A method and an apparatus measure an actual responsive time for a relay and control the open/close timing for the relay. The apparatus comprises a microprocessor and two conversion units. One conversion unit processes an input sinusoidal signal for the microprocessor and the microprocessor sends a control signal to energize or de-energize a coil of the relay at an arbitrary time point. Another conversion unit senses a waveform change after the switch of the relay and sends a state signal to the microprocessor. Therefore, the microprocessor can obtain an actual responsive time of the relay by the difference between the control signal and the state signal. The microprocessor will apply next control signal with a time lead of the responsive time before next zero-crossing point to achieve zero-crossing switch for the relay.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for controlling open/close timing of relay, especially to an apparatus and a method for switching a relay precisely at predetermined time points.
2. Description of Prior Art
As is well known, one use for relays is the delaying of signal connections to prevent a sudden current overload, generated by abrupt power switch on or switch off, from inputting into circuits of appliances. Relays are also used to connect to loads to cut out sudden large currents, caused by improper operation or control, for protecting the appliances from burning out.
Therefore, the relay is extensively used for switch control of electrical circuits. The relay generally comprises a coil and at least one contact controlled by the coil. More particularly, the contacts are switched between a close state and an open state in response to an energization and a de-energization of the coil.
Spark may be present when the contacts are switched with a load current. The contact resistance of the contact will be increased by the spark. Moreover, the contacts may be damaged earlier than expected by the spark. To ensure the lifetime of relay, the relay for alternative current operation is preferably switched at a zero-crossing point to prevent spark generation.
A time difference is inevitably present between the coil action and the contact opening/closing operation. The time difference between the coil action and the contact opening operation is referred to as an open time; and the time difference between the coil action and the contact closing operation is referred to as a close time. The open time and the close time may be the same or be different, and are generically referred to as responding time. The responding time can be known from the specification provided by manufacturer. However, the responding time may be drifted with operation time, temperature change and aging of the relay. Moreover, the responding time is also different for different manufacturer.
To switch the relay at zero-crossing point, relay controller such as a relay accelerator is developed to speed up the switch operation. However, the responding time cannot be minimized to zero and the zero-crossing point operation is still not realized.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,615 disclosed a relay controller with a memory unit. The responding time is pre-stored in the memory unit and the relay controller sends a control signal in advance to the zero-crossing point according to the pre-stored responding time for compensating the responding time. However, the relay controller relies on the specification provided by manufacturer and still cannot account for the practical factors such as operation time, temperature change and aging of the relay. For example, if the responding time is 5 ms according to the specification of manufacturer and is stored in the memory unit, the relay controller will generate the control signal with reference to the 5 ms responding time. However, the responding time may be changed to 10 ms due to above-mentioned practical factors, the zero-crossing operation still cannot be achieved.

Apparatus and method for controlling open/close timing of relay


A communications device is for transmitting acoustic signals in a motor vehicle. The communications device includes at least two transmitters and at least two receivers for transmitting and emitting acoustic signals. One transmitter and one receiver are each allocated to a spatial position. The device further includes a control unit for activating or deactivating at least the transmitters. The control unit is associated with at least one actuator element by which at least one transmitter may be selectively deactivated irrespective of a prevailing signal level.

Such devices, for example DVE (digital voice enhancement) systems, have the task of improving the acoustic communication between users, or the acoustic communication of users with an acoustic interface, such as a voice-recognition system or a handsfree telephone system, in a space. In addition to engine and wind noise, communication may be impeded by overly intense damping of individual, spatial, acoustic transmission routes. To this end, the devices include different microphones and loudspeakers, which are assigned to specific spatial positions. Instead of individual microphones, microphone arrays are also conventional, the microphones of which are aligned with the respective spatial positions.
German Published Patent Application No. 199 38 158 describes a device for compensating for losses of an acoustic signal on a transmission path between at least one transmitting location and least one receiving location in a space, a control unit being provided for determining the transmission path and ascertaining at least one parameter of a corresponding transfer function, and the control unit being connected to at least one level balance or automatic gain control, which, in combination with at least one echo compensator, is positioned between the transmitting location and the receiving location for controlling the acoustic signal level for a specifiable position in the transmission path. In this context, the microphone having the highest signal level is determined by the control unit. In each instance, this microphone represents the active microphone. Its assigned loudspeaker is deactivated. The electrical signals from the active microphone to the active loudspeakers are temporally delayed, so that these are synchronous with respect to the acoustic signal path. In addition, they should be attenuated as a function of the position of the loudspeakers, so that the sum of acoustic and electrical signals yields a predefined sound level at the specific spatial positions.

Communications device for transmitting acoustic signals in a motor vehicle


A motor-driven propulsion device (10) can be attached separately to a surface-cleaning machine (1), which has a drive (2) for a rotor drum and is equipped with a handle supporting deck (3) for manual propulsion. For this, the device (10) is connected mechanically to the handle supporting deck (3) and secured to the axle (5) of the surface-cleaning machine (1) with a swivel hook (34) and a two-pronged fork. In this position, at least one motor-driven frictional wheel (11) presses on the running wheels (6) of the surface-cleaning machine (1). The frictional wheel (11) is driven by a separate motor in the housing (12) of the propulsion device (10), which, if necessary, uses a separate power supply or the same power supply as the drive motor of the rotor drum of the surface-cleaning machine (1).

This invention concerns a propulsion device, otherwise known as a feed device, on a motor-driven surface-cleaning machine, which is equipped for manual translation with a handle supporting deck firmly attached to the surface-cleaning machine and has an axle with two wheels placed in the area where the handle supporting deck connects, wherein the feed device can be coupled to the surface-cleaning machine.

Feed device on a surface-cleaning machine


A prepositioning and delivering mechanism for heald shafts is either permanently or temporarily attached to a loom for guiding the heald shafts when a shaft change is to be made. The mechanism has a carrier carrying prepositioning mechanisms each including a rocking lever and a guide roller. These mechanisms are arranged along a longitudinal axis of a journal axle (18) with a spacing that corresponds to a spacing pitch between heald shaft guide frames. Each roller of the prepositioning mechanism is engageable with a respective heald shaft. At least one of the heald shaft guides is engaged with a drive for delivering or advancing of the shaft guides toward the prepositioned heald shafts.

Looms with shaft guides on their side walls arranged to be adjustable back and forth into the loom are known. In such looms up to twenty-eight individual heald shafts are taken up and guided in a vertically slideable manner in individual shaft guides. These shaft guides have a comb-like construction and are horizontally slideable back and forth on axles. It is desirable for the operator of a loom to be able to carry out a rapid shaft change, especially when changing the loom for weaving another article. The replacement of the heald shafts in the individual shaft guides, however, is always especially labor consuming, because during the insertion of the heald shafts into the heald frame, each individual shaft must be aligned to the corresponding shaft guide member of the heald frame and the shaft guide members of the heald frame must be advanced toward the shafts.
The aligning and advancing or delivering is carried out manually which is time consuming.
Therefore, it is not easily possible, during delivery of the shaft guides by hand, to realize the necessary tolerance to be maintained between the shaft guide and the respective heald shaft, by a single delivery operation or by advancing of the shaft guide members. Rather, a manipulation in which the comblike shaft guide members are moved repeatedly back and forth on the axles, is needed in order to bring all the shafts into the corresponding shaft guide members.

Apparatus for prepositioning and delivering heald shafts in looms


The invention encompasses ex vivo method of stimulating isolated memory T-cell, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL), T cell receptor (TCR) engineered cell, and/or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) engineered cell with compounds of Formula I below, which are inhibitors of the TC-PTP enzyme.

T lymphocytes are a critical component of the immune system with the capacity to kill tumour cells. However, in cancer patients anti-tumour T cells are often in a non-functional state which limits their ability to eliminate tumours. Adoptive T cell therapy (ATCT) is an emerging strategy which involves isolating a cancer patient's own anti-tumour T cells and genetically modifying them to make them functional. This approach has increased the efficacy of cancer-based vaccines as the ex-vivo amplification of this T-cell population, and its transfer into cancer patients, effectively induces tumour regression. Nevertheless, ATCT still requires lymphodepletion and the administration of high dose interleukin-2 (IL-2), due to the immunosuppressive properties of the tumour microenvironment. Additionally, clinical trials have been hampered by the lack of reliable and reproducible persistence and activity of transferred T cells. While the administration of IL-2 has proven to enhance T cell persistence and function, the toxicity of systemic administration of IL-2, as well as the activation of T regulatory cells, presents limitations. Therefore, alternative approaches which amplify cytokine receptor signaling in transferred T cells would be of therapeutic benefit.
Dysregulation of the cytokine-activated Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway has been identified as one of the key factors responsible for the reduced T cell fitness and persistence. There are four members in the JAKfamily of tyrosine kinases: JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, and Tyk2 [Simoncic P D, et al. Curr Biol. 200212(6):446-453]. JAK kinases are constitutively associated with cytokine receptors and are activated by the binding of a cytokine to its cell-surface receptor. Once activated, the JAK kinase phosphorylates specific tyrosine residues on the receptor providing binding sites for STATs. STATs, consisting of 7 members: STAT1, STAT2, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5a, STAT5b, and STAT6, are a group of latent cytoplasmic transcription factors, which reside in an inactive form in the cytoplasm. They are activated by binding to the phosphorylation sites on cytokine receptors and are subsequently phosphorylated on a specific tyrosine residue by JAK. When phosphorylated they disassociate from the receptor, dimerize through their respective SH2 domains and enter the nucleus to induce expression of target genes. In addition to cytokine and chemokine receptors, JAK-STAT signaling can also be initiated directly by receptor tyrosine kinases such as Epidermal growth factor receptor, platelet derived growth factor receptor and others.
Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are a family of transmembrane or intracellular enzymes that control multiple cellular regulatory processes by dephosphorylating phospho-tyrosine substrates. There are 107 PTPs in the human genome and several reviews have described in detail the members of this gene family. PTP1B (PTPN1) and TC-PTP (PTPN2) are two highly homologous classical non-receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases. TC-PTP (PTPN2) is found principally as a ˜45 kD intracellular protein that localizes primarily to the nucleus and belongs to the class I subfamily of phosphotyrosine-specific PTPs. Although TC-PTP is ubiquitously expressed, highest expression is observed in all hematopoietic cells [Doody K M, et al. Immunol Rev. 2009 228: p 325-41; Tiganis, T., et al., J Biol Chem, 1999. 274(39): p. 27768-75; Arimura, Y. and J. Yagi, Sci Signal, 2010. 3(137): p. rs1.]. The C-terminal hydrophobic domain anchors PTP1B to the cytoplasmic face of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where is has been shown to target a wide range of substrates including tyrosine kinases, adaptors, cytoskeleton protein and transcription factors, and it has been implicated in diverse pathways including those controlling glucose uptake, proliferation, differentiation, cell mobility and adhesion [Pike, K A and Tremblay, M L, 82, 2016, p. 52-57].
The role of TC-PTP has been studied in several immune cell types. Inhibitors of TC-PTP have been used in the preparation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and recently in dendritic cells (DCs). In these cases, using a knockout of TC-PTP or inhibitors thereof, the cell behavior appeared specific and associated with the particular JAK-STAT involved: IL-7 for the HSC and IL-4 for the DCs. TC-PTP inhibitors modified the transcriptomes in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, some redundancy in the control of immune responses is believed to exist between TC-PTP and PTP1B, which limits the effects of specific inhibition of either of both phosphatases. The inventors found that concomitant inhibition of TC-PTP and PTP1B, by genetic or pharmacological means, in CD8 T cells induced their spontaneous differentiation to T central memory cells (Tcm) a phenomenon previously unknown to the work described herein.
Hence, the inventors have found it surprising and unexpected that TC-PTP/PTP1B inhibitors could also provide a growth advantage and other phenotypes associated to the specific signaling induced by IL-15 in memory T cells as well as CD8 T cells over CD4 T cells. Therefore, this unique phenotype and the linked signaling cascades of IL-15 in a subset of T cells (CD8 vs CD4 vs memory and central memory T cell) were not predictable prior to the work described herein.
A number of methods are known for preparing tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) for injection into patients [Dudley M E, et al. J Clin Oncol 26: 5233-5239, 2008; Besser M J, et al. Clin Cancer Res 19: 4792-4800, 2013; Rosenberg S A, et al. Clin Cancer Res 17: 4550-4557, 2011; Besser M J, et al. J Clin Oncol 23:2346-2357, 2005; Dudley M E, et al. J Immunother 26:332-342, 2003.]. Each of these published methods could be enhanced by the additional of a suitable inhibitor of TC-PTP as described herein.
A number of methods are known for preparing T-cell receptors (TCRs) engineered cells for injection into patients [Clay T M, et al. J Immunol. 1999; 163:507-513; Morgan R A, et al. J Immunol. 2003; 171:3287-3295; Schaft N, et al. J Immunol. 2003; 170:2186-2194; Zhao Y, et al. J Immunol. 2005; 174:4415-4423; Johnson L A, et al. Blood. 2009; 114:535-546; Morgan R A, et al. Science. 2006; 314:126-129]. Each of these published methods could be enhanced by the additional of a suitable inhibitor of TC-PTP as described herein.
A number of methods are known for preparing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells for injection into patients [Porter D L, et al. N Engl J Med 2011; 365:725-33; Milone M C, et al. Mol Ther. 2009 August; 17(8):1453-64; Zhao Y, et al. Cancer Res. 2010 Nov. 15; 70(22):9053-61; Kalos M, et al. Sci Transl Med. 2011 Aug. 10; 3(95):95ra73; Hwu P I, et al. Cancer Res. 1995 Aug. 1; 55(15):3369-73; Wang G, et al. Nat Med. 1998 February; 4(2):168-72; Kochenderfer J N, et al. Blood. 2010 Nov. 18; 116(20):4099-102; Lee D W, et al. Lancet. 2015 Feb. 7; 385(9967):517-28; Kochenderfer J N, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2015 Feb. 20; 33(6):540-9]. Each of these published methods could be enhanced by the additional of a suitable inhibitor of TC-PTP as described herein.

Enhancing CD8+ T cells for adoptive T cell therapy by inhibiting PTPN1 (PTP1B) and PTPN2 (TC-PTP)

THE ROYAL INSTITUTION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING/MCGILL UNIVERSITY


An apparatus for controlling noise of a vehicle body may include a reinforcement member movably installed in a vehicle body frame, an accelerator pedal detection unit for detecting whether an accelerator pedal is operated, a controller for determining whether a vehicle accelerates or decelerates based on a signal from the accelerator pedal detection unit and outputting a control signal to move the reinforcement member to be in contact with or to be spaced apart from a cross member of the vehicle body frame in accord with acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle, and a driving apparatus for moving the reinforcement member according to the control signal of the controller. By selective movement of the reinforcement member, the apparatus modifies a noise generated by the cross member differently according to the acceleration or the deceleration of the vehicle and thus improves sound quality.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling noise of a vehicle body, and more particularly, to an apparatus for controlling noise of a vehicle body which can differently tune sound quality of noise of a vehicle body, which is generated during driving of a vehicle, according to acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle.
2. Background Art
In general, the structure of a vehicle body includes side frames disposed along opposite sides of a vehicle, and several cross members for transversely connecting the side frames to each other. There is one cross member installed in the vehicle body to support a transmission among the several cross members. This is called a transmission mounting cross member. Further, opposite ends of the transmission mounting cross member are fixed to the side frames.
FIG. 1 is a bottom view showing a state of mounting a transmission to a cross member. As shown in FIG. 1, the transmission mounting cross member (hereinafter, referred to as 'cross member') 20 is installed to transversely connect the side frames 10 at opposite lower sides of a vehicle to each other, and the transmission 2 is supported by the cross member 20.
In this case, a mounting unit is installed at an upper side of the cross member 20 and the transmission 2 is mounted to the mounting unit, so that the mounting unit connects the transmission 2 to the cross member 20. In addition, a bush for preventing vibration, which is generated from the transmission and is transferred to the vehicle body, is conventionally mounted between the mounting unit and the transmission.
Meanwhile, noise is generated during driving of a vehicle while the vehicle body including the cross member is vibrating. Thus, the noise is input into a driver seat to cause a driver to feel uncomfortable.
Therefore, a technology for reducing noise of a vehicle body has been required, and noise generated due to the cross member may be reduced by reinforcing strength of the cross member.
Thus, a reinforcement member is installed to increase the strength of the cross member for the purpose of reducing the noise. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state of installing a reinforcement member. As shown in FIG. 2, the reinforcement member 30 as well as the cross member 20 is installed to connect a left side and a right side of side frames to each other. When the reinforcement member 30 is installed, noise may be reduced by using a vibration characteristic of the cross member 20.
If the strength of the cross member is not reinforced, rumble noise (noise such as "doo doo doo" or "vroom") is generated so that the driver may be made to feel uncomfortable. However, if the strength of the cross member is reinforced by installing the reinforcement member, the noise generated due to the cross member may be reduced.
However, in the case of a technology of simply installing the reinforcement member, when taking into consideration that there exists a difference in the driver-preferable sound qualities of the sounds generated from vehicles, it is difficult to meet a sound characteristic that satisfies the drivers in a certain area.
For example, regarding European-preferable sound characteristic, European-preferable sound characteristic during an acceleration period is different from that during a deceleration period. A silent sound quality is required during the deceleration and a dynamic sound quality is required during the acceleration.
That is, the rumble noise generated when the strength of the cross member is not reinforced may become European-preferable dynamic noise during the acceleration. However, European prefers the silent sound quality which minimizes the noise generation, during the deceleration.
Therefore, it is necessary to specialize the sound characteristic according to areas by considering differences in a driving characteristic, a road condition, and a driver taste. In particular, a sound control technology, which can implement a dynamic sound quality during the acceleration of the vehicle and a silent sound quality during the deceleration of the vehicle according to European-preferable sound characteristic, is required.
When the reinforcement member is not installed, the rumble noise generated during the acceleration may become European-preferable dynamic noise. However, the noise due to the cross member is generated even during the deceleration, so that a driver feels uncomfortable.
In addition, when the reinforcement member 30 is installed as shown in FIG. 2, since the noise is fully removed regardless of the acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle as the strength of the cross member 20 is increased, the driver-preferable sound quality is not satisfied (it is impossible to implement the dynamic noise during the acceleration and the noise is too silent in both cases of acceleration and deceleration due to the installation of the reinforcement member).
Thus, there is a need to provide a technology capable of differently tuning the sound quality according to the acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle by using the cross member.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Apparatus for controlling noise of vehicle body


A touch apparatus includes a substrate, a plurality of first sensing electrodes, a plurality of second sensing electrodes, a plurality of third sensing electrodes, a plurality of fourth sensing electrodes, a switch module and a control unit. The switch module is electrically connected with the first sensing electrodes, the second sensing electrodes, the third sensing electrodes and the fourth sensing electrodes. The control unit is electrically connected with the switch module. The touch apparatus decide the connection mode of the switch module according to the touch strength of a touch point on the touch apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a sensing apparatus, and more particularly, to a touch apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Based on different ways of sensing, touch panels are generally categorized into resistant touch panels, capacitive touch panels, optical touch panels, sonic wave touch panels, and electromagnetic touch panels. The capacitive touch panels due to having advantages of fast response speed, favorable reliability, and high durability are extensively being applied in electronic devices.
The capacitive touch panel is being operated through using a conductive object, such as a finger or a stylus, to approach or contact the touch panel, so as to change a capacitance on the touch panel. When a change in the capacitance is being detected, coordinates of a touch point at where the conductive object approaches or contacts the touch panel can be located, and thereby executes functions corresponded to the coordinates of the touch point.
However, based on different touch operation mediums (finger, stylus, etc.) or touch operations (approaching or contacting), touch strengths detected by the touch panel may be different, and thereby may affect the accuracy in determining touch coordinates. Therefore, it is imperative to attain a favorable effect in determining the touch coordinates under the use of different touch operation mediums or touch operations.


Provided is a system and method that acquires and aggregates information to determine the location of a user. Information from multiple sources is collected and evaluated. Location sources include mobile electronic devices such as mobile telephones, cell phones, hand-held computers, personal digital assistants, pagers, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, and other pervasive computing devices. Satellite-based or network-based positioning technologies make it possible to determine the geographic location of these wireless electronic devices and their corresponding user. Location sources also include computer-based models, schedules or calendars that give a particular user's expected location depending on the date and time. Provided is a method for aggregating information to determine a user's location. Also provided is a system for executing the claimed method. Also provided is as a set of instructions on a computer-usable medium, or resident in a computer system, for executing the claimed method.

Mobile, wireless electronic devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, and Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, have become very popular, and their use has become very common. It is common for one person to use two or more of these devices. These mobile devices are a subset of a group of devices that are sometimes called "pervasive computing" devices. The term "pervasive computing" is used because systems with microprocessors are now found in an array of devices that previously were largely untouched by computer technology. These pervasive computing devices include mobile devices such as cell phones and automobile components. Pervasive computing devices often include a microprocessor and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, input means, output means, and interfaces, such as a network interface or modem, providing a link to other computing devices.
These pervasive computing devices are information handling systems, designed to give independent computing power to a single user, or a group of users in the case of networked pervasive computing devices. Pervasive computing devices may also include one or more input/output devices which are coupled to the microprocessor and which perform specialized functions (e.g. modems, sound and video devices, or specialized communication devices). Pervasive computing devices are often linked to computing systems and other pervasive computing devices using a network, such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or the Internet.
Satellite-based or network-based positioning technologies make it possible to determine the geographic location of mobile pervasive computing devices (e.g. location-based services for users of mobile telephones use such positioning technologies). One problem is that location information from one source may be inconsistent with information from another source. For example, a husband and wife may share a tracking device that is embedded in their car. In addition, the husband may have a location-aware mobile phone. The wife may use the car to drive to the wife's office, after giving the husband a ride to his office. Then information from the mobile phone, indicating that the husband is at his office, will be inconsistent with information from the tracking device in the car, indicating that the husband is at the wife's office.
Such an inconsistency could cause significant, practical problems. To continue the example, the husband's employer may use location information from employees' mobile electronic devices to determine the employees' location. This system would help the employer make good decisions about dispatching employees to make sales calls or service calls. However, this system could be defeated when information from one source indicates that the husband is at his office, and information from another source indicates that the husband is at the wife's office.
The inconsistency would be difficult to resolve, without additional information about the people involved, their schedules, and how they are associated with various mobile devices. To make the best use of these positioning technologies, it would be important to make use of all available information, from multiple sources, to determine users' locations. Thus there is a need for methods and systems that acquire, aggregate, and evaluate location information from multiple sources. There is a need for methods and systems that go beyond just locating a mobile device, to also include information about people, their schedules, and their various devices.

System and method for aggregating information to determine users' locations

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for controlling an electronic device is provided. The method includes detecting a first tilt angle between the electronic device and a reference plane, and controlling the electronic device to perform an operating according to the first tilt angle. The operation is associated with a user interface operation or an audio/video playback operation.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a method for controlling an electronic device, and more particularly, to a method for controlling an electronic device through detecting a tilt angle of the electronic device.
Description of the Related Art
Smart phones and tablet computers are currently common electronic devices, and are usually operated in response to a user instruction entered through a touch interface. Complications may be involved when entering instructions into a touch interface. For example, when a user wishes to search and play a desired image file from numerous images stored in a cell phone, both hands of a user are required in order to complete such operation. That is, the cell phone needs to be held in one hand, while the other hand is required to continuously slide on the touch interface to change a displayed image file. The above manipulations may be inconvenient under certain circumstances (e.g., when the user is on a crowded public transportation vehicle).

Electronic device and method for controlling the same


A drive unit for a road-rail vehicle having at least four wheels, for movement on rails, wherein each wheel is driven by a separate hydraulic motor. Further the hydraulic motors driving the wheels situated on one side of a longitudinal central axis of the vehicle are connected in parallel.

Vehicles which may be rail bound, road bound or both may perform construction or maintenance work along a railway are known today. Often the vehicles include at least four wheels for rail transportation and some sort of hydraulic driving unit.
DE-A1-102005002407 describes such a vehicle, with four wheels and at least one hydraulic motor. it also describes that the hydraulic motor connected to a wheel is connected in series to an other hydraulic motor connected to the other wheel of the same side so that the front wheel and the rear wheel of the left side is connected together by their hydraulic motors. One drawback with this execution is that when the user does construction or maintenance work on the side of the rail while moving the vehicle forward or backward the wheels may start to slip, whereby the traction force decreases. The vehicle has a bad differential effect which affects the wheels of the vehicle when e.g. the vehicle perform work along the side of the rail while driving in curves.


Provided herein, inter alia, is a method for sanitizing produce, by: treating the produce with a catholyte solution for a period of time sufficient to sanitize the produce; treating the produce with a solution containing chlorine for a period of time sufficient to further sanitize the produce; and treating the produce with a solution containing peroxyacetic acid for a period of time sufficient to further sanitize the produce, where treating with the catholyte solution, the solution containing chlorine, and the solution containing peroxyacetic acid yields at least an additional 1 log unit reduction in microbial load, as compared to produce treated with a single solution selected from the catholyte solution, the solution containing chlorine, and the solution containing peroxyacetic acid.

The use of chlorine to sanitize freshly harvested produce (e.g., fruits and vegetables) has been well-described. Generally, chlorine is added to water as a gas to produce hypochlorous acid, which is the active sanitizing agent. A use level of about 10 ppm and 100 ppm has been previously described as being effective for reducing microbial load and being effective against pathogens. However, while chlorine can be an effective sanitizing agent, chlorine alone has not been shown to be a completely effective kill step (i.e., a point in produce processing where potentially deadly pathogens are eradicated from the product, usually by killing the pathogen). Moreover, no single sanitizing agent has been shown to be a highly effective kill step.
The identification of a kill step in the sanitizing of fresh cut produce has remained elusive. Numerous methodologies have been described that claim additional microbial kill when compared to chlorine alone. In general, they either present additional problems or are not as effective as chlorine alone. While many of the contaminant microbes are non-pathogenic to humans and only represent a challenge to shelf-life, the fact that these products are grown in open fields presents a risk of exposure to soil- and air-borne food pathogens from Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria species. Their ubiquitous distribution in nature must be addressed and eliminated. Therefore, there is a need to develop a method of utilizing multiple sanitizers with various modes of attack that provide a multiple hurdle approach to sanitizing that provides a more effective reduction in microbial load than chlorine alone, reduces or eliminates human pathogen contamination, and increases produce shelf-life.
The use of multiple, unique sanitizers to reduce bacterial load on produce has been described (see, e.g., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/915,594, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). However, such methods have used chlorine dioxide, which is a volatile chemical and a potential hazard per se. Moreover, chlorine dioxide has been shown to break down into other hazardous compounds including chlorite, chloride, and chlorate ("Toxicological Review of Chlorine Dioxide and Chlorite," EPA Publication EPA/635/R-00/007, September 2000). For example, inhalation of chlorine dioxide has been linked to health hazards, including pharyngeal irritation, dyspnea, tachypnea, and wheezing.
Thus, a need exists for developing methods for de-soiling and disinfecting produce that avoids or mitigates the safety hazards involved with chlorine dioxide, and that provides significant de-soiling properties, possesses sanitation capabilities equal to or greater than chlorine dioxide, produces safe products, and can be disposed of without concern for contamination.


An identification system includes a clamshell device that grasps a wire, and a clip that secures the clamshell device in a locked and closed position. The clamshell and/or clip are preferably color-coded to differentiate one wire from another, hereby allowing a technician to easily discern which wire is plugged into which port, and which wire is connected to which patient. The invention is particularly well suited for incorporation with healthcare devices and machines which have long lead wires that reach from the patient to the machine, such as electrical stimulation machines.

The present invention relates to a system of identifying and differentiating between wires in a multi-wire environment, and more specifically, to lead wire identifiers or markers on electrical stimulation machines, generally referred to as "E-Stim machines" in physical therapy.
Standard E-Stim machines have long lead wires that reach from the patient to the machine. These wires look similar and are often tangled, making it difficult to differentiate which wire is plugged into which port on the machine, and/or which lead wire is going to which patient. The wires are often stretched several feet away from the machine, further causing technician confusion. This confusion sometimes causes incorrect placement of wires, resulting in the wrong stimulation being performed on the wrong patient, or wrong part of the patient's body.
As can be seen, there is a need for an efficient system of quickly and easily identifying and differentiating between the wires in a multi-wire environment.
It is desirable that this system includes color coded cord identification clamps (or "clamshells") and clips, preferably in sets. It is desirable that the system can accommodate a variety of standard shapes and thicknesses of wires without sliding, and are shaped to prevent unwanted wire snagging.

Device and system for differentiating specific lead wires in a multi-wire environment


A method for lighting a flat fluorescent lamp for a large-sized backlight unit is disclosed, to prevent a discharge interference (scattering in fluorescent discharge) when lighting a plurality of groups of cylindrical electrodes being adjacent, in which an A.C. voltage is applied to one or two groups of cylindrical electrodes through introduction wires for lighting lamp in state of being not applied to adjacent one or two groups of cylindrical electrodes, so the plurality of groups of cylindrical electrodes are sequentially switched on and off in a time-division method at a speed not to generate the flicker of lamp.

In general, a backlight unit is comprised of a plurality of cold cathode fluorescent lamps and a light-guiding plate of acrylate. However, the backlight unit may have the following disadvantages such as the loss of light due to the light-guiding plate and the increasing number of cold cathode fluorescent lamps according to the large-sized LCD device.
As disclosed in patent documents 1, 2 and 3, a flat fluorescent lamp is formed of one lamp, which functions as a backlight. The flat fluorescent lamp is very useful for a large-sized backlight unit in that it can be resistant to an external air pressure in a large size, it can obtain a uniform surface luminance, and it can be illuminated brightly even at a low temperature. In this flat fluorescent lamp having a plurality of groups of electrodes, a lighting method is the problem which confronts us.
Patent Document 1: Patent Application No. 2003-436375
Patent Document 2: Patent Application No. 2003-428313
Patent Document 3: Patent Application No. 2003-420114

Method for lighting flat fluorescent lamp


Methods, systems, and apparatus are described for inducing a user of a speech recognition system to adjust their own behavior. For example, in one implementation, a speech recognition system that allows children to control electronic devices can improve the child's speech development, by encouraging the child to speak more clearly. To do so, the speech recognition system can generate a phonetic representation of a term spoken by the child, and can determine whether the phonetic representation matches a particular canonical pronunciation of the particular term that is deemed age-appropriate for the child. Upon determining that the particular canonical pronunciation that matches the phonetic representation of the term spoken by the child is not age-appropriate, the speech recognition system can select and implement a variety of remediation strategies for inducing the child to repeat the term using a pronunciation that is considered age-appropriate.

When speaking to an adult, a small child may be motivated to speak clearly, so as to avoid miscommunication. Given the capabilities of modern ASR systems to accurately recognize a wide range of speech, including words that are incorrectly pronounced, a small child may be less motivated to speak clearly when speaking a command into a computing device.

Behavior adjustment using speech recognition system


Electronic system for generating and controlling light effects on projectors utilizing arc lamps, composed of an electronic power unit provided with a transformer fed via transistors, the secondary circuit of the transformer being connected to the feed terminals of the lamp, within the secondary circuit of the transformer there being connected a component for withdrawing a proportion of the instantaneous current circulating through the secondary circuit to produce an electrical signal which is made available to a control block which also receives an electrical reference signal generated by a pulse generator, the control block being arranged to compare the two electrical signals and to set the transistors to a conducting or inhibiting state depending on the result of the comparison, the amplitude and frequency of the electrical reference signal being adjustable by the operator.

This invention generally concerns an electronic system for controlling the power fed to light beam projectors, particularly of medium and high power, which use short arc lamps such as xenon and metal halide lamps. More specifically, the invention relates to an electronic control system which enables both a stroboscopic effect and a dimmer effect to be obtained with said type of lamp.
The known art teaches that with this type of lamp a stroboscopic effect, ie, a rapid variation in light intensity, and a dimmer effect, ie, an attenuation in light intensity, can only be obtained by using mechanical means.
To achieve a stroboscopic effect, devices are known comprising vanes which are made to oscillate in a plane perpendicular to the light beam so as to obscure the beam. The maximum vane oscillation frequency which can be achieved-with devices of this type is of the order of 9 Hz for small and medium dimension projectors. As the projector dimensions increase the maximum vane oscillation frequency decreases. The ideal frequency at which the human eye perceives a stroboscopic effect lies between 7 and 10 Hz, which values can hence be approached only by small dimension projectors. In contrast, to achieve a dimmer effect, movable mechanical shutters are used located in front of the light beam in such a manner as to be able to partially or completely intercept their light flow.
A drawback of such shutters is that they are unable to completely intercept the light beam for a lengthy period. This is due to the considerable heat which develops on the shutter surface, so deforming it and making the shutter unusable.
An object of the invention is to overcome said drawbacks within the framework of a rational and economical solution.
The invention attains this and further objects by providing an electronic system for controlling the power fed to short arc lamps able to generate and control light effects such as a dimmer effect and a stroboscopic effect.
The electronic control system of the invention is able to control the instantaneous power transmitted to the lamp and to vary it with such a frequency as to achieve a stroboscopic effect at the ideal frequency perceivable by the human eye, or to achieve a dimmer effect.
More specifically, said system comprises an electronic power unit of switching type controlled by a feedback system which causes it to deliver power on the basis of a reference value which can oscillate between zero and the maximum allowable lamp power. Said reference value can be set by the operator or be generated by a suitable pulse generator.


A test piece attachment apparatus includes a test piece magazine having an inner space storing a plurality of specimen component test pieces aligned in a predetermined direction and a feed outlet via which the specimen component test pieces can be successively extruded, a magazine holder exchangeably holding the test piece magazine, a torsion spring generating a bias force to press the specimen component test pieces aligned in the test piece magazine toward the feed outlet, and a cylindrical casing. The cylindrical casing includes a recessed groove that allows the magazine holder to move in its axial direction and an extrusion projection disposed at a position where the extrusion projection can push one specimen component test piece positioned at the feed outlet and can extrude the specimen component test piece out of the test piece magazine in accordance with a movement of the magazine holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a test piece magazine, a magazine holder, and a test piece attachment apparatus. Particularly, the present invention relates to a test piece magazine that stores a plurality of specimen component test pieces, a magazine holder that exchangeably holds a test piece magazine, and a test piece attachment apparatus operable to send and attach a specimen component test piece to a portable specimen analyzer that has a distal end portion configured into a test piece holding portion capable of holding a specimen component test piece.
2. Description of the Related Art
Coloring agent test pieces are conventionally used to simply analyze various components contained in human and/or animal body fluids (blood, sweat, urine, etc), or components contained in a variety of water sources (drinking water, contaminated water, etc). Litmus paper, as a representative coloring agent test piece, may have a sticklike (paper board) base and a test patch attached on one end of the base. When a user pours a liquid-state specimen on the test patch, a reagent contained in the test patch changes color. Thus, a user can analyze a component contained in the specimen based on the color change.
For example, as a method for checking a blood sugar value using a non-invasive blood vessel, a urine component test piece can be used to measure a urine sugar value. The urine component test piece also has a sticklike (paper board) base with a test patch attached on one end thereof. When the test patch is exposed to urine, a reagent in the test patch changes color according to the sugar (glucose) content in the urine. In general, a relationship between the tone of coloring and a urine sugar value can be defined using a standard color tone table which determines a color tone mark, such as −, ±, (+), +, ++, +++, according to the tone of coloring. For example, if the color tone mark is ±, the urine sugar value is at a level of 50 mg/deciliter. As described above, the urine component test piece is suitable for simple measurement of a urine sugar value and enables a user to check their own blood sugar value.
However, the reaction of a specimen component test piece (i.e., a coloring agent test piece) is a chemical reaction which is significantly effected by elapsed time and color tone conditions of a specimen (urine, drainage, etc). Hence, as discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,738,357, the applicant of this invention has proposed a portable specimen analyzer including a specimen gathering bath, a specimen detector, a timer that measures elapsed time in the specimen detection, and a sensing portion that detects a change of color.
Furthermore, if an optical sensor is used to detect a reaction of a specimen component test piece, external light may have an adverse effect on the measurement results. Hence, as discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,684,458, the applicant of this invention has proposed a coloring agent test piece possessing light-shielding properties, according to which at least one surface of a sticklike base is a black surface and a test patch is attached on this base.
According to the above-described portable specimen analyzer discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,738,357, the specimen gathering bath enables a specimen component test piece to reliably absorb a liquid-state specimen and the timer can perform a time management of a coloring reaction. Thus, the analysis can obtain a reproducible result. Furthermore, the sensing portion can objectively determine a specimen component without relying on a user's individual judgment. Moreover, the coloring agent test piece discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,684,458, i.e., a specimen characteristic test piece, can suppress or eliminate adverse effects of external light.
In view of usability, the portable specimen analyzer discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,738,357 can be further improved to enable a user to easily attach a specimen characteristic test piece to the analyzer. Furthermore, in view of performance, it is preferable that a specimen component test piece having light-shielding properties (i.e., the test piece discussed in Japanese Patent No. 3,684,458) can be easily attached.

Test piece magazine, magazine holder, and test piece attachment apparatus


A responder for electronic article surveillance apparatus is made by subjecting a plurality of magnetizable elements to heating in the presence of a magnetic field and maintaining the field at a different intensity for each element as it is cooled to provide different magnetic characteristics so that when the responder is subjected to a cyclically varying magnetic interrogation field its several elements produce spaced apart pulses in each cycle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic article surveillance and in particular it concerns novel responders and novel responder detection systems as well as novel methods for making and using same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,877, in the name of Pierre F. Buckens and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, shows and describes an electronic article surveillance system in which articles of merchandise, e.g. books, clothing, etc., are protected from theft or other unauthorized removal from a protected area by securing to the articles a responder, otherwise known as a target, and providing a target monitor at each exit from the protected area. The target comprises an elongated strip of magnetically soft, i.e. easily saturable, low coercivity material. A transmitter and a receiver are provided with antennas located at the exit from a protected area. The transmitter generates a continuous alternating magnetic field at the exit; and when an article with a target attached is carried through the exit, the target is magnetically saturated successively in opposite directions by the alternating magnetic field and thereby produces distinctive disturbances of the field. The thus disturbed field is received by the receiver which in turn produces corresponding electric signals. The receiver then processes these electric signals and selects those corresponding to the particular distinctive disturbances produced by the targets. These selected signals are then used to actuate an alarm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,291 in the names of Y. Peter Zhou et al, and also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, shows and describes a novel sensor element which is suitable for use as a responder or target in an electronic article surveillance system of the general type shown and described in the above mentioned patent to Buckens. The sensor element of the Zhou et al patent has a magnetic hysteresis characteristic having a different slope in one direction of magnetization than in the opposite direction of magnetization. Also, the slope in one direction of magnetization is very steep; and when the responder is subjected to a changing magnetic field, it produces disturbances of that field in the form of very sharp pulses.
The sensor element of the Zhou et al patent comprises a first layer of a cobalt-iron alloy containing a metalloid element such as boron and/or silicon and a second layer comprising a complex metal-metalloid compound formed from the first layer with the first and second layers being exchange coupled. As described in the patent, the sensor element is made by placing an element comprising the first layer as a substrate in a furnace containing an oxidizing atmosphere and heating the element at a temperature of 260.degree.-420.degree. for a period of two hours to eighty hours, until a film forms on the substrate. During the heating process electrical coils, such as Helmholtz coils, are energized to produce a magnetic field of about 0.3 oersteds along the length of the oxidized substrate while the substrate is isolated from all other magnetic fields, including the earth's magnetic field. This magnetic field is maintained until the furnace is cooled down.

Multiple pulse responder and detection system and method of making and using same


The present invention provides compositions comprising cationic lipids, liposomes and nucleic acid-lipid particles comprising the cationic lipids, and methods of using such compositions, liposomes, and nucleic acid-lipid particles.

An effective and safe gene delivery system is required for gene therapy to be clinically useful. Viral vectors are relatively efficient gene delivery systems, but suffer from a variety of limitations, such as the potential for reversion to the wild type as well as immune response concerns. As a result, nonviral gene delivery systems are receiving increasing attention (Worgall, et al., Human Gene Therapy 8:37-44 (1997); Peeters, et al., Human Gene Therapy 7:1693-1699 (1996); Yei, et al., Gene Therapy 1:192-200 (1994); Hope, et al., Molecular Membrane Biology 15:1-14 (1998)). Plasmid DNA-cationic liposome complexes are currently the most commonly employed nonviral gene delivery vehicles (Felgner, Scientific American 276:102-106 (1997); Chonn, et al., Current Opinion in Biotechnology 6:698-708 (1995)). However, complexes are large, poorly defined systems that are not suited for systemic applications and can elicit considerable toxic side effects (Harrison, et al., Biotechniques 19:816-823 (1995); Huang, et al., Nature Biotechnology 15:620-621 (1997); Templeton, et al., Nature Biotechnology 15:647-652 (1997); Hofland, et al., Pharmaceutical Research 14:742-749 (1997)).
Recent work has shown that plasmid DNA can be encapsulated in small (˜70 nm diameter) "stabilized plasmid-lipid particles" (SPLP) that consist of a single plasmid encapsulated within a bilayer lipid vesicle (Wheeler, et al., Gene Therapy 6:271-281 (1999)). These SPLPs typically contain the "fusogenic" lipid dioleoylphosphatidyl-ethanolamine (DOPE), low levels of cationic lipid, and are stabilized in aqueous media by the presence of a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) coating. SPLP have systemic application as they exhibit extended circulation lifetimes following intravenous (i.v.) injection, accumulate preferentially at distal tumor sites due to the enhanced vascular permeability in such regions, and can mediate transgene expression at these tumor sites. The levels of transgene expression observed at the tumor site following i.v. injection of SPLP containing the luciferase marker gene are superior to the levels that can be achieved employing plasmid DNA-cationic liposome complexes (lipoplexes) or naked DNA. Still, improved levels of expression may be required for optimal therapeutic benefit in some applications (see, e.g., Monck, et al., J. Drug Targ. 7:439-452 (2000)).
Typically, both liposomes and SPLPs comprise cationic lipids. Often the cationic lipids have 2 alkyl chains, ether (oxygen) bonds, and an amine head group such as, e.g., DODAC and DODMA. Typically the alkyl chains comprise a single site of unsaturation. Unfortunately, cationic lipids with only a single site of unsaturation can lack flexibility. Liposomes or SPLP comprising these cationic lipids can lack sufficient membrane fluidity, thus impacting the efficiency of delivery of a bioactive agent to a cell or to a patient.
Lipid flexibility is important in the development of liposomal or SPLP drug delivery systems. Therefore, it is desirable to develop cationic lipids that are more flexible, thereby, increasing the membrane fluidity of the liposomes or the SPLP. The present invention addresses this and other needs.


A PCSS comprises a photoconductive semiconductor block that exhibits electrically-conductive behavior when exposed to light of a predetermined wavelength; two or more electrodes fixed to the photoconductive semiconductor block and connectable to a power supply; a resonance cavity enveloping the photoconductive semiconductor block, the resonance cavity having a reflective outer surface to trap light within the resonance cavity and the photoconductive semiconductor block, the resonance cavity having a window through the reflective outer surface to admit light of the predetermined wavelength, the resonance cavity being transmissive to light of the predetermined wavelength within the reflective outer surface; and a light source directed toward the photoconductive semiconductor block and through the window, and emitting light at the predetermined wavelength. The photoconductive semiconductor block may include Si, GaAs, GaN, AlN, SiC, and/or Ga2O3. The resonance cavity may include glass, crystal, Au, Ag, Cr, Ni, V, Pd, Pt, Ir, Rh, and/or Al.

The energy demands of an increasingly electrified world have caused a renewed interest in once dormant fields of research. Photoconductive Semiconductor switches (PCSS) are one of these fields. They theoretically offer high voltage, high current switching in sub cm3 packaging, without the shot to shot variation and bulk of current high-power DC switches such as spark gaps. PCSS are capable of power densities of 109-1010 W/cm3, with electric fields ranging from 105-106 V/cm and current densities from 104-106 A/cm2.
Most PCSS make a trade-off between voltage, current, and durability, which make them unsuitable for applications which require all three. GaN PCSS appear to offer the most potential, combining high hold-off voltages with high repetition rates and current handling capability.
PCSS are optically triggered switches capable of rise times less than 300 ps and switch frequencies ranging from Hz to MHz. The prospect of a small, high frequency, high power solid-state switch allows for a design space that complements and potentially replaces spark gaps and high-power IGBTs. The combination of high power and high-frequency makes these switches of interest to both the pulsed power community and DC/DC converter community as they allow for more space and energy-efficient high power converters and pulsed power sources.
High voltage PCSS are being actively pursued are wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as SiC, GaAs, or GaN which are made to be semi-insulating through the addition of impurities, such as vanadium, magnesium, iron, or others. These impurities then form deep acceptors sites within the material. When photons of sufficient energy impact the material, the material becomes conductive due to the excitation of electrons trapped in the deep acceptors into the conduction band. As a result, the device performs analogous to a switch, going from an insulated "off" state, to a conductive "on" state.
These PCSS operate in two separate modes known as "linear" and "nonlinear" (also known as high-gain or "lock-on"). The linear mode is so called because current is directly proportional to optical energy, i.e. each photon generates one electron-hole pair in the device. Any semiconductor will exhibit linear photoconductivity when stimulated at the correct wavelength. The downside to this linear mode is that the optical trigger energies required for switch operation reduce system efficiency and greatly increase overall system footprint. A less common mode, to date only observed in GaAs and InP, is the high-gain mode, where the device stays conductive beyond the duration of the light pulse and remains so until the electric field across the device drops below a material and light energy dependent threshold.
Varieties of PCSS and Their Pros/Cons
SiC in the linear mode has had substantial research conducted and is better understood and characterized than other PCSS materials. It also has the best thermal conductivity of the materials commonly studied (beneficial for steady-state operation and cooling) and matches well with existing laser trigger sources. When tested with an ND:Yag laser at 532 and 1064 nm, it exhibited relatively low on-state resistances of 2-3Ω and 11Ω respectively for 6H—SiC across a 400 micron gap. However, due to its lower drift velocity (and thus maximum current capability), it doesn't have the same highpower potential as GaN and SiC; GaN and SiC's dark leakage current limits its hold-off voltage compared to GaAs. Moreover, SiC is indirect bandgap, which means it does not absorb light as efficiently as a direct bandgap semiconductor would, and thus requires a larger laser source. It also lacks a high-gain mode, which means the laser trigger must scale directly with the current needed for a given application. As a result, it is not suitable for mobile or space and power constrained applications. However, due to its exceptional high-temperature performance, it is still a material of interest for some niche applications.
GaAs is another popular PCSS material because it has less issue with leakage current than GaN and SiC, as it does have a higher dielectric strength, while still having high withstand-voltage and short rise-times. Additionally, because it is a direct bandgap semiconductor, it is far more efficient at absorbing light near bandgap than Si or SiC, which obviates optical energy requirements. It is also one of only two materials that have displayed a high-gain, nonlinear "lock-on" mode of operation. However, GaAs was found to have a very limited lifespan at high powers due to its lack of durability, and thus isn't suited for long-service or high repetition rate applications (lasting less than 350 shots at 14.3 kV/cm and 400 A). There are methods to improve lifespan by creating more current carrying filaments, i.e. filamentation, and thus distributing the load, but these substantially increase optical energy requirements as well as delivery mechanism complexity.
Additionally, GaAs has a low optical damage threshold, making it unsuitable for ultrashort pulse systems, as the peak intensities of the laser are high enough to damage the substrate.
"Lock-on" in GaAs was first observed in 1987 by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories. This new phenomenon allowed for switching much higher currents at much lower optical input energies than the linear mode. The lock-on (so-called because the device stays switched into an "on" state after the laser pulse turns off) is characterized by a small linear response to the laser pulse, followed shortly thereafter (anywhere from 350 ps to 100 ns depending on the switch/optical trigger setup) by a large nonlinear pulse of current that lasts until the voltage across the device drops beneath the lock-on threshold. This high-gain mode is also notable for the formation of filamentary current channels across the device. The discoverers of this mode state believed that current filaments were fundamental to high-gain PCSS, and they never observed high-gain without current filaments. This observation will be of import later, as evidence of filamentation will be one of the criteria for the existence of a high-gain mode in GaN.
In this nonlinear mode, each photon generates more than one, often as many as 105 electron-hole pairs, enabling tremendous current carrying capability with minimal optical input energy. However, this mode is due to bulk avalanche generation and the switch cannot be turned off until the electric field decreases below the "lock-on" threshold for a given material. While undesirable from a continuous use standpoint, this behavior is perfectly suited for pulsed applications, where large amounts of power need to be delivered in exceptionally short periods of time, and repetition rates are in the kHz at most, but higher rates are desired. The greatest benefit of this mode is the reduced optical energy required to deliver a given current. The reduction in optical energy (from mJ to nJ) greatly aids these devices from a systemic standpoint, as one of their primary drawbacks (the bulk of the laser needed to switch the device) is reduced.
This "lock-on" allows these devices to conduct large amounts of current (multiple kA) through small (0.5 cm gap) devices at 100+kV with only nJ of laser energy needed to trigger them. Unfortunately, GaAs does not exhibit good durability due to low damage thresholds both electrically and optically. At these power levels, control and design of the incoming optical trigger-such as with line emitting lasers or optical beam splitters—is necessary to achieve high currents without damaging the device. As such, GaAs in the nonlinear mode is not commercially viable or suitable for continuous operation now and may not be for years to come.
GaN has a higher photoconductive gain than other materials and has a higher volumetric heat capacity, which for high intensity pulsed power applications is critical from a system size and cooling perspective. In addition, GaN is optically triggered and exhibits low resistivity at 532 nm, a low-cost and widely commercially available laser wavelength. These aspects make it attractive for size, weight, and power (SWaP) constrained fields such as air or space-based platforms. However, to achieve low on-resistance, the optical trigger needs to be relatively high in intensity, at least partially due to the choice to operate sub-bandgap.
While GaN is attractive for pulsed power due to the superiority of its physical properties relative to GaAs and SiC, it is immature technically. Conventional GaN devices have suffered from poor performance and low yield rates due to difficulty growing and processing the bulk material. Additionally, current generation GaN PCSS devices do not exceed 250 kV/cm hold-off voltages, far short of theoretical limits, which should be greater than 2 MV/cm based on the physical properties of GaN. Recent work has been done in the field of linear PCSS devices showing that a novel PCSS architecture resolves the issue of voltage hold-off. Insulated gate PCSS, in which a traditional MISFET is used in series with the PCSS, utilizes a traditional transistor to keep the switch "off". However, by using the PCSS in series with a traditional transistor, switching frequency and current carrying capability is limited to that of the traditional device. Additionally, to date, GaN has not been shown to possess a nonlinear mode like that of GaAs or InP.

Photoconductive semiconductor switch assembly utilizing a resonant cavity

United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


A pet waste collection device includes a container with first and second boxes joined with a hinge, and a handle that may be detachably attached to the collection container. The handle includes a finger portion that is slidable in an opening through a thumb portion of the handle. The handle is oriented such that the first and second boxes become extensions of the users thumb and fingers with action mimicking a grasping action while maintaining the users hand remote from any pet waste being collected. The handle may be reusable, and a plurality of collection containers may be included as part of a kit.

The collection and disposal of pet waste has been an undesirable but necessary duty of pet owners for many years. Many pet owners and inventors have attempted to address this problem in a wide variety of ways ranging from the use of a simple scoop or bag to the relatively complex contraptions described in prior art references. But many of these devices may not be acceptable to some persons, and/or may simply not be practical. For instance, the simple use of a plastic bag to retrieve pet canine feces can present an unpleasant tactile sensation to the user, even though they are separated from the waste by the thickness of the plastic bag. This unpleasant tactile sensation can render the plastic bag unacceptable for use by many pet owners. In other instances, a variety of pet waste collecting devices are either too complex to be practical, or may include long handles and the like rendering them less than portable for everyday usage.
The present disclosure is directed to solve one or more of the problems set forth above.

Pet waste collection kit, device and method


An apparatus for obtaining information from a film includes a CCD line sensor for dividing a photographic film into a multiplicity of portions to meter portions in a predetermined range, including the image recording range on the photographic film, to sequentially output photometric data; an optical film for reducing a light beam made incident on the CCD line sensor from a region in the predetermined range and outside the image recording range on the photographic film; photometric condition adjusting component for adjusting the photometric condition of the CCD line sensor such that it corresponds to the quantity of a light beam made incident on the CCD line sensor from the image recording range; sampling circuits for extracting, from photometric data output from the CCD line sensor, photometric data of a portion on the photographic film in which a predetermined optical characteristic corresponding to information, which must be detected or obtained from the photographic film, exists by a film edge detecting sampling circuit, film movement detecting sampling circuit, a DX code detecting sampling circuit, a frame position detecting sampling circuit, a frame size detecting sampling circuit and an exposure controlling image data sampling circuit and memories arranged to store photometric data extracted by the sampling circuits and connected to each sampling circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film information obtaining apparatus, and more particularly to a film information obtaining apparatus having a photometric unit for metering a predetermined range larger than an image recordable region of a photographic film to detect and obtain various information items from the photographic film.
2. Description of Related Art
A film printer for exposing images recorded on a photographic film, such as a negative film, to a light-sensitive material, such as photographic paper, must detect information including the type of the photographic film, the size of the image frame (for example, the conventional size (having an aspect ratio of 2:3)/panorama size/high-vision size) and so on, the quantity of characteristic of the image (for example, the density and color tone) which must be exposed, so as to determine an exposing condition of the image. When the image is exposed, the image must be brought to a predetermined exposing position. To bring the image to the exposing position, a movement state of the photographic film and the like must be detected. In addition, the position of an image recorded on the photographic film must be detected.
Also an image processing apparatus for reading an image recorded on a photographic film by a scanner to record the thus obtained image onto a recording medium or to display the image on a display unit must detect various information items from the photographic film. Accordingly, a structure has generally been employed in which photosensors corresponding to various information items to be obtained, or to be detected are provided to detect the various information items in accordance with the data outputted from each of the photosensors.
That is, for example, a DX code is read by a DX code detecting sensor, the contents of the DX code are determined in accordance with the data outputted from the foregoing sensor so as to detect the type of the film, the light transmissivity of a region in which the edge of the image frame exists is detected by a frame detecting sensor, and the position of the image frame and the size of the frame are detected in accordance with the data outputted from the sensor. Moreover, the photographic film is moved in such a manner that the image frame is brought to the exposing position, and the mask and the exposure factor are controlled. In addition, the image brought to the exposing position is metered by a photometric sensor, the exposing condition is determined in accordance with the image data obtained by the photometric operation and the image frame brought to the exposing position is printed to a photographic paper.
However, the fact that the above-mentioned structure requires a multiplicity of photosensors has a problem in that the cost of the apparatus cannot be reduced.
Another structure is known in which one of sensors is commonly used, the data outputted from the common sensor is temporarily sorted in a common memory and information which is included in various information items to be detected and which has been obtained from the common sensor is subjected to an analysis, so that the corresponding data only is selectively extracted from the data stored in the common memory to detect it.
For example, a DX code detecting sensor and a frame detecting sensor are formed into a common sensor and a line sensor for dividing one line into tens of pixels to meter one line is provided so that the data outputted from the line sensor is stored in the common memory. Only the data corresponding to the region, in which the DX code on the photographic film has been recorded, is extracted from the common memory, and the contents of the extracted data are analyzed so that the type of the film is detected. Then, only the data corresponding to the region, in which the edge of the image frame of the photographic film exists, is extracted from the common memory to analyze the contents of the extracted data so that the position of the image frame and the size of the frame are detected.
However, the foregoing structure has a problem in that all data items outputted from the common sensor are stored in the common memory and the data stored in the common memory includes a large quantity of data which is not required to detect each information. That is, the process of selectively extracting only the data corresponding to information, which must be detected, from the common memory (in other words, a process for determining the address of a region, in which the data corresponding to information which must be detected is stored, and extracting the data stored in the region having the determined address) becomes too complicated. Thus, there arises a problem in that excessively long time is required to a complete detection of all of various information items which must be detected.
In view of the foregoing problem of the large cost, it might be considered feasible to employ a structure in which a single photosensor (for example, a line sensor or an area sensor) having a multiplicity of light receiving elements divides substantially the overall surface of the photographic film including spaces outside the image recording regions into a plurality of pixels for metering the same, and detecting the above-mentioned various information items in response to the signals outputted from the photosensor.
Since the photographic film has perforations formed on the two sides in the widthwise direction thereof (and sometimes cut portions, such as notches), an incidental light beam allowed to pass through the perforation or the notch has a largest light quantity among light beams made incident from various positions of the photographic film. Therefore, the photometric condition of the photosensor must be adjusted to prevent saturation of the output from the photosensor and the output from a signal processing circuit disposed next to the photosensor even if the light beam allowed to pass through the perforation or the like is made incidenton thephotosensor. However, the quantity of the light beam allowed to pass through the image recording region of the photographic film is smaller than the above-mentioned maximum quantity of light for at least a quantity corresponding to the base density of the photographic film. Therefore, the above-mentioned adjustment of the photometric condition raises a problem in that the dynamic range permitted for the photometric process with respect to the image is reduced (the ratio of the highest level of a photometric signal and the lowest level of the same is lowered).
A structure of a scanner provided for the above-mentioned image processing apparatus or the like for the purpose of accurately reading an image recorded on a photographic film has been known, in which the photometric condition (for example, charge storage period of the image photometric sensor and the quantity of stop which is adjusted by a stop provided on the light incidental side of the photosensor) is changed depending on whether the photographic film is a negative film or a positive film, so as to adjust the dynamic range for the photometric process with respect to the image on the film for each of the photographic films such tat the dynamic range becomes maximum. However, even a scanner of this type also requires photosensors exclusively for detecting information other than information of the image itself apart from the foregoing photometric sensor.
A technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 63-189850, in which the dynamic range is changed between an operation for reading an image on a photographic film and an operation for detecting the edge of the image. However, the above-mentioned technique has not contrivance for detecting information also from a region of the photographic film in which a perforation or notch is formed by using a photometric sensor for metering an image.


Disclosed are a method for transmitting a power headroom report (PHR) and a terminal apparatus for same. The method for transmitting a PHR from a terminal in a network, which includes a base station and at least one cooperative node performing cooperative communication with the base station, includes a step of determining a sounding reference symbol (SRS) transmission power for transmitting SRSs in a specific serving cell, wherein the determined SRS transmission power is a value determined for the transmission of the SRSs to a plurality of nodes including a first node corresponding to the base station and the at least one cooperative node.

As an example of a mobile communication system to which the present invention is applicable, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system will be schematically described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network structure of an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (E-UMTS) as a mobile communication system.
The E-UMTS is an evolved form of the UMTS and has been standardized in the 3GPP. Generally, the E-UMTS may be called a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. For details of the technical specifications of the UMTS and E-UMTS, refer to Release 7 and Release 8 of "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network".
Referring to FIG. 1, the E-UMTS mainly includes a User Equipment (UE), base stations (BSs) (or eNBs or eNode Bs), and an Access Gateway (AG) which is located at an end of a network (E-UTRAN) and which is connected to an external network. Generally, a BS can simultaneously transmit multiple data streams for a broadcast service, a multicast service and/or a unicast service.
One or more cells may exist per BS. The cell is set to use a bandwidth such as 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz to provide a downlink or uplink transmission service to several UEs. Different cells may be set to provide different bandwidths. The BS controls data transmission or reception of a plurality of UEs. The BS transmits downlink (DL) scheduling information of DL data so as to inform a corresponding UE of time/frequency domain in which data is transmitted, coding, data size, and Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQest (HARQ)-related information. In addition, the BS transmits uplink (UL) scheduling information of UL data to a corresponding UE so as to inform the UE of a time/frequency domain which may be used by the UE, coding, data size and HARQ-related information. An interface for transmitting user traffic or control traffic can be used between BSs. A Core Network (CN) may include the AG and a network node or the like for user registration of the UE. The AG manages mobility of a UE on a Tracking Area (TA) basis. One TA includes a plurality of cells.
Although wireless communication technology has been developed up to Long Term Evolution (LTE) based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), the demands and the expectations of users and providers continue to increase. In addition, since other radio access technologies have been continuously developed, new technology evolution is required to secure high competitiveness in the future. Decrease in cost per bit, increase in service availability, flexible use of a frequency band, simple structure, open interface, suitable User Equipment (UE) power consumption and the like are required.
Recently, the standardization of the subsequent technology of the LTE is ongoing in the 3GPP. In the present specification, the above-described technology is called "LTE-A". The LTE system and the LTE-A system are different from each other in terms of system bandwidth and introduction of a relay.
The LTE-A system aims to support a wideband of a maximum of 100 MHz. The LTE-A system uses carrier aggregation or bandwidth aggregation technology which achieves the wideband using a plurality of frequency blocks.
The carrier aggregation enables the plurality of frequency blocks to be used as one large logical frequency band in order to use a wider frequency band. The bandwidth of each of the frequency blocks may be defined based on the bandwidth of a system block used in the LTE system. Each frequency block is transmitted using a component carrier
In an LTE-A system, as a UE can perform communication with a BS or cooperative nodes for cooperatively performing communication with the BS, there is a need for a new method for determining transmit power of a sounding reference signal (SRS) at the UE in a network of such an environment. A method for determining transmit power of an SRS in such a network and a method for transmitting power headroom report (PHR) for an SRS have not yet been provided. Therefore, transmit power of the UE has been inefficiently controlled.

Method for transmitting power headroom report, and apparatus for same


The present invention allows an image to be coded within a target size without necessitating the image to be input again during the coding of the image, with a mode reflecting a user's intention for coding. To solve this problem, input image data is coded at coding unit 102 and stored into first and second memories, respectively. Coding sequence unit 108 monitors the quantity of codes. When a set value is determined to be reached, coding sequence unit 108 makes data in first memory to be discarded and directs coding means to further increase a quantization step, and continues coding. As previous coded data is stored in second memory, the data is re-coded with the same quantization step as that of coding unit 102 after changing of a parameter at re-coding unit 109, and the re-coded data is stored into first and second memory. At this moment, coding unit 102 and re-coding unit 109 perform an operation and coding on quantization error according to a mode of quantization operation designated at mode designation unit 125.

JPEG method using a discrete cosine transform and another method using Wavelet transformation have been frequently adopted as a compressing method for a still image. As these types of coding method are variable-length coding method, quantity of codes varies for each image to be coded.
In JPEG method of an international standardized method, only a single set of quantization matrices can be defined for an image, thus, quantity of codes cannot be adjusted without a pre-scan. Therefore, a memory may be overflowed when the method is used in a system with limited memory.
To prevent this overflow, enough memory should be reserved, though image to be input can be not the same in size. Therefore, memory, which can be adapted to the largest possible size of images to be input, has to be reserved in the conventional art.
However, in a device that reserves memory matching an image of the largest size, a smaller size of image is meant to be input in that reserved memory, which is far from effective use of memory.
There is an idea to reserve memory matching an image of the medium size. In this case, code data obtained from a coding process overflows the memory.
As a solution to this problem, there have been methods for rereading an original copy with another compression ratio when an actual quantity of codes exceeds an expected quantity of codes, or for resetting a quantization parameter for adjusting quantity of codes by previously estimating quantity of codes with pre-scanning.
As a method for controlling quantity of codes with pre-scanning, there has been a method for inputting pre-compressed data in an inner buffer memory, expanding this piece of data, altering a compression parameter, performing a main compression, and outputting the compressed data to an external memory. In this case, the main compression should be higher in compression ratio than the pre-compression.
However, a compression buffer with a compression ratio more than a target compression ratio has been needed for a compression buffer. This necessitates an enough capacity for recording a piece of original data in order to prevent an overflow of a buffer that is used in the middle of the procedure.
Moreover, a method of repeating a coding process has had another problem that consecutive processing does not speed up because processes for decoding and recompressing are performed for all pieces of compressed data.

Image processing apparatus and method, computer program, and storage medium


A design verification system includes a first verification engine to model the operation of a first design of an integrated circuit to obtain verification results including the model's adherence to a property during N time steps of its operation, proofs that one or more verification targets can be reached, and verification coverage results for targets that are not reached. A correspondence engine determines the functional correspondence between the first design and a second design of the integrated circuit. Functional correspondence, if demonstrated, enables reuse of the first engine's verification results to reduce resources expended during subsequent analysis of the second design. The correspondence determination may be simplified using a composite model of the integrated circuit having “implies” logic in lieu of “EXOR” logic. The implies logic indicates conditions in which a node in the second design achieves a state that is contrary to the verification results for the first design.

1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates to the field of integrated circuit design and more particularly to the field of integrated circuit design verification systems.
2. History of Related Art
As the complexity of microprocessors and other large scale integrated circuits has increased over the years, the resources devoted to design verification have accounted for an increasingly large percentage of the total resources required to develop and manufacture such a device. Indeed, verifying the proper furtherality of advanced microprocessors having multiprocessing capability is now estimated to consume more time, labor, and other resources than the actual designing of the device.
Historically, functional verification consisted primarily of generating large numbers of test programs or test cases and running those test programs on a simulator that modeled the device operation. Designers and verification engineers frequently developed such test cases manually with the help of various random and specific test generators. As the number of transistors, furthers, registers, and other facilities in the integrated circuit has increased, conventional verification methods have responded by simply increasing the number of tests that are simulated. Unfortunately, generating a seemingly infinite number of tests is an inefficient and unreliable method of verifying the functionality of all components in a complex circuit.
In the early days of microprocessor development, inefficiencies in functional verification systems were tolerated because the size of the test space (measured, for example, by the number of states the microprocessor may assume) was sufficiently small. In addition, early microprocessors typically had fewer functional units than modern microprocessors, and the interactions between the components and functions were well understood and controlled. The increasing number of functional units in microprocessors is significant from a verification perspective because interaction between functional units can no longer be ignored or only loosely verified by conventional verification methodologies.
The diverse applications in which modern integrated circuits are employed makes it impossible to predict and plan for the type of software applications that will run on them and thus the state and interdependence that will be exercised in the field are rather large and generally non-deterministic. Roughly speaking, the test space of a microprocessor is approximately equal to 2n where n represents the number of latches (state storage devices) within the microprocessor. From this approximation, it will be appreciated that the test space of microprocessors increases exponentially as the number of latches is increased.
The conventional approach to functional verification, in which increased complexity in a device is verified by simply increasing the number of tests that are simulated, is rapidly becoming infeasible. In addition, because the input to a simulator in a conventional verification process is simply a large number of deterministic tests or randomly generated tests, the output of the simulation must be painstakingly evaluated to determine whether a particular simulation was successful in testing the intended functionality of the device.
Adding to the cost and time required to perform functional verification are the inevitable design modifications that are made during the design process. The design of a complex integrated circuit typically evolves many times during its development as new functionality is entered, as design flaws are rectified, as synthesis optimizations are performed on the design to meet timing/size constraints, and as pervasive functions such as test logic are added. Regardless of how small a change is, it is typically necessary to perform the verification process anew every time the design changes unless the change is demonstrated to be extremely trivial. The time required to re-verify a design is particularly limiting when the design change necessitating the re-verification occurs near the end of the design phase (i.e., close to "tape out", "first silicon", or any other significant step in the completion of the design).
It would therefore be desirable to implement a test verification system that addressed the design verification noted above.

Incremental, assertion-based design verification


A positioning and tracking system may comprise a monitoring station for receiving a location request and a user's identification code and transmitting a signal; a tracking device, which includes a signal receiver for receiving a signal from the monitoring station, including the user's identification code, a microprocessor/logic circuit for storing a first identification code, and generating a position signal; an erasable programmable read-only memory; a global positioning system logic circuit; a signal transmitter; and a plurality of transmitter/receiver stations for communicating between the tracking device and the monitoring station; wherein the tracking device compares the user's identification code to the stored identification code and upon determining that the user's identification code matches the stored identification code, the signal transmitter transmits the position signal to the monitoring station.

The present invention relates generally to location systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for locating individuals and objects with a tracking unit using location technologies including a global positioning system (GPS) and a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for pinpointing the location of the tracking unit, and thus the individual or the object.
A need exists for determining the location of individuals that are believed to be abducted or lost (such as children, Alzheimer's syndrome patients, or mentally ill persons) or if a parent, guardian or property owner simply desired to verify the location of their child or property as an added measure of security and to achieve a certain level of peace of mind of knowing that the child or object is in its proper place.
Domesticated animals, including pets, may be tracked with conventional systems. Interested persons, such as zoologists, may track wild animals to study animal behavior and for collecting data.
Objects may also be located and tracked with conventional systems. For example, merchants may choose to track the location of goods and merchandise to guard against theft. Automobile owners often use location systems to facilitate recovery of stolen automobiles, such as the Lojack™ vehicle recovery system offered by the LoJack Corporation of Westwood, Mass., in the United States. Automobile owners, such as rental agencies, often track the location of automobiles rented by customers to ensure that the automobile is not removed to a location outside of a contracted boundary for rental use. Other location systems facilitate navigation when traveling, such as the OnStar™ system offered by the OnStar Corporation of Detroit, Mich., in the United States.
GPS technology is often incorporated in conventional location systems. Such technology, however, is generally limited to outdoor, line-of-sight uses. Consequently, finding the location of an individual or an object is difficult, or impossible for an indoor location or a location that is obstructed by a large structure (such as a tall building, a bridge, a dam, and the like) or geographical features (such as a mountain, a hill, a valley, a canyon, a cliff, and the like).
It would thus be advantageous to provide a system and a method for locating and tracking an individual or an object that may be located indoors or at a site that is outside the line-of-sight.

System for locating individuals and objects