A miniaturized oxygen electrode which comprises: an electrically insulating substrate; an electrolyte-containing material disposed on the substrate and capable of serving as an electrolytic solution when supplied with water; a set of component electrodes disposed on the substrate and composed of a first component electrode on which a reduction reaction of oxygen dissolved in the electrolytic solution occurs when the miniaturized oxygen electrode is operated and one or more second component electrodes other than the first component electrode, the first component electrode being interconnected with the second component electrodes through the electrolyte-containing material; an oxygen gas-permeable membrane covering the electrolyte-containing material; and the electrolyte-containing material having a length for providing a sufficient distance along the interconnection between the first and second component electrodes such that any electroactive substances, formed on one of the first and second component electrodes during the operation of the miniaturized oxygen electrode, are prevented from reaching the other of the first and second component electrodes when diffusing along the length of the electrolytic solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diaphragm-type miniaturized oxygen electrode, more particularly, to a miniaturized oxygen electrode useful for many applications including a measurement of the dissolved oxygen concentration of a solution, to an electrolyte composition suitable for forming the sensing site of the miniaturized oxygen electrode, and to a process of mass-producing miniaturized oxygen electrodes having a uniform quality.
An oxygen electrode is very useful for measuring the dissolved oxygen concentration in many fields. For example, oxygen electrodes are used in the field of water control, the BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) in water is measured, and in the fermentation and brewing field, the dissolved oxygen concentration of a fermentation tank or fermenter is measured, to ensure an efficient fermentation of alcohol, etc.
An oxygen electrode can be combined with an enzyme to form a biosensor or an enzyme electrode to be used for measuring the concentration of sugar, vitamins, etc. For example, an oxygen electrode can be combined with glucose oxidase to measure the concentration of glucose or grape sugar. This utilizes a phenomenon in which glucose is oxidized by the dissolved oxygen with the aid of a catalytic action of glucose oxidase to form gluconolactone, with a resulting reduction of the dissolved oxygen amount diffusing into an oxygen electrode.
In addition to the measurement of the dissolved oxygen concentration of a solution, an oxygen electrode can be advantageously used for controlling the oxygen concentration of a gas phase. For example, a reduction of the ambient oxygen concentration to below 18% causes a dangerous oxygen deficiency, and in medical-care equipment, such as oxygen inhalation and gas anesthetization, the oxygen concentration of a gas used must be strictly controlled.
The oxygen electrode is thus very advantageously used in many fields, including environmental instrumentation, the fermentation industry, clinical care, and industrial hygiene.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional oxygen electrode typically has a structure as shown in FIG. 1, wherein a vessel or container 118 made of glass, plastics, stainless steel, or the like has an open end (lower end) covered and sealed with an oxygen gas-permeable membrane 107 made of silicone resin, fluororesin or the like, and an aqueous solution 119 of potassium chloride (KCl), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), etc., is filled in the vessel 118, in which an anode 104 made of silver (Ag), lead (Pb), etc., and a cathode 105 made of platinum (Pt), gold (Au), etc., are arranged.
The conventional oxygen electrode has a complicated structure, and therefore, it is difficult not only to miniaturize but also to mass-produce same.
The present inventors and others have proposed a new type of miniaturized oxygen electrode that can be produced by utilizing a semiconductor production process including a photolithography and an anisotropic etching, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 63-238,548 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,175.
The proposed oxygen electrode has a structure as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in which FIG. 2(b) shows an unfinished structure in which an oxygen gas-permeable membrane is not yet formed. This structure is produced by the following sequence. Two grooves 202 to be filled with an electrolyte-containing material are formed on a silicon wafer 201 by an anisotropic etching and the wafer surface is then covered by an SiO.sub.2 insulating layer 203 to form an electrically insulating substrate. Then, two component electrodes, i.e., an anode 204 and a cathode 205, are formed on the insulating layer 203. The anode 204 has one end 204A for external electrical connection and the other end of two branches extending into the grooves 202. The cathode 205 has one end 205A for external electrical connection and the other end extending to the top surface of a plateau retained between the grooves 202. An electrolyte-containing material 206 is filled in the grooves 202, and the filled electrolyte-containing material 206 is in contact with the anode 204 within the grooves 202 and with the cathode 205 on the plateau. The upper surface of the filled electrolyte-containing material 206 is then covered with an oxygen gas-permeable membrane 207.
Nevertheless, the step of filling the grooves 202 with the electrolyte-containing material 206 and the step of covering the filled electrolyte-containing material 206 with the oxygen gas-permeable membrane 207 are difficult to carry out in a semiconductor process, and therefore, are manually carried out chip by chip after the wafer 201 on which miniaturized oxygen electrodes have been formed is cut into chips forming respective oxygen electrodes. The manual operation is a serious obstacle to the realizing of a mass-production, and further, involves too much fluctuation in operation to obtain miniaturized oxygen electrodes having a stable or uniform performance.
Therefore, it has been desired to provide a structure of a miniaturized oxygen electrode and a production process thereof in which the filling of an electrolyte-containing material and the forming of an oxygen gas-permeable membrane can be carried out collectively or generally and uniformly, on a wafer as a whole, before the wafer is cut into chips.
The step of filling an electrolyte-containing material has the following problems.
The present inventors studied gels containing an aqueous solution of potassium chloride and polyelectrolytes and found that, because many of these are not photosensitive, the photolithography used in the semiconductor process cannot be actually applied to the filling of an electrolyte-containing material.
The electrolyte-containing material must be a liquid having a fluidity when it is filled in a groove, and the filled material must form a dense film after being dried. Also, whether or not the filled material contains water significantly affects the quality of an oxygen gas-permeable membrane applied on the filled material, and therefore, upon application for an oxygen gas-permeable membrane, the electrolyte-containing material is preferably dried. The water required for the measurement of the oxygen concentration is supplied as a water vapor through the gas-permeable membrane just before the measurement starts. The electrolyte-containing material need not contain water during the production of an oxygen electrode.
Screen printing is a preferred method of filling an electrolyte-containing material collectively in a number of miniaturized oxygen electrodes on a wafer. This screen printing generally uses an emulsion mask and a metal mask to define a printed pattern. An emulsion mask is prepared by applying a photosensitive resin in the form of an emulsion on a mesh of a stainless steel, etc. to provide a printing pattern. Some resins have a transparency which advantageously facilitates the fine alignment required when producing a miniaturized oxygen electrode because a wafer covered by a resin mask is visible through the resin. The emulsion mask, however, is very weak against water, as can be understood from the fact that the developing treatment of an emulsion is carried out by using water, and the printing of a water-containing substance is difficult. On the other hand, the metal mask is prepared by forming holes in a plate of a stainless steel, etc., and therefore, is strong against water. The metal mask, however, is disadvantageous for the fine alignment, because it does not have a transparency. Moreover, the metal mask occasionally provides a printing quality lower than that obtained by the emulsion mask, when using some kinds of printing inks.
The present inventors proposed a process in which an electrolyte-containing gel is applied by screen printing, i.e. calcium alginate gel, polyacrylamide gel, and agarose gel are printed, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 1-56,902. This process uses a metal mask to print an aqueous gel and cannot be advantageously used in the production of a miniaturized oxygen electrode, for the reasons mentioned above. Moreover, a strong film cannot be obtained because an oxygen gas-permeable membrane is formed on a wet gel.
Potassium chloride is generally used as the electrolyte of an oxygen electrode. Although potassium chloride is a superior electrolyte, it is not suitable for use in a miniaturized oxygen electrode because it has a drawback in that it is only soluble in water and that a filled aqueous solution becomes a white brittle powder when dried. The present inventors also proposed a polyelectrolyte, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2-240,556. Although this has a good film forming property, the proposed polyelectrolyte is also soluble only in water, and is difficult to treat because it has a high polymerization degree and exhibits a high viscosity even as a dilute solution.
The step of forming an oxygen gas-permeable membrane has the following problems.
The gas-permeable membrane is made of silicone resin, fluororesin, or other electrically insulating material. The gas-permeable membrane is therefore formed not to cover the whole surface of a wafer but to have a pattern such that the component electrode ends or "pads" 204A and 205 for external electrical connection are exposed. The gas-permeable membrane is formed selectively in the predetermined wafer region other than the pad region to be exposed either by applying a resin only to the predetermined region or by first forming the gas-permeable membrane on the whole surface of a wafer and then removing the gas-permeable membrane in the pad region to be exposed.
A screen printing of a liquid resin is known as the former method, i.e., the selective application of a resin. This method has an advantage in that a single printing operation simultaneously effects both the application and the patterning of a resin, but the silicone resin used for forming a gas-permeable membrane is progressively cured by the water in the ambient air, and therefore, the viscosity of the resin varies during printing to cause a nonuniform printing, and in the worst case, a clogging of a printing stencil.
A lift-off process using a photoresist is known as the latter method, i.e., the formation and selective removal of a gas-permeable membrane. This process has an advantage in that the semiconductor process is advantageously applied and a complicated pattern can be easily obtained. This method, however, when applied in the production of a miniaturized oxygen electrode, provides a completely cured gas-permeable membrane having a high strength such that the membrane is difficult to peel or exfoliate selectively at the portion to be exposed, even by using an ultrasonic treatment. Thus, the lift-off process cannot be practically used in the production of a miniaturized oxygen electrode.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,750 to J.F. Butler discloses a thin film type electrochemical electrode formed on a silicon substrate, having a feature in that an electroconductive layer extends through the silicon substrate thickness so that a signal from a sensor disposed on one side of the substrate is taken out from the other side of the substrate. As this electrode does not have the pad portion of the present inventive electrode, a gas-permeable membrane may cover the whole surface and a patterning of the membrane for exposing the pad portion is not required. This electrode, however, requires a complicated production process, causing a problem in the practical application. The filling of an electrolyte is carried out by vacuum deposition, and although sodium chloride and potassium chloride can be vacuum deposited, many of the inorganic salts used as a buffering agent are deteriorated by dehydration and condensation when exposed to the heat associated with vacuum deposition. Therefore, even when a buffered electrolyte is obtained, the resulting pH will significantly deviate from an expected value and the obtained electrolyte composition must be very restricted, and thus this is not an optimum process. Moreover, problem arises when a single vacuum deposition apparatus is used for both depositing electrolytes and for depositing electrode metals, and therefore, individual deposition apparatuses must be provided for the respective depositions.
M.J. Madou et al. proposed a microelectrochemical sensor, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,500 and in AIChE SYMPOSIUM SERIES, No. 267, vol. 85, pp. 7-13 (1989). This sensor also has a feature in that an electroconductive layer extends through the silicon substrate thickness and a signal from a sensor disposed on one side of the substrate is taken out from the other side of the substrate, and therefore, has the same drawback as that of J.F. Butler. An electrolyte is filled in such a manner that an alcoholic solution of poly(hydroxyethylmathacrylate), etc. is painted on, the solvent is evaporated, an electrolyte solution is introduced to form a gel, and then dried. The conventional problem is apparently eliminated, because an electrolyte is introduced after a polymer is applied, but a crystal grows when a potassium chloride solution is evaporated. When the amount of potassium chloride is small, the grown crystal is enclosed with the polymer, but when the amount is large, a number of large crystals appear, which may not be supported by the polymer. On the other hand, the amount of an electrolyte must be as large as possible, because the service life of an oxygen electrode is affected by the electrolyte amount contained therein. Thus, the restricted amount of electrolyte reduces the service life of an oxygen electrode.
A typical arrangement of the conventional oxygen electrode shown in FIG. 1, usually referred to as a "Clark type oxygen electrode", has an electrolytic solution 119 composed of an aqueous solution of potassium chloride (KCl) and an anode 104 made of silver. In this arrangement, an application of voltage across the cathode 105 and the anode 104 causes the following reactions: EQU reaction on cathode: O.sub.2 +2H.sub.2 O+4e.fwdarw.40H.sup.-( 1) EQU reaction on anode: Ag+Cl.sup.- .fwdarw.AgCl+e (2)
Oxygen of a measuring object is dissolved in the electrolytic solution, reduced on the cathode and measured in terms of a current corresponding to the amount of oxygen reduced. On the anode, the silver of the anode and the chloride ions of the electrolytic solution react (or oxidation of silver occurs) to form silver chloride and thereby are consumed.
Thus, to ensure a long period of operation of an oxygen electrode, the silver and the potassium chloride must be present in a sufficient amount.
The Clark type oxygen electrode such as shown in FIG. 1 has at least the size of a pencil and can easily contain a large amount of silver and electrolytic solution.
On the other hand, the miniaturized oxygen electrode of the present invention is as minute as some square millimeters and does not have a large volume for containing the consumable substances including the anode material such as silver and the electrolyte components such as chloride ions, for example, of KCl. Thus, the miniaturized oxygen electrode is made with an increased anode thickness and an increased concentration of the electrolyte components, to ensure the necessary amount thereof for a long period of operation.
Under normal conditions, the silver chloride formed on the anode is hard to dissolve in water and deposits on the anode, but under an increased concentration of chloride ions, the silver chloride reacts with the chloride ions to form a water-soluble complex, which is dissolved in the electrolytic solution, diffuses into the cathode and is reduced there. This means that a reducing reaction other than the reduction of oxygen as expressed by the formula (1) occurs on the cathode, and therefore, the oxygen electrode does not provide an accurate output current corresponding to the oxygen concentration of the measuring object.
Similarly, the reduction reaction of oxygen occurring on the cathode as expressed by the formula (1) yields hydrogen peroxide as an intermediate product, which diffuses through the electrolytic solution to cause an extra oxidation reaction other than that expressed by the formula (2) when reaching the anode, preventing provision of an accurate output current corresponding to the oxygen concentration of the measuring object.
The above discussion was for the case of a two-pole type oxygen electrode in which a cathode and an anode compose a set of component electrodes. The same discussion is also substantially applicable to a three-pole type oxygen electrode when assuming a cathode substituted by a working electrode and an anode substituted by counter and reference electrodes.
As described above, the miniaturized oxygen electrode has a problem in that an increased electrolyte concentration for ensuring the electrolyte amount necessary for operation causes formation of a complex of the electrolyte components on the anode or its equivalents, which are undesirablly reduced on the component electrode on which reduction of oxygen alone should occur i.e., the cathode or its equivalents, and on the other hand, an intermediate product such as OH.sup.- formed on this electrode causes an extra oxidation reaction on the other component electrodes (the anode or its equivalents), with the result that an accurate output current cannot be maintained during a long period of operation.


An interchangeable decorative element system includes a decorative portion and a base portion. The decorative portion holds a decorative element and includes a plurality of studs. The base portion has a plurality of tracks, each of which has a guiding portion configured to be engaged by a respective stud of the decorative portion. In a first configuration, the decorative portion is aligned with the base portion, such that each of the decorative portion is received within the first end of the guiding portion of a respective track of the base portion. Rotation of the decorative portion in a first direction relative to the base portion causes each stud received within the first end of the guiding portion of each track to move along the guiding portion until the stud engages the respective catch, thereby transitioning the interchangeable decorative element system from the first position to a second, assembled position.

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to an article, such as in the form of a ring, earrings, pendant necklace, brooch, bracelet pin, cuff links, buttons, clasp (e.g., on clothing, hats, purses, bags and the like), configured to interchangeably receive a decorative element.
Normally, a decorative element, for example a jewel or gemstone, is permanently secured within an article, such as a ring. Thus, a person wishing to vary the look of his or her jewelry, clothing, purse, bag and the like is forced to purchase multiple different items, which can be expensive, particularly when the setting is made from a precious metal, such as gold, silver, titanium, or the like. In addition, in the event that the decorative element is damaged, the jewelry, clothing, purse, bag and the like could not be salvage and would have to be wholly discarded.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a mechanism that allows for quick and easy replacement and interchangeability of a decorative element.

Interchangeable decorative element system


A novel aqueous solution for resist pattern coating. An aqueous solution for resist pattern coating, including: a copolymer as component A, the copolymer having an ethylene oxide unit and a C3 alkylene oxide unit in a main chain and having a hydroxy group at a terminal; a water-soluble polymer, a water-soluble monomer, or a water-soluble oligomer as component B, the water-soluble polymer being other than the copolymer as the component A; and a solvent as component C, the solvent containing water as a main component. The copolymer as the component A is for example a block copolymer of formula (1) below:HOR1OxR2OyR3OzH  (1)wherein R1, R2, and R3 are each independently an ethylene group, a propylene group, or a trimethylene group, and x, y, and z are each independently an integer of 5 to 100.

Semiconductor devices are manufactured through microfabrication based on lithography using a resist composition. The microfabrication is a processing method consisting of forming a thin layer of a photoresist composition on a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer; exposing the thin layer of the photoresist composition to activating light such as ultraviolet light through a mask pattern on which a pattern of a device is drawn; developing the exposed layer; and etching the substrate with the resulting photoresist pattern serving as a protective layer to form, on a surface of the substrate, microscopic projections and depressions corresponding to the pattern. In recent years, the degree of integration of semiconductor devices has become higher and higher, and the activating light used has been shifted from i-line light (wavelength: 365 nm) or KrF excimer laser light (wavelength: 248 nm) to shorter-wavelength light, in particular ArF excimer laser light (wavelength: 193 nm). At present, a new microfabrication technique, lithography employing EUV (abbreviation for extreme ultraviolet; wavelength: 13.5 nm) exposure, is under consideration. However, lithography employing EUV exposure has not been put into practice (for mass production) because, for example, development of high-power EUV light sources has been delayed.
A method of enabling refinement of a resist pattern by applying a coating on the resist pattern and a coating material used for this purpose have also been known (Patent Documents 1 to 4, for example). With the use of this method, a resist pattern formed by the existing lithography employing exposure to ArF excimer laser light can be made finer.

Aqueous solution for resist pattern coating and pattern forming methods using the same


An optical sensor module is provided. The optical sensor module includes a light source, a first lens and a sensor device. The light source is arranged for generating a light signal. The first lens has a first optical center axis. The sensor device is disposed in correspondence with one side of the first lens. The sensor device includes a light sensitive area, and a center of the light sensitive area deviates from the first optical center axis. The sensor device is arranged for receiving a reflected signal reflected from an object in response to the light signal, and accordingly generating a sensing result.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to an optical sensor, and more particularly, to an optical sensor module utilizing optical designs to change a non-contact gesture sensitive region, and a related mobile apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As an optical sensor module recognizes a motion of a reflecting object (e.g. a user's hand) by detecting reflected light reflected from the reflecting object, the optical sensor module can be disposed in a mobile apparatus (e.g. a smart phone) to realize a non-contact operation. The optical sensor module is disposed outside of a display screen to avoid overlapping disposition. For example, regarding a mobile apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1, an optical sensor module 102 is disposed on the outer periphery of a display screen 104. As a sensing region (a gesture sensitive region RN) is located directly above the optical sensor module 102, the user has to perform a non-contact (or touchless) gesture directly above a frame of the mobile apparatus 100 in order to ensure that the optical sensor module 102 can detect a reflected signal reflected from the user's hand.
However, when the user performs the non-contact gesture (e.g. the hand moves rightward or leftward), the user's elbow blocks the user's view of the display screen 104, which causes inconvenience to the user. Further, when operating the mobile phone 100 for the first time, the user performs a non-contact gesture intuitively above a center of a display area DN rather than the optical sensor module 102. In other words, the user has to learn where a non-contact gesture sensitive region is when operating the mobile phone 100 for the first time.
Thus, there is a need for a novel optical sensor design which can provide user-friendly experience.

Optical sensor module utilizing optical designs to adjust gesture sensitive region, and related mobile apparatus

EMINENT ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY CORP. LTD.


An active matrix structure including a substrate, a plurality of active devices, and a plurality of pixel electrodes is provided. The active devices are disposed on the substrate. The pixel electrodes are respectively electrically connected to the active devices and arranged in an array. The active matrix structure has a display area, and each of the pixel electrodes has at least one slanted side inclined with respect to all sides of the display area. A liquid crystal display panel is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to an electronic device and a display panel and, in particular, to an active matrix structure and a liquid crystal display panel.
2. Description of Related Art
In the display region of a display device, various types of spatial light modulators are applied to convert an illumination beam into an image beam, for example, transmissive liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) panels, or digital micro-mirror devices (DMDs). The light efficiency of a transmissive LCD panel is less than that of a LCOS panel, and the cost of a DMD is greater than that of a LCOS panel.
Generally, in a projector using the LCOS panel, an s-polarized beam is reflected by a polarizing beam splitter (PBS) to the LCOS panel. Then, the LCOS panel modulates the s-polarized beam into a polarized beam with other polarization states, and reflects the polarized beam to the PBS. The PBS filters the polarized beam into an image beam, which is then transmitted to an image-forming lens. Finally, the image-forming lens projects the image beam onto a screen to form an image on the screen or forms a virtual image in the air or on any other virtual image plane.
When the size of the LCOS panel is reduced, the gap between two adjacent pixel electrodes is reduced and the aperture ratio of the pixel electrodes is also reduced. Consequently, a fringe field problem of the pixel electrodes becomes more seriously; for example, a liquid crystal orientation around a corner of the pixel electrode may be not correct, so that the optical efficiency and the color performance of the LCOS panel are reduced.

Active matrix structure and liquid crystal display panel


An automobile hood has a skin and a frame reinforcing it. At least part of a space defined between the skin and the frame is packed with a foamed metal which breaks down continuously upon receiving an external force. Its continuous breakdown absorbs a substantially equal amount of impact energy continuously.

When an automobile collides with a pedestrian, it is very likely that the automobile may knock him off and cause his head to be struck against its hood. If the hood is deformed downwardly, it absorbs the energy of the collision effectively and thereby protecting the pedestrian.
It is often the case, however, that a reduction in size of an automobile or any requirement made thereof from a design standpoint makes it necessary to have its engine located immediately below its hood in close proximity thereto. As a result, the hood has only a small room for deflection. Various proposals have, therefore, been made to cope with the situation. A couple of examples are described in JP-A-2003-285768 and JP-A-2003-191865, respectively.
JP-A-2003-285768 discloses an automobile hood 100 as shown in FIG. 7 hereof. The hood 100 is composed of a hood skin 101, a hood frame 102 attached to the underside of the hood skin 101, a plurality of flanges 104 attached along an opening 103 defined by the hood frame 102 and each having a substantially S-shaped cross section and a flange 105 situated in the center of the opening 103 and having a substantially S-shaped cross section.
When an external force acts on the center of the hood skin 101 as shown by an arrow in FIG. 7, the flanges 104 and 105 are deformed as shown by imaginary lines and allow the hood skin 101 to be bent downward as shown by imaginary lines.
FIG. 8 hereof shows the stroke of deformation of the hood 100 in relation to the load acting on it. A study made by the present inventors indicates that as the hood 100 is so constructed that its steel flanges 104 and 105 and its steel hood skin 101 may be plastically deformable, the load acting on it marks a peak in the beginning and drops thereafter with the progress of its buckling. As its absorption of impact energy is proportional to the load acting on it, its performance in absorbing impact energy becomes lower after its peak. Accordingly, it is desirable to explore a structure having an impact energy absorbing performance which does not become lower even after the peak of the load acting on it.
JP-A-2003-191865 discloses an automobile hood as shown in FIG. 9. The hood 110 is shown upside down for convenience of explanation and has a hood skin 111, a hood frame 112 attached to the hood skin 111 and a plurality of conical dimples 113 protruding from the hood frame 112 to the hood skin 111. The dimples 113 are plastically deformable to absorb impact energy.
The dimples 113 are, however, effective only when an external force resulting from the collision of the automobile acts on that part of the hood skin 111 under which one of the dimples is situated, and the hood does not provide any impact energy absorbing performance as desired when the external force acts on the hood skin between any two adjoining dimples 113. Accordingly, it is desirable to explore a structure having the same impact energy absorbing performance whichever part thereof may receive an external force as a result of the collision of the automobile.


A method may include receiving user input indicative of a style configuration for API formats. The method may include generating a style file that includes data representative of the style configurations. The method may include receiving an API documentation that includes API objects and determining an API format associated with the API documentation. Responsive to the API format associated with the API documentation satisfying a similarity threshold, the method may include generating a temporary file that includes data representative of the API documentation. The method may include generating a display file that includes data based on the style and temporary files. The display file may be generated to include a portion of the style and temporary files. The method may include directing display of a GUI that displays the API documentation based on the display file. Each API object may be displayed to include formatting according to the style configuration.

Software applications may be built using one or more application programming interfaces (API or APIs), each of which is a set of routines, protocols, and tools. API specifications specify how other software components interact with the API based on its definition. The API specifications may utilize multiple different text files, formats, or configurations for storing data and information regarding the APIs. Machine learning systems may be used to gather the data and information included in the APIs in the different formats and to generate consolidated API specifications that are uniformly formatted. However, the machine learning systems may incorrectly identify objects in the API specifications or extract invalid information. The incorrectly identified objects or invalid information may cause errors when the software components interact with the APIs.
The subject matter claimed in the present disclosure is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described in the present disclosure may be practiced.

Application programming interface documentation annotation


Sound and power are an important part of the motorcycling experience. From the early days people have been attempting to get it “right” and have tried numerous ways to achieve the best of both worlds. Generally one had to be sacrificed to some degree to get the other. Tuning the exhaust rather than tuning the carburetor or increasing cubic inches is a less expensive and more efficient way to get both the sound and midrange power that motorcyclists are looking for. With the exhaust enhancement device of the present invention, exhaust pipes can be tuned for sound and increased midrange power very simply and easily by installing them in the exit end of an aftermarket straight type pipe using various combinations to achieve a desired sound and not sacrifice power.

Motorcyclists have always sought the right blend of sound and performance from their motorcycles. With the development of aftermarket exhaust pipes motorcyclists gained horsepower and performance but had less sound. When they removed the baffles they sacrificed performance to gain sound. No one has previously been successful in attaining sound and performance from straight pipe type design aftermarket exhaust pipes. The exhaust enhancer focuses on lessening reversion which increases horsepower, allows for a deeper more appealing sound and helps lessen the throttle hesitation that can develop when baffles are removed. This is the first product that has been able to consistently address the above issues and remedy them.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A drill includes a cutting edge having a ridgeline. The ridgeline has a part of an ellipse and a straight line. It is assumed that the coordinates of a separation point of an ellipse portion from a straight line portion are (x0, y0). The straight line is a tangent to the ellipse at the separation point. It is assumed that a1 is an area from a tip end of the drill to x0, a2 is an area from x0 to the origin of the ellipse, and a3 is a negative area, along the x-axis. The ridgeline of the cutting edge is formed straight along the tangent in the area a1, and is formed along the ellipse in the area a2. A margin is formed in the area a3 continuously from a relief face of the cutting edge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drill including a cutting edge a point angle of which varies depending on a position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of the drill including a cutting edge a point angle of which varies depending on a position may be double angle drills disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1988-306812 (hereinafter, referred to as document '812) and in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application Publication No. 1994-75612 (hereinafter, referred to as document '612).
Such a double angle drill includes a primary cutting edge and a secondary cutting edge. The tip section of the primary cutting edge has a ridgeline shape of a drill for metal. The secondary cutting edge continuously extending from the primary cutting edge is flat and has a smaller point angle than the primary cutting edge.
Any of documents '812 and '612 teaches that the double angle drill is suitable for drilling a hole in a fiber reinforced plastic composite material and a metal material at a time.
With the double angle drill, the primary cutting edge drills a primary hole with a relatively small diameter, and then the secondary cutting edge cuts the outer periphery of the primary hole to drill a secondary hole with a target diameter. During drilling, transient delamination may appear at the periphery of the primary hole of the composite material. The delamination is removed by cutting the primary hole by the secondary cutting edge.
Unfortunately, as mentioned in document '612, the double angle drill typically has low wear resistance. Document '612 discloses a configuration to increase the wear resistance of the cutting edge by covering the cutting edge with a diamond film with a suitable film thickness.
However, the double angle drill has corners at the boundary between the primary and secondary cutting edges and at the outermost periphery of the secondary cutting edge. A stress is likely concentrated at the corners, and hence chipping likely appears at the corners. Thus, such a shape of the drill decreases the wear resistance of the drill.
In order to increase the wear resistance of the cutting edge, the applicant of this application has filed an application for a drill in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-36759 (hereinafter, referred to as document '759). The drill includes a cutting edge. The cutting edge has a point angle which is continuously decreased from a center-position point angle A (herein, 0°<A<180°) at a center position to a maximum-diameter-position point angle of 0° at a maximum diameter position. The cutting edge has a relief angle which is continuously decreased from the center position to the maximum diameter position.
Document '759 describes the point angle of the cutting edge as follows. "The point angle of the cutting edge is decreased from the center-position point angle A to the maximum-diameter-position point angle of 0° in a continuously changing manner. Accordingly, the ridgeline of the cutting edge defines a smooth curve without a corner (point of discontinuity). Also, it is assumed that the curve defined by the ridgeline of the cutting edge is a curve protruding to the outside without a point of inflection. For example, in the ridgeline of the cutting edge, the curve from the center-position point angle A to the maximum-diameter-position point angle of 0° is defined as a part of a parabola. The ridgeline of the cutting edge may partly have a straight line. In this case, the point angle of the cutting edge is continuously changed even at a transition portion between the straight line and the curve (not having a straight line), thereby eliminating a corner." Also, document '759 describes that the ridgeline of the cutting edge may be an arcuate ridgeline formed of a single arc, instead of the parabolic ridgeline.
With the drill disclosed in document '759, the point angle of the cutting edge is continuously decreased from the center position to the maximum diameter position. Thus, the ridgeline of the cutting edge has no corner, which is likely chipped, and the wear resistance of the cutting edge is increased.
The drill disclosed in document '759 has a cutting edge section mainly for drilling, which is located close to the tip end among the entire cutting edge, and a cutting edge section mainly for reaming, which continuously extends from the former cutting edge and is located close to the rear end. The cutting edge mainly for drilling gradually shifts to the cutting edge mainly for reaming.
The present invention is made as a result of advanced studies on the drill of such a type disclosed in document '759 by the inventors of this application, for a fiber reinforced plastic composite material. The present invention provides a drill that is ideally suited for drilling a hole in the fiber reinforced plastic composite material.
A first object of the studies by the inventors of this application has been to increase reaming performance by a cutting edge section located close to the rear end.
A second object of the studies by the inventors of this application has been to increase cutting performance by a cutting edge section located close to the tip end.


The interior of a first measurement surface and the interior of a second measurement surface traveling together with a measuring vehicle are scanned to acquire first measurement coordinate points and second measurement coordinate points, respectively. A first comparison point cloud representing a comparison part on a surface of a structure is extracted from the first measurement coordinate points. A second comparison point cloud representing a comparison part on the surface of the structure is extracted from the second measurement coordinate points. A difference between the first comparison point cloud and the second comparison point cloud corresponding to measurement of a common comparison part on the surface of the structure is calculated. Error having time dependence included in the first measurement coordinate points and the second measurement coordinate points is calculated on the basis of the calculated difference. The measurement coordinate points are corrected on the basis of the calculated error.

For safety check on structures existing along routes such as roads and tracks and structures installed on such structures, situations of unevenness on surfaces of these structures at some point in time or situations of changes in such unevenness after passage of time are required to be measured in detail over a long route. More specifically, measurement surfaces of structures such as roads, tracks, tunnels, bridges, and columnar grounding objects is required. Referring particularly to tunnels, as a result of a great number of tunnels and their long total distances, an efficient checking method is particularly required. For this measurement, a method called mobile mapping system (MMS) by means of measurement using a mobile unit has been suggested. For example, the following techniques have been suggested.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-206131 (patent document 1), a road is measured by the MMS using a measuring vehicle provided with a laser scanner and traveling on the road. The laser scanner emits a laser beam, measures a distance to a point where the emitted laser beam is reflected, and generates scan data containing the measured distance. Three-dimensional point cloud data indicating the geometry of the road is generated using the scan data and a ground position of the measuring vehicle determined at the time of acquisition of the scan data. The foregoing document points out that, while the measuring accuracy of the MMS depends on the accuracy of a ground position, the impossibility to use a global positioning system (GPS) in tunnels makes it difficult to increase the measuring accuracy of the MMS. In this regard, according to the technique disclosed in the foregoing document, during measurement of roads and tunnels, transverse scan data acquired by scanning the roads and the tunnels in a transverse direction is corrected using road surface longitudinal scan data. The road surface longitudinal scan data is measured by a road surface longitudinal laser scanner and contains position information about each of multiple road surface longitudinal points aligned in a longitudinal direction of the roads and the tunnels. The road surface longitudinal point is a point where a laser beam emitted from the road surface longitudinal laser scanner is reflected.
According to a technique of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-2783 (patent document 2), an encoder for detecting a position coordinate, and a first sensor and an second sensor for outputting measured distance data are moved by a vehicle in an axis direction of a tubular body such as a tunnel. The first sensor scans a laser beam in a vertical direction. The second sensor scans a laser beam in a direction tilted to a predetermined angle from the vertical direction. On the basis of measured distance data acquired by the first and second sensors, the axis of the tubular body and a tilt angle of the vehicle are calculated. The position coordinate detected by the encoder is corrected on the basis of the calculated tilt angle. Using data detected in advance by the first and second sensors when a tilt from the axis of the tubular body is zero as a reference value, this tilt angle is calculated on the basis of an amount of change from the reference value.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-69700 (patent document 3) discloses a three-dimensional data acquisition device. This device includes a first laser scanner installed on a railway vehicle in such a manner that a measurement section forms a vertical plane relative to a traveling direction of the railway vehicle, and a second laser scanner installed on the railway vehicle in such a manner as to form a measurement section pointed upward by a predetermined angle relative to the former measurement section. This document suggests use of data resulting from averaging of data from the first and second laser scanners about the same subject.

Structure measuring device, measurement point correcting device, and measurement point correcting method


Disclosed herein are systems and methods for electronically tagging a video component (VC) in a video package. One example method includes the steps of: (i) receiving a video package; (ii) identifying a position of each of multiple video sections (VS) in the received video package; (iii) identifying a type of at least a portion of the VSs having identified positions, wherein at least one VS is identified as having a show-segment VC type; (iv) determining a total duration of the VSs identified as having a show-segment VC type; (v) determining a total count of the VSs identified as having a show-segment VC type; (vi) responsive to determining that the determined total duration is within a threshold range of a predetermined duration, associating tagging data with the received video package, wherein the tagging data indicates the position and type of each VS identified as having a show-segment VC type.

In the field of television broadcasting, video packages containing one or more VCs are typically created by a third party (e.g., a show syndicator) and then delivered to a broadcaster for commercial broadcast. A common video package is one that is associated with an episode of a show series, where the episode is intended to be aired during a thirty-minute time-slot. Such a video package may include multiple VCs, including for example (i) multiple show-segment VCs, each of which consists of a different portion of the episode and potentially one or more commercials, and (ii) multiple promotion VCs, each of which consist of a promotion for the episode.
Generally, VCs in a video package are arranged in the order in which they are intended for broadcast, and they may or may not be separated by other video (e.g., black frames). Therefore, a user (usually associated with the broadcasting company) is tasked with the project of "tagging" the VCs in the video package, which involves the user visually analyzing the video package and identifying one or more VCs contained therein. Identifying a VC in this manner involves the user identifying both a position of the VC (e.g., with starting and ending frame indicators) and a type of the VC (e.g., a show-segment VC). The user may then store or otherwise associate the identifying information with the corresponding video package. Among other things, tagging a VC in this manner facilitates the scheduling and broadcasting of the VC at the appropriate time (e.g., via a scheduling-and-sequencing system and a playout system in a broadcasting environment).
In some instances, VCs in the video package may be positioned out of the intended broadcast order. For example, a promotion VC in a video package is often positioned after a show-segment VC in the video package, even though the promotion VC is intended to be broadcast first (i.e., to advertise for the show). As such, by tagging the promotion VC, it may be scheduled and broadcast at the appropriate time.
In television-broadcasting environments, a show syndicator often provides information about a video package, such as approximate starting and ending durations of VCs in the video package. Traditionally, video packages were stored on analog storage mediums (e.g., tapes) that lacked random access (i.e., direct access to a particular location), and therefore information like the approximate starting position of a VC allowed a user to fast-forward the tape to the identified approximate position to aid in the tagging process. Despite the recent movement towards random-access storage-mediums (including, for example, hard-disk drives), for a variety of reasons, show syndicators continue to provide such information with video packages. This provided information is often referred to in the industry as daily timing-sheet data (DTD).
While DTD may be available to the broadcaster, select portions of the DTD, particularly the starting and ending positions of the VCs, are often not exact, and therefore, a user is still needed to perform the tagging process. In addition to accuracy concerns, DTD is typically not presented in a manner that allows for efficient processing and use in the tagging process. For example, it is often contained in a handwritten document that is faxed to the broadcaster along with the video package. Further, even when the DTD is presented in electronic form (e.g., as a typed document), show syndicators do not share a common protocol, but instead each present the DTD in their own format making efficient use of it difficult. For at least the reasons stated above, the traditional tagging process requires a considerable amount of time and resources. Indeed, tagging all of the VCs in a typical video package associated with a show intended for a thirty-minute time-slot, typically takes between ten to fifteen minutes. Given the large number of television shows that are broadcast on a regular basis across multiple networks, a substantial amount of time and resources are devoted to this tagging process.
The traditional tagging process also commonly results in an undesired amount of black frames being broadcast. During the tagging process, a user typically selects a position (e.g., with a mouse click via a graphical user-interface (GUI)) within the video package to designate a starting or ending position of a VC. However, in many instances, the user's selected frame is one or more frames displaced from the actual starting or ending frame of the VC. This often results in undesired black frames being added to the beginning or end of the VC when it is broadcast. Broadcasting these undesired black frames may diminish the experience of the viewer and/or may reduce the amount of time in which a broadcasting company may broadcast VCs.

Systems and methods for electronically tagging a video component in a video package


A method and a device, the device has ground voltage elevation compensation capabilities and includes: multiple current consuming components; a positive voltage supply input; a negative voltage supply input; and a compensation circuit, coupled to the negative voltage supply input and to a grounding element; wherein the compensation circuit is adapted to detect a ground voltage elevation resulting from a flow of excess consumption current through the grounding element, and in response couple the negative voltage supply input to the grounding element; wherein the excess current flows through the grounding element due to an increment in a current consumption of a current consuming element of the device.

Modern integrated circuits are required to operate at very high frequencies while consuming a relatively low supply voltage which has dramatically decreased during the last decade.
This supply voltage reduction has some drawbacks such as an increased sensitivity to ground voltage elevations that are proportional to a current (I) consumed by components of the integrated circuit and to the resistance (R) of grounding elements through which the current flows.
A ground voltage elevation can reduce the voltage that is provided to internal components of the integrated circuit, increase the noise level within the integrated circuit and thus can temporarily prevent the integrated circuit from operating in a proper manner.
There is a need to provide a device and method for efficiently compensating for ground voltage elevations.

Device and method for compensating for ground voltage elevations


An asynchronous transfer mode inverse multiplexed communication system is disclosed wherein a series of communication cells are multiplexed over a set of communication links. Each communication cell includes a framing bit of a predetermined framing bit stream for each communication link and a control channel bit of a control message for each communication link. Inbound communication cells from each communication link are aligned according to the corresponding framing bit stream. The control message specifies an ordered list of logical identifiers to indicate a multiplexed sequence of transfer of the communication cells over the communication links.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of digital communications. More particularly, this invention relates to a system for inverse multiplexing data transmission over multiple communication links in an asynchronous transfer mode communication network.
2. Background
Packet switching communication networks are commonly employed to transfer digital information over long distances. Such packet switching communication networks are also referred to as cell switching communication networks. One type of packet switching communication network is an asynchronous transfer mode communication network. An asynchronous transfer mode communication network enables the transfer of digital voice information, digital video information and digital data over short or long distances via common carrier communication links. Such a communication network enables a wide variety of communication devices to share common carrier communication links on a demand driven basis. For example, such asynchronous transfer mode communication networks are commonly employed for a wide area network (WAN) communication.
The common carrier communication links employed in such asynchronous transfer mode communication networks typically include relatively low speed metal wire based communication links. One such type of relatively low speed common carrier communication link available in North America is the T1 communication link. A typical T1 communication link provides a maximum data rate of 1.544 megabits per second. Similarly, the E1 common carrier communication links available in Europe provide a relatively low maximum data rate of 2.048 megabits per second.
In addition, the common carrier communication links employed in such asynchronous transfer mode communication networks usually include higher speed optical based communication links. An example of such a high speed common carrier communication link available in North America is the T3 communication link which provides a maximum data rate of 45 megabits per second. An example of a high speed common carrier communication link available in Europe is the E3 communication link which provides a maximum data rate of 34 megabits per second.
Prior asynchronous transfer mode communication networks that require high bandwidth communication links typically employ T3 or E3 communication links rather than the lower speed T1 or E1 communication links. Unfortunately, the subscription rates for such T3 common carrier communication links are usually much higher than the subscription rates for T1 or E1 links. Moreover, in North America such T3 common carrier communication links are not as widely available as T1 common carrier communication links. Worse yet, in Europe E3 common carrier communication links are rarely available and E1 common carrier communication links have only recently become widely available.
As a consequence, communication services requiring such high bandwidth communication links typically require a high premium payment for such high speed common carrier communication links. Moreover, such required high speed communication links may not be available in some areas for such an asynchronous transfer mode communication network.
In addition, some prior asynchronous transfer mode communication networks require communication links with a bandwidth higher than is provided by low speed common carrier communication links such as T1 or E1 but do not require the high bandwidth of the T3 or E3 common carrier communication links. Unfortunately, communication services requiring such medium level bandwidth communication links must typically employ expensive high speed common carrier communication links even though the full bandwidth range is not needed. For example, an asynchronous transfer mode communication network requiring a maximum data rate of 10 or 20 megabits per second must usually employ high speed T3 or E3 common carrier communication links. Such high speed common carrier links unnecessarily increase the cost of communication for subscribers to such an asynchronous transfer mode communication networks.

Asynchronous transfer mode communication with inverse multiplexing over multiple communication links


The present invention is directed to a windshield wiper assembly with an expandable scrubbing element capable of washing debris from a windshield. In one embodiment, the subject invention is comprised of a windshield wiper blade holder having a first and second blade retainer, and a scrubbing element and wiper blade respectively engaged to the blade retainers. In one embodiment, the scrubbing element is comprised of a spine portion and an expandable bladder depending therefrom. At least a portion of the external surface of the bladder may include a fibrous or lightly abrasive material, or a scrubbing pad or brush-like surface, or a plurality of grooves and/or sipings The interior volume of the bladder is surrounded by a resilient fluid tight material, which serves to retain fluid in a pressurized state.

The windshield of a car, truck, boat, aircraft and other vehicles will often get dirty and/or wet, thereby occluding the driver's vision. Consequently, most vehicles are equipped with a windshield wiper to clear the windshield of water and dirt. However, some matter, such as dried insects, mud, and bird droppings, partially adheres to the windshield and is often difficult to remove. Known windshield wiper assemblies are poorly equipped to clear difficult matter from the windshield. In some situations, known windshield wiper assemblies may even exacerbate the situation by smearing this matter across the windshield. Consequently, there is a need for a windshield wiper assembly that is capable of effectively cleaning such matter from the windshield. A further need exists for such a wiper assembly which is selectively actuated by a vehicle operator to perform the cleaning function.
Conventional windshield wiper assemblies typically include a windshield wiper arm that extends from a windshield wiper motor located in the vehicle. A windshield wiper blade holder engages the windshield wiper arm and is moved generally circumferentially back and forth by the arm. A wiper blade engages the blade holder along its spine and contacts the windshield along its tip. It is the movement of the wiper blade tip across the windshield which wipes the windshield of excess moisture. Many vehicles also have a pressurized fluid delivery system which sprays cleaning fluid onto the windshield. Such pressurized fluid systems are selectively actuated either manually by the vehicle operator or automatically by, for example, an electronic control system.
Most windshield wiper blades are long, flexible strips of rubber or plastic. The blades are typically comprised of a spine portion which engages the wiper blade holder and a tip portion which depends therefrom. This tip portion contacts the windshield and wipes excess water along its path. However, the tip is often too flimsy to generate sufficient forces to effectively scrape off dried matter adhered to the windshield. Furthermore, the small area of contact between the tip and the windshield may promote smearing of some matter.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for an improved windshield wiper assembly. This improved assembly should be capable of washing matter off of the windshield while also being capable of removing excess fluid buildup like conventional windshield wiper assemblies. Furthermore, this improved assembly should be capable of being adapted for use with current windshield wiper assemblies. As will be shown in detail below, the subject invention improves upon the known prior art and solves many of the problems related to known designs.


A method of generating IP traffic flow based on a time bucket divides, in order to generate flows using all IP packets arriving in a preset time bucket, a previous time bucket flow table (PTBFT) and a current time bucket flow table (CTBFT) with reference to a current time when the flows are generated using IP packets collected from a high-speed line in a flow generating unit. Accordingly, the method allows real-time analysis of flows.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of generating Internet Protocol (IP) flows, and more particularly, to a method of generating IP traffic flows based on a time bucket, which is configured to generate flows using all IP packets arriving in a predetermined time bucket and collected from a high-speed line.
This work was supported by the IT R&D program of MIC/IITA[Project number: 2006-S-065-02, Project Title: Development of High-Speed Wireline (10 Gbs, 2.5 Gbps) for Charging].
2. Description of the Related Art
The term "flow" being used in Internet generally can be defined as a set of IP packets having common characteristics, which are collected from traffic flowing on an Internet line. The traffic characteristic indicates a fixed value of an IP header and an L4 (transmission control protocol (TCP) or user datagram protocol (UDP)). The meaning of having common characteristics is that such fixed values of IP packets are the same. Accordingly, IP packets having the same fixed values are considered to have the same traffic characteristic and a flow is formed using those IP packets.
For example, a flow can be defined a set of IP packets having the same IP source address, IP destination address, protocol, IP source port number, and IP destination port number. Accordingly, such a flow includes general information on traffic flowing on the Internet line. Moreover, if additional information is added to the flow, information on all usage patterns and behaviors of traffic flowing on the Internet line can be collected and analyzed.
The information to be added to a flow may include the start time and the end time of a flow, the number of IP packets, the total amount of bytes, and an interface number. Moreover, information on IP packets forming a flow may be added. However, in the case where all information on each IP packet is transmitted, the amount of information is too much for a high-speed line. Accordingly, most flow measurement systems generate a flow using only general information of the flow, i.e., basic statistical information, terminate the flow, and transfer a terminated flow to an analysis system to analyze the information on the terminated flow.
To generate a flow by collecting traffic flowing on the Internet line, the following different timeout mechanisms are used to generate and terminate a flow using received IP packets. However, flows generated using the following timeout mechanisms include basic statistical information but do not include information on each IP packet.
The first timeout mechanism is a FIN timeout mechanism. In the FIN timeout mechanism, when a predetermined FIN timeout (basic time: 2 seconds) elapses after a last FIN or RST packet among IP packets of a predetermined flow arrives, a FIN timeout flow is generated. A flow measurement system terminates the FIN timeout flow and transfer a terminated FIN timeout flow.
The second timeout mechanism is an INACTIVE timeout mechanism. In the INACTIVE timeout mechanism, when a new IP packet does not arrive even after an INACTIVE timeout (basic time: 15 seconds) elapses after a last IP packet of a predetermined flow arrives, an INACTIVE timeout flow is generated and terminated, and the terminated INACTIVE timeout flow is transferred.
The third timeout mechanism is an ACTIVE timeout mechanism. In the ACTIVE timeout mechanism, when the flow continues for too long as IP packets continuously arrive during an ACTIVE timeout (basic time: 30 minutes) after a first IP packet of a predetermined flow arrives, an ACTIVE timeout flow is generated and terminated, and the terminated flow is transferred.
The fourth timeout mechanism is a MEMORY timeout mechanism. In the MEMORY timeout mechanism, when a new flow cannot be generated due to memory starvation of a flow measurement system, in the order of oldest first, an MEMORY timeout flow is generated and terminated, and the terminated flow is transferred.
However, in the case of using the above described timeout mechanisms, a flow is time-continuously generated, the generated flow is not transferred until much later (in the case of the ACTIVE timeout flow: 30 minutes) after traffic actually passes according to the time point at which the flow is terminated. Thus, an analysis system, which performs flow analysis based on a predetermined analysis period, must have an analysis period longer than an ACTIVE timeout value, and thus the analysis system must have an analysis period longer than about 1 hour. That is, due to non-real time generation and transfer of the flow, the result of analyzing flow information at a predetermined time can be known after a minimum 1 hour.
On the other hand, when flows are continuously generated regardless of an analysis period of an analysis system, it is difficult to analyze traffic statistical information and flows based on an analysis period. Since the continuously generated flows extend over a plurality of analysis periods, if the flows include general information but do not include information on all IP packets of the flows, traffic cannot be divided according to the analysis periods. Also, if the flows include information on all IP packets, the IP packets must be divided according to the analysis periods, thereby affecting performance of an analysis server.
In addition, flows generated in a previous analysis period cannot be analyzed until all flows generated in a current analysis period are transferred. This is because the flows generated in the previous analysis period include flows that extend over the previous and the current analysis periods. Thus, after all the flows extending over the previous and the current analysis periods are generated and transferred (i.e., after the current analysis period finishes), the flows generated in the previous analysis period can be analyzed.
For example, if an analysis period is 1 hour, after minimum 2 hours, an analysis result can be known at the time point at which flow analysis is completed. If the analysis period is shortened in order to solve the above described limitation, the ACTIVE timeout value of a flow measurement system must be shortened. Such a method has only a small effect that causes a actual long flow to be divided into a plurality of flows, but cannot solve the limitation. It is practically impossible to generate flows including information on each IP packet due to transmission bandwidth, CPU processing speed, speed of storage unit, storage capacity and so on in connection with the large amount of information.
Therefore, in order to the above described limitations, a flow generation unit is required, which generates flows without generating flows over a plurality of analysis periods by generating the flows using all IP packets within a predetermined analysis period based on a time bucket timeout flow generation mechanism.
Also, in order to the above described limitations, a unit is required, which is applicable to a flow measurement system for IP traffic flowing on an Internet high-speed line by implementing generation of a time bucket based flow, a FIN flow and an INACTIVE flow using micro-coding of a Micro Engine (ME) that is executed on network process.

Method of generating IP traffic flow based on a time bucket

Electronics And Telecommunications Research Institute


A method for determining color-matching functions includes obtaining spectral data originating from metameric pairs and generating new color matching functions by modifying original color matching functions. The new color matching functions are constrained to be similar to the original color matching functions while reducing calculated perceptual error between the metameric pairs. In another embodiment a method for determining color-matching functions spectral data originating from color matching experiments and from metameric pairs are generated. Color matching functions from a set of parameters and an error function that indicates error due to perceptual differences between the parameterized color matching functions and the color matching experiments are defined. Methods for defining human observer functions, optimizing the definitions of LMS cone response functions as well as other methods and systems are also disclosed.

The human experience of color is dependent on the spectral properties of the stimulant, i.e. the color being observed, combined with the spectral sensitivities of the eye+brain system. This in turn is governed by the spectral sensitivities of the LMS (long, medium, short wavelength) cones residing in the retina and the neural and cognitive processing of the LMS responses performed by the retina and brain. Thus, whereas measuring the spectra of a color stimulant is objective and unambiguous, measuring the human sensation known as color is dependent on the validity of what are referred to as the human observer functions CIEXYZ (which define color matching and can be related to LMS) and the calculation for CIELAB (which is dependent on XYZ and defines how colors are perceived).
Since CIEXYZ and CIELAB are derived from experiments involving human observers, the validity of CIEXYZ and CIELAB may be compromised by errors in the experimental data acquired (in the case of color matching experiments), errors in the methods used to convert the raw data to human observer functions, and errors in color order systems such as Munsell which were used to optimize the calculation for CIELAB.
The imperfections in CIEXYZ and CIELAB are well-known in the industry:                a) Colors that measure the same values of CIEXYZ and CIELAB do not necessarily match, especially whites comprised of significantly different spectra.        b) Colors that differ by the same Euclidean distance in CIELAB may appear nearly identical or may appear dramatically different depending on the location of the colors within the CIELAB coordinate system and the direction of their color difference.
If the current methods for calculating CIEXYZ and CIELAB were valid, colors with significantly different spectra but similar values of CIEXYZ and CIELAB would match visually. Such pairs of colors are called "metameric pairs" or "metamers". To the extant that such pairs of colors do not match visually, one can say that CIEXYZ and CIELAB are imperfect methods for defining or measuring color. This results in pairs of colors that are metameric matches numerically but not visually.
In order to identify possible sources of error in the definitions of CIEXYZ and CIELAB, we begin with a very brief history of modern day colorimetry. The Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (hereinafter "CIE") XYZ observer functions are the basis for most color measurements that require the matching of colors. By combining these functions with non-linear color appearance models (CAMs) such as CIELAB and CIECAM96s CAMs, complex color images as well as simple color patches can be reproduced with great success if the color media are similar in spectral behavior.
The color matching functions of the CIE 1931 standard were based on the data of Guild using seven observers and Wright using ten observers together with the CIE 1924 luminous efficiency function V (λ). As a result of visual vs. numerical discrepancies in the matching of paper white, Stiles performed a "pilot" repeat of the 1931 determination of the color matching functions using 10 observers and (together with Burch) a "final" version using 49 observers in 1958. This latter "final" experiment was performed using a larger field of view (10 degree rather than 2 degree) and hence the two standards from 1931 and 1958 are referred to as the 2 and 10-degree observer, respectively. Example plots of the raw color matching data acquired from the multiple observers by Stiles and Burch, N.P.L. colour-matching investigation: Final Report (1958), National Physical Laboratory, pp. 1-26, clearly indicate significant noise and variability in the data, probably due to the procedures used to obtain the color matches and the imperfect skill of the participants in the art of adjusting colors for purposes of obtaining a match.
In his book "The Reproduction of Colour" pp. 138-141 and pp. 706-707, Robert Hunt relates the historical XYZ observer functions to the spectral sensitivities of the LMS cones in the retina. Hunt cites Estevez and similar references regarding the red, green, blue spectral sensitivities of the cones (p. 706). By comparing these estimates with the existing XYZ observer functions, Hunt defines the Hunt-Estevez-Pointer conversion that converts the XYZ observer functions to the long-medium-short spectral sensitivities of the eye LMS (as defined in most references) or equivalently ρ, β, γ (the labels Hunt prefers to avoid confusion with other color values such as using "L" for luminance). The Hunt-Estevez-Pointer matrix is defined as:
                              M                      XYZ            ->            LMS                          =                  (                                                    0.38971                                            0.68898                                                              -                  0.07868                                                                                -                  0.22981                                                            1.18340                                            0.04641                                                                    0                                            0                                            1.00                                              )                                    Eq        .                                                    (                      1                                      -                                    1                    )
While the CIEXYZ observer functions appear to work well between media that are somewhat similar using similar lighting conditions, there appears to be a discrepancy between measurement and visual matches for media with radically different spectra, particularly in the areas of whites. This discrepancy has been documented as the impetus for the 10 degree (vs. 2 degree) observer function effort performed by Stiles and Burch from 1955-1958 (Interim Report to the Commission of Internationale de l'Eclariage, Zurich, 1955, on the National Physical Laboratory's investigation of colour-matching (1955), pp. 168-181; and N.P.L. colour-matching investigation: Final Report (1958), National Physical Laboratory, pp. 1-26) and is the basis for the deviation from standard CIE XYZ metrology developed in conjunction with MATCHPRINT™ Virtual technology from Eastman Kodak, which is used in a variety of systems that require an accurate visual color match between displays and printed images viewed under standard illumination.
The methods used to improve the CIE functions fall into two categories. The first category are methods such as those used by Thornton (1998) and also by Matsushiro, Ohta, Shaw, and Fairchild (Optimizing Color-Matching Functions for Individual Observers Using a Variation Method, Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, Vol. 45, No. 5, September/October 2001, pp. 472-480) which attempt to alter the human observer functions on a wavelength by wavelength basis, possibly with constraints, in order to minimize error between metameric pairs as well as to remain similar to the original human observer functions. This effectively allows the number of adjustable parameters to be 3×32=96 or higher.
The second category of approach is to use a small number of parameters as discussed in Fairchild (A Novel Method for the Determination of Color Matching Functions, COLOR research and application, 1989, pp. 122-130) and North and Fairchild (Measuring Color-Matching Functions. Part I, Vol. 18, No. 3, June, 1993 op. 155-162; and Measuring Color-Matching Functions, Part II, New Data for Assessing Observer Metamerism, Vol. 18, No. 3, June, 1993, pp. 163-170) relying for example on the "deviant observer" which attempts to account for yellowing effects of aging due to the lens and the macula by applying broad band absorption spectra to the LMS functions. This approach has the deficiency of being very limited in how it modifies the standard human observer functions. So although this approach can accurately mimic the standard human observer functions, it cannot adequately modify the functions in order to reduce the calculated ΔE errors between metameric pairs that have significantly different spectra and yet match visually.

Method and apparatus for providing improved human observer XYZ functions and calculations for CIELAB


A calcium phosphate cement suitable for use in dental and bone prosthesis is disclosed, which include calcium phosphate particles having a diameter of 0.05 to 100 microns, wherein said calcium phosphate particles on their surfaces have whiskers or fine crystals having a width ranging from 1 to 100 nm and a length ranging from 1 to 1000 nm.

A calcium phosphate cement (abbreviated as CPC) has been widely used as an implant or filling material in dental and bone prosthesis, and its technical details can be found in many patents, for examples U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,104; 5,092,888; 5,180,426; 5,262,166; 5,336,264; 5,525,148; 5,053,212; 5,149,368; 5,342,441; 5,503,164; 5,542,973; 5,545,254; 5,695,729 and 5,814,681. In general, the prior art calcium phosphate cements suffer one or more drawbacks as follows: 1) additives having a relatively poor bioactivity being required; 2) a complicated preparation process; 3) an undesired setting time or working time of CPC, which are difficult to be adjusted; 4) not capable of being set to a desired shape in water, blood or body fluid; and 5) poor initial strength after setting of the CPC.

Calcium phosphate cement, use and preparation thereof


In the case of performing duplex printing on a continuous sheet, by setting a length of a non-image area to an optimum length, both of mark detection having high reliability and the suppression of a sheet consumption amount are achieved. For this purpose, when duplex printing of a plurality of images on front and back surfaces of the continuous sheet is performed, on the basis of a length of the image to be printed precedently to a non-image area W3 on the second surface, the length of the non-image area common to the front and back surface is set.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a duplex printing apparatus and duplex printing method that print a plurality of images on each of front and back surfaces of a continuous sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been provided a printing apparatus that sequentially prints a plurality of images on a continuous sheet, and cuts the sheet on an image (page) basis. In such a printing apparatus, a conveyance state of the continuous sheet is influenced by an individual difference of the printing apparatus, the type or width of the sheet, use environment, or the like, and therefore a conveyance distance of the continuous sheet per unit time includes a certain level of error. For this reason, in order to prevent the continuous sheet from being cut in the middle of an image, a method that, between images, provides a non-image area printed with a cut mark indicating a cutting position, and on the basis of timing at which a detector detects the cut mark, cuts the continuous sheet with a cutter is used.
However, in the case where in order to detect such a cut mark, the detector performs a reading operation throughout the continuous sheet, a pattern in an image, which is similar to the cut mark, may also be determined as the cut mark to cut the continuous sheet on the middle of the image.
To address such a problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122 discloses a method that performs a reading operation by a detector only on a non-image area printed with a cut mark. Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122 discloses a configuration in which by focusing on the fact that an error in conveyance amount of a continuous sheet is increased along with an increase in conveyance distance of the continuous sheet, i.e., an increase in size of an image precedently printed, a size of a non-image area between two successive images is adjusted depending on a size of a precedent image. According to such a Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122, in a non-image area having a size enough to include a conveyance error of the continuous sheet, a cut mark can be detected, and therefore even in the case where a conveyance error occurs, the continuous sheet can be cut in a correct position.
However, with the configuration of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122, a function of duplex printing that prints images on front and back surfaces of a continuous sheet may not be fulfilled. In the following, this is specifically described.
In general, even in the case of printing a plurality of images on front and back surfaces, a cutting position is common to the front and back surfaces. Accordingly, in such a printing apparatus, a layout of a plurality of images is determined such that one image to be printed on a front surface and one image to be printed on a back surface just on the back side of the front surface are coincident with each other to the utmost extent in terms of size and position in a conveyance direction. For this reason, one non-image area on a front surface and one non-image area on a back surface just on the backside of the front surface are also substantially coincident with each other in terms of size.
On the other hand, in such a duplex printing apparatus, it is typical to place a reversing roller downstream of a printing unit that prints an image, reverse here a continuous sheet in terms of front and back surface, which has been subjected to front surface printing, and then send the continuous sheet to the printing unit again. In doing so, the continuous sheet sent from the reversing roller is reversed in terms of the front and back surfaces thereof, as well as in terms of fore and rear ends thereof in a conveyance direction. That is, a part serving as a rearmost end at the time of printing the front surface serves as a foremost end at the time of printing the back surface. As in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122, in the case of adjusting a size of an individual non-image area depending on a size of a precedent image at the time of printing a front surface, a size of a non-image area at the time of printing a back surface is adjusted depending not on a size of a precedent image but on a size of a subsequent image.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for specifically describing such a situation. For example, consider the case where on a front surface, an image A, image B, and image C are sequentially printed, and on back surfaces of the images A, B, and C, images D, E, and F respectively having the same sizes as those of the images A, B, and C are printed. In this case, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122, at the time of surface printing that prints the images while conveying a continuous sheet in an A-direction, a size WA of a non-image area 1 between the images A and B is set depending on a size LA of the image A. Also, a size WB of a non-image area 2 between the images B and C is set depending on the size LB of the image B, and a size WC of a non-image area 3 subsequent to the image C is set depending on the size LC of the image C.
On the other hand, at the time of back surface printing, the continuous sheet is reversed in terms of fore and rear ends thereof, and therefore the conveyance direction is switched to a B direction. Accordingly, the images F, E, and D are printed in this order so as to respectively coincide in position with the images C, B, and A. As a result, on a back surface side, the continuous sheet is conveyed and printed in the order of non-image area 3→image F→non-image area 2→image E→non-image area 1→image D, and detection of cut marks and cutting are also performed in this state.
According to an original purpose of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122, an error in conveyance amount of a continuous sheet is increased/decreased depending on a size of an image precedently conveyed, and therefore the size of the non-image area 1 at the time of a cutting operation should be adjusted depending on the size of the image E to be conveyed precedently to the non-image area 1. However, in the case of duplex printing employing a technique in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122 as described above, at the time of the back surface printing where a cutting process is actually performed, the size of the non-image area 1 is adjusted depending not on the size of the image E to be precedently conveyed but on the size of the image A having substantially the same size as that of the image D to be subsequently conveyed. That is, a non-image area appropriate to an error in conveyance amount is not provided, and a problem to be solved by Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-158122 cannot be solved.


Antisense compounds, compositions and methods are provided for modulating the expression of stearoyl-CoA desaturase. The compositions comprise antisense compounds, particularly antisense oligonucleotides, targeted to nucleic acids encoding stearoyl-CoA desaturase. Methods of using these compounds for modulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression and for treatment of diseases associated with expression of stearoyl-CoA desaturase are provided.

Saturated fatty acids are known to be the precursors of unsaturated fatty acids in higher organisms. However, the control mechanisms that govern the conversion of saturated fatty acids to unsaturated fatty acids are not well understood. The relative amounts of different fatty acids have an effect on the physical properties of membranes. Furthermore, regulation of unsaturated fatty acids is important because they play a role in cellular activity, metabolism and nuclear events that govern gene transcription.
A critical committed step in the biosynthesis of mono-unsaturated fatty acids is the introduction of the first cis-double bond in the delta-9 position (between carbons 9 and 10). This oxidative reaction is catalyzed by stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD, also known as delta-9-desaturase) and involves cytochrome b5, NADH (P)-cytochrome b5 reductase and molecular oxygen (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558). Although the insertion of the double bond occurs in several different methylene-interrupted fatty acyl-CoA substrates, the preferred substrates are palmitoyl- and stearoyl-CoA which are converted to palmitoleoyl- and oleoyl-CoA respectively (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558).
It has been recognized that, irrespective of diet, the major storage fatty acids in human adipose tissue are oleic acid, an 18 carbon unsaturated fatty acid, and palmitoleic acid, a 16 carbon unsaturated fatty acid (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558). During the de novo synthesis of fatty acids, the fatty acid synthase enzyme stops at palmitoleic acid but the end product of the pathway is usually oleic acid (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558).
The stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene was partially characterized in 1994 via isolation of a 0.76 kb partial cDNA from human adipose tissue (Li et al., Int. J. Cancer, 1994, 57, 348–352). Increased levels of stearoyl-CoA desaturase mRNA were found in colonic and esophageal carcinomas and in hepatocellular carcinoma (Li et al., Int. J. Cancer, 1994, 57, 348–352). The gene was fully characterized in 1999 and it was found that alternative usage of polyadenylation sites generates two transcripts of 3.9 and 5.2 kb (Zhang et al., Biochem. J., 1999, 340, 255–264). Two loci for the stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene were mapped to chromosomes 10 and 17 and it was determined that the chromosome 17 loci encodes a transcriptionally inactive pseudogene (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558).
Disclosed and claimed in PCT publication WO 00/09754 is a nucleic acid molecule encoding the human stearoyl-CoA desaturase and a nucleic acid molecule which, under suitable conditions, specifically hybridizes to said nucleic acid molecule encoding the human stearoyl-CoA desaturase (Stenn et al., 2000).
Stearoyl-CoA desaturase affects the ratio of stearate to oleate which, in turn, affects cell membrane fluidity. Alterations of this ratio have been implicated in various disease states including cardiovascular disease, obesity, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, skin disease, hypertension, neurological diseases, immune disorders and cancer (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558). Stearoyl-CoA desaturase has been viewed as a lipogenic enzyme not only for its key role in the biosynthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids, but also for its pattern of regulation by diet and insulin (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558).
The regulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturase is therefore of considerable physiologic importance and its activity is sensitive to dietary changes, hormonal imbalance, developmental processes, temperature changes, metals, alcohol, peroxisomal proliferators and phenolic compounds (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558).
Animal models have been very useful in investigations of the regulation of stearoyl-CoA by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). For example, in adipose tissue of lean and obese Zucker rats, Jones et al. observed a 75% decrease in stearoyl-CoA desaturase mRNA when both groups were fed a diet high in PUFAs relative to a control diet (Jones et al., Am. J. Physiol., 1996, 271, E44–49).
Similar results have been obtained with tissue culture systems. In the murine 3T3-L1 adipocyte cell line, arachidonic linoleic, linolenic, and eicosapentanenoic acids decreased stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression in a dose-dependent manner (Sessler et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1996, 271, 29854–29858).
The molecular mechanisms by which PUFAs regulate stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene expression in different tissues are still poorly understood. The current understanding of the regulatory mechanism involves binding of PUFAs to a putative PUFA-binding protein, after which repression transcription occurs via binding of the PUFA-binding protein to a cis-acting PUFA response element of the stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene (SREBP) (Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558; Zhang et al., Biochem. J., 2001, 357, 183–193).
Cholesterol has also been identified as a regulator of stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene expression by a mechanism involving repression of the maturation of the sterol regulatory element binding protein (Bene et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 2001, 284, 1194–1198; Ntambi, J. Lipid Res., 1999, 40, 1549–1558).
Thiazolidinediones have been employed as regulators of stearoyl-CoA desaturase activity in murine 3T3-L1 adipocytes (Kim et al., J. Lipid Res., 2000, 41, 1310–1316), and in diabetic rodents (Singh Ahuja et al., Mol. Pharmacol., 2001, 59, 765–773).
Disclosed and claimed in PCT publication WO 99/63979 are compositions comprising a saponin in an amount effective to inhibit stearoyl-CoA desaturase enzyme activity wherein said saponin is derived from a source selected from the group consisting of Quillaja saponaria, Panax trifolium, Panax quinquefolium and Glycyrrhiza glabra (Chavali and Forse, 1999).
Disclosed and claimed in European patent EP 238198 is an inhibitor of stearoyl-CoA desaturase prepared in a form suitable for oral, parenteral, rectal or dermal administration for use in modifying the lipid structure of cell membranes wherein said inhibitor consists of a saturated fatty acid having from 12 to 28 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain, e.g. stearic acid, or a pharmaceutically acceptable derivative thereof prepared in a form suitable for parenteral, rectal or dermal administration (Wood et al., 1987). A stearoyl-CoA desaturase antisense vector has been used to reduce expression levels of stearoyl-CoA desaturase in chicken LMH hepatoma cells (Diot et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 2000, 380, 243–250).
To date, investigative strategies aimed at inhibiting stearoyl-CoA desaturase function include the previously cited use of polyunsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, thiazolidinediones, cholesterol, and an antisense vector. However, these strategies are untested as therapeutic protocols. Consequently, there remains a long felt need for additional agents capable of effectively inhibiting stearoyl-CoA desaturase.
Antisense technology is emerging as an effective means of reducing the expression of specific gene products and may therefore prove to be uniquely useful in a number of therapeutic, diagnostic and research applications involving modulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression.
The present invention provides compositions and methods for modulating stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression, including inhibition of both isoforms of stearoyl-CoA desaturase.

Antisense modulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturase expression