of the reflecting surfaces is on its way, a laser light is intentionally emitted toward outside a target emission area, and background noise is calculated on the basis of a light reception signal obtained at the time. This makes it possible to calculate background noise containing periodic noise components due to a clock pulse of a CPU included in the radar apparatus, and electromagnetic noise due to generation of the laser light. By eliminating the background noise from the integrated signal, it becomes possible to increase S/N to thereby further improve the detection sensitivity of the radar apparatus.
The background noise needs to be calculated in a specific timing as explained above, and stored in a memory such as RAM each time it is calculated, because the background noise varies with time due to secular change of the characteristics of the radar apparatus, and change of thermal environment. Accordingly, the conventional radar apparatus of the type as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-177350 has a problem in that the load of the CPU becomes very large, because the CPU has to calculate the background periodically.


A picture photographed by a camera portion is sent to a video capturing portion of a computer. The picture is displayed in an operation area of a monitor. A panorama picture of which pictures in part or all moving range of a pan tiler are combined is displayed in a panorama operation area. A pan tilter portion sends positional information of pan and tilt to the computer through a mode controller. With a mouse, the operation area and the panorama operation area are operated so as to select an object. The computer obtains data for driving the pan tilter. Thus, the selected object is displayed at the center of the operation area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller for a photographing apparatus and a photographing system with a high operational characteristic and a high visibility suitable for a photographing operation of the apparatus that is disposed at a remote place and that is used for a monitoring operation, an observing operation, a guiding operation, a presenting operation, and so forth.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 23, when the user controls a photographing apparatus disposed at a remote place, he or she operates a pan tilter in eight directions (up, down, left, right, upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left directions) with eight-direction keys, a zooming controller, and a wide-angle controller so as to photograph a desired object while observing a photographed picture 6A on a monitor 2. In the structure shown in FIG. 23, the user moves a cursor 7 to one of the direction keys 10 with a mouse 8. Alternatively, after the user has controlled a photographing apparatus disposed at a remote place in the above-described method and registered pan tilter information and zoom information of positions of pictures to be photographed, he or she drives the photographing apparatus at absolute positions corresponding to the registered positions so as to select pictures.
In the conventional controller, a picture that is displayed on the monitor is limited in the range of which the photographing apparatus is moved by the pan tilter. Thus, when the user photographs a desired object, he or she should operate the pan tilter in the full range thereof. Consequently, the user should have skill in operating the pan tilter.
When the user changes the photographing direction with the conventional direction keys, even if he or she stops pressing the direction keys, since the pan tilter does not immediately stops and thereby he or she may not catch a desired object. When the direction varying speed of the photographing apparatus with the pan tilter is low, although such a problem may be solved, since the response characteristic deteriorates, a high operational characteristic cannot be obtained.
When the user wants to place a desired object at the center of the angle of view of the photographing apparatus, since he or she controls the photographing direction while observing a picture on the monitor, he or she should determine the photographing direction on trial and error basis. Thus, the user may spend a long time for controlling the photographing apparatus. Moreover, to properly operate the photographing apparatus, the user should have skill.
When picture and control information is exchanged with a photographing apparatus disposed at a remote place through a low-capacity network, the control information may be lost and/or picture information may be delayed due to an irregularity of their arrival intervals. If the pan tilter or the zooming controller is operated for picture and control information that has been delayed or lost, even if the user causes the pan tilter and the zooming controller to place the object at the desired position, the pan tilter and the zooming controller do not properly operate. Thus, the object is placed at an improper position due to the delay. In addition, depending on the line condition, the arrival intervals of picture information vary. Thus, the user should control the pan tilter and the zooming controller based on a prediction. Consequently, the user cannot properly control the pan tilter and the zooming controller.

Controller for photographing apparatus and photographing system


A method of identifying a remote user connecting to a website from terminal equipment is described. The method includes a step of detecting a set of values each corresponding to one of a plurality of configuration parameters of the terminal equipment and a step of comparing the set of values to at least one previously stored set of values, characterized in that: —the at least one previously stored set of values corresponds to one user profile; —the step of comparing comprises the sub steps of —defining a tree of decision wherein each node is a comparison step between one detected value of one of the configuration parameters and the value of said configuration parameter within a previously stored set of values; —hierarchically comparing the set of detected values of the configuration parameters to the previously stored sets of values of the configuration parameters according to the tree of decision; —the step of detecting comprises a detection sub step of detecting the value of at least one navigation configuration parameter from behavioral data gathered on the way the remote user is navigating the website, said navigation detection sub step comprising: —defining a plurality of behaving types; —associating a behaving type to at least some pages of the website; —detecting the behaving type of pages of the website downloaded by the remote user.

Since the end of the 80's the world-wide web (www), the web in short, has become the ubiquitous application of the world public network, i.e.: the Internet. Myriads of web servers are indeed set up and maintained by all sorts of institutional, academic, governmental and commercial organizations around the world that let millions of remote users have access to an overall huge amount of distributed information. While web servers were first mainly used to only deliver information they also now provide unlimited types of sophisticated interactive services. Among those interactive servers the online commercial sites that are devoted to the selling of goods and services are certainly the most critical to set up. Their prime objective is to be able to attract and retain visitors and eventually convert the largest possible fraction of them into actual customers. Visitors are, in general, all the individuals that have access to any of the web servers available on the Internet from any form of a plethora of computerized devices that can connect to a wired or wireless network. This includes devices such as handheld or fixed personal computers (PC), personal digital assistants (PDA) and cellular smart telephones all capable of running a web browser or a navigating software application so that their users can browse through online sites to consult information and, possibly, complete all sorts of transactions, commercial or not.
To meet the objective of attracting more visitors and converting browsers into buyers the designers of highly interactive web sites are faced to the difficult problem of having to constantly improve the usability of their sites. Helping visitors to quickly find relevant information on a website greatly improves customer retention and loyalty. This improvement process goes through the acquisition and gathering of knowledge on the visitors of websites so that some form of personalization can be carried out. Making results of information retrieval and search more aware of the context and user interests is key to achieve this task. Also, the owner of a website is generally willing to better know the profile of visitors so that corrective actions can be taken to widen the audience of the site. One concrete interest of having a good knowledge of user profiles is to increase the visibility of a website by improving its ability to be efficiently found and detected via search engines.
The techniques traditionally used to identify remote users consist essentially in the sending and retrieval of cookies. Cookies are small text messages generated and sent by a web server to a web browser after a page has been requested by a remote user of the server. The browser then stores cookies in a non-volatile memory space, i.e., generally, on the hard disk of the remote requesting device. Cookies are sent back to the originating server each time a new web page is requested from the originating server.
Also, the internet protocol (IP) address of the connecting device, a 4-byte identifier in the current level of the internet protocol (IPV4), can be retrieved and used to differentiate between remote users of a site.
There are however problems when using the two above techniques to identify the remote users of a web site. As far as the IP address is concerned a same individual that connects from diverse locations using different terminals is accounted as different users. Conversely, a same connecting point, e.g., a family internet connection, is possibly used by several people that will be however identified as a single individual while people profiles and interests are likely to be very different.
For the cookies, all the web browsers now provide means to manually flush them (clearing history) and to personalize the way they are automatically handled by the browser. Remote users are generally now well aware of the cookie mechanisms that can be used by commercial sites to provide unwilling advertisements and offers. To prevent this from happening, and generally to prevent their privacy to be jeopardized, many are periodically or systemically flushing cookies from their browsers actually rendering this technique somehow ineffective.
WO-A2-2007/001397 discloses a method and system for identifying users and detecting fraud by use of the internet. This publication is purely dedicated to the personal identification of users since it concerns fraudulent use issues. To achieve this goal, its collects some identification data as an aggregate of information which helps identify one user device without ambiguity. This reference is strictly directed towards the identification of customer computers.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved techniques to better identify profiles of remote users of websites.
To reach this goal, the invention advantageously combines specific hierarchical steps and characteristics about the navigation path of the user. This association enables the invention to save computing resources when a decision about an identification can be taken at an early stage and, at the same time, to perform a refined analysis of a navigation behavior each time it is helpful.
Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to the ones skilled in the art upon examination of the following description in reference to the accompanying drawings. It is intended that any additional advantages be incorporated herein.

Method of identifying remote users of websites


The present invention relates to improved antibodies against tumor surface antigens and their use in the treatment of tumors. Of particular interest are highly stable, humanized, high affinity antibodies against carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), especially the antibody we have termed sm3E, which is derived from the scFv antibody MFE-23. Such antibodies have the potential for improved therapeutic efficacy.

Treatment of Cancer with Antibodies, and Tumor Targeting of Antibodies
Antibodies have been used to treat cancer for many years. There are currently 5 antibodies approved by the FDA as cancer therapeutics, more than ten in Phase III clinical trials, and several hundred more in Phase II and Phase I trials. Antibodies act to remove cancerous cells through several effector mechanisms. For antibodies that are fully human or chimeric, the Fc portion of the molecule can efficiently activate and interact with the human immune system. By this method, cells can be destroyed by soluble components of the immune system (complement) or through ADCC-mediated cell killing. Additionally, binding of the antibody to the target antigen can initiate a biological response that can lead to apoptosis. Finally, antibody molecules can be used as delivery vehicles to transport therapeutic moieties such as radioisotopes, toxins, or enzymes.
Tumor targeting by antibodies is a complex process that involves circulation and clearance from the bloodstream, diffusion or convection into bulk tumors or micrometastases, binding and release of antigen, and metabolism of antigen/antibody complexes. In order to better understand the processes that influence treatment success, several mathematical models have been developed to analyze the distribution, retention, and removal of full antibody molecules and antibody fragments from solid tumors (Thomas et al., 1989, Sung et al., 1992, van Osdol et al, 1991, Baxter et al., 1995). Most have found there to be an affinity ceiling for uniform penetration and retention. Weinstein and colleagues first proposed the idea of a "binding site barrier" in 1987 (Weinstein et al., 1987). This hypothesis states that antibodies with extremely high affinity would bind antigens at the periphery of the tumor first, which would act as a barrier to further penetration within the tumor. This would result in heterogeneous distribution of the antibody and consequently ineffective treatment. Several additional papers have been published which support this hypothesis with mathematical models (Fujimori et al., 1989, Fujimori et al., 1990, van Osdol et al., 1991, Weinstein and van Osdol, 1992). Subsequent experimental studies have confirmed the existence of this phenomenon (Juweid et al., 1992). Tumor microenvironment can also cause unexpected hindrances. While blood vessels may be more permeable to solute transfer in the tumor (Dvorak et al., 1995, Gerlowski and Jain, 1986), the tumor in general may be less vascularized (Jain, 1999). Tumors also have a high interstitial pressure, which prevents migration of macromolecules into them. Jain et al. have carefully examined the unusual pressure and convection patterns in bulk tumors both experimentally and by mathematical modeling, and have found surprising phenomena such as temporary reverse flows out of tumor tissue.
The first generation of therapeutic antibodies consisted of entire IgG molecules, the format naturally utilized by the mammalian immune system. However, protein engineering technologies have been developed for a wide variety of antibody fragments varying in size and valency. These smaller fragments are more highly diffusible, and therefore penetrate tumor tissue more rapidly. With the advent of directed evolution and display technologies, it is now possible to engineer extremely high affinity antibody fragments. In some instances, experimental biodistribution data indicates limiting returns in targeting as affinity is progressively improved.
Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) and Antibodies thereto in Cancer Treatment
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has long been identified as a tumor associated antigen (Gold and Freedman, 1965). Originally classified as a protein expressed only in fetal tissue, CEA has now been identified as present in several normal adult tissues. These tissues are primarily epithelial in origin, including cells of the colon, stomach, tongue, esophagus, cervix, sweat glands, and prostrate (Nap et al., 1988, Nap et al., 1992, Prall et al., 1996). Tumors of epithelial origin, as well as their metastases, contain CEA as a tumor associated antigen. While presence of CEA itself does not indicate transformation to a cancerous cell, the distribution of CEA is indicative. In normal tissue, CEA is restricted to the apical surface of the cell (Hammarstrom, 1999). As an example of normal tissue expression, a healthy adult excretes 50–70 mg of CEA in feces per day (Matsuoka et al., 1991). In contrast to normal tissue, cancerous cells tend to express CEA over the entire surface (Hammarstrom, 1999).
Carcinoembryonic antigen is a 180,000 kDa protein with approximately 50% carbohydrate content. It has seven domains, with a single N-terminal Ig variable domain and six domains homologous to the Ig constant domain (Williams and Barclay, 1988). Several distinct epitopes have been identified in CEA (Hammarstrom et al., 1989). Multiple monoclonal antibodies have been raised against CEA for research purposes and as diagnostic tools (Nap et al., 1992). More recently, single chain antibody fragments have been isolated from phage display libraries to be used in radioimmunodetection and radioimmunotherapy (Chester et al., 1994; Osbourn et al., 1999). Of particular interest is the MFE-23 scFv (Chester et al., 1994, WO95/15431, U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,691 to Chester et al.). This antibody fragment has been shown to effectively target colon cancer for radioimmunodetection in viva (Begent et al., 1996). MFE-23 has also been used in radioimmunoguided surgery of colorectal cancer (Mayer et al., 2000). MFE-23 has been produced as a fusion protein to carboxypeptidase G2 (CPG2) and TNFα as well. Both fusions have shown promise in therapy (Chester et al., 2000; Chester et al., 2000, Cooke et al., 2002).

Antibodies against tumor surface antigens


A rule based analysis of content is provided to manage activation of a web extension. A user interaction with the content launches a process to match a rule from the manifest to a portion of the content. The rule and the detected content are loaded into memory. The content is processed using the rule and by accessing the memory containing the content to determine a match. An application may choose to process the content using the rules on a background thread to avoid impacting user's experience. An activation control is displayed for the web extension associated with the rule within a web extension pane upon matching the rule to an item in the content.

Data analysis is an integral part of modern services provided by software. Analysis services span a vast array of information mining and mapping. Analysis systems receive content from variety of resources including business and social networking systems. User information is also gathered and collected from ever expanding array of personal devices. User generated content is stored and managed by expansive systems providing interactive services with the stored information. The ever expanding amount of information generated by systems and users are processed by analysis systems to produce patterns, predictions, etc. Analysis results are utilized by other systems relying on the results to generate reports, evaluate user performance, determine recommendations, etc.
Expansion of legacy software functionality is an ever present customer demand. Expanding existing software functionality is a project with varying levels of complexity. Any software needing adjustment to the source code and subsequent redeployment will incur significant cost to the customer and the developer. Alternatively, external tools can be integrated into existing software to provide additional functionality. Such integration usually involves minimal alterations to the existing software. Integration can involve adjusting a simple input and output routine of the deployed solution. External tools can integrate analysis functionality into legacy software. The provided analysis functionality enhances the features of the software. Feature integration boosts a service ceiling of a legacy system and saves the customer from time and cost associated with deploying a new solution.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Providing rule based analysis of content to manage activation of web extension


Disclosed is a communications network element that is capable of routing signaling messages and includes a dynamic routing key registration feature which allows Internet protocol (IP) nodes to automatically register/de-register and subsequently direct traffic towards or away from themselves without the need for manual operator intervention. A signaling gateway routing node includes a self-registering data communication module (sDCM) that is adapted to receive and process dynamic routing key registration messages from associated IP nodes. Such dynamic routing key registration messages may include information that is used to register a new routing key association with a TCP/IP connection, de-register an existing routing key association with the TCP/IP connection, or modify routing key information associated with the TCP/IP connection.

The convergence of traditional telecommunication networks and traditional data networks has given rise to a number of challenging connectivity issues. Such connectivity issues are particularly significant in the realm of call control signaling. More specifically, traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) call control signaling is performed via a signaling system 7 (SS7) signaling protocol, while signaling within a data network is typically performed by any of a number of signaling protocols including: transport adapter layer interface (TALI), session initiation protocol (SIP), session description protocol (SDP), H.323, M2UA, M3UA, SUA, etc. In a converged communication network environment, such call control signaling protocols are employed to provide a variety of converged or inter-network services. These services include providing basic call setup and teardown functionality, as well as facilitating communications-related database access. For example, call control signaling protocols are typically employed to access number portability database applications, 800/toll-free number database applications, line information database applications, calling name database applications, home location register applications, presence service databases, telephony-to-WWW domain name servers, etc.
With regard to the call setup and teardown functionality provided by call signaling protocols, it will be appreciated that a number of switching points are typically involved in the successful completion of a call. In a traditional PSTN type network, such switching points include: end offices, tandem offices, and signal transfer points. Once again, in a pure PSTN environment, SS7 signaling messages are typically employed to facilitate such call setup operations. In a converged network, such switching points may include: end offices, softswitches, media gateway controllers, media gateways, etc. In a converged network environment, a combination of SS7 and a data network-based signaling protocol (e.g., SIP, H.323, M2UA, M3UA, etc.) may be employed to provide call setup/teardown functionality. In the case of a pure data network based communication network, the SS7 signaling protocol may be replaced completely by one or more data network signaling protocols.
As the converged network environment continues to evolve and expand, the tendency of network operators to place call switching and call service database nodes within the data network component of the converged network environment is increasing. That is to say, PSTN and wireless telephone network operators are finding the economics of data network operation favorable to the placement of signaling nodes within the data sub-network of the converged network environment, as opposed to the traditional PSTN—SS7 sub-network. As such, signaling point elements that have traditionally resided within an SS7 signaling network and been assigned unique SS7 network addresses (point codes and subsystem numbers) are now being placed within a data network, such as a TCP/IP-based network, and consequently being assigned IP addresses and port numbers.
A detailed discussion of such data-network-based telephony nodes and associated access techniques and protocols can be found in commonly-assigned, co-pending International Patent Publication No. WO 00/60812, entitled Methods and Systems For Providing Database Node Access Control Functionality In A Communications Network Routing Node, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in entirety.
Shown in FIG. 1 is a sample converged communication network, generally indicated by the numeral 100. Converged network 100 includes a signaling system 7 (SS7) network component 102 and an Internet protocol (IP) network component 104. The SS7 network component includes a service switching point (SSP) 106. The IP network component includes a pair of media gateway controller (MGC) nodes 108 and 110, and a media gateway (MG) node 112. An SS7-IP signaling gateway routing node (SG) 114 connects data network nodes and SS7 network nodes. It will be appreciated that an SS7 signaling protocol is employed between SSP 106 and SG 114, while a data network signaling protocol such as TALI over TCP/IP or SCTP/IP is used to facilitate communication between SG 114 and the MGC pair, 108 and 110.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art of SS7 communications that within an SS7 signaling network, nodes are connected via dedicated 56 kbps signaling communication links. Each signaling link provides 56 kbps of bandwidth that is dedicated to communication between a pair of connected SS7 nodes. However, in an IP-based signaling network, nodes are typically connected via much faster links (typically on the order of megabits per second, depending on the underlying physical and datalink layer technologies). These high bandwidth links may be shared by a number of IP nodes simultaneously. A given path in an IP network may be shared by traffic from a number of connections, which can be set up and torn down dynamically.
Because SS7 signaling links are dedicated to carrying SS7 traffic and have a fixed bandwidth, the addition of a new SS7 connection at SG 114 would require the physical installation of a new, dedicated 56 kbps SS7 signaling link. However, the addition of a new TCP/IP connection at SG 114 would simply require the sharing of existing broadband resources so as to create a new TCP/IP connection. Unlike the SS7 link creation scenario, the creation of a TCP/IP connection does not necessarily require the addition of new physical resources and, instead, can be performed dynamically via software. Consequently, the addition of and connection to a new IP based network node does not necessarily require the addition of a new physical communication link at SG 114. If existing bandwidth is sufficient, the addition of a new connection to SG 114 may only require the establishment of an additional TCP/IP connection between SG 114 and the node in the IP network with which communication is desired.
Returning now to FIG. 1, it will be appreciated that an external provisioning platform 116 is adapted to communicate with the SG 114 for the purpose of provisioning signaling links, administering routing data and generally configuring services provided by the node. As such, signaling link configuration and associated routing data/routing rules must be entered or modified manually by an operator via provisioning workstation 116 each time a new MGC node is added to the network, or a change in routing preference is indicated. Such manual provisioning tasks are time intensive, costly, and prone to operator error.
Therefore, what is needed is a method and system for allowing IP connected network elements to automatically and dynamically register their presence and routing preferences at an associated network routing node, thereby minimizing or eliminating the need for manual provisioning of such configuration tasks.

Methods and systems for providing dynamic routing key registration


Methods and systems for configuring a plurality of infusion pumps according to a functional set. A method includes implementing a plurality of infusion pumps, each of the infusion pumps configured to administer medication to a patient, implementing a drug library, the drug library including at least one functional set defining a set of medications, receiving input data related to one of the at least one functional sets, obtaining a particular set of medications from the drug library corresponding to the input data, programming the plurality of infusion pumps according to the set of medications, and infusing the patient with the plurality of infusion pumps.

Infusion pumps are useful medical devices for managing the delivery and dispensation of infusates such as therapeutic medications and drugs. Infusion pumps provide significant advantages over manual administration of infusates by accurately delivering the infusates over an extended period of time. Infusion pumps are particularly useful for treating diseases and disorders that require regular pharmacological intervention, including cancer, diabetes, and vascular, neurological, and metabolic disorders. Infusion pumps also enhance the ability of healthcare providers to deliver anesthesia and manage pain. Infusion pumps are used in various settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, and other short-term and long-term medical facilities, as well as in residential care settings. There are many types of infusion pumps, including ambulatory, large volume, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), elastomeric, syringe, enteral, and insulin pumps. Infusion pumps can be used to administer medication through various delivery methods, including intravenously, intraperitoneally, intra-arterially, intradermally, subcutaneously, in close proximity to nerves, and into an intraoperative site, epidural space or subarachnoid space.
For example, syringe pumps and related components are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,335 titled "Infusion Pump with Bar Code Input to Computer," U.S. Pat. No. 8,182,461 titled "Syringe Pump Rapid Occlusion Detection System," and U.S. Pat. No. 8,209,060 titled "Updating Syringe Profiles for a Syringe Pump." Each of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Typically, infusion pumps are individually programmed without context to any role or position within a larger medical procedure or patient treatment activity. For example, current drug libraries typically focus on programming one medicament or drug on one pump as directed by a medical practitioner. Concentration limits, volume limits, and other limits or boundaries, as well as other medicament or drug programming parameters are usually set individually for each such infusate and the pump is programmed within those boundaries.
For example, an anesthesiologist in an operating room often operates multiple infusion pumps at the same time. It is not uncommon for several infusion pumps to be employed to deliver various infusates to a single patient. Further, it is not uncommon for multiple surgeries to be performed on multiple patients on the same day. Thus, in a single day, an anesthesiologist in an operating room might operate several sets of infusion pumps with the same or similar medicaments or drugs set to similar or nearly the same respective doses for those multiple surgeries. In traditional infusion systems, the anesthesiologist must spend time programming each of the infusion pumps separately, and respectively program each of the infusion pumps for each surgery. It might take, for example, 30 minutes for the anesthesiologist to program all of the infusion pumps for a single surgery. Over the course of the day, the anesthesiologist could therefore spend several hours programming infusion pumps for the same medicaments or drugs at similar or nearly the same respective doses. This sort of repetitive, individual programming of pumps is laborious, time-consuming, and potentially error-prone.
Therefore there is a need for devices, systems, and methods for procedure-based programming for infusion pumps that can minimize the repetitive, laborious, time-consuming, and potentially error-prone interactions of traditional infusion pump programming tasks.

Procedure-based programming for infusion pumps


A projection-type display apparatus includes an illumination optical system (1) including a light source, a reflection-type light valve (2) having an image forming area on a to-be-illuminated surface illuminated by the illumination optical system (1), and a projection optical system (3) that projects an image formed on the image forming area of the reflection-type light valve (2). The projection optical system (1) is shiftable in a direction approximately perpendicular to a projection optical axis. An F-number of the projection optical system (3) is smaller than an F-number of the illumination optical system (1). Between the projection optical system (3) and the reflection-type light valve (2), an opening defining member (12) that defines an incident side opening of the projection optical system (3) is provided, which is not moved by the shifting of the projection optical system (3).

An optical system of the projection-type display apparatus using a reflection-type light valve is classified broadly into two types: a telecentric type and a non-telecentric type. The telecentric optical system uses a prism so that a projection lens is telecentric with respect to a reflection-type light valve. The non-telecentric type optical system does not use a prism, and is so configured that the projection lens is not telecentric with respect to the reflection-type light valve.
Recently, there is proposed a projection-type display apparatus having a function to shift a projection lens in a vertical direction or the like (i.e., a lens shift function), so as to arbitrarily move a projection area without moving a main body of the apparatus. In order to accomplish such a lens shift function, it is proposed to employ a telecentric optical system using a total reflection prism (for example, see Patent Document 1).
In contrast, there is proposed an optical system using a condenser lens that introduces the light from a light source to the DMD and a projection lens that projects the light reflected by the DMD, and is configured to change the angle of incidence on the DMD by decentering the condenser lens in accordance with the movement (shifting) of the projection lens (for example, see Patent Document 2).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-42256 (Pages 4-5, FIG. 3).
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-75768 (Pages 3-4, FIG. 1).


An air conditioner comprises a compressing and expanding apparatus which includes a compressing system for compressing air taken into compression chambers in one of two cylinder blocks through an inlet aperture and discharging the air from an outlet aperture, and an expanding system for taking in the compressed air through an entrance aperture into expansion chambers in the other cylinder block and expanding the air therein. The air conditioner further comprises a heat exchanger for cooling positioned in the air flow between an outlet aperture of the compressing system and an entrance aperture of the expanding system. Since air is utilized as the cooling medium for the air conditioner, no air pollution or other problem is caused even if it is released into the atmosphere. Moreover, since multiple chambers are provided to process a large amount of air and since the compressing system and the expanding system are arranged compactly, the compressing and expanding apparatus can be compact.

This invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner which utilizes air as a cooling or heating medium.
In a conventional air conditioner which employs freon, ammonia, or other refrigerant, the latent heat of vaporization of the refrigerant is utilized to attain heat exchange. According to the closed-cycle operation of such an air conditioner, refrigerant is compressed by a compressor, cooled by a heat exchanger to be liquefied, vaporized by an expansion valve, and again supplied to the compressor.
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. S62-102061 discloses another air conditioner which employs air and does not utilize the latent heat of vaporization. In this air conditioner, air is compressed by an compressor, cooled by a heat exchanger, and then adiabatically expanded by an expansion machine for the provision of cooled air.
In the former type of the conditioner, however, freon, ammonia or other refrigerant is released into the air, thereby causing serious atmospheric pollution. The drawback of the latter conditioner is its large size which is inevitable since a great volume of air needs to be circulated and additional components such as a compressor and an expansion machine are required. Additionally, the prior art air conditioners need separate heating and cooling systems and thus become still larger in size in order to effect both heating and cooling of air. Such an air conditioner enabled to both heat and cool air is especially useful when a person in a car is hot at the upper half of the body due to the sunlight through the window and cold at the lower half of the body positioned in the shadow in spring and summer and the independent supplies of cooled air to the upper half and heated air to the lower half are desired, or when heated air should be supplied to a room facing to the north and cooled air to a room facing to the south.


An end mill type rotary cutting tool and associated cutting inserts that collectively compensate for radial pocket runout, thereby eliminating overlap marks in a machined work piece. The tool has pockets arrayed in helical flutes such that after one insert has abraded the work piece, a subsequent flute makes an overlapping pass. The inserts are so mounted in the cutting tool and have curved corners configured such that no degree of pocket runout due to manufacturing tolerances will cause any portion of the cutting edge of any insert to form an incuse cut in the work piece which penetrates the machined surface by more than the manufacturing tolerance. Thus overlap of inserts eliminate outward projections in the machined work piece and dimensions and configuration of the inserts and their pockets eliminate inward gouges, thereby eliminating visible overlap marks in the work piece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to machine tools for shaping a work piece, and more particularly to a system including a rotary cutter and associated cooperating cutting inserts.
2. Description of the Related Art
When machining a work piece utilizing rotary cutters provided with replaceable inserts, it is frequently desirable to impart a final finish in which marks such as discernible ridges due to machining have been eliminated. Such marks may not be objectionable in rough or coarse machining, but are objectionable in fine finishing work. These marks are produced incidentally in machining operations, and result from the relation of cutting edges of the inserts to the work piece. In most cutters such as end mills, tool design emphasizes efficiency and productivity, with little regard for fineness of finish of a machined work piece.
Nonetheless, the machine tool industry has appreciated that steps such as eliminating machining steps or operations provides economic benefits. One such area which may be improved is that of eliminating overlap marks. Illustratively, U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,456, issued to Shirley et al. on Aug. 31, 1999, and of common ownership with the present invention, shows an end mill type cutter having staggered, overlapping inserts having radiused corners. Peak shaving of the work piece results in improved finishing characteristics as regards undesirably high peaks or ridges, which would otherwise detract from the finished appearance.
However, it is possible for end mill cutters to suffer from leaving lap lines due to carving out valleys or inwardly projecting marks in the work piece, as well as carving out peaks. This may arise due to variations in manufacturing tolerances, which variations may for example cause inserts to display radial runout, or project to unintended degrees from the hypothetical cylindrical envelope or outer surface of a rotary cutter. Radial runout is defined as the variation in the radius between a cylinder or circle and a perfectly uniform or straight cylinder configuration or circle. Runout is apt to gouge out unintended valleys which appear as undesirable conspicuous lap lines. Overlapped, staggered inserts in and of themselves cannot overcome such detractions to otherwise superlative finishes, as staggering can reduce peaks but cannot compensate for overly deep valleys. This situation is depicted in FIG. 4, wherein a representative work piece 2 has ideal upper and lower facets 4, which would result from perfect alignment of cutting inserts (not shown) having flat cutting edges, and one misaligned facet 6, which could result from an insert (not shown) which is misaligned due to radial runout of its associated pocket. In the situation illustrated, the degree or magnitude of radial runout does not exceed the manufacturing tolerances.
It will clearly be seen that an overlap mark 8 exists where the insert which cut facet 6 passed over work piece 2. This overlap mark 8 is highly conspicuous, and mars what would otherwise be an acceptable finish. There remains a need in the art for a rotary cutter which can control both excessive peaks and also excessive valleys formed in machined surfaces.

Helical end mill type cutter configured to compensate for radial runout


A method of processing a secured loan so as to close the loan in time periods on the order of one hour. The loan process is initiated by accepting a loan application from a borrower. The loan application includes at least the borrower's identity, collateral identity, and stated income of the borrower. A credit request is generated based upon the borrower's identity to obtain a credit report, the credit report including credit information and credit score information. A property evaluation database is accessed using the collateral identity. A matrix having specified approval criteria is applied to generate a credit approval, collateral title underwriting approval, and income approval. Loan documentation is generated and transmitted for signatures at closing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to financial transactions, and, more particularly, to systems, mechanisms and methods for processing loans that are secured by an asset such as real property.
2. Relevant Background
Money lending is an essential function in commerce and personal finance. Individuals and businesses borrow money to obtain the goods and services they need when they need them. There is continued emphasis in the financial services industry to lower the burdens and barriers associated with making a loan, especially to high quality borrowers. This is particularly true in the competitive home equity loan market where borrowers favor lenders with quick, low burden loan approval processes.
In general, loan processing comprises a series of steps involving gathering information specific to a given transaction, documenting the gathered information, and forming a loan which can be marketed easily to consolidators. In a residential market high-quality loans that are readily consolidated are referred to as "A paper" or "Fannie-Freddie conforming paper". About 70–80 percent of the mortgage market involves these high-quality loans. Home equity loans often use a similar grading system such as "A", "B", "C", "D", and the like.
One of the goals of the lending process for both the lender and the borrower is closing a loan quickly. However, in order to produce high-grade loans, the loan process involves multiple steps to obtain and synthesize information from diverse sources. Also, a variety of individuals from a range of organizations may contributed to the process. As a result, a typical loan process takes several weeks.
Particularly in the case of high-quality loans where the borrower has high credit rating and good statistical ratios and history of paying back loans, there is a great need to streamline the loan origination process. From the lender's perspective, these borrowers are low risk, valuable customers. From the borrower's perspective, there is a perception that a faster loan process is less prone to errors. Both borrowers and lenders view a fast loan process as less expensive to complete. For these reasons both borrowers and lenders are attracted to a loan process that leads to rapid closing while producing quality loans.
Although speeding up the loan process is a significant goal, the process must still generate high-quality results. That is to say, the ultimate loan that is generated must evidence a high assurance that the loan is made to a borrower that will repay the loan. In other words, the process that streamlines the loan origination cannot unacceptably affect the business risk taken by the lender.
Many steps taken in conventional loan processing are perceived to lessen the business risk to the lender. However, it has been found that this perception is often misleading and that these steps do not reduce the business risk of the loan. These ineffective process steps increased cost and delay without a proportionate increase in the value and quality of the loan product produced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,721 involves a system for processing non-secured loans. Hence, this patent does not address the substantial problems associated with collateralized loans. Also, non-secured loans are typically for lower amounts and so the total risk taken by the lender is generally less. In contrast, secured loans require significant documentation to produce high quality marketable loans.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,133 also deals with unsecured loans and primarily deals with issues related to obtaining credit approval from a third party source. However, the patent does not describe how the processes of obtaining loan approval are performed or automated by the third party. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,133 deals with an automated-system that replaces humans in the loan making process in contrast with a computer-aided system that aids a human user in making better, faster loan decisions.
Information that is available to analyze a loan application is of several distinct types. As used herein, the term "direct information" refers to information that is obtained by first-person observation, usually in response to a specific request for the data. Direct information is often expensive and time consuming to obtain and use. Examples include property appraisal reports generated by in-person inspection of the property. Another example is a credit report that, unlike most direct information, can be dynamically generated upon receipt of a specific borrower's identity.
In contrast "indirect information" refers to data that is gathered in mass by information services usually before there is any request for the data. Indirect information includes information that is extracted from data sources as compared to the direct data itself. Examples include property sales databases that store historical and current property sales data for whole communities on an ongoing basis. Indirect information is typically more available than direct information because it is gathered before a specific request is generated.
Another type of information is "derivative information" that is derived and/or inferred from direct and indirect information. Derivative information involves some processing and decision making about the data but is generally as available as the direct or indirect information sources themselves. Examples of derivative information include information derived by applying trending algorithms or other statistical algorithms to historical property sales data.
The mortgage loan industry is currently constrained by a perceived need to obtain direct information supporting a loan application and to verify information provided by borrowers and indirect information sources. As noted above, information sources vary significantly in their availability and the time it takes to access. Reliance on direct information tends to stall the loan process. As in any multi-stage process, stalling at one stage creates significant management difficulties in that work in process (WIP) must be queued, missing information matched with the queued WIP, and WIP continuously scheduled and re-scheduled for completion. These difficulties create "pipeline" fallout that increase processing costs and delay actual loan approval.
Even with the expanding amount of information available through online information sources, public databases and private databases, direct information is time consuming to obtain. Also, verification of indirect information sources, which are more readily available, is time consuming and often requires reference to direct data sources. Most often, derived data is not currently used in loan processing where the lender has a substantial interest in ensuring that the loan will be repaid. A need exists for a method and system for loan processing that makes efficient and effective use of widely available indirect information sources and information that can be derived from such sources.
Loan processing involves several general steps including application, approval, closing and funding. At each stage, a certain amount of attrition occurs in the form of loans for which processing is started, but not completed. Attrition increases costs for lenders because of work that is started but will never generate revenue. These costs are typically passed on to the borrowers that do close loans in the form of increased interest rates and costs. Moreover, loan applications that are not completed may clog the processing pipeline increasing delays and costs generally.
Of these events, closing is typically the most important to the borrower and lender as closing is the point at which a contract exists between the parties to make or complete the loan. Many lenders advertise rapid "loan approval", but approval is quite distinct from a closing. Often the steps required to move from approval to closing are the most difficult and costly steps in the loan process. Accordingly, many approved loans still suffer attrition and fail to fund. In contrast, very low attrition occurs after closing, usually significantly less than one percent. Funding refers to the final process where funds are actually transferred from the lender to the borrower at which point both parties benefit from the loan process.

System and method for processing a secured collateral loan


A stroller frame structure includes a front wheel rack, a rear wheel rack, a first linkage assembly, a coupling dock, a handle tube, a release mechanism, an armrest and a second linkage assembly that are pivotally coupled with one another. The handle tube has a lower end movable to allow the second linkage assembly to drive the first linkage assembly to move downwards to form a V-shaped folding thereby to move the front wheel rack and the rear wheel rack close to each other or extend to achieve smooth folding.

Conventional strollers for carrying a baby usually have a linkage bar consisting of rods pivotally engaging with one another. A release mechanism is used to control a joint assembly located at the juncture of the rods. The joint assembly has a latch mechanism which may be released or latched to collapse the stroller to a folding position or unfold the stroller to an extended position. For instance U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,235 discloses a convertible stroller. However, it has a complicated frame structure consisting of coupling linkage bars. This is quite difficult to assemble. As it has many rod elements, the total weight of the frame structure is greater. This is not easy to carry and move. Folding movement cannot be smoothly executed and could result in a troublesome operation.