A fly tying film constructed by the lamination, coloring, and stretching of sheets of low-density polyethylene plastic stretch wrap film. Layers of the stretch wrap film are pressed together either, with or without paint sprayed between them. The combined layers are then stretched just short of the failure point. This stretching work-hardens the fly tying film and eliminates the resilient characteristics of the unprocessed stretch wrap. Pieces of the fly tying film are secured to a fishing hook in combination with other materials to build an artificial fishing fly for use in the sport angling pursuit of game fish. Pieces of the fly tying film can be pre-cut to the required shape or it may be formed and trimmed to the desired appearance as part of the fly tying process.

Artificial lures for use with conventional fly casting tackle in the sporting pursuit of game fish have been ties for centuries. Prior to World War II, almost all of the construction materials, with the exception of the hook, were of natural origin such as deer hair, rabbit fur, duck feathers, silk thread, etc.
Synthetic materials have been desirable to use from the standpoint of cost and supply availability. A major problem with synthetic materials has been its lack of ability to mimic the delicate textures and colorings of the natural foods of game fish. This invention is directed to a plastic film, and method of making it, which can be used to construct many different parts of a wide variety of fish fly patterns. It is also designed to be durable in use and practical and efficient to incorporate into the manufacture of fishing flies.
The present invention is found to be particularly useful for the manufacture of artificial flies. It may, however, also be used on lures which may not specifically represent flies.


An image processing device includes: an abnormality candidate region detection unit configured to detect, from an intraluminal image obtained by imaging a living body lumen, an abnormality candidate region in which a tissue characteristic of the living body or an in-vivo state satisfies a predetermined condition; a feature data calculation unit configured to calculate, from each of a plurality of regions inside the intraluminal image, a plurality of pieces of feature data including different kinds; an integrated feature data calculation unit configured to calculate integrated feature data by integrating the plurality of pieces of feature data based on information of the abnormality candidate region; and a detection unit configured to detect an abnormality from the intraluminal image by using the integrated feature data.

The present disclosure relates to an image processing device, an image processing method, and a computer-readable recording medium.
In the related art, disclosed is a method (bag of features: BoF) of calculating a plurality of pieces of local feature data from an image and performing highly accurate identification by using integrated feature data obtained by integrating the respective local feature data (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 8,233,711 B and Non-Patent Literature 1, for example). A procedure of this processing is as follows.
Step 1: Calculate local feature data from an image.
Step 2: Divide the image into rectangular regions of multiple sizes to create a pyramid image.
Step 3: Calculate a distance between local feature data in each rectangular region and a representative vector group prepared in advance in a local feature space, find a representative vector located closest, and calculate a frequency distribution (integrated feature data) thereof.
Step 4: Determine normality or abnormality by comparing the frequency distribution calculated for each of the rectangular regions with normal and abnormal frequency distributions prepared in advance.

Image processing device, image processing method, and computer-readable recording medium for detecting abnormality from intraluminal image using integrated feature data


A fleet management system for managing a plurality of vehicles is provided. The system includes means for receiving data related to a deposit of a personally owned vehicle from an owner of the vehicle, the deposit being of a predetermined duration, means for receiving a travel request from a traveler other than the owner, and means for assigning the personally owned vehicle for use by the traveler during the predetermined duration based on the travel request.

As emissions from vehicles have become a significant concern in recent years, regulatory bodies have been implementing stricter policies related to use of vehicles in and around populous areas, as well as areas not as populated. For example, jurisdictions have implemented charges for vehicles present within certain "zones" of a city, these charges being based on emissions levels of the vehicles circulating therein (e.g., CO2, NOx, particulate, etc.) The greater the emissions levels, the higher the charge for a vehicle present within the zone. Likewise, vehicles emitting the lowest levels of pollutants can be subject to reduced charges or even exempted from paying any charges at all.
In order to improve the environment and to address such policies, new technologies are being continuously developed to reduce vehicle emissions. However, such technology can be costly to develop and implement on a large scale, and this cost is ultimately transferred to a purchaser or lessee of a vehicle in the form of elevated costs and less favorable leasing terms to obtain vehicles having the newly developed technology. This elevated cost can ultimately discourage many consumers from obtaining vehicles having newer technologies that have the capability to improve the environment by way of reduced vehicle emissions.
In addition to emissions concerns, the overabundance of vehicles in and around populous areas can result in congestion of motorways, parking problems, and general unpleasantness for residents of the populous areas, among others. Therefore, regulatory bodies have also implemented policies to attempt to limit the number of vehicles in and around the populous areas. For example, allocated parking spots for a new construction building may be limited to one vehicle spot for every four occupants of the building. Alternatively, or in addition, jurisdictions may charge a fee for each car present within the jurisdiction each day.
For corporations having a need for fleet vehicles to enable their employees to travel for business related tasks, such charges can be exponentially large. Further, where regulations, corporate responsibility, or other factors require corporate fleets to meet certain emissions standards, the corporation may be forced to invest heavily to replace its existing fleet of corporate vehicles to reduce emissions and charges associated with its fleet.
JP 2009-217759 describes a system in which a vehicle is used for both business and personal travel. During operation of the vehicle for business purposes, a selecting means is operated to place the vehicle in business mode for purposes of recording the business travel. Likewise, the selecting means is operated to place the vehicle in personal mode for purposes of recording personal travel.
US 2011/0301997 describes a system wherein trip plans for a plurality of employees are logged and compared to determine where rides may be shared among the plurality of employees. Business travel is then coordinated such that redundancy in trips along similar corridors and destinations may be eliminated using either a corporate or personal vehicle. This document teaches that financial incentives are to be avoided and softer incentives should be provided to encourage participation.
In view of the above there remains a need to reduce a company's total emissions footprint associated with a corporate fleet. In addition, there remains a need to reduce the number of vehicles owned directly by the corporation and to reduce the number of vehicles continuously located within the limits of populous corporate areas.
It is accordingly a primary object of the disclosure to provide systems and methods for overcoming one or more of the above-stated problems.

Systems and methods for managing a vehicle fleet


This invention pertains to aqueous emulsions containing water insoluble, vinyl polymer particles containing polymerized N-vinyl formamide (NVF) units converted to water insoluble vinyl acetate polymers containing cationic, amine functional units. These latex dispersions are prepared by the emulsion polymerization of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer and N-vinyl formamide. Preferably, vinyl acetate, optionally with other ethylenically unsaturated monomers, are used to form the copolymer. The copolymer then is selectively hydrolyzed via acid hydrolysis of the N-vinyl formamide group to form water insoluble polymer particles.

Amine functional and cationic latex polymers have been the subject of a significant amount of research because of the anticipated advantages of these materials in several important application areas. Such polymers may well be suited for use as flocculation and paper additives, coatings and adhesives, etc. Only a few methods of incorporating reactive amine functionality into aqueous latex polymer compositions have been developed. The methods usually require specialized compositions and processes. The following patents describe various procedures for obtaining polymer compositions containing amine and amine/ester functionality.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,809 describes aqueous polymer emulsion compositions formed by the emulsion polymerization of unsaturated monomers stabilized with an amine functional water soluble polymer based on N-ethenyl formamide. The water soluble amine containing polymer is formed by the polymerization of vinyl acetate and N-vinyl formamide and the subsequent hydrolysis thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,762 discloses aqueous self crosslinkable coating compositions based upon polymers formed by the polymerization of a vinyl monomer having carbonyl functional groups and amine precursor groups. Typically, the amine precursor groups are carboxyl, oxazoline or ketimine groups. Examples of carboxyl containing monomers include acrylic and methacrylic acid; maleic acid; oxazolines include 2-isopropenyl oxazoline; ethylenically unsaturated ketimines are derived by the reaction of a ketone with an amine followed by the reaction with an ethylenic derivative. The oxazolines and ketimines may be converted to amines via hydrolysis. The polymer may be prepared by emulsion polymerization.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,748 discloses crosslinkable amine functional polymers which are prepared by the solution copolymerization of an aromatic sulfonate monomer with an amide containing monomer in water. The amide is then transformed to the amine based on the reaction with a strong base and hypochlorite, known as the "Hofmann reaction." Polymers prepared according to this process can then be crosslinked by reaction with an aldehyde such as glutaraldehyde or formaldehyde.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,341 describes the beneficial properties which can be imparted to paper through the use of a primary amine functional water soluble polymer, optionally in conjunction with a modified starch polymer. The polymers are formed by polymerizing N-vinyl formamide alone or in conjunction with other monomers in amounts of up to about 25% by weight as solutions or water-in-oil emulsions followed by hydrolyzing N-vinyl formamide units. Hydrolysis is effected by contacting the polymer with an acid (mineral or organic) followed by neutralization with free base.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,977 discloses the preparation of vinylamine copolymers and their use as flocculating agents, paper additives, etc.. The polymers are prepared by polymerizing N-vinyl formamide using mass, solution or precipitation polymerization. The formamide groups are converted to amine groups by hydrolysis in acidic aqueous medium at temperatures from 40.degree. to 100.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,336 discloses vinyl amine/vinyl alcohol copolymers prepared by the hydrolysis of a vinyl carbamate/vinyl acetate copolymer. These polymers, which are suited as flocculants for the clarification of aqueous suspensions and as wet strength agents for paper when combined with epichlorohydrin, are prepared by forming an interpolymer of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer and an alkyl N-vinyl carbamate. Interpolymers of vinyl acetate and the alkyl N-vinyl carbamate are converted to vinyl amine/vinyl alcohol copolymers by dissolving the copolymer in aqueous acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,548 discloses copolymers of ethylene and vinyl amine for use as flocculants for water clarification. The polymers are formed by polymerizing ethylene and N-vinyl acetamide in an alcohol medium. The resulting copolymer is then hydrolyzed by contacting the copolymer with a molar excess of aqueous mineral acid at temperatures of 75.degree. C. and above.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,111 discloses the preparation of amine functional polymers containing acetal groups prepared by the hydrolysis of an N-vinyl formamide/vinyl acetate copolymer. Hydrolysis is effected by acid or base catalysis in methanol and water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,621 discloses hydrolyzed copolymers of N-vinyl amide and acrylamide for use as water loss control additives and drilling muds. The copolymers are formed by polymerizing an N-vinyl amide, e.g., N-vinyl acetamide or N-vinyl formamide with acrylamide via inverse emulsion polymerization followed by hydrolysis of the copolymer in water at elevated temperatures ranging from 60.degree. to 80.degree. C. Either acid or base hydrolysis can be utilized.

Aqueous emulsion materials containing copolymerized vinyl amide monomers and hydrolysis products thereof


One embodiment of the laser processing apparatus is for surface treatment by supplying liquid to a surface of the target member and irradiating pulsed laser light to the surface of the target member via the liquid. The apparatus includes a laser oscillator and a liquid supply. The laser oscillator irradiates the laser light to the surface through the liquid via an optical window. The liquid supply is configured to supply the liquid to the surface of the target member via a flow path passing on an outer surface of the optical window. When the liquid is in contact with a laser light emission surface of the optical window, the laser light emission surface transmits the laser light. When the liquid is not in contact with the laser light emission surface, the laser light emission surface reflects the laser light.

For example, at regular inspection of an atomic power plant, an automatic instrument is placed in a reactor to get access to devices in the reactor and various maintenance methods are executed. The methods include laser peening as a technique capable of effectively preventing the occurrence of SCC (Stress Corrosion Cracking) resulting from a tensile stress remaining at a welded portion.
A principle of the laser peening will be described. Laser light having a pulse width of about several nanoseconds (ns) is condensed to a spot of a diameter of an about 1 mm by a condensing lens to be irradiated to a member to be treated (target member). As a result, a surface of the member to be treated absorbs energy to form into plasma. In the case where the periphery of the plasma is covered with liquid or paint having a transparency with respect to a wavelength of the laser light, expansion of the plasma is hindered. Consequently, internal pressure of the plasma reaches about several gigapascals (GPa) to make an impact on the member to be treated. In this event, a strong shock wave occurs and propagates in the material to cause plastic deformation and change the residual stress into a compressed state.
The laser peening less depends on a material strength and is capable of processing the member to be treated up to its inner part with a plate thickness of about 1 mm from a surface of the member to be treated, as compared with another peening technique such as a shot peening, a water-jet peening or the like. Further, the laser peening provides excellent processability at a confined portion because there is no reaction force during the processing and its processing apparatus can be easily downsized.
In the conventional laser processing apparatus used in a pipe, a processing target portion is desirably in an underwater environment, but the processing is sometimes forced to be executed in gas. For example, when a processing target is not sunk very deep in a water tank, the processing target in the gas is irradiated with laser light while being supplied with liquid such as water. However, when the supply of the liquid is stopped or its supply amount reduces due to some trouble, there is a possibility that the laser light that has propagated in the gas is irradiated to the processing target. When the laser light propagates in the gas, a focal length changes as compared with the case where it propagates in water. In this case, there is a possibility that the laser light is converged to be irradiated to the processing target. Since the focused laser light has a high energy density, there is a possibility that the laser light damages the processing target portion in the worst case.

Laser processing apparatus and laser processing method


A rotational position detecting apparatus detects the rotational position of a rotating object and compensates for an eccentricity of the rotating object. First and second sensors generate first and second detection signals having phases offset relative to each other. An error signal denoting the eccentricity of the rotating object is generated in accordance with a fluctuation of an amplitude signal corresponding to a difference between amplitudes of the first and second detection signals. The error signal is added to a position signal to obtain a eccentricity compensated rotational position detection signal.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting a rotational position, and more particularly, to an apparatus for detecting the position of rotation of an object by correcting errors caused by eccentricity of the object.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting a rotational position, and more particularly to an apparatus which detects the rotational position of a rotating object such as a spindle and a motor shaft in a motor which actuates the spindle or feed shafts in a machine tool and in a controller therefor.
In this controller, a feed back control is generally used so that a rotational position information on the spindle and the motor shaft is fed back to the controller. Therefore, the machining accuracy of the machine tool depends on the accuracy of the position detecting apparatus. In this connection, there is a requirement of a high accuracy positional detection.
FIG. 1 shows the structure of prior art gear-type magnetic detecting apparatus for detecting a rotational position. In the figure, two-phase AC signals V sin .theta. and V cos .theta. having phase difference of 90.degree. from each other are generated from a two-phase AC signal generating device 20, which includes a gear 1, a permanent magnet 2 and magnetic sensors 3 and 4. A signal generating device 13 includes sample-and-hold (S/H) circuits 11a and 11b and analog/digital (A/D) converters 12a and 12b, and extracts from the two-phase AC signals two-phase instantaneous signals and outputs the same. A higher-order signal generating device 14 includes comparators, a pulse counter, etc., has input thereto the two-phase AC signals, and counts the number of waves of the two-phase AC signals. A positional signal generating device 17 includes a microcomputer and the like and executes an operation, .theta.=tan.sup.-1 (V sin .theta./V cos .theta.) based on the two-phase instantaneous signals and adds the number of waves from the higher-order signal generating device 14 to detect a position .alpha. within one rotation of the gear 1.
In the prior art detecting apparatus for detecting the rotational position as mentioned above, however, it is difficult to precisely align the center of the gear with that of the rotary shaft. In practice, so-called eccentricity, or displacement of the center of the gear from the center of the rotary shaft, is found to occur, and this eccentricity causes of microdisplacement in the direction of the gear rotation corresponding to the rotational angle. The operation mentioned above is not therefore sufficient to determine the precise position of rotation.

Rotational position detecting device which compensates for eccentricity of rotating object


A target object may be identified by estimating a distribution of a plurality of orientations of a periphery of a target object, and identifying the target object based on the distribution.

The present invention relates to surface-based object identification.
Machine learning, such as in neural networks, has been used for image identification of objects. For example, nodule (or cancer) detection based on CT images is known. In the past, 2D images were input into a neural network for nodule detection, as disclosed by Hua, Kai-Lung et al., in "Computer-Aided Classification of Lung Nodules on Computed Tomography Images via Deep Learning Technique", published by OncoTargets and therapy 8 (2015): 2015-2022. PMC. Web. 17 Oct. 2016, and by Richard Gruetzemacher and Ashish Gupta, in "Using Deep Learning for Pulmonary Nodule Detection & Diagnosis", published by Intelligence and Intelligent Systems (SIGODIS), 2016.11.8.
However, since the 2D (two-dimensional) images may sometimes not represent 3D (three-dimensional) morphological features of an object, the identification of the object with the 2D images may not be sufficiently precise. In addition, the 2D images require long training times due to their large data size.
Instead of the 2D images, 3D data of objects may be used for identification of the objects. Nevertheless, the training with the 3D data is more time consuming than with the 2D images.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for controlling the charging of packet data service includes: monitoring a number of event triggers; and when one of the event triggers is met, a Traffic Plane Function (TPF) requesting charging rules from a Charging Rule Function (CRF). In the preferred embodiments, the event triggers, which the TPF is required for request charging rules from the CRF according to are set by the CRF and then are provided to the TPF. Charging-relevant input information is provided in the request, based on which the CRF determines proper charging rules and sends the determined charging rules to the TPF. In this way, the timing that the TPF requests charging rules from the CRF becomes controllable, and redundant information caused by the unnecessary charging rule from the TPF becomes avoidable, which enables effective interaction between the TPF and the CRF and reasonable charging control of packet data service.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of charging, and more specifically to a method of charging control for packet data service.
2. Background of the Invention
With the wide application of packet data service, how to charge packet data service accurately and reasonably has become a common concern of operators.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an activation, data transmission and de-activation of a Packet Data Protocol Context (PDP Context). As shown in FIG. 1, in General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), an implementing procedure of PDP Context activation, data transmission and de-activation includes the following steps:
Step 101: A User Equipment (UE) sends an Activate PDP Context Request to a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), and this Activate PDP Context Request carries information of a Network Layer Service Access Point Identifier (NSAPI), PDP type, an Access Point Name (APN), a plurality of Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, a Transaction Identifier (TI) and so on, where NSAPI is used as a component of a Tunnel Identifier (TEID) between the SGSN and a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) to identify the PDP Context. The PDP Type includes the Peer-Peer Protocol (PPP) type, Internet Protocol (IP) type, etc. The APN may be provided for the SGSN by the UE, by which the SGSN addresses a corresponding GGSN and the GGSN determines the external network to be accessed by the UE, or the UE may choose not to provide the APN for the SGSN, in that case, the SGSN selects the default APN according to the subscriber information of the UE. The QoS parameters represent the quality required by the packet data service specified by the UE. The TI is used for the UE to identify a PDP context.
Step 102: After receiving the Activate PDP Context Request, the SGSN performs a security check and encryption with the UE, and this step is optional.
Step 103: the SGSN analyses GGSN address information according to the APN, if the SGSN finds the GGSN address information according to the APN, the TEID is created for the PDP Context. The TEID may be a combination of an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and the NSAPI to uniquely identify a PDP Context between SGSN and GGSN. Then the SGSN sends a Create PDP Context Request to the GGSN and the Create PDP Context Request carries PDP type, PDP address, APN, QoS parameters, TEID, and a select mode. The PDP address is an IP address of the UE, which is an optional parameter. When a Create PDP Context Request doesn't carry a PDP address therein, the IP address may be allocated by the GGSN in the subsequent process, or by a Packet Data Network (PDN) that is finally connected with the UE. The select mode refers to an APN-selecting mode, namely whether the APN is selected by the UE or by the SGSN. If the GGSN address information is not accessed for the SGSN according to the APN, the SGSN rejects the Activate PDP Context Request from the UE.
Step 104: After receiving the Create PDP Context Request, the GGSN determines an external PDN according to the APN, then allocates a Charging ID, starts charging, and confers on QoS. The GGSN sends a Create PDP Context Response back to the SGSN, when the service quality requirement is met. The Create PDP Context Response carries the information of TEID, PDP address, Backbone Bearer protocol, QoS parameters, and Charging ID. When the GGSN does not meet the service quality requirement of the QoS parameters, the GGSN rejects the Create PDP Context Request from the SGSN, and then the SGSN rejects the Activate PDP Context Request from the UE.
Step 105: After receiving the Create PDP Context Response, the SGSN adds the NSAPI and the GGSN address information into the PDP Context in order to identify this PDP Context, selects wireless precedence according to QoS parameters, and then returns an Activate PDP Context Accept to the UE. The Activate PDP Context Accept carries the information of PDP type, PDP address, TI, QoS parameters, wireless precedence, and a number of PDP configuration options. Moreover, the SGSN starts charging. The UE receives the Activate PDP Context Accept and establishes a route with the GGSN. By this time the transmission channel between the UE and the PDN is established and data transmission is able to start.
Step 106: The UE transmits data with the PDN through the SGSN and the GGSN.
Step 107: On finishing the data transmission, the UE sends a Deactivate PDP Context Request to the SGSN and the Deactivate PDP Context Request carries the TI.
Step 108: After receiving the Deactivate PDP Context Request, the SGSN performs security checks and encryption with the UE, and this step is optional.
Step 109-Step 111: The SGSN sends a Delete PDP Context Request carrying the TEID to the GGSN. After receiving the Delete PDP Context Request, the GGSN ends the charging of the UE, deletes the PDP Context corresponding to the TEID, and then sends a to the SGSN. The Delete PDP Context Response carries the TEID. After receiving the Delete PDP Context Response, the SGSN ends the charging of the UE, deletes the PDP Context corresponding to the TEID, and then sends a Deactivate PDP Context Response carrying the TI to UE. After receiving the Deactivate PDP Context Response, the UE deletes the PDP Context corresponding to TI.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the present GRPS charging system, the charging starts when the PDP context is activated and comes to its end when the PDP context is de-activated, which means the present charging system can only charges according to a transmitted data flow or an activate time duration of the PDP context. In practice, however, after establishing a transmission channel with the PDN, the UE performs a plurality of services based on one activated PDP Context, i.e. if the PDN is able to provide a plurality of services, such as Send/Receive Email service, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) based browse service, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) based file transfer service and so on, an activated PDP Context is able to bear various services provided by the PDN after the UE establishes a transmission channel with this PDN. Meanwhile operators or service providers may adopt different charging approaches for different charging modes of various services, for instance, Send/Receive Email service may be charged based on trigger times of Sending and Receiving events, WAP browse service may be charged according to flow, file transfer service may also be charged according to flow, and yet, a charging rate of WAP browse service is different from that of file transfer service. Thus, it is totally impossible to perform separate charging with the existing GPRS charging system for different services the same PDP Context bears.
In view of the above, it is being discussed in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as to how to implement IP Flow Based Charging (FBC). As far as a packet data service is concerned, all the transmitted and received IP Flows or IP Packets when a UE user uses the service may be called Service Data Flow, i.e. the Service Data Flow is a set of a plurality of IP Flows, therefore the IP Flow Based Charging can truly reflect the resource occupation of a certain service. The IP Flow Based Charging can be described like this: IP Flows of different services that the same PDP Context bears are separately screened out through some filters similar to sieves, then the IP Flows that are screened out by different filters are separately charged so as to reach the object of separately charging different Service Data Flows. In this way, a charging granularity based on IP Flows is far less than that based on a PDP Context. The charging granularity may be regard as the size of a hole of a sieve, therefore the charging granularity based on one PDP Context will be like a sieve hole determined by one PDP Context while the charging granularity based on IP Flow will be like a sieve hole determined by one IP Flow, that is, there will be more than one sieve holes contained in one PDP Context. Therefore, comparing with the charging based on one PDP Context, charging based on IP Flow can provide more charging approaches for operators or service providers.
In 3GPP, aspects of FBC like system architectures, function requirement and flow of interactive messages are described. The FBC system architecture supporting online charging is shown in FIG. 2A, in which Online Charging System (OCS) 206 is composed of Service Control Point (SCP) 201 of Customized Application for Mobile Network Enhanced Logic (CAMEL) and a service data flow based Credit Control Function (CCF) 202. CCF 202 is connected with service data flow based Charging Rule Function (CRF) 203 through an interface Ry. The CRF 203 is connected with an Application Function (AF) 204 through an interface Rx and with the Traffic Plane Function (TPF) 205 through an interface Gx. The CCF 202 is connected with TPF 205 through an interface Gy.
The FBC system architecture supporting offline charging is shown in FIG. 2B, in which the CRF 203 is connected with the AF 204 through an interface Rx and with the TPF 205 through an interface Gx, and the TPF 205 is connected with a Charging Gateway Function (CGF) 207 and a Charging Collection Function (CCF) 208 respectively through Gz.
According to the 3 GPP provision for functions implementing the FBC, the TPF 205 bears IP Flows. During and the establishment of the IP Flow bearer, the TPF 205 sends a Charging Rule Request to the CRF 203 through the Gx interface. The Charging Rule Request carries relevant information of subscriber and the UE, bearer characteristics, network information, and so on. The relevant information of subscriber and the UE may be a Mobile Station ISDN (MSISDN), an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and etc. In addition, the bearer may be modified during the IP Flow transmission. For example, when QoS parameters of the same service are different, charging rules may be different accordingly. For instance, the charging rate may be decrease as QoS parameters decrease. Therefore it is necessary to re-confer on QoS parameters. In this case, during the modification of the bearer, the TPF 205 resends a Charging Rule Request to the CRF 203 to request for new charging rules. The CRF 203 selects a proper charging rule according to the said input information provided by the TPF 205 and then returns the selected charging rule to the TPF 205. The charging rule includes information of charging mechanism, charging type, charging key, Service Data Flow Filter, and charging rule precedence. The charging mechanism may be online charging or offline charging. The charging type may be a type of time span based. The charging key is a parameter related with the charging rate, and the CRF 203 may provide only parameters related with the charging rate for the TPF 205, rather than directly provide the charging rate for the TPF 205. The Service Data Flow Filter is used to indicate the TPF 205 which IP Flows are to be filtered, and then the TPF 205 charges these filtered IP Flows according to the charging rules. Service Data Flow Filter may include IP quintuple having such information as Source/Destination IP Address, Source/Destination Port Number, and Protocol ID. For instance, the CRF 203 indicates the TPF 205 to filter the IP Flow with the Source IP Address 10.0.0.1, Destination IP Address 10.0.0.2, Source/Destination Port Number 20 and the protocol type Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and then charges the filtered IP Flow according to the charging rule. Finally, during the deletion of the bearer, the TPF 205 may as well send a Charging Rule Request to the CRF 203 to request a new charging rule from the CRF. At this time, the CRF 203 may request the TPF 205 to delete the previously installed charging rule.
In addition, the CRF 203 may determine the charging rule according to the input information of the AF 204 or OCS 20 apart from the input information of the TPF 205. For example, the AF 204 may notify the CRF 203 of the current service type used by the user, and the CRF 203 may select the corresponding charging rule according to this service type.
For a GPRS network, the TPF 205 is the GGSN, the AF is a service gateway or a service server in the PDN and the CRF 203 is an added logical entity. The TPF 205 is the executing point of charging rules and the CRF 203 is the control point of charging rules.
FIG. 3A is the flow chart of issuing the charging rule when a bearer is established. As shown in FIG. 3A, the implementing procedure of issuing the charging rule when a bearer is established includes the following steps:
Step 301A: The UE sends an Establish Bearer Service Request to the TPF while in a GPRS network the corresponding process is that the GGSN receives a Create PDP Context Request.
Step 302A: After receiving the Establish Bearer Service Request, the TPF sends a Charging Rule Request to the CRF, and the Charging Rule Request carries the input information for the CRF to determine the charging rule.
Steps 303A-304A: After receiving the Charging Rule Request, the CRF selects a charging rule according to the input information carried by the Charging Rule Request, and then returns Provision Charging Rules. The Provision Charging Rules may carry the selected charging rule.
Steps 305A-306A: After receiving Provision Charging Rules, the TPF installs a new charging rule according to the charging rule selected by the CRF, or deletes the original charging rule, or installs a new charging rule while deleting the original one. Then the TPF receives the Establish Bearer Service Request initiated by the UE, returns an Establish Bearer Service Accept to the UE, and continues with the subsequent steps of the Establish Bearer process.
FIG. 3B is the flow chart of issuing the charging rule when a bearer is modified. As shown in FIG. 3B, the implementing procedure of issuing the charging rule when a bearer is modified includes the following steps:
Step 301B: The UE sends a Modify Bearer Service Request to the TPF while in a GPRS network the corresponding process is that the GGSN receives an Update PDP Context Request.
Step 302B: After receiving the Modify Bearer Service Request, the TPF sends a Charging Rule Request to the CRF, and the Charging Rule Request carries the input information for the CRF to determine the charging rule.
Steps 303B-304B: After receiving the Charging Rule Request, the CRF selects a charging rule according to the input information carried by this Charging Rule Request, and then returns Provision Charging Rules carrying the selected charging rule.
Steps 305B-306B: After receiving Provision Charging Rules, the TPF installs a new charging rule according to the charging rule selected by the CRF, or deletes the original charging rule, or installs a new charging rule while deleting the original one. Then the TPF receives the Modify Bearer Service Request initiated by UE, returns a Modify Bearer Service Accept to the UE, and continues with the subsequent steps of the Modify Bearer process.
FIG. 3C is the flow chart of issuing the charging rule when a bearer is deleted. As shown in FIG. 3B, the implementing procedure of issuing the charging rule when a bearer is deleted includes the following steps:
Step 301C: The UE sends a Remove Bearer Service Request to the TPF while in a GPRS network the corresponding process is that the GGSN receives a Delete PDP Context Request.
Step 302C: After receiving the Remove Bearer Service Request, the TPF sends a Charging Rule Request to the CRF, and the Charging Rule Request carries the input information for the CRF to determine the charging rule.
Steps 303C-304C: After receiving the Charging Rule Request, the CRF selects a charging rule according to the input information carried by this Charging Rule Request, and then returns Provision Charging Rules carrying the selected charging rule.
Steps 305C-306C: After receiving Provision Charging Rules, the TPF installs a new charging rule according to the charging rule selected by the CRF, or deletes the original charging rule, or installs a new charging rule while deleting the original one. Then the TPF returns a Remove Bearer Service Accept to the UE, accepts the Remove Bearer Service Request initiated by the UE and continues with the subsequent steps of the Remove Bearer process.
Besides, the CRF may also voluntarily send a charging rule to the TPF. For instance, in the data transmission process between the UE and the AF, after receiving the input information relating to charging of the AF, the CRF selects a proper charging rule according to the input information provided by the AF, and then voluntarily issues the selected charging rule to the TPF. The specific implementing procedure of the AF providing the input information of charging for the CRF is shown in FIG. 4:
Step 401: The AF sends Application/Service Data Flow Charging Information to the CRF.
Step 402: After receiving the Application/Service Data Flow Charging Information, the CRF returns an Acknowledgement (Ack) to the AF to notify the AF of already receiving the Application/Service Data Flow Charging Information sent by the AF.
FIG. 5 is the flow chart of the CRF voluntarily issuing the charging rule to the TPF. As shown in FIG. 5, the implementing procedure of the CRF voluntarily issuing the charging rule to the TPF includes the following steps:
Step 501: The CRF receives a certain Internal or External Trigger Event and relevant information about this event, such as the event of the AF sending the input information of charging rule selection to the CRF.
Step 502: The CRF selects the corresponding charging rule according to the acquired information. The acquired information may be the charging-relevant input information provided by the AF. For instance, the user is using a certain service of AF, and the service has special charging requirement, e.g., the charging rate is different from that of other services, therefore, the AF provides relevant charging information of this service for the CRF. The acquired information may also be the charging-relevant input information provided by TPF.
Step 503: The CRF sends the Provision Charging Rules to the TPF when needed, and the Provision Charging Rules may carry the selected charging rule.
Step 504: After receiving Provision Charging Rules, the TPF installs a new charging rule according to the charging rule selected by the CRF, or deletes the original charging rule, or installs a new charging rule while deleting the original one.
At present, the interactive mode concerning charging rule between the TPF and the CRF is defined in 3 GPP Specification like this: The TPF sends a Charging Rule Request to the CRF when a certain trigger event is met. The trigger event may be an event of establishing, modifying or deleting the bearer. The CRF selects a proper charging rule according to the information carried in the Charging Rule Request and sends the selected charging rule to the TPF. In this way, the event trigger of the Charging Rule Request is controlled by the TPF. The event trigger of the Charging Rule Request shall be set in the TPF in advance. Whenever the event of establishing, modifying or deleting the bearer is met, the TPF sends the Charging Rule Request to the CRF. However, for some cases, the QoS parameters modified have little differences compared with original QoS parameters when the QoS parameters are modified during the modification of the bearer, and it is not necessary to modify the charging rules. In these cases, the CRF may select a charging rule similar to an original one to send to the TPF when the TPF sends the Charging Rule Request, thereby creating a great of redundant information.

Method for controlling charging of packet data service


A process for producing a polymer electrolyte emulsion having the following steps (1) and (2) is provided. Step (1): a step of dissolving a polymer electrolyte in a solvent comprising a good solvent for the polymer electrolyte to prepare a polymer electrolyte solution having a polymer electrolyte concentration of 0.1 to 10% by weight. Step (2): a step of mixing the polymer electrolyte solution 10 obtained in the step (1), and a poor solvent for the polymer electrolyte at a ratio of 4 to 99 parts by weight of the poor solvent based on 1 part by weight of the polymer electrolyte solution. In addition, a process for producing a polymer 15 electrolyte emulsion comprising separating a polymer electrolyte dispersion in which a polymer electrolyte particle is dispersed in a dispersing medium, with a membrane is provided.

A polymer having a hydrophilic group such as a sulfonic acid group, a carboxyl group, and a phosphoric acid group, that is, a polymer electrolyte is utilized as a proton conducting membrane of a fuel cell, or a binder for complexing with platinum-supported carbon to form a catalyst layer. As such the polymer electrolyte include Nafion (registered trade mark) manufactured by Dupont, Aciplex (registered trade mark) manufactured by Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., and Flemion (registered trade mark) manufactured by Asahi Glass Company, and these are sold in a form in which a solid microparticle consisting of a fluorine-based polymer electrolyte is dispersed in a dispersing medium. However, since such the fluorine-based polymer electrolyte has been desired to be substituted with a polymer electrolyte due to request of discharge of a fluorine compound generated by degradation to the environment, and the lower cost.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2005-132996 discloses an aqueous dispersion comprising sulfonated polyorganosiloxane, and indicates that such the dispersion imparts a film excellent in water resistance and film forming property.
In addition, JP-A No. 2004-319353 discloses that a solid electrolyte membrane obtained by mixing a solid electrolyte consisting of a fine particle having an ionic group on a surface with other polymer electrolyte soluble in a solvent, and casting the solution affords a solid electrolyte membrane which suppresses methanol crossover of a direct methanol fuel cell.

Process for producing polymer electrolyte emulsion


A coupling for connecting one end of a strap to a musical instrument or other body consists of a post fixed to the instrument and a catch fixed to the strap and cooperable with the post. The post has an enlarged head which is movable laterally into and out of a cavity in the catch. When the post head is received in the catch cavity a spring biased plunger of the catch enters a central opening of the post to prevent the catch and post from moving laterally out of assembly, while nevertheless permitting the catch and the associated strap to pivot or swivel relative to the post. The plunger is movable by hand out of the path of the post head during connection and disconnection of the post and catch relative to one another. Further, the two coupling parts can be quickly and easily connected and disconnected relative to one another with one hand of the user and without requiring extremely precise movements.

This invention relates to a coupling for pivotally and releasably connecting one end of a strap to a musical instrument or other body, and deals more particularly with such a coupling consisting of cooperating parts adapted to be fixed to the body and to the strap, respectively.
In the case of a number of musical instruments, such as guitars, string basses, banjos, mandolins, marching drums and saxophones it is common practice to attach to the instrument a strap which passes around the neck or over the shoulder of the player to aid in holding the instrument in a playing position. But even when a strap is used, the performer generally wants a fair degree of freedom in moving the instrument relative to his body and, for this reason, it is generally preferred that the strap be connected to the instrument in such a way as to allow for pivotal or swivelling movement between the strap and the instrument. It is also usually preferred that the strap be capable of being easily and quickly connected and disconnected from the instrument so as to facilitate the performer's taking up and putting down of the instrument and of his switching from one instrument to another.
Various different couplings have been proposed in the past for pivotally and releasably connecting straps to musical instruments or to other bodies, but all of these have been subject to various disadvantages. The general object of this invention is, therefore, to provide an improved pivotal and releasable strap coupling.
In keeping with the general object, a more particular object of the invention is to provide a strap coupling having, in its connected condition, a very positive type of lock preventing inadvertent coming apart or disassembly of the coupling parts.
Another object of the invention is to provide a coupling which may be used with all types of musical instruments requiring straps and which may also be used for attaching straps to other types of bodies wherever a pivotal and releasable connection between a strap and body is required.
Another object of the invention is to provide a coupling of the foregoing character wherein the catch portion of the coupling may be so placed on the strap that during normal playing of the instrument the weight of the instrument urges the two parts of the coupling into engaged position and opposes disengagement of the two parts.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a coupling of the foregoing character wherein the catch part of the coupling has a wide opening or mouth for receiving the cooperating part of the coupling and for thereby easing the preciseness of the movement required to bring the two parts into connected relationship.
A further object of the invention is to provide a coupling wherein the catch which is mounted on the strap includes a means for inhibiting that part from rotating relative to the strap and for thereby causing it to hold its intended position.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a strap coupling of the type mentioned which provides for quick and easy connection and disconnection of a strap to and from a musical instrument or other body, which allows the parts of the coupling to be easily fitted to the strap and to the instrument, which reduces the likelihood of the strap mounted part of the coupling scratching or marring the instrument during connection and disconnection of the coupling, and which is quite strong yet relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof and from the accompanying drawings.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises: forming a gate stack on a substrate; etching the substrate on both sides of the gate stack to form C-shaped source/drain grooves; and wet-etching the C-shaped source/drain grooves to form Σ-shaped source/drain grooves. With this method, it is possible to effectively increase stress applied to a channel region, to accurately control a depth of the source/drain grooves, and to reduce roughness of side walls and bottom portions of the grooves and thus reduce defects by etching the C-shaped source/drain grooves and then further wet-etching them to form the Σ-shaped source/drain grooves.

At the 90 nm node and beyond, the strained silicon technology has become a fundamental one, which improves performances of MOSFET devices by suppressing short channel effects and enhancing the mobility of carriers. In the strained silicon technology, various stress applying techniques, such as STI, SPT, SiGe embedded source and drain, stressed metallic gate, and Contact Etching Stop Layer (CESL), have been proposed. The stress is applied to a channel region by any of these techniques, so as to improve the carrier mobility, and thus to enhance the drive capability.
Among those techniques, the SiGe embedded source and drain technique is gradually adopted by most CMOS manufactures at the 90 nm node and beyond, where compressive stress is provided to press the channel in order to improve the MOSFET performances by dry-etching the source and drain and then epitaxially growing SiGe. Some companies make further developments in etching the source and drain even at the 60 nm node and beyond.
As shown in FIG. 1, on a substrate 1 having Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) 1A formed therein, a gate stack 2 comprising a gate dielectric layer 2A and a gate conductor layer 2B is formed. A gate spacer 3 is formed to surround the gate stack 2. An active region surrounded by the STI 1A is dry-etched with the gate spacer 3 as a mask. For example, anisotropic dry-etching, such as plasma etching and reactive ion etching, can be performed on the substrate 1 around the gate spacer 3, resulting in first source/drain grooves 1B. Here, two dashed lines crossing each other indicates that two (111) crystal faces intersect each other at a line which is indicated as a point A1 in the sectional view of FIG. 1. In a later wet-etching process, a wet-etching solution may have a greater etching rate at a (110) or (100) crystal face as compared with the (111) crystal faces. As a result, the etching will stop at the (111) crystal faces and also their intersection lines A1. The first grooves 1B have respective side walls (parallel to, and preferably aligned with, respective side walls of the gate spacer 3) apart from the respective intersection lines A1 at a distance of a1.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the first source/drain grooves 1B are further etched by a wet-etching solution (e.g., a TMAH solution) which is anisotropic to respective lattice orientations of the substrate, resulting in second source/drain grooves 1C with a Sigma (Σ)-shaped profile. Here, the etching solution also etches bottom portions of the first grooves 1B downward while etching the first grooves 1B laterally to the lines A1, so that bottom portions of the second grooves 1C are lower than the bottom portions of the first grooves 1B by a distance of b1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the distance a1 substantially determines a recess extent of the Σ-shaped source/drain grooves 1C into a channel region and thus a magnitude of stress applied to the channel region by SiGe and/or SiC epitaxially grown later. Further, the distance b1 substantially determines a depth of the grooves and thus the quality of the stressed SiGe and/or SiC source/drain regions epitaxially grown later.
Subsequently, SiGe and/or SiC is epitaxially grown in the Σ-shaped grooves 1C. Such Σ-shaped grooves are closer to the channel region and cause fewer defects in the later epitaxy process as compared with normal grooves, which helps improving the MOSFET performances.
However, in the prior art process as described above, because the finally formed Σ-shaped grooves 1C are relatively distant from the channel region, application of the stress from the stressed SiGe and/or SiC source/drain regions to the channel region is done over a relatively long distance. Therefore, the channel region has limited improvement in stress. On the other hand, the grooves 1B have their profile significantly different from the profile of the Σ-shaped grooves 1C. The difference between the profile of the grooves 1B and the profile of the Σ-shaped grooves 1C is represented by the distance a1. The distance a1 substantially determines the time required for etching the grooves 1B to form the Σ-shaped source/drain grooves 1C. Because the distance a1 is relatively great, the process of wet-etching the grooves 1B to form the grooves 1C requires either an increased etching rate or an increased etching time, both of which will cause the distance b1 increased unnecessarily, and thus increase the defects at the bottom portions of the grooves 1C and degrade the quality of the epitaxial SiGe and/or SIC.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device

Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences


Data transmission apparatus and method thereof, and data reception apparatus and method thereof. Input data is encoded into a plurality of visual codes according to a visual code type. The visual code type includes a sequential type requiring sequential transmission and a nonsequential type not requiring sequential transmission. The sequential visual code includes start code, data code, and end code, and is displayed sequentially. The nonsequential visual code is displayed nonsequentially.

1. Field
The following description relates to a data transmission and reception system, and more particularly, to a data transmission apparatus and method thereof, and a data reception apparatus and method thereof using visual codes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable multimedia players (PMPs), motion picture experts group (MPEG) audio layer-3 (MP3) players, and digital cameras are widely used. Such mobile devices may include various built-in devices with additional functions such as cameras, high-capacity data storage units, and multimedia data inquiry devices. Also, services that display code images on a screen of such mobile devices, and use the code images to perform coupon authentication, user authentication, security, and the like, have been introduced. Code images may include barcodes, two-dimensional (2D) codes, color codes, and the like.

Data transmission apparatus and method thereof and data reception apparatus and method thereof


A print head for a dot matrix printer has a plurality of print needles slidably mounted in the head, a plurality of armatures operatively connected to the print needles, a plurality of electromagnets for respectively operating the armatures, a center ring for stopping the armature attracted by the electromagnet, and a residual sheet mounted on a core of each of the electromagnets for preventing the armature from sticking to the core.

The present invention relates to a print head for a dot matrix printer of an armature attracting type in which an electromagnet attracts an armature to move a print needle for a printing operation, and more particularly, to a structure for regulating the position of the armature at the impact of printing.
In the print head of the attracting type, there are problems in order to increase the printing speed and impact force. One of the problems is that a tip end of the print needle scratches an inked ribbon. In order to prevent the scratching of the inked ribbon, it is necessary to reduce the period of time the print needle contacts the inked ribbon. Namely, if the retraction of the print needle from the ribbon is delayed during high speed printing, the tip end may scratch the ribbon. In particular, when the print gap between the end of the print needle and the printing paper is set at a larger value than a predetermined value for some reason, the scratching of the inked ribbon is liable to occur as describe hereinafter.
Japanese Utility Model Applications Laid-open 61-100536 (hereinafter called first prior art) and 62-27330 (hereinafter called second prior art) disclose print heads each having stopper means.
The print head of the first prior art has a center ring as a stopper. If the print gap is set large, the armature moving to the platen strikes against the center ring, so that the armature is stopped.
In the print head of the second prior art, a nonmagnetic residual sheet is provided on a core of a solenoid corresponding to a plunger secured to the armature. When a solenoid is excited, the plunger is attracted to the core. In the case of large print gap, the plunger strikes against the residual sheet, so that the position of the armature is regulated at the same time as printing.
In the first prior art, when the armature strikes against the center ring, the armature is deflected by the inertia with the center ring or after the print needle impacts the printing paper. As a result, the gap between the core and the plunger is reduced by the magnitude of the deflection of the armature or becomes zero. On the other hand, although the current applied to the solenoid has been cut off, residual magnetism remains in the core. Accordingly, the armature is attracted to the core which makes it difficult to return the armature to a reset position. Consequently, the print needle scratches the inked ribbon. If the gap between the core and the plunger is increased in order to prevent the plunger from staying at the attracted position, the attracting force of the electromagnet is reduces and hence reduced the impact force of the needle.
In the second prior art, when the plunger strikes the residual sheet, the base end portion of the armature floats from the electromagnet because the plunger is adjacent to the pivot. Consequently, the returning motion of the armature is retarded, so that the scratching of the needle occurs.


The various embodiments utilize cascode circuits in dual-threshold-voltage (dual-V.sub.T), BiCMOS and DTMOS technologies. The circuit topologies include cascode-connected transistors in the output branch of a current mirror and as a cascode amplifier. Such configurations are capable of both high output impedance and high output swing. The cascode circuits of the various embodiments are operable without separate gate-bias voltages for the cascode-connected transistors. The current mirrors can be used in circuits requiring a regulated current or other current mirroring applications. The current mirrors can further be used as active loads, such as an active load for an amplifier.

Cascode circuits have been used to buffer or isolate a first transistor from voltage variation by series connecting it with a second transistor. By such buffering, the performance of the first or protected transistor is improved. As used in current mirrors, cascoding tends to reduce the variation of current with applied voltage. Cascoding can also be used in amplifiers to decrease the Miller multiplication of the capacitance between the amplifier output and input.
Conventional current mirrors provide an output current proportional to, and often substantially equal to, an input or reference current. By separating the output current from the reference current on different branches or sides of the current mirror, the output current is available to drive high impedance loads. U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,115, issued May 10, 1994 to Archer, describes a variety of current mirrors and their operation.
While a variety of approaches have been taken, many suffer some drawback, such as low output impedance, high reference side voltage drop, need for depletion devices, temperature sensitivity, troublesome leakage currents, second-order effects, etc.
There remains a need for alternative cascode circuits for use in current mirrors and amplifiers.

Cascode circuits in dual-Vt, BICMOS and DTMOS technologies


An adhesive resin composition is disclosed, comprising:. (A) from 2 to 98% by weight of an ethylene copolymer comprising from 50 to 90% by weight of ethylene, from 0 to 49% by weight of an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated carboxylic acid alkyl ester, and from 0.5 to 10% by weight of maleic anhydride, with the sum of these monomers being 100% by weight;. (B) from 2 to 98% by weight of a crystalline polyethylene resin comprising either an ethylene homopolymer or a copolymer of ethylene and an .alpha.-olefin having 3 or more carbon atoms, with an ethylene content being 90% by weight or more; and. (C) from 2 to 50% by weight of a non-crystalline or low crystalline olefin copolymer rubber comprising a copolymer of ethylene and an .alpha.-olefin having 3 or more carbon atoms, with the sum of the components (A), (B) and (C) being 100% by weight.

As is well known, polyolefins represented by polyethylene and polypropylene have various excellent physical, chemical, and mechanical properties and good moldability. Due to these advantages and because of their inexpensiveness, polyolefins are being extensively used in a wide range of industrial fields. However, since such polyolefins are nonpolar, they involve such a defect that it is difficult to make composite materials with polar materials such as metals, glass, and polar high-molecular weight materials. As an expedient for overcoming this defect, copolymerization of olefin polymers with monomers having a polar group is widely known. However, it is hard to say that such copolymers have sufficient adhesion and, in addition, their heat resistance is insufficient. Under these circumstances, it has been proposed in JP-W-63-500179 to blend these copolymers with polyolefins. (The term "JP-W" as used herein means an "unexamined published international patent application".) Further, JP-A-60-63240 proposes to blend those copolymers with elastomers. (The term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application".) However, these proposed compositions do not always show sufficient adhesive strength. Although blending with a large proportion of an elastomer brings about a slight improvement in adhesive strength, such a composition not only has poor mechanical strength and but also, when molded into a film, shows poor anti-blocking properties and reduced solvent resistance.
JP-A-62-263241 proposes a composition comprising an ethylene copolymer containing a polar group, polypropylene, and an olefin copolymer rubber.
The above composition, however, has been found to have still insufficient adhesion to polar materials such as polar high-molecular weight materials.
The present inventors have conducted extensive studies on resin compositions obtained by melt kneading an ethylene copolymer containing maleic anhydride with a crystalline polyethylene resin, with respect to the kind, proportion, etc. of the blended resin. As a result, it has been found that the presence of both a high-rigidity component and a low-rigidity component is requisite for the development of sufficient adhesive strength and that there is an optimum rigidity value which an adhesive resin composition should have for attaining sufficient adhesive strength. It is known that the larger the energy absorbed during peeling, the higher the adhesive strength. This energy can be expressed by the product of the stress applied to the peeling site and deformation. If an adhesive resin composition has too low rigidity, the applied stress is small, while if it has too high rigidity, little deformation occurs. Thus, it has been ascertained through extensive investigations that optimum rigidity is present. The necessity of both of a high-rigidity component and a low-rigidity component has been proven by the fact that the presence of both components in an adhesive resin composition changes the deformation mode for the composition from elastic deformation to plastic deformation and, accordingly, serves to increase the consumed amount of peeling energy and make the composition less apt to be peeled off.
It has, therefore, been found that an adhesive resin composition having excellent adhesion can be obtained by adding a crystalline polyethylene resin as a high-rigidity component and a non-crystalline or low crystalline olefin copolymer rubber as a low-rigidity component, in specific proportions, to an ethylene copolymer containing maleic anhydride, and melt kneading these components. The present invention has been completed based on these findings.


Apparatus (1) for changing a blade of a rotary die cutter, particularly for flexographic printing machines: a magnetic cylinder (3) configured to receive and support a die-cutting blade (5, 5′); a station (7) for inserting the blade (5, 5′) has a retention device (70) configured to retain the blade (5) in the insertion station; a guiding device (71) guides the blade (5, 5′) toward the magnetic cylinder (3); a station (9) for extracting the blade (5, 5′), has an extraction device (90) configured to remove the blade (5, 5′) from the magnetic cylinder (3).

It is known, in particular for flexographic printing, that there is a problem of replacing the rotary die cutters for variations in shape and size of labels or of any printed image to be die-cut.
At present, replacement of rotary die-cutters, for changing the blade to allow cutting-to-size of labels or printed images requires more or less prolonged machine downtimes, depending on the complexity of the replacement operations.

Apparatus and method for changing a blade of a rotary die cutter, particularly for flexographic printing machines


An apparatus for cleaning a waste line of an aircraft includes: a source of cleaning solution; a hose in fluid communication with the source of cleaning solution; and a nozzle secured to a distal end of the hose and defining one or more holes for expelling the cleaning solution into a waste line. The nozzle may be provided with a protective cover composed of a plastic material that fits over and engages a distal tip of the nozzle and/or a protective ring composed of a plastic material that fits around and engages a central body of the nozzle. The apparatus may further include a connection assembly defining a first port being configured to be connected to the waste line, a second port being configured to receive the hose and the nozzle, and a third port being configured to be connected to a vacuum pump.

On an aircraft, waste lines run from the individual lavatories to one or more waste collection receptacles in the rear of the aircraft. Such waste lines must be periodically cleaned. Since almost all space in an aircraft is used and occupied, the waste lines are in close proximity to electrical wiring and other equipment. Thus, great care must be used in cleaning such waste lines to ensure that water or other cleaning solutions do not come into contact with electrical wiring or other sensitive equipment in the vicinity of the waste lines.
For certain types of waste lines, such as sewer lines, a hydro jetting process is commonly used to clean the lines. In such hydro jetting processes, water is forced from a hose through a nozzle at high pressure (often in the range of 3500-4000 psi) to scour and clean the waste lines. However, because of the care required in cleaning aircraft waste lines, existing hydro jetting processes cannot be used on an aircraft.

Apparatus and method for cleaning a waste line of an aircraft


A method for removing preexisting filtercake from a portion of a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore is carried out by providing water-degradable particles formed from a solid polymeric acid precursor material that is capable of a degrading to acid for reacting with materials of the filtercake. A slurry is formed from the particles with a carrier fluid. The slurry of particles is introduced into the formation through the wellbore and allowed to degrade to form acid, whereby the formed acid facilitates decomposition of preexisting filtercake material. In certain applications, the water-degradable particles may also be used in combination with non-water-degradable particles, which may be used for forming a gravel pack. The water-degradable particles may also be used to reduce fluid loss temporarily to areas of the formation immediately surrounding the wellbore.

This invention relates to a composition and method for removing impermeable layers created for fluid loss control in a subterranean formation. More particularly it relates to the use of a fluid containing a delayed solid acid material that can either remove drilling mud filtercakes or create a self-destructing filtercake in subterranean formations that require fluid loss control.
During drilling of a well, a thin layer of impermeable material is deposited on the reservoir rock by the drilling fluid (or mud). This thin layer of material is called a filtercake and aids in controlling drilling fluid leak-off into the formation and restricts the inflow of reservoir fluids into the well during completion. If the filtercake that is created during the drilling process is not removed prior to or during completion of the well, problems may occur when the well is put on production. These may include completion equipment failures, such as erosion and plugging of the equipment, and impaired reservoir productivity, which may be in the form of early water production or water coning.
The major components typically found in conventional drilling mud filtercake include such materials as polymers, carbonates and other inorganic salts, and clays. Removal of the mud filtercake can be accomplished through mechanical means (scrapping, jetting, underreaming, etc). Conventional chemical treatments for removing filtercake include pumping aqueous solutions with an oxidizer (such as persulfate), inorganic acids (such as HCl), organic acids (such as acetic or formic acids), chelating agents (such as EDTA), enzymes or combinations of these. Generally, the oxidizer or enzyme digests the polymer layer in the filtercake and the acids dissolve the carbonate portion in the filtercake.
There are several problems that exist in conventional filtercake removal. The acids used tend to react very quickly with carbonate and "wormholes" are readily formed where most of the acid will funnel off through these small openings into the reservoir and leave most of the zone untreated. Oxidizers are very corrosive and reactive. They also must be pumped as a separate stage, which causes operational complexity and extra cost. Additionally, the lifetime of an oxidizer at higher temperatures may be only a few seconds. Enzyme breakers are extremely sensitive to pH, temperature, and ionic strength. They are not effective in breaking polymers in acidic solutions and will lose their activity at higher temperatures. Chelants are weak acids and poor dissolvers of carbonate compared to other organic acids, such as acetic and formic acid. Catalysts and activators require a second step in the completion process that causes additional operational costs.
Depending on the composition of the formation (such as quicksand or unconsolidated sands, partially consolidated sands, or friable sands), sand control operations such as gravel packing are commonly implemented in order to stabilize a wellbore after drilling. In a gravel packing operation, a screen is placed in the wellbore and then gravel of a specific size is placed in the annulus between the screen and the reservoir to stop sand movement and sand production from the reservoir. The installation of a gravel pack typically entails the use of a carrier fluid (such as brine).
There are many oilfield applications that require the use of fluid loss control agents in the near well-bore region, within the formation itself or against sand control screens and gravel packs. Some of these applications are in cased and perforated wellbores, while others are in open holes.
In cased hole applications, the need for fluid loss control may occur immediately after perforating. In such cases, the most common practice has been to perforate with clean fluids (such as completion brines) and spot a fluid loss control pill to control losses into the formation while the perforating string is pulled out of the hole and either the production string or the sand control screens are run into the wellbore. In the former case, once the tubing is installed, the well is put on production. Presence of a low permeability filtercake formed by the fluid loss control pill often causes reduction in well productivity, unless a filtercake removal treatment is performed. Such treatments typically involve pumping acids into the wellbore. In the latter case, once the sand control screens are run in hole, often gravel packing or frac-packing is performed. The presence of a low permeability filtercake formed by the fluid loss control pill spotted after perforating can cause either unpacked or incompletely packed perforations, both of which result in productivity impairment. In these cases, often an acid treatment is performed prior to pumping a gravel pack or frac-pack treatment to ensure a high permeability gravel/proppant pack is placed into the perforations. Fluid loss is often experienced after frac-packing as well. Although the common practice for fluid loss control after frac packing is typically to use mechanical valves that isolate the zone of interest from the hydrostatic column above it, sometimes these valves fail, necessitating a fluid loss control pill to be spotted inside the sand control screens in order to provide fluid loss control while the sand control service tool is pulled out of the wellbore and the production tubing is run in hole. Thus, it would be desirable to have a fluid loss control pill that can form a filtercake, which will control losses for the desired time period (e.g., the time it takes to pull the perforating string out and run either the production tubing or the sand control string in to the wellbore, or pull the sand control service tool out and run the production tubing in) and self destruct when needed (e.g., when ready to produce or when the sand control screens are installed).
In open hole applications, fluid loss control pills may be needed immediately after sand control in cases where a mechanical valve has not been installed or the valve failed to operate. In such cases, the fluid loss control must be achieved against the screens and gravel.
In open hole completions, the low permeability filtercake is necessary during drilling, but can cause productivity impairment during production. In fact, in sand control completions, for example during gravel packing, particularly with low viscosity fluids such as brines (i.e., water packing), filtercake is required in order to gravel pack a well successfully, and thus it must be removed after gravel packing in order to maximize production rates as well as to provide uniform influx of hydrocarbons into the wellbore. Similarly, in stand alone screen or expandable screen applications (which do not involve gravel packing), filtercake is necessary for wellbore stability until the screens are installed, but needs to be removed prior to production. Filtercake removal in open hole completions has traditionally been done through spotting and/or circulation of acids. Although acids are effective in filtercake removal, assuring their contact with the filtercake across a long open hole section is not easily accomplished. This is because the reaction between the acid and the filtercake is very rapid, resulting in increased permeability in the sections where the acid contacts the filtercake first, and thus loss of all the acid into that section of the wellbore. The net result in this case is clean and unclean sections along the wellbore. This is undesirable since it results in reduced production rates and/or non-uniform influx, the latter causing premature water or gas breakthrough. Alternatively, enzyme or oxidizer soaks (to hydrolyze polymeric components of the filtercake) are performed, followed by an acid treatment. This process is also ineffective, since the reaction of the acid with carbonate bridging agents in the absence of coating with polymeric components (as it would be after the enzyme or oxidizer soak) is much faster than the reaction of acid with all components of the filtercake intact, causing the same problems. In addition, acids are corrosive to sand control screens.
Other alternatives include combining chelating agent solutions, which provide much slower reaction rates with much lower corrosion rates. Although enzyme and chelating agent solutions, or chelating agent solutions alone, have been effectively used in open hole completions, in longer wells, and particularly at higher temperatures, even they may react relatively quickly in long open hole completions, particularly in sand control applications. In such cases, after sand control treatment is performed, the wash pipe must be pulled out of the screens, activating a fluid loss control valve to isolate the formation from the hydrostatic column above.
Thus, it is desirable not to remove the filtercake until after the wash pipe is pulled out of the screen and the fluid loss valve is closed. In such cases, it is desirable to have a filtercake cleanup solution which is not reactive until after some time (e.g., until after the wash-pipe is pulled and the formation is isolated).
There is therefore a need to provide improvements in compositions and methods for filtercake removal and for providing effective and readily reversible fluid loss pills or treatments.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Fluid loss control and well cleanup methods


An apparatus for processing a plurality of logging policies includes: a logging policy input unit configured to receive the plurality of logging policies for vehicle data; a logging policy storage configured to store the logging policies received by the logging policy input unit; a logging policy analyzer configured to parse the logging policies stored in the logging policy storage and extract variables from the parsed logging policies; a rule maker configured to make a logging policy applying rule based on the variables extracted by the logging policy analyzer; and a logging policy processor configured to read and process the corresponding logging policy which is stored in the logging policy storage depending on the logging policy applying rule made by the rule maker.

Recently, for the purpose of quality enhancement of a vehicle, increase of differentiation of a new car, and improvement of various convenience services (public service, personalization service), a technology of logging various vehicle data (sensor data, control data, network data, and the like) generated at the time of an operation of a vehicle in real time has been developed.
The vehicle data include various kinds of control information and tuning information and are generated at a short time interval of a level of 10 to 100 ms and therefore it is reasonable to optionally log data depending on a use purpose rather than logging full set data, when unnecessary.
Therefore, it is preferable to optionally log data from a vehicle based on a logging policy by which data logging specifications (kind, logging time, logging period, logging method, priority, and the like of logging data) for optionally logging vehicle data depending on the use purpose are defined.
However, when a plurality of logging policies are applied to one vehicle under the multi users and the multi service environment, a collision situation between the logging policies may occur.

Apparatus and method for processing a plurality of logging policies


A data communications protocol converter for interfacing manufacturing process equipment with a host computer comprises a controller that converts the messages transmitted by the host computer and equipment into messages that meet the protocol of the receiving side. A data acquisition system coupled between the controller and equipment provides a parallel interface to the process equipment and allows the converter to check for/activate logic signals from/to the process equipment. A user interface circuit provides the controller with a user friendly interface that enables the user to set any message parameters and conversation scheme and to interactively communicate with each attached device and edit and re-transmit previously send messages. A software support workstation coupled to the controller through a network provides capability for remote target machine access, software maintenance and configuration modification via the network.

Currently, there is no standard mode of communication between intelligent systems in a computer integrated semiconductor manufacturing environment. As a result, protocol converter systems are employed to act as translators to allow intelligent devices from different manufacturers to communicate with one another. The special purpose protocol converter systems intended to convert specific communications protocols in a manufacturing environment are extremely expensive and designed hard-coded to a specific piece of equipment. The existing general purpose protocol converters are primarily intended for connection of devices with different handshaking schemes, i.e. computer to printer, or between different networks. These converters are not sophisticated enough to provide even minimal functionality in a semiconductor manufacturing environment. For example, the existing protocol converters cannot provide without extensive modifications:
configurability for different applications in a manufacturing environment, PA1 extensibility to various communication protocols, PA1 user friendly interface, PA1 high data conversion/throughput rates, PA1 remote system access and maintenance, PA1 error checking capability, PA1 message reformatting capability, PA1 parallel input/output (I/O) link to process equipment for checking various manufacturing conditions, PA1 printer interface, PA1 adherence to specific communication standards, PA1 easy software support. PA1 processing by a controller first messages received from the host computer and process equipment for forming second messages sent to the process equipment and host computer, and PA1 checking by a data acquisition system responsive to the controller an operation condition of the process equipment to send an error message to the host computer in response to a predetermined condition. PA1 handling by receiving means first line protocols of data communication between the controller and the host computer and process equipment to receive the first messages, PA1 putting the first messages in a message queue, PA1 analyzing the first messages in accordance with predetermined parameters of the protocol conversion to form the second messages, PA1 putting the second (reply) messages in the queue, PA1 sending the second messages to the sending means in accordance with their destination, and PA1 handling by the sending means second line protocols of data communication between the controller and the host processor and process equipment to send the second messages. PA1 message processing means responsive to the host data processing means and the manufacturing means for converting a first message of a first protocol received from the host data processing means and the manufacturing means into a second message of a second protocol to be sent to the host data processing means and the manufacturing means, and PA1 data acquisition means responsive to the message processing means for checking status of the manufacturing means. PA1 a protocol converter controller coupled between the host computer and the process equipment for converting data transmitted in accordance with a first SECS protocol into data corresponding to a second SECS protocol, and PA1 a user interface coupled to the controller for setting the controller into a mode providing conversion of the first SECS protocol into the second SECS protocol.
In view of the above, it would be desirable to provide an improved general purpose data communications protocol converter for interfacing a host computer with manufacturing process equipment, that provides the above-indicated features.

General purpose data communications protocol converter

Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA, Inc


The embodiments contemplate a system and method for a restriction of virtual machines for a group of one or more users. A predefined policy may include a restriction related to the group, as well as a measure of enforcement to initiate in the event of a violation of the restriction. The measure of enforcement may include a warning message or denial of resources. The restriction may be resource-based, time-based, machine-based, or a combination. The restriction may be a group-level restriction, in which the entire group actions are monitored, or a user-level restriction, in which the user's actions are monitored. In the event a user is assigned to more than one group, the policies of each group are assigned a priority level. The priority level dictates the restriction as well as the measure of enforcement.

A virtual machine is a software construct or the like operating on a computing device or the like for the purpose of emulating a hardware system. Typically, although not necessarily, the virtual machine is an application or the like and is employed on the computing device to host a user application or the like while at the same time isolating such user application from such computing device or from other applications on such computing device. A different variation of a virtual machine may for example be written for each of a plurality of different computing devices so that any user application written for the virtual machine can be operated on any of the different computing devices. Thus, a different variation of the user application for each different computing device is not needed.
New architectures for computing devices and new software now allow a single computing device to instantiate and run a plurality of partitions, each of which can be employed to instantiate a virtual machine to in turn host an instance of an operating system upon which one or more applications may be instantiated. Typically, although not necessarily, the computing device includes a virtualization layer with a virtual machine monitor or the like that acts as an overseer application or 'hypervisor', where the virtualization layer oversees and/or otherwise manages supervisory aspects of each virtual machine and acts as a possible link between each virtual machine and the world outside of such virtual machine.
Among other things, a particular virtual machine on a computing device may require access to a resource associated with the computing device. As may be appreciated, such resource may be any sort of resource that can be associated with a computing device. For example, the resource may be a storage device to store and retrieve data, and generally for any purpose that a storage device would be employed. Likewise, the resource may be any other asset such as a network, a printer, a scanner, a network drive, a virtual drive, a server, a software application, and the like. Accordingly, whatever the resource may be, the virtual machine may in fact be provided with access to services provided by such resource.
One or more administrators may be responsible for the management of virtual resources among multiple users. Various difficulties with the management of such resources may ensue, such as a timely allocation of requested resources and a fair distribution of access to the resources among the users.
Neither uncontrolled access nor strictly-regulated access are desirable options for the management of virtual machine resources. Providing uncontrolled access of the resources is not a desirable option as such access may result in some users consuming more resources than desired by the administrator. Furthermore, a strict management policy overseen by the administrator, in which management of virtual resources is closely regulated, may be time-consuming and unnecessary. An administrator may not need to grant permission or access for every resource desired by a user, but such an act is compulsory if a strict management policy is enforced.
Thus a self-service restriction system in which the administrator creates a policy for a user indicating the rights desired for the user is highly desirable.

Virtual machine self-service restrictions


A method of analyzing an image provided by a user to determine the likelihood of user interest in materials related to products of third parties and sending such materials for display or printing for the user including scanning a hard copy of an image provided by a user to provide a digital image and sending such image to a memory location, automatically analyzing the scanned digital image to determine the likelihood that materials related to products will be of interest to the user by recognizing features which relate to the product of users, such features being selected from the group consisting of product trademarks, product trade dress, and other products which are related to the third party products, and selecting one or more items of product materials based on their likelihood of interest to the user and sending them to the user for display or printing.

Photographic imaging service applications have been extended to include digital imaging technology. For Internet-based photographic service applications, a consumer is provided a means for displaying his/her digital images with the digital images residing on a remote computer. Typical scenarios for these Internet-based digital imaging applications include the viewing thumbnail versions of a collection of digital images, selection of a particular digital image for viewing, enhancement, and/or printing. While there exist many different methods for an Internet-based photographic service provider to receive payment for the service rendered, many have chosen to display advertisement messages on the consumer's display screen and collect payment not from the consumer, but from an advertisement client. At present, it is possible for the photographic service provider to perform directed advertisement if prior knowledge of the consumer in the form of a consumer profile is available. However, if no prior knowledge of the consumer is available, directed advertising is not possible. Furthermore, the consumer profile may not be up-to-date. Moreover, the profile may not account for some facets of a consumer's buying habits. If an employee of the photographic service provider were to view the consumer's photographs, the employee could make intelligent decisions as to which advertisement client would most likely desire directed advertisement to the particular consumer. Aside from issues of privacy of consumer photographs, the process of humans observing photographs and making directed advertising decisions is too costly for consideration. Research has shown that unrelated directed advertisements are often considered nuisance by the consumer while directed advertisement which relate to the interests of the consumer are considered desirable.
Digital imaging algorithms have for a long while been devised to analyze the content of digital images. In particular, the methods disclosed by Cullen et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,823, Ravela et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,456, and De Bonet et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,288 analyze digital images. In these digital imaging applications a database of digital images is maintained. For each digital image in the database a set of image features, expressed in mathematical form, are calculated. A query digital image is selected, usually initiated from the user of the digital imaging application, and compared to the digital images in the database. The same set of image features is calculated for the query digital image. A comparison between the calculated image features for the query digital image and the database digital images is performed and yields an image similarity value for each of the database digital images as a measure of overall similarity. The image similarity values are analyzed and the digital images with the highest image similarity values are displayed for the user.
While these digital image query applications are capable of analyzing digital images, none of the above mentioned disclosed methods relate the content of a set of consumer digital images to the likelihood of an advertisement client's desire to direct advertisement material to that particular consumer.

Analyzing images to determine third party product materials corresponding to the analyzed images


This invention is directed to a drawer system including a roll-up device comprising a core cylinder and a sheet to cover the upper open surface of a drawer in which the sheet is rolled up onto the core cylinder by elasticity. The sheet roll-up device is placed above the entrance of the drawer and the end of the sheet is secured to the top back side of the drawer so that the sheet can be drawn out from the sheet roll-up device against the elasticity to cover the open surface of the drawer and the articles therein when the drawer is pushed inside of the entrance, when the drawer is moved outwardly the sheet is rolled onto the roll-up device by the elasticity. Rollers may be placed on the ends of the core cylinder which rotate to feed the sheet out or to feed the sheet onto the drawer as the drawer is moved in and out.

This invention relates to a drawer system in which a drawer filled with contents can be moved in and out smoothly.
As is well known in the prior art, a drawer fixed to a desk or a wardrobe is planned so that it is convenient to place in and remove books, clothes or notions.
However, in case that a top-open drawer is full of contents or the contents are projecting upward, the contents suffer rumples or a mass in their upper surface, or sometimes the contents overflow backward of the drawer without being noticed by which one is upset because of a mistaken idea that the contents are lost.
The present invention provides an improved drawer system in order to overcome the above problems.