A battery pack includes a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, a rigid covering member, and a protection circuit board. The secondary battery includes a battery element and a flexible covering member formed of a first laminated film composed of a first heat-bonding layer, a first metal layer, and a first outer covering layer which are laminated successively. The flexible covering material is sealed along around the battery element while leaving electrode terminals of the positive and negative electrodes extended outside the battery element. The rigid covering member covers the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery together with the flexible covering member, and is formed of a second laminated film composed of a second heat-bonding layer, a second metal layer, and a second outer covering layer which are laminated successively. The flexible covering member and the rigid covering member are bonded by melting the second heat-bonding layer without melting the first outer covering layer.

The present application relates to a battery pack, more particularly, to application of a battery pack applied to a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, such as a lithium-ion secondary battery.
In recent years, various types of portable electronic devices, such as videotape recorders (VTRs) with camera, cell phones, and laptop computers, are widely used, and those having smaller size and weight are being developed. As the portable electronic devices are miniaturized, demand for battery as a power source of them is rapidly increasing. To reduce the size and weight of the device, the battery design in which the battery is lightweight and thin, and the housing space for the device can be efficiently used, is desired as well. It is known that, as a battery for meeting the demands, a lithium-ion secondary battery having a large energy density and a large power density is the most preferred.
In the development of the lithium-ion secondary battery, putting into practical use batteries having high selectivity of shape, sheet-type batteries having a reduced thickness and a large area, or card-type batteries having a reduced thickness and a small area is desired.
For meeting the demands, it has been recently reported that the thin battery as described above can be obtained using a casing member in a film form, such as an aluminum laminated film (see, for example, TAKAMI Norio, "Ultrathin lithium-ion battery using aluminum laminated film case", Toshiba Review, Toshiba Corporation, Vol. 56, No. 2, February, 2001, pp. 10-13 (hereinafter referred to as "non-patent document 1")).
FIGS. 1A-1C show the external views of a battery 1 disclosed in the non-patent document 1. FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C are a plan view, a front view, and a section view of the thin lithium-ion battery for cellular phones, respectively.
The thin battery 1 is produced by covering a flat-type battery element, which is formed of stacking a positive electrode and a negative electrode through a separator and spirally winding them, with an aluminum laminated film and sealing the film around the battery element.
A positive electrode terminal 2a and a negative electrode terminal 2b respectively connected to the positive electrode and negative electrode are extended outside the battery, for example, from one side of the thin battery 1, and the aluminum laminated film around the battery element except for one side is sealed and then an electrolyte solution is injected from the unsealed opening, and finally the side of the film from which the positive electrode terminal 2a and negative electrode terminal 2b are extended is sealed, thus obtaining the thin battery.
This thin battery uses a casing of an aluminum laminated film having a thickness of about 100 μm, and hence has small strength, as compared to a battery using a metallic can, and it is difficult to use this battery as a battery pack as it is. Accordingly, a battery pack containing a battery element covered with a laminated film in a pack housing formed of a plastic and firmly fixed with an adhesive double coated tape or the like is widely used. Further, it has been known that the battery pack can be improved in resistance to drop impact or shock by increasing the thickness of the housing.
However, in such a known thin battery, the housing is bonded with the surface of the battery at limited bonding portions, and hence, when the battery is dropped from a certain height or higher, there is a possibility that, although the battery element is not damaged, a load is concentrated on the flexible battery casing to break the casing or a pinhole is formed in the metal layer of the casing, and then moisture enters the inside of the battery by passing through the resin layer.
In this case, even in the battery pack which seems to suffer no deformation or the like from the external view of the pack and which can be fitted into an electric device, when the casing for battery is broken, moisture in air reacts with the electrode or electrolyte to continuously generate harmful gas, or when only pinhole is formed, the moisture vigorously reacts with the electrode or electrolyte to generate gas during the charging, so that the battery pack unusually expands, whereby causing a possibility of breaking the portable electric device.
Further, the pack housing inevitably has a thickness as large as about 300 μm or more due to the limitation of the technique for thin plastic molding or for securing the strength of housing, and therefore it is difficult to increase the battery volume to be contained in the housing.


An electronic device is described, that includes a processing logic configured to receive input image data and generate output image data having a different format from the input image data using an artificial neural network model. The artificial neural network model includes a plurality of encoding layer units, including a plurality of layers located at a plurality of levels, respectively. The artificial neural network model also includes a plurality of decoding layer units including a plurality of layers and configured to form skip connections with the plurality of encoding layer units at the same levels. A first encoding layer unit of a first level receives a first input feature map and outputs a first output feature map. A first output feature map is based on the first input feature map, to a subsequent encoding layer unit and a decoding layer unit at the first level.

The inventive concept relates to an artificial neural network (ANN) model, and more particularly, to an ANN model configured to perform an image processing operation and an electronic device including the ANN model.
Image sensors may contain a color filter array (CFA) to separate color information from detected light. Imaging devices may rebuild an image file using unfinished output color samples from the image sensor in a process known as demosaicing. A Bayer pattern mosaic is an example of a CFA that organizes colors using a square grid of sensors. A Red green Blue (RGB) image is a final output image of an image sensor, after filtering has occurred. Thus, an RGB image can be the product of a Bayer pattern mosaic after image processing.
An image sensor containing a CFA may produce very large image files. Therefore, the process of demosaicing an image from an image sensor with a CFA (e.g., a Bayer pattern) to an output format (e.g., an RGB image) may be costly in both time and processing power. Therefore, there is a need in the art for systems and methods to efficiently convert a high resolution image in a CFA format to a usable output image.

Artificial neural network model and electronic device including the same


A vehicle steering system can keep the comfort of steering feeling for a driver, even in a situation, such as traveling on a cant road or in a crosswind, where a unidirectional-drift behavior of a vehicle occurs, and includes an electric motor, a steering angle sensor, a steering torque sensor, and an EPS_ECU that controls driving power of the electric motor, when the vehicle is traveling straight, based on vehicle information including a steering torque and a steering angle, to perform a control for applying an assist torque to a steering system. The EPS_ECU includes an integrating unit for calculating an integrated torque value obtained by integrating the steering torque, and a steering effort assist controlling unit for performing an anti-unidirectional-drift control over the driving power of the electric motor, when the integrated torque value exceeds the threshold value, so as to cancel the unidirectional-drift behavior of the vehicle.

When a vehicle travels on a cant road, which is a road inclined in the width direction, or in a crosswind, a behavior occurs in which the vehicle drifts on the cant road to the lower side of the inclined direction under the influence of gravity, and drifts in the crosswind on the leeward side by the influence of the wind. Such a behavior is called a unidirectional drift of a vehicle. In order to continue to drive the vehicle straight against the behavior of the unidirectional drift of the vehicle, a driver of the vehicle continuously needs to turn the steering wheel toward the upper side of the inclined direction or the windward side. That is, in a situation where a behavior of a unidirectional drift of a vehicle occurs, in order to maintain a straight traveling of the vehicle, a driver of the vehicle is required to continuously provide a steering effort in a direction opposite to the direction the vehicle drifts (the direction of the drift).
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-001923, a vehicle steering system is disclosed that obtains, when a disturbance effecting a vehicle behavior such as an inclination on a cant road or a crosswind occurs, i.e., when a vehicle travels on a cant road, in a crosswind, or the like, an effect value of disturbance which corresponds to a magnitude of an effect of the disturbance to the vehicle behavior, and then performs an assist torque control according to the steering in accordance with the influence value of disturbance, to cancel the effect of the disturbance to the vehicle behavior.


A variable set-up, reusable center frame for the realization of concrete and masonry arches and for restoration applications. The center frame includes a succession of Y-shaped modular rod members. Each branch is provided at its end with a first and second upper hinge joint and a lower hinge joint. The lower hinge joint is provided with a slide rod, and a plate-shaped connection locks the slide rod in place. The upper hinge joints are hingedly connected to supporting saddles extending out of a lower surface of a flexible forming member which is placed in contact with the member being supported. The slide rods are adjustable in position with respect to the lower branch such that the space between the lower branches can be adjusted to achieve different formations in the forming member.

As is well known, centering frames already known essentially consist of provisional structures made up of steel rods or of timber members with said structures being intendend for supporting arches and vaults during construction, and having extrados dummy boards on which the intrados of the arch structure to be built or restored is supported.
Among the centering frames already known, and more particularly among those which are not designed for large buildings, the movable and the stationary centering frames are to be distinguished. The first ones, as is well known, are employed when a set of identical structures are to be realized, or when a single structure can be made up by putting together the parts one after another, whereas the latter are to be partially or totally disassembled for being employed again.
Anyway, both the movable and the stationary centering frames already known are characterized in that they are to be completely or partially disassembled to adapt the same to different bending radii, as well as to the different load values and distributions.
Accordingly, one of the main drawbacks of the structures employed at the present time consists in the need for adapting and designing on each occasion the structure of the centering frame according to the kind of the desired bending.
Moreover, especially in the case of timber structures, the structures already designed and built according to some specified parameters can be hardly employed again for different solutions.
Stated in a schematic way, the structure of the centering frames adopted up to the present time in building technology is made up of a curved profile lattice set, and it is supported just at its sides, or it is possibly endowed also with intermediate supports, the whole structure resting directly on the ground or on the vertical bearing structures.
The assembling of such type of structure is generally difficult and requires the presence of skilled labor; in addition, such step must be necessarily carried out during installation.
A further drawback consists in the fact that, once the structure has been assembled, it is extremely difficult to substitute any possible defective parts.
Such drawbacks, especially if concerned with centering frame structures intended for restoration purposes in urban areas, affect at a remarkable extent both the progress of works and the cost of the restoration intervention.

Variable set-up reusable centering frame


The purpose of the invention is to provide a press-coated orally-disintegrating tablet having a powder/granular material with poor formability in its inner core, which has an excellent disintegrability and a suitable hardness as a whole tablet. Furthermore, the invention is a press-coated orally-disintegrating tablet with an outer layer surrounding an inner core wherein the inner core has a thickness in the range of 30 to 80% per that of the whole tablet, and the outer layer comprises (a) microcrystalline cellulose, (b) a sugar or a sugar alcohol, and (c) one or more particular ingredients selected from the group consisting of crospovidone, starches, low-substituted hydroxypropylcellulose and carmellose.

Due to an aging society, there have been many attempts to develop orally-disintegrating tablets which can be easily taken by elderly people who have difficulty or trouble in swallowing tablets. Accordingly, there are growing demands for developing orally-disintegrating tablets containing various active ingredients. In case that an active ingredient has a bitter taste, the masking of the bitter taste may be necessary to formulate it into orally-disintegrating tablets and the like. Also, controlled release of an active ingredient may be necessary for increasing the bioavailability of the active ingredient. However, many of such functional particles tend to give some adverse affects on the formability of tablets (for example, they lack sufficient hardness when homogeneously distributed in a tablet), and thus it is necessary to add a large amount of additives such as an excipient and a binder to avoid the adverse affects, which inevitably leads the tablets to be in an inconvenient big size.
Patent Reference 1 discloses a press-coated rapidly disintegrating tablet as a unique form which has not been well known before. Press-coated tablets have a double-layered structure consisting of an inner core and an outer layer, and they have been attracting attentions as a novel technique for formulating tablets. However, the press-coated formulations disclosed in Patent Reference 1 are designed focusing on the solubility and degradability of the inner core, and the ingredients of both the inner core and the outer layer comprise ingredients with formability (for example, it appears that the ingredients of the inner core in Patent Reference 1 has formability and a certain hardness, as figured out in the results of Example 2 in which only the ingredients of the inner core were compressed into tablets). Thus, Patent Reference 1 does not try to apply powder/granular material with poor formability to the ingredients of the inner core, and the document discloses only a limited range of ingredients applicable to the inner core. Additionally, Patent Reference 1 discloses a combination of "microcrystalline cellulose" and "a sugar or a sugar alcohol" as an ingredient of the outer layer of the press-coated tablet, but it fails to disclose a combination which further comprises the "particular ingredients" of the present invention.
Furthermore, the particular ingredients of the present invention which are essential for the outer layer (e.g. carmellose, low-substituted hydroxypropylcellulose, natural starches, and/or crospovidone) are disclosed as a dissolution/disintegration accelerator of the inner core in Patent Reference 1 (see, page 9, lines 17 to 26). In detail, Patent Reference 1 explains that the outer layer comprises ingredients with good formability, and preferably it further comprises ingredients with good solubility and/or disintegrability; while the inner core also comprises ingredients with good solubility and/or disintegrability, and it may further comprise a dissolution/disintegration accelerator (see, page 8, lines 14 to 17). Moreover, Patent Reference 1 indicates that said inner core and outer layer are used to prepare a molded product having a double-layered structure wherein only the outer layer, which needs hardness, has a good formability whereas the inner core has an excellent solubility/disintegrability; and its inventors thus completed a molded product having a rapid dissolving/disintegration time with sufficient formability (see, page 5, lines 5 to 11 and abstract). Namely, it seems that the molded product in Patent Reference 1 exhibits its characteristics by containing ingredients such as dissolution/disintegration accelerators only in the inner core (i.e. excluding them from the outer layer). Conversely, the particular ingredients in the present invention are essential ingredients for the outer layer and therefore the particular ingredients in the present invention are used in an opposite manner to the ingredients in the invention of Patent Reference 1.
Patent Reference 2 discloses some trials of applying microcapsule-like granules to the ingredients of the inner core regarding the formulation in Patent Reference 1 described above. In detail, Patent Reference 2 discloses some studies on applying microcapsule-like granules to the inner core of the press-coated tablet, and some successful examples of press-coated formulations containing microcapsule-like granules in their inner cores which were prepared using the outer layers comprising lactose and microcrystalline cellulose according to a given method. Patent Reference 2 discloses an invention of press-coated tablets containing microcapsule-like granules in their inner core, but fails to disclose or suggest studies on applying the press-coated tablets to orally-disintegrating tablets. Additionally, in Patent Reference 2, there is no study about applicable ingredients for the outer layer in the press-coated formulation containing microcapsule-like granules in its inner core, other than lactose and microcrystalline cellulose. Of course, Patent Reference 2 does not disclose the combination of the essential ingredients for the outer layers of the present invention. Moreover, Patent Reference 2 fails to disclose mannitol as an ingredient of the outer layer of the press-coated formulation.
Patent Reference 3 refers to an orally disintegrating tablet comprising mannitol, but does not clearly disclose press-coated formulations.
[Patent Reference 1] WO 2003/028706 A1
[Patent Reference 2] WO 2005/097041 A1
[Patent Reference 3] JP 2001-058944 A

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Fungus-responsive chimaeric genes are used in the production of transgenic plants which can produce plant cells surrounding the fungus infection that become capable of killing, disabling or repelling the fungus or that are themselves killed or rendered unsuitable for the fungus to feed upon, thereby preventing the spread of the fungus infection.

The fungi are a very old group of microorganisms. Harmful fungi cause diseases of man, other animals, and especially plants. About 8000 species of fungi can cause plant diseases, and all plants are attacked by some kind of fungi. Some plant-pathogenic fungi can attack many plant species, other attack only one.
In general, fungal plant diseases can be classified into two types: those caused by soilborne fungi and those caused by airborne fungi. Soilborne fungi cause some of the most widespread and serious plant diseases, such as root and stem rot caused by Fusarium spp. and root rot caused by Phytophthora spp.
Since airborne fungi can be spread long distances by wind, they can cause devastating losses, particularly in crops which are grown over large regions. A number of these pathogens have caused widespread epidemics in a variety of crops. Important diseases caused by airborn fungi are stem rust (Puccinia graminis) on wheat, corn smut (Ustilago maydis) on corn, and late blight disease (Phytophthora infestans) on potato and tomato.
Most of these fungal diseases are difficult to combat, and farmers and growers must use a combination of practices, such as sanitary measures, resistant cultivars, and effective fungicides, against such diseases. Hundreds of million of dollars are spent annually for chemical control of plant-pathogenic fungi. As a result, there is today a real need for new, more effective and safe means to control plant-pathogenic fungi.
It is known that plants possess defense mechanisms against fungal diseases. When a plant recognizes a fungal attack, it can respond by inducing several reactions in its cells immediately surrounding the fungal infection site. Resistance mechanisms are activated by the initial infection, so as to limit the spread of the invading fungal pathogen (Ward et al, 1991). The resistance mechanisms include a localized cell death known as a hypersensitive response, the accumulation of phytoalexins, and lignification (De Wit, 1987). The specificity of these responses, which can be very effective in limiting the spread of a fungal infection, depends on the genetic make-up of the host and the pathogen.
Characterization of the genetic components which control cultivar/race specific host/pathogen interactions is a goal of current molecular plant pathology research. Transcriptional activation of defense-related genes is part of the complex defense system which enables plants to deal with contacts with potential pathogens (Collinge and Slusarenko, 1987; Hahlbrock and Scheel, 1989; Bowles, 1990). The identification of cis-acting elements regulating the expression of defense-related genes has been sought in order to elucidate the process by which signal transduction chains connect the initial recognition of a pathogen by a plant host with its induction of defense reactions (Lamb et al, 1989). As found for several other host/pathogen systems (van Loon, 1985; Hahlbrock and Scheel, 1989), infection of potato with the fungus Phytophthora infestans, which is the causal agent of late blight disease, leads to transcriptional activation of genes encoding enzymes of the phenylpropanoid metabolism and PR-proteins (Fritzemeier et al, 1987; Kombrink et al, 1988; Taylor et al, 1990). Transcription of these genes is induced with similar kinetics in compatible and incompatible interactions of different potato cultivars with different Phytophthora infestans races. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of one of the "pathogenesis related" (or "PR")-protein genes in potato, i.e., prp1-1, which is a member of the large prp1 gene family (with 10-15 very similar copies per haploid genome), shows striking similarity to the corresponding sequences of a gene encoding the HSP26 heat-shock protein in soybean (Taylor et al, 1990). In situ hydrodization experiments showed that the PRP1 transcript accumulates around the site of fungal penetration, but the function of this protein in the defense strategy of potato is not yet clear. The homologous soybean HSP26 protein represents a unique member within a group of low molecular weight heat-shock proteins of plants, missing some characteristic structural features and appearing in an unusually high relative concentration under a broad variety of stress conditions (Czarnecka et al, 1984; Vierling, 1991) but also having no known role in cell metabolism. No sequence similarity has been found between the protein encoded by the prp1-1 gene and several known PR-proteins from other Solanaceous species (Taylor et al, 1990).
Most plant genes encoding proteins related to pathogen defense, analyzed to date on the level of cis-acting elements, are also activated by several other stress stimuli like mechanical wounding, light and/or elevated concentrations of heavy metal (Oshima et al, 1990; Schmid et al, 1990; Stermer et al, 1990; Douglas et al, 1991; Joos and Hahlbrock, 1992; Becker-Andre et al, 1991).


A radio transmission system based on a frequency divisional multiplexing method is described, comprising an improved method for estimating symbol timing offset and frequency timing offset. The receiver estimates the symbol timing offset based of a block of received symbols based on a cyclic prefix and suffix.

1. The Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a radio transmission system using the generalized frequency divisional multiplexing (GFDM) method.
2. The Relevant Technology
The so-called generalized GFDM system is a recent physical layer (PHY) scheme proposed to address the challenges for 5th generation cellular systems with opportunistic use of frequency spectrum and relaxed synchronization. The GFDM system provides a fast, flexible scalable and content aware physical layer scheme which at the same time is robust and reliable, while using vacant frequency bands, e.g. so-called TV white spaces. The basic GFDM system has been described in "GFDM Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing" by Fettweis et al., IEEE VTC spring 2009.
Though the GFDM system shares some properties with well-known OFDM systems, there are significant differences. While both systems may divide an available frequency band into at least two adjoining sub-bands, the GFDM system may deploy transmission parameters individual for each of the at least two sub-bands while in OFDM the transmission parameters deployed in the sub-bands are similar or identical, i.e. uniform. Furthermore, in the OFDM system each block of symbols exhibits a unique preamble, while the GFDM system uses a common preamble for a block of symbols allocated in the at least two sub-bands.
With regard to synchronization, synchronization methods are well known and established in the various OFDM systems, while there is no synchronization procedure developed yet for GFDM which supports the efficiency of the GFDM system while exploiting the particular properties of the GFDM system. Thus the invention is directed towards improving the GFDM system.

GFDM radio transmission using a pseudo circular preamble


Enhanced techniques and circuitry are presented herein for providing responses to questions from among digital documentation sources spanning various documentation formats, versions, and types. One example includes a method comprising receiving an indication of a question directed to subject having a documentation corpus, determining a set of passages of the documentation corpus related to the question, ranking the set of passages according to relevance to the question, forming semantic clusters comprising sentences extracted from ranked ones of the set of passages according to sentence similarity, and providing a response to the question based at least on a selected semantic cluster.

The complexity of various software applications and platforms has continued to increase. Users can be challenged to find documentation sources in order to employ the various features and functions of complex software applications and platforms. When users require assistance, the users usually manually refer to corresponding documentation, watch tutorial videos, use Internet-based search engines, or seek trained professionals to help. Documentation can be detail-rich and contain a great deal of information regarding the software. However, documentation poses several challenges to the user when seeking information. First, for complex software applications and platforms, documentation can be too vast and difficult to navigate in a reasonable amount of time. Second, customized software implementations are often accompanied by additional documentation separate from the main set of documentation. Third, automated searching of documentation is typically limited to keyword searches, which only produce imprecise results for users. Moreover, reading through the complete set of documentation can be time-consuming, and such an exercise may not provide the user with knowledge as to which features of the software application or platform can provide solutions to specific questions. Customizations and upgrades to the software might involve additional documentation and versioning which can introduce disparities among the various sources of documentation.
Overview
Enhanced techniques and circuitry are presented herein for providing responses to questions from among digital documentation sources spanning various documentation formats, versions, and types. One example includes a method comprising receiving an indication of a question directed to subject having a documentation corpus, determining a set of passages of the documentation corpus related to the question, ranking the set of passages according to relevance to the question, forming semantic clusters comprising sentences extracted from ranked ones of the set of passages according to sentence similarity, and providing a response to the question based at least on a selected semantic cluster.

Semantic cluster formation in deep learning intelligent assistants


A semiconductor light-emitting device includes an active layer including quantum dots, a diffraction grating, a low-reflectance film disposed at a light-emitting end of the active layer, and a high-reflectance film disposed at another end of the active layer and having an optical reflectance higher than an optical reflectance of the low-reflectance film.

In the field of optical devices, development of silicon photonics technology for forming optical functional devices on a silicon substrate is being conducted because of its superiority as processing technology, its industrial spillover effects, and demand for miniaturization; and research is being conducted on an integrated optical device formed by arranging optical components such as an optical modulator and an optical receiver on a silicon substrate. Because silicon itself has no light-emitting mechanism, an external light source is necessary to generate an optical signal. To provide an external light source, a hybrid integration method may be used. In this method, for example, an optical spot-size converter is provided on a silicon optical waveguide, and the silicon optical waveguide is optically coupled to a laser diode (LD) used as an external light source by flip-chip mounting.

Semiconductor light-emitting device and optical device

PHOTONICS ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION


(1) A niobium powder for a capacitor having a tapping density of 0.5 to 2.5 g/ml, an average particle size of 10 to 1000 μm, angle of repose from 10° to 60°, the BET specific surface area from 0.5 to 40 m2/g and a plurality of pore diameter peak tops in the pore distribution, and a producing method thereof; (2) a niobium sintered body, which is obtained by sintering the above niobium powder and, having a plurality of pore diameter peak tops in a range of 0.01 μm to 500 μm, preferably, the peak tops of two peaks among the plurality of pore diameter peak tops having a highest relative intensity are present in the range of 0.2 to 0.7 μm and in the range of 0.7 to 3 μm, respectively, and a producing method thereof; (3) a capacitor using the above sintered body and a producing method thereof; and (4) an electronic circuit and electronic device using the above capacitor.

Capacitors for use in electronic instruments such as portable telephone and personal computer are demanded to have a small size and a large capacitance. Among these capacitors, a tantalum capacitor is preferred because of its large capacitance for the size and good performance.
Moreover, recent electronic devices are demanded to operate at a low voltage and high frequency with low noise, and also a lower equivalent series resistance (ESR) is required for a solid electrolyte capacitor.
In this tantalum capacitor, a sintered body of tantalum powder is generally used for the anode moiety. This powder is molded and then sintered, whereby the powder is integrated and works out to an electrode called a sintered body. The inside of this sintered body takes a three-dimensional complicated form resulting from the particles of the powder being electrically and mechanically connected with each other. On the surface of this sintered body including the surface of the inside void, a dielectric film layer is formed and thereinto, a material as a counter electrode is impregnated, whereby a capacitor is fabricated. As long as the dielectric film layer uniformly adheres to the inside or outside surface of the sintered body, the capacitance of the capacitor manufactured greatly depends on, microscopically, the contact state of the counter electrode material with the dielectric film layer.
In order to increase the capacitance of the tantalum capacitor, it is necessary to increase the mass of the sintered body or to use a sintered body increased in the surface area by pulverizing the tantalum powder.
The method of increasing the mass of the sintered body necessarily involves enlargement of the capacitor shape and cannot satisfy the requirement for downsizing. On the other hand, in the method of pulverizing tantalum powder to increase the specific surface area, the pore diameter of the tantalum sintered body decreases or closed pores increase at the stage of sintering, as a result, impregnation of the cathode agent at a later step becomes difficult.
For example, assuming that when an aqueous phosphoric acid solution is used as a counter electrode material, the contact state of the solution with a dielectric film layer is complete and the capacitance appearance ratio (also called a cathode agent impregnation ratio) at the time is 100%, a capacitance appearance ratio of 100% can be hardly attained in the case of using a counter electrode material having high viscosity, particularly a solid electrode material. In particular, when the average particle size of tantalum powder is small or the sintered body manufactured from a tantalum powder has a large shape, the difficulty increases and in an extreme case, the capacitance appearance ratio cannot reach even 50%. With such a low capacitance appearance ratio, the capacitor manufactured cannot have a sufficiently high moisture resistance.
In case the tantalum powder to produce a tantalum sintered body has a small pore diameter, it essentially leads to a small pore diameter of the tantalum sintered body and a low capacitance appearance ratio. Consequently, a problem arises that an ESR cannot be lowered.
As one of means for solving these problems, a capacitor using a sintered body as an electrode may be considered, which sintered body is produced using an electrode material providing a dielectric material having a dielectric constant larger than that of tantalum and gives a high capacitance appearance ratio.
As such an electrode material which can be supplied industrially, niobium having a dielectric constant larger than that of tantalum and having a large reserve is known.
JP-A-55-157226 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") discloses a method for producing a sintered device for capacitors, where agglomerated valve-acting metal powder having a particle size of 2.0 μm or less is molded under pressure and then sintered, the molded and sintered body is cut into fine pieces, a lead part is joined therewith and these are again sintered. However, the details on the producing method and properties of the niobium capacitor are not described in this patent publication.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,965 discloses a capacitor using a sintered body of niobium powder having an average particle size of 5.1 μm obtained by hydrogenating and pulverizing a niobium ingot. However, the capacitor disclosed has a large leakage current (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "LC") value and is of little practical use.
JP-A-10-242004 (WO 98/38660) discloses a technique of partially nitriding a niobium powder and thereby improving the LC value.
The tapping density of a niobium powder for a capacitor is an important factor in molding operation of the niobium powder. The tapping density of conventional niobium powder is 2.5 g/ml or more, specifically about 4 g/ml, and this is insufficient for the molding.
That is, if such a niobium powder is molded and sintered to prepare a sintered body, the niobium powder poorly flows from the hopper of a molding machine to the metal mold and it is difficult to weigh a constant amount of niobium powder and flow it into the metal mold. As a result, it causes problems such that the shape of the molded article is not satisfactorily stabilized, the molded article and the sintered body are deficient in the strength, and a capacitor having bad LC is produced frequently. If a special molding apparatus capable of also handling a powder having bad flowability is used, the molding cost excessively increases and this is not practical.
As such, conventionally known niobium powder for capacitors has a problem that the powder cannot be fully adapted to continuous molding and the productivity of capacitors is low.

Niobium powder, niobium sintered body and capacitor using the sintered body


Provided is a fluorene derivative of Chemical Formula 1:

In general, organic light emission refers to a phenomenon in which electrical energy is converted into light energy using an organic material. An organic light emitting device using the phenomenon of organic light emission generally has a structure including an anode, a cathode and an organic material layer interposed therebetween. Here, the organic material layer generally has a structure including a plurality of layers composed of different materials in order to improve efficiency and stability of the organic light emitting device and may, for example, include a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer and the like. In such a structure of the organic light emitting device, when a voltage is applied between two electrodes, holes and electrons are injected into the organic material layer from the anode and the cathode, respectively, and the injected holes and electrons are combined to form excitons. When the excitons fall to the ground state again, light is emitted.
There is a continuous need for development of novel materials for the aforementioned organic light emitting device.

Fluorene derivative and organic light emitting device comprising same

Abstract: and an organic light emitting device comprising the same.


A Dynamic Live System for collecting, inputting, storing, and reporting Element Effort Event Data, whose processes upon query enable the reporting of well formatted Formulaic Conjoined Project Effort Instance (CPEI) Reports per the System's Who did What in Phasetime Effort Instance Formulas in Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Auto Displays, and Inferences, not stored as displayed in Systems base tables. The formulas 5th Element permits effort instances to be reported as past, present and future CPEI displays, regardless if said element effort event data was inputted by an element directly or generated automatically by the system's use of AI type techniques. Dynamically generated well formatted CPEI report displays incorporate functional interaction designed attributes that hyperlink formula primitives by their CPEI associations, whether or not said associations are acknowledged as credited efforts by a project owner. Functional interaction designed virtual data tables permit rated report displays per formulaic CPEI element virtual data field fulfillment.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is directed to a dynamic live computer-based database formula method and infrastructure search system thereof, which when queried, conjoins project effort instance report data from formula input and stored data, into well formatted functional interaction designed rated CPEI displays that hyperlink element Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Auto Efforts and Auto Inference Associations to CPEI associations, whether or not efforts are credited by a project owner and whether or not efforts are inputted by an element or generated from other inputted element effort event data automatically.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
No related art was found for Formulaic reporting of Element Effort Event Data.

Formulaic conjoined project effort instance display method and search system process thereof


A control device of a servomotor includes a current control loop selecting unit configured to select a first current control loop or a second current control loop having a response speed slower than that of the first current control loop, as a current control loop for controlling a current flowing through the servomotor; a filter configured to attenuate an input or an output of the first current control loop or the second current control loop selected by the current control loop selecting unit in accordance with a set attenuation ratio in a specific frequency range; and a filter attenuation ratio setting unit configured to set, as the attenuation ratio of the filter, a first attenuation ratio when the first current control loop is selected by the current control loop selecting unit, and a second attenuation ratio smaller than the first attenuation ratio when the second current control loop is selected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device for a servomotor used as a driving source of a machine tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is often the case that a control device for controlling and driving a servomotor used as a driving source of a machine tool is generally constituted of three control loops, namely, a position control loop, a speed control loop, and a current control loop.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a general control device for a servomotor. In the following, constituent elements indicated with the same reference numerals throughout the drawings are constituent elements having substantially the same functions.
In a position control loop, a speed command generation unit 131 generates a speed command value, based on position information of a servomotor 2 detected by a position detection unit 142 mounted on the servomotor 2 and based on a position command value generated by a position command generation unit (not illustrated). In a speed control loop, a current command generation unit 121 generates a current command value, based on speed information of the servomotor 2 detected by a speed detection unit 141 mounted on the servomotor 2 and based on a speed command value generated by the speed command generation unit 131. In a current control loop, a driving command for driving a power converter 3 using a compensator 111 is generated, based on a detection value of a driving current of the servomotor 2 and based on the current command value generated by the current command generation unit 121. The power converter 3 is an inverter configured to convert direct current power to alternate current power by a switching operation of a switching element provided in the power converter 3, for instance. The power converter 3 is configured to control a conversion operation of converting direct current power to alternate current power for driving the servomotor 2 by controlling a switching operation of the switching element in the power converter 3 in response to receiving a driving command. The servomotor 2 is operated by using alternate current power output from the power converter 3, as a driving power. Therefore, controlling the alternate current power output from the power converter 3 makes it possible to control and drive the speed of the servomotor 2, the torque of the servomotor 2, or the position of a rotor. A movable unit of a machine tool is driven by driving the servomotor 2.
As a compensator used in a current control loop, a PI compensator, and an I-P compensator are known.
A PI compensator has an advantage in shortening a rise time compared to an I-P compensator. Generally, a shortened rise time of a current control loop makes it possible to set a high gain of a speed control loop formed on the outside of the current control loop. Further, setting a high gain of a speed control loop makes it possible to reduce an error (position error) with respect to a position command value in a machine tool. PI control and I-P control have the same oscillation limit. Therefore, when a current control loop gain is determined with a margin substantially the same as each other from the oscillation limit with respect to a PI compensator and with respect to an I-P compensator, PI control can be operated at a higher speed, and a position error of PI control can be reduced, as compared with I-P control. Accordingly, using a PI compensator in a current control loop contributes to enhancement of cutting precision of a machine tool.
On the other hand, an I-P compensator has an advantage in reducing an amount overshooting of a machine tool compared to a PI compensator. Therefore, using an I-P compensator in a current control loop makes it possible to stably position with a reduced amount of overshooting in a machine tool.
For instance, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,199, there is a technique that enhances both the response and stability in servomotor control by appropriately using a PI compensator and an I-P compensator, as a compensator in a current control loop, taking into account of the aforementioned characteristics of the PI compensator and the I-P compensator. According to the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,199, gain values of a current control loop and a speed control loop are adjusted, as necessary, by respectively using an I-P compensator in positioning mode (non-locus control mode) such as a fast forward operation, and a PI compensator in locus control mode such as cutting and feeding operation mode, as a compensator in a current control loop. Specifically, securing a high gain by using a PI compensator in locus control mode makes it possible to enhance response of a current control loop, and also makes it possible to enhance response of speed control and position control to thereby enhance cutting processing precision of a machine tool while enhancing control performance. Further, securing a low gain by using an I-P compensator in non-locus control mode makes it possible to stably secure control.
In the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,199, only the compensators are switched depending on whether the servomotor is in locus control mode or in non-locus control mode. For instance, when the driving mode of the servomotor is switched from non-locus control mode to locus control mode, the compensator to be used in a current control loop is switched from an I-P compensator to a PI compensator. In this case, although response of the current control loop enhances, a gain at a mechanical resonance point increases in a high frequency range. Specifically, when a PI compensator is used in a current control loop, a gain in a high frequency range increases compared to a configuration of using an I-P compensator. As a result, vibrations that are not generated when using an I-P compensator may be generated when using a PI compensator.
The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,199 has an object of enhancing control performance by using a PI compensator in locus control mode to thereby enhance processing precision of a machine tool, but does not consider the response characteristics in a high frequency range, and does not take any measures against avoiding resonance when using a PI compensator in a current control loop in locus control mode. In other words, the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,199 appears to be made based on the premise that a machine has no mechanical resonance point. Actually, however, an elastic body with a mass has a natural frequency. Therefore, a machine without a mechanical resonance point does not exist.
As has been described above, according to the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,199, although use of a PI compensator in a current control loop remarkably enhances response to thereby enhance processing precision of a machine tool, stability of control performance of the machine tool may be deteriorated.


Esters are formed by reaction of acetic anhydride with tertiary butyl or tertiary anyl alcohol in the presence of tertiary amine catalyst such as DMAP or NMI catalyst and acetic acid in amount sufficient to present catalyst degradation; in preferred practice a mixed acetic anhydride and acetic acid stream is recycled to the esterfication.

Tertiary alkyl esters such as t-butyl acetate and t-amyl acetate are known useful compounds.
Generally these materials are prepared by acid catalyzed reaction of the tertiary olefin with acetic acid in order to avoid the formation of water and the corresponding equilibrium problems associated with acid-alcohol reactions. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,031,495, 3,053,887, 3,173,943, 3,172,905, 3,082,246 and 2,678,332. However, this technology has the problem of olefin polymerization which results in yield loss and purification difficulties. The formation of t-alkyl esters by reaction of the tertiary alkanol with acetic anhydride has been considered but has not found widespread acceptance because it is a slow reaction even when carried out at reflux conditions. The use of catalysts such as Lewis acids or protic acids to improve reaction rates introduces problems of byproduct formation, e.g. alcohol dehydration. U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,491 discloses the formation of t-butyl acetate by reaction of acetic acid, acetic anhydride and MTBE or ETBE with an acid catalyst.
There is a need for a process for the production of t-alkyl esters which is rapid and selective and which lends itself to the ready recovery of reaction products and the recycle of unreacted materials.
Now it has been found that t-butyl acetate and t-amyl acetate can be readily formed in high selectivity and yield by reaction of the t-alkanol with acetic anhydride provided certain catalysts are used and provided that acetic acid is present.


A medical image processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes processing circuitry configured to generate an output data set apparently expressing a second data set obtained by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound wave, for each scanning line, as many times as a second number that is larger than a first number, by inputting a first data set to a trained model that generates the output data set on a basis of the first data set obtained by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound wave as many times as the first number for each scanning line.

With ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses, a technique is known by which high-quality images can be obtained by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound wave multiple times for each scanning line while varying a transmission parameter such as the phase, the deflection angle, the frequency, or the like and combining together obtained reception signals related to mutually the same scanning line. Examples of this technique include Tissue Harmonic Imaging (THI) methods and Differential Tissue Harmonic Imaging (Diff-THI) methods.
When using one of these techniques by which high-harmonic signals are extracted by transmitting and receiving the ultrasound wave multiple times for each scanning line, obtaining an image in one frame requires a longer period of time, compared to when an ultrasound wave is transmitted and received once, for each scanning line. As a result, the framerate is lower. In other words, in the above example, the image quality and the framerate are in a trade-off relationship.
In addition, regarding a site (e.g., the heart) that moves at a high speed, when an ultrasound wave is transmitted and received multiple times for each scanning line, image quality is degraded because the site moves before an upcoming ultrasound wave is transmitted and received. For this reason, it may be difficult in some situations to image this kind of site by transmitting and receiving an ultrasound wave multiple times for each scanning line.

Medical image processing apparatus, ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, and trained model generating method


A method for diagnosing increased risk of developing Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) hospital-acquired (HA-MRSA) or community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) which includes obtaining a biological sample from a subject, detecting in the sample a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the FAM129B gene at position 17 of SEQ ID NO 1, and comparing the nucleotide at position 17 of SEQ ID NO. 1 in the sample with the nucleotide at position 17 in SEQ ID NO. 1, wherein an adenine at position 17 of SEQ ID NO. 1 in the sample indicates an increased risk of developing MRSA or CA-MRSA in the subject.

Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria are a common component of the skin surface and lining of the nasal passageways in humans and other animals, and are usually spread by skin-to-skin contact. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a strain of S. aureus that has become resistant to methicillin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat ordinary S. aureus infections. As such, MRSA is particularly hard to treat. When limited to the skin surface and lining of the nasal passageways, S. aureus bacteria are normally harmless. However, S. aureus infections can occur in situations where the bacteria enter into the skin subsurface or body cavity, normally through wounds (including, e.g., surgical incisions) or other sites such as hair follicles.
MRSA infections often occur in patients having weakened immune systems who have been exposed to MRSA, such as patients in long term care, patients undergoing kidney dialysis, or patients recovering from recent surgery or medical treatments such as chemotherapy that weaken the immune system. Skin wounding events or other forms of compromise to skin integrity (e.g., intravenous drug use) are another major risk for MRSA infection, which risk may or may not coincide with the exposure risk. MRSA is often acquired or develops in medical care facilities, such as hospitals. This type of MRSA is known as health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA). But MRSA can also develop in otherwise healthy people not exposed to hospital situations. In these situations, it is termed community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA). CA-MRSA has often been found to be acquired by athletes (who may share towels and razors), children in day care, members of the military and people obtaining tattoos, for example.
Symptoms of staph infections may include red, swollen and painful boil-like symptoms, which may be treated locally. In severe cases and in hospital situations, staph infections may be systemic and must be treated with systemically administered antibiotics.
Some individuals seem to be uniquely susceptible to staph infections and developing recurrent CA-MRSA skin infections. Such populations may also have an elevated risk for developing MRSA if admitted to medical care facilities. Treatment for these individuals involves attempts to decolonize the skin and nasal passages of the patient with topical antibiotics, which can be temporarily effective, especially when coupled with improved sanitation such as frequent hand washing and isolation from other patients. Thus, improved methods of recognizing persons susceptible to recurrent MRSA and/or CA-MRSA are needed and can improve patient care and reduce the incidence of MRSA in these individuals.

Methods of diagnosing increased risk of developing MRSA


A carrier card of standardized size has a base body with at least one cutout for receiving a value chip. The cutout has securing elements forming a snap connection for detachably securing the value chip. The cutout is positioned such on the base body of the carrier card that the value chip in the cutout is usable with standardized application devices. The value chip is removable so as to be used as a minichip card with processing devices that are smaller than the application devices. The cutout has wave-shaped edges with alternating projections and depressions. The base body has a bore for each one of the projections, wherein each one of the bores is arranged perpendicular to the respective projection such that an elastic stay is formed. A cover foil is connected to one face of the base body so as to cover the cutout. At least one of the wave-shaped edges is undercut such that the cutout widens toward the cover foil.

The present invention relates to a carrier card, having outer dimensions corresponding to an industrial standard, for receiving a value chip which carrier card is provided with at least one cutout for receiving the value chip and securing it with a snap connection.
A carrier card with the aforementioned features is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,723. The carrier card is provided with a plurality of cutouts into which value chips can be detachably secured whereby they are either unitarily connected with the carrier card and are provided with perforations allowing removal or, alternatively, are reinsertable and securable with a snap connection into the corresponding cutout of the carrier card.
A field of application not addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,723 for such carrier cards is, for example, especially modern telecommunication and banking technology. In these areas such value chips or carrier cards are subject to international standards in order to ensure that upon insertion of such cards into a corresponding device the respective value chip can be read. Such devices, depending on their design, require the insertion of a carrier card with value chip arranged thereat in a certain area, or, it is also possible to simply insert the value chip which is substantially smaller, such value chips being known under the name SIM module card.
One problem to be solved in this context is that a carrier card should be designed with respect to receiving a value chip such that the carrier card is usable with the attached value chip as well as that the value chip, i.e., a so-called SIM module card, can be removed from the carrier card and can be inserted into a corresponding processing device by itself.


Antimicrobial compositions comprising aliphatic polyester, and an antimicrobial component effective for antimicrobial activity, and, in some embodiments, an enhancer. Example: blend of poly(lactic acid) polymer (55g) with propyleneglycol monolaurate antimicrobial component (9g), and benzoic acid enhancer (1g). Inventive resin compositions are effective against gram negative and gram positive bacteria, mold and mildew. Preferred compositions comprise materials that are GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe).

The use of biodegradable polymers has been described to reduce the amount of waste materials land-filled and the number of disposal sites. Biodegradable materials have adequate properties to permit them to break down when exposed to conditions which lead to composting. Examples of materials thought to be biodegradable include aliphatic polyesters such as poly (lactic acid), poly(glycolic acid), poly(caprolactone), copolymers of lactide and glycolide, poly(ethylene succinate), and combinations thereof.
Degradation of aliphatic polyesters can occur through multiple mechanisms including hydrolysis, transesterification, chain scission, and the like. Instability of such polymers during processing can occur at elevated temperatures as described in WO 94/07941 (Gruber et. al.).
The processing of aliphatic polyesters as microfibers has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,618. U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,160 (Gruber et.al.) discloses the use of melt stable polylactides to form nonwoven articles via melt blown and spunbound processes.
Antimicrobial agents (e.g. antibiotics, antiseptics including antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial agents) play an important part in current medical therapy. This is particularly important in the fields of dermatology as well as skin and wound antisepsis. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/0089539 (Scholz et.al.) is herein incorporated by reference.
Antimicrobial polymer compositions are known, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,639,466 (Ford et. al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,428 (Denesuk). The addition of antimicrobial agents to hydrophilic polypropylene fibers having antimicrobial activity has been described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0241216 (Klun et.al.). These fibrous materials include nonwovens, wovens, knit webs, and knit batts.
The synergistic effect of antimicrobial agents, such as fatty acid monoesters, and enhancers have been described in WO 00/71183 (Andrews et. al.), incorporated herein by reference.


A system includes a build platform having a bottom surface and a top surface. A plurality of apertures receives the build material on the build platform. A vibration generator is coupled to the build platform to vibrate the build platform and move the build material on the build platform. An air handler applies airflow to the build platform in a first airflow mode and a second airflow mode. In the first airflow mode, the build material from the build platform is removed through the plurality of apertures.

Some three-dimensional (3D) printers deposit successive layers of a build material (e.g., a nylon powder, a metal powder, etc.) and fuse or bond selected portions of the build material for each layer by applying energy, such as electromagnetic energy, or a reactant, such as a binder, to the layer of the build material. This assembly process continues, layer-by-layer, until the entire 3D product is completed. When the 3D product is complete, unused build material that is not fused or bonded which that does not form the printed product, may be removed, reclaimed and recycled.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An integrated circuit (IC) socket comprising a housing with a land side, an opposing die side, and sidewalls around a perimeter of the housing. The housing comprises a first dielectric. A plurality of socket pins extends from the land side of the housing through socket pin holes in the housing over the die side of the housing. A second dielectric is within the interstitial regions between the socket pins and sidewalls of the socket pin holes. A frame structure extends around at least a portion of the perimeter of the housing, and a mesh structure is embedded within the first dielectric. The mesh structure has plurality of mesh filaments extending between the plurality of socket pin holes and coupled to the frame structure.

Thermal management in integrated circuit (IC) packaging containing single or multiple integrated circuits (ICs) is becoming an increasingly important issue. Packaging for modern high-performance integrated circuits must contend with increasingly larger scale microelectronic circuit integration, including vertical integration of multiple integrated circuits. Smaller form factors are associated with increasingly higher power densities, having concomitant heat transfer challenges. High-performance ICs, such as modern multi-core microprocessors and high-bandwidth memory devices, demand large electrical current through individual signal and power interconnects. Devices may demand up to 1000 W of power. High-density IC chips with very large land grid arrays having pin counts of 2000-4000 in some instances require socket pit pitches well under 1000 microns.
When mounted in an IC socket on a computer motherboard, power densities through individual interconnect pins in the socket may cause pin temperature to rise to hundreds of degrees, in some instances melting the pins. Temperature rise in the contact pins may cause burning and decomposition of thermosetting plastic socket housing materials, deforming the socket. Demand for higher microprocessor performance in video and gaming applications where repeated or extended bursts are required has further motivated development of advanced socket designs to prevent or mitigate problems associated with pin heating.

Integrated circuit package socket housing to enhance package cooling


A method and apparatus for rapidly and continuously restoring the sensing capacity of thin film sensing elements includes passing a sufficient electrical current through the sensing element to remove from the element selected components from a fluid sample in contact with the sensing element that have an affinity for and are adsorbed and accumulated onto the surface of the sensing element. The passing of current through the sensing element can be accomplished either by applying a constant voltage across the sensing element or by forcing a constant current through the sensing element. The restoration technique removes the components from the sensing element by a combination of resistive heating of the element and electron bombardment of the components on the surface of the element. Moreover, to prevent possible rupture of the sensing element due to electromigration, the current may be alternated in a first direction and then in a second and opposite direction through the sensing element in sequential runs of equal predetermined time intervals.

The present invention relates generally to sensors for detecting selected chemical components in a fluid mixture and, more particularly, to miniaturized thin metal film sensors for detecting selected components rapidly and continuously and for restoring the sensing capacity of the sensor that decreases with the accumulation of the selected component on the sensor.
Detection of selected components in a fluid mixture, such as toxic or other hazardous materials in air, or other environments, is desirable. For example, during the past decade, there has been an increasing emphasis on prevention, control and minimization of pollution from facilities such as refineries, coal-fired utilities, municipal waste incinerators and wastewater treatment plants. It would be desirable to verify the reduction of such pollution by analyzing, on a more real-time basis, the composition of the off-fluid stream at different locations within the treatment facility. Further, increasingly strict government regulations are leading to requirements that at least end points of such facilities be accurately monitored to ensure that pollutants released into the environment remain below thresholds established by legislative regulations. Additionally, more real-time characterization of process streams, such as those in refinery and petrochemical industries, and in wastewater treatment, is essential for effective feedback control strategies to optimize efficiency and minimize pollution.
These needs call for a chemical sensor meeting at least the following criteria. The sensor should be able to rapidly and repeatedly monitor for the presence of selected components. The sensor should be able to differentiate between the components of interest and to detect a broad dynamic range of concentrations of each selected component. The sensor should have a fast response time with respect to detection of selected components as well as a capability for removal of accumulated components. Additionally, the sensor should be compact, low cost and rugged for operation in extreme environments.
One method for detecting selected components in a fluid mixture is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,714,562 by McNerney (the "McNerney patent"). The McNerney patent utilizes a thin layer of conductive material having a chemical affinity for the component of interest. When the thin layer is contacted with the fluid, the component, if present, is adsorbed onto the surface of the layer, thereby increasing its electrical resistance. For example, a thin film of gold experiences a measurable rise in resistivity when mercury vapor in a gaseous environment with which the film is in contact is adsorbed onto the film. Thus, the thin film device of the McNerney patent is useful as a sensor of a selected component in the fluid mixture in which the change in resistance of the gold film may be calibrated to detect the percentage of the selected component in the fluid medium by the amount adsorbed on the gold film in a given interval of time.
However, a problem with the above-described sensor is that the selected component, which adsorbs onto the thin film, accumulates on the thin film and eventually saturates all sites available on its surface. This saturation makes the sensor insensitive to future contacts with the selected component and, thus, impairs its sensing capacity. As a result, the sensing capacity of the sensor must be restored by cleansing the thin film to remove the accumulated components from the surface of the thin film.
One method for restoring the sensing capacity of such a sensor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,008 by Bell et al. (the "Bell Patent"). The Bell Patent describes a method to remove an accumulated reduced sulfur component on the sensing film of an H.sub.2 S thin gold film sensor by oxidizing and evolving the sulfur from the sensor and restoring the sensing capacity of the sensor (see col. 1, lines 57-66 of the Bell patent). Such restoration is achieved by a process of either 1) heating the sensor in contact with oxygen to a sufficient temperature (approximately 265.degree. C.) to oxidize and evolve the sulfur from the sensor, or 2) to avoid the need for heating the sensing film to 265.degree. C., reacting ozone with the accumulated sulfur component to oxidize and evolve that component either at room temperature, or, to fully restore the baseline resistance value of the gold film sensor to zero, at approximately 100.degree. C. (see col. 4, lines 3-28 of the Bell patent). The first method, heating the sensor, requires the use of separate heater elements 23, heater switch 26, and rheostat 25, as shown in FIG. 1 of the Bell Patent. However, the use of a separate heater has several disadvantages. First, the heater requires significant electrical power thereby ruling out battery operation for portability. Second, because of the relatively large size and mass of the overall device, an extended period of time is required to heat the sensor and then to wait for the device to return to ambient temperature prior to taking the next measurement. This significantly increases the response time of the device and, thus, does not allow for the rapid and continuous monitoring of selected components. Third, because a chromium adhesive layer is used to attach the gold film to a substrate, the lifetime of the sensor is primarily determined by the interdiffusion between the gold film and the chromium adhesive layer. In particular, after many thermal regenerations, chromium diffuses to the surface of the gold film thereby poisoning the sensor by making its surface insensitive to the selected component.
Moreover, the second method, the use of ozone, requires an ozone generator, as shown in FIG. 1 of the Bell Patent. Also, this method will require the use of heater elements if it is desired to fully restore the baseline resistance value of the gold film sensor to zero.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,406 by Bernard Fleet (the "Fleet patent") discloses a method for detecting one or more electroactive species in a flow stream by using an electrochemical detector (col. 1, lines 46-48 of the Fleet patent). In particular, the electrochemical detector has an electrochemical thin-layer flow cell adapted to operate on the wall-jet principle and includes a sensor electrode, a solution inlet line, at least one solution exit line and a controller unit for applying a periodically changing voltage to the sensor electrode so that a first part of each cycle of the applied voltage functions as a detecting potential and a second part of each cycle of the applied voltage functions as a cleaning potential (col. 1, lines 32-45 of the Fleet patent). These voltages are required to cause a forward and reverse electrolysis reaction. For example, a detecting potential of 1.2 volts enables a forward reaction to occur, wherein predetermined ions may deposit as an amalgam on the surface of the sensor electrode (col. 4, lines 35-39 of the Fleet patent). Likewise, a cleaning potential of -0.2 volts enables the reverse reaction to occur, wherein the predetermined ions are re-reduced from the surface of the sensor electrode (col. 4, lines 1-5 of the Fleet patent). Thus, the electrochemical detector of the Fleet patent is an electrochemical sensor that utilizes the principles of electrolysis and always requires a voltage to be applied to the sensor electrode to stimulate either a forward or reverse chemical reaction. Moreover, with such a low cleaning potential applied to the sensor electrode (-0.2 volts), cleansing of the sensor electrode is certainly not accomplished by heating the electrode, but rather by electrochemical reactions in which only a negligible amount of current flows through the sensor electrode.
Hence, there exists a need for an improved sensor that better satisfies the aforementioned criteria for rapidly and continuously detecting selected components in a fluid mixture and for restoring the sensing capacity of the sensor due to an accumulation of components being adsorbed onto a surface of a thin film of metal of which the sensor is composed.


A portable enclosure, easily erectable and collapsible, to provide environment control and prevent contaminants from being released from the enclosure. The enclosure provides a flexible envelope attached to the interior of the space defined by vertical and horizontal supports which can be erected and collapsed. When erected the enclosure functions as an anteroom and has removable panels in the sides and top. In use, the enclosure is sealed against a vertical or horizontal surface to be worked on and a panel from the side of the enclosure is opened and closed to provide access to the surface by the user. When collapsed the enclosure is a package approximately the size of an average golf club bag which is easily portable to another location. Ducting is provided to which negative pressure pumps are connected to maintain negative pressure within the enclosure and draw contaminants into the pump and then into a closed container. In one embodiment, a four-sided flange extends from the rear side of the enclosure to allow sealing of the flange around the doorway and thereby provide a mechanism for isolating the room located interiorly of the doorway.

Construction and maintenance projects in a hospital provide great potential for releasing contaminants and airborne particulates that can lead to infections or other forms of contamination. All buildings, including hospitals harbor biological pathogens in the cavities of walls, floors and ceilings. Whenever these cavities are penetrated and the air in them is disturbed, the risk of aerosolizing these pathogens is high. There are always air currents in these cavities, even those that are considered dead air spaces. When an opening is made, the air currents change and pathogens are introduced into the occupied space.
Routine maintenance and repair activities such as opening a ceiling tile or a wall to check or test equipment for elevator operation, electrical wiring, pneumatic tube systems, plumbing or air conditioning can release harmful organisms into the environment.
An infectious containment and environmental monitoring program must be established to eliminate or minimize the incidence of infectious particulates, dust, and other airborne particulates associated with construction and repair projects in healthcare facilities and other clean room type environments. Every organization must assess the level of protection needed for the various construction, repair, replacement, and maintenance activities that will be undertaken in the facility. This assessment allows the facility to tailor the level of protection to its specific needs. In addition to having an application in hospital environments, the present invention is also highly useful and applicable for applications in such areas as asbestos removal and removal of other possible airborne contaminants in many other types of facilities.
Various types of enclosures have been provided in the past for isolating a work area from the surrounding environment. An example of an isolation enclosure is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,558.112. This patent discloses a portable isolation enclosure apparatus for removing material from the walls of a building while isolating a portion of the wall from which the material is being removed. The apparatus is positioned against a wall such that an area of the wall is isolated from the ambient environment, and is disposed with the open side of the enclosure facing the wall such that a worker inside the enclosure can access the wall.
In Reissue 33,810 an isolation enclosure is provided for removing asbestos material from ceilings and other elevated asbestos containing structures. The enclosure includes a booth and an adjustable plenum for being raised and lowered relative to the booth to reach the heights of different ceilings. A curtain is provided which extends from the bottom of the plenum below the top of the booth to maintain a closed environment. The enclosure is provided with vacuum and ventilation systems for filtering and ventilating the air which is drawn into the enclosure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,448, an enclosure is provided for working on ceiling openings. The apparatus provides an enclosure extending from the floor to the ceiling and enabling access through a ceiling opening for above ceiling construction and/or repair while providing a isolated enclosure for preventing pathogens, dust, asbestos and other debris from being allowed to escape into the surrounding environment. Another example of a prior art enclosure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,871.


A lighted power outlet system having a plurality of outlets includes light emitters, such as light emitting diodes or other light emitting devices. The light emitters are internally positioned within the interior of the outlet system so that light is projected through terminal apertures of the outlets. The projected light is visible from locations exterior to the outlet system to assist in guiding alignment of plug prongs with the terminal apertures for engagement of electrical plugs with the outlets of the outlet system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to electrical power outlets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical power outlets, such as found in electrical power strips, are fashioned to receive plugs that terminate electrical cords or other electrical transmission media to furnish electrical power to equipment or other devices. Engagement of the plugs with the power outlets requires spatial alignment of plug prongs with terminal apertures of the outlets and then subsequent insertion of the plug prongs therein. Such engagement procedures can be problematic in dimly lit areas and/or areas that have other challenging visual acuity issues.


Apparatuses, systems, and methods for ferroelectric memory (FeRAM) cell operation. An FeRAM cell may have different charge regions it can operate across. Some regions, such as dielectric regions, may operate faster, but with reduced signal on a coupled digit line. To improve the performance while maintaining increased speed, two digit lines may be coupled to the same sense amplifier, so that the FeRAM cells coupled to both digit lines contribute signal to the sense amplifier. For example a first digit line in a first deck of the memory and a second digit line in a second deck of the memory may both be coupled to the sense amplifier. In some embodiments, additional digit lines may be used as shields (e.g., by coupling the shield digit lines to a ground voltage) to further improve the signal-to-noise ratio.

This disclosure relates generally to semiconductor devices, such as semiconductor memory devices. The semiconductor memory device may include a number of memory cells which are used to store information. Memory cells may store a physical signal, such as a charge, which may be used to represent the stored information. For example the memory cell may store a binary bit as charge on a capacitive element, with a first level of charge representing a low logical level, and a second level of charge representing a high logical level.
Different types of memory cells may store the physical signal in different ways (e.g., by using different types of capacitive element). The different types of memory cells may have different read timing. Similarly, memory cells may be operated in different fashions (e.g., charged to different levels) which may affect the read timing of the memory cell.

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for ferroelectric memory cell operations


The present invention discloses a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for transmitting data having non-standard data types between computers. A query is executed to retrieve data from a database. The database comprises data having standard data types and data having non-standard data types and is stored on a data storage device connected to a server computer. At the server computer, data having standard data types, small non-standard data types, and large non-standard data types is retrieved. An answer set is generated that comprises data having standard data types, small non-standard data types, and one or more placeholders representing data having the large non-standard data types. The generated answer set is transmitted to a client computer. After transmitting the generated answer set, data represented by each placeholder in the answer set is transmitted to the client computer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to computer-implemented database management systems, and, in particular, to efficiently transmitting very large objects in a client/server environment.
2. Description of Related Art
Database management systems (DBMSs) are computerized information storage and retrieval systems. Relational database management systems (RDBMSs) are DBMSs that store and retrieve data that are organized as tables. A table consists of rows and columns of data. The rows are formally called tuples. A database will typically have many tables and each table will typically have multiple tuples and multiple columns.
DBMSs are frequently designed to store data having a variety of data types. With the recent developments in object technology, there is a push to incorporate object technology into a distributed relational database environment. For instance, a DBMS may have the capability of storing and retrieving data having standard data types, such as integers and characters, as well as non-standard data types, including very large data objects (LOBs). A typical DBMS represents text, voice, and image data as LOB types. Various applications and systems use data having LOB types. Exemplary applications and systems may involve multimedia applications for the World Wide Web; medical care applications (e.g., X-rays, MRI imaging, and EKG traces); and geographical, space, and exploration systems (e.g., maps, seismic data, and satellite images).
In conventional client-server systems, client applications reside on the client computer, and server applications reside on the server computer. Client computers and server computers are connected with a communication line (network), such as a local area network (LAN). The server computer may contain a DBMS and may be connected with one or more databases. A common client-server scenario involves a client application on the client computer requesting data (e.g., in the form of a database query) from a database on the server computer. The DBMS on the server computer processes the query to, retrieve data from the database. The retrieved data can include LOB data (i.e., data having a LOB data type).
Transmitting LOB data over a network generally consumes a large amount of bandwidth and may significantly impact the performance of the network, the database, and/or applications involved in fetching the LOB data from the database.
For instance, in response to a query from an application, the client computer contacts the server computer. The response to the query may contain LOB data. The current approach to returning the response to the client computer generally involves returning a row of data having both standard and non-standard data types. An exemplary row may have columns 1, 2, and 3, with columns 1 and 3 containing data having standard data types(e.g., integers or characters). Column 2 could contain data having a non-standard data type (e.g., LOB data that consumes two megabytes of space in a data storage device). When a row containing these three columns is transmitted from the server computer to the client computer, data is typically transmitted sequentially. Therefore, the client computer first receives the column 1 data having a standard database data type, receives the column 2 data having a non-standard data type, and then receives the column 3 data having a standard database data type. These columns of data are typically stored in a temporary storage location and then moved to the application""s storage. Because the LOB data in column 2 is large in size, additional time and/or temporary storage space is required to receive the column 2 data.
Processing typically used for handling standard data columns, which are defined by small volumes of data, may be inefficient when the data columns are defined by larger volumes of data. Thus, there is a need for a technique of realizing efficiencies throughout the processing of non-standard data columns, such as when moving data into the application""s storage.
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention discloses a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for transmitting data having non-standard data types between computers.
In accordance with the present invention, a query is executed to retrieve data from a database. The database comprises data having standard data types, data having small non-standard data types, and data having large non-standard data types, and is stored on a data storage device connected to a server computer. At the server computer, data having standard and non-standard data types is retrieved. An answer set is generated that comprises data having standard data types, data having small non-standard data types, and one or more placeholders, wherein each placeholder represents data having large non-standard data types. The generated answer set is transmitted to a client computer. After transmitting the generated answer set, data represented by each placeholder in the answer set is transmitted to the client computer.
An objective of an embodiment of the present invention is to separate data having large non-standard data types from data having standard data types and data having small non-standard data types, when transmitting data between a client and server computer. A further objective of an embodiment of the present invention is to allow either the client or server computer to control the quantity of large non-standard data types received at the client computer 102 when the answer set contains multiple rows (commonly referred to as a block of rows). Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to optimize data movement at various stages in the processing.

Externalizing very large objects in a relational database client/server environment

International Business Machines Corporation


In a method for monitoring an exhaust gas limiting value of an internal combustion engine using an engine controller, the engine controller has at least one exhaust gas sensor, and an error signal is output when the exhaust gas limiting value is exceeded. If the emissions predicted for the present driving state are ascertained with the aid of an engine model and compared to the signal of the exhaust gas sensor or a comparison value for the emission derived therefrom, the prescribed driving cycle may be taken into account when certifying a limiting value monitoring system and a defective system may be reliably recognized in practical operation even in atypical driving states without resulting in erroneous triggering of error signals.

Such monitoring of exhaust gas limiting values is being increasingly required by legislation. A mass of a pollutant such as particles or nitrogen oxide is established for a distance traveled based on a standard driving cycle; when this mass is exceeded, the vehicle's driver must be advised of the emission problem. In practical driving operation, it must be recognized, in any driving cycle, when the limit is exceeded, while the definition of a vehicle to be considered non-defective or defective must be evaluated according to the standardized driving cycle. Furthermore, making a distinction between non-defective and defective vehicles is difficult, because the difference between a still allowable emission and a vehicle to be considered defective is slight. Thus, U.S. legislation provides that a defect is only 1.5 times the allowable certification limiting value for exhaust gas monitoring. At the same time, it must be prevented that monitoring classifies non-defective vehicles in some driving situations as defective. For this reason, the use of a fixed limiting value, independent of the driving situation, is not a viable method. If the vehicle is being driven under full load, emissions may occur such that a fixed limiting value would be exceeded, although the vehicle is to be regarded as non-defective according to the standard driving cycle. The reverse situation is also conceivable in the case of a fixed limit. A defective vehicle, which is operated at low emission by suitable driving behavior, may remain undetected for a long time, while it would not pass an official test.

Monitoring of exhaust gas limiting values


The invention concerns a method for controlling at least one of a fuel supply and an air supply to an internal combustion engine (1), in a fuel supply section thereof, such that an A/F-ratio is adjusted automatically to a desired level. Moreover, the method is activated at a speed close to a cut-out speed threshold (52) where the engine speed will fluctuate around the threshold (52) and the method comprises the steps of:                receiving engine speed data on rotational speed from the engine (1),        briefly changing the A/F ratio,        comparing engine speed data that are essentially unaffected by the brief change to engine speed data that are affected by the brief change to evaluate the impact on the engine speed fluctuation resulting from the brief change,        adjusting the A/F ratio in the same direction as the brief change if the engine speed data affected by the brief change indicates an increase in acceleration after combustion/s, and        adjusting the A/F ratio in the opposite direction to the brief change if the engine speed data affected by the brief change indicates a decrease in acceleration after combustion/s.

In all internal combustion engines, IC engines, the air/fuel ratio is of utmost importance for the engine function. Usually the air/fuel ratio is referred to as the A/F-ratio, A and F signifying respectively air and fuel. In order to achieve a satisfactory combination of low fuel consumption, low exhaust emissions, good runability and high efficiency the A/F-ratio must be maintained within comparatively narrow limits.
The requirements that exhaust emissions from the IC engine to be kept low are becoming increasingly stricter. In the case of car engines these requirements have led to the use of exhaust catalysers and to the use of sensors and probes positioned in the car exhaust system in order to control the A/F-ratio.
However, for consumer products, such as power saws, lawn mowers, and similar products, this technology is difficult to use for mounting reasons and also for cost-efficiency and operational-safety reasons. For instance, in a power saw, a system with sensors and probes would result in increased size and weight as well as a drastic rise in costs and possibly also cause operational safety problems. Further the sensor or the probe often requires a reference having completely pure oxygen, which is a situation that it is practically impossible to achieve in some engines, for instance the motors of power saws.
Expected future legislation with respect to CO-emissions from small IC engines may make it difficult to use manually adjusted carburetors. Given the manufacturing tolerances that could be achieved in the case of carburetors it is impossible, with the use of fixed nozzles in the carburetor, to meet these legal requirements and at the same time guarantee the user good runability in all combinations of air-pressures and temperatures, different fuel qualities and so on.
EP 0 715 686 B1 describes a method of controlling the engine A/F-ratio without the use of an oxygen sensor (lambda probe). Initially, the A/F-ratio is changed briefly. This could be effected for instance by briefly throttling or stopping the fuel supply. In connection with the change, a number of engine revolution times are measured. The revolution times relate to engine rotational speeds chosen in such a manner that at least one revolution of the engine is unaffected by the change, preferably an engine rotational speed that is sufficiently early for the A/F-ratio change not having had time to affect the engine rotational speed. Further at least one forthcoming revolution of the engine is chosen in such a manner that it is affected by the brief A/F-ratio change. In this manner it becomes possible to compute a revolution-time difference caused by an A/F-ratio change. On the basis of this revolution-time difference a change, if needed, of the mixture ratio in the desired direction towards a leaner or richer mixture is made. Thus using this method an optimal mixture can be achieved by testing how the engine reacts to a leaner or richer mixture. However, the engine control method of EP 0 715 686 B1 is somewhat slow and also requires the product to be ran under a load when fine-tuning the A/F ratio. Some machines, such as bush cutters, are not usually operated under constant load and are could thus be difficult or take even longer time to fine-tune with the method of EP 0 715 686 B1.
US 20100011597 disclose a method for quickly finding an A/F ratio when free running the engine. The A/F ratio is adjusted until a desired speed interval has been reached. The algorithm finds an A/F ratio on the rich side of the A/F curve, i.e. it seeks a decent A/F ratio which later can be optimized using e.g. under load as described in the method of EP 0 715 686 B1. However, it is sometimes desirable to find an optimal A/F ratio also when not being able to adjust under a load.