A method for matching semantic text data with tags. The method includes: pre-processing multiple semantic text data to obtain original corpus data comprising multiple semantic independent members; determining the degree of association between any two of the multiple semantic independent members according to a reproduction relationship of the multiple semantic independent members in a natural text, determining a theme corresponding to the association according to the degree of association between any two, and thus determining a mapping probability relationship between the multiple semantic text data and the theme; selecting one of the multiple semantic independent members corresponding to the association as a tag of the theme, and mapping the multiple semantic text data to the tag according to the determined mapping probability relationship between the multiple semantic text data and the theme; and taking the determined mapping relationship between the multiple semantic text data and the tag as a supervision material, and matching the unmapped semantic text data with the tag according to the supervision material.

With the development of mobile Internet, people are increasingly inclined to express opinions or seek relevant consultation on a mobile device, for example, by using an APP's self-service for message consultation, and using social networks such as Weibo to express ideas, and so on. In this context, a large amount of unstructured short text data will be produced, and these data often contain users' core demands or suggestions for optimization of products and services.
For these valuable data, relevant departments often first carry out text classification in their daily analysis work, and a traditional method of the text classification is mainly through manual marking, which is-inefficient. Therefore, improving the analysis and mining ability for such data, especially the level of automatic mining, will significantly reduce daily operating costs. In addition, at present, the text of users' comment data on the mobile network is short, and has serious colloquial language, scattered information value, irregular language styles, and different expression ways for users with different personalities, bringing great challenges to traditional semantic analysis feature extraction.
A traditional method of short text classification is mainly based on a large number of user-labeled sample corpora to train a classification model, mainly characterized by including: analyzing a sample corpus library by a user and manually defining a fixed sample classification tag system. Based on the defined business classification tag system, each sample in the sample corpus library is manually screened one by one, to be labeled with an appropriate tag, thereby constructing a sample data set for training of the classification model. The classification model is trained with respect to the constructed sample data set. Features of short text are extracted based on a vector space model, or a method of "frequent term set extraction" or term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), and then based on the extracted text features, a classification algorithm, such as SVM, is used for training to form a final classification model.

Method and device for matching semantic text data with a tag, and computer-readable storage medium having stored instructions


An NMR DOR sample spinner includes an inner-rotor that is driven by a radial-inflow microturbine at each end, supported radially by anti-whirl air bearings, and supported axially by thrust bearings at each end thereof. The DOR spinner further comprises an outer-rotor that houses the inner-rotor bearing and drive nozzles such that the inner-rotor axis is inclined with respect to the axis of the outer-rotor at an angle of typically 30.56.degree.. The outer-rotor is driven by a radial-inflow microturbine at each end, supported radially on anti-whirl air bearings, and supported axially by thrust bearings at each end thereof. The outer-rotor further comprises ceramic bearing races at each end that hold the sample drive nozzles in place. The outer microturbines are screwed to the outer-rotor and hold the bearing races in place. Drive and bearing gas for the inner-rotor is supplied through slip-fit, precision axial tubes at each end of the outer-rotor. The rf magnetization coil surrounds the central region of the outer-rotor, and rf shield rings limit the axial extent of the rf magnetic field.

High-speed sample spinning about an axis, inclined with respect to the external magnetic field at the angle at which the second Legendre polynomial vanishes, has long been used to average out dipolar NMR interactions for improved spectral resolution. This technique is referred to as Magic Angle Spinning (MAS). In U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,882 I disclose a technique for high speed sample spinning using cylindrical, ceramic sample containers with press-fit plastic turbines. Other NMR MAS spinners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,254,373 and 4,739,270 and the references cited therein. Co-pending U.S. patent application No. 07/607,521,633, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,202, and PCT appl. no. PCT/US91/01225 disclose further significant improvements in gas bearing whirl stabilization, microturbine efficiency, and high-temperature operation.
Pines et al (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,899,111, 4,968,938, and 4,968,939) have shown that spinning simultaneously about two intersecting axes, specifically the zeros of the second and fourth Legendre polynomials, should be effective in improving the spectral resolution of quadrupolar NMR nuclides. The above patents provide eloquent discussions of the theory. This technique has been called Double Rotation or DOR. The DOR technique is expect, ed to be most effective at high B.sub.0 --typically 7 T to 18 T--with inner-rotor rotational frequencies above 7 kHz and outer-rotor rotation above 1400 Hz.
Prior-art DOR spinner designs, however, have been largely ineffective. Special cases have shown spectral enhancement, but more often the spectra are actually degraded, compared to MAS techniques, owing to the following:
(1) the presence of a large number of intense, closely spaced sidebands; PA0 (2) inability to achieve stable spinning over the periods of time required for adequate signal averaging or sideband suppression techniques; PA0 (3) poor filling factor and hence low sensitivity; PA0 (4) large NMR background signals; and PA0 (5) limited temperature range.
Moreover, prior art designs typically require many hours of tedious, dynamic balancing for every sample before marginally stable spinning can be achieved. Spinners are then typically not usable for more than several hours before they have been irreparably damaged by wear.
The instant invention offers such substantial performance improvements in each of the above areas as to make the DOR NMR experiment a viable NMR technique. Spinning speeds are more than doubled, thereby greatly reducing the sideband problem. Samples are quickly loaded and easily spun without tedious dynamic balancing. Filling factor is increased. Stable spinning may now be maintained indefinitely, and spinners may be reused hundreds of times. The design permits the use of such materials as may be required to minimize background signals for any nuclide. The instant design can be made of ceramic materials for operation over a wide range of temperatures.


A process and device for computer-aided adaptation of an application program for a machine tool is described. A sequence of control commands for feed axes of the machine tool defines a contour to be traveled by a tool relative to a workpiece. Based on the sequence of control commands, a computer determines sequential instructions for a round axle of the machine tool to track the contour and determines if, and possibly at which locations, the contour has angular or curvature discontinuities. When such angular or curvature discontinuities occur, the computer determines sequential instructions, so that the round axle begins to start accelerating before the angle or curvature discontinuities occurs, and the acceleration of the round axle terminates only after the angle or curvature discontinuity has ended.

The present invention relates, in general, to a process and device for computer-aided adaptation of an application program for a machine tool so as to move a round axle of the machine tool in conformance with a machined contour. The present invention also relates to a data carrier with a computer program stored on the data carrier for carrying out the process, and to a computer with a program memory having stored therein a computer program called by the computer. The present invention also relates to a machine tool with a controller configured to control the machine tool.
Nothing in the following discussion of the state of the art is to be construed as an admission of prior art.
Machine tools and application programs for machine tools that adapt such application programs to various machining operations are known in the art.
In such machining operations, the tool can have an edge, such as a cutting edge of a glass cutter. The machine tool operates optimally by moving the cutter along a contour relative to the machined workpiece. The contour is defined by a sequence of control commands for the feed axes of the machine tool that are part of an application program. The edge of the tool should always be oriented tangentially to the traveled contour. This orientation of the tool is affected by a round axle that rotates the tool or the workpiece.
The control commands for the round axle can also be part of the application program, although it may be necessary to separately program the control commands for the round axle. This would require a substantial programming task for the user when generating the application program.
In state-of-the-art applications, the round axle is therefore typically defined as a secondary axis, with its desired position being determined by the computer based on the control commands for the feed axes. This process operates quite satisfactory for a control command that describes, for example, a straight section or a evenly curved section of the contour. However, if the contour includes discontinuities in the angle or curvature, a contour error occurs which can cause the tool edge to have a significant misorientation at the angular or curvature discontinuity relative to the contour. Curvature discontinuities occur, for example, at a transition from a straight line to a curved line, and vice versa. Angular discontinuities occur, for example, at the corner points of a polygonal trace.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved device and process for computer-aided adaptation of application programs for a machine tool, which obviates prior art shortcomings and is able to specifically improve tracking of the round axle using sequential instructions processed by a computer.

Processes and devices for computer-aided adaptation of an application program for a machine tool


Disclosed herein is a simplified valuable mineral sorting apparatus including, a first storage tank which accommodates a mixture of water and heavy powder and includes a specific gravity measurement module; a second storage tank accommodating a portion of the mixture exceeding a capacity level line of the first storage tank; a first discharge tube which is connected to the first storage tank and the second storage tank to introduce the excess portion of the mixture into the second storage tank, and which is positioned at the capacity level line of the first storage tank; a second discharge tube which is connected to the first storage tank to discharge the mixture in the first storage tank and which includes a flow rate control module; a specific gravity sorting device which includes a sorting container for receiving the mixture discharged from the second discharge tube and which changes a slope of the sorting container to sort minerals from the mixture in the sorting container; and a control unit for controlling the flow rate control module and the specific gravity sorting device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a mineral sorting apparatus and a method of operating the apparatus, and more particularly to a simplified valuable mineral sorting apparatus and a method of sorting minerals using the apparatus, which is configured to sort and collect various valuable minerals contained in clastic resources such as river sand or sea sand sediments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Valuable minerals such as ilmenite, rutile, zircon, sillimanite and monazite are used as essential elements in many kinds of industries. More specifically, ilmenite is used in production of welding rods, special magnetic materials or ultraviolet screening materials, and zircon is used in production of ceramics, high-class bearings or ball mills. Particularly, monazite usually contains a large of amount of rare elements such as lanthanum, cerium and samarium which are referred to as "vitamins of industry".
However, our country is importing the entirety of the above-mentioned minerals, and worldwide, the costs of raw mineral ores are currently rapidly on the rise, thereby causing the costs of the minerals to rise considerably. For example, rutile and sillimanite are approaching 200 dollars/ton, and zircon is approaching 900 dollars/ton. What is more, because countries possessing resources are weaponizing the resources in recent days, the countries possessing resources are seeking preventive measures against the outflow of their resources by strengthening their export regulation policies, such as raising export duties and restricting foreign-capital-funded resource development.
In contrast, because our country has almost no rare minerals present in ground reserves which are widely utilized in high-value-added industries, almost the total amount of the various necessary core materials and parts are imported from abroad. Thus our country may be seriously affected by the weaponization of resources and exclusive price increases of advanced countries and those countries possessing such resources. Accordingly, development of technologies for the extraction of domestic minerals is required, and thus there may be a rising interest in clastic resources such as sea sand and river sand.
The results of domestic exploration showed that sea sand or river sand contains valuable minerals such as ilmenite, monazite and zircon. For example, it was known that valuable minerals account for 1.5% of sea sand. Furthermore, data of the Construction Ministry from in 2007 showed that sea sand of 23 million tons is exploited and used as construction materials. There are about 500,000 tons of valuable minerals in 23,000,000 tons sea sand, and the economic value of these valuable minerals is approximately 1,000,000,000 dollars.
Accordingly, there is a need for a technology of preventing clastic resources such as sea sand and river sand from being mixed with construction aggregates and from being discarded, and of collecting valuable minerals such as rare minerals from clastic resources.
First of all, there is required for a technology which considers the facts that unlike mined mineral ores, clastic resources such as sand contains singulated minerals and that unlike a mineral ore containing a single kind of mineral, sand contains various kinds of valuable minerals.
The following documents may be relevant to the invention and are hereby fully incorporated by reference:
Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1241789
Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1241790
Japanese Patent document JP 06142546
Japanese Patent document JP 06114294
Japanese Patent document JP 07155510.

Simplified valuable mineral sorting apparatus and method of sorting valuable minerals using the same

KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES


Disclosed is a print controlling device including a control unit to control printing according to an instruction which relates to the printing, wherein the control unit analyzes a page description language which relates to the printing, determines whether the printing is practically monochrome printing or color printing, and changes a first command of the page description language to a second command for monochrome printing when it is determined that the printing is monochrome printing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print controlling device, an image forming device provided with the print controlling device, a print controlling method, and a computer readable recording medium storing a control program.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a monochrome document prepared by an application for document preparation is printed by a color printer, there is a case where the monochrome document is processed as a color document. This is caused, since a particular application generates a data to conduct processing of the monochrome document as a color document at a printer driver, the printer driver outputs data using a command which assigns color. At an interpreter, since the command assigns color, processing is conducted as color, and color printing is executed. Therefore, even for a monochrome document, unnecessary color processing and the like are conducted, resulting in decrease in processing speed. In addition, in case of a printer which charges for color printing, inconvenience arose in that money was charged even when it was a monochrome document.
Concerning above problems, a technique for processing monochrome document as a monochrome is in demand. As for such technique, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Specification No. 2004-243569, a technique to draw as monochrome for data sent as monochrome, and to draw as color for data sent as color, is disclosed. According to the technique, information, indicating whether each pixel is a color pixel or a monochrome pixel, is attached to information plane (Tag bit) when a draw command (PDL (Page Description Language) data) is converted into a bit map data.
However, concerning the above conventional image forming device, it was determined whether a printing is a color printing or a monochrome printing, after conversion to bit map (after rasterization). Therefore, burden of processing was large, and decrease in processing speed and determination accuracy were likely to occur.

Print controlling device, image forming device, print controlling method, and computer readable recording medium storing control program

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A belted-alternator starter system that continuously provides pre-flux when the vehicle ignition is on and the engine is off to provide a faster torque response when the engine is turned on. The alternator/starter device operates as an alternator for providing electrical energy to vehicle electrical devices and the battery when the ignition is on and the engine is running, and operates as a starter for providing engine torque to start the engine when the engine is off and the ignition is on. The system further includes an inverter/rectifier circuit to provide AC current to the armature coils when the alternator/starter device is operating as a starter. The system provides an operating field current to the field coil when the ignition and the engine are on and provides a pre-flux field current to the field coil when the vehicle ignition is on and the engine is off.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a belted-alternator-starter (BAS) system for a vehicle and, more particularly, to a BAS system for a vehicle, where the BAS system includes a motor device that receives a minimal field current when the vehicle ignition is on and the engine is off so as to quickly provide engine torque when the engine is restarted.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Vehicles employ alternators that are driven by a belt coupled to the vehicle engine to provide electrical power. The alternator includes a rectifier to convert AC current to DC current to charge the vehicle battery. The field current of the alternator is regulated to provide the proper battery charge. Particularly, claw-pole, wound rotor AC synchronous devices are used in combination with a rectifier and a field current regulator in vehicles as a belt-driven generator. Permanent magnets have been employed in the claw-pole device to increase the power output and efficiency of the alternator for a given alternator size.
Certain state of the art vehicle designs have investigated using the alternator as a starter motor to start the engine so that the vehicle engine can be turned off when the vehicle is stopped, such as at a stop light, to conserve fuel. These devices are typically known as belted-alternator-starters (BAS). The torque required to start the engine when it is warm is much less than the torque required when the engine is cold. Therefore, a starting device is required to provide the necessary high torque for cold starts. In conventional power-trains, the starter motor provides this torque and starts the engine relatively slowly. Because the alternator is directly connected to the engine by the belt, and thus has a smaller pulley ratio compared to the gear ratio of the starter motor, it has to be designed to produce higher torque not only to take care of cold starts, but also to accelerate the engine quickly so that the starting is transparent to the driver.
In the known vehicles employing a BAS, the three-phases of the AC synchronous alternator are connected to a three-phase active bridge circuit, which functions as a controlled rectifier when the BAS is in the generator mode and as an inverter when the BAS is in the motor mode.
Magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnets and/or the field coil in the rotor induces a current in the armature coils. The interaction of the flux and current gives the alternator its torque. The known BAS system provided the field current and the armature current simultaneously from the power-train controller commands at the start of the vehicle engine. However, the torque response of the engine under this control is unacceptably slow, on the order of 400–600 milliseconds. It would be desirable to provide a BAS that generated the torque more quickly at engine start-up so that the re-starting of the engine at, for example, a stop-light is transparent to the driver of the vehicle.

Fast torque control of a belted alternator starter


Analyzing an event chronology record to permit identification of periods of a production sequence that correspond to a high probability of failure. Systems and methods include receiving an event chronology for a particular machine in the production sequence and for a particular time interval. A reliability analysis system accesses process flow information to determine whether a particular event in the event chronology is related to a subsequent adverse event within a predefined event window.

Cost savings programs for manufacturing systems are continuously striving to minimize waste and improve the quality of product given to the consumer. For example, a statistical control model such as disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,188 enables the setup and control of a process to optimize process and product quality and efficiency. Existing manufacturing systems have evolved over time such that most easy-to-find, intuitive, or obvious opportunities to minimize waste and improve productivity have long been fixed or are effectively managed. Efforts to improve productivity often require fundamental changes in equipment capability and/or reliability to remove technical liabilities that are experienced during production operation.
A previous analysis tool presents cull waste results from a machine chronology built from data obtained during the manufacturing process. However, this tool analyzes and presents results on a univariate basis or pools results across time to the shift level of resolution (e.g., 12-hour blocks). Pooling and tabulating production data results in a loss of event/time order and fails to define interrelations describing cause and effect (e.g., identifying driving events). In addition, the speed, complexity, and size of modern manufacturing systems make it difficult to determine causal relationships without knowledge of the process flow.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods that provide a fast, convenient, standardized means of obtaining detailed process reliability information for a particular asset and period of operation.

Generating a reliability analysis by identifying casual relationships between events in an event-based manufacturing system


A method and apparatus include referencing a phonetic language database that includes double-byte font entries and associated phonetic representations of the double-byte font entries. At least one of the double-byte font entries is used to obtain a phonetic representation of the used at least one double-byte font. The phonetic representation is displayed on a display device.

Efficient implementation of user interfaces is an important consideration for designers, manufacturers, and users of electronic devices and systems. To achieve maximum effectiveness, a user interface may advantageously display information to a system user in the user's primary language.
The English language is generally written using an alphabet of twenty-six letters derived from the Romans. Other written languages, however, may employ significantly greater numbers of written characters. An example of a written language that requires a relatively large number of written characters is the Chinese language.
As background information, it is useful to have a broad understanding of languages that are not based on the Roman alphabet. Chinese, for example, has a constrained phonetic structure. In spoken Chinese, there are only 412 basic phonetic units, each unit having a mono-syllabic sound. Four sound patterns can potentially be applied to each phonetic unit, resulting in slightly more than 1,000 distinct sounds. Other languages not based on the Roman alphabet also include a vast number of characters, and may also employ the use of mono-syllabic sounds.
Conventional computer systems and operating systems generally include the use of a two byte digital encoding method to accommodate the large number of characters normally represented in languages that do not use the Roman alphabet. This is in contrast to the languages that use Roman characters, as computer displayable fonts that are associated with these languages may be encoded using only one byte of digital information. The two byte digital encoding method, also known as double-byte encoding, requires substantially greater system memory than the one byte digital encoding method.
The increased memory requirements that double-byte encoding necessitates makes the installation of software supporting these double-byte characters optional. For example, many operating systems make the installation of double-byte encoding/decoding support optional. Therefore, many computer systems today simply do not provide support for displaying documents that include double-byte encoded fonts.
The additional system memory required by double-byte encoding/decoding also places significant burdens on small-sized or portable electronic devices. These small-sized electronic devices typically have very limited system memory. Furthermore, these small-sized or portable electronic devices lack the availability to significantly expand the system memory. Accordingly, a large number of these small-sized or portable electronic devices do not include built in double-byte encoding/decoding software, and many simply cannot handle the increased memory capacity required to handle the double-byte encoding/decoding techniques.
Because many computer systems, including both larger personal computer devices and small-sized electronic devices, do not include software that is capable of handling documents that include double-byte encoded text, users will invariably receive documents with this type of encoding/decoding and will be unable to discern the contents thereof. Therefore, there remains the need to provide a method and apparatus capable of handling media that includes double-byte encoded text even if the required software to actually display the double-byte encoded text is not installed on the displaying computer device.

Method and apparatus for providing foreign language text display when encoding is not available


A system is disclosed. The system includes a processing subsystem that determines preliminary voltages corresponding to a plurality of blades based upon blade passing signals (BPS), and generates a plurality of clearance values by normalizing the preliminary voltages for effects of one or more operational parameters, wherein the plurality of clearance values are representative of clearance of the plurality of blades.

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to the field of prognostics of blades or airfoils, and more specifically to methods and systems for determination of health of blades.
Rotor blades or airfoils are used in several devices, for example, axial compressors, turbines, engines, turbomachines, or the like. An axial compressor has a series of stages with each stage comprising a row of rotor blades or airfoils followed by a row of static blades or static airfoils. Accordingly, each stage comprises a pair of rotor blades or airfoils and static airfoils. In an axial compressor, the rotor blades increase the kinetic energy of a fluid that enters the axial compressor through an inlet. Furthermore, the static blades generally convert the increased kinetic energy of the fluid into static pressure through diffusion. Accordingly, the rotor blades and static blades play an important role to increase the pressure of the fluid.
Furthermore, the rotor blades or airfoils and the static airfoils are vital due to wide and varied applications of the axial compressors that include the airfoils. Axial compressors, for example, may be used in a number of devices, such as, land based gas turbines, jet engines, high speed ship engines, small scale power stations, or the like. In addition, the axial compressors may be used in other applications, such as, large volume air separation plants, blast furnace air, fluid catalytic cracking air, propane dehydrogenation, or the like.
The blades or airfoils operate for long hours under extreme and varied operating conditions, such as, high speed, fluid load, and temperature that affect the health of the airfoils. In addition to the extreme and varied conditions, certain other factors lead to fatigue and stress on the airfoils. The factors, for example, may include centrifugal forces, fluid forces, thermal loads during transient events, load due to non-synchronous vibration, such as, rotating stall, and the cyclic load due to synchronous resonant vibration. Prolonged effects of the factors lead to defects, such as, tip loss, or deflection in the airfoils.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable to develop a system and method that may predict health of airfoils in real time. More particularly, it is desirable to develop a system and method that may predict cracks or fractures in real time.

Methods and systems for monitoring health of blades


A piezoelectric/electrostrictive device includes: a ceramic substrate having a thick portion and a thin diaphragm portion; and a piezoelectric/electrostrictive element having a layered structure including a lower electrode, a piezoelectric/electrostrictive film, and an upper electrode, and the thin diaphragm portion of the ceramic substrate is constituted to vibrate in conjunction with the driving of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element. Furthermore, shape and dimension relations defined in the following (A) to (C) are satisfied: (A) a shape of the thin diaphragm portion 12 is an outward protruding arch shape, and an outward protrusion height of the arch shape is in a range of 5 to 50 μm; (B) a mounting width of the thin diaphragm portion is in a range of 600 to 2000 μm; and (C) a ratio (height/width) of the height to the width of the thick portion is in a range of 0.25 to 3. According to the piezoelectric/electrostrictive device, vibration of a thin diaphragm portion is effectively prevented from being damped, and the device maintains displacement (amplitude) to be high and is superior in response and highprecision (highresolution, high-sensitivity) detection is possible.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric/electrostrictive device, more particularly to a piezoelectric/electrostrictive device for use as an actuator utilizing a flexural displacement, or various types of sensors (e.g., a sensor for a microphone, a viscosity sensor, etc.) for detecting fluid properties, sound pressure, micro weight, acceleration and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
A piezoelectric/electrostrictive device is used as an actuator or various types of sensors. As such piezoelectric/electrostrictive device, there is disclosed, for example, a device for use in measuring fluid properties such as density, concentration, and viscosity (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-201265). Such piezoelectric/electrostrictive device is used as a sensor by utilizing correlation between amplitude of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive device as a vibrator and viscous resistance of the fluid brought into contact with the piezoelectric/electrostrictive device (vibrator).
In general, it is possible to replace a vibration configuration such as the vibration of the vibrator in a mechanical system with an equivalent circuit in an electrical system. When the piezoelectric/electrostrictive device (vibrator) is vibrated in a fluid, this vibrator receives a mechanical resistance based on the viscous resistance of the fluid, and accordingly an electric constant of the equivalent circuit of a piezoelectric/electrostrictive element constituting the vibrator changes. By utilizing this, fluid properties such as the viscosity, the density, and the concentration are measured. Here, examples of a measurable fluid include a liquid and a gas. Such liquid may comprise a single component such as water, alcohol, or oil. Examples of the liquid include a liquid obtained by dissolving, mixing, or suspending a soluble or insoluble medium in the component, a slurry, and a paste.
Moreover, examples of the electric constant to be detected include loss coefficient, phase, resistance, reactance, conductance, susceptance, inductance, and capacitance. The loss coefficient or the phase is especially preferably used which has one maximum or minimum change point in the vicinity of a resonance frequency of the equivalent circuit. Accordingly, it is possible to measure not only the viscosity of the fluid but also the density or the concentration thereof (e.g., sulfuric acid concentration in an aqueous sulfuric acid solution). It is to be noted that in addition to the electric constant, a change of the resonance frequency may be utilized as an index for detecting the change of the vibration configuration as long as there is not any special problem from viewpoints of measurement precision and durability. In a case where a ferroelectric is used as the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element, there is detected as a voltage an electric charge generated from a delay of a dipole moment of the ferroelectric after a pulsed electric field is given. A change of the electric charge may be utilized.
As such piezoelectric/electrostrictive device, there is disclosed a device comprising: a ceramic substrate having a thick portion, and a thin diaphragm portion which is formed integrally with the thick portion to form a cavity; and a piezoelectric/electrostrictive element fixed to an outer surface of the substrate. An auxiliary electrode is formed in a position independent of a lower electrode constituting the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element in such a manner that a part of the auxiliary electrode is disposed under a part of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-261347). According to such constitution, an upper electrode can be formed on the surfaces of the auxiliary electrode and the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element continuously without breaking of wire, and reliability of connection of the upper electrode can be enhanced. It is to be noted that a fluid to be measured is introduced into the cavity via a through hole to fill in the cavity. Furthermore, when the auxiliary electrode is continuously formed on not only the outer surface of the thin diaphragm portion but also the thick portion, it is possible to obtain the piezoelectric/electrostrictive device which has stabilized device properties and which is not easily limited by use conditions.
In the piezoelectric/electrostrictive devices disclosed in the above-described patent documents and the like, although the thin diaphragm portion only is to be vibrated in conjunction with driving of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element, in actual, not only the thin diaphragm portion but also the thick portion are vibrated, vibration energy of the thin diaphragm portion damps, and displacement (amplitude) is decreased. Moreover, since response is lowered, there is a problem that it is difficult to perform high-precision (high-resolution, high-sensitivity) detection.


An adaptable anchor includes a frame; an arm articulated to the frame; a pad connected to the arm at a distance from the articulation with the frame; a wedge movably mounted to the frame and in wedging contact with the arm; a biasing member disposed to selectively apply a biasing energy between the frame and the wedge; and a degradable retainer preventing application of the biasing energy until degraded. An embodiment of a borehole system includes a borehole in a subsurface formation; a tubular member disposed in the borehole; and an adaptable anchor as in any prior embodiment in operable contact with the tubular member. An embodiment of a method for anchoring a tool in a borehole includes running the adaptable anchor into a borehole; degrading the degradable retainer; urging the wedge into contact with the arm with the biasing member; and displacing the pad.

In the resource recovery industry, it is often necessary to anchor tools and tubing strings in a borehole in a subsurface formation to enable the tool to perform its intended function or to locate and support a tubing string, for example. To this end, many tools are manufactured with anchors as a part of the tool. Most of these are set using fluid pressure. Fluid pressure setting regimes requires seals and sometimes fluid conveyances such as capillary lines and the like. These can increase expense for an operation and in some situations due to volume of hydraulic fluid for various particular tools, take up valuable surface space.
The art would well receive a more adaptable anchoring system that avoids drawbacks of the prior art.


A silver halide photographic emulsion is disclosed, comprising silver halide tabular grains having integrated therein dislocation lines and having an aspect ratio of 1.5 or more and a circle-corresponding diameter of 0.6 .mu.m or less, wherein the grains having integrated therein dislocation lines from the site determined by the following expression (I) occupy 50% or more of the total projected area: EQU D=(1.4S.sup.1.5).times.100.+-.15 (I). wherein D represents a ratio (%) of silver amount consumed until the integration of the dislocation lines to the total amount of silver used and S represents a sphere-corresponding diameter (.mu.m) of a final grain, provided that D is 5 or more.

A technical advance in a silver halide color photographic material for photographing is continuing and a photographic material in an ISO 400 class conventionally called an ultrahigh sensitivity film has come into common use by general users.
In order to achieve high sensitivity and high image quality, various investigations have been made. For instance, JP-A-58-113930 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"), JP-A-58-113934 and JP-A-59-119350 disclose a multi-layer color photographic material having high sensitivity and improved in granularity, sharpness and color reproducibility by using a tabular silver halide emulsion having an aspect ratio of 8 or more. The tabular silver halide grain is advantageous because it has a large grain surface area even with the same volume as compared with a cubic, octahedral or massive grain and therefore, a large amount of sensitizing dye can be used, whereby light absorption can be increased and high sensitivity and high image quality can be achieved.
Also, JP-A-63-220238 discloses that by integrating dislocation lines, the tabular silver halide grain can have high sensitivity.
Further, JP-A-62-18555, JP-A-62-99751, JP-A-62-115435 and JP-A-63-280241 disclose that the sharpness can be improved by using a tabular grain having a circle-corresponding diameter of 0.6 .mu.m or less.
However, the above-described conventional techniques are insufficient in considering tabular grains in a small size region having a circle-corresponding diameter of 0.6 .mu.m or less and a more hard gradation tabular emulsion having yet excellent sensitivity/granularity ratio and being in a small size region has been demanded.

Silver halide photographic emulsion and photographic material using the same


The shoulder straps of a wheelaway backpack are stowed in a compartment between a main back wall panel and a secondary back wall panel of the container, which compartment also receives the towing handle support tubes. A wheel cover panel, the lower edge of which is stitched to the outside of the main back wall panel some distance above the lower back edge of the backpack, has zippers along the sides for attaching it to the secondary back wall panel and forming a compartment for convenient temporary storage of articles. When unzipped and folded down against the lower part of the main back wall panel, the wheel cover panel covers the rear aspects of the wheels so as to keep the clothing of a user carrying the backpack on his or her back from being soiled by dirt and moisture on the wheels.

Although luggage with wheels has been known and available in various forms for a relatively long time, wheeled luggage has become immensely popular within the past few years. One form of wheeled luggage is a wheelaway backpack, a characteristic feature of which is the inclusion of a pair of shoulder straps that permit the user to carry the luggage item on his or her back. There are several aspects of the design of wheelaway backpacks that require attention. First, it is necessary to provide for storage of the shoulder straps so that they are not exposed to catching on other objects when the backpack is handled as checked luggage on a plane or train or otherwise handled and stowed with other articles for transport. Second, the wall of the backpack that rests on the user's back should be padded or otherwise treated to make it comfortable to the user's back. Third, the wheels should be covered when the backpack is carried on the user's back so that his or her clothing is protected from being soiled by dirty or wet wheels. In that regard, the wheels usually protrude from the lower back corners of the pack such that segments are located behind the plane of the rear wall of the pack. The foregoing requirements for wheelaway backpacks have been met in various ways in previously known designs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,503 (Wulf et al., 1998) describes and shows a wheelaway backpack that includes wheels on each end of the lower back edge of a main compartment or container and a towing handle that telescopes into and out of tubes that extend along the back wall panel of the main container. A second compartment is provided behind the towing handle tubes for stowing the shoulder straps. The second compartment extends the full height of the backpack and has a front panel that overlies the towing handle tubes, thus sandwiching the towing handle tubes between the back panel of the main compartment and the front panel of the second compartment. The upper portion of the back panel of the second compartment is connected by a zipper to the front panel along the sides and the top. When the upper part of the back panel is unzipped from the front panel, it folds down so as to serve as a protective flap for the exposed parts of the wheels. A tab with one element of a hook and loop cloth ("VELCRO") extends from the free edge of the flap and is attached to a patch of the other hook/loop cloth element that is secured to the bottom of the backpack to hold the back flap in place.
The full-height second compartment provides padding so that the towing handle tubes, which are sandwiched between the main and second compartments, do not dig into the user's back. The space between the main and second compartments is "dead space," serving only to contain the towing handle tubes and isolate them from the main compartment and the second compartment. The second compartment serves only for stowage of the shoulder straps, although it is possible to place articles in the second compartment with the straps. Articles placed in the second compartment are not, however, readily accessible to the user, inasmuch as the second compartment extends the full height and the user has to fish for them at the bottom of the backpack. Use of the second compartment for packing articles is also impractical because the upper part is opened when the straps are deployed and because articles placed in the lower part of the second compartment are likely to make the backpack uncomfortable when it is carried on the user's back.


A method of analyzing metal impurities in a surface oxide film of a semiconductor substrate enables a detection sensitivity of the order of 10.sup.11 atoms/cm.sup.2 in a simple technique. This method comprises measuring a quantity of oxide charge resulting from specified metal impurities existing in the surface oxide film formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, and using a predetermined correlation between the quantity of metal impurities and the quantity of oxide charge to determine the quantity of metal impurities in the surface oxide film from the measured quantity of oxide charge of the surface oxide film. Further, it is possible to determine the distribution of concentration of the metal impurities in a thermal oxide film on a silicon substrate by determining a correlation between a depth of the thermal oxide film and a quantity of oxide charge resulting from the metal impurities in the thermal oxide film and by using the correlation between the quantity of the metal impurities in the thermal oxide film and the measured quantity of oxide charge resulting therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of analyzing metal impurities in an oxide film formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, and more particularly to a method of analyzing iron and aluminum impurity, which method is useful for quality control chiefly in the cleaning process during the production of LSI.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional means for analyzing metal impurities in the surface layer of a semiconductor substrate is exemplified by SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) and TRXRF (Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence).
However, these conventional analyzing methods requires a vacuum, which requires a large-sized and expensive analyzing apparatus. Therefore in the conventional methods, a simple analysis cannot be achieved.

Method of analyzing metal impurities in surface oxide film of semiconductor substrate


Underground storage tank consisting of an internal metal structure (1), of a static external facing (2) and of a filler (4) such a hot blown bitumen located between the metal structure (1) and the static facing (2), the outer surface of the metal structure (1) presenting welded structural shapes (7) properly spaced and cross connected to increase the bond between the metal structure (1) and the filler (4).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention covers an underground storage tank for storage of liquids of any nature whatsoever.
2. Description of the Related Art
These tanks are usually cylindrical with horizontal axis and are consisting of an internal the metal containment structure, an external static facing in touch with the soil in plain simple or reinforced concrete and a filler located between the metal containment structure and the static facing.
Large underground storage tanks are normally built with hot press rolled metal elements or large sized rings, the transverse edges of which are provided with angle sections, apt automatically to create transverse and longitudinal channels after the rings have been jointed and with the aid of flat sections, for easy detection and sealing of any leaks.
Such transverse channels can also be obtained with omega shapes and flat sections, welded onto the rings which, in this case, are without angle-shapes. The latter solution is preferable since hot-press rolling of the rings, stiffened by shaping, is rather difficult.
These large sized metal elements allow for an easier and lower-cost assembly of the metal structure erected at the crown of the static concrete facing on which it is resting and which externally protects it, since handling and installation of these elements is much easier and much more rational than achievable with previous assembly and erection techniques.
The metal containment structure is supported by the static reinforced or plain concrete facing, by means of U-bolts and a filler is poured or injected into the hollow space between the metal structure and static facing.
The static stability of these large underground tanks is currently guaranteed by providing the metal structure and the static facing with a separate static stability without taking their reciprocal interaction into account. An important advantage in building such large sized underground tanks can be achieved if the system is conceived as a metal containment structure, static facing, filler and surrounding soil, i.e. as one single interacting complex structure so that all its components are all together and directly contributing to the structural stability of these tanks which will thus be configurated according to the underground cavity-walled storage tank design.
By meeting this requirement, the resistance parameters and thickness of the metal structure and of the static facing may be reduced by reducing the quantity of material.
These tanks, thus designed, are known from EP-A-0325683 and its related U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,545, in which a special hot blown bitumen is injected between the static facing and the metal shell at a temperature of about 200.degree.--200.degree. C.
The construction of such underground storage tanks, according to these known patents is therefore rather inexpensive and stress resisting, including seismic stresses, but this invention has the aim to provide an even better structural stability to the three tank components, i.e. its static facing, metal shell and hot blown bitumen filler.
The metal shell is indeed the tank component most exposed to stresses and strains, especially during filling and emptying of the tank. Such strains in the metal shell will generate deformation of the filler, although these strains are usually well absorbed since hot blown bitumen is used as a filler, having excellent viscous-elastic properties.


An object of the present invention is to provide a coating composition that has excellent curability at low temperatures and in a short period of time, and that also has satisfactory pot life (usable life) and makes it possible to obtain a cured coating film with an excellent finished appearance. The present invention provides a coating composition comprising a secondary hydroxy-containing acrylic resin (A), which is a copolymer of monomer components comprising 20 to 50% by mass of secondary hydroxy-containing polymerizable unsaturated monomer (a) and 50 to 80% by mass of at least one other polymerizable unsaturated monomer (b); a polyisocyanate compound (B); and an organometallic catalyst (C) containing a metallic compound (C1) in which the metal is a member selected from the group consisting of zinc, tin, zirconium, bismuth, lead, cobalt, manganese, titanium, aluminum and molybdenum, and an amidine compound (C2).

From the standpoint of energy saving and reduction of environmental burdens, research toward the development of a shortened bake curing step and reduced operation steps has been actively conducted in the field of automotive body coating and industrial product coating.
For example, after electrodeposition coating, intercoating and top coating are typically provided in sequence, and bake curing has conventionally been performed following each of the intercoating and top coating. However, in an effort to reduce the operation steps in automotive body coating, there has been progress in research aimed at shortening the baking step by performing a single baking step for both the intercoating and top coating after the top coating is provided. This coating method comprising a shortened baking step is becoming the mainstream method.
With respect to shortening the bake curing step, there exists an increasing demand for lowering temperatures and shortening the time required for performing the step.
As a coating composition that meets the demand for low-temperature, short-time curing, hydroxyl/isocyanate-crosslinked coating compositions have been considered to be a strong candidate in view of cost efficiency. Hydroxyl/isocyanate-crosslinked coating compositions are obtained by crosslinking hydroxy-containing resins using a polyisocyanate compound as a crosslinking agent and curing the crosslinked resins. Thus, such compositions have been researched so far.
However, the prior art has been unsatisfactory in maintaining pot life (usable time, i.e., storage performance) in an attempt to improve the curability at low temperatures in a short period of time, and it has also been difficult to satisfy the requirement for an excellent appearance in automobile body coating and other kinds of coating.
Patent Literature 1 discloses as a coating composition excellent in curability at low temperatures a coating composition comprising as essential components a pyrazole-blocked polyisocyanate compound that contains per molecule two or more tertiary isocyanate groups blocked by a pyrazole compound, and a hydroxy-containing resin having a specific hydroxyl value and a specific weight average molecular weight. However, such a coating composition has been unsatisfactory in curability under short-time curing conditions.
Reference 2 discloses as a coating composition excellent in curability at low temperatures a one-package low-temperature-curing color enamel coating composition comprising: a resin component containing a polyester polyol having a specific hydroxy value and an acrylic polyol having a specific hydroxy value; a crosslinking agent containing a blocked isocyanate as an essential component and melamine as an optional component; a blocked isocyanate dissociation catalyst comprising at least a dicarboxylate of dibutyltin; and a pigment. However, this coating composition has been unsatisfactory in curability under low-temperature baking conditions.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a curable coating composition comprising a resin composition for preparing a coating composition and a (blocked) polyisocyanate compound, wherein the resin composition comprises a polyol (A1), a polyether polyol (B), and a solvent (C), wherein the polyol (A1) has a ring structure. Patent Literature 2 further discloses another curable coating composition comprising an organometallic compound and an acidic substance in addition to the aforementioned curable coating composition.
This coating composition is excellent in curability at low temperatures in a short period of time in an embodiment where the coating composition comprises an organometallic compound and an acidic substance; however, the pot life is unsatisfactory, and the finished appearance of the resulting coating film is also sometimes unsatisfactory.


A radio base station allocates, when performing a real-time Internet-protocol data communication, up-link radio resources, based on basic information of transmission data, so that the transmission data is transmitted in synchronization with a codec cycle of a mobile communication terminal in a concentrated manner, and notifies a result of allocating the up-link radio resources to the mobile communication terminal as an up-transmission schedule. A mobile communication terminal controls transmission of a radio frame based on the up-transmission schedule.

At present, studies are underway to provide Internet Protocol (IP) for all mobile communication systems. In such a system, it is expected that real-time data required to be processed in real-time, such as audio data and video data, will be IP-packetized, which can increase a transfer delay between two terminals for transmission and reception, depending on a routing path to be used. It is desirable to reduce the delay in a radio access as much as possible.
Conventionally, a method in which real-time data and burst data are mixed and subjected to dynamic band-allocation (scheduling) is proposed, in contrast to a time-division radio access scheme. According to this method, priorities are imparted to each of CBR/VBR/ABR classes according to an estimated transmission-completion time (time obtained by adding cycle time to transmission time) and an amount of data to be received before the estimated transmission-completion time. Bands are then allocated in preferential order from transfer data with higher priority (see Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-223716
However, in the conventional scheduling method, the priority is calculated from the time based on the cycle time of each service and the amount of reception data, and a service with strict requirements regarding delay will not be preferentially processed. Therefore, the service can be delayed by the cycle time or can fluctuate. In the scheduling method, the estimated transmission-completion time is determined based on reference time adopted in a parent station. Hence, the estimated transmission-completion time is not synchronized with the time when a request is made for data transmission, which can cause a delay.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile packet communication system in which real-time IP data required to be handled in real-time is transmitted from a mobile communication terminal via a radio transmission path, at the codec timing of the mobile communication terminal in an up-transmission from the mobile communication terminal, thereby minimizing the delay resulting from a radio access and reducing transfer delay between transmission and reception terminals.


A plug remover for extracting a plug from a marker bottle or the like slips laterally over and entraps the plug. The plug remover includes a handle making it easy to grasp, which in the preferred embodiment has a flat top surface and can be inverted and placed on a table top or other surface, with the plug still in the plug remover, while the bottle is refilled. In the preferred embodiment the plug remover includes a bottom cam which, after the plug has been entrapped by the remover, can be turned along the thread of the bottle neck and rides up the thread to provide additional leverage for overcoming the "stiction" between the plug and the neck of the bottle.

Marker bottles, which are ink-filled bottles having a plug with a foam or fabric pad, are popular in bingo halls. The game of bingo involves a game card consisting of an array of numbers, usually from 1 to 75, which are called in random order by the bingo hall operator. Each called number appearing on a player's card is marked off by the player. A marker bottle is a convenient way of marking off numbers called during a game of bingo.
A marker bottle typically comprises a plastic container having a threaded neck and a plug which slip-fits into the neck. The plug includes a top opening covered by or filled with a liquid-permeable pad made from foam, fabric or another permeable material, which allows ink or dye contained in the bottle to be dabbed onto a substrate such as a bingo card. The permeable material controls the flow of ink or dye from the bottle. A threaded closure is typically provided for storing the marker bottle when not in use, to prevent spillage and keep the ink or dye from drying out.
A significant problem is presented by the need to refill the bottle from time to time. The user must grasp the plug and extract it from the neck in order to open the bottle for refilling. However, the plug fits into the neck very snugly to prevent seepage, and the collar of the plug is typically not much wider than the neck of the bottle leaving very little surface for the user to grasp, thus rendering removal of the plug quite difficult. This problem is exacerbated by wet ink or dye from the bottle, which during use seeps onto the plug and makes the plug collar quite slippery and difficult to grasp. Further, ink or dye can creep between the plug and the neck of the bottle, which when dried over time increases the static friction or "stiction" between the plug and the neck and renders removal of the plug even more difficult.


A nonradiative dielectric line is provided which solves problems concerning the relative positioning of the parts, mass production, and variations in electrical characteristics of a dielectric strip, and which makes integral molding using injection molding technology possible. A height of a dielectric in the propagation area is made higher than the height in the non-propagation area, and a dielectric layer having a low dielectric constant is provided in the non-propagation area. Thus, the thickness of the dielectric layer in the non-propagation area can be increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonradiative dielectric waveguide suitable for use in a transmission line, in an integrated circuit implemented in millimeter wave band equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 19(A), 19(B), 19(C) and 19(D) are sectional views illustrating the construction of four types of conventional nonradiative dielectric waveguides (NRD guides). FIG. 19(A) shows a normal-type nonradiative dielectric line in which a dielectric strip 100 is provided between conductive plates 101 and 102 which are placed in parallel to each other. FIG. 19(B) shows a grooved-type nonradiative dielectric line in which a groove is formed in each of the conductive plates 101 and 102, with the dielectric strip 100 being fitted into the groove. FIG. 19(C) shows an insulation-type nonradiative dielectric line in which the dielectric strip 100 is provided between conductive plates 105 and 106 via dielectric layers 103 and 104 having a low dielectric constant. FIG. 19(D) shows a winged-type nonradiative dielectric line in which dielectrics 107 and 108 are formed along the plane portion of conductive plates 109 and 110, each of the dielectrics 107 and 108 having a projecting winged portion, and the winged portions are made to contact each other.
In the waveguides, nonradiative dielectric waveguides have opposing conductive plates, and a dielectric strip inserted between the plates. Dielectric layers may also be provided on the surfaces of the conductive plates facing a path formed by the plates.
Electromagnetic wave having a polarization plane parallel to the surface of the conductive plates propagates in the dielectric strip, which is referred to as the "propagating region", while the propagation of such wave is cut-off in the other region, the "cut-off region", between the plates.
In such a nonradiative dielectric waveguide, transmission loss is reduced by making the spacing between the conductors less than a half of the wavelength of the propagating electromagnetic wave, thus suppressing the radiant wave in a bent portion or a non-continuous portion.
However, in the normal-type nonradiative dielectric line shown in FIG. 19(A), highly accurate positioning of dielectric strips to form an electromagnetic wave path is relatively difficult, and such structure is susceptible to vibrations and impact since no mechanism for positioning the dielectric is provided in the conductor planes.
The grooved-type nonradiative dielectric line shown in FIG. 19(B) excels in positioning and the mechanical strength of the wave guide. However, there are problems, for example, current flow concentrated in the corner portions of the groove causes large loss of transmission, and a conductive plate having grooves is disadvantageous in view of the cost of mass production. Furthermore, if a dielectric strip having a high dielectric constant, er, greater than about 5 is used, a small gap between the strip and conductive plate may cause unpredictable changes in the characteristics of the waveguide.
In the insulation-type nonradiative dielectric line of FIG. 19(C), since a dielectric layer of a low dielectric constant is provided between a dielectric strip of a high dielectric constant and a conductive plate, even if the nonradiative dielectric waveguide is reduced in size by using a dielectric material of a high dielectric constant, the problem of the narrowing of the signal operating region due to the occurrence of a high-order mode does not occur. Further, variations of characteristics due to the gap between the strip and the conductive plate are eliminated. However, the insulation-type nonradiative dielectric line has the same drawbacks as those of the normal-type nonradiative dielectric line in the positioning and the mechanical strength of the dielectric strip.
In the winged-type nonradiative dielectric line shown in FIG. 19(D), the above-described problems are eliminated. However, the higher the dielectric constant of the material used, or the higher the frequency used, the thinner the wing portion must be made. Thus, it becomes difficult to produce a dielectric layer having a small winged portion even if an injection molding technology is employed.

Nonradiative dielectric waveguide and method of producing the same


An electronic camera comprising an LCD panel for image reproduction and an imaging device is disclosed, in which private information attaching a predetermined attribute to a designated photographed image can be input, and in accordance with the private information, the image reproduction on the LCD panel is prohibited by a command from a CPU.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and in particular to an electronic camera, an information device and a portable information apparatus designed to take private information of a user into consideration.
2. Description of the Related Art
One recent application of a digital camera (electronic camera) is for general users to deliver and circulate a photographed image among many persons. This is in view of the fact that an image obtained by an electronic camera can be checked on the monitor of the same camera.
In such a situation, however, an image other than those the user wants to circulate among other persons may be contained in the same camera, and may be undesirably viewed by other persons operating the camera in circulation.
In recent years, a camera into which the voice can be input has been available on the market. Although the image information is not exposed to other than the persons watching the monitor screen, the voice, if reproduced at the same time, like the ringing bell of the portable telephone sounding in the train or the like, troubles a multiplicity of unspecified persons and the telephone user may feel ashamed by the exposure of private information.
As described above, the same camera may contain both the information desired to be disclosed to others and the private information of the user. Inadvertent reproduction of private information may result in a trouble and therefore the reproduction of private information is better prevented.
The technique taking private situations into consideration when in use is disclosed, for example, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-330325 in which private information such as a schedule and addresses are linked with images to facilitate search. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-23015, on the other hand, discloses a technique used in a theme park or the like, in which the image management is simplified by adding ID information through a remote controller to a camera used by many persons. Other known techniques are disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-320668, in which editing data is prohibited or data are recorded by encryption to keep confidential private information contained in a digital camera the use of which is shared by many persons, and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-77700 employing measures (child lock) for protection from a malfunction which otherwise might be caused by the tampering by children.

Electronic camera, information device and portable information apparatus


A portable storage device essentially comprises a body and a protecting cap. The portable storage device is convenient to use since the portable storage device can be opened or closed easily by a pushing action.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage device, and more particularly to a portable storage device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Common travelling disks (namely, portable storage devices) are all equipped with a protecting cap to protect a plug on a disk body. When the travelling disc is in use, the protecting cap will be removed first, and then the plug will be inserted into a socket of a computer for accessing the data in the travelling disk. However, as for such a two-piece structure design, the protecting cap is prone to being lost due to carelessness of the user, thus causing much inconvenience. In order to avoid losing the protecting cap, many travelling disks with an inseparable protecting cap were developed on the market, such as Taiwan Patent No. M254698 entitled "travelling disk structure improvement", Taiwan Patent No. M269508 entitled "travelling disk with a slide type plug protecting cap", and so on. Nevertheless, the above travelling disks still suffer from many defects.
No matter how different the structure is, the operation of the travelling disk must include steps of pulling the protecting cap outward along the disk body first to disengage from the plug of the disk body, and then rotating the protecting cap 180 degrees to align the protecting cap to the rear end of the disk body, and subsequently pushing the protecting cap inwards along the disk body to locate it at the rear end of the disk body to shorten the overall length of the travelling disk in use for avoiding damage to the travelling disk due to impact. Hence, the operating method for all the conventional travelling disks must include steps of pulling outward, rotating and pushing inwards, thus causing much inconvenience in use due to too many actions.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.


Injectable compositions and use of the injectable compositions in tissue engineering applications are described. The injectable compositions are hydrogel-based compositions that can be crosslinked in situ following placement. The injectable compositions include microcapsules having predetermined erosion profiles that are loaded with nanogels having predetermined sustained release profiles for signaling molecules conjugated to the nanogels. Following crosslinking, the compositions are designed to sequentially release signaling molecules over a predetermined period of time with various release profiles. The compositions can carry additional components to stimulate tissue generation such as stem cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) components.

Natural tissue formation and differentiation takes place according to a well-ordered process that is controlled by sequential expression of signaling molecules. For instance, during embryonic development of cartilage, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) condense by up-regulation of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1) signaling. The condensed MSCs differentiate into pre-chondrocytes by co-expression of TGFβ1 and bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP7) to form a matrix remarkably similar to the superficial zone of articular cartilage. Next, the developing fetal cartilage divides into two morphologically distinct zones, namely the superficial and middle zones, by further differentiation of pre-chondrocytes to pre-hypertrophic chondrocytes driven by the gradients in BMP7 and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1). In a similar process, the cells further away from the synovial cavity mature into hypertrophic chondrocytes by gradients in BMP7, IGF1, and Indian Hedgehog (IHH) to generate the complete zonal organization (superficial, middle, calcified) of articular cartilage. Early morphogenetic events are also significantly affected by the local environment of the developing tissue. For instance, during the embryonic development of cartilage, in addition to the sequential expression of morphogens, the extracellular matrix (ECM) motifs in fetal articular cartilage play a significant development role.
Unfortunately, later in the life cycle, the body is no longer able to generate tissue in repair/replacement processes as effectively as is possible during embryonic development. For instance, fetal articular cartilage injuries are able to heal spontaneously and avoid fibrous scar tissue, while postnatal articular cartilage lacks the ability for complete self-repair.
The inability of tissue damage to heal effectively can lead to issues due to scar tissue formation as well as long term tissue damage. A significant consequence of traumatic extremity injuries and the inability for self-repair of articular cartilage is post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). The rapidly applied load in traumatic injuries focally disrupts the articular cartilage beginning with cell death, decreased stiffness and rapid progression to a full-thickness defect with time. Approximately 12% of all osteoarthritis (OA) cases are caused by PTOA. About 3.5 million individuals in the US suffer from PTOA of the hip, knee, or ankle with a total cost of $3 billion to the health care system. PTOA can occur in any age from any acute physical trauma such as sport, vehicle accident, fall, or military injury.
Unfortunately, treatment of tissue damage absent of or only minimally supported by the benefit of natural repair mechanisms remains limited in effectiveness. Conventional clinical approaches to treatment of full-thickness chondral defects such as subchondral drilling, microfracture, and abrasion arthroplasty create mechanically-inferior fibrocartilage. Osteochondral autograft transfer or mosaicplasty suffers from an additional surgical intervention and donor site morbidity. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) fails to restore zonal organization of the articular cartilage and in some cases leads to peripheral hypertrophy and calcification. For example, 33% of ACI procedures performed on soldiers suffering from PTOA of the knee resulted in permanent disability. Tissue engineered (TE) articular cartilage grafts have also been developed. As the middle zone is the thickest layer and bears the bulk of the compressive load, most TE articular cartilage grafts are based on mimicking the properties of the middle zone. However, these grafts have been shown to degenerate into biologically inferior fibrocartilage tissue.
What are needed in the art are improved compositions for use in reconstruction and repair of damaged tissue that can more closely mimic and encourage the body's natural tissue formation mechanisms. For instance, injectable therapies that can regenerate the zonal microstructure of articular cartilage would be of great benefit in the art, and have the potential to prevent permanent disability in patients suffering from PTOA.

Drug conjugated nanogels in microcapsule for delayed sustained protein delivery


Embodiments include systems and methods for using generalized pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-X) signaling with an at-rate not-return-to-zero (NRZ) clock data recovery (CDR) system. Some implementations include dual-mode signaling for an at-rate CDR (e.g., using standard NRZ signaling at lower operating frequencies and pseudo-NRZ signaling derived from PAM-X signaling at higher operating frequencies. Embodiments derive an apparent direction of signal transition from PAM-X signaling. The direction can be used to calculate pseudo-NRZ values. For example, when the PAM-X signal transitions in an upward direction, a pseudo-current NRZ value and a pseudo-previous NRZ value of ‘−1’ and ‘+1’ can be generated, respectively. An at-rate NRZ CDR can use the pseudo-NRZ values and a derived error value to make an offset determination. The offset determination can then be used to offset a generated clock signal in the CDR system.

As the demand continues to increase for high-speed computing applications, such applications often rely on increasing efficiency in both the energy and bandwidth of communications links. For example, serializer/deserializer (SERDES) circuits are becoming ubiquitous in many computational environments. The SERDES can compress a relatively wide, parallel input into a relatively narrow, serial signal (e.g., a single "bit," differential signal) for communication over a serial bus. The serial bus switches at an appreciably higher rate than the parallel bus, and serial communication of the data stream tends to reduce cost, complexity, power, and board real estate relative to comparable parallel communications. As bus speeds increase, parallel communications manifest even higher power consumption and more issues relating to timing (e.g., skew mismatches and bit misalignment), making SERDES circuits even more attractive.
Typically, the SERDES has one or more components that sample a received analog serial signal into discrete bits for various purposes. For example, the SERDES can include clock data recovery (CDR) and decision feedback equalization (DFE) adaptation components that can attempt to shift clocking locations to optimize sampling reliability. This can involve determining where signal transitions (e.g., zero-crossings) occur, which can often be frustrated by clock jitter, noisy data, small signal levels, and/or other difficult conditions.
Higher frequency operation can manifest other issues, as well. For example, at higher frequencies, more signal is often lost due to physical characteristics of electric pathways, and more functional blocks typically are inserted into such communications systems to mitigate and/or compensate for those losses. Another issue is that clock generating circuits, which are often some of the most power-hungry portions of such circuit systems, tend to consume even more power at higher frequencies. Thus, while it can be desirable to improve serial communications and other signaling in high-performance digital applications, such improvements are often constrained by energy and/or bandwidth considerations.

Configurable pulse amplitude modulation clock data recovery


A dual balloon catheter apparatus for controlling postpartum hemorrhage in uterine or vaginal cavities or hemorrhage in other body cavities, comprising: (1) a catheter having an inflation lumen and a deflation lumen; (2) a first inflatable balloon in fluid communication with the inflation lumen; and (3) a second inflatable balloon encompassing the first balloon and in fluid communication with the deflation lumen. A gaseous inflation medium can be introduced from an external gas source through the inflation lumen to inflate the first balloon, so as to apply a substantially even pressure along a substantial portion of an inner surface of a uterine cavity to reduce or eliminate bleeding along such inner surface. The second inflatable balloon functions to confine any gaseous inflation medium that escapes from the first balloon, due to leakage or rapture of such first balloon, and to discharge such escaped gaseous inflation medium through the deflation lumen.

Post-partum hemorrhage is most commonly caused by uterine atony whereby the uterus fails to contract normally after the delivery of a baby. This condition occurs in about 5 percent of deliveries. Hemorrhage continues to be one of the major causes of maternal deaths generally, with obstetrical hemorrhage being the third leading cause of maternal death by hemorrhage in the United States. Worldwide, maternal hemorrhage qualifies as the leading cause of maternal death.
Techniques for managing obstetrical hemorrhage may be medical, mechanical, or surgical. Hysterectomy, while an effective surgical procedure for treating this condition, bears severe consequences, in particular for young women who have not completed childbearing.
One of the mechanical procedures often used for managing obstetrical hemorrhage involves packing the uterus with heavy gauze. This procedure remains controversial because of a high failure rate, and is considered a waste of time by some medical practitioners. The high failure rate is attributable to the inherent difficulty in packing the uterus properly so that there is an even distribution of pressure along the entire inner surface of the organ.
Accordingly, a more effective procedure is needed to address post-partum hemorrhage and bleeding. Ideally, the procedure should present minimal long-term health consequences to the patient, be quickly and easily accomplished, be easily learned and require no specialized instrumentation.
U.S. Patent Application No. US2001/0007945 published on Jul. 12, 2001 to Piraka, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes, discloses a uterine balloon for controlling hemorrhaging in a patient after childbirth. The balloon of Piraka is filled with a liquid medium, such as water or saline solution, by means of a catheter inserted through a valve in the balloon. A fill system, a control system, and a pressure relief valve are each employed for maintaining a constant solution pressure in the balloon. However, the pressure of the liquid medium is difficult to control and manage, especially when the balloon is only partially filled with such liquid medium. Further, weight of the liquid medium imposes additional pressure on the lower portion of the vaginal or uterine wall, which intensifies the discomfort of the patient during the procedure and may even result in injury of the soft tissues on the vaginal or uterine wall.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a balloon catheter for controlling post-partum hemorrhage, with enhanced pressure control and reduced weight.


It has now been surprisingly and unexpectedly discovered that a combination of polychlorophenoxyphenol, a silver-containing biocide, and an organopolysiloxane, when added to UHMWPE, renders the UHMWPE resistant to both soft and hard fouling. The polychlorophenoxy phenol is preferably 2.4.4′-trichloro-2′-hydroxy-diphenylether and the metal-containing biocide is preferably a silver zeolite.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is directed to anti-fouling polyethylene compositions and particularly anti-fouling ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene "AF-UHMWPE" compositions which are resistant to fouling in aqueous, particularly marine environments, and to the use of such compositions.
2. Background Art
Items exposed to aqueous environments, particularly those of reservoirs, lakes or streams, and in particular salt water, tend to accumulate a large growth of biological organisms on their surface. This growth is particularly problematic in warmer climates. Ocean-going ships are but one example. In days gone by, clipper ships and wooden steamships were covered with copper plates below the waterline to minimize growth of molds, algae, barnacles, and the like. However, even with such copper plates, vessels still had to be periodically scraped below the waterline. In the salty environment, the copper plating life was only a few years at best.
Modern ships of steel have the same problems. Growth of organisms greatly increases the power requirements necessary to drive the ship through the water. Top speed is limited as well. Anti-fouling paints have replaced copper plates as the anti-fouling medium. These paints, in general, contain large amounts of copper and tin compounds. Some paints are designed to have a very slick surface such that organisms will be swept away at speed. However, such coatings are not feasible on large ships, whose maximum speed is relatively slow. Another common anti-fouling paint is one which "sloughs off" over time, continually exposing a fresh surface, and hence "fresh" anti-fouling agents. All these anti-fouling paints containing heavy metals, such as copper, are being reviewed for their potential harm to the environment.
Seachests are another example of an item exposed to marine environments. Seachests are large "coffin-like" bodies located at the bottom of a ship's hull, through which water may enter or leave the bilge. Seachests are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,858 whose disclosure in this regard is incorporated herein by reference. Further non-limiting examples of items where aquatic growth should be minimized include floating docks, buoys, piers, water holding tanks, and the like.
It is known to incorporate biocides into polymers to minimize microbial growth. For example, Feldhahn et al. U.S. published application 2008/0032119 A1 discloses medical articles such as vaporizers whose surface is textured and hydrophobed by pressing hydrophobic particles into a polymer containing a biocide, and Kohler et al. U.S. published application 2004/0082492 A1 discusses incorporating biocides into polymer shapes used as packings in heat transfer apparatus used in heating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. Copeland U.S. published application 2007/0160766 A1 discloses coatings prepared by dissolving a hydrocarbon resin, a thermoplastic polymer, and a biocide into an organic solvent.
UHMWPE is a unique polymer with exceptional strength and lubricity characteristics. UHMWPE is distinguished from other polyethylene polymers such as high density high molecular weight polyethylene in that the ultra high molecular weight restricts processing by conventional thermoplastic polymer processing techniques such as extrusion, roto forming, and injection molding. UHMWPE resin is supplied as fine particles which must be consolidated by what is essentially a high pressure sintering at elevated temperature. Both batch processing processes as well as ram extrusion processes have been used. Net-shape processing may also be used, for example for the ski runners of snowmobiles.
In batch and net-shape processes, the UHMWPE powder is introduced into a very thick-walled mold and consolidated at high pressure and at elevated temperature. Temperatures of from 160° C. to 280° C. may be used, for instance. At higher temperatures, decomposition and oxidation processes may start to occur. The crystalline melt temperature of UHMWPE is about 130° C. to 135° C. See for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,234, which is incorporated herein by reference.
In the ram extrusion process, UHMWPE powder is introduced into a chamber and rammed at high pressure through a heated zone, and through a die of the proper geometry. This process has been used for many years to produce geometrically symmetrical moldings such as cylindrical extrusions such as rods and tubes in large cross-sectional sizes, and asymmetrical moldings of more limited size such as flats, channels, etc. Uneven shrinkage, distortion, and other problems have prevented the formation of sheet-type products of significant width until recently, as evidenced by U.S. published applications 2008/0020182, 2008/0018022, 2008/0018011, 2008/0018026 which are incorporated herein by reference. Processing aids such as stearic acid or stearate salts are sometimes added, and extrusion may take place after displacement of air by nitrogen to minimize oxidation. However, the choice of additives which can be employed with UHMWPE is more limited than with other polymers, because not only must these survive the high temperature and pressure of sintering, but must also not induce or catalyze oxidation reactions. In ram extrusion processes, the additives must also not increase the friction between the UHMWPE and the heated die.
UHMWPE, like other polymers, is also subject to fouling. In marine environments, a distinction may be made between soft fouling, e.g. growth of algae and like organisms, and hard fouling such as by barnacles, mollusks, bryozoans, etc. In many applications, resistance to both soft and hard fouling is desirably present. It would be desirous to provide for articles of UHMWPE which take advantage of the strength properties of the latter and are processable by standard UHMWPE processes, while being resistant to both hard and soft fouling as well as improving the ease in which fouling can be removed.

Anti-fouling ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene compositions and methods of using the same


An image forming apparatus comprising an electrophotographic photoreceptor, a charging unit, an exposure unit, a development unit, and a transfer unit, wherein the image forming apparatus conducts charging, exposure, development, and transfer while moving a circumferential surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor in a predetermined direction, the image forming apparatus further comprises a controlling unit which controls a moving velocity of the circumferential surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor so that a time required for processes from charging to development is changeable, the electrophotographic photoreceptor includes an undercoat layer and a photosensitive layer, and the undercoat layer includes a metal oxide particle and an acceptor compound having a group capable of reacting with the metal oxide particle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to image forming apparatuses and process cartridges.
2. Description of the Related Art
The electrophotography is used in electrophotographic apparatuses such as copy machines and laser beam printers since the electrophotography enables high-speed, high-quality printing.
In general, the photoreceptors used in the electrophotographic apparatuses have been organic photoreceptors containing photoconductive organic materials, recently. Regarding the constitutions of the photoreceptors, separated function photoreceptors have been used in which a charge generating material and a charge transfer material are dispersed in different layers (charge generating layer and charge transfer layer).
In recent years, office functions have been improved in quality and in speed; there have been demands for faster and colorized document processing and faster, colorized, high-quality image forming apparatuses (copying machines, printers, facsimile machines, etc.) for processing the documents. In order to satisfy the demands, tandem-type color image forming apparatuses have been proposed and commercialized. A tandem-type color image forming apparatus has separate image forming units for respective colors of black (K), yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C). The tandem-type color image forming apparatus forms images of different colors in the respective image forming units, then transfers the images onto a transfer member or an intermediate transfer member so that the images overlap, thus forming a color image.
In the color image forming apparatuses, techniques have been proposed (for example in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-241551) which can switch between different image formation modes in accordance with the image and the kind of the image receiving medium, thus realizing high quality and high efficiency. For example, only the black toner is used when black-and-white image is formed, whereby the process speed can be supposedly higher than in the color image formation. A high-quality image can supposedly be formed by lengthening the time required for the image formation when the image receiving medium is heavy paper or an OHP sheet, in both cases of color image forming apparatuses and monochromatic image forming apparatuses.
However, if the time required for the processes from charging to development varies as in the above techniques, the image quality tends to be insufficient. When the image formation mode is switched to another image formation mode, the time required for the processes from charging to development changes, but photoreceptors sufficiently adaptable to the change in the use condition have not been developed. Therefore, in such techniques, there have been a problem that, when image formation is conducted in a process condition in which a longer time is required for the processes from charging to development, fogging and black spots develop severely and image memory easily occurs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Image-forming apparatus including an electrophotographic photoreceptor having an undercoat layer with metal oxide particles and an acceptor compound


A catheter device for transporting an implant to a target location in a body lumen and also for releasing the implant at the target location. The device includes an outer shaft configured to transport the implant to the target location, and an implant capsule configured to receive the implant. The implant capsule has a tubular capsule core, which surrounds the implant prior to the release. The capsule core, at a proximal end of the capsule core, has a plurality of tabs for fixing the capsule core to the outer shaft, which tabs protrude from a tubular portion of the capsule core along an axial direction of the capsule core.

Catheter devices of this type are used to transport an implant, for example in the form of a stent or a (for example bioprosthetic) heart valve to a target location in a body lumen of a human or possibly animal patient. Such a catheter device has an inner shaft for supporting the implant, an outer shaft for transporting the implant to the target location, wherein the outer shaft surrounds the inner shaft in cross-section. Furthermore, an implant capsule for receiving the implant is provided on the outer shaft, wherein the implant capsule has a tubular capsule core, which surrounds the implant prior to the release. The implant can be moved out from the implant capsule by displacing the inner shaft relative to the outer shaft and can be released and implanted at the target location. Furthermore, an outermost stabilisation shaft for stabilising the outer shaft can be provided, wherein the outer shaft is arranged displaceably in a lumen of the stabilisation shaft surrounded by the stabilisation shaft.
The implant capsule generally has a capsule core, which for example forms a supporting structure of the implant capsule and is to be suitably fixed to the outer shaft.
For this purpose, solutions are known in which a connection means (connector) in the form of a plastics injection-moulded part is secured to the outer shaft, to which the implant capsule or prosthesis capsule is glued. Solutions are also known in which the implant capsule has a metal core and the end thereof has finger-like extensions, which are then encapsulated in a plastics connector.
These connections based on adhesive bonding, injection moulding, etc. are often very rigid and have a large overall length, which leads to an inhomogeneous bending form of the catheter. In addition, the catheter in this transition region has an unfavourable increased stiffness.

Catheter device with an implant capsule attached via tabs


A display panel has a ratio y1 of an aperture ratio of the red pixel to an aperture ratio of the green pixel being in the range of 0.78e{circumflex over ( )}(−1.98r)≤y1≤2.297e{circumflex over ( )}(−1.85r), and 0.1≤y1≤3, where r is a ratio of a luminous efficiency of the red pixel to a luminous efficiency of the green pixel. A ratio y2 of an aperture ratio of the blue pixel to the aperture ratio of the green pixel is in a range of 1.32e{circumflex over ( )}(−10.7b)≤y2≤5.95e{circumflex over ( )}(−14.1b), and 0.3≤y2≤4, where b is a ratio of a luminous efficiency of the blue pixel to the luminous efficiency of the green pixel.

Luminescent material layers of pixels in conventional organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panels are generally formed by evaporation processes.
In the formed pixels, areas of red pixels, areas of green pixels, and areas of blue pixels only consider the optical effect when the organic materials are optimally illuminated. After display for a long time, attenuations of different materials are inconsistent with respect to the lifetime of the materials. This result in color shifting in the display panel.
Therefore, it is necessary to propose a new technical solution to solve the above technical issues.

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.