A coolant pump includes a conveying channel, a drive shaft, a coolant pump impeller arranged on the drive shaft, a control slide which controls a flow cross-section of an annular gap between an exit of the coolant pump impeller and the conveying channel, a side channel pump which includes a side channel pump impeller arranged on the drive shaft and a side channel having an inlet and an outlet where a pressure can be generated by the side channel pump impeller rotating, a pressure channel having a flow cross section which fluidically connects the outlet to a first pressure chamber of the control slide, a valve which closes the flow cross-section, a second pressure chamber arranged on a side of the control slide facing the coolant pump impeller, and a connection channel arranged from the side channel into the second pressure chamber between the inlet and the outlet.

Such coolant pumps serve, for example, in internal combustion engines, to regulate the volume of the coolant conveyed to prevent the internal combustion engine from overheating. These pumps are mostly driven by a belt or chain drive so that the coolant impeller is driven with the speed of the crankshaft or at fixed ratio to the speed of the crankshaft.
In modern internal combustion engines, the volume of coolant conveyed must be adapted to the coolant requirements of the internal combustion engine or the vehicle. In the interest of avoiding increased pollutant emissions and reducing fuel consumption, it is in particular the cold run phase of the engine that should be shortened. This is effected, among other things, by throttling the coolant flow during this phase or by shutting it down completely.
Various pump designs for regulating coolant volume are known. Besides electrically driven coolant pumps, pumps are known that can be coupled with or decoupled from their drive via couplings, in particular hydrodynamic couplings. A possibility for regulating the coolant flow conveyed which is particularly economic and simply designed is the use of an axially displaceable control slide slid over the coolant impeller so that, for a reduction of the coolant flow, the pump does not convey into the surrounding conveying channel, but against the closed slide.
The control of these slides is also provided in different ways. Besides a purely electrical displacement, a hydraulic displacement of the slides has in particular proven itself. A hydraulic displacement is most often effected via an annular piston chamber which is filled with a hydraulic liquid and whose piston is connected to the slide so that the slide is shifted over the impeller when the chamber is filled. The slide is returned by opening the piston chamber towards an outlet, which is most often effected via a magnetic valve, as well as under the effect of a spring which provides the force for restoring the slide.
To avoid having to provide the coolant volume necessary for moving the slide by additional conveying units, such as additional piston/cylinder units, or to compress other hydraulic liquids for the slide operation, mechanically controllable coolant pumps have become known on whose drive shaft a second impeller is arranged via which the pressure for displacing the slide is provided. These pumps are designed, for example, as side channel pumps or servo pumps.
Such a coolant device with a side channel pump acting as a secondary pump is described in DE 10 2012 207 387 A1. In this pump, a slide is situated on the rear of the pump, which slide is displaceable via pressure in an annular chamber and which can be returned via a spring. This annular chamber is formed in a housing which is in turn arranged on the rear of the slide and in which a first side channel of the side channel pump is also arranged which is correspondingly arranged opposite the side channel pump impeller arranged on the shaft. A second side channel is formed in a further housing part on the side opposite the side channel pump impeller. A 3/2-way valve is used in this pump to close a pressure side of the side channel pump in a first position and to connect a suction side of the pump to the cooling circuit and the slide, and, in a second position, to connect the pressure side to the annular chamber of the slide and to connect suction side to the cooling circuit. No detailed channel layout or flow control is disclosed. The schematically illustrated flow controls can be realized in modern internal combustion engines only with increased effort. An increased assembly effort and, above all, an increased installation space requirement also exist for the schematically illustrated flow controls because of the arrangements and housing partings chosen, so that such a pump could not be arranged and mounted in a corresponding design of a cylinder crank case. Another disadvantage of such a pump drivable by the internal combustion engine is that in certain speed ranges, the pressure in the side channel pump is significantly lower than the pressure in the first pressure chamber, which results in the control slide closing the conveying channel despite a demand for coolant. To solve this problem, DE 10 2012 207 387 A1 describes a check valve connected to the pressure side of the side channel pump which opens when the pressure in the side channel pump is too high. It should be clear that such a check valve adds to the complexity of the structure of the coolant pump. Such a check valve also requires additional installation space.

Coolant pump for the automotive industry


A system comprises an image forming apparatus and a server, the image forming apparatus including: a receiving unit which receives the series of data from the server; a transfer unit which transfers a plurality of print jobs included in the series of data to a printing unit; and an accepting unit which accepts a cancel instruction for the series of data from a user, wherein when the receiving unit accepts the cancel instruction while receiving the series of data, the receiving unit discards the plurality of print jobs until termination data is received, and when the transfer unit accepts the cancel instruction while transferring the series of data, the transfer unit cancels transfer of the plurality of print jobs to the printing unit, and instructs the printing unit to cancel printing of a transferred print job.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system, control method, and computer-readable medium. Particularly, the present invention relates to a technique when an image forming apparatus controls printing of data stored in a print server.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has conventionally been proposed a so-called "pull print" printing system capable of outputting print data from a printing apparatus in response to a print request from a user to the printing apparatus for print data temporarily stored in a server (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4033857). This printing system allows the user to output print data not to a specific printing apparatus but from a printing apparatus of his choice in accordance with a print request in printing from an application.
Conventionally, it is difficult to instruct a change of print settings when the user issues a print request to a printing apparatus for print data temporarily stored in a server. This is because the format of print data temporarily stored in the server is PDL (Page Description Language) dependent on a printing apparatus. It is therefore conceivable to convert print data to be temporarily stored in the server into data of an intermediate format independent of a printing apparatus (device) so as to facilitate a change of print settings and the like. In this case, a pull print system is conceivable, in which, when the user changes settings from a printing apparatus and issues a print request, print data is generated using a printer driver corresponding to the printing apparatus on a server, and finally printed out.
Generally, when printing one document from an application, a printer driver generates one PDL job. However, some printer drivers generate a plurality of PDL jobs depending on print settings. For example, when printing a document of 20 pages by a device in which the number of sheets that can be stapled by a finisher is 10, the printer driver generates two PDL jobs for the first to 10th pages and the 11th to 20th pages.
If this printer driver is applied to the server of the pull print system, the number of PDL jobs to be generated from one print data of the intermediate format cannot be grasped in advance. When print cancel processing is performed after the start of transmitting PDL jobs to the printing apparatus upon a print instruction, all PDL jobs to be canceled may not be discriminated. Also, it is very difficult to derive from conditions the number of PDL jobs to be actually generated because it is determined by a plurality of factors such as a document to be printed, print settings, and the specifications of a printer driver and device.

Printing system, control method, and computer-readable medium for controlling printing of data stored in a print server


A speech recognition apparatus recognizes utterances of unnatural speech having a higher performance of recognition accuracy with a smaller amount of speech learning data. The speech recognition apparatus includes an acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit, a normal speech model memory, a spectrum smoother-modifier and a speech recognizer. An input speech signal is acoustically analyzed and transformed into a time-series feature vector. The acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit learns an acoustic-phonetic change of spectrum caused by unnatural speech and generates a plurality of acoustic-phonetic variability models. The normal speech model memory stores a normal speech model learned based on normal speech data. The spectrum smoother-modifier modifies the normal speech model based on a plurality of the acoustic-phonetic variability model and generates a plurality of spectrum-modified speech models. The speech recognizer recognizes the time-series feature vector based on the normal speech model and the spectrum-modified speech model.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to speech recognition and more specifically to a speech recognition apparatus for recognizing speech with acoustic-phonetic changes caused by Lombard speech including unnatural utterance of speakers such as a loud-voice speech in background noise, any forms of speech uttered in an unnatural environment and speech by the disabled.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
The acoustic-phonetic changes of phonemes caused by unnatural speech in background noise may be referred to as Lombard speech. Lombard speech presents many challenges for speech recognition, as well as having a degrading mixed-noise effect on speech signals. In view of such a problematic Lombard speech recognition, some compensation methods have been developed for spectral changes of phonemes by Lombard effect based on a speaker-independent or phoneme-independent recognition.
"Speech Recognition Apparatus" disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI4-296799 and "Speech Recognition Apparatus" disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI5-6196 describe a compensation method for spectral changes of phonemes by Lombard effect using cepstrum parametric modification in the light of a great formant shift of spectrum in a frequency range of 150 Hz and 300 Hz. The cepstrum parametric modification is based on a formant frequency analysis of input utterance and frequency change data of utterance prescribed by the degree of background noise or speaker's vocal effort.
"Lombard Speech Recognition Method" disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI4-257898 describes another compensation method for Lombard speech recognition based on a Dynamic Programming matching method also in view of the great formant shift of spectrum in the same frequency range as above. The Dynamic Programming DP matching compensates a matching difference, when it is below 1.5 kHz, between a spectrum of a standard pattern and that of an input pattern.
These compensation methods, however, fail to achieve a satisfactory performance of Lombard speech recognition when a larger amount of vocabulary words is provided for recognition. The conventional speaker-independent and phoneme-independent speech recognition methods leave aside a significant aspect of Lombard speech, which depends greatly on speakers and phonemes of spectral changes by Lombard effect. The spectrum modification is never successful for compensating spectral changes in the other frequency ranges than that of 150 Hz and 300 Hz.
Lombard speech has another considerable property--the prolongation of word duration of utterance. A conventional speech recognition method with a normal duration control method on a phonological unit basis, such as sub-phoneme, phoneme, syllable, etc., may easily degrade the performance of Lombard speech recognition.
In view of the problematic properties of Lombard speech, here are some improved methods proposed for Lombard speech recognition. A Study for Word Recognition using a Variation Model of the Lombard effect by Tadashi SUZUKI, Kunio NAKAJIMA, Yoshiharu ABE (MITSUBISHI Elect. Corp.), abstract of paper read at Japan Acoustic Society Study Meeting, autumn 1993, discloses a new improved method for Lombard speech recognition. According to this method, acoustic-phonetic variability models or parametric representations of Lombard speech are defined on a phoneme basis for spectral changes by Lombard effect. The parametric representations of the acoustic-phonetic variability model are learned based on a mass of Lombard speech data on a phoneme basis and used for Lombard speech recognition.
A Study for Lombard Speech Recognition by Tadashi SUZUKI, Kunio NAKAJIMA (MITSUBISHI Elect. Corp.), abstract of paper read at Japan Acoustic Society Study Meeting, spring 1994, discloses a further study of Lombard speech recognition. According to this method, the duration changes by Lombard effect are further compensated on a sub-phoneme basis. The duration changes by Lombard effect are compensated by modifying duration parameters of sub-phoneme HMMs Hidden Markov Models based on mean values and standard deviations of the average ratio of a plurality of speakers.
The previous improved method of conventional Lombard speech recognition is now discussed in detail with reference to FIGS. 17 through 25. FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a speech recognition apparatus where the conventional method for Lombard speech recognition may be implemented. Referring to FIG. 17, speech signals of utterance captured at a speech data entry 1 are preprocessed in an acoustic analyzer 2 to extract a time-series feature vector 3. The time-series feature vector 3 is transferred to an acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit 5 via a learn mode switch 4a in a transfer switch 4 in a learn mode of operation and transferred to a speech recognizer 12 via a recognize mode switch 4b in the transfer switch 4 in a recognize mode of operation. The acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit 5 learns and generates an acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 based on the time-series feature vector 3 and a normal speech model 7 stored in a normal speech model memory 6. The acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 is transferred to an acoustic-phonetic variability model memory 9 to be stored. The normal speech model memory 6 stores the normal speech model, including duration parameters, which is described in more detail below.
A duration memory 10 stores average duration change data of acoustic-phonetic changes by Lombard effect in a preliminary separate operation. The average duration change data are the average values of the mean values and standard deviations of duration changes calculated based on the ratio of normal speech to Lombard speech of a plurality of speakers using alignments of sub-phoneme or phoneme HMMs on normal speech and Lombard speech. A duration parameter modifier 11 modifies the duration parameters of the normal speech model 7 using the duration change data stored in the duration memory 10. The speech recognizer 12 recognizes the time-series feature vectors 3 of an input word of utterance using the acoustic-phonetic variability models 8 from the acoustic-phonetic variability model memory 9 and the normal speech models 7 with the duration parameters modified in the duration parameter modifier 11.
FIG. 18 is a detailed block diagram of acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit 5 of FIG. 17 illustrating a learning loop. The learning loop includes: a reference speech model buffer 14 for buffering a reference speech model 7a; a segmenter 15 for segmenting the time-series feature vector 3 into an optimal segment data 7b based on the reference speech model 7a; a parametric calculator 16 for calculating parametric representations 7c of the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 of the time-series feature vector 3 based on the segment data 7b, the normal speech model 7 and the reference speech model 7a; an acoustic-phonetic variability model buffer 17 for buffering the parametric representations 7c of the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8; and a spectrum modifier 18a for modifying the normal speech model 7 based on the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 and consequently updating the reference speech model 7a in the reference speech model buffer 14 with the spectrum-modified normal speech model.
A discrete word recognition of Lombard speech according to the conventional speech recognition apparatus is now discussed based on continuous density sub-phoneme HMM. The normal speech model memory 6 stores the normal speech models 7 representing sub-phoneme HMMs and word models, each in a string of sub-phoneme HMMs, representing vocabulary words for recognition. The normal speech model 7 includes a sub-phoneme learned in a preliminary learning operation based on normal speech data and normal duration parameters of average values and distribution values of sub-phoneme HMMs duration.
If an input word of utterance in the speech data entry 1 is categorized for learning, the input word of utterance is transferred to a learning process via the learn mode switch 4a, and if not, it is transferred straight to a recognition process via the recognize mode switch 4b.
The learn mode of operation is now discussed with reference to FIGS. 17 through 19. FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a series of operating steps of learning and generating the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 in the acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit 5.
A categorized word of utterance captured at the speech data entry 1 is transformed into the time-series feature vector 3 based on an acoustic analysis in the acoustic analyzer 2 and transferred to the acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit 5 via the learn mode switch 4a in the transfer switch 4.
A learn mode of operation including the learning loop for learning and generating the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 in the acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit 5 of FIG. 18 is now discussed with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 19.
Step S1
A loop counter is set to an initial value zero for initialization of a series of learning loop operations.
Step S2
The reference speech model buffer 14 is loaded with the normal speech model 7 as the initial reference speech model 7a from the normal speech model memory 6 only when the loop counter indicates zero.
Step S3
The input time-series feature vectors 3 of a categorized word of utterance are calculated with the reference speech models 7a from the reference speech model buffer 14 to extract sub-phoneme based segment data 7b in the segmenter 15. The segment calculation is based on a Viterbi-path algorithm with word models of the same category.
Step S4
The parametric calculation in the parametric calculator 16 is based on the sub-phoneme based segment data 7b calculating a difference of the spectrum envelopes of the mean vectors of the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM, of the reference speech model sub-phoneme HMM and of the segment data 7b extracted from the time-series feature vector 3. Calculated parameters representing the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 are buffered in the acoustic-phonetic variability model buffer 17.
Step S5
The loop counter is incremented by one each series of the learning loop operations until the incremented number reaches a predetermined maximum repeating number of the learning loop operation.
Step S6
An incremented number of the loop counter is compared to the predetermined maximum number.
When the incremented number is less than the predetermined maximum number, the operation proceeds to Step S7 for further learning in the learning loop.
When the incremented number meets the predetermined maximum number, a series of learning operations terminates. The learned acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 is output from the acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit 5 and stored in the acoustic-phonetic variability model memory 9.
Step S7
The mean vector of the normal speech model 7 is modified in the spectrum modifier 18a based on the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 from the acoustic-phonetic variability model buffer 17. The modified mean vector of the normal speech model 7 updates the reference speech model 7a in the reference speech model buffer 14. The operation then proceeds to Step S3 to repeat the learning and generating operation in the loop.
Referring further to the parametric calculation of Step S4, the spectrum envelope of the mean vector of the initial reference speech model sub-phoneme HMM in the reference speech model buffer 14 is equivalent to that of the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM when the loop counter is zero. In the initial loop operation, therefore, the parametric calculator 15 calculates a difference between the spectrum envelopes of the time-series feature vector 3 of Lombard speech and of the normal speech model 7 based on normal speech using the parametric representations of the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8. FIG. 20 shows a difference between spectral envelopes 30 and 70, respectively, of the time-series feature vector 3 and the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM. The acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 is comprised of the parameters of three factors, for example, frequency formant shift (1), spectral tilt change (2), and frequency bandwidth change (3), representing the change in spectral envelope by Lombard effect. FIG. 21 illustrates a parametric calculation of the three factors in the parametric calculator 16 based on the difference between the spectrum envelopes 30 and 70 of FIG. 20. Referring to FIG. 21, frequency formant shift (1) is represented by a non-linear frequency warping function, Parameter H, obtained by means of a DP matching between the spectrum envelopes 30 and 70. The spectrum envelope 70 is modified by the non-linear frequency warping function, Parameter H, to calculate a pseudo spectrum envelope of the spectrum envelope 30. A mean spectral difference is then calculated based on a difference between the pseudo spectrum envelope of the spectrum envelope 30 and the spectrum envelope 70. Spectral tilt change (2), Parameter T, and frequency bandwidth change (3), Parameter Q, are calculated based on the mean spectral difference. The acoustic-phonetic variability model buffer 17 buffers a set of three parameters of Parameter H, Parameter T and Parameter Q as the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8.
Referring further to the spectrum modification of Step S7, the spectral envelope 70 of the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM is modified in the spectral modifier 18a based on the three parameters in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 22 through 24. FIG. 22 illustrates the spectral envelope 70 being modified based on Parameter H of the non-linear frequency warping function 231 for compensating for the formant shift to generate warped spectral envelope 232. FIG. 23 illustrates the spectral envelope 70 being modified by mixer 242 based on element 241, log-power spectrum of spectral tilt change filter based upon spectral tilt change Parameter T, for compensating the spectral tilt change. FIG. 24 illustrates the spectral envelope 70 being modified by mixer 252 based on peak enhancement based upon bandwidth change Parameter Q 251 for compensating the bandwidth change. The normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM thus modified based on the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 replaces the reference speech model 7a buffered in the reference model buffer 14 for updating. Repeating of such a spectrum modification of the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM in the learning loop can accomplish the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 of higher quality for recognition accuracy.
A recognize mode of operation of is now discussed with reference to FIGS. 17 and 25. FIG. 25 is a detailed block diagram of the speech recognizer 12 of FIG. 17. Referring to FIG. 25, a spectrum modifier 18b modifies all the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMMs stored in the normal speech model memory 6 and transferred via the duration parameter modifier 11 using the corresponding acoustic-phonetic variability models 8 stored in the acoustic-phonetic variability model memory 9 on a sub-phoneme basis. A speech model synthesizer 19 synthesizes two inputs of the modified normal speech model sub-phoneme HMMs from the spectrum modifier 18b and the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMMs from the duration parameter modifier 11 on a sub-phoneme basis. A similarity calculator 20 calculates similarity of the time-series feature vector 3 to each of all of synthesized speech model sub-phoneme HMMs from the speech model synthesizer 19. An identifier 21 inputs word models stored in the normal speech model memory 6 and similarity data from the similarity calculator 20 to identify the time-series feature vectors 3 of an input word of utterance. An identified category of word model is output from the identifier 21 or the speech recognizer 12 as a recognition result 13.
The duration parameter modifier 11 modifies the duration parameters of the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM based on sub-phoneme based duration change data stored in the duration memory 10.
An uncategorized word of utterance captured at the acoustic analyzer 2 is transformed into the time-series feature vector 3 based on an acoustic analysis in the acoustic analyzer 2 and transferred directly to the speech recognizer 12 via the recognize mode switch 4b in the transfer switch 4.
Referring further to FIG. 25, the spectrum modifier 18b performs a spectrum modification equivalent to that of the spectrum modifier 18a in the acoustic-phonetic variability learning unit 5 discussed earlier with reference to FIGS. 21 through 24. The spectrum modifier 18b inputs the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMMs stored in the normal speech model memory 6 via the duration parameter modifier 11 and the corresponding acoustic-phonetic variability models 8 from the acoustic-phonetic variability model memory 9. The spectrum envelope of the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM is modified based on the corresponding acoustic--phonetic variability model 8 by means of the three different parametric modifications by Parameters H, T and Q, illustrated in FIGS. 22 through 24. A modified spectrum envelope based on the acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 is output to the speech model synthesizer 19.
Thus, according to the conventional spectrum modification of the spectrum modifier 18b, a sub-phoneme HMM is modified based on the corresponding acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 which is a learning result from Lombard speech. Therefore, a sub-phoneme HMM having no corresponding acoustic-phonetic variability model 8 available in the memory cannot be modified.
The speech model synthesizer 19 synthesizes two speech models having the same probability of divergence and generates synthesized continuous density sub-phoneme HMMs including the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMMs via the duration parameter modifier 11 and the spectrum-modified normal speech model sub-phonemes HMM from the spectrum modifier 18b. The similarity calculator 20 calculates a similarity of the time-series feature vectors 3 to the synthesized continuous density sub-phoneme HMMs from the speech model synthesizer 19. The identifier 21 calculates a word similarity between similarity data from the similarity calculator 20 and each word model in a string of sub-phoneme HMMs representing a vocabulary word for recognition stored in the normal speech model memory 6 based on a Viterbi algorithm or Trellis algorithm. A word model with the highest word similarity calculated of all the candidates is identified as a decision and output as a recognition result from the identifier 21.
In view of the previous discussions, the conventional art still leaves ample room for improvement in Lombard speech recognition in the light of the following problematic aspects.
Firstly, a great amount of Lombard speech learning (training) data are required in the conventional art to provide the acoustic-phonetic variability models corresponding to all kinds of sub-phoneme HMMs. The acoustic-phonetic variability model corresponding to a sub-phoneme can only be generated based on Lombard speech learning data which include the corresponding sub-phoneme, and in other words, the acoustic-phonetic variability model cannot be provided with Lombard speech learning data which has no corresponding sub-phoneme. A small number of speech data cannot include all kinds of sub-phonemes.
Secondly, it is also desirable to generate the acoustic-phonetic variability model based on a larger amount of Lombard speech learning data for recognition accuracy. The acoustic-phonetic variability model based on a smaller amount of speech data may cause distortion and degrade an overall Lombard speech recognition.
Thirdly, a preliminary separate learning operation of duration changes by Lombard effect covering all kinds of sub-phonemes involves a costly collection and processing of a great amount of Lombard speech data from a plurality of speakers.
Furthermore, the separately provided speaker-independent duration change data are not optimal for a speaker-dependent recognition of Lombard speech with word duration depending greatly on speakers and may degrade a performance in Lombard speech recognition.
In view of these problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a speech recognition apparatus having an improved spectrum modification which is based on a smaller amount of unnatural speech data. One or more learned acoustic-phonetic variability models are used to modify the mean vector of the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMM, and consequently all of the normal speech model sub-phoneme HMMs are modified based on the smaller amount of unnatural speech data.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a speech recognition apparatus having an improved function of learning and generating the acoustic-phonetic variability model of higher quality for recognition accuracy based on a smaller amount of unnatural speech data. One or more learned acoustic-phonetic variability models are used to generate the acoustic-phonetic variability model having less effect of distortion even though it is based on the smaller amount of unnatural speech data.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a speech recognition apparatus having an additional learning function of duration changes by unnatural speech effect in the learn mode of operation. Duration data are extracted from unnatural speech data in a series of learning and generating of the acoustic-phonetic variability model and then the duration changes are learned based on the extracted duration data. An incorporated extraction of unnatural speech duration and the corresponding duration change data reduces the costly preliminary separate operation and a speaker-dependent duration change data improves recognition accuracy of unnatural speech.

Modification of sub-phoneme speech spectral models for lombard speech recognition


An optical transmission device includes: a drive signal generate unit that generates a drive signal; a modulation unit that modulates an optical signal in accordance with the drive signal; a detect unit that detects a fluctuation of a signal component of the drive signal with respect to an optical signal output by the modulation unit; and a correct unit that corrects a parameter of the drive signal generate unit in accordance with a detect result of the detect unit so that a non-linear characteristic of the modulation unit gets closer to a linear characteristic.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-109705 discloses a technology in which a digital signal process on a side of transmission is performed with respect to a signal input into a modulator in order to achieve a long-distance and large-capacity communication system. In an optical transmission device, it is preferable that a non-linear characteristic of the modulator is compensated for.

Optical transmission device, method of optical transmission, and non-transitory computer-readable medium


A cartridge holder for a drug delivery device is presented comprising a housing extending in an axial direction and being adapted to receive a cartridge at least partially filled with a medicament, said cartridge being sealed near a distal end by way of a pierceable seal. At least one bearing element is fixed to the housing, and at least one tensioning member is engaged with the bearing element and with the cartridge in an axial direction for transmitting a distally directed injection force from the cartridge to the housing.

User operated drug delivery devices are as such known in the art. They are typically applicable in circumstances, in which persons without formal medical training, i.e., patients, need to administer an accurate and predefined dose of a medicament, such as heparin or insulin. In particular, such devices have application, where a medicament is administered on a regular or irregular basis over a short term or long-term period.
In order to accommodate with these demands, such devices have to fulfill a number of requirements. First of all, the device must be robust in construction, yet easy to use in terms of handling and in understanding by the user of its operation and the delivery of the required dose or medicament. The dose setting must be easy and unambiguous. Where the device is to be disposable rather than reusable, the device should be inexpensive to manufacture and easy to dispose. Moreover, the device should be suitable for recycling.
To meet these requirements, the number of parts required to assemble the device and the number of material types the device is made from need should be kept at a minimum.
The medicament to be dispensed by means of the drug delivery device is typically provided in a disposable or replaceable cartridge, such as a vial, an ampoule or a carpule comprising a slidably disposed piston to be operably engaged with a piston rod of a drive mechanism of the drug delivery device. By applying thrust to the cartridge's piston in distal direction, a predefined dose of the liquid drug can be dispensed and expelled from the cartridge.
Cartridges as they are commonly used with drug delivery devices are typically sealed by means of as sealing septum. Such a septum is usually designed as rubber stopper providing an air-tight seal but being pierceable by piercing elements such as injection needles or cannulae.
FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of a typical configuration of a cartridge mounted in a cartridge holder. The cartridge 30 comprises a substantially cylindrically-shaped barrel 32 which in distal direction 48, pointing upwardly in the sketch of FIG. 5, is sealed by a penetrable or pierceable sealing element 42. The sealing element 42 almost covers the entire cross section of the head portion 40 of the barrel 32 and remains fixedly attached thereto by way of a beaded cap 41, typically made of aluminum.
A distal end face 24 of the cartridge holder is symbolized in FIG. 5 in cross section. Typically, the cartridge 30 is arranged inside the cartridge holder in such a way, that the septum 42 can be penetrated and pierced by an injection needle entering the cartridge holder via the central through opening 22 provided in the distal end face 24. Since a central through opening of the beaded cap 41 is typically aligned with the central through opening 22 of the distal end face 24, the piercing member may easily penetrate the septum 42.
The cartridge 30 is also sealed in proximal direction 50 by way of a piston slidably displaced inside the cartridge 30 in distal or proximal direction 48, 50. Since the medicament 34 contained in the cartridge may feature a certain viscosity and since injection needles designed to penetrate the septum 42 might be rather small in diameter, a substantial and considerable distally directed pressure has to be applied to the piston of the cartridge 30 in order to expel a predefined amount of the medicament via the distal end of the cartridge 30.
Even though the cartridge 30 may also be radially clamped between side wall section 25 of the cartridge holder, the distally directed dispensing force 52 may lead to a substantial compression 58 of the septum 42 in axial direction. Hence, during a dose dispensing action, the cartridge 30 may become subject to a distally directed displacement. After termination of a dispensing procedure, the elastic energy stored in the septum 42 may dissipate and the septum 42 may relax into its initial configuration.
Consequently, the vitreous body 32 of the cartridge 30 may become subject to a proximally directed displacement. Since the piston of the cartridge 30 is operably engaged with a drive mechanism of a drug delivery device, the piston may be hindered to follow the relaxation-induced proximal displacement of the cartridge 30. As a consequence, the piston moves in distal direction 48 relative to the vitreous body 32 of the cartridge 30, thus leading to a post-dispending droplet generation at the distal end of the injection needle. Also the central portion 44 of the septum 42 may bulge in distal direction 48 and may even extend through the central through opening of the beaded cap 41.
In case the injection needle has already been removed from the cartridge holder, the elastic relaxation behaviour of the septum 42 may lead to a considerable increase of fluid pressure inside the cartridge 30, which, during a repeated attachment of a piercing needle to the cartridge holder may lead to a respective droplet formation at the needle end.
Even though the cartridge would be sufficiently clamped in the housing, a respective fluid pressure may still built up when the septum 42 relaxes and axially expands in proximal direction 50.
Moreover, the axial displacement of the cartridge with respect to a cartridge holder is also disadvantageous in terms of dosing precision.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cartridge holder comprising beneficial properties in terms of dosing precision and reduced droplet generation. It is a further object of the invention to reduce mechanical stress and pressure acting on a septum of a cartridge during and after a dose dispensing procedure. The intended solution should be robust and failure safe. It should further be easy and cost-efficient to implement even with existing cartridge holder designs.

Cartridge holder for a drug delivery device


There is described a process and apparatus for the physical vapor deposition of an anisotropic phosphor composition with an auto-collimating, optical waveguide structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to anisotropic phosphor deposition technology, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for manufacturing an auto-collimating phosphor imaging screen.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,355 to Lubowski et al., there is described a process for forming a phosphor screen on a patterned substrate using wide-angled vapor deposition (as in a hot-wall evaporator) so as to deposit the phosphor only on the raised portions of the substrate.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,210 to Noji et al., there is described a process for sequentially depositing a multilayer input phosphor screen on a substantially smooth substrate so that individual columnar crystals of the second layer of alkali halide grow vertically upon the crystal particles of the first layer, standing close together with fine spaces therebetweensic!. A third layer is preferably deposited on the second layer as a continuous film. These three layers can be deposited by evaporating a phosphor material or materials at a prescribed temperature and degree of vacuum.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,894 to Ligtenberg et al., there is described a method of manufacturing an x-ray image intensifier tube wherein a vapor deposition crucible is provided between forty and fifty degrees from the central normal to a smooth surface of a screen on which luminescent material is to be deposited. During deposition the vapor deposition source performs a circular movement about the surface to produce a layer having a regular structure and a good fill factor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,996 to Perez-Mendez, there is described a method for fabricating a particle detector of a sequence of columns of regular, controllable geometry and diameter perpendicular to the interface of luminescent material with adjacent materials wherein the columns are separated by gaps which may be evacuated or filled with air, with a light-absorbing material, or with a light-producing or light-reflective substance.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,817 to Goodman et al., there is described a process for the vapor deposition of a scintillator phosphor composition with concomitant shadowing wherein the substrate is rotated through an arc relative to the vapor source of said phosphor, whereby shadowing introduces voided gaps or interstices between columns as a result of the preferential components receiving more coating flux, particularly in the presence of an oblique flux. In the present invention the limitations of the past due to the mandrel substrate fixture, in the size and quantity of applicable substrates, have been eliminated by a system scale-up that required the development of a novel, computer controlled, multi-constituent, evaporation source. Furthermore, the precise monitoring and control over material feed-rates and multiple temperature zones achieved with this source provide the means to produce more complex phosphors, as will be described in the following objects and detailed description of the invention.
While the processes of the prior art have achieved certain levels of performance, there is a desire to optimize the performance of structured, auto-collimating phosphors to achieve high ionizing radiation to quantum energy conversion efficiency and high spatial resolution.

Processing and apparatus for manufacturing auto-collimating phosphors


A guarding device to guard a household garbage grinder from inadvertent introduction of metal material into said grinder. The guard comprises a magnet around the entrance to the grinder to form a magnetic field across the entrance so that ferrous metals will be attracted to the magnet.

This invention pertains to household garbage grinders and more particularly to a grinder having a magnetic guard at the entrance to prevent accidental passage of metal pieces into the grinder.
Grinders for grinding household garbage are commonly placed in the drain of kitchen sinks in many--if not most--households. Such grinders are used to grind vegetable trimmings and waste and to flush the ground material through the waste water pipes and to septic tanks or disposal systems.
Such grinders are not designed for solid metal pieces. However, almost always by accident, metal pieces such as stainless steel flatware are often moved onto the grinder along with the vegetable waste. When that happens, both the flatware and the grinder may be damaged. It is therefore desirable to avoid introduction of such materials into the grinder portion of such a device.
By this invention, a device is provided to inhibit--if not prohibit--movement of much metallic material into the grinder.


A pressure compensating system that minimizes the pressure differences across multiple shaft seals in a rod driven downhole pumping apparatus. The system balances the pressures across the seals by forcing the external pressure of all seals and compensators to be equal to the highest external pressure in the apparatus, made possible by the appropriate use of labyrinth-type seals. A bleed valve assembly which allows free flow of fluid into the pressure compensating system, but restricts the rate of fluid outflow from the system in case of shut-in of the pump, to limit the potential of rapid opening and closing of the mechanical shaft seals.

Many mechanical devices which utilize a lubricated rotating shaft as a component require seals on those shafts to either contain a pressurized fluid, e.g., for a shaft driving a pump, or to isolate one component from contamination, or both.
In the case of downhole rotating equipment, such as an electrical submersible pump (ESP), or a geared centrifugal pump (GCP), the rotating shafts require seals, principally to protect the fluids inside sensitive components, such as the electric motor (ESP) or the transmission (GCP), from contamination such as from production fluids.
The seals in these two applications are not called upon to withstand significant a pressure differential, as they are typically equipped with pressure compensators that keep both sides of the seal at near equal pressures. This is important in downhole equipment applications, as the devices are designed to operate essentially maintenance and service free, while at full power, and for years, so leakage across the seals must be kept to a minimum. If, as and when maintenance or repair is called for, the entire string must be pulled adding an inordinate loss of time and consequent expense.

Shaft seal pressure compensation apparatus


There is provided a data synchronization circuit for synchronizing a (n+1) (n: natural number) bit bus data synchronous with a first clock with a second clock, comprising: a first circuit for holding the bus data which is synchronous with the first clock and is input at each predetermined timing; a second circuit for generating a first timing signal which is synchronous with the first clock and is corresponding to the predetermined timing; a third circuit for generating a second timing signal which is synchronous with the second clock, from the first timing signal; and a fourth circuit for receiving the bus data output from the first circuit based on the second timing signal, to output the bus data in synchronism with the second clock.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a communication interface circuit for transmitting and receiving data, and more particularly to a data synchronization circuit for transferring data between different clocks and to a communication interface circuit including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in a communication interface for controlling a data communication between a personal computer and a device such as its peripheral device (for example, a hard disk drive, or the like) or the like, when speeds of a reception side clock and a transmission side clock are different, it becomes necessary to synchronize data between the different clocks. In particular, in a communication interface circuit in which line data to be transmitted at a predetermined clock speed in a communication line are required to convert into internal bus data to be transferred at another clock speed (or its inverse conversion), it is necessary to synchronize the bus data between the different clocks in the interior.
For synchronizing data between the different clocks and transferring the data between circuit blocks operating in clocks differing from each other, a method for using a buffer memory and a method for performing hand-shaking are known. In the method for using the buffer memory, in order to absorb a clock difference between the blocks, the data from the circuit block on a transmission side have once been accumulated in the buffer memory, and the data are output to the circuit block on a reception side in synchronism with the clock of the circuit block on the reception side. In the method for performing hand-shaking, a determination of a communication method, a protocol or the like has in advance been made between the circuit block on the transmission side and the circuit block on the reception side prior to the transmission and reception of the data, and the data is transmitted and received according to the determination.
However, in the method for using the buffer memory, a space for the buffer memory (and a buffer memory test circuit or the like) is required in the interior of the communication interface circuit, and this leads to an obstacle to a downsizing of the communication interface circuit, in its turn a device housing the circuit. Furthermore, a control signal between the circuit blocks is also required, and this makes the control complicated. Furthermore, in the method for performing the hand-shaking also, a control signal and a control circuit therefor are required. This leads to an obstacle to the downsizing of the communication interface circuit, and this makes its configuration complicated. Furthermore, when performing the hand-shaking, a communication speed is relatively late and it is not suitable for a high-speed transfer.

Data synchronization circuit and communication interface circuit


A dual autodiplexing antenna (300) redirects power flow (303) from an unloaded antenna to a loaded antenna, thereby improving communication performance under loaded conditions. The dual autodiplexing antenna (300) includes a first antenna (101) disposed at a first end (103) of a portable two-way communication device (100). A second antenna (102) is disposed at the distal end (104) of the portable two-way communication device (100). The first antenna (101) and second antenna (102) are coupled to a transceiver (107) by a first transmission line matching circuit (201) and a second transmission line matching circuit (202), respectively. In one embodiment, the first antenna (101) is configured to primarily operate in a first bandwidth, while the second antenna (102) is configured to primarily operate in a second bandwidth. When one of the first antenna (101) or second antenna (102) is loaded, power flow (303) is redirected to the lesser loaded antenna.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to electronic devices having antennas for transmission of communication signals, and more specifically to an electronic device having dual antennas, wherein the dual antennas are autodiplexing in that they direct power to a lesser loaded of the antennas.
2. Background Art
Two-way communication devices, such as mobile telephones, two-way radios, and personal digital assistants, each use antennas to transmit and receive radio-frequency communication signals. These antennas communicate with wide area network towers, local area network base stations, and even other devices directly, to transmit and receive data. The antennas allow the device to be truly wireless, in that all communication may occur through the air.
While once large, retractable devices, the antennas found on most common communication devices are quite small today. The antennas generally come in one of two forms: stub and internal. With a stub antenna, a small protrusion emanates from the electronic device. With the internal antenna, the antenna itself is completely embedded within the device, thereby creating a sleeker, stylish look.
One problem experienced by both stub and internal antennas is that of loading. Using a mobile telephone as an example, when a person places a call, they generally hold the phone close to their ear with a hand. As today's mobile telephones are becoming quite small, sometimes the hand effectively envelops the device. Consequently, the antenna within the device must transmit power either through or around the hand to communicate with a tower, base station, or other device. The hand being placed next to the antenna "loads" the antenna, thereby making it more difficult for the antenna to "talk" to other devices.
There are two prior art solutions to the loading problem. The first solution is to simply make the antenna bigger. For example, in prior art two-way radios, the antenna was a long, extendable metal device. Where the antenna extends beyond whatever is loading it, the loading effect is reduced. This solution is not feasible in today's modern electronic devices, however, as a two-foot antenna is not practical on a three-inch mobile telephone. Further, high operating frequencies may not be suitable for an antenna that is very long compared with its operating wavelength.
The second prior art solution is to increase the transmission power whenever the antenna is loaded. The problem with this solution is that rechargeable batteries generally power these mobile devices. As such, an increase in transmission power means an increased load on the battery. This increased load means less "talk-time" between recharging, which can be frustrating to users of these devices.
There is thus a need for an improved antenna for electronic communication devices capable of operation under loaded conditions.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

Electronic device having a dual autodiplexing antenna


Apparatus which is disclosed comprises a metal mold, a metal plunger and an annular manifold, and includes means for moving the plunger and the manifold between an open position in which the manifold surrounds the plunger and a gob of softened glass can be introduced into the mold and a closed position in which the manifold surrounds the plunger and the latter forms, with the mold and the manifold, a cavity in which a glass part can be formed. The manifold and the plunger have facing walls which are above the mold cavity, have portions which are in close fitting sliding engagement, and, thereabove, portions which diverge away from one another and form an annular space. The apparatus is operable, when the plunger and the manifold are in the open position, to cause a gas which is a mixture of at least one alkane and at least one unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon to flow from the manifold around the exterior of the plunger, through orifices which extend downwardly and inwardly through the manifold and to ignite the gas mixture so that it deposits a substantially invisible lubricious coating on the plunger. The orifices discharge the gas mixture into the annular space formed by the diverging walls of the manifold and plunger. There is an annular groove in the manifold which is open to the interior of the manifold, and an annular ring through which the downwardly and inwardly facing orifices extend. The ring is releasably engaged with the manifold and, except for the orifices, closes the groove in the manifold.

This invention relates to improved apparatus and to an improved method for producing a pressed glass article. In particular, the apparatus includes means for causing a gas which is a mixture of at least one alkane and at least one unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon to flow from a manifold around the exterior of a plunger, means for igniting the gas so that it deposits a substantially invisible lubricious coating on the plunger., and means for advancing the plunger into a gob of molten glass in a mold. Preferably the gas which is caused to flow from the manifold is a mixture of from 40 to 70 parts by volume of "C-53 gas" (subsequently defined) and 60 to 30 parts by volume of methane.

Apparatus and method for producing a pressed glass article


Basically, this invention provides for an inbred corn line designated G07-NPIC3426, methods for producing a corn plant by crossing plants of the inbred line G07-NPIC3426 with plants of another corn plants. The invention relates to the various parts of inbred G07-NPIC3426 including culturable cells. This invention also relates to methods for introducing transgenic transgenes into inbred corn line G07-NPIC3426 and plants produced by said methods.

The original maize plant was indigenous to the Western Hemisphere. The plants were weed like and only through the efforts of early breeders were cultivated crop species developed. The crop cultivated by early breeders, like the crop today, could be wind pollinated. The physical traits of maize are such that wind pollination results in self-pollination or cross-pollination between plants. Each maize plant has a separate male and female flower that contributes to pollination, the tassel and ear, respectively. Natural pollination occurs when wind transfers pollen from tassel to the silks on the corn ears. This type of pollination has contributed to the wide variation of maize varieties present in the Western Hemisphere.
The development of a planned breeding program for maize only occurred in the last century. A large part of the development of the maize product into a profitable agricultural crop was due to the work done by land grant colleges. Originally, maize was an open pollinated variety having heterogeneous genotypes. The maize farmer selected uniform ears from the yield of these genotypes and preserved them for planting the next season. The result was a field of maize plants that were segregating for a variety of traits. This type of maize selection led to Summary of the G07-NPIC3426 incremental increases in seed yield.
Large increases in seed yield were due to the work done by land grant colleges that resulted in the development of numerous hybrid corn varieties in planned breeding programs. Hybrids were developed from inbreds which were developed by selecting corn lines and selfing these lines for several generations to develop homozygous pure inbred lines. One selected inbred line was emasculated and another selected inbred line pollinated the emasculated inbred to produce hybrid seed F1 on the emasculated inbred line. Emasculation of the inbred usually is done by detasseling the seed parent; however, emasculation can be done in a number of ways. For example an inbred could have a male sterility factor which would eliminate the need to detassel the inbred.
In the early seventies the hybrid corn industry attempted to introduce CMS (cytoplasmic male sterility) into a number of inbred lines. Unfortunately, the CMS inbreds also introduced some very poor agronomic performance traits into the hybrid seed which caused farmers concern causing the maize industry to shy away from CMS material for a couple of decades thereafter.
However, in the last 10-15 years a number of different male sterility systems for maize have been successfully deployed. The most traditionally of these male sterility and/or CMS systems for maize parallel the CMS type systems that have been routinely used in hybrid production in sunflower.
In the standard CMS system there are three different maize lines required to make the hybrid. First, there is a cytoplasmic male-sterile line usually carrying the CMS or some other form of male sterility. This line will be the seed producing parent line. Second, there must be a fertile inbred line that is the same or isogenic with the seed producing inbred parent but lacking the trait of male sterility. This is a maintainer line needed to make new inbred seed of the seed producing male sterile parent. Third there is a different inbred which is fertile, has normal cytoplasm and carries a fertility restoring gene. This line is called the restorer line in the CMS system. The CMS cytoplasm is inherited from the maternal parent (or the seed producing plant); therefore for the hybrid seed produced on such plant to be fertile the pollen used to fertilize this plant must carry the restorer gene. The positive aspect of this is that it allows hybrid seed to be produced without the need for detasseling the seed parent. However, this system does require breeding of all three types of lines: 1) male sterile—to carry the CMS: 2) the maintainer line; and, 3) the line carrying the fertility restorer gene. Use of a switchable male sterility gene reduces the complexity of the sterility system.
In other instances, sterile hybrids are produced and the pollen necessary for the formation of grain on these hybrids is supplied by interplanting of fertile inbreds in the field with the sterile hybrids.
Whether the seed producing plant is emasculated due to detasseling or CMS or transgenes, the seed produced by crossing two inbreds in this manner is hybrid seed. This hybrid seed is F1 hybrid seed. The grain produced by a plant grown from a F1 hybrid seed is referred to as F2 or grain. Although, all F1 seed and plants, produced by this hybrid seed production system using the same two inbreds should be substantially the same, all F2 grain produced from the F1 plant will be segregating maize material.
The hybrid seed production produces hybrid seed which is heterozygous. The heterozygosis results in hybrid plants, which are robust and vigorous plants. Inbreds on the other hand are mostly homozygous. This homozygosity renders the inbred lines less vigorous. Inbred seed can be difficult to produce since the inbreeding process in corn lines decreases the vigor. However, when two inbred lines are crossed, the hybrid plant evidences greatly increased vigor and seed yield compared to open pollinated, segregating maize plants. An important consequence of the homozygosity and the homogeneity of the inbred maize lines is that all hybrid seed produced from any cross of two such elite lines will be the same hybrid seed and make the same hybrid plant. Thus the use of inbreds makes hybrid seed which can be reproduced readily.
The ultimate objective of the commercial maize seed companies is to produce high yielding, agronomically sound plants that perform well in certain regions or areas of the Corn Belt. To produce these types of hybrids, the companies must develop inbreds, which carry needed traits into the hybrid combination. Hybrids are not often uniformly adapted for the entire Corn Belt, but most often are specifically adapted for regions of the Corn Belt. Northern regions of the Corn Belt require shorter season hybrids than do southern regions of the Corn Belt. Hybrids that grow well in Colorado and Nebraska soils may not flourish in richer Illinois and Iowa soils. Thus, a variety of major agronomic traits is important in hybrid combination for the various Corn Belt regions, and has an impact on hybrid performance.
Inbred line development and hybrid testing have been emphasized in the past half-century in commercial maize production as a means to increase hybrid performance. Inbred development is usually done by pedigree selection. Pedigree selection can be selection in an F2 population produced from a planned cross of two genotypes (often elite inbred lines), or selection of progeny of synthetic varieties, open pollinated, composite, or backcrossed populations. This type of selection is effective for highly inheritable traits, but other traits, for example, yield requires replicated test crosses at a variety of stages for accurate selection.
Maize breeders select for a variety of traits in inbreds that impact hybrid performance along with selecting for acceptable parental traits. Such traits include: yield potential in hybrid combination; dry down; maturity; grain moisture at harvest; greensnap; resistance to root lodging; resistance to stalk lodging; grain quality; disease and insect resistance; ear and plant height. Additionally, hybrid performance will differ in different soil types such as low levels of organic matter, clay, sand, black, high pH, low pH; or in different environments such as wet environments, drought environments, and no tillage conditions. These traits appear to be governed by a complex genetic system that makes selection and breeding of an inbred line extremely difficult. Even if an inbred in hybrid combination has excellent yield (a desired characteristic), it may not be useful because it fails to have acceptable parental traits such as seed yield, seed size, pollen production, good silks, plant height, etc.
To illustrate the difficulty of breeding and developing inbred lines, the following example is given. Two inbreds compared for similarity of 29 traits differed significantly for 18 traits between the two lines. If 18 simply inherited single gene traits were polymorphic with gene frequencies of 0.5 in the parental lines, and assuming independent segregation (as would essentially be the case if each trait resided on a different chromosome arm), then the specific combination of these traits as embodied in an inbred would only be expected to become fixed at a rate of one in 262,144 possible homozygous genetic combinations. Selection of the specific inbred combination is also influenced by the specific selection environment on many of these 18 traits which makes the probability of obtaining this one inbred even more remote. In addition, most traits in the corn genome are regrettably not single dominant genes but are multi-genetic with additive gene action not dominant gene action. Thus, the general procedure of producing a non segregating F1 generation and self pollinating to produce a F2 generation that segregates for traits and selecting progeny with the visual traits desired does not easily lead to an useful inbred. Great care and breeder expertise must be used in selection of breeding material to continue to increase yield and the agronomics of inbreds and resultant commercial hybrids.
Certain regions of the Corn Belt have specific difficulties that other regions may not have. Thus the hybrids developed from the inbreds have to have traits that overcome or at least minimize these regional growing problems. Examples of these problems include in the eastern corn belt Gray Leaf Spot, in the north cool temperatures during seedling emergence, in the Nebraska region CLN (Corn Lethal Necrosis) and in the west soil that has excessively high pH levels. The industry often targets inbreds that address these issues specifically forming niche products. However, the aim of most large seed producers is to provide a number of traits to each inbred so that the corresponding hybrid can be useful in broader regions of the Corn Belt. The new biotechnology techniques such as Microsatellites, RFLPs, RAPDs and the like have provided breeders with additional tools to accomplish these goals.
The present invention relates to an inbred corn line G07-NPIC3426. Specifically, this invention relates to plants and seeds of this line. Additionally, this relates to a method of producing from this inbred, hybrid seed corn and hybrid plants with seeds from such hybrid seed. More particularly, this invention relates to the unique combination of traits that combine in corn line G07-NPIC3426.
Generally then, broadly the present invention includes an inbred corn seed designated G07-NPIC3426. This seed produces a corn plant.
The invention also includes the tissue culture of regenerable cells of G07-NPIC3426 wherein the cells of the tissue culture regenerates plants capable of expressing the genotype of G07-NPIC3426. The tissue culture is selected from the group consisting of leaf, pollen, embryo, root, root tip, guard cell, ovule, seed, anther, silk, flower, kernel, ear, cob, husk and stalk, cell and protoplast thereof. The corn plant regenerated from G07-NPIC3426 or any part thereof is included in the present invention. The present invention includes regenerated corn plants that are capable of expressing G07-NPIC3426's genotype, phenotype or mutants or variants thereof.
The invention extends to hybrid seed produced by planting, in pollinating proximity which includes using preserved maize pollen as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,838 to Greaves, seeds of corn inbred lines G07-NPIC3426 and another inbred line if preserved pollen is not used; cultivating corn plants resulting from said planting; preventing pollen production by the plants of one of the inbred lines if two are employed; allowing cross pollination to occur between said inbred lines; and harvesting seeds produced on plants of the selected inbred. The hybrid seed produced by hybrid combination of plants of inbred corn seed designated G07-NPIC3426 and plants of another inbred line are apart of the present invention. This inventions scope covers hybrid plants and the plant parts including the grain and pollen grown from this hybrid seed.
The invention further includes a method of hybrid F1 production. A first generation (F1) hybrid corn plant produced by the process of planting seeds of corn inbred line G07-NPIC3426; cultivating corn plants resulting from said planting; permitting pollen from another inbred line to cross pollinate inbred line G07-NPIC3426; harvesting seeds produced on plants of the inbred; and growing a harvested seed are part of the method of this invention.
The present invention also encompasses a method of introducing at least one targeted trait into maize inbred line comprising the steps of: (a) crossing plant grown from the present invention seed which is the recurrent parent, representative seed of which has been deposited, with the donor plant of another maize line that comprises at least one target trait selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, disease resistance, amylose starch, and waxy starch to produce F1 plants; (b) selecting from the F1 plants that have at least one of the targeted traits, forming a pool of progeny plants with the targeted trait; (c) crossing the pool of progeny plants with the present invention which is the recurrent parent to produce backcrossed progeny plants with the targeted trait; (d) selecting for backcrossed progeny plants that have at least one of the target traits and physiological and morphological characteristics of maize inbred line of the recurrent parent, listed in Table 1 as traits of the present invention forming a pool of selected backcrossed progeny plants; and (e) crossing the selected backcrossed progeny plants to the recurrent parent and selecting from the resulting plants for the targeted trait and physiological and morphological characteristics of maize inbred line of the recurrent parent, listed in Table 1 and reselecting from the pool of resulting plants and repeating the crossing to the recurrent parent and selecting step in succession to form a plant that comprise the desired trait and all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of maize inbred line of the recurrent parent if the present invention listed in Table 1 as determined at the 5% significance level when grown in the same environmental conditions.
This method and the following method of introducing traits can be done with less back crossing events if the trait and/or the genotype of the present invention are selected for or identified through the use of markers. SSR, microsatellites, SNP and the like decrease the amount of breeding time required to locate a line with the desired trait or traits and the characteristics of the present invention. Backcrossing in two or even three traits (for example the glyphosate, Europe corn borer, corn rootworm resistant genes) is routinely done with the use of marker assisted breeding techniques. This introduction of transgenes or mutations into a maize line is often called single gene conversion. Although, presently more than one gene particularly transgenes or mutations which are readily tracked with markers can be moved during the same "single gene conversion" process, resulting in a line with the addition of more targeted traits than just the one, but still having the characteristics of the present invention plus those characteristics added by the targeted traits.
The method of introducing a desired trait into maize inbred line comprising: (a) crossing plant grown from the present invention seed, representative seed of which has been deposited the recurrent parent, with plant of another maize line that comprises at least one target trait selected from the group consisting of nucleic acid encoding an enzyme selected from the group consisting of phytase, stearyl-ACP desaturase, fructosyltransferase, levansucrase, amylase, invertase, starch synthase, branching enzyme, and debranching enzyme, and starch branching enzyme, the donor parent to produce F1 plants; (b) selecting for the targeted trait from the F1 plants, forming a pool of progeny plants; (c) crossing the progeny plants with the recurrent parent to produce backcrossed progeny plants; (d) selecting for backcrossed progeny plants that have at least one of the target trait and physiological and morphological characteristics of maize inbred line of the present invention as listed in Table 1 for the invention forming a pool of backcrossed progeny plants; and repeating a step of crossing the new pool with the recurrent parent and selecting for the targeted trait and the recurrent parents characteristics until the selected plant is essentially the recurrent parent with the targeted trait or targeted traits. This selection and crossing may take at least 4 backcrosses if marker assisted breeding is not employed.
The inbred line and seed of the present invention are employed to carry the agronomic package into the hybrid. Additionally, the inbred line is often carrying transgenes that are introduced in to the hybrid seed.
Likewise included is a first generation (F1) hybrid corn plant produced by the process of planting seeds of corn inbred line G07-NPIC3426; cultivating corn plants resulting from said planting; permitting pollen from inbred line G07-NPIC3426 to cross pollinate another inbred line; harvesting seeds produced on plants of the inbred; and growing a plant from such a harvested seed.
A number of different techniques exist which are designed to avoid detasseling in maize hybrid production. Some examples are switchable male sterility, lethal genes in the pollen or anther, inducible male sterility, male sterility genes with chemical restorers. There are numerous patented means of improving upon the hybrid production system. Some examples include U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,546, which relates to the use of tapetum-specific promoters and the barnase gene to produce male sterility; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,627,799 relates to modifying stamen cells to provide male sterility. Therefore, one aspect of the current invention concerns the present invention comprising one or more gene(s) capable of restoring male fertility to male-sterile maize inbreds or hybrids and/or genes or traits to produce male sterility in maize inbreds or hybrids.
The inbred corn line G07-NPIC3426 and at least one transgenic gene adapted to give G07-NPIC3426 additional and/or altered phenotypic traits are within the scope of the invention. Such transgenes are usually associated with regulatory elements (promoters, enhancers, terminators and the like). Presently, transgenes provide the invention with traits such as insect resistance, herbicide resistance, disease resistance increased or deceased starch or sugars or oils, increased or decreased life cycle or other altered trait.
The present invention includes inbred corn line G07-NPIC3426 and at least one transgenic gene adapted to give G07-NPIC3426 modified starch traits. Furthermore this invention includes the inbred corn line G07-NPIC3426 and at least one mutant gene adapted to give modified starch, acid or oil traits, i.e. amylase, waxy, amylose extender, starch synthase (SS) SSI, SSIIa, SSIIIa, SSIIIb, SSIVa, SSIVb, branching enzyme (BE), BEI, BEIIa, BEIIb, debranching enzyme, surgary 1, or amylose. The present invention includes the inbred corn line G07-NPIC3426 and at least one transgenic gene: bacillus thuringiensis, the bar or pat gene encoding Phosphinothricin acetyl Transferase, Gdha gene, GOX, VIP, EPSP synthase gene, low phytic acid producing gene, and zein. The inbred corn line G07-NPIC3426 and at least one transgenic gene useful as a selectable marker or a screenable marker is covered by the present invention.
A tissue culture of the regenerable cells of hybrid plants produced with use of G07-NPIC3426 genetic material is covered by this invention. A tissue culture of the regenerable cells of the corn plant produced by the method described above is also included.


Method and apparatus for formatting information within a directory tree structure into an encyclopedia-like entry. The method includes performing a search by utilizing a selective one or more search methodologies including keyword search, hierarchical search, dichotomous key search, and parametric search to correlate a search criteria to a searchable database for generating one or more matching items, wherein the searchable database is formatted in the directory tree structure. The directory tree structure includes nodes comprising a collection of related data and branches comprising links between the nodes. Each matching item represents a node from within the directory tree structure. The method further includes selecting one of the matching items, formatting the collection of related data corresponding to the node of the selected matching item into an encyclopedia-like entry, and displaying the encyclopedia-like entry corresponding to the node of the selected matching item. The encyclopedia-like entry can include text, graphics, links to related topics within the directory tree structure, links to related web sites external to the directory tree structure, or any combination thereof. Utilizing the search methodologies can be performed by a server, preferably accessible over the internet through the public switched telephone network.

Information technology (IT) continues to rapidly evolve and with this evolution comes advanced complexity. As new technologies are introduced into enterprise networks, the need to interoperate the new technologies with existing legacy technologies becomes of greater concern and necessity. Enterprises are intrinsically multi-functional in nature, yet applications and systems technologies tend to be single-function entities with closed architectures and proprietary internals. This core incongruence results in disparate, incompatible legacy systems of various kinds, incompatible hardware systems and devices, and heterogeneous platform systems mutually incomprehensible to each other. This phenomenon has been referred to as Enterprise Application Dysintegration, or EAD. As a result, the function of IT is more and more becoming the integration of heterogenous components. Currently, no automated means are available and the integration is effected manually by human agents at great cost, time, and inefficiency. Indeed, with the implementation of a new technology, exists the understanding that in addition to implementation issues associated solely with the new technology comes the downtime, cost, and disruption of re-architecting and re-building currently useful legacy functionality associated with integration.
With new applications and systems also comes associated new data and information that needs to be stored and managed. Also comes the need to integrate legacy data for use by the new technologies. Disparate systems inter-operate effectively through well defined interfaces. To facilitate this inter-operability, heterogeneous syntactic formats need to be translated into well known intermediary formats understood by all systems in the exchange. This is often referred to as syntactic transformation, of which XML is being proposed as the universal intermediary for data exchange. Beyond syntax also lies the meaning of terms, a problem commonly referred to as semantic reconciliation. To address semantic reconciliation, a formal agreement is typically made between communicating systems about the meaning of terms in a particular domain of knowledge and application.
There are many robust technologies for data-level integration, including database-specific Call Level Interfaces (CLIs), Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC), and Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC). However, these interface technologies require sophisticated user knowledge and are quite tedious to implement and update.
Although there are database-to-database integration technologies currently available, there is no standard methodology for reusing legacy information with newly introduced technologies. A primary objective is to integrate systems and data without disturbing them. Minimizing any type of data conversion plays to this concept of being non-invasive.
In addition to the problem of integrating new technologies with legacy information is the problem of how to manage and access the explosive growth in the amount of data. Increased memory and remote electronic data storage capacity offers access to large amounts of data in a very convenient form and physical size. Data may be available on diskette, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, and on line to a centrally located computer and memory storage medium. On line access to such stored data is primarily provided by business data networks and the world wide web, hereinafter referred to as the Internet. By 1993, the Internet had approximately 130 sites that could be hyper-linked together with keywords. The Internet has grown quickly since then. Sites on the Internet have increased from approximately 1.6 million at the end of 1997 to 9.6 million at the end of 1999. Today, multiple technologies are available to access and manage data presented on the Internet. The challenge remains to extract information from the data simply and efficiently and to have confidence in the result that all relevant items have been uncovered. To focus in on relevant database records, search engines generally use keywords, categorization, segment limitations, Boolean logic, and hit counts. More complex search engines can also employ hierarchical categorization and multifaceted searching.
Keywords are the basis of most searches. A simple keyword search, such as that found in most word processors under the "Find" command, will locate the occurrence of a text string within a document or a record. Misspellings, synonyms, or different tenses of a given text string will not be located. The searcher must be cautious to truncate the text string to a word's root. A search for the text string "graphical", for instance, will not locate instances of the text string "graphics." The searcher must also not choose commonly occurring words, as such a search would result in a high number of search results. Keywords are commonly combined with categorization, segment limitations, Boolean logic operators, advanced keywording, date operators and numeric operators to create a more effective search.
Categorization is a technique used to focus the scope of a search. A category is a subset of records. By conducting a search only within this subset of records, fewer irrelevant hits result. Lexis-Nexis™ and Dialog™, two online searchable databases with proprietary search engines, are examples of categorized databases. Prior to conducting a keyword search within the Lexis-Nexis™ or Dialog™ database, the searcher must select from an extensive list of categories. Some categories are broader than others. If the searcher selects an overly broad category, his or her search will result in too many irrelevant hits and the searcher will waste time sorting through the undesired search result records looking for relevant hits. If the searcher selects an overly narrow category, his or her search results will not include some of the desired records. Selection of an appropriate category, therefore, is of vital importance.
Searches can be further focused with the use of segment limitations. Such a search is also commonly referred to as a parametric search. "Segments" are similar to categories in that they are domain specific. Category classifications are used to divide multiple records into subsets, or "fields". Segment classifications are used to divide individual records into specific groupings of information. Using segments, or parameters, keyword searches can be targeted at certain fields of a record, such as a record's title or author. Search engines distributed by Lexis-Nexis™ and Dialog™, two online searchable database providers, are well-adapted to such targeted searches, often using dozens of segments for each category of records. A news article record, for instance, is typically broken down into separate fields for byline, date, publisher, abstract, and body. To find a news article with the word "elephant" in the title (or headline) using the classical interface of the Lexis-Nexis™ search engine, the following syntax would be needed: "HEADLINE(elephant)".
Using keyword searching may not be very helpful if the user is not familiar with the appropriate standard terminology related to the information they are looking for. Further, there may be many appropriate ways to describe the information sought by the user. A concept expressed by a standard industry term in one industry may be different from a standard industry term in a different industry. A keyword search would require searching all synonyms used in order to ensure a complete and accurate result.
When a user of a searching/retrieval system enters a keyword search query into a system, the query is parsed. Based on the parsed query, a listing of documents relevant to the query is provided to the user. In the prior art, it is also known to use semantic networks when parsing a query. The number of words used to search the database is then expanded by including the corresponding words or associated words identified by the semantic network in the search instructions. This expansion can be based on any one or a combination of using stems or roots of terms, using sound-a-like words, using wildcard words or any other appropriate semantic technique.
Boolean operators, such as "AND", "OR" and "MINUS", are used to enhance the capabilities of a search engine. The basic format of Boolean queries is well known in the art and generally takes on the form of "X OR Y", where X and Y are two distinct keywords. Because search requests are processed by a computer, syntax rules must be strictly followed when drafting a Boolean keyword search. In many search engines the logical operators "AND" and "OR" must be capitalized. Some search engines allow additional syntax that indicates requisite proximity of keywords or hierarchy within a specific Boolean query. Hierarchy within a Boolean query is usually designated with the use of parenthesis. The "(A OR B) AND {circle around (C)} OR D)" query, for instance, finds a first set of records containing "A OR B" and a second set of records containing "C OR D", then finds records included in both the first set and the second set.
Using the Boolean operator "AND" in a search expression such as "X AND Y," will yield records which include both X and Y in the record. Using the Boolean operator "OR" in a search expression such as "X OR Y," will yield records which include either X or Y in the record. Using the Boolean operator "MINUS" in a search expression such as "MINUS X" will yield records which do not include the term X in the record.
A query that is too narrow will result in less than the desired number of records. Correspondingly, a query that is too broad will result in greater than the desired number of records. Immediate user feedback on a specific query helps the searcher construct a better subsequent query. Hit count is perhaps the most effective form of feedback for constructing a better query. If a query is too narrow, the hit count will be very low, possibly even zero. If a query is too broad, the hit count will be very high. Hit count information is used with selected viewing of search results to alert the searcher of mistakes, such as incorrect category or segment choice, or otherwise assist the searcher in drafting more effective queries. Hit counts are generally displayed after a given query is executed. Hit counts are more useful when provided for each search term and each combination of search terms. Boolean Representation One, illustrated below in Table I, demonstrates how individual hit counts can be used for the Boolean keyword search for "(cat OR dog) AND (doctor OR veterinarian)".
TABLE IBoolean Representation Onecat -- 280 ------------|-- OR -- 774 -dog -- 494 ------------||-- AND -- 4veterinarian -- 34 ----||-- OR -- 228 ---doctor -- 194 ---------In the above example, the hit counts are as follows: in the database the term "cat" is included in 280 records; in the database the term "dog" is included in 494 records; in the database the term "veterinarian" is included in 34 records; in the database the term "doctor" is included in 194 records; in the database the term "cat" or "dog" is included in 774 records; in the database the term "veterinarian" or "doctor" is included in 228 records; and in the database the Boolean query for the Boolean expression "(cat OR dog) AND (doctor OR veterinarian)" results in the location of 4 records. If the Boolean expression is altered by the replacement of "dog" with "cow", the hit count change ripples through the Boolean expression's representation as shown in Boolean Representation Two, illustrated below in Table II.
TABLE IIBoolean Representation Twocat -- 280 ------------|-- OR -- 351 -cow -- 71 -------------||-- AND -- 1veterinarian -- 34 ----||-- OR -- 228 ---doctor -- 194 ---------Feedback from individual hit counts gives the searcher access to information normally hidden. Viewing individual hit counts, a searcher is better able to identify search terms that are too specific, too broad, or misspelled.
An additional search tool is hierarchical categorization. Instead of classifying records into separate categories, hierarchical categories classify records into both broad groupings and progressively narrower groupings. An example of hierarchical categorization is found in biology, where organisms are organized, from broadest to narrowest, by kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Hierarchical categorization is commonly used in conventional internet search engines, such as those found at the Yahoo!™ and Altavista™ websites. To find information about a specific topic, a search engine user navigates from a list of broad categories through an increasingly more specific list of categories. Once the first category is selected, a search engine typically displays a lower level screen with another list of alternatives. Such navigation continues down through the various menus of alternatives having decreasing priority levels. At any point of the category navigation, a keyword or Boolean search can be performed upon the records in that category. Search results are only obtained from records located within the category searched. Most search engines only allow searches in one category at a time. To search a second category, the searcher must navigate up the hierarchical category tree and then down to the second category.
Multifaceted classification attempts to address the limits of the hierarchical categorization method. Instead of assigning a record to a single category, multifaceted classification allows a record to belong to multiple categories. The multiple categories become part of a record's description, along with standard information for the record such as the title, the abstract (or keywords), the date, and author. Multifaceted classification improves the likelihood of locating relevant records. First, the searcher can take several different paths to locate the same record. Using the analogy of books in a library, multifaceted classification is able to place a single book on more than one shelf. Second, the multiple categories can be subjected to a Boolean query. Records relating to sports medicine could be found by searching for records included in both the sports category and the medicine category.
Boolean logic, segment limitations, hit counts, hierarchical categorization, and multifaceted classification help the searcher create more effective queries, but at the cost of increased complexity. Often instruction manuals or a software program's help menu must be consulted to draft a query. Dialog™, for instance, publishes a "Bluebook" that contains detailed lists of segment codes for each of their many databases. Lexis-Nexis™ goes so far as to provide free online access and training seminars for students to overcome their search engine's initial learning curve.
New generations of technology and methodologies continue to be developed to improve search accuracy and efficiency. Where one generation fails to meet all demands, another generation arises looking to fill the gaps. Each generation has been partially effective, however no generation to date has been entirely effective. In most cases, current technology is a singular approach technique to access and organize information, which at certain times is productive and efficient in accomplishing the intended task. However, all too frequently, the user uncovers no positive search result or receives hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of end search results. In some instances one technology will yield no positive result while another will possibly solve the research task. What is needed is an approach which allows users to employ a simplified means to access, organize, and manage information contained on the Internet and within business data systems. This approach should combine the best search methodologies on the market to provide the most complete solution possible.
What is also needed is a methodology that takes existing, legacy information and allows users to redefine and reorganize the information without requiring a data conversion thus improving the flow of data.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for formatting information within a directory tree structure into an encylopedia-like entry


An electronic device includes a cover, a body, and two connection members. The cover is movably connected to the body via the two connection members. Each connection member includes a first sliding rail, a second sliding rail, a hinge, at least three securing members, and at least two limiting members. The first sliding rail is pivotally connected to the second sliding rail via the hinge. The first sliding rail is slidably connected to the cover via a securing member. The second sliding rail is slidably connected to the body via two securing members. The at least two limiting members, mounted between the first sliding rail and the cover, are configured for limiting a sliding range of the cover.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to electronic devices, and particularly to an electronic device having two rotatably connected portions.
2. Description of Related Art
Portable electronic devices, such as notebooks, are widely used in people's daily life. A notebook generally includes a front cover and a body. A display module may be mounted in the front cover. The front cover is rotatable relative to the body to switch between a folded position or an unfolded position. The unfolded position is adjustable. In use, users can adjust rotation angles of the front cover to set a suitable unfolded position according to personal requirements. However, users cannot adjust the height of the cover relative to the body. Therefore, what is needed is an electronic device capable of adjusting the height of the cover relative to the body.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A method, and corresponding software and system, is described for paging memory used for one or more sequentially-accessed data structure. The method includes providing a data structure representing an order in which memory pages are to be reused; and maintaining the data structure according to a history of access to a memory page associated with one of the sequentially-accessed data structures. A position of the memory page in the order depends on a transition of sequential access off of the memory page.

The invention relates to managing memory pages.
It is useful to use a volatile memory store (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) to work with data that is also stored in a non-volatile memory store (e.g., one or more disk drives). For example, the volatile memory store typically has faster access and read times than the non-volatile memory store. The address spaces of the volatile memory store and of the non-volatile memory store can be organized into pages that span a predetermined number of contiguous address locations. A computer system uses a paging technique to allocate memory pages from the volatile memory store to be used, for example, by programs or data structures. The non-volatile memory store is typically much larger than the volatile memory store. A virtual memory scheme can be used to allow pages in the volatile memory store that are not in use (e.g., not currently being written to or read from) to be written to the non-volatile memory store and then read back from the non-volatile memory store again later when needed. Thus, pages in the volatile memory store are "recycled" for use by various programs and/or data structures. To reduce the overhead associated with moving pages back and forth, some techniques recycle pages according to a least-recently used (LRU) approach. In the LRU approach, if a page that has been written to the non-volatile memory store is to be moved to the volatile memory store and there are no more free pages in the volatile memory store, then a page selected to be recycled (or "swapped" or "paged out") from the volatile memory store to the non-volatile memory store is the page that has been least-recently used (e.g., least-recently read from or written to).