A chimney tray for a reactor, wherein a gas reactant and a liquid reactant are mixed in chimneys to improve the dispersion performance of the liquid reactant on the catalyst bed of a fixed bed reactor thereby increasing the contact efficiency between the liquid reactant and the catalyst depending on the uniformity of flow of the liquid reactant, resulting in increased reaction efficiency, and which includes a tray having a plurality of through-holes, and a plurality of chimneys perpendicularly inserted into the through-holes of the tray and having one or more outlets penetrating there through and facing each other, wherein each of the plurality of chimneys includes a conical lower end which is formed such that it extends from the lower surface of the tray to make an angle of 10˜40° with respect to the direction of the normal line of the tray.

Generally, catalyst bed reactors are mainly employed in petrochemical plants. The reaction modes that cause the reaction while liquid and gas reactants simultaneously flow into a catalyst bed include concurrent flow wherein both liquid and gas reactants flow downwards, and countercurrent flow wherein a liquid reactant flows downwards and a gas reactant flows upwards. As such, the reaction efficiency is determined by the contact efficiency of the liquid and gas reactants with the catalyst in the catalyst bed depending on the uniformity of flow of the reactants. Also, in the case where the gas and liquid reactants flow downwards at the same time in the reactor, a chimney tray is used so that the reactants are uniformly dispersed on the catalyst bed, and the number of chimneys is determined depending on the operating conditions of the reactor.
The chimney tray is typically disposed above the catalyst bed, so that a liquid/gas mixture is uniformly dispersed to the catalyst bed to maximize the use of the catalyst. While a predetermined level of the liquid is maintained outside the chimney tray, the liquid is fed into the chimney via holes and comes into contact with the gas being fed at a fast flow rate into the chimney, and is thus dispersed via the lower through-holes of the tray.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical operation principle of a chimney tray for a catalyst bed reactor. The catalyst bed reactor needs a predetermined space 4 between a tray 1 and a catalyst bed 2. This space 4 enables the gas reactant to flow down at uniform pressure throughout the reactor, and the liquid reactant to be uniformly dispersed from the lower surface of the tray 1. A plurality of chimneys 3 is cylindrical shaped with a predetermined diameter and length and has outlets 3a, 3b having a predetermined diameter at the upper and lower portions thereof and penetrating therethrough. The tray 1 is provided with a plurality of through-holes 1a to edge of which the plurality of chimney 3 are perpendicularly bonded at lower ends thereof.
FIG. 2 shows a chimney tray for a reactor, which is used to more uniformly disperse a liquid reactant on a catalyst bed (Korean Patent No. 0421130), wherein a chimney 3 has a plurality of through-holes having a predetermined diameter, that is, a plurality of outlets which are formed to penetrate therethrough and face each other in a tangential direction with respect to the outer surface of the chimney 3 at the lower end thereof. Also, the outlet has an incline 1b at a predetermined angle along the edge of the lower end thereof. When the angle of the incline 1b increases, the area where the droplets of the liquid reactant spread out on the catalyst bed becomes larger, and the liquid reactant may flow in a radial direction to the axis of the chimney.
The conventional chimneys as shown in FIG. 1 are designed to enable the liquid reactant which flows via the outlets 3a, 3b of the chimneys 3 to collide with the opposite inner walls of the chimneys so that the liquid reactant breaks up into small liquid particles which are then sprayed via the through-holes 1a of the tray and thus uniformly dispersed on the catalyst bed 2. Under typical operating conditions of the catalyst bed reactor, the liquid reactant may flow at a predetermined rate inside the chimney 3, instead of breaking up into the liquid particles, and then may drop toward the lower central portions of the through-holes 1a of the tray 1. However, as the liquid reactant passes through the through-holes of the chimneys, it may intensively flow down to the central portion of the catalyst bed assigned to each chimney thus causing channeling of the liquid reactant and attrition of the catalyst, resulting in increased pressure of the reactor.
In the case of Korean Patent No. 0421130 of FIG. 2, the above problems are alleviated by radially dispersing the liquid reactant with respect to the axis of the chimney via the outlets in the tangential direction at the lower end of the chimney and by changing the angle of the incline 1b. However, the top of the chimney is exposed, and thus the liquid reactant is mixedly fed from the top of the chimney 3 which undesirably deteriorates dispersion performance. Furthermore, depending on the physical properties of the liquid reactant, the droplets may flow down to the lower surface of the tray 1 along the incline 1b, making it difficult to obtain desired dispersion performance.

High performance chimney tray for a fixed bed reactor


A heating system, includes a furnace that is configured to heat air to be provided to a conditioned space, a pressure sensor configured to collect sensor data indicative of a pressure of air within the furnace; a fan configured to supply the heated air to the conditioned space, and a motor configured to drive the fan. Additionally, the heating system includes processing circuitry communicatively coupled to the pressure sensor and the motor. The processing circuitry is configured to control the motor based upon the sensor data such that an amount of airflow supplied to the conditioned space is constantly supplied by the fan.

The present disclosure relates generally to heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. A wide range of applications exist for HVAC systems. For example, residential, light commercial, commercial, and industrial HVAC systems are used to control temperatures and air quality in residences and other buildings. Certain HVAC units can be dedicated to either heating or cooling, although many HVAC units are capable of performing both functions. HVAC units may also provide ventilation to a conditioned interior space. In general, HVAC systems operate by implementing a thermodynamic cycle in which a refrigerant undergoes alternating phase changes to remove heat from or deliver heat to a conditioned interior space of a building. Heating may also be provided by heat pumps, gas furnace heat exchangers, electric resistance heat, or steam or hot water coils. Similar systems are used for vehicle cooling, and as well as for other types of general refrigeration, such as refrigerators, freezers, and chillers.
Certain HVAC systems may include an air handler that is driven by a motor and provides conditioned air to a conditioned space. In some cases, the motor may not be configured to cause the fan to supply a constant amount of airflow to the conditioned space. As such, the conditioned space may be oversupplied or undersupplied with conditioned air provided by the HVAC system. In other cases, certain types of motors, such as constant airflow motors, which may also be called constant CFM motors, typically require measuring a speed of a motor that drives the air handler.

Systems and methods for providing airflow in furnace systems


This invention is directed to a novel method of treating an individual suffering from a bacterial infection, such as bacterial infections of various tissues or organs of an individual. In general, the method of treatment involves administering to an individual a pharmaceutical formulation that comprises a liposome-encapsulated antimicrobial agent, wherein polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules are covalently attached to the surface of the liposomes.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that causes over half the cases of hospital-acquired pneumonia (1-3). It may also be referred to as multidrug-resistant and oxacillin-resistant S. aureus (ORSA). More particularly, MRSA is resistant to a large group of antibiotics called the beta-lactams, which include the penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems. Many strains are also resistant to fluoroquinolones. Vancomycin remains one of only two antimicrobial agents approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of MRSA pneumonia, but its clinical failure rates exceed 30% (4). Explanations for poor therapeutic outcomes include slow, time-dependent bactericidal activity; inadequate dosing; poor penetration into lung tissue and alveolar macrophages (5-11); and reduced susceptibility (4, 12, 13). S. aureus is an intracellular and extracellular pathogen (14, 15) that can survive with phagocytes and evade the immune system (16, 17).
Liposome-encapsulation of antimicrobials potentially offers enhanced pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and decreased toxicity over standard formulations (18, 19). Accumulating higher antimicrobial concentrations in infected tissues would allow for increased uptake by activated tissue macrophages (20, 21), and presumably improve treatment efficacy. Building on that concept, it has been shown that the attachment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules to the surfaces of liposomes effectively delivers the chemotherapeutic drug, gemcitabine, to pancreatic cancer tumor cells. (Cosco D, et al., Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, 64:(5)1009-1020 (2009). The encapsulation of antimicrobials with PEGylated liposomes for use in formulations to treat or prevent bacterial infections, however, has never been described. Indeed, potent antibiotics like vancomycin are often relied upon as a last resort for the treatment of bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics (e.g., MRSA). However, the effectiveness of vancomycin is reduced by the fact that it poorly penetrates lung tissue. Such problems are commonly experienced during the treatment of MRSA infections of the lungs. Therefore, this invention employs surface PEGylated liposome-encapsulation to more effectively deliver the 'drug-to-bug' by depositing a higher concentration of vancomycin into lung tissue as compared to standard vancomycin formulation.

Formulation of PEGylated-liposome encapsulated glycopeptide antibiotics


Track management system for use with a work machine and a track assembly that is pivotably coupled thereto at a pivot point. The track management system includes a first mount, a second mount, and an actuator. The first mount is coupled to the work machine, and the second mount is coupled to the track assembly. The actuator includes a first portion that is coupled to the first mount and a second portion that is coupled to the second mount. Expanding the actuator urges the track assembly about the pivot point in a first direction, while retracting the actuator urges the track assembly about the pivot point a second direction that is opposite of the first direction.

Some work machines include track assemblies. When a draft load is applied to this kind a work machine, a torque may be simultaneously applied about a pivot point of the track assembly. This torque shifts the vertical loading from a leading idler to a trailing idler, creating an imbalance therebetween. Because of this, the rear of the track assembly may receive significantly higher upward ground forces than the front of the track assembly. This imbalance reduces the traction between the track assembly and the ground, and further it causes the track assembly to tip (i.e., knuckle) relative to the ground. Some known track assemblies are designed asymmetrically relative to a vertical plane that intersects the pivot point, such that a trailing side of the track assembly protrudes further from the vertical plane than does the leading side. While such designs advantageously reduce the maximum imbalance at high draft loads, they disadvantageously increase the imbalance at low draft loads.

Track management system for use with a work machine and track assembly


A nonvolatile memory apparatus includes a sensing voltage generation unit, a memory cell, a current copy unit and a data sensing unit. The sensing voltage generation unit provides a sensing voltage with a constant level, to a sensing node. The memory cell receives the sensing voltage from the sensing node. The current copy unit generates copied current with substantially the same magnitude as sensing current which flows through the memory cell. The data sensing unit senses the copied current and generates a multi-bit data output signal.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments relate to a semiconductor apparatus, and more particularly, to a memory apparatus which includes nonvolatile memory cells.
2. Related Art
A conventional DRAM includes a memory cell constituted by a capacitor, and data is stored by charging or discharging charges to and from the memory cell. However, since the capacitor has leakage current due to the characteristics thereof, the DRAM has a disadvantage in that it is a volatile memory. In order to overcome the disadvantage, memories which are nonvolatile and do not need the retention of data have been developed. In particular, attempts have continuously been made to realize nonvolatility by modifying the structure of a memory cell. One of these attempts is a resistive memory apparatus which includes a resistive memory cell. The resistive memory apparatus may store multi-level data according to a resistance distribution of the resistive memory cell.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a conventional nonvolatile memory apparatus 10. In FIG. 1, the conventional nonvolatile memory apparatus 10 includes a memory cell 11 and first to fourth transistors N1, N2, N3 and N4. The memory cell 11 is formed of a resistive substance of which resistance value changes according to a temperature or current, and has different resistance values according to the data stored therein. Also, the memory cell 11 includes a diode to allow current to flow in one direction.
The first transistor N1 supplies sensing current to sense the data stored in the memory cell 11. The first transistor N1 receives a bias voltage VB and applies a power supply voltage VPPSA to a sensing node SAI. The second transistor N2 is turned on in response to a clamping signal VCLAMP and serves to control the voltage applied to the memory cell 11 not to exceed a threshold. The third transistor N3 is turned on in response to a bit line select signal BLS when a bit line to which data access is to be implemented is selected. The fourth transistor N4 is turned on in response to a word line select signal WLS when a word line to which data access is to be implemented is selected.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of another conventional nonvolatile memory apparatus 20. The conventional nonvolatile memory apparatus 20 includes a sense amplifier 22 in addition to the configuration of the nonvolatile memory apparatus 10 of FIG. 1, to sense multi-level data stored in a memory cell. Thus, the same reference characters of FIG. 1 will be used throughout FIG. 2 to refer to the same or like parts. The sense amplifier 22 is connected with a sensing node SAI and receives a sensing voltage VSEN from the sensing node SAI. The sense amplifier 22 compares the sensing voltage VSEN with first to third reference voltages REF1, REF2 and REF3, and generates a data output signal DOUT.
The conventional nonvolatile memory apparatuses 10 and 20 sense the data stored in memory cells 11 and 21 by changing the voltage of the sensing node SAI. The first transistor N1 is turned on when the bias voltage VB is applied, and is configured to supply a constant amount of current to the sensing node SAI. The current flows through the memory cells 11 and 21. Accordingly, the voltage level of the sensing node SAI changes according to the resistance values of the memory cells 11 and 21. That is to say, when the resistance values of the memory cells 11 and 21 are large, the voltage of the sensing node SAI has a high level, and when the resistance values of the memory cells 11 and 21 are small, the voltage of the sensing node SAI has a low level. In this way, in the conventional nonvolatile memory apparatuses 10 and 20, the constant amount of current is supplied to the sensing node SAI, and the data stored in the memory cells 11 and 21 are sensed through a change in the voltage level of the sensing node SAI according to the resistance values of the memory cells 11 and 21.
Further, in order to reliably sense a change in the voltage level of the sensing node SAI according to the resistance values of the memory cells 11 and 21, a boosting voltage VPPSA is used as the power supply voltage. In general, the boosting voltage VPPSA may be generated, as a voltage with a level higher than the level of a power supply voltage applied from an outside, through a pumping circuit.
Moreover, the sense amplifier 22 necessarily needs a plurality of reference voltages to sense data stored in the memory cell 21. Namely, when the memory cell 21 stores 2-bit data, total three reference voltages are needed to differentiate 00, 01, 10 and 11.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Non-volatile memory apparatus sensing current changing according to data stored in memory cell


A process and apparatus is presented for the improved selectivity of oxygenate conversion to olefins. The process includes passing a process stream through a two stage reactor, wherein the process stream is separated from the catalyst in the first stage before passing the process stream to the second stage. The catalyst is continuously passed through the two stages, and cycles through a regeneration unit to control the carbon content on the catalyst.

The traditional method of olefin production is the cracking of petroleum feedstocks to olefins. The cracking of petroleum feedstocks is done through catalytic cracking, steam cracking, or some combination of the two processes. The olefins produced are generally light olefins, such as ethylene and propylene. There is a large market for the light olefin products of ethylene and propylene. As petroleum feedstocks from crude oil face increasing prices it is advantageous to provide for other sources of ethylene and propylene.
An ethylene plant involves a very complex combination of reaction and gas recovery systems. Feedstock is charged to a thermal cracking zone in the presence of steam at effective conditions to produce a pyrolysis reactor effluent gas mixture. The mixture is then stabilized and separated into purified components through a sequence of cryogenic and conventional fractionation steps. Ethylene and propylene yields from steam cracking and other processes may be improved using known methods for the metathesis or disproportionation of C4 and heavier olefins, in combination with a cracking step in the presence of a zeolitic catalyst, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,935 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,936. The cracking of olefins in hydrocarbon feedstocks comprising C4 mixtures from refineries and steam cracking units is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,858,133; U.S. Pat. No. 7,087,155; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,375,257.
Paraffin dehydrogenation represents an alternative route to light olefins and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,150 and elsewhere. More recently, the desire for alternative, non-petroleum based feeds for light olefin production has led to the use of oxygenates such as alcohols and, more particularly, methanol, ethanol, and higher alcohols or their derivatives. The alcohols, and in particular methanol, can be produced from other sources such as biomass and natural gas. The most common conversion of oxygenates to olefins is the production of light olefins from methanol, and one process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,433. The yield of light olefins from such a process may be improved using olefin cracking to convert some or all of the C4+ product of MTO in an olefin cracking reactor, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,268,265. Other processes for the generation of light olefins involve high severity catalytic cracking of naphtha and other hydrocarbon fractions. A catalytic naphtha cracking process of commercial importance is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,867,341.
The process of converting oxygenates to olefins is an important process for utilizing oxygenates, such as methanol, and converting them to higher value products such as monomers for plastics, such as ethylene and propylene. The process of converting oxygenates to olefins is a catalytic process, and the catalyst is usually a molecular sieve catalyst. Among the molecular sieves that are useful for the catalytic process are ZSM-type molecular sieves, but more particularly, it has been found that silico-aluminophosphate (SAPO) molecular sieves work well in the process.
Even with the different methods of producing light olefins, the demand for ethylene and propylene continues to increase. Therefore, a need exists for new methods, catalysts and equipment that can increase light olefin yields from existing sources of both straight-run and processed hydrocarbon streams.

Two stage oxygenate conversion reactor with improved selectivity


Dynamic thin film interferometry is a technique used to non-invasively characterize the thickness of thin liquid films that are evolving in both space and time. Recovering the underlying thickness from the captured interferograms, unconditionally and automatically is still an open problem. A compact setup is provided employing a snapshot hyperspectral camera and the related algorithms for the automated determination of thickness profiles of dynamic thin liquid films. The technique is shown to recover film thickness profiles to within 100 nm of accuracy as compared to those profiles reconstructed through the manual color matching process. Characteristics and advantages of hyperspectral interferometry are discussed including the increased robustness against imaging noise as well as the ability to perform thickness reconstruction without considering the absolute light intensity information.

Hyperspectral imaging is a spectral imaging technique that combines spectroscopy and digital photography, thus yielding a spectrum at each pixel in the image of a scene. Due to the enhanced spectral resolution, hyperspectral imaging has been used for many remote sensing applications such as monitoring agriculture and vegetation, and for detecting mineral and oil deposits. Recently, hyperspectral imaging techniques have proliferated medical imaging, including for cancer tissue detection and ophthalmology. Furthermore, hyperspectral imaging is increasingly being used for industrial machine vision applications such as for food and process quality control. As hyperspectral imagers are rapidly becoming more robust, compact and economical, this technology is poised to significantly revolutionize machine vision in many different settings.
One such setting is dynamic thin film interferometry. Thin film interferometry is a technique that employs light interference to measure thickness of films that are usually a few microns thick. Thin film interferometry has been used since the early 1950's to characterize static films, and in the subsequent years the technique was adopted for studying dynamic thin liquid films that have a spatially and temporally evolving thickness profile. This technique has since then become the conventional method for characterizing thin liquid films in research settings, primarily due to its simplicity and non-invasive nature. Some of the important areas that make use of this technique includes characterizing foam and emulsion stability, drop impacts, tear films and liquid film coatings. Despite the popularity of the technique in research settings, dynamic thin liquid film interferometry has not proliferated industrial or commercial settings.
The primary obstacle that prevents the widespread commercial use of interferometry for characterizing dynamic thin films is the difficulty in automatically analyzing the interferograms to recover the underlying film thicknesses. The automatic analysis is complicated by the transcendental phase-periodic governing equations that non-uniquely relates the pixel intensities in interferograms to film thicknesses. This inherent complexity is amplified by the uncertainty introduced by the unavoidable imaging and background noise. As a result, the unconditional determination of the thickness of spatiotemporally evolving thin films from interferograms has remained a challenging research problem since the inception of this technique.
Researchers have traditionally side stepped this problem broadly by the following approaches. One of the approaches involves manually identifying the film thickness at a region utilizing a reference colormap. This approach, though robust, yet is quite slow and suffers from human subjectivity. Another common approach utilizes fringe counting from a known absolute reference thickness in the film. This approach is fast, yet still not robust and requires assumptions on the spatial structure of the film. Yet another approach involves pre-calibrating the pixel intensities in interferograms to film thicknesses utilizing liquid films of known thickness profiles. This approach is fast and robust, however this technique is restricted to scenarios where such calibrations are possible.

Platform and methods for dynamic thin film measurements using hyperspectral imaging

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


A deflectable endoscope including an imaging structure, an outer member having a proximal portion and a distal portion, an elongated column member extending distally from the outer member and an inner member positioned coaxial with the outer member and attached to the column member. The inner member extends distally of the outer member and has a distal tip portion. A reinforcement member is positioned over the column member to restrict axial movement of the column member such that when one of the inner member or outer member is moved with respect to the other, axial compression of the column member is restricted by the reinforcement member causing the distal tip portion of the inner member to deflect laterally.

Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to medical devices, and in particular medical catheters with optical capabilities and/or steering capabilities.
Background of Related Art
An endoscope is an illuminated usually fiber-optic flexible or rigid tubular instrument for providing direct visualization to the interior of a hollow organ or part (as the bladder or esophagus) for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes that typically has one or more channels to enable passage of instruments (as forceps or scissors). The scope is inserted through a natural opening, such as the mouth during a bronchoscopy or the rectum for a sigmoidoscopy.
Because current endoscopes have outer shaft diameters of approximately 5 mm or greater, they typically can only be used in relatively large body lumens. As a consequence, they can only provide direct visualization to the large lumen and the entrance to the small lumens that branch off. In order to examine a small lumen further, i.e., beyond the entrance, a catheter has to be inserted through the working channel of the endoscope and then passed down into the small lumen. Visualization is then done through radiographical means.
A variety of attempts have been made to provide catheters capable of navigating into small lumens to provide direct visualization and treatment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,922,650 to McWeeney et al. discloses a direct visualization system that includes a reusable optical assembly and a disposable co-linear multi-lumen, steerable catheter that can be tracked over a guidewire. The catheter, which has a 10 French (3.3 mm) outer diameter, has one working channel, two irrigation channels, and a dedicated optical assembly lumen. The optical assembly, which has a diameter of approximately 0.77 mm is made of a fiber optic bundle surrounded by lights. Because the optical assembly is free of the catheter and has a small crossing profile it is able to enter normal bile and pancreatic ducts, which have diameters as small as 2 to 3 mm. However, the catheter itself, with a 3.3 mm crossing profile, is still restricted access. As a result, visualization which starts out moderate at best due to use of fiber optics is further impaired by any stone debris or sludge that cannot be properly flushed from a distance. In addition, the optical assembly is fragile and must be handled with care.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,922,654 to Boutillette et al. discloses a small diameter steerable imaging catheter with at least one steering cable extending along the catheter tube to control movement of the distal end and a fiber optic cable extending along the catheter tube. The catheter tube is constructed to have greater flexibility near its distal end portion while having greater stiffness in the remainder of the tube. It also discloses that this may be accomplished by varying durometer ratings of the materials used to form the catheter tube. It further discloses that this construction concentrates the flexing at the distal end portion, rather than throughout the entire catheter tube, to thereby reduce undue twisting of the catheter tube along its entire length, and further to permit better control of the movement of the distal end portion. In order to provide a smaller diameter steerable imaging catheter, the '654 patent provides a shaft with fewer independent channels (lumens) than the '650 patent which relies solely on shaft design and steering wires, not a guidewire, for navigation. The lack of independent channels results in the sharing of channels that are present. For instance, irrigation or flushing of the fiber optic may be interrupted if a cutting wire is needed for cutting out undesirable material. Interruption in flow will result in impaired visualization due to sludge or debris that cannot be properly flushed from in front of the fiber optic during the procedure. Also, the '654 patent uses fiber optic technology in the design due to its small delivery diameter. Like the '650 patent, this creates a fragile device with poor image quality.
Both of the above patents disclose co-linear multi-lumen tubes with at least one of the lumens dedicated to a fiber optic for viewing. In addition, both require the use of push/pull or steering wires, which are placed circumferentially around the catheter adding to the overall size.
There exists a need for smaller diameter devices with imaging capability. The need further exists for such smaller diameter devices that are highly navigable with an imaging technology that presents high resolution, color images to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of a patient. It would further be beneficial if such devices could be designed with deflection without increasing their size to thereby maintain their low profile. It would also be beneficial if such devices could enable flushing of the imaging devices to aid visualization.


The present invention provides an electric propulsion system control apparatus that uses electric means alone so that effects pertaining to weight and cost are suppressed, is capable of accurate detection even when an airspeed has a binary relationship with a torque and a rotation speed of a propeller, and thereby exhibits improved detection precision and responsiveness. The electric propulsion system control apparatus drives a propulsion propeller to rotate, and is configured to estimate the airspeed from a data set stored in advance in relation to the airspeed and a propeller characteristic, and a plurality of torque and rotation speed estimation values detected under different driving conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric propulsion system control apparatus having an electric drive motor that drives a propulsion propeller to rotate, current detecting means for detecting a current of the electric drive motor, rotation speed detecting means for detecting a rotation speed of the electric drive motor, and drive control means for controlling the electric drive motor, and more particularly to an electric propulsion system control apparatus suitable for drive-controlling a propulsion propeller of an aircraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
To fly an aircraft safely and efficiently, it is important to monitor an airspeed and an atmospheric density during flight.
In an aircraft, the airspeed is typically detected by detecting a dynamic pressure that is proportional to a square of the airspeed using a pressure gauge connected by a pipe to a Pitot tube.
In this method, a maximum delay of approximately several seconds may occur before dynamic pressure variation occurring at a tip end of the Pitot tube propagates through the pipe so as to reach the pressure gauge and be detected as airspeed variation, and therefore this method is problematic when applied to a case in which the airspeed varies over time.
To maintain efficiency in a propulsion system of the aircraft, and thereby stabilize an attitude and an altitude of an airframe, operating conditions of the propulsion system such as a rotation speed and a pitch angle of a propeller must be adjusted in accordance with the airspeed.
However, when airspeed detecting means employing the aforementioned Pitot tube is used in cases where the airspeed varies over time, such as during a takeoff run or in gusty conditions, airspeed detection and operating condition adjustment cannot be performed in a timely fashion relative to the airspeed variation, leading to a reduction in efficiency, and as a result, problems such as an increased takeoff run length and a large loss of altitude may occur.
Highly responsive airspeed detecting means such as a hot wire anemometer also exists, but demerits pertaining to cost, weight, and so on are unavoidable when such means is installed in an aircraft.

Electric propulsion system control apparatus


A Christmas tree is used between production tubing elevation and flow line elevation. The tree has a lower portion, an intermediate portion, and an upper portion. The intermediate portion is positioned between the production tubing elevation and the flow line elevation and has an axial dimension configured to substantially maintain the axial dimension between the elevations. The intermediate portion has first and second shut-off valves for closing fluid communication of the axial bore. A hanger is positioned in the axial bore of the intermediate portion between the first and second shut-off valves. The hanger defines a bore and a port. The port communicates a side of the hanger with the lower end of the hanger. The coil tubing attaches to the port at the lower end of the hanger, and the port at the side of the hanger communicates with the feed line of the intermediate portion.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a Christmas tree 10 according to the prior art is illustrated in an elevational view. The Christmas tree 10 is attached atop conventional components of a wellhead known in the art. The tree 10 includes a tubing head 12, a tubing head adapter 16, a lower master gate valve 18, an upper master gate valve 20, and a flow tee 22. The flow tee 22 has a flow line gate valve 24 and a kill line gate valve 26. The gate valves 24 and 26 connect to additional components (e.g., piping) situated at a flow line elevation FE. The flow line elevation FE is measured from a production elevation, which can be measured from the top of the tubing head adapter 16 (e.g., production elevation PE) or measured from the bottom of the tubing head 12 (e.g., alternate production elevation PEALT). As shown in FIG. 1, the lower shut-off valve 18 and upper shut-off valve 20 are separate components.
The tree 10 is shown with a coil tubing assembly 40 attached atop the flow tee 22. To attach this assembly 40, an upper cap (not shown) that is initially attached atop the flow tree 22 is removed, and the coil tubing assembly 40 is attached to the flow tree 22. Then, coil tubing (also known as capillary) 30 is inserted through the vertical bore 28 that extends through the valves 18 and 20 of the tree 10. During operation, the coil tubing 30 is used to inject chemicals, to carry downhole sensors, or to perform a variety of other purposes. The coil tubing 30 typically has a diameter of ¼ or ⅜ inch.
As is recognized in the art, the coil tubing 30 when inserted in the vertical bore 28 can interfere with the valves 18 and 20 during an emergency shut off. For example, the coil tubing 30 may be severed by a closing shut off valve 18 or 20 so that communication between the vertical bore 28 of the tree 10 and the lower portions of the well (not shown). Severing the coil tubing 30 may cause damage to the valve 18 or 20 and could leave lower portions of the tubing 30 and any sensors or other components lost in the well.
One solution to the problems caused by running the coil tubing 30 through the vertical bore 28 and both valves 18 and 20 involves using a flanged coil tubing hanger between the valves 18 and 20. One example of such a prior art flanged coil tubing hanger 45 is illustrated in an elevational view in FIG. 1B. The flanged coil tubing hanger 45 is inserted between the lower master gate valve 18 and the upper master gate valve 20 to modify the Christmas tree arrangement 10 of FIG. 1A. The flanged coil tubing hanger 45 has flanged ends that connect to the flanged ends of the gate valves 18 and 20. By adding the flanged hanger 45, the resulting Christmas tree arrangement 11 of FIG. 1B has a new flow line elevation FENEW that is higher than the pre-existing flow line elevation FE. Thus, when the conventional Christmas tree arrangement 10 (as shown in FIG. 1A) is modified to add the flanged coil tubing hanger 45, additional components surrounding the modified Christmas tree arrangement 11 of FIG. 1B must be altered so that the flow lines will properly align with the gate valves 24 and 26 at the new flow line elevation FENEW. The need to modify surrounding components can increase costs and may require additional time for a crew to complete the work.
Another solution to the problems caused by running the coil tubing 30 through both valves 18 and 20 involves using a Y-body Christmas tree. One example of such a prior art Y-body Christmas tree 50 is illustrated in a perspective view and a partial cross-sectional view in FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively. This Y-body Christmas tree 50 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,478. The Y-body tree 50 has a body 60 formed as a single piece of steel that has a vertical bore 61 extending axially therethrough. The body 60 connects to a first shut-off valve 52 that is attached to the tubing head adapter 16 and the tubing head 12. The body 60 houses a second shut-off valve 62 for opening and closing the vertical bore 61. The body 60 also has gate valves 64 and 66 attached to an upper, flow tee portion 63 of the body 60 that communicate with the vertical bore 61. At the top of the vertical bore 61, the body 60 has a top cap 14 attached.
A coil tubing bore 70 formed in the body 60 connects to the vertical bore 61 below the upper shut-off valve 62 in the body 60. The coil tubing bore 70 extends upwardly at an angle from the vertical bore 61 so that coil tubing 80 can be fed through the coil tubing bore 70. A coil tubing head assembly 72 is attached to the coil tubing bore 70 so that the coil tubing 80 can be inserted and suspended through the lower shut-off valve 52 and not the upper shut-off valve 62.
The Y-body tree 50 can be added to an existing implementation such that the overall distance between the adapter 16 and the gate valves 64 and 66 at the upper, flow tee portion 63 is not changed. This has the advantage of not requiring additional labor to reconfigure other portions of an implementation. Despite the advantages provided by the Y-body tree 50, there are some disadvantages, as discussed below.
The Y-body tree 50 requires that the body 60 be intricately constructed and integrally formed, which can increase costs. In addition, the coil tubing bore 70 requires that the gate valves 64 and 66 be offset at 90-degrees from one another. In addition, if the upper shut-off valve 62 is closed and the lower shut-off valve 52 is not closed for whatever reason, the coil tubing bore 70 enables pressure from the vertical bore 61 to communicate above the upper shut-off valve 62, which may be undesirable. Furthermore, the coil tubing bore 70 may be prone to damage because it projects outwardly and upwardly from the majority of the Y-body tree 50. For example, the coil tubing bore 70 during operation and use can be exposed to damage caused by objects either falling or being moved around the Y-body tree 50.
The subject matter of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.
While the subject matter of the present disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. The figures and written description are not intended to limit the scope of the inventive concepts in any manner. Rather, the figures and written description are provided to illustrate the inventive concepts to a person skilled in the art by reference to particular embodiments, as required by 35 U.S.C. §112.

Modified Christmas tree components and associated methods for using coiled tubing in a well


A computer assisted method for conducting library research from a first location which is remote from the printed work storage location includes identifying at the first location a book to be viewed and delivering the request through computers and telecommunications apparatus to the book storage location followed by delivering the book to a book viewing station and remotely reviewing digital images of at least portions of the book created by a digital imaging system. The computer is programmed to permit a user at the first location to adjust the digital imaging system at the second location and to identify pages of the book to be viewed. Robots may be employed to deliver the book to the book viewing station from the book storage area and to return the book from the book viewing station to the book storage area. Hard copies of the digital image of one or more pages of the book may be made at the first location. Instructions after viewing the book at the book viewing station may be provided from the first location to request return of the book to the book storage area or delivery of the book to a location other than the book storage location. A robot may be employed to turn the pages of the book. Corresponding apparatus is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed toward a computerized method of conducting research employing hard copy books and other printed works which are disposed at a location remote from the researcher and also to apparatus capable of facilitating such research.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the days prior to widespread use of computers, substantially all library materials were in the form of printed hard copy books, journals and related materials. As the volume of such materials has increased over the years, storage of the same has become a significant problem. Libraries are frequently confronting a problem of limited shelf-space in readily accessible library areas and the need to store books for retrieval in inconvenient off-site storage facilities.
In recent years, both on-line computerized research capabilities and the ability to obtain information stored on magnetic media, such as CD-ROMs, have caused a lot of library funds to be expended for computer equipment, on-line access charges and materials provided on magnetic storage media rather than in hard copy.
While the technology exists for digital scanning of hard copy to permit storage on magnetic media, the economics of attempting to convert substantial libraries, such as university libraries and other libraries, including corporate libraries, makes it impractical to employ such an approach. Also, the copyright laws impose certain restrictions on the legal right to reproduce materials unless such reproduction is "fair use" in the context of United States copyright laws.
While moving the hard copy books to off-site storage locations is an approach to solving the problems, such works are rendered less accessible as a result of the off-site storage. Typically, researchers are not permitted to have access to the books at the storage site, but rather can obtain delivery of a hard copy work within 24 hours. Also, the delivery and return service involves a cost.
Numerous automated robot systems have been employed to locate and deliver a wide variety of warehouse stored items. These systems may provide an automated vehicle which moves in a predetermined path which may have rails or may not depending upon the system employed. Optical scanners may be employed to locate a particular bin containing the items to be delivered. Bar codes may be employed to facilitate robot arrival at the storage location. The robots may have hydraulically actuated robot arms with suitable means for engaging and removing a bin from a shelf followed by robot delivery of the bin to the desired location. See, generally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,066, "How Robots Pick Things Up," Machine Design, pp. 52-56, April, 1987, and "Micro-Cameras Direct Fruit-Picking Robot" Hydraulics & Pneumatics, p. 10, February, 1990.
California State University Northridge in 1991 initiated use of a railed "mini-load" crane, which is responsive to an on-line catalog selection by a user, causing a crane to retrieve a bin containing the desired book and delivering it to an operator. The operator removes the book from the bin, checks the book out and delivers it to an electric track vehicle for delivery to a circulation counter. See http://www.csun.edu/.about.vfoao0hf/asrs.html. This system does not involve remote viewing of a book by digital transmission or the ability to select portions for remote viewing.
There remains a need for dealing with the economic problems and the need to provide prompt access to hard copy works. Libraries are facing a particularly troublesome problem in respect of older books which were not available previously through modern computerized and electronic means.

Computer assisted method for conducting library research from a remote location and associated apparatus


A method for prioritizing features that can be incorporated into a product, the method including: issuing a weighting factor to each stakeholder having an economic interest in the product, a size of the weighting factor being proportional to a size of a budget for each stakeholder; bidding an amount of the weighting factor for each feature by each stakeholder, a total amount bid by each stakeholder is not to exceed the size of the weighting factor issued to each stakeholder; summing the amounts bid for each feature to provide a total feature bid for each feature; and prioritizing the features in order from highest total feature bid to lowest total feature bid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to setting a priority in developing features of a product.
2. Description of the Related Art
Developing a new product can pose many challenges. The product can be designed with many different features. Some of these features may be sought after by groups supporting the product. Unfortunately, budgets are often limited and not all features can be incorporated into the product.
A new product, especially a computer processing product, may require support by various support groups. For example, a field service group may have to send a technician on a field call to service the product. Another support group, such as a development group, may have to analyze defects as the defects occur.
The new product can be designed to incorporate special features that improve the efficiency of the support groups. Each of the special features, though, comes at a price. Presently, each of the support groups argues for a particular special feature on equal ground with the other support groups. However, by arguing on equal ground, the special features that are most cost effective may not be incorporated.
Therefore, what are needed are techniques to prioritize features to be incorporated into a product.

Method to prioritize product requirements

International Business Machines Corporation


An integrated circuit device is formed by providing a substrate and forming a capacitor on the substrate. The capacitor includes a lower electrode disposed on the substrate, a dielectric layer on the lower electrode, and an upper electrode on the dielectric. A hydrogen barrier insulation layer is formed on the upper electrode and a hydrogen barrier spacer is formed on a sidewall of the capacitor.

As the integration density of integrated circuit memory devices has increased, research into materials that have a high dielectric constant, such as Ta2O5, BST, and PZT, for use as a dielectric layer in an integrated circuit memory device capacitor has increased. Conventionally, polysilicon has been used as a storage node and a plate node of a capacitor. However, a high dielectric constant layer typically interacts with polysilicon, such that oxygen atoms in the dielectric layer penetrate into the polysilicon, which may degrade electrical properties of the capacitor. Also, when an electrode comprises polysilicon, leakage current may increase due to polysilicon's small work function. For this reason, extensive studies have been made in which a noble metal, such as Ru and Pt, is used in place of polysilicon as a capacitor electrode of an integrated circuit memory device.
Forming a memory device, such as a DRAM, that has a capacitor electrode that comprises a noble metal typically involves a hydrogen alloy process. Memory device capacitors that include an electrode that comprises a noble metal, such as, for example, metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors and/or a metal-insulator-silicon (MIS) capacitors, a catalytic action of the noble metal may allow hydrogen ions to penetrate into the dielectric layer of the capacitor. The hydrogen penetrates into the dielectric layer and may degrade electrical properties of an interface between electrodes and the dielectric layer of the capacitor.
Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) may be deposited on a capacitor as a hydrogen barrier layer to inhibit penetration of hydrogen into the dielectric layer as is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0074588 entitled "Ferroelectric Capacitors for Integrated Circuit Memory Devices and Methods of Manufacturing the Same," published in Jun. 20, 2002, by inventor Kyu-Mann Lee. The technique of depositing aluminum oxide on a capacitor as a hydrogen barrier layer may, however, cause contact resistance to increase during a subsequent etching process for forming a metal contact hole.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views that illustrate a method of forming a conventional capacitor that includes electrodes that comprise a noble metal. Referring to FIG. 1, a transistor (not shown) and a bit line 14 are formed on a semiconductor substrate 10, and then a first interlayer dielectric (ILD) layer 12 is deposited thereon and planarized. An etch stop layer 16 is formed, and a lower electrode 18, a dielectric layer 20, and an upper electrode 22 are sequentially deposited thereon to form a capacitor 24. After this, an aluminum oxide layer 26 is deposited using a blanket method to prevent penetration of hydrogen into the dielectric layer 20 during a subsequent hydrogen alloy process.
Referring to FIG. 2, a second ILD layer 28 is thickly formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate where the aluminum oxide layer 26 is deposited as the hydrogen barrier layer. A photoresist layer is coated on the second ILD layer 28 and then a metal contact hole 30 for connecting a bit line 14 and a metal line is formed using photolithographic and etching processes. The etching process for forming the metal contact hole may be a dry etching process. If the aluminum oxide layer 26 for the hydrogen barrier layer is exposed during the etching process for forming the contact hole 30, then the contact hole 30 may be incorrectly formed (A). As a result, the contact hole 30 may be obliquely formed or incompletely made (A). When a poorly formed contact hole is filled with a conductive material for a contact plug a contact resistance may increase in the metal contact region, thereby degrading electrical properties of an integrated circuit device incorporating the capacitor.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view that illustrates another method of forming a conventional capacitor that includes electrodes that comprise a noble metal. Referring to FIG. 3, an aluminum oxide layer 26a that is used as a hydrogen barrier layer does not extend to a metal contact region to avoid increasing the contact resistance at a metal contact region. A capacitor 24 is formed and the aluminum oxide layer 26a for the hydrogen barrier layer is deposited on a capacitor upper electrode 22. The capacitor 24 and the aluminum oxide layer 26a comprising the hydrogen barrier layer are etched together. Thus, the increase in a contact resistance in a contact hole 30 caused by oblique etching or incomplete etching can be avoided. Because a sidewall of the capacitor is exposed during a hydrogen alloy process, however, hydrogen may penetrate into a dielectric layer 20 and degrade electrical properties of an integrated circuit device that incorporates the capacitor.
FIG. 4 is a graph of leakage current versus voltage for a capacitor formed using the method described above with reference to FIG. 3. The x-axis represents a voltage (V) applied to a semiconductor device including a capacitor, and the y-axis represents a leakage current per a unit cell (A/cell). In the drawing, the solid line denotes a leakage current characteristic before a hydrogen alloy process is performed. The line illustrated as -●- denotes a leakage current characteristic after the aluminum oxide layer for the hydrogen barrier layer is deposited to a thickness of 150 Å. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the leakage current increased even with use of the aluminum oxide layer for the hydrogen barrier layer. It may be presumed that hydrogen penetrated into sidewalls of the capacitor and degraded characteristics of an electrode interface or a dielectric layer, thus increasing the leakage current.
According to conventional methods of forming a capacitor that includes electrodes comprising a noble metal, a contact resistance may increase in a metal contact hole or hydrogen may penetrate into sidewalls of the capacitor, thus degrading characteristics of electrodes and/or a dielectric layer of the capacitor. As a result, a leakage current may increase.

Methods of forming integrated circuit devices having a capacitor with a hydrogen barrier spacer on a sidewall thereof and integrated circuit devices formed thereby


A method for providing pain relief includes topically applying to skin tissue an effective amount of higher homologs of isoparaffins, ranging from about C.sub.12 to C.sub.18. Compositions of the present invention include, with the isoparaffins in a mixture, at least one from the group consisting of salicylate, capsaicin, camphor, and menthol. Other constituents may be added for form creams or lotions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to topical medicinal preparations and methods for their use, and in particular, to topical pain relief compositions which contain an alkane-based active ingredient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pain relief of minor aches or soreness caused by injury to muscles, tendons, or any other such affliction which results in either pain or stiffness of joints and muscles has been addressed in the past with topical applications. In particular, it is known that minor aches such as those noted above can be temporarily relieved by non-prescription topical lotions and creams.
Known topical lotions and creams have been based on either salicylates, capsaicin, menthol, camphor or combinations thereof. It is understood that these compositions function via mechanisms which act predominantly upon the top epidermal layers of skin and sooth the nerve terminals which are located in the application area.
Although the known preparations provide various levels of pain relief, the use thereof has been associated with several problems. Namely, due to the nature of the active ingredients, the products are not without potential for skin irritation, especially with respect to sensitive areas of the body. Of the active components mentioned above, salicylates and capsaicin are the most powerful, but they are also classified as toxic irritants. Therefor, they can only be used in relatively low concentrations.
Additionally, most the known preparations contain an undiscriminating odor which cannot be easily masked. This odor is offensive to many and therefore some individuals in need of such treatment choose not to apply these compositions which are characterized with such a strong odor.
Finally, most of the above-mentioned preparations leave the skin greasy for a considerable time which may cause staining of clothing.

Topical pain-relieving preparation containing C.sub.12 To C.sub.18 isoparaffins


A system for routing fiber optic jumpers from a fiber optic jumper trough to network equipment includes fiber optic jumper enclosures. Each enclosure has a tubular segment surrounding an interior. The interior of each tubular segment accommodates the placement of fiber optic jumpers within the tubular segment. Some of the enclosures have connector holes in the tubular segments and some of the enclosures have latches connected to ends of the tubular segments. First, second, third, etc., enclosures interconnect with one another to form a router for routing fiber optic jumpers between a fiber optic jumper trough and the network equipment. A latch of the first enclosure connects to a connector hole of the second enclosure in order to interconnect the first and second enclosures to form the router. A post associated with one of the first and second enclosures mounts the router to the network equipment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to mechanisms for routing and supporting fiber optic jumpers and, more particularly, to a fiber optic jumper routing and securing system having a series of interconnected and anchored enclosures for routing and securing fiber optic jumpers between a fiber optic jumper trough and network equipment.
2. Background Art
Fiber optic jumpers connect into and out from network equipment in order to communicate optical signals to and from the network equipment. Network equipment includes components arranged within a bay or a lineup of bays. A set of network equipment bays are usually arranged side-by-side in a relay rack. The relay rack is mounted to a stationary structure such as a ladder rack on a given level. Other sets of network equipment bays are arranged in other relay racks which are mounted to the ladder rack on different levels.
A fiber optic jumper trough (i.e., "raceway") is placed above or below the ladder rack. Fiber optic jumpers extend between the raceway and the network equipment. For example, a first group of fiber optic jumpers extends between the raceway and the bays of the first relay rack, a second group of fiber optic jumpers extends between the raceway and the bays of the second relay rack, etc. Sub-sets of fiber optic jumpers extend from each group to an associated bay within a relay rack. For instance, a first sub-set of the first group of fiber optic jumpers extends to the first bay in the first relay rack, a second sub-set of the first group of fiber optic jumpers extends to the second bay in the first relay rack, etc.
Typically, there are a great many fiber optic jumpers for connection from the raceway to a great many network equipment components arranged on the ladder rack. As can be appreciated, the fiber optic jumpers form a congested mess. That is, the configuration of the fiber optic jumpers between the raceway and the network equipment arranged on the ladder rack is likely to be appear as congested, confusing, and irrational to an operator. Further, the portions of the fiber optic jumpers extending between the raceway and the network equipment components on the ladder rack are exposed to the environment and to accidental contact by casual human operators.

Fiber optic jumper routing and securing system having a series of interconnected and anchored enclosures


A system for facilitating a check-cashing transaction in accordance with the present invention comprises a check-cashing apparatus and a host system in communication with the check-cashing apparatus. The check-cashing apparatus has input devices for receiving check data and identification data from a user. The host system includes one or more processors configured to receive check data, identification data, check image and membership data input by the user at the check-cashing apparatus. The host system can authenticate the identification data by applying a validation algorithm to the identification data or by cross-referencing the data against one or more databases containing validated identification data. If the check cashing apparatus includes a device for capturing biometric information, the identification data can also be authenticated by comparing the biometric information captured at the time of the transaction with stored biometric information relating to the user. The host system can authenticate the check data by: converting one or more of the data fields of the check image into a format capable of being processed. The converted data is then compared to the check data input by the user. The host system can calculate a score for each data field based on a probability that the converted data from the check image matches the check data input by the user. The processor determines automatically whether to approve the check by applying a risk assessment guidelines.

Many individuals and institutions use checks as a medium for monetary payment or for transferring monies to another party. Typically, an individual or institution opens a checking account with a financial institution. The financial institution provides the ability to write checks against monetary finds held in the checking account. When an individual or institution writes a check for a specified amount to another party, the party must then "cash" the check with the financial institution to obtain the specified amount on the check held by the financial institution in the individual or institution's checking account.
There may be some risks involved with check-cashing transactions. In some instances, a check-cashing transaction can involve fraud. For example, a person can fraudulently misrepresent their own identity as one authorized to cash a particular check. If the check is written by an unauthorized person for a specified amount and cashed by the financial institution, the monetary funds held in the checking account may be wrongfully taken by the unauthorized person. Thus, a need exists for systems and methods for authenticating a person's identity in a check-cashing transaction.
In another instance, a person can fraudulently create a check and attempt to cash the fraudulent check. Again, monetary funds held in a checking account may be wrongfully taken by the person using the fraudulent check. Thus, a need exists for systems and methods for authenticating a check in a check-cashing transaction.
Finally, a financial institution or another third party involved in check-cashing transactions is exposed to financial or legal risk during these types of transactions. These risks may impose additional financial or legal burdens on the institution or third party. Thus, a need exists for systems and methods for assessing associated risks involved in a check-cashing transaction.
As described above, there are numerous risks involved in each step of a check-cashing transaction. These risks may impose additional financial or legal burdens on the institution or third party involved in the check-cashing transaction. Therefore, a need exists for systems and methods for authenticating a check-cashing transaction and assessing associated risks.


A densely wound coil and a wire which passes through the coil are inserted into a flexible part which has a flexibility. The coil which is fixed in the vicinity of a distal end of the wire has a proximal end thereof which is regulated in movement toward a rearward side by a stopper. The wire which extends rearward from the proximal end of the coil has a proximal end thereof which is drawn or pulled toward the rearward side by angular movement of an adjustment knob which is provided in the vicinity of a forward end of an operation part. By this traction, a compressive force is relatively applied to the coil to make flexibility of the coil changeable. Indicia associated with the adjustment knob alerts the user to the level of flexibility to which the adjustment knob is moved.

1. Field of the Invention and the Description of Related Art
The present invention relates to an endoscope which is provided with a function of being locked to flexibility modifying operation member which is provided at an operation part.
In recent years, an endoscope has widely been used in which an elongated insertion part is inserted into a body cavity, to thereby observe an inspection objective part within the body cavity without the necessity of incision or excision and, under certain circumstances, to thereby use a treatment tool so as to be able to perform therapy and treatment.
The insertion part of the endoscope is so arranged as to have flexibility so as to be capable of being inserted into a bent or curved insertion path. There are cases, however, where, because of this flexibility, azimuth or direction of the forward-end side is not determined with respect to the hand side so that it becomes difficult to introduce the insertion part in the objective or a target direction.
In order to cope therewith, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,887, which serves as a first prior-art example, is an endoscope in which two helical tubes which are different in diameter from each other are provided in the insertion part, a rigidity controller which is provided at a grip part is operated to change a diameter of the inside helical tube whereby flexibility of the insertion part can be modified.
The prior-art example is of such a structure that a rearward end of the inside helical tube is moved spirally by operation of the rigidity controller and, thereupon, the diameter of the inside helical tube is modified as a whole. Accordingly, it is considered that it is extremely difficult to hold, to a uniform diameter, various portions of the insertion part.
Specifically, setting is made such that a striplike member which forms the inside helical tube is displaceable other than both ends thereof, and is formed spirally so that a diameter thereof is uniform. Even if a slight variation exists in characteristic thereof, however, the diameters thereof differ from each other. Further, when inserted into the body cavity, since forces which act upon a diameter of a portion thereof which is arranged within a curved curvature portion and a portion thereof which is arranged within a straight portion are different from each other, portions which are high in flexibility and portions which are low in flexibility are locally formed.
Moreover, even if adjustment or regularity is, first, made to have a uniform radius, the insertion part is inserted into the bent body cavity. Accordingly, if bending is repeated, the insertion part is apt to be deformed. Thus, it is made difficult to set the insertion part to flexibility uniform in a longitudinal direction of the insertion part, or the like. Accordingly, an endoscope is desired which can adjust the flexibility uniformly. Furthermore, this prior-art example has no lock mechanism to be described later.
For this reason, disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. HEI 3-43802 (43802/1991) which serves as a second prior-art example is an arrangement which is provided with flexibility variable means which comprises a coil pipe and a wire, within the endoscope. According to the arrangement in this prior-art example, a compressive force can act relatively to the coil by operation to pull the wire, to modify the flexibility of the coil, an operator who perfonns an endoscope inspection can adjust flexibility of the insertion part by simple operation, and it is possible to facilitate insertion also into the bent path.
Since the wire which is arranged longitudinally of the insertion part is pulled to thereby compress the coil in the longitudinal direction of the insertion part, this second prior-art example can provide substantially equal compressive forces to various parts of the coil without being almost influenced upon a change in the diameter of the coil in a direction perpendicular to the compressive force. Thus, the second prior-art example can equally or uniformly adjust the flexibility longitudinally of the insertion part, by far, more than the first prior art example.
On one hand, the prior-art example requires considerably large or high capacity to pull the wire so as to have required hardness. An operation level of this prior-art example is not provided with a lock mechanism for, when the lever is operated to a certain hardness of the flexibility, holding the lever as a state of the hardness is required.
Accordingly, if a hand is removed from the lever which is operated under a hardened state, there is the possibility that the lever is naturally returned to an original position. This is useful when the insertion part is desired to be hardened instantaneously (volatility is desired to be raised). When it is desired, however, that the insertion part is inserted as the hard state is, such as the time of insertion into a depth of a large intestine, or the like, the lever must always be pressed down by the hand. Thus, operability is low.
Further, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. HEI 5-91971 (91971/1993) discloses an endoscope which is provided with a flexibility modifying operation part at rearward ends of a coil and a wire which extends from an operation part.
Normally, the endoscope is of a structure in which a grip part which is provided in the vicinity of a proximal end of the operation part of the endoscope is gripped by an operator, and operation such as curvature or the like can be performed by the gripped hand. For this reason, in the above-described prior-art example, since the flexibility modifying operation part is provided at a position which extends from the operation part, the gripped hand must be removed from the operation part and be operated so that the flexibility is made variable. Thus, an arrangement which improves operability is desired.

Endoscope provided with function of being locked to flexibility of insertion part which is set by flexibility modifying operation member


A cold cathode emitter structure is described together with two methods for manufacturing it. These methods are cost effective and relatively simple to implement. A key feature is the incorporation of chemical-mechanical polishing into the process. This allows the micro-cones, that serve as cold cathodes, to be easily positioned so that their apexes are located at the correct height relative to the gate lines. A second important feature is that the openings in the gate lines through which the emitted electrons will pass are made to be significantly narrower than in conventional designs.

(1) Field Of The Invention
The invention relates to cold cathode field emission displays and methods for manufacturing them
(2) Description Of The Prior Art
Cold cathode electron emission devices are based on the phenomenon of high field emission wherein electrons can be emitted into a vacuum from a room temperature source if the local electric field at the surface in question is high enough. The creation of such high local electric fields does not necessarily require the application of very high voltage, provided the emitting surface has a sufficiently small radius of curvature.
The advent of semiconductor integrated circuit technology made possible the development and mass production of arrays of cold cathode emitters of this type. In most cases, cold cathode field emission displays comprise an array of very small conical emitters, each of which is connected to a source of negative voltage via a cathode conductor line or column. Another set of conductive lines (called gate lines) is located a short distance above the cathode lines at an angle (usually 90 .degree.) to them, intersecting with them at the locations of the conical emitters or microtips, and connected to a source of positive voltage. Both the cathode and the gate line that relate to a particular microtip must be activated before there will be sufficient voltage to cause cold cathode emission.
The electrons that are emitted by the cold cathodes accelerate past openings in the gate lines and strike an electroluminescent panel that is located a short distance from the gate lines. In general, a significant number of microtips serve together as a single pixel for the total display. Note that, even though the local electric field in the immediate vicinity of a microtip is in excess of 1 million volts/cm., the externally applied voltage is only of the order of 100 volts.
In FIG. 1 we show, in schematic cross-section, the basic elements of a typical cold cathode display. A series of metallic lines 2 is formed on the surface of an insulating substrate 1. Said lines are referred to as cathode columns. At regular intervals along the cathode columns, microtips 5 are formed. These are typically cones of height about one micron and base diameter about one micron and comprise molybdenum or silicon, though other materials may also be used. In many embodiments of the prior art, local ballast resistors (not shown here) may be in place between the cones and the cathode columns
A second series of metallic lines 4 are formed at right angles to the cathode columns, intersecting them at the locations of the microtips. A layer of insulation 3 supports lines 4, which are generally known as gate lines, placing them at the top level of the microtips, that is at the level of the apexes of the cones 5. Openings 11 in the gate lines 4, directly over the microtips, allow streams of electrons 9 to emerge from the tips when sufficient voltage is applied between the gate lines and the cathode columns. Because of the local high fields right at the surface of the microtips, relatively modest voltages, of the order of 100 volts are sufficient.
After emerging through the openings 11 in the gate lines, electrons 9 are further accelerated so that they strike fluorescent screen 6 where they emit visible light rays 10. Screen 6 is part of the top assembly which comprises a glass plate 8 on which has been deposited a transparent conducting layer 7 comprising a material such as indium-tin-oxide. Said top assembly is separated from the cold cathode assembly by spacers (not shown) and the space between these two assemblies is evacuated to provide and maintain a vacuum of the order of 10.sup.-7 torr.
In general, to facilitate manufacturing, openings in the gate lines, such as 11 in FIG. 1, end up having diameters comparable to that of the bases of the micro-cones 5. A smaller diameter for these openings would be advantageous because higher electric field can be generated, resulting in lower turn-on voltages.
The present invention is directed towards improved methods for manufacturing lower assemblies of the general form shown in FIG. 1, including the reduction of gate line hole sizes. Allman (U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,512) is an example of the application of Chem.-Mech. polishing to the processing of silicon integrated circuits but is not obviously applicable to cold cathode devices which are normally manufactured without use of Chem.-Mech. polishing.

Method for manufacturing cold cathode arrays

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A communication system includes a master device which communicates with a chain of serially-connected slave devices. The master originates messages, each of which is intended for a particular ‘target’ slave device. Each message contains a ‘distance to target device’ value equal to the number of devices between the master and target, and a data packet containing data to be conveyed between the master and target. Each slave device determines if the ‘distance to target device’ value indicates that it is the target. If not, the slave device increments or decrements the value in real time, with no latency, and transmits the modified message to the next slave device until received by the target device. In one embodiment, the target device may place data in the data packet, and the slave devices are arranged to buffer the data back to the master device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of digital communication systems, and particularly to addressing schemes for such systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many systems exist for transferring data between peripheral devices and a master device such as a microprocessor. Such systems typically employ a multiple-wire bus structure to which each device is connected, with data transferred between devices either serially or in parallel. To retrieve data from a particular device on the bus, the device must first be addressed or enabled in some fashion. Systems of this type include the SMBus and i2c bus systems.
However, such systems require each device to have a unique address or unit number that is configured in hardware. This can be expensive, as it requires each device to have the necessary hardware interface (e.g., dedicated I/O pins on the device). These costs can be unacceptably high, particularly for simple devices that would otherwise be small and inexpensive.
Another addressing approach is found in a system known as the serial peripheral interface (SPI). The SPI is a full duplex, four wire synchronous serial interface based on a master/slave relationship. However, the SPI requires that each interconnected device have a pin by which the device is enabled prior to transferring data; this increases processing overhead and the system's I/O requirements. The system also requires 4 wires, which may consume more area than is desired.

Serial digital communication system and method


A method and apparatus for accelerating processing of a structured document. A hardware XML accelerator includes one or more processors (e.g., CMT processors), one or more hardware XML parser units, one or more cryptographic units and various interfaces (e.g., to memory, a network, a communication bus). An XML document may be processed in its entirety or may be parsed in segments (e.g., as it is received). A parser unit parses a document or segment character by character, validates characters, assembles tokens from the document, extracts data, generates token headers (to describe tokens and data) and forwards the token headers and data for consumption by an application. A cryptographic unit may enforce web security, XML security or some other security scheme, by providing encryption/decryption functionality, computing digital signatures, etc. Software processing, bus utilization and latencies (e.g., memory, bus) are greatly reduced, thereby providing significantly improved XML processing and security processing throughput.

This invention relates to the field of computer systems. More particularly, a method and apparatus are provided for accelerating processing of an XML document by performing some or all of the processing in hardware.
The availability of distributed computing resources and high-bandwidth interconnections (e.g., the Internet) has enabled tremendous growth in the serving and sharing of applications and data across a distributed computing environment such as the Internet or an intranet. In particular, web services and service-oriented architectures continue to grow in popularity.
XML (eXtensible Markup Language), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), provides a class of data objects (i.e., XML documents) for conveying data. XML is increasingly chosen as the way to transfer and store data within a service-oriented architecture or distributed computing environment, partly because it provides a well-defined format supported on virtually all computer platforms and architectures. Of particular note, the web services infrastructure is being built around XML.
An XML document consists of a series of characters, some of which form character data and some of which form markup. Markup encodes a description of the document's layout and structure, and includes comments, tags or delimiters (e.g., start tags, end tags, white space), declarations (e.g., document type declarations, XML declarations, text declarations), processing instructions and so on. Character data comprises all document text that is not markup.
Because an XML document is textual in nature, a software application that consumes the document's data must be able to examine the document, access its structure and content (e.g., to separate character data from markup) and place the data into an internally usable form. A software module that parses an XML document is generally called an XML processor, and works on behalf of the application. Applications often contain their own XML processors, thus causing duplication of effort among multiple applications.
A large proportion of the processor time needed to execute program instructions for parsing an XML document (e.g., approximately 50-70%) is spent decoding and validating the document's characters, tokenizing its content, and creating and maintaining a symbol table for the tokenization. Even though these tasks must be performed in similar manners for many XML documents, they continue to be done in software in almost all computing environments.
Additional processing is required if a security scheme must be applied to accept or examine an incoming secure XML document, or to make an outgoing XML document secure. The amount of additional processing increases with the complexity of the security mechanism (e.g., the size of a cryptographic key used to decrypt or encrypt the document, the type of digital signature). Thus, the nature of software already slows the processing of XML documents; the additional processing required to enforce a security scheme makes the situation even worse.
Because parsing of XML documents has always been performed in software, the increasing use of XML documents may cause an XML processor to become a bottleneck and consume more and more processor time—time that could otherwise be spent executing the application or performing other work. The demand for processor time required for software parsing of XML documents will only increase as more and more organizations and applications adopt XML as a means for transferring data.
And, because virtually all XML documents must be parsed before their data can be manipulated, XML parsing is critical to related technologies such as XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations), Xpath (XML Path Language), UBL (Universal Business Language), etc.
Attempts to provide superior XML processing solutions fail to achieve this goal for various reasons. For example, some proposed hardware solutions involve devices located across a PCI-X (Peripheral Component Interconnect—eXtended) bus or other communication bus from a host computer system's central processing unit (CPU). These proposed solutions suffer from excessive memory and communication (e.g., bus, network) latencies, thereby limiting their efficiency. And, some solutions may lack the necessary resources (e.g., dedicated processor, memory, security engine) for expediting the processing of XML documents.
Other devices are implemented as separate network nodes, such as appliances based on standard server hardware, and appear to simply involve traditional software methods of XML processing. Dedicating a network device (e.g., an appliance) to software-based XML processing does little to expedite the handling of XML documents.
One problem with software-based efforts to process XML documents is that they require a large number of inefficient string comparisons. For example, each time a piece of a document is read by an application or XML processor, it is serially compared to a number of XML entity forms (e.g., tags, declarations, comments) to determine the significance of that document piece. This can take a noticeable amount of time for a long document.
Another problem with existing XML processors is that they are designed to process an entire XML document before moving to the next. A very large document may therefore monopolize the XML processor, to the detriment of smaller documents.
A finite state machine (FSM) is an abstract machine for modeling the behavior of application programs, and is composed of states, transitions and actions. A state stores historical information about the application, in that it reflects program input up to the present moment.
Each state of a finite state machine has transitions to any number of other states. A transition thus indicates a state change, and is described by a condition (or input) that must occur in order to enable the transition. As a result of a transition, a new state is entered (or the same state is re-entered) and some action (or output) may result. A state machine may alternatively be viewed as a function that maps a sequence of input events into a corresponding sequence of output events.
In some situations, an FSM may be a better tool than structured program code for solving a programming task. For example, a text string representing a floating point number may comprise a sequence of characters very similar to an algebraic expression. To distinguish one from the other, a procedural set of rules might be applied that defines the format of a text string or an expression. If implemented using structured program code, a lengthy series of IFs, ELSEs and/or other statements must be traversed to perform the analysis. An FSM may be written to perform the same task, using notation that is easier to understand.
Programmable finite state machines having large numbers of states and state transitions traditionally have not been implemented in hardware, due to the inherent cost and complexity.

Method and apparatus for hardware XML acceleration


A modular jack (100) includes a number of visual indicators (40), an insulative housing (10) having a pair of receiving spaces (11, 12), a number of retention sections (101) for engaging with the visual indicators and a terminal module (20). The retention section defines an opening, a rear wall (16), a bottom wall (14), a pair of side walls (17), a cantilevered arm (15) including a top surface (151) and a wedge-shaped bottom surface (152). The top surface has a second ramp (155) extending forwardly and downwardly. The bottom surface has a contacting portion (153) for resisting against the visual indicator and a first ramp (154) rearwardly upwardly extending from the contacting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modular jack, and particularly to a modular jack having a retention means for firmly retaining a light emitting diode (LED).
2. Description of Prior Arts
U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,481 issued on Jul. 5, 2005 discloses a modular jack adapted for receiving a plug. The modular jack includes a visual indicator such as LED for indicating a condition of an electrical signal and a body portion defining a pocket for receiving the visual indicator. The pocket has a top wall, a pair of lateral walls, an opening portion and a plurality of ribs formed on the lateral walls for interfering with the corresponding LED. The resulting interference between the ribs and the LED can retain the LED in the pocket.
However, the LED is retained in the pocket only by the interference between the ribs and the LED, without any flexible engagement. Therefore, it is difficult to insert and pull out the LED, and the LED is easy to be broken.
Hence, it is desirable to provide an improved modular jack to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.


The present invention provides a ground surface structure for prevention of weed growing. The structure includes a germination-preventing sheet (2) resistant to penetration of buds of a plant and laid over the surface of a selected ground (1). The structure also includes a surface layer (3) formed by accumulating a water-repellent earth material on the germination-preventing sheet (2). The earth material includes material grains formed with silicone coating. Typically, the germination-preventing sheet (2) is made of a nonwoven fabric material and resistant to penetration of buds of a plant. Further, the sheet blocks the passage of light, but exhibits water permeability and air permeability.

The inventor of the present invention has proposed an earth material (U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,245) subjected to water-repellent treatment for prevention of weed growing at specific regions such as median strip of a highway. The earth material is made by a method including the steps of: heating a starting earth material for drying, wherein the starting material is selected from the group consisting of soil, sand, gravel, pebbles, silicon-containing combustion ash of household refuses and silicon-containing combustion ash of industrial refuses; preparing an emulsion of silicone oil in water; soaking the earth material with the emulsion; and heating the soaked earth material for drying.
In general, the water-repellent earth material has a grain size of no greater than 10 mm. In use, the earth material is spread over the surface of a selected site to form a surface layer. The surface layer will be made to prevent or allow penetration of water depending on whether the water-repellent earth material contains fine dust particles or not.
Specifically, when the water-repellent earth material includes fine dust particles having a grain size smaller than 2 mm the distances between the earth material grains are made small. In this instance, the surface layer made of such an earth material will become resistant to water penetration. Therefore, rainwater is not allowed to penetrate downward through the surface layer, and water remaining on the surface layer will evaporate immediately due to solar heat and wind. Thus, no water is supplied to the inside of the surface layer. As a result, weed seeds carried onto the surface layer fail to germinate, so that weed growing is prevented.
On the other hand, when the water-repellent earth material does not include fine dust particles having a grain size smaller than 2 mm (this may be a case where fine dust particles smaller than 2 mm were removed beforehand by sieving for example), the resulting surface layer exhibits water permeability. Thus, water is absorbed through clearances between the grains of the water-repellent earth material and arrives at the bottom of the surface layer. Further, if there is some water remaining in the surface layer halfway therethrough, it will evaporate immediately. As a result, no water is supplied to the weed seeds carried onto the surface layer, thereby preventing the weed growing.
As described above, the surface layer made of a water-repellent earth material, whether allowing water penetration or not, can check the germination of weed seeds carried onto the layer. However, there is also a problem that weed growing at the site is not completely prevented. This is because weed seeds existing beforehand in the soil below the surface layer of the water-repellent earth material may germinate and grow upward through the surface layer. In particular, when the surface layer of the water-repellent earth material allows water penetration, the above problem is not avoidable since water supply to the weed seeds is possible.

Surface-layer structure of soil having weed emergence inhibitor activity and method of weed emergence inhibition


Sensing systems and methods are provided for compensating for offset and gain changes. A sensing system includes a magnetic element, a current sensing arrangement to provide a current measurement signal influenced by a flux induced in the magnetic element, an oscillator arrangement to provide a reference oscillating current signal configured to induce an oscillating flux in the magnetic element, and a compensation arrangement coupled the current sensing arrangement to adjust the current measurement signal to compensate for gain changes in the measurement signal output and provide a compensated current measurement based at least in part on the adjusted measurement signal and the reference oscillating current signal. The oscillating flux influences the current measurement signal output by the current sensing arrangement.

Hall effect sensors are commonly used to provide current sensing and/or magnetic position sensing. One advantage associated with Hall effect sensors is magnetic isolation between higher power electronics and the lower power signal conditioning circuits. This isolation provides for greatly reduced noise coupling and increased reliability in harsh environments where other sensors may not be usable, due to temperature, external noise, vibrations, or the like. For example, resistive current sensing techniques may be susceptible to a relatively large common mode voltage resulting from electrical noise. Optical sensing techniques often rely on sensitive optical components, which may be inappropriate for harsh operating environments. However, Hall effect sensors can be susceptible to radiation induced signal errors. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide compensation methods and systems to improve performance in radiative environments.

Magnetic field sensor compensation methods and systems


A backlight device includes a light guide plate opposed to fluorescent tubes, a diffusion sheet stacked on the light guide plate, and lens sheets further stacked on the diffusion sheet. A tip end of a corner portion of the diffusion sheet has a shape defined by removing a portion of the sheet along a straight line spanning between two sides constituting the corner portion. In first of the lens sheets, a tip end portion of a corner portion formed by two sides has a shape defined by removing a portion of the sheet in a larger amount than in the diffusion sheet by a circular arc which projects outward. In a second of the lens sheets, a tip end of a corner portion formed by two sides has a shape defined by removing a larger amount than in the first of the lens sheets along a straight line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lighting device for a display device which is used for a liquid crystal panel or the like, and a display device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-125964 (FIG. 2) discloses a prior art backlight device for a liquid crystal display. In this backlight device, a plurality of optical films are stacked on each other and opposed to a housing portion of a light source such that light emission from the light source is uniformly irradiated to a display.
A backlight device has to include the plurality of optical sheets without omitting any of the sheets in its assembled state. However, a plurality of optical sheets usually appear to have the same or similar thin sheet shapes, and when they are seen from above in a stacked state, they cannot be discriminated from one another. Therefore, it is difficult to check for the presence of the plurality of optical sheets in the device. Thus, in the backlight device according to the above described prior art, the corner portion of each of the optical sheets is cut off along a straight line, and the cutoff amounts are made to differ in accordance with the respective sheets (the triangular shapes which are cut off from the respective sheets have the same or similar shapes to one another). The sheet with the smallest cutoff amount is on the bottom, and the sheets with larger cutoff amounts are sequentially stacked on top of one another. In this way, the cutoff portions are seen from above during the manufacturing process, so that the lack or absence of one or more of the optical sheets in the assembly is detected.
However, an optical sheet must have a minimum predetermined surface area for maintaining a light control function. Thus, the cutoff portion on each optical sheet must be as small as possible. Accordingly, it is still difficult to see the corner portions cut off along the straight lines and determine the absence of the optical sheets in the manufacturing process.

Lighting device for display device and display using the same


A method, system and computer program product for color conforming video material at a given resolution is provided. The given video material is first converted to a lower resolution version of the same material. Then a color corrected version of the lower resolution version of the video material is obtained. A computer then analyzes the lower resolution version and the color corrected version of the lower resolution version in the same three dimensional color space to determine suitable color values for a color conforming version of the video material at the given resolution.

The process of transferring film to video requires that the video material undergo color correction. The principal reasons for color correction are: i) The far smaller dynamic range of video as compared with film; ii) The need to calibrate or standardize the colors within scenes due to fluctuations in the film stock; and iii) The necessity of having natural-looking transitions from one scene to another. The conventional color correction process involves two videotape (VTR) machines, a color correction device, and a trained expert. The color correction device operates on the original, uncorrected material, usually available as digital video tape, and produces a new digital video tape with corrected colors.
The conventional color correction process is typically performed using standard-definition (SD) color correction machines on SD video material. In modern times, however, the demand for high-definition (HD) and high-resolution (HR) video has grown dramatically with the advent of e-cinema, HDTV, and other new broadcast media. As a result, there is also a demand for efficient and inexpensive color correction in these video formats as well. Conventional SD color correction machines, however, cannot process material at higher resolution, such as HD video. Consequently, such material can only be color-corrected with expensive, dedicated software and hardware.