The invention relates to a method and apparatus for constructing a sensor system (100) sensitive to electromagnetic radiation for use in a digital imaging camera head. The sensor system (100) is capable of delivering an electrical signal containing the image information formed by electromagnetic radiation incident on the sensor system (100). The sensor system (100) is comprised of a number (N pcs.) of mutually essentially identical modular sensor units (10.sub.1 . . . 10.sub.N) and of an equal number (N pcs.) of mutually essentially identical modular control electronics units (20.sub.1 . . . 20.sub.N) suited for the control and signal processing of said sensor units (10.sub.1 . . . 10.sub.N). The sensor system (100) has a modular design permitting the dimensions of the imaging area covered by the sensor system (100) to be expanded or reduced as required for the needs of an imaging application by adding or reducing, respectively, the number of the modular sensor units (10,20). Each individual modular sensor unit (10) and/or control electronics unit (20) are/is also separately removable for servicing.

The present invention relates to a method of constructing a sensor system which is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation and is suitable for use in a digital imaging camera head, said sensor system delivering an electrical signal containing the image information formed by electromagnetic radiation incident on the sensor system.
The invention also concerns a solid-state sensor system of a CCD camera head intended for digital imaging, said sensor system comprising a radiation-responsive detector element array with control electronics connected thereto and an interface unit by which the sensor system is connected to an image recording apparatus, and said sensor system further comprising a frame unit, on which the sensor system is adapted.
The present invention relates broadly to object imaging by means of electromagnetic radiation. In particular, the invention is related to digital imaging utilizing CCD sensor systems.
The method and apparatus according to the invention are intended broadly for digital imaging and particularly for medical x-ray imaging such as panoramic dental radiography and mammography.
Conventionally, digital imaging is also used in medical x-ray technology, wherein it has certain indisputable benefits over the use of radiation-sensitive film requiring a development process. Such benefits are those related to viewing, handling, storage and remote transfer of digitally imaged and stored picture information which in the future will be further accentuated when the medical services and hospital systems will increasingly move into digital techniques in general and particularly in the processing of x-ray images and similar information. Hence, it is one of the principal objects of the present invention to bring an essential advancement to this on-going trend.
As to their basic structure, solid-state sensors intended for digital imaging comprise small radiation-sensitive detector elements called pixels arranged into larger planar arrays, or in a simplified form, into a single-row line sensor. Electromagnetic radiation such as light, infra-red radiation or x-rays absorbed at the area of the detector elements generates an electrical charge in the elements with a magnitude dependent on the intensity of absorbed radiation (that is, flux density and energy of absorbed quanta) of impinging radiation. Here, the magnitude of the electrical charges grows as a function of time, which means that during the exposure time, the detector element integrates the charge generated by the radiation impinging over the sensor area, thus in principle giving a possibility of controlling the magnitude of the detector element output signal through varying the integration time.
In the prior art, CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) image sensors and their control electronics were designed and optimized always separately for a certain application and specific use, whereby such conventional image sensor systems are ill fit for other applications no matter how similar. The development of new types of CCD sensors is extremely expensive and time-consuming. Typically, a new type of CCD sensor takes at least a year or more involving an R&D budget of at least USD 1 million. Correspondingly, the development of control electronics for such a new CCD sensor takes about the same time, raising the system R&D costs by at least about USD 250,000. Given these facts, it is obvious that since the development of a new CCD sensor type presumes a practical application with a commercial potential of development cost payback in a reasonable time, applications using small quantities of CCD sensors cannot be implemented in practice within the constraints of a reasonable cost budget. On the other hand, while new CCD sensors are continually developed for applications of reasonably high volume, even in such projects the proportion of costs attributed to the CCD sensors rises relatively high when conventional techniques are used.
A single solid-state sensor chip, particularly a CCD sensor, made by concurrent technology has such a small active area that any larger image area cannot be recorded by means of a single sensor, particularly when reasonably or extremely high requirements are set for the sensor sensitivity as is the case in x-ray imaging. Resultingly, a number of CCD sensor chips with control circuit blocks are necessary in the construction of a complete digital camera head.
As known in the art, digital camera heads with their image sensors and control circuitry are generally designed for a certain application, which makes them unsuitable for modification or adaptation to any other application whether similar or not. For example, with the help of time-delayed integration (TDI) technique, applications can be found in, e.g., mammography or panoramic x-ray imaging of dental or skull areas in which a single basic construction of the imaging apparatus is produced in modified versions for these applications that differ from each other chiefly by the active area of the imaging sensor only. In mammography equipment, the length of the scanning CCD line sensor typically is either 18 cm or 24 cm, depending on whether image areas of 18.times.24 cm or 24.times.30 cm are being recorded. In panoramic imaging equipment, the length of the scanning CCD line sensor typically is approx 14 cm for panoramic imaging alone and 18 cm or 24 cm for different modes of skull imaging.
Today, the purchase decision of a digital CCD camera head must be based on knowledge covering all possible future applications, thus assuring the suitability of the purchased equipment version for all of them, because retrofitting of a camera head implemented by means of conventional technology is not either possible, or if possible, requires a complete replacement of the CCD camera head with another type, which obviously is an uneconomical operation. On the other hand, the purchase of a CCD camera head with an imaging area covering the maximum size required by any conceivable application is impractical, because the price of this type of imaging system is chiefly determined by the CCD sensor assembly itself and its control electronics, whereby the equipment price can easily double from the inclusion of a provision covering all possible future imaging needs that may well remain unrealized.
Another problem related to conventional digital CCD camera head systems is servicing of the equipment. When even a slight malfunction occurs the CCD sensor of the equipment or its control electronics, the sensor must be replaced as a whole unit, which by its servicing cost rises close to the purchase price of new camera head. If fabricated by conventional techniques, an integrally bonded CCD sensor package must always be replaced as a whole unit even if only a small component actually fails therein. Similarly, the control electronics of the imaging system have conventionally been designed and traditionally built for the entire sensor package, whereby its malfunction has also required the replacement of the entire electronics package.

Method and apparatus suitable for use as a sensor system in a camera head intended for digital imaging


A folder with a clamping device for receiving material in sheet form includes a jacket made of a flat, flexible material. By means of a first indentation configuration, this is divided up into a rear leaf and a backbone part and by means of a second indentation configuration into the backbone part and front leaf. The clamping device is provided in a corner region of the rear leaf, adjacent to the backbone part, so that the material in sheet form, insertable into the folder, is held clamped in the respective corner region by the clamping device. The corner region of the rear leaf wherein the clamping device is provided is delimited with respect to the rear leaf by a first crease and the corner region of the front leaf is delimited with respect to the front leaf by a second crease.

The present invention relates to a folder with a clamping device for receiving material in sheet form, comprising a jacket made of a flat, flexible material, which is divided up by means of a first indentation configuration into a rear leaf and a backbone part, and by means of a second indentation configuration into the backbone part and a front leaf, and the clamping device is provided in a corner region, adjacent to the backbone part, of the rear leaf, so that the material in sheet form insertable in the folder is able to be held clamped in the respective corner region by the clamping device.
Folders of this kind are known. For example, EP-A 1 074 401 shows such a folder in which the paper to be placed in this folder is held clamped in the upper corner region adjacent to the backbone part of the folder. The clamping device can be pivoted up, the material in sheet form can then be placed on the rear leaf, the clamping device is pivoted back, and the material in sheet form is thus held clamped in the folder in the upper corner region.
Now, if one is supposed to leaf through the material in sheet form held clamped in the corner region in this folder, one opens the front leaf, and the individual sheets of the material in sheet form held clamped can then be turned up over the clamping device. As long as the turning of the pages of the material in sheet form, held clamped in this folder, takes place when this folder is lying on a flat support, no problems arise, since the material being leafed through can also rest on this flat support.
If, however, no flat support, on which this folder can be set down, is available for leafing through this material in sheet form, held clamped in the folder, but instead the folder has to be held freely in one's hand, the front leaf is usually bent over until it practically rests on the rear leaf, whereupon the sheets, held clamped, are flipped around the clamping device over the corner. These turned pages are then preferably also flipped over so far that they touch the likewise flipped-over front leaf, and can thus be held.
With this type of use of this folder it has been shown that it is not entirely easy to hold the turned-over sheets with the bent-over front leaf, since the sheets have to be turned over the clamping device, which holds in a clamped way the respective corner region of the material in sheet form, and forms the corner region of the folder. A big bulge thereby occurs in the turnover region of the material in sheet form, and the turned-over sheets end up only partially on the flipped-over front leaf of this folder, whereby the holding of this folder with the turned-over sheets becomes hardly possible anymore using one hand.


A bipolar plate with an enhanced fluid flow field design is provided for a fuel cell. The bipolar plate includes an inlet, an outlet, and a flow field having a pattern defining a plurality of microchannels configured to provide fluid communication between the inlet and the outlet. The pattern is designed using an inverse permeability field, and is based on a reaction-diffusion algorithm to model channel spacing, thereby providing a variable pitch microchannel pattern to direct fluid from the inlet to the outlet. In various aspects, the reaction-diffusion algorithm utilize Gray-Scott reaction-diffusion equations, which may be used to obtain an anisotropic microchannel layout. The variable pitch microchannel pattern may include a channel spacing based on effective medium theory.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it may be described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present technology.
Bipolar plates useful with fuel cell technology are designed to permit the transfer of air or fuel from an inlet, through a flow field, and to an outlet. The flow fields of the bipolar plates may include channels commonly formed by machining or stamping techniques. The efficiency of the chemical reaction within the fuel cell is based, in part, on the proper flow and distribution of air and fuel fluid flow streams. The fluid distribution is, in turn, based on the channel network and design. A uniform fluid flow is important to both performance and cost. Various designs of flow fields for bipolar plates often include portions with straight channels, and portions with channel designs that are manually optimized by using computational fluid dynamics in order to determine which portions of a flow field should be solid, and which portions should be provided for the fluid transfer. The manual optimization is both time consuming and costly.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved, cost effective bipolar plate designs and methods of manufacture that include an optimized fluid flow field distribution that can be customized.

Flow field designs for tailored permeability fuel cell bipolar plates

Toyota Meter Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


Described herein is an ink composition resistant to smearing, particularly when used in combination with adhesives, such as those containing polyols, including polyurethane adhesives. The present ink system is heat resistant, that is, it can withstand elevated temperatures, such as baking and cooking temperatures, and thus is suited for printing on food packaging in which the food contents are cooked in the packaging. The composition includes one or more of an elastomeric polyurethane resin, a styrene maleic anhydride copolymer, a polyurethane-polyol resin, and a group IV metal chelating agent.

Smears caused by limitations of inks and adhesives are prevalent in the packaging industry. Such smears can occur during lamination. Smears may be particularly prevalent in urethane-based inks and adhesives systems. Smearing may be caused by mechanical force, chemical interaction, or a combination thereof.
Inks and coatings may be applied to packaging as a laminate system of layers. For example, upward from the substrate, the applied layers may be ink, adhesive and sealant. What might be problematic is the application of the adhesive layer over the ink, which in the case of polyurethanes and other kinds of adhesives, may contain polyol components. Migration of the adhesive into the ink layer, and in particular migration of the polyol component may cause the ink to smear. While not wishing to be bound by any theory, it may be that the migrated adhesive resolubilizes resins in the ink, rendering the ink more susceptible to smearing due to chemical or mechanical interactions, as often occurs when freshly laminated rolls contact other surfaces or objects. The polyol components of such adhesives may be a cause of this undesirable resolublizing effect.
A prior art laminate structure exhibits the technical problem to be solved by the present invention. The laminate structure includes layers of sealant (sometimes called "secondary film"), adhesive, and ink on a substrate. Migration of the adhesive that is applied over ink migrates into ink layer during the lamination process, which can cause the re-solubilization of ink materials, leading to smearing.
Flexible packaging materials are used to package a wide variety of materials including consumer goods and many different kinds of food items. A flexible packaging may be a constructed laminate of different film layers in which inks are printed onto a primary film, then coated with a layer of laminating adhesive and adhered to a secondary film to form a laminated structure.
Flexible packaging structures have been traditionally made with solvent-borne laminating adhesives. Lower cost, more environmentally friendly two-component solvent-less adhesives have been commercialized to replace solvent-borne adhesives. However, solvent-less laminating adhesives often require storage for a prolonged period (e.g., up to 14 days) before developing bond strength sufficient to permit handling and further processing, as well as to be considered safe for packaging of foods. In recent years, various efforts have been made to decrease the rate of cure for solvent-less laminating adhesives. This has led to the development of low molecular weight polyol components that exhibit a higher degree of molecular mobility, allowing for the aforedescribed interactions with the printed ink that cause the ink to smear or streak. Smeared or streaked ink is undesirable in appearance and may be perceived as a lack of care or quality.
The problem may be particularly acute when the adhesive is a 100% solids polyurethane based adhesive. Such adhesives cure at ambient temperature, and during this time they interact with the ink resins. In particular, polyol components of the adhesive interact with the resins.
Accordingly, there is a need for an ink composition that can be used in combinations with adhesives, such as in laminate systems, in which the ink is resistant to smearing.


A gas chromatography split injector including a housing having a carrier gas inlet port and a vent port and an injector liner is provided. The injector liner includes a substantially cylindrical outer liner member disposed within the housing and an inner liner member disposed within the outer liner member. The inner liner member has substantially cylindrical upper and lower portions and a constriction therebetween. The constriction includes an inner surface having an inner diameter smaller than a diameter of inner surfaces of the upper and lower portions. The injector also includes a chromatographic column passing through the lower portion of the inner liner member and is in sealing engagement with the constriction of the inner liner member. A transfer line passing through the upper portion of the inner liner member and has an end located proximate to the constriction of the inner liner member. A sealing member is disposed between the outer liner member and the housing at a position between the carrier gas inlet port and the vent port.

The present invention relates to a split injector liner for a vapor sampling system, such as an equilibration headspace extraction system, and more particularly to such a split injector liner which can be used to interface a vapor sampling system, via a conventional gas chromatographic split injector, to a capillary column so that there is no dilution or dispersion of the sample vapor and so that optimum chromatographic separation and detection limits are preserved.
Certain sample extraction systems produce a homogenous sample vapor from constituent volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). One such system is a headspace sampler whereby a liquid or solid sample is sealed in a suitable vial and placed inside a thermostatted environment. The VOCs within the sample become distributed between the sample matrix and the gaseous headspace above it and, in time, the concentration of sample vapor within the headspace reaches equilibrium. The vial is then pressurized with an inert carrier gas and a plug of the headspace vapor is allowed to elute from the vial and be introduced into a gas chromatograph where the composition of the headspace vapor is determined. The concentration of each compound within the original sample matrix is calculated by applying appropriate calibration response factors.
Many applications using such techniques require the chromatographic separation of many extracted compounds and their detection at very low levels. It is, therefore, critical to achieve an efficient transfer of the plug of the sample headspace vapor from the vial to the chromatographic column without dilution or dispersion. Any such effect would degrade component detection limits and chromatographic separation respectively.
One of two approaches is normally adopted for the interface between the vial and the chromatographic column: splitless transfer or split transfer.
In a splitless transfer interface, the chromatographic column may be effectively connected directly to the pressurized sample vial. The sample may then elute into the column without the need for additional carrier gas. This approach is termed xe2x80x9cPressure Balanced Samplingxe2x80x9d.
One of the problems with splitless transfer is that the flow rate from the vial to the column is very lowxe2x80x94with narrow-bore capillary columns this may be less than 0.5 ml/min. At such low flow rates, the internal capacity of the sampling mechanism and connecting lines is significant and so a major portion of the sample plug entering the column comprises residual carrier gas from these internal voids. This in effect causes sample vapor dilution and dispersion and compromises chromatographic performance. For this reason, wider sample vapor plugs are normally selected during headspace sampling. However, although this gives better detection limits, it does reduce chromatographic separation and precludes the use of narrow-bore columns.
Moreover, some systems use a sampling valve between the vial and the column. However, this requires additional carrier gas to transfer the sample vapor from the valve to the column, and the flow rate is still low and internal voids are still present.
In a split transfer interface, a splitter may be introduced into the path between the headspace vial and the chromatographic column in order to reduce the effect of any internal voids in the sample path. This splitter allows a moderate flow rate (typically 20 ml/min) of the sample vapor to be vented from the system. This has the effect of increasing the total volumetric flow through the vial-column interface and so reduces the detrimental effects of the internal voids on the resultant chromatography.
For user convenience and flexibility, it is attractive to utilize a standard split injector, as normally used for injection of liquid samples, for the headspace splitter. However, the use of an injector in such a manner requires the use of additional carrier gas to be supplied to the injector. While this allows the control of carrier gas pressure through the column independently of the conditions applied at the sample vial, it causes significant dilution of the sample vapor before it enters the column.
Therefore, neither the splitless nor split interface approaches described above is fully able to deliver a narrow, undiluted plug of sample from the headspace vial into a narrow-bore GC capillary column.
What is desired, therefore, is a split injector liner which can be used to interface a vapor sampling system, via a conventional gas chromatographic split injector, to a capillary column so that there is no dilution or dispersion of the sample vapor and so that optimum chromatographic separation and detection limits are preserved.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a split injector liner which can be used with a standard GC split injector.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a split injector liner having the above characteristics and which enables the delivery of a narrow, undiluted plug of sample vapor from a pressurized headspace vial into a narrow-bore GC capillary column.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a split injector liner having the above characteristics and which improves analytical detection limits as compared to known systems.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a split injector liner having the above characteristics and which enables faster analysis times as compared to known systems.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a split injector liner having the above characteristics and which can be employed with many known GC sampling systems, such as thermal desorption, purge and trap and gas sampling valves, where sample vapor must be transferred efficiently to a GC column.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by provision of a gas chromatography split injector including a housing having a carrier gas inlet port and a vent port and an injector liner. The injector liner includes a substantially cylindrical outer liner member disposed within the housing and an inner liner member disposed within the outer liner member. The inner liner member has substantially cylindrical upper and lower portions and a constriction therebetween. The constriction includes an inner surface having an inner diameter smaller than a diameter of inner surfaces of the upper and lower portions. The injector also includes a chromatographic column passing through the lower portion of the inner liner member and is in sealing engagement with the constriction of the inner liner member. A transfer line passing through the upper portion of the inner liner member and has an end located proximate to the constriction of the inner liner member. A sealing member is disposed between the outer liner member and the housing at a position between the carrier gas inlet port and the vent port.
A first fluid passageway is defined by an inner surface of the inner liner member such,that the transfer line is in fluid communication with the chromatographic column therethrough. A second fluid passageway is defined by an outer surface of the transfer line and an inner surface of the inner liner member, an outer surface of the inner liner member and an inner surface of the outer liner member, and an outer surface of the outer liner member and an inner surface of the housing such that the transfer line is in fluid communication with the vent port therethrough. A third fluid passageway is defined by an outer surface of the inner liner member and an inner surface of the outer liner member, and an outer surface of the outer liner member and an inner surface of the housing such that the carrier gas inlet port is in fluid communication with the vent port therethrough.
Preferably, the split injector also includes a first pressurized gas supply supplying pressurized gas to the transfer line and a second pressurized gas supply supplying pressurized gas to the carrier gas inlet port. Most preferably, the first pressurized gas supply supplies gas at a higher pressure than the second pressurized gas supply. Also, most preferably, the end of the transfer line is positioned about 2 millimeters away from the constriction of the inner liner member.
The inner liner member preferably includes an outwardly flaring flange portion extending from an upper edge of the upper portion to facilitate insertion of the transfer line therethrough, the flange portion having an outer diameter greater than a diameter of the inner surface of the outer liner member. It is also preferable for the outer liner member to include a reduced diameter channel portion at a lower end thereof, the reduced diameter channel portion having an inner diameter smaller than an outer diameter of the lower portion of the inner liner member. Most preferably, a lower edge of the lower portion of the inner liner member is beveled such as to inhibit relative sealing between the inner liner member and the outer liner member, and a lower edge of the reduced diameter channel portion of the outer liner member includes an inwardly flaring frustoconical portion to facilitate insertion of the chromatographic column therethrough.
In another aspect, the invention comprises an injector liner which can be used with a standard gas chromatography split injector so as to create a split injector as described above.
The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Zero-dilution split injector liner gas chromatography


A method and system for hardware based reporting of assertion information for emulation and hardware acceleration is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of performing assertion-based verification, comprises providing a user interface to design assertions that aid in verifying an integrated circuit design. Assertion instrumentation code is generated to implement the assertions in hardware as assertion instrumentation. The assertion instrumentation code is provided to an emulator that generates the assertion instrumentation.

Prior to manufacture of an integrated circuit, designers verify the functionality of their designs (referred to herein as the "design under verification", or "DUV"). The DUV is usually provided in the form of a netlist description of the design. The netlist may have been derived from many sources, including from a hardware description language. A netlist description (or "netlist", as it is referred to by those of ordinary skill in the art) is a description of the circuit's components and electrical interconnections between the components. The components include all those circuit elements necessary for implementing a logic circuit, such as combinational logic (e.g., gates) and sequential logic (e.g., flip-flops and latches).
Design verification is performed because fabricating an integrated circuit is expensive and takes time. If the circuit design contains functional errors, the design will have to be corrected and then re-fabricated. Thus, many different platforms for functional verification of integrated circuits have been developed. Hardware-based design verification systems such as logic emulation systems are known devices that implement a user's design in a plurality of programmable integrated circuits. Such logic emulation systems are available from various vendors, including Cadence Design Systems, Inc., San Jose, Calif., United States of America, and others. Typical emulation systems utilize either programmable logic chips or processor chips which are programmably interconnected. In processor-based emulation systems, the DUV is processed so that its functionality appears to be created in the processors by calculating the outputs of the design. The logic itself is not implemented in a processor-based emulation system. Examples of hardware logic emulation systems using processor chips can be seen in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,551,013, 6,035,117 and 6,051,030. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,551,013, 6,035,117 and 6,051,030 are incorporated herein by reference.
Another type of design verification system is known as a software simulator. Software simulators differ from hardware verification solutions in that the simulation software is executed in general purpose computers rather than in specialized hardware like an emulation system. Simulation is a software based approach, in which the DUV (or a portion thereof) and testbench are compiled into machine executable model and executed in workstation or PC. A testbench is a series of test vectors (i.e., stimulus) that are used to stimulate a design and may include modules that receive the outputs from the DUV after the vectors are run in the DUV. Since most electronic designs are presently designed using hardware description languages ("HDL") such as Verilog, a testbench is typically comprised of some HDL code.
Hardware-based verification systems and software-based verification systems each have benefits that the other lack. For example, software-based verification systems allow for very accurate verification using the exact timing (i.e., clocking) that the actual DUV will encounter when installed in a real electronic system. Software simulators allow a user to see the result of every logic operation and can graphically represent the signal transitions from high to low or from low to high on a computer monitor. While hardware-based verifications systems do not normally have this ability, hardware-based systems are orders of magnitude faster than software-based systems and therefore provide very fast verification.
In order to debug a DUV, the designer needs to look into activities of design signals over time. The reason for this is that digital circuits are driven by one or more clocks, and errors can occur at various transitions of the clocks driving the DUV. The designer faces at least two issues when evaluating design signals over time. One issue is which signal to observe (i.e., which node in the DUV to observe). A second issue is when to observe the signals (i.e., at what clock transition and/or which confluence of events—sometimes referred to as a trigger). These two issues impose serious challenges to simulation and emulation tools. First, circuit designs are typically very large (e.g., in the order of million gates). Second, the number of signals the designer would like to observe is proportionally large. Third, since the time window in which design signals need to be observed (referred to herein as the "trace window") is hard to predict prior to simulation or emulation, the designer who is debugging a design would prefer the trace window to be as large as possible.
In order to handle these issues, circuit designers have used various approaches. One such approach is to run the DUV lockstep in a simulator. With this approach, progress of simulation is controlled by the designer in interactive operation. Designers can run simulation, stop and observe signals, continue, and repeat the process. When simulation stops, designers can check the state of any signal in the design. A second approach is to perform free running simulation with signal dump. With the "free running" approach, simulation is executed freely without user intervention, and signals to be observed during simulation are dumped out during simulation. It is important to note that the signals to be dumped out must be specified before the simulation starts. These simulation approaches, while effective, are very slow. A third approach is to emulate the DUV using an emulator that allows full visibility for a fixed size of trace window. In this approach, the emulator is running freely, and signals generated by the DUV in the emulator that allow for full vision are saved for a certain period of time. A final approach is to emulate the DUV with an emulator that provides for limited visibility and replay. With this approach, limited information is saved during emulation. Designers might need to run emulation a few times in order to get sufficient information for analysis.
As discussed, one way of using a hardware-based verification system is in conjunction with a software simulator. This is sometimes referred to as simulation acceleration. Because emulators operate at speeds that can be orders of magnitude faster than simulators, emulation systems, and in particular, processor-based emulation systems, contain vast amounts of information about the state and activity in the emulated circuit. The reason for this is as follows. Simulators allow designers to view the state of a signal as it exists at a specific node in the DUV at a specific time (i.e., clock cycle) immediately after a single cycle of a simulation. A simulation cycle is the amount of time (and thus the state changes that take place) during one step of the fastest clock driving the DUV. In other words, a simulation cycle is the time of interest during a verification operation because any signal transitions that take place during simulation cycle are typically not relevant. The only signal transitions that generally are important in a DUV are the signal transitions that exist at the end of one simulation cycle.
In simulation environments, the stimulus that drive the DUV during a simulation cycle are modeled on the workstation. In contrast, in simulation acceleration environments, the stimulus driving the DUV are sent to the emulator that is emulating the DUV, and the response is then sent back to the simulator. Because emulators run the DUVs at clock speeds that are dramatically faster than simulators, simulation acceleration can dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes to verify a DUV.
Assertions have become a popular mechanism to help designer identify the cause of errors in DUVs. An assertion is a statement of a property that can describe the assumed behavior of inputs or the expected behavior of internal signals or outputs of a design. Adding assertions to a design has many benefits, from documenting the intended behavior to aiding in the verification of the design. They can be used in a simulation or emulation environment to flag erroneous behavior, whether it is invalid stimulus or incorrect behavior of any signal in the design. Customers want to be able to develop and use the assertions in their simulation environment, and transition both the assertions and the design to the simulation acceleration and emulation environments.
Assertions throughout the design help to identify the cause of the error as soon as it occurs, close to the source. This can be especially important in emulation environments where capturing waveforms is generally limited to some predefined window of time. The size of the window impacts memory requirements and upload times. If you don't capture enough, there is a risk that the information needed for de-bugging will not be available, so capturing bugs close to their source improves the likelihood of being able to debug it without having to repeat the run. Assertions are also important to help debug failures without having to repeat a run since emulation runs can take days or even weeks to reproduce. Improving the debug capability makes the overall verification time much faster.
Two environments are considered in developing assertion reporting solutions. When the emulator can be stopped in the middle of the run, such that this environment applies to emulation environments with no targets or static targets. (Here a target is thought of as real hardware that is outside of the emulator). The second environment exists when the emulator cannot be stopped in the middle of a run. The environment that does not tolerate stopping the emulator clock applies to emulation environments that use dynamic targets. With dynamic targets, the clock to the system cannot be stopped either because:                a. the clock is generated in the target and not controlled by the emulator        b. The clock is generated in the emulator, but the target needs a constant clock to maintain integrity. For example, dynamic memories that require the clock for refresh can become corrupted, thus disrupting the integrity of the system. The interrupt style approach of processing assertion failures will not work in environments that use dynamic targets.
One existing solution, uses system tasks like $display and experiences a performance degradation. There are many issues with using system tasks:    1. Not all emulators support system tasks, and those that do have limitations. In most cases string data is not supported. Environments with dynamic targets that cannot function correctly if the clock is stopped will not be able to support system tasks.    2. Performance is impacted and possibly capacity depending on the vendor implementation. The system task is executed in succession for each assertion that fires, resulting in slow performance. There is an even bigger performance and capacity impact when non-synthesizable constructs are displayed, like $time and strings.    3. The information provided for debug when an assertion fires is limited. System tasks provide data for a single point in time, which is usually insufficient for debug. Waveforms are needed because they provide historical data. Waveform upload is done from a system prompt, whereas the system task is usually in the HDL code, and the two are not linked. Thus, automatic waveform generation cannot be done with system tasks. This is not an issue in a purely simulation environment because waveforms are captured continuously, but is unsuitable in an emulation environment where waveforms must be uploaded on demand and cover some window in time, depending on the memory allocated.    4. The automatic capture of waveform information is not linked to the firing of an assertion.
Another existing solution provides assertion instrumentation with an OR gate. This solution provides a hardware status bit for each assertion and logically ORs all the status bits to produce an interrupt-like signal that indicates that an assertion fired (e.g. a failure was detected). When the interrupt-like signal is asserted, the emulator stops to report which assertions fired. A mapping file exists that associates with each assertion the fixed debug information, such as the filename, line number of the original assertion, and severity. However, the following issues exist with using an OR gate:    1. This is the slowest configuration possible because you cannot configure the number of accesses versus the bits per access to optimize for your hardware. Once an assertion firing is recognized, software will have to suspend the run (which stops the clock) and poll each assertion state signal to report which assertion(s) fired. A linear search is performed through the assertion fired bits (e.g assertion #1 is checked to see if it has fired by querying its hardware state bit, then assertion #2 is checked to see if it has fired, then assertion #3 is checked to see if it has fired . . . ) Each access requires information to be transferred from the emulator to the workstation.    2. The synthesis of the OR-gate can not be controlled, making it possible that the assertion instrumentation will be a critical path that limits runtime speeds.    3. When an assertion fires, the name of the assertion, the time or cycle number, the line of code and the filename are reported. But it is difficult to know when to capture waveforms and what signals to capture.
When dynamic targets are used, the clock to the system cannot be stopped making this solution unworkable. A major issue with transitioning assertions from simulation to emulation is the reporting capabilities that are supported across the different environments, and their effects on capacity and performance. The problem with existing approaches is that they make use of a reporting mechanism that requires extensive interaction with a workstation. This is detrimental to performance for simulation acceleration and emulation environments, and can result in the loss of information when dynamic targets are used.

Method and system for hardware based reporting of assertion information for emulation and hardware acceleration


A plurality of molecule components included in a gas are to be ionized at the same time by PI method. For instance, a plurality of molecule components included in a gas generated at a certain instance are accurately analyzed in real time based on PI method. A gas analyzer is provided with a gas transfer apparatus for transferring a gas generated from a sample in a sample chamber to an analyzing chamber; an ionizer for ionizing the gas; a quadruple filter for separating ions by mass/charge ratio; and an ion detector for detecting the separated ions. The ionizer is provided with an ionizing region arranged in the vicinity of a gas exhaust of the gas transfer apparatus, and a lamp for applying light on the ionizing region. Since the lamp outputs light which has light directivity lower than that of a laser beam and travels by spreading, the gas entered the ionizing region in the ionizer receives light in a wide range, and the gas components inside are ionized at the same time.

Various gas analyzers have conventionally been known. Examples of such various gas analyzers include a differential pressure gauge that detects gas pressure, a gas densimeter that detects gas density, an infrared spectroscopic analyzer that detects vibrations of gas molecules, and a mass spectrometer that detects the mass number of ionized gas. Further, another various types of devices have been known.
Among gas analyzers, there has been a known device that performs a predetermined analysis after ionizing gas. The gas analyzer of this type may analyze gas which is present in a space or is generated from a sample. The gas analyzer that analyzes gas generated from a sample may have, at a preceding position of an ionizing unit that ionizes gas, a sample chamber for containing the sample and a gas conveyor for conveying gas generated from a sample. A mass spectrometer has been also known as one of the gas analyzers. The mass spectrometer generally includes an ionizing unit that ionizes gas, an ion-separating unit that separates the generated ions for each mass-to-charge ratio, and an ion-detecting unit that detects ion intensity.
Various methods have been conventionally known for providing an ionizing unit in a gas analyzer. For example, there have been known an Electron Ionization (EI) method, a Photo-Ionization (PI) method, and the like. The EI method is an ionization technique in which accelerated electron beams strike gaseous sample molecules to generate ions. The EI method may also be called as an Electron Impact Ionization method. The PI method is an ionization technique in which when sample molecules are irradiated with light, the molecules absorb electromagnetic wave energy thereof to cause ionization of the molecules.
A device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been conventionally known as a gas analyzer using an ionizing unit. In this device, the EI method and the PI method are selectively performed to carry out mass spectrometry on a sample.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-093152 (p. 4, FIG. 1)


An interior blind spot mirror which is mounted on the pillar of the window frame inside a vehicle on the driver's side, or on the passenger's side, completely eliminates the blind spot. The interior blind spot mirror includes an extension serving as a bridge between the mirror and the base which can be removed from the extension. There are two ball joints on either end of the extension which enable a user to conveniently adjust the mirror to a desired position. The base includes a soft pad sandwiched between the base and the double stick foam adhesive so that the base can fit pillars of different shapes. The interior blind spot mirror also includes an alternative base constructed of soft material such as polymer which can be mounted on different shapes of pillars of the window frames without the soft pad being attached to the bottom of the base. There is a mounting box on top of the base having a U-shaped notch into which the joint box on the lower end of the extension can be slidably affixed. In use, a driver of a vehicle should first mount the base on the pillar of the window frame on his/her left side, or on the passenger's side if necessary, and wait for three hours or more in order to let the adhesive reach its ultimate strength before inserting the extension of the mirror into the U-shaped notch on the mounting box.

Constant lane-switching, which is inevitable while driving on a busy highway, has been causing greater inconvenience for a driver of a motor vehicle today than five years ago, and it goes without saying that the situation will aggravate in the next five years due to the rapidly increasing number of cars which make the already crowded highway system, especially around metropolitan, or densely populated urban areas become more crowded. As a result, while driving in highway zones like that, a driver has to constantly turn his/her head around to look backward at what is known as the blind spot, a spot neither the interior rearview mirror, nor the exterior side rear-view mirror of a vehicle is able to reflect, to make sure there is not a passing vehicle there before he/she switches to the passing lane.
For the better part of history, automobiles don't have a blind spot mirror to speak of, although accidents caused directly or indirectly due to the failure of noticing the blind spot had concerned the insurance companies, the engineers and designers in the profession for a long period of time, especially since the last quarter of the twentieth century. In more recent years, a round convex mirror known as fisheye was invented to install on top of the side rearview mirror to serve, by using its unique feature of convexity to widen the capacity of a conventional mirror's reflecting coverage, as the blind spot mirror. And upon the invention of this tiny convex mirror an improvement was made and a larger, round convex mirror was built to install on trucks, usually below the exterior side rearview mirror to serve as a blind spot mirror. Since the improved convex mirror was larger than "the fisheye", its capacity of reflecting coverage was greater than its predecessor's. And a relatively smaller round convex mirror was consequently made to attach on top of the exterior side rearview mirror by means of double stick foam adhesive to serve as the blind mirror for smaller vehicles such as family cars, vans, jeeps etc.
Literally, many prior art patents exist in this area of technology which, in theory, should substantially eliminate the blind spot. In reality, however, none of them is able to convince a driver that the blind spot has been completely eliminated, on the contrary, due to the position of the exterior rearview mirror upon which the convex blind mirror was attached, the round convex blind spot mirror, while reflecting images inside the blind spot mirror, will also reflect images which are not in the blind spot. As a result a driver has to discern which one of these images is inside the blind spot and which is not. Moreover, only those bigger vehicles such as trucks and buses have enough room for the installation of a full-sized convex mirror without sacrificing the area of the side rearview mirror, as the exterior convex blind spot mirror can only be installed outside the vehicle, a family vehicle has to sacrifice at least one third of the area of its side rearview mirrors in order to put on an exterior blind spot mirror.
These deficiencies of the exterior blind spot mirror limited its application, while on the other hand the request of the blind spot mirror for automobiles, especially family vehicles whose numbers are increased rapidly in recent years become more urgent. And it is commonly acknowledged that the lacking of a blind spot mirror is one of the most dangerous factors that may cause terrible accidents on highways.
Clearly, the invention of the exterior convex blind spot mirror is the advancement in the area of safety to the drivers under heavy traffic circumstances, yet this advancement is only applicable to bigger vehicles such as trucks, buses which have enough room below the side rearview mirror for the installation of the exterior convex blind spot mirror. That is, an exterior convex blind spot mirror is only effective when it is used properly for bigger vehicles, although, of course, due to the limitation of its position, the exterior convex blind spot mirror doesn't provide for a driver of a bigger vehicle with a complete view when a small vehicle passes by.
Since such an advancement is not properly done, a small-sized vehicle such as a family car, a van, or a pick-up etc. still suffers the inconvenience caused by the blind spots.
A number of blind spot mirrors have been developed which attempt to properly eliminate the blind spots. Examples of this prior art of blind spot mirrors include U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,552 discloses a composite mirror assembly adapted to be mounted adjacent the driver of a vehicle to enable the driver to view objects within an area normally hidden from view by conventional vehicle mirrors. An additional mirror is positioned at an angle with respect to the conventional side mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,359 discloses a small, flat mirror being mounted through use of a wedge-shaped adhesive block to the inside portion of a conventional side view mirror. The block positions the small mirror at an angle of about 15 degrees to 20 degrees with respect to the plane of the side view mirror to thereby eliminate the blind spot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,739 discloses a smaller auxiliary convex mirror mounted on a larger mirror so that the smaller auxiliary convex mirror may be tilted to a limited extent to more precisely position the wide angle field of view it provides. The convex mirror is attached to a tilting plate by an adhesive means, and the tilting plate has a central projecting member with a cavity. A support plate attached to the smooth base mirror by another adhesive means has a corresponding central bar with a spherical head which engaged in the cavity of the tilting plate so that the convex mirror and tilting plate are pivotable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,028 discloses an apparatus, which exposes the blind spot in the direction in which a vehicle makes a turn, to be installed at the back of mechanically or electrically operated side rearview mirrors. A mechanical device, connected to a mirror unit and to the frame, having a diaphragm sealingly disposed therein. When a winker switch is activated, the diaphragm housing is activated by vacuum, causing the diaphragm to be sucked backwards, resulting in said mirror unit pivoting backwards to expose the blind spot . . .
U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,934 discloses a vehicle blind spot mirror with a mirror having a single plane outwardly curved surface, and extension member attached to the rear portion of the outwardly curved mirror and having a double stick foam tape attachment means on the opposite surface of the extension, allowing the extension and attached blind spot mirror to be affixed to a vehicle's existing rearview mirror even if the rear view mirror is set in a recessed frame, thereby allowing for a larger blind spot mirror than the original rearview mirror.
U.S. Pat No. 6,523,965 discloses an improved mirror for use on most types of motor vehicles (cars and trucks) includes two flat reflecting surface used as the principal rearview mirror, and a second reflecting surface being oriented so as to provide a reflected image of traffic in the blind spot mirror. A support structure holds the principal reflecting surface bound to the larger reflecting surface, the blind spot mirror. Although the blind spot mirror is larger, only portions of it appear to the driver as it is mostly covered by the principal reflecting surface. The support structure between the two reflective surfaces has the shape of a wedge necessary for maintaining the blind spot mirror at the proper angle so as to reflect blind spot traffic to the eye of the driver.
Although these prior art blind spot mirror units are adequate for the purpose for which they were intended, these devices either fail to completely eliminate the blind spot or cast the intactness of the side rearview mirror by taking a considerable portion of the side rearview mirror for the attachment of the blind spot mirror. The conventional side rearview mirror of the driver's side, which is just big enough for a driver of a vehicle to view objects within that angle, will become rather ineffective even if a quarter of it is taken for the installation of the blind spot mirror, leave alone the possibility of visionary confusion, such as broken, fragmental images in both mirrors, that the combination of the two mirrors will cause.
Therefore, the prior art blind spot units are only suitable for a bigger vehicle such as a truck, a school bus that has enough rooms below the side rearview mirrors on either side of the driver for the installation of the blind spot mirror units. It would obviously be preferable to provide a more effective, flexible device for smaller vehicles to eliminate the blind spot without sacrificing the conventional side rearview mirrors.


A method for reporting and responding to dial-up connectivity problems can include the step of establishing a voice connection between a caller and an automated response system. The caller can be automatically prompted for a dial-up access number that is problematic for the caller. A determination can be automatically made as to whether the received dial-up access number is valid. A potential problem can be automatically reported to a network operations center responsible for the access number via a data connection. The caller can be automatically presented with at least one alternative dial-up access number via the voice connection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of dial-up networking and, more particularly, to reporting problems with dial-up access numbers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dial-up Internet users access the Internet by establishing a communication link between their home computer and a computing device of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The communication link occurs across a phone line and is established when the user contacts the ISP computer device via one or more access telephone numbers. Generally, the user will be able to select one of many access number local to the user so that telephone usage charges are minimized.
It is not uncommon for dial-up users to experience problems when connecting to the Internet via an access number. One typical connectivity problem is an end user problem, meaning that the user is experiencing problems with their home computer, which results in the user being unable to establish a connection with the ISP computing device. Another reason that dial-up users are unable to connect to the Internet is that the access number that the user dialed is temporarily malfunctioning. ISPs often provide a means though which users can report problematic access numbers.
Conventional reporting mechanisms suffer one or more deficiencies, making conventional problem reporting inconvenient to dial-up users and/or expensive for the ISPs. One conventional problem reporting technique involves users contacting live ISP agents in a customer service center over a telephone line to report an access problem. It can be very expensive to staff a customer support center with live agents, so as a cost saving mechanism, such support centers are typically minimally staffed. Consequently, wait times for reporting dial-up connectivity problems can be painfully long for concerned users.
This is especially true since a real problem with a dial-up access number will affect a large user population at approximately the same time. A significant portion of these affected users will attempt to contact the customer support center, thereby overloading the call handling capabilities of the customer support center. Notably, the volume of calls received by the customer support center is unnecessary; as only a small number of calls need to be received before the ISP is apprised of the access number problem.
To combat the problem of live-agents being intermittently overloaded with calls, many ISPs have implemented automated response systems. Many of these automated systems are Web or e-mail based. Such systems can be effectively useless to users attempting to report connectivity problems because such problems are focused around to connect to the Internet. Consequently, a user experiencing a problem can lack access to the Web or e-mail based problem reporting tools.
Another automated reporting mechanism commonly used allows dial-up users to leave voice mail messages that contain problem report details. This reporting mechanism, however, generally provides insufficient guidance to the user concerning details necessary to aid the ISP in troubleshooting a problem. Specifically, voice mail reports leave out critical information such as the problematic access control number, the symptoms the user experienced (that allow the ISP to determine if the problem is an end-user problem or one related to an access number), or the like. Further, dial-up users are often unsatisfied with leaving a voice messages, as such systems provide inadequate feedback. Users reporting problems via a voice message, therefore, often report the same problem to a live customer service representative, when one is available; again resulting in a customer support center being overloaded with calls each time a dial-up access number malfunctions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Reporting dial-up access problems using a real-time automated system


The invention relates, in part, to methods to identify compounds to treat a phytoparasitic nematode infection and/or reduce phytoparasitic nematode contamination, and to methods and compositions to treat phytoparasitic nematode infections and to reduce phytoparasitic nematode contamination of a substrate such as, but not limited to: a plant, agricultural medium, or soil.

Plant-parasitic nematodes are a major cause of reduced agricultural productivity worldwide, resulting in an estimated $80-100 billion dollars in crop damage annually [Barker et al., (1994), Handoo, (1998)]. Current measures to control damage from phytoparasitic nematodes falls into three major categories: (a) biological controls (e.g., genetic engineering of plants to increase resistance to nematode attack, or introduction of organisms that target nematodes), (b) agricultural practices (e.g., crop rotation, intercropping), and (c) application of chemical pesticides. These traditional approaches have been only partially successful in reducing nematode damage to crops.

Methods of identification and use of nematicide compounds


A thirty-two bit frame buffer provides real time conversion of CYMK color data to RGB color data for display on a video monitor. The frame buffer operates at a video rate of 100 mHz and includes pipelined arithmetic using look up tables for some of the CYMK to RGB conversion steps. Also provided are look up tables providing gamma correction and pixel-by-pixel selection of CYMK to RGB conversion, to allow display of an RGB window in a CYMK information display.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data conversion for video displays and more specifically to a method and apparatus for converting CYMK data structures to RGB data structures in real-time for use in a video frame buffer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Color printed media is generally commercially produced by a process called four color printing. The four color components (inks) used in the printing industry are Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black (CYMK). The use of computer workstations in the printing industry allows rapid design of color printed products such as brochures, posters, etc. One difficulty in using the computer workstation and its color display (monitor) in the print industry is that the CRT (cathode ray tube) display uses Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) colors instead of CYMK. This presents a problem in that the computer programs used by the print industry require both types of data structures to be maintained and manipulated. This is both time consuming from a software program's point of view as well as inefficient with respect to computer memory usage.

Methods and apparatus for CYMK-RGB RAMDAC


A communication device for interconnecting a digital camera to a communication network for downloading data to a remote computer. The device has a network communication port for establishing communication with a network via a pre-defined protocol and communication mode, and has a camera communication port such as a serial, parallel, SCSI, USB or Irda-port that imitates the back end application of a PC, for connection to a digital camera for sending and receiving data to and from the camera. The camera communication port is also used for input of programming and setup data to the communication device from a PC. The device can be programmed to operate on the data directly, such as in the case of data for storage or operational direction, and/or direct the data to the camera. The device may also have a Smart card socket into which a user can insert a card to input data, such as user and camera I.D., user authorization, image marking, camera operational parameters, remote computer/destination address, etc. The device can be programmed to perform encryption, authentication, watermarking and fingerprinting procedures, as well as structuring the data for transmission over a particular network, and to automatically perform operations, such as at specific times or in response to data input.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to digital still and video cameras and communication systems, and more particularly to a communication device providing a communication interface between a digital camera and a network system.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Portable digital cameras are generally treated as PC peripheral devices. With conventional digital cameras, a user takes pictures until the camera memory/disk is filled and then downloads the digital image data to a PC. The camera needs to be either connected to the PC, for example through a cable, or a removable storage device such as a PCMCIA card must be manually transferred from the camera to the PC. The need to regularly make a direct, physical connection to a PC reduces the portable nature of digital cameras. In addition, downloading images to a PC is a local operation. In order to move images into the internet, the user must apply another set of commands on the local PC. Such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,441 by Parulski et al. Cameras are also incorporated into integrated systems for displaying an image, such as a visual surveillance system in a retail store. U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,483 by Maeda discloses a system including a digital camera with processing circuitry for display on a television screen.
Another limitation of conventional digital cameras is that there is no direct way to identify an image once it is loaded onto the PC. Additional information must be added manually, such as operator name, account number, camera of origin, etc. Also, there is no way of securing the images to assure that an operator does not alter them once loaded into a PC, or that the images will not be viewed by an unauthorized person as part of the transmission of the images from the PC to a remote location.


A super-resolution optical recording medium has at least a recording layer and a super resolution layer on a substrate. A recording mark with the size of a resolution limit or less and a space with the size of the resolution limit or less are formed in the super-resolution optical recording medium by adjusting the intensity of a laser for recording or an emission pattern of the laser for recording such that at least the recoding mark with the size of the resolution limit or less out of recording marks in a modulation code is formed into a concave section with respect to a not-recorded section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a super-resolution optical recording medium which can reproduce information by irradiating reproduction light onto recording marks formed in a recording layer. The present invention relates in particular to a super-resolution optical recording medium from which small recording marks with the size of the resolution limit or less of the reproduction optical system can be reproduced, and a method for recording information on the super-resolution optical recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-6872, a super-resolution optical recording medium has been proposed, from which a recording mark train smaller than the diffraction limit of a reproduction optical system can be reproduced.
In the case of a conventional optical recording medium, in general, it is impossible to read a recording mark train the period of which is a certain recording mark train period or less, using a reproduction method that uses light. The length of this recording mark train period is referred to as a diffraction limit. In a reproduction optical system with a wavelength of λ and a numerical aperture of NA, the diffraction limit is represented as λ/NA/2. If the length of a recording mark section is equal to that of a blank area in one period, then the length of the recording mark is represented as λ/NA/4. The length of the recording mark is referred to as a resolution limit.
Thus, reducing the wavelength λ and/or increasing the numerical aperture NA reduces the resolution limit, and hence increases the recording density. However, the ability to further shorten the wavelength and increase the numerical aperture is becoming limited. The aforementioned super-resolution optical recording medium has adopted technologies for reproducing recording marks smaller than λ/NA/4 to further increase the recording density without shortening the wavelength λ and increasing the numerical aperture NA.
The above-described conventional optical recording medium includes a phase-change recording film, as described in, for example, Scanning Probe Microscope Observation of Recorded Marls in Phase Change Disks: Takashi Kikukawa and Hajime Utsunomiya, Microsc. Microanal., 7 (2001) 363-367. Therefore, the recording mark or the recording layer in the vicinity thereof is not deformed by the recording operation.

Super-resolution optical recording medium and method for recording information on super-resolution optical recording medium


A protective sheath includes a first cover portion, a flexible display unit, a second cover portion, a flexible portion, and a control unit. The first cover portion includes an external surface portion having an opening and an internal surface portion. The flexible display unit is sandwiched between the external and internal surface portions. A second display surface of the flexible display unit is exposed by the opening. The second cover portion has two bending openings. The second cover portion is bent along the bending openings to be divided into a leaning portion and a supporting portion. Two opposite sides of the flexible portion are foldably connected to the first cover portion and the supporting portion of the second cover portion. The control unit is disposed in an accommodating space of the supporting portion and electrically connected to the flexible display unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a protective sheath and more particularly relates to a protective sheath adapted for a tablet computer.
2. Description of Related Art
Due to the rapid development of technology, portable electronic devices, such as tablet computer or smart phone, having advantages of portability and simple operation have been used extensively. However, when the user carries about the portable electronic device, the portable electronic device receives impact from time to time, which may damage the portable electronic device or cause an external case thereof to wear. As a solution to the aforementioned issues, various types of protective sheaths are available in the market. However, the protective sheaths currently in the market only provide protection and are insufficient to satisfy the user's demand for diverse product functions.


A new shrub rose shrub which has abundant, amber-yellow flowers and attractive foliage. This new and distinct variety has shown to be uniform and stable in the resulting generations from asexual propagation.

Botanical: Rosa hybrida xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99.
Commercial: Shrub rose.
The present invention constitutes a new and distinct variety of shrub rose which originated from a controlled crossing between xe2x80x98POULtravxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/277,240, dated Mar. 26, 1999) and xe2x80x98POULurtxe2x80x99 (described and illustrated in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,637 issued on Sep. 3, 1996). The two parents were crossed during the summer of 1993 and the resulting seeds were planted in a controlled environment in Fredensborg, Denmark. The new variety is named xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99.
The new rose may be distinguished from its seed parent, xe2x80x98POULtravxe2x80x99, by the following combination of characteristics:
1. The bloom color of xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 is a lighter amber-yellow compared to the bloom of xe2x80x98POULtravxe2x80x99.
2. xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 has smaller, more rounded flowers than xe2x80x98POULtravxe2x80x99.
3. xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 is a shrub rose with an upright bushing habit, whereas xe2x80x98POULtravxe2x80x99 is a miniature rose.
The new variety may be distinguished from its pollen parent, xe2x80x98POULurtxe2x80x99 by the following combination of characteristics:
1. xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 has amber-yellow blooms, whereas xe2x80x98POULurtxe2x80x99 has light yellow blooms.
2. xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 has large, double flowers, whereas xe2x80x98POULurtxe2x80x99 has smaller, semi-double flowers.
3. xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 has more upright bushy growth habit, while xe2x80x98POULurtxe2x80x99 has lower outspreading growth habit.
The objective of the hybridization of this rose variety was to create a new and distinct variety for garden use with unique qualities, such as:
1. Uniform and abundant amber-yellow flowers;
2. Vigorous, but compact growth when propagated both as a budded rose and on its own roots;
3. Disease resistance.
This combination of qualities is not present in previously available commercial cultivars of this type and distinguish xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 from all other varieties of which we are aware.
As part of their rose development program, L. Pernille Olesen and Mogens N. Olesen germinated the seeds from the aforementioned hybridization during winter 1993 and conducted evaluations on the resulting seedlings in a controlled environment in Fredensborg, Denmark.
xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 was selected in the spring of 1994 by the inventors as a single plant from the progeny of the aforementioned hybridization.
Asexual reproduction of xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 by traditional budding and rooted cuttings was first done by L. Pernille and Mogens N. Olesen in their nursery in Fredensborg, Denmark in summer 1994. This initial and other subsequent asexual propagations conducted in controlled environments have demonstrated that the characteristics of xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99 are true to type and are transmitted from one generation to the next.

Shrub rose variety xe2x80x98POULbambexe2x80x99


A GPS collision avoidance apparatus which uses Global Positioning System (GPS) information and computer processing to determine the location of man made and natural occurring obstacles to allow a user to avoid a collision with these obstacles. The collision avoidance apparatus has a collision decision processor which analyzes position and motion dynamics data including a direction of motion, a velocity and an acceleration for a user utilizing collision avoidance apparatus to determine whether a collision will occur and then to provide protection for the user in the event a collision is likely to occur.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to collision avoidance apparatus and systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus for collision avoidance which uses Global Positioning System (GPS) information and computer processing to determine the location of man made and natural occurring obstacles to allow a user to avoid a collision with these obstacles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
GPS navigation systems utilize signals generated by and received from Earth's orbiting satellites to calculate a spatial position of an object in longitude, latitude and elevation relative to the earth's surface. The advances in GPS technology in recent years have produced high precision navigation systems with very fine accuracies in position definition of an object, normally within a few centimeters of the object's actual location.
Presently, commercially available GPS navigation units or devices display position information relative to a digital memory map on a local crystal display. For example, rental car companies are providing this technology in automobiles. These companies rent to travelers who are unfamiliar with the local area and need to travel to a particular destination. However, these GPS navigation devices are limited to navigation only and do not provide warning or avoidance information and protection from collision with an object in the path of a user.
Accordingly, there is a need for a GPS based navigation device which has the capability of identifying objects in the path of a user and providing the user with sufficient advanced warning to avoid a collision with an object in the user's path.

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A cannula and injection site coupling system comprising a cannula or piercing member assembly having a blunt cannula partially surrounded by a protective shield. The protective shield is spaced apart from the blunt cannula and includes a bayonet arm, a bayonet barb, a bayonet lock and an opening or gap. The injection site has a septum with a opening and an arm. When the cannula assembly and injection site are coupled, the injection site arm is lodged within the cannula assembly lock opening.

In the medical field, injection sites usable with pointed cannulae have long been known. For example, such sites can be formed with a housing having a fluid flow path therein. A septum is positioned in the housing closing the fluid flow path.
One injection site usable with a piercing cannula is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,573 to Zdeb entitled "Injection Site." The Zdeb patent is assigned to Assignee of the present invention.
The pointed cannula can be forced through the septum into fluid flow communication with the flow path in the housing. Known injection sites usable with a piercing cannula can be physically damaged by repetitive piercing caused by the sharp cannula. This damage, known as coring or laceration, can result in subsequent leakage.
Due to problems associated with infectious agents, personnel using such pointed cannulae do so with great care. Notwithstanding careful and prudent practice, from time to time, accidents do occur and individuals using such pointed cannulae jab themselves.
Injection sites usable with a blunt cannula are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,848 issued to Garrett et al. entitled "Closed Urinary Irrigation Site" and assigned to the Assignee of the present invention discloses one such injection site. That injection site is a relatively low pressure device having a relatively thin, molded, sealing member. The sealing member has an opening therethrough.
A blunt cannula can be forced through the sealing member placing the cannula into fluid flow communication-with a fluid flow pathway in the injection site.
Injection sites of the type noted above usable with a blunt cannula have the advantage that the blunt cannula will not pierce the skin of a user. On the other hand, it is important that the pre-slit injection site reseal with enough force that fluids do not ooze therefrom and that airborne particulate matter, bacterial or viral matter do not enter therethrough.
Hence, there continues to be a need for a pre-slit injection site which can be used with a variety of solutions and over a range of fluid pressures. Further, there continues to be a need for such a pre-slit injection site which will reliably reseal even after many insertions of the blunt cannula.
Such an injection site should be able to receive a large number of insertions of the cannula without displaying reseal failure and without allowing the cannula to drop out of contact. Such an injection site should provide for improved alignment of the cannula on insertion. Improved alignment will result in less chance of damage to the injection site after repeated insertions of the cannula. Preferably, the injection site would also be usable with a pointed cannula. Preferably, a pre-slit injection site usable with a blunt cannula will provide a reasonable level of insertion force such that health care personnel will readily be able to insert the blunt cannula, yet the cannula will not easily fall from or drop out of contact with the septum.

Bayonet look cannula for pre-slit y-site


A moisture data-acquiring device has a force-applying unit for applying an external force to a sheet, a force-receiving unit for receiving the external force through the sheet, a signal outputting unit for outputting a signal reflecting a mechanical property of the sheet which unit is placed on at least one of the force-applying unit and the force-receiving unit, and a moisture data-acquiring unit for acquiring data on moisture of the sheet based on the signal from the signal outputting unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a moisture data-acquiring device (a water content information-acquiring apparatus), and an image-forming apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Moisture-measuring devices are known as apparatuses for acquiring information on moisture such as a water content in a sheet material like recording paper sheets and postcards.
An example of the moisture-measuring device is an optical apparatus which determines the moisture content in a sheet material by measuring light absorption or light reflection.
The optical type device isolates light of the absorption wavelength 1.94 μm of water, and light of plural reference wavelengths from continuous spectrum light, for example, by a spectroscope or a wave filter, and measures the water content by comparison of absorbance or reflectivity of the light by water with those of the reference light (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. H05-164690, and H05-118984).
Otherwise, a technique using a monochromatic light is disclosed to avoid use of a spectroscope or a wave filter not to enlarge the apparatus (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-156834).

Moisture data-acquiring device and image-forming apparatus


A self-propelled construction machine comprises a machine frame having a working means arranged thereon, and a drive means for driving left and right crawler tracks at respective predetermined chain speeds. A control unit is configured such that, based on a distance between a front reference point with respect to the machine frame in the working direction and a predetermined path, the chain speed(s) of the left and/or right crawler track is predetermined such that the front reference point moves on the predetermined path. The control unit is further configured such that, during cornering, the control is corrected based on a distance between a rear reference point with respect to the machine frame in the working direction and the predetermined path such that the distance between the rear reference point with respect to the machine frame in the working direction and the predetermined path is reduced.

The invention relates to a self-propelled construction machine which has a drive means having a left and a right crawler track, in particular a slipform paver, and to a method for controlling a self-propelled construction machine, in particular a slipform paver.
Known self-propelled construction machines are characterised in that they have a working means arranged on a machine frame for building structures on a terrain or for altering the terrain. In known slipform pavers, the working means comprises a device for moulding flowable material, in particular concrete, which is referred to in the following as a concrete trough. The concrete trough allows structures of various designs to be produced, for example guiding walls or traffic islands. A slipform paver is described in EP 1 103 659 B1, for example.
Self-propelled construction machines have running gears, in particular crawler tracks, which are arranged on the left- and right-hand side of the machine frame in the working direction, and a drive means for driving the running gears such that the construction machine can carry out translational and/or rotary movements on the terrain.
In the case of self-propelled construction machines, the aim is largely automatic control without significant intervention by the driver. The automatic control of the construction machine involves the drive means being controlled in such a way that an arbitrary reference point with respect to the construction machine moves on a predetermined path. The predetermined path can include straight and/or curved sections.
A known method for controlling self-propelled construction machines requires the use of a guide wire by means of which the path or an equidistant to the path is established. Controlling self-propelled construction machines using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is also known. EP 2 620 547 A1 describes a construction machine with control of the drive means using a guide wire and EP 2 336 424 A1 describes a construction machine with control of the drive means using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS).
The problem with automatic control of construction machines is that the construction machine has to move when cornering such that the working means is always in the correct position and in the correct orientation, so that a slipform paver, for example, can be used to build a structure in the correct position in the correct orientation.
Self-propelled construction machines which have a front left and right running gear in the working direction and a rear left and right running gear can be steered such that they can follow the predetermined path in the desired orientation with sufficient accuracy. A front reference point can be established for the control of the front running gears and a rear reference point can be established for the control of the rear running gears, it being possible to actuate the front and rear running gears in such a way that both the front and the rear reference point move on the predetermined path. The separate actuation of the front and rear running gears allows the desired orientation of the construction machine to be maintained when cornering.
In the case of construction machines that have only a left and right crawler track, the steerability is limited, however. Therefore, when controlling the drive means of construction machines with only a left and right crawler track, the problem arises in practice that a reference point with respect to the construction machine on which the control is based and which is preferably a front reference point in the working direction moves on the predetermined path, but a rear reference point does not follow the predetermined path. If the construction machine is a slipform paver, the rear end of the slipform thus cannot follow the predetermined path, meaning the structure to be built or parts thereof are not in the right place later.

Self-propelled construction machine and method for controlling a self-propelled construction machine


A bracket for index tabs of hanging file folders comprising a transparent sleeve and an element secured to the file folder, characterized by the fact that the sleeve can be directionally positioned by pivoting around a more or less vertical axis. The bracket may be provided with a structure to immobilize the sleeve directionally positioned in relation to its pivot axis which may be provided with notches suitable for interacting with at least one stop pin on the element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bracket for identification labels or index tabs of hanging file folders and to a hanging file folder provided with such a bracket.
2. History of the Related Art
When hanging file folders are placed inside a cabinet, such as a filing cabinet, or a closet, it is known to provide each of them with a label or index tab, that is held by a bracket generally made of a plastic material and connected at least to one of the principal sides of the hanging file folder, constituted by a sheet of cardboard. It is essential for the comfort of the user that these index tabs be easily legible. The ease of reading of an identification tab depends essentially on its width. Where a large number of thin files are hung on the rack of a cabinet or a closet, their transversal capacity is determined by the width of their respective tabs. As a matter of fact, the width of the tab determines the width of the bracket and, in the case where thin folders are used, the width of the bracket for the tab is wider than the hanging folder itself. Therefore, should the tab be too wide, not many file folders can be hung from a rack and an installation with an optimum density of file folders cannot be considered.
On the other hand, it is known that a filing cabinet or a closet containing hanging files can be accessed from a direction that is not perpendicular to its front face. This is particularly the case when the closet or the cabinet is installed in a corner of a room or if the user reaches for the hanging files from a determined position such as, for example, from a chair that does not exactly face the cabinet or close. In such a case, this individual's angle of vision of the hanging files does not correspond to the orthogonal direction for which the brackets of known construction are designed.
Now then, the transparent sleeves of the tab brackets are designed in such a manner that they produce, in a direction comprised in their plane of symmetry, a magnifying glass effect, allowing a better readability of the labels. The user who reaches at an angle for a hanging file does not have the advantage of this magnifying glass effect and can be bothered by the reflection of light on the external surface of the sleeves of the brackets.

Bracket for index tab and a hanging file folder provided with such bracket


A method for estimating the location of the source of a (possibly unfriendly) electromagnetic probe signal (threat radar) received by an aircraft as the aircraft moves along a chosen path. A signal direction finder on the aircraft determines geometric parameters describing a probe signal plane that contains a probe signal propagation direction, as received at the aircraft, at two or more selected times. A location determination system on the aircraft determines the location of the aircraft at each of the selected times. Information on the probe signal plane and the aircraft location is used to estimate initial location coordinates and, optionally, velocity coordinates and acceleration coordinates, for the probe signal source, in two dimensions or in three dimensions. Probe signal planes at additional selected times can be used to provide a check on, or provide a more reliable estimate for, the probe signal source location. The probe signal source may be transported on a land-based, water-based or airborne vehicle.

When operating in a hostile environment, an airborne vehicle often uses a radar electronic surveillance system (RESS) to determine the presence of (possibly unfriendly) probe signals from a threat radar system (TRS), which may be ground-based, water-based or air-based. If such a probe signal is identified, the RESS, at best, is able to determine the relative bearing of the TRS from the present airborne vehicle location. This relative bearing information is sufficient to alert the airborne vehicle occupants to presence of a radar interrogation threat but does not, by itself, allow determination of the present location and/or velocity of the TRS. Lacking additional information, the airborne vehicle can only determine the general direction of the source of the TRS probe signals.
What is needed is an approach that allows an airborne vehicle with RESS to determine the present location of, distance to, and/or velocity of, a TRS facility that is transmitting probe signals. Preferably, this approach should allow determination of the location, distance and/or velocity in real time and relatively quickly and should allow flexibility in choice of the information used to determine the location, distance and/or velocity.

Determination of radar threat location from an airborne vehicle


A magnetic memory element includes a laminated construction of an electrode, a first pinned layer, a first intermediate layer, a first memory layer, a second intermediate layer, a second memory layer, a third intermediate layer, a second pinned layer and electrode. The magnetization direction of the first memory layer takes a first and a second directions and that of the second memory layer takes a third and a fourth directions corresponding to a value and polarity of a current between the electrodes. In response to the current, the second intermediate layer has an electric resistance higher than the first intermediate layer and than the third intermediate layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a magnetic memory element based on the magnetoresistance effect and a magnetic memory apparatus including the magnetic memory elements.
2. Background Art
Recently, there has been a growing demand for information processing devices that meet various needs as an underpinning and engine for the extensively and highly advanced information society. In particular, hard disk drives and magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) are memory devices based on the magnetic moment of ferromagnets. Such spin-electronics devices using the spin degree of freedom of electrons are characterized in being suitable to increasing integration by downsizing cells, operable at high speed, and nonvolatile. Hence their use will further expand in memory apparatuses and other applications.
In one method for controlling the magnetization direction of small magnetic bodies in spin-electronics devices, the current-induced spin transfer phenomenon is used. The "spin transfer" refers to the transfer of angular momentum from the spin of conduction electrons to the localized magnetic moment of the magnetic bodies. In contrast to the scheme based on magnetic field application, the spin transfer scheme is characterized in that the write current can be reduced with the downsizing of cells.
The magnetic memory element adapted to spin transfer writing is illustratively shaped like a pillar. More specifically, it includes a lamination film composed of a magnetization-pinned magnetic layer (hereinafter also referred to as "pinned layer"), an intermediate layer, and a magnetization-free magnetic layer (hereinafter also referred to as "memory layer"). The lamination film is patterned with dots, each being tens to hundreds of nanometers square. Both the pinned layer and the memory layer are magnetized in the direction within the film plane. By passing a current through this lamination film in the direction perpendicular to the film plane, the magnetization direction can be controlled (write) and detected (read), and the element can be used as a memory element.
Here, one memory element can include a plurality of memory layers, and each memory layer can independently serve for recording, storing, and reading of data.
Several publications (U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,477, JP-A 2002-334585 (Kokai), and JP-A 2005-259206 (Kokai)) disclose incorporating such memory elements into a circuit to form a CAM (content addressable memory). The CAM, also called "associative memory", is a functional memory capable of comparing a first data (bit string) with a second data (bit string) and rapidly outputting a determination as to whether they are matched. There is a great demand for CAMs in routers and caches. Besides CAMs, a magnetic memory capable of multivalued operation has been disclosed (JP-A 2006-203064 (Kokai)).

Magnetic memory element and magnetic memory apparatus