A method of clearing well casing (3) or tubing from a target region of an oil/gas well (1) borehole is provided. The clearance of the oil/gas well bore hole being achieved by employing chemical agents (9) that consume, weaken or melt the well casing/tubing. In some aspects of the method the well casing is cleared to expose the rock formation within which the well borehole is formed so that the rock formation can be accessed from within the well casing/tubing. In other aspects of the method the removal of inner tubing structures is used to facilitate the unimpaired deployment of repair tools down the well borehole.

Once an oil/gas well has come to the end of its useful life, the well needs to be safely decommissioned. An important aspect of decommissioning is the plugging and abandonment (P&A) of the well. The plugging of an abandoned well is necessary to seal it off and prevent the escape of hydrocarbons and gases from within the well.
Various methods are known in the art for providing both permanent and removable plugs within abandoned wells. In some situations a plug may be deployed within a well casing that is itself deployed within a bore hole within the ground.
In other situations it is desirable to deploy a plug which extends across the whole cross-section of a bore hole. In these situations it is first necessary to remove the well casing from the region of the bore hole where the plug is to be deployed.
It is known in the art to remove a well casing from within a well bore hole by mechanical means, such as milling or drilling. Such mechanical approaches can be time consuming and, as a result, expensive. They also produce debris in the form of swarf as the casing is broken down, which can interfere with both the milling/drilling itself and any subsequent plugging operation.
In addition, any swarf produced is classed as contaminated material that needs to be disposed of in accordance with strict regulations. This disposal can be very expensive in wells that are located away from the mainland out at sea.
Other suggested approaches involve the use of heat generating mixtures, such as thermite, to melt not only the well casing but also the surrounding materials of the well (e.g. concrete, formation sand). The aim of melting the well casing (and surrounding materials) is to make use of the materials within the well to actually form a plug rather than removing or disposing of the casing.
However, due to the mixture of materials that are melted to form the plug, the effectiveness (e.g. gas tight sealing and resistance to chemical erosion) of these plugs is more difficult to predict than plugs formed from more homogenous compositions (i.e. eutectic alloys or cement).
On other occasions, rather than carrying out plugging and abandonment (P&A) operations on a well, the aim is to carry out work-over operations so as to repair an underground conduit that has become damaged or blocked for whatever reason.
The above mentioned mechanical and heat based approaches are also employed during such operations to clear obstacles from within the well to facilitate subsequent repair work to be carried out.


A design for a microchannel steam microreformer has been developed to provide power in conjunction with a micro fuel cell for a portable, low-power device. The design is optimized for low pumping power and rapid operation as well as thermal efficiency, overall size, and complete generation of the available hydrogen. The design includes at least one microchannel having a grooved surface with a continuous groove oriented in a spiral configuration.

As electronic devices become smaller and smaller, there has been an increasing interest in developing miniature fuel cells for applicability to a wide range of portable, electronic devices. These devices desire a certain amount of power, but have very limited space in which to house the power supply unit.
Microscale Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells represent a very promising power source for small, portable, electronic devices. They offer high power capability, energy density, high efficiency, low noise, and little environmental pollution. The byproducts of a hydrogen-based fuel cell system include only water, carbon dioxide and heat. However, hydrogen gas is difficult to store, not very dense, and brings with it some safety concerns due to its high flammability and explosive potential. Thus there remains a need for improved microscale fuel cells and for methods and systems of delivering hydrogen thereto.


A method and system for estimating the background signal over an arbitrarily-sized region of a scanned image of a molecular array, including a background region surrounding the ROI corresponding to the feature. A bit mask is generated, based on a molecular-array, feature-based data set that includes pixel-based intensities and a list of features, including feature coordinates and feature ROI radii, to indicate those pixels in the scanned image of the molecular array corresponding to background, and those pixels in the scanned image of the molecular array corresponding to features and ROIs. An integrated intensity for a background region of arbitrary size and shape can be efficiently determined by selecting pixels within the background region that are indicated to be background pixels in the bit mask. By selecting background anuli of sufficient size to overlap with the background anuli of neighboring features, a relatively continuous function of background-signal-verusus-position can be obtained across the surface of a molecular array in order to examine non-local, background-signal-related phenomena.

Nothing in the following discussion is admitted to be prior art unless specifically identified as "prior art." The present invention is related to processing of data scanned from arrays. Array technologies have gained prominence in biological research and are likely to become important and widely used diagnostic tools in the healthcare industry. Currently, molecular-array techniques are most often used to determine the concentrations of particular nucleic-acid polymers in complex sample solutions. Molecular-array-based analytical techniques are not, however, restricted to analysis of nucleic acid solutions, but may be employed to analyze complex solutions of any type of molecule that can be optically or radiometrically scanned and that can bind with high specificity to complementary molecules synthesized within, or bound to, discrete features on the surface of an array. Because arrays are widely used for analysis of nucleic acid samples, the following background information on arrays is introduced in the context of analysis of nucleic acid solutions following a brief background of nucleic acid chemistry.
Deoxyribonucleic acid ("DNA") and ribonucleic acid ("RNA") are linear polymers, each synthesized from four different types of subunit molecules. The subunit molecules for DNA include: (1) deoxy-adenosine, abbreviated "A," a purine nucleoside; (2) deoxy-thymidine, abbreviated "T," a pyrimidine nucleoside; (3) deoxy-cytosine, abbreviated "C," a pyrimidine nucleoside; and (4) deoxy-guanosine, abbreviated "G," a purine nucleoside. The subunit molecules for RNA include: (1) adenosine, abbreviated "A," a purine nucleoside; (2) uracil, abbreviated "U," a pyrimidine nucleoside; (3) cytosine, abbreviated "C," a pyrimidine nucleoside; and (4) guanosine, abbreviated "G," a purine nucleoside. FIG. 1 illustrates a short DNA polymer 100, called an oligomer, composed of the following subunits: (1) deoxy-adenosine 102; (2) deoxy-thymidine 104; (3) deoxy-cytosine 106; and (4) deoxy-guanosine 108. When phosphorylated, subunits of DNA and RNA molecules are called "nucleotides" and are linked together through phosphodiester bonds 110–115 to form DNA and RNA polymers. A linear DNA molecule, such as the oligomer shown in FIG. 1, has a 5′ end 118 and a 3′ end 120. A DNA polymer can be chemically characterized by writing, in sequence from the 5′ end to the 3′ end, the single letter abbreviations for the nucleotide subunits that together compose the DNA polymer. For example, the oligomer 100 shown in FIG. 1 can be chemically represented as "ATCG." A DNA nucleotide comprises a purine or pyrimidine base (e.g. adenine 122 of the deoxy-adenylate nucleotide 102), a deoxy-ribose sugar (e.g. deoxy-ribose 124 of the deoxy-adenylate nucleotide 102), and a phosphate group (e.g. phosphate 126) that links one nucleotide to another nucleotide in the DNA polymer. In RNA polymers, the nucleotides contain ribose sugars rather than deoxy-ribose sugars. In ribose, a hydroxyl group takes the place of the 2′ hydrogen 128 in a DNA nucleotide. RNA polymers contain uridine nucleosides rather than the deoxy-thymidine nucleosides contained in DNA. The pyrimidine base uracil lacks a methyl group (130 in FIG. 1) contained in the pyrimidine base thymine of deoxy-thymidine.
The DNA polymers that contain the organization information for living organisms occur in the nuclei of cells in pairs, forming double-stranded DNA helixes. One polymer of the pair is laid out in a 5′ to 3′ direction, and the other polymer of the pair is laid out in a 3′ to 5′ direction. The two DNA polymers in a double-stranded DNA helix are therefore described as being anti-parallel. The two DNA polymers, or strands, within a double-stranded DNA helix are bound to each other through attractive forces including hydrophobic interactions between stacked purine and pyrimidine bases and hydrogen bonding between purine and pyrimidine bases, the attractive forces emphasized by conformational constraints of DNA polymers. Because of a number of chemical and topographic constraints, double-stranded DNA helices are most stable when deoxy-adenylate subunits of one strand hydrogen bond to deoxy-thymidylate subunits of the other strand, and deoxy-guanylate subunits of one strand hydrogen bond to corresponding deoxy-cytidilate subunits of the other strand.
FIGS. 2A–B illustrates the hydrogen bonding between the purine and pyrimidine bases of two anti-parallel DNA strands. FIG. 2A shows hydrogen bonding between adenine and thymine bases of corresponding adenosine and thymidine subunits, and FIG. 2B shows hydrogen bonding between guanine and cytosine bases of corresponding guanosine and cytosine subunits. Note that there are two hydrogen bonds 202 and 203 in the adenine/thymine base pair, and three hydrogen bonds 204–206 in the guanosine/cytosine base pair, as a result of which GC base pairs contribute greater thermodynamic stability to DNA duplexes than AT base pairs. AT and GC base pairs, illustrated in FIGS. 2A–B, are known as Watson-Crick ("WC") base pairs.
Two DNA strands linked together by hydrogen bonds forms the familiar helix structure of a double-stranded DNA helix. FIG. 3 illustrates a short section of a DNA double helix 300 comprising a first strand 302 and a second, anti-parallel strand 304. The ribbon-like strands in FIG. 3 represent the deoxyribose and phosphate backbones of the two anti-parallel strands, with hydrogen-bonding purine and pyrimidine base pairs, such as base pair 306, interconnecting the two strands. Deoxy-guanylate subunits of one strand are generally paired with deoxy-cytidilate subunits from the other strand, and deoxy-thymidilate subunits in one strand are generally paired with deoxy-adenylate subunits from the other strand. However, non-WC base pairings may occur within double-stranded DNA.
Double-stranded DNA may be denatured, or converted into single stranded DNA, by changing the ionic strength of the solution containing the double-stranded DNA or by raising the temperature of the solution. Single-stranded DNA polymers may be renatured, or converted back into DNA duplexes, by reversing the denaturing conditions, for example by lowering the temperature of the solution containing complementary single-stranded DNA polymers. During renaturing or hybridization, complementary bases of anti-parallel DNA strands form WC base pairs in a cooperative fashion, leading to reannealing of the DNA duplex. Strictly A-T and G-C complementarity between anti-parallel polymers leads to the greatest thermodynamic stability, but partial complementarity including non-WC base pairing may also occur to produce relatively stable associations between partially-complementary polymers. In general, the longer the regions of consecutive WC base pairing between two nucleic acid polymers, the greater the stability of hybridization between the two polymers under renaturing conditions.
The ability to denature and renature double-stranded DNA has led to the development of many extremely powerful and discriminating assay technologies for identifying the presence of DNA and RNA polymers having particular base sequences or containing particular base subsequences within complex mixtures of different nucleic acid polymers, other biopolymers, and inorganic and organic chemical compounds. One such methodology is the array-based hybridization assay. FIGS. 4–7 illustrate the principle of the array-based hybridization assay. An array (402 in FIG. 4) comprises a substrate upon which a regular pattern of features is prepared by various manufacturing processes. The array 402 in FIG. 4, and in subsequent FIGS. 5–7, has a grid-like 2-dimensional pattern of square features, such as feature 404 shown in the upper left-hand corner of the array. Each feature of the array contains a large number of identical oligonucleotides covalently bound to the surface of the feature. These bound oligonucleotides are known as probes. In general, chemically distinct probes are bound to the different features of an array, so that each feature corresponds to a particular nucleotide sequence. In FIGS. 4–6, the principle of array-based hybridization assays is illustrated with respect to the single feature 404 to which a number of identical probes 405–409 are bound. In practice, each feature of the array contains a high density of such probes but, for the sake of clarity, only a subset of these are shown in FIGS. 4–6.
Once an array has been prepared, the array may be exposed to a sample solution of target DNA or RNA molecules (410–413 in FIG. 4) labeled with fluorophores, chemiluminescent compounds, or radioactive atoms 415–418. Labeled target DNA or RNA hybridizes through base pairing interactions to the complementary probe DNA, synthesized on the surface of the array. FIG. 5 shows a number of such target molecules 502–504 hybridized to complementary probes 505–507, which are in turn bound to the surface of the array 402. Targets, such as labeled DNA molecules 508 and 509, that do not contains nucleotide sequences complementary to any of the probes bound to array surface do not hybridize to generate stable duplexes and, as a result, tend to remain in solution. The sample solution is then rinsed from the surface of the array, washing away any unbound-labeled DNA molecules. In other embodiments, unlabeled target sample is allowed to hybridize with the array first. Typically, such a target sample has been modified with a chemical moiety that will react with a second chemical moiety in subsequent steps. Then, either before or after a wash step, a solution containing the second chemical moiety bound to a label is reacted with the target on the array. After washing, the array is ready for scanning. Biotin and avidin represent an example of a pair of chemical moieties that can be utilized for such steps.
Finally, as shown in FIG. 6, the bound labeled DNA molecules are detected via optical or radiometric scanning. Optical scanning involves exciting labels of bound labeled DNA molecules with electromagnetic radiation of appropriate frequency and detecting fluorescent emissions from the labels, or detecting light emitted from chemiluminescent labels. When radioisotope labels are employed, radiometric scanning can be used to detect the signal emitted from the hybridized features. Additional types of signals are also possible, including electrical signals generated by electrical properties of bound target molecules, magnetic properties of bound target molecules, and other such physical properties of bound target molecules that can produce a detectable signal. Optical, radiometric, or other types of scanning produce an analog or digital representation of the array as shown in FIG. 7, with features to which labeled target molecules are hybridized similar to 706 optically or digitally differentiated from those features to which no labeled DNA molecules are bound. In other words, the analog or digital representation of a scanned array displays positive signals for features to which labeled DNA molecules are hybridized and displays negative features to which no, or an undetectably small number of, labeled DNA molecules are bound. Features displaying positive signals in the analog or digital representation indicate the presence of DNA molecules with complementary nucleotide sequences in the original sample solution. Moreover, the signal intensity produced by a feature is generally related to the amount of labeled DNA bound to the feature, in turn related to the concentration, in the sample to which the array was exposed, of labeled DNA complementary to the oligonucleotide within the feature.
Array-based hybridization techniques allow extremely complex solutions of DNA molecules to be analyzed in a single experiment. An array may contain from hundreds to tens of thousands of different oligonucleotide probes, allowing for the detection of a subset of complementary sequences from a complex pool of different target DNA or RNA polymers. In order to perform different sets of hybridization analyses, arrays containing different sets of bound oligonucleotides are manufactured by any of a number of complex manufacturing techniques. These techniques generally involve synthesizing the oligonucleotides within corresponding features of the array through a series of complex iterative synthetic steps.
One, two, or more than two data subsets within a data set can be obtained from a single molecular array by scanning the molecular array for one, two or more than two types of signals. Two or more data subsets can also be obtained by combining data from two different arrays. When optical scanning is used to detect fluorescent or chemiluminescent emission from chromophore labels, a first set of signals, or data subset, may be generated by scanning the molecular at a first optical wavelength, a second set of signals, or data subset, may be generated by scanning the molecular at a second optical wavelength, and additional sets of signals may be generated by scanning the molecular at additional optical wavelengths. Different signals may be obtained from a molecular array by radiometric scanning to detect radioactive emissions at one, two, or more than two different energy levels. Target molecules may be labeled with either a first chromophore that emits light at a first wavelength, or a second chromophore that emits light at a second wavelength. Following hybridization, the molecular array can be scanned at the first wavelength to detect target molecules, labeled with the first chromophore, hybridized to features of the molecular array, and can then be scanned at the second wavelength to detect target molecules, labeled with the second chromophore, hybridized to the features of the molecular array. In one common molecular array system, the first chromophore emits light at a red visible-light wavelength, and the second chromophore emits light at a green, visible-light wavelength. The data set obtained from scanning the molecular array at the red wavelength is referred to as the "red signal," and the data set obtained from scanning the molecular array at the green wavelength is referred to as the "green signal." While it is common to use one or two different chromophores, it is possible to use three, four, or more than four different chromophores and to scan a molecular array at three, four, or more than four wavelengths to produce three, four, or more than four data sets.
FIG. 8 shows a small region of a scanned image of a molecular array containing an image of a single feature. In FIG. 8, the small region of the scanned image comprises a grid, or matrix, of pixels, such as pixel 802. In FIG. 8, the magnitude of the signal scanned from the small region of the surface of a molecular array spatially corresponding to a particular pixel in the scanned image is indicated by a kind of gray scaling. Pixels corresponding to high-intensity signals, such as pixel 804, are darkly colored, while pixels having very low signal intensities, such as pixel 802, are not colored. The range of intermediate signal intensities is represented, in FIG. 8, by a generally decreasing density of crosshatch lines within a pixel. In FIG. 8, there is a generally disc-shaped region in the center of the region of the scanned image of the molecular array that contains a high proportion of high-intensity pixels. Outside of this central, disc-shaped region corresponding to a feature, the intensities of the pixels fall off relatively quickly, although pixels with intermediate intensities are found, infrequently, even toward the edges of the region of the scanned image, relatively distant from the obvious central, disc-shaped region of high-intensity pixels that corresponds to the feature.
In general, data sets collected from molecular arrays comprise an indexed set of numerical signal intensities associated with pixels. The pixel intensities range over the possible values for the size of the memory-storage unit employed to store the pixel intensities. In many current systems, a 16-bit word is employed to store the intensity value associated with each pixel, and a data set can be considered to be a 2-dimensional array of pixel-intensity values corresponding to the 2-dimensional array of pixels that together compose a scanned image of a molecular array.
FIG. 9 shows a 2-dimensional array of pixel-intensity values corresponding to a portion of the central, disc-shaped region corresponding to a feature in the region of a scanned image of a molecular array shown on FIG. 8. In FIG. 9, for example, pixel intensity 902 corresponds to pixel 806 in FIG. 8.
Features on the surface of a molecular array may have various different shapes and sizes, depending on the manufacturing process by which the molecular array is produced. In one important class of molecular arrays, features are tiny, disc-shaped regions on the surface of the molecular array produced by ink-jet-based application of probe molecules, or probe-molecular-precursors, to the surface of the molecular array substrate. FIG. 10 shows an idealized representation of a feature, such as the feature shown in FIG. 8, on a small section of the surface of a molecular array. FIG. 11 shows a graph of pixel-intensity values versus position along a line bisecting a feature in the scanned image of the feature. For example, the graph shown in FIG. 11 may be obtained by plotting the intensity values associated with pixels along lines 1002 or 1004 in FIG. 10. Consider a traversal of the pixels along line 1002 starting from point 1006 and ending at point 1008. In FIG. 11, points 1106 and 1108 along the horizontal axis correspond to positions 1006 and 1008 along line 1002 in FIG. 10. Initially, at positions well removed from the central, disc-shaped region of the feature in 1010, the scanned signal intensity is relatively low. As the central, disc-shaped region of the feature is approached, along line 1002, the pixels intensities remain at a fairly constant, background level up to point 1012, corresponding to point 1112 in FIG. 11. Between points 1012 and 1014, corresponding to points 1112 and 1114 in FIG. 11, the average intensity of pixels rapidly increases to a relatively high intensity level 1115 at a point 1014 coincident with the outer edge of the central, disc-shaped region of the feature. The intensity remains relatively high over the central, disc-shaped region of the feature 1116, and begins to fall off starting at point 1018, corresponding to point 1118 in FIG. 11, at the far side of the central, disc-shaped region of the feature. The intensity rapidly falls off with increasing distance from the central, disc-shaped region of the feature until again reaching a relatively constant, background level at point 1008, corresponding to point 1108 in FIG. 11. The exact shape of the pixel-intensity-versus-position graph, and the size and shape of the feature, are dependent on the particular type of molecular array and molecular-array substrate, chromophore or a radioisotope used to label target molecules, experimental conditions to which the molecular array is subjected, the molecular-array scanner used to scan a molecular array, and on data processing components of the molecular-array scanner and an associated computer that produce the scanned image and pixel-intensity data sets. For example, with some type of array manufacture processes or with different hybridization and washing protocols, the features may resemble donuts, or even more irregular blobs.
The background signal generated during scanning regions of the surface of a molecular array outside of the areas corresponding to features arises from many different sources, including contamination of the molecular-array surface by fluorescent or radioactively labeled or naturally radioactive compounds, fluorescence or radiation emission from the molecular-array substrate, dark signal generated by the photo detectors in the molecular-array scanner, and many other sources. When this background signal is measured on the portion of the array that is outside of the areas corresponding to a feature, it is often referred to as the "local" background signal.
An important part of molecular-array data processing is a determination of the background signal that needs to be subtracted from a feature. With appropriate background-subtraction, it is possible to distinguish low-signal features from no-signal features and to calculate accurate and reproducible log ratios between multi-channel and/or inter-array data. The sources of background signal that appear in the local background region may be identical to the sources of background signal that occur on the feature itself; that is, the signal represented in the local background region may be additive to the signal that arises from the specific labeled target hybridized to probes on that feature. In this case, it is appropriate to use the signal from the local background region as the best estimate of the background to subtract from that feature.
FIG. 12 illustrates a currently employed technique for measuring the local background signal for a feature. FIG. 12 corresponds to the small region of the scanned image of a molecular array shown on FIG. 8. Initial pixel-based coordinates for the center of the feature can be estimated from manufacturing data for the molecular array and from a number of scanned-image processing techniques. Using these initial pixel-based coordinates for the center of the feature, the integrated intensities of disc-shaped regions with increasing radii centered at those coordinates can be computed to determine, by a decrease in integrated intensities, the outer edge 1202 of the central, disc-shaped feature region. An intermediate region, in which the integrated pixel intensities rapidly fall off with increasing radius, corresponding to the regions in FIG. 11 between points 1112 and 1114 and between points 1118 and 1108, can be determined to provide the outer boundary 1204 of a region of interest ("ROI") surrounding and including the central, disc-shaped region of the feature. Finally, an annulus lying between the outer edge of the ROI 1204 and a somewhat arbitrary outer background circumference 1206 is considered to be the background region for the feature, and the integrated intensity of this background region 1208, divided by the area of the background region, is taken to be the background signal for the entire region comprising the feature region, feature ROI, and background annulus. Alternatively, the locations and sizes of feature regions may be known in advance of the image processing stage, based on array manufacturing data and other information, and so the ROI may not need to be determined by a method such as the method described above. Thus, a current technique for background signal estimation is based on a local method involving determining an integrated signal intensity for an annulus surrounding the ROI disc associated with a feature, and determining a background-signal intensity per image area. The estimated local background signal for a feature is the background-signal intensity per image area, and is subtracted from the normalized raw feature signal, to produce a background-subtracted feature signal. A feature-based data set includes background-subtracted data subset, for each signal scanned, comprising feature signals or raw feature signals.
Unfortunately, as the density of features placed on molecular-array substrates increases, the local background-signal estimation technique illustrated in FIG. 12 begins to fail. FIGS. 13A–B illustrate a problem with local background-signal estimation that arises with high feature densities. In FIG. 13A, the background annuli, for example background annulus 1302, surrounding features laid out in a grid-like pattern on a small region of a molecular array substrate 1304 are shown to be relatively well-spaced and discrete. However, in a higher-density molecular array, where the same features are more closely crowded together, as shown in FIG. 13B, the background annulus of one feature, for example, background annulus 1306, may overlap with the background annuli 1308 and 1310 of neighboring features and may, in addition, overlap 1312 and 1314 with the ROI or even the central, disc-shaped region of neighboring features. Overlap 1312 and 1314 of a background annulus 1306 with neighboring ROIs can significantly raise the background signal estimation above the true, non-feature and non-ROI background-signal intensity level. At certain feature densities, it may be possible to decrease the thickness of background annuli in order to prevent overlap, but background annuli cannot be arbitrarily decreased in size past a certain limit. There must be, for example, a minimum number of pixels within the background annulus in order to generate a statistically significant estimation of the intensity of pixels within the background region surrounding a feature. There is, in addition, another problem with the currently-employed local background-signal estimation technique illustrated in FIG. 12. As seen in FIG. 13A, the background annuli are discrete, so that the background signal estimated across features of a molecular array is not a continuous function of position with respect to the molecular array. Thus, it is difficult to use local backgrounds for estimating non-local background-related phenomena, such as background-signal gradients and other such phenomena. For these reasons, designers, manufacturers, and users of molecular arrays have recognized the need for a method for accurately determining an estimated background signal for densely packed features and for estimating background signal in a continuous fashion with respect to position on the surface of a molecular array.

Method and system for measuring a molecular array background signal from a continuous background region of specified size


A field-effect transistor comprising a semiconductor substrate having source and drain regions and a gate electrode, wherein a thin organic film including donor and acceptor molecules is provided between the semiconductor substrate and the gate electrode. When a predetermined voltage is applied to the gate electrode, charge transfer occurs between the donor and acceptor molecules included in the thin organic film, thereby controlling the surface potential of the semiconductor substrate.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a field-effect transistor using a thin organic film for a gate portion.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Recent progress in a technique represented by the Langmuir-Blodgett process (to be referred to as the LB process hereinafter) for forming a super thin film of organic molecules resulted in active development in techniques for applying a thin organic film to various elements. Research in the development of such techniques is being done by many organizations, such as research by G. G. Roberts at Durham University of an MIS element using a thin organic film. However, an element having a novel function effectively utilizing the characteristics of a thin organic film has not yet been realized.
In terms of applications to an electronic element, the most significant characteristic of the organic material is a charge transfer phenomenon between molecules. Organic molecules include donor molecules which have a low ionization potential and supply electrons to other molecules to take on a positive ionic state, and acceptor molecules which have a high electronic affinity and receive electrons from other molecules to take on a negative ionic state. It is known that a compound called a charge transfer complex is formed between these two types of molecules. For example, a compound of perylene and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) consists of neutral molecules in which no charge is transferred, but tetramethylphenylenediamine (TMPD) and TCNQ form a compound in which respective molecules are in positive or negative states. In addition, a compound of TCNQ with tetrathiofluvalene (TTF) is known to change from a neutral to an ionic state due to a change in temperature or pressure.
When such a charge transfer phenomenon of the organic material is applied as an operational principle of an electronic element, the charge transfer characteristics such as efficiency, response time, and controlability must be excellent, and a material and an electronic element causing charge transfer must be easy to prepare. In this case, as for a charge transfer complex, preparation of crystals is very difficult, and external control of charge transfer is also difficult. It has been proposed to control charge transfer between a metal film and an organic molecule film by light or an electric field for application to a switching or memory element. However, a big problem lies in the efficiency, response time, and lifetime of a charge transfer. Thus, although charge transfer may be applied to various elements, it has not yet been practically used.
On the other hand, development of a novel functional element which cannot be realized by a conventional MOSFET LSI using silicon is expected. For example, a research is being done on an electronic element using a super lattice structure consisting of a GaAs film and an AlGaAs film as a compound semiconductor. However, since lattice constants or lattice structures of two kinds of compounds must be matched to obtain a super lattice structure of a compound semiconductor, selection range of compounds is limited and fabrication of the super lattice is costly and time-consuming.
Furthermore, an FET using a compound semiconductor has various problems that a MOSFET using silicon never has. For example, because of a high interface state density, a surface potential of a semiconductor does not change substantially even when a gate voltage is applied. This is a so-called pinning phenomenon of the Fermi level. In addition, since mobility of carriers of GaAs or InP is higher than that of Si, a high speed operation can be expected. However, an oxide film with less defects, such as an SiO.sub.2 film in the case of silicon, cannot be obtained by such compound semiconductors. More specifically, an oxide film obtained by performing thermal oxidation or anodic oxidation of such a compound semiconductor has a very high interface state density. For this reason, when a MIS type FET is formed using as a gate insulating film an oxide film obtained by thermal oxidation or anodic oxidation or another inorganic oxide such as SiO.sub.2 or Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 obtained by, e.g., the CVD method, no FET operation occurs because the surface of the semiconductor is not inverted, due to a high interface state density.
As described above, although an electronic element having a novel function which cannot be obtained by a conventional MOSFET using silicon is expected, it has not yet been realized. In addition, because a good gate insulating film cannot be obtained and an interface state density is high in an FET using a compound semiconductor which is expected to have a higher performance than that of a MOSFET using silicon, an MIS type FET has not yet been realized.


A shock when switching between the motive force of a motor and an engine is avoided. A first electrical motor mechanically connected to an engine and a second electrical motor connected mechanically to an engine through a clutch is provided. In a hybrid vehicle in which motive force is transmitted to the drive wheels through a transmission from a second electric motor, it is decided whether or not to release the clutch based on the vehicle speed detected value and the required motive force detected value. The engine output at that time is estimated. Thus if it is decided to release the clutch, the output of the second electrical motor is controlled so that the generated torque corresponds to said estimated output. The output of the first electrical motor is controlled so that the torque generated by the second electrical motor is absorbed. Hence the sum of both outputs is approximately 0. In this way, there is no shock when the clutch is released and the switch is made from an engine brake due to the engine to a generator brake due to the second electrical motor and driving performance is enhanced.

A hybrid vehicle which uses the mechanical force of an engine and or the mechanical force of a motor as the motive source for the vehicle is known in the prior art.
The engine and the motor are connected by a clutch. When the output of the engine and the output of the motor are switched by the clutch on the basis of driving conditions, a shock is generated at the switch if there is a difference between the two outputs. As a result, there is a deterioration in driving conditions and comfort.
For example, it is known in the art, that when the vehicle is decelerating using the engine as an engine brake on the basis of the friction torque of the engine, it is possible to switch to generating electricity by using the motor as a generator brake and using the energy the vehicle has when decelerating (for example refer to published application . . . ). However when the clutch is released and a switch is made from the engine to the motor, a shock is generated when there is a difference between the braking force of the engine and the braking force of the motor.


Apparatus and associated methods relate to synchronization of a ground support vehicle with a taxiing aircraft, so as to provide ground support services during taxi operation. After landing, a taxiing aircraft obtains a parking destination from a ground traffic controller. A first navigational route from a first location of the taxiing aircraft to the parking destination is determined. The taxiing aircraft transmits a signal indicative of the first navigational route to the ground support vehicle. A second navigational route of the ground support vehicle is determined so as to intercept the taxiing aircraft. The ground support vehicle navigates according to the determined second navigational route, and couples to the taxiing aircraft at a coupling location common to both the first and the second navigational routes. The ground support vehicle provides ground support service during continued navigation according to a coupled portion of the first navigational route.

Airlines are under constant pressure to reduce gate turn-around times, to improve capacity and performance, and to increase profits. Many ground support operations must be performed, some sequentially, between legs of a flight. For example, some such ground support operations include refueling, baggage handling, de-icing, cabin cleaning and resupplying, data downloading, etc. Furthermore, because of the size of international airports, taxiing between gates and runways can consume a significant amount of time. Methods for reducing the time required for these ground operations could provide better service, as well as produce higher profits.

Positional synchronization of taxiing aircraft with ground support systems


The invention provides a human sigma receptor (SIGR) and polynucleotides which identify and encode SIGR. The invention also provides expression vectors, host cells, agonists, antibodies and antagonists. The invention also provides methods for treating disorders associated with expression of SIGR.

The activity of neurons in both the central and peripheral nervous system is affected by a large number of neuropeptides and neurohormones that act upon cells quite distant from their site of release. Neuropeptides perform many functions in the central nervous system (CNS) as neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, and neurotrophic factors. Neurohormones can modify the ability of nerve cells to respond to synaptic neurotransmitters.
Morphine and its phamacoanalogs bind selectively at many recognition sites throughout the body to produce pharmacologic effects. Brain loci involved in the transmission of pain and in the alteration of reactivity to painful stimuli appear to be the primary, but not the only sites, at which opiods act. In general, sites that display a high affinity for exogenous opioid ligands also contain high concentrations of several endogenous peptides having opioid-like properties. These peptides have been named endorphins and are derived from larger precursor proteins. The peptide precursor molecules for the endorphins are present at brain sites that have been implicated in pain modulation and also in many other tissues. Although endorphins share many features in chemistry and pharmacology, they possess distinct differences with respect to their biochemical and neuronal pathways. For example, they can be activated during stress such as that produced by pain or the anticipation of pain.
Activation of endorphins results in their interaction with cell surface receptors of the CNS. Both endogenous and exogenous opioids can produce opioid receptor mediated analgesia at sites outside the CNS. This analgesic action may occur because mu (.mu.), kappa (.kappa.), and delta (.delta.) receptors located on primary afferent neurons are activated. A fourth receptor, the sigma (.sigma.) receptor, is more controversial but may be related to the dysphoric, hallucinogenic, and cardiac stimulant effects of opioids.
The .sigma. binding sites have preferential affinity for the dextrorotary isomers of certain opiate benzomorphans, such as (+)SKF 10047, (+)cyclazocine, and (+)pentazocine and also for some narcoleptics such as haloperidol. The .sigma. receptor has at least two subtypes, which may be discriminated by stereoselective isomers of these pharmacoactive drugs. SKF 10047 has nanomolar affinity for .sigma.1 site, and has micromolar affinity for the .sigma.2 site. Haloperidol has similar affinities for both subtypes. Endogenous .sigma. ligands are not known, although progesterone has been suggested to be one of them. Possible .sigma.-site-mediated drug effects include modulation of glutamate receptor function, neurotransmitter response, neuroprotection, behavior, and cognition (Quirion, R. et al. (1992) Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 13:85-86). Most studies have implied that .sigma. binding sites (receptors) are plasmalemmal elements of the signal transduction cascade. Drugs reported to be selective .sigma. ligands have been evaluated as antipsychotics (Hanner, M. et al. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 93:8072-8077).
The cDNA encoding the .sigma..sub.1 receptor has recently been isolated from guinea pig liver. Northern blot analysis showed that highest densities of .sigma..sub.1 mRNA were present in brain, liver, kidney, stomach, jejunum, placenta, ovary, and adrenal gland. The tissue distribution was in agreement with its proposed participation in sterol synthesis. Comparisons with coding sequences from other organisms indicated that the guinea pig .sigma..sub.1 binding site of the receptor was similar to a fungal sterol isomerase (Hanner et al. (supra)).
Physiological data have suggested that the .sigma..sub.1 receptor plays an important role in hippocampal function (Monnet, F. P. et al. (1994) Br. J. Pharmacol. 112:709-715). Sigma ligands potentiate the NMDA-induced excitation of CA3 pyramidal cell neurons in rat dorsal hippocampus. The effects upon hippocampal neurons are differentially affected by pertussis toxin (Monnet et al. (supra)). The existence of .sigma. receptors in the CNS, immune, and endocrine systems have suggested a likelihood that it may serve as a link between the three systems. However, lack of a highly selective .sigma. ligand has hampered efforts to understand the possible physiological roles of (.sigma. receptors (Su. T.-P. (1991) Eur. J. Biochem. 200:633-642).
The discovery of a new human sigma receptor and the polynucleotides encoding it satisfies a need in the art by providing new compositions which are useful in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of vesicle trafficking, immunological, and neoplastic disorders.


A photometering circuit comprises a photo-diode, an operational amplifier, a feedback diode and a latch releasing transistor. In a circuit utilizing a PNP transistor, for example, a cathode of the photo-diode is connected to a non-inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier and a reference potential, an anode of the photo-diode is connected to an inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier and an anode of the feedback diode, a cathode of the feedback diode is connected to an output terminal of the operational amplifier, a base of the PNP transistor is connected to the reference potential and a collector of the PNP transistor is connected to the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photometering circuit applicable to optical equipment such as a camera.
2. Related Background Art
In optical equipment such as a camera, a photometering circuit which uses a photo-diode as a photo-sensing device has been used to measure a light intensity. The photometering circuit usually has a circuit configuration as shown in FIG. 1 which supplies a current flowing through a photo-diode PD in proportion to a light intensity, to a diode Q1 (which is a collector-base connected transistor in an IC) to produce a voltage across the diode Q1 so that the light intensity is logarithmically compressed to secure a wide dynamic range. In FIG. 1, V.sub.k denotes a reference voltage supply.
In the photometering circuit of FIG. 1, the photo-diode PD is connected to an operational amplifier OP with a cathode thereof connected to a reference potential and an anode thereof connected to an inverting input terminal The photo-diode PD may be connected in the reverse direction. In this case, the negative feedback diode Q1 is also connected in the reverse direction, but the basic concept of the circuit operation does not change. The following description is applied to the connection shown in FIG. 1.
The photometering circuit of FIG. 1 may cause a so-called latch phenomenon in which a potential at the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier OP is lower than a potential at a non-inverting input terminal when virtual short-circuit condition across the input terminals of the operational amplifier OP is effectively lost due to an external noise, whereby a potential at an output terminal V.sub.out swings to a maximum level. In this case, since the diode Q1 which is the negative feedback element is fixed in an off state, it is not possible for the circuit to spontaneously return to a normal operation condition.
This phenomenon is unavoidable so long as the non-linear element is used for the feedback, and many proposals to quickly release the phenomenon have been made.
FIG. 2 shows a photometering circuit which includes a simplest device to release the latch. In the present circuit, a diode Q3 is added anti-parallelly to the negative feedback diode Q1. When the latch phenomenon is to occur, the output terminal V.sub.out functions to pull up the potential at the inverting input terminal through the diode Q3 so that the balance between the input terminals is immediately recovered to the normal operation condition.
However, the photometering circuit shown in FIG. 2 has a problem in a response speed of the output to a change of an input light and the response speed is lower than that of the basic circuit shown in FIG. 1 which has no latch release device. The reason is as follows
Since each semiconductor device comprises a P-N junction, a parallel junction capacitance is present across terminals When such a junction capacitance is taken into consideration, the photo-metering circuit of FIG. 2 which includes the latch release device is represented by a circuit shown in FIG. 3. A capacitor C1 is parallelly connected to the negative feedback diode Q1, a capacitor C2 is parallelly connected to the photo-diode PD, and a capacitor C5 is parallelly connected to the latch release diode Q3. The respective capacitances are approximately C1=C5=0.5 pF and C.sub.2 =100 pF. In order for the output voltage V.sub.out to change to follow the change in the input light intensity, the photo-current from the photo-diode PD must charge up the capacitors C1 and C5 parallelly connected to the diodes to a proper output voltage level, and the response of the output voltage is delayed by the time required for such charge. Since the delay time is affected by the photo-current and the capacitance of the feedback stage, the smaller the light intensity to be measured is and the larger the capacitance of the feedback stage is, the longer is the delay time. Since the capacitance of the feedback stage of the photometering circuit of FIG. 2 which includes the prior art latch release device is larger than that of the basic circuit of FIG. 1, the response speed is lower.
Although an absolute value of the capacitance of the capacitor C2 parallel to the photo-diode is large, the terminals are virtually short-circuited during the normal operation of the operational amplifier OP and the bias voltage does not substantially change even if the light intensity changes. Specifically, it changes only for 1/open-loop gain of the output voltage change. Accordingly, the effect on the response speed is usually smaller than that by the capacitance of the feedback stage.
The prior art apparatus thus includes a problem of lowering the response speed of the output to the change of the input light when the latch release device is added to the photometering circuit.


An authentication system is described for controlling a person's access to a resource, which may be a physical resource or a network resource. The authentication system obtains credential information for the person (e.g., using a coded card or keypad for username and password), a voice print from the person, and the current geographical location of the user. The voice print and geographic location are preferably obtained from a telephone call that occurs between the person and the authentication system. The call can take the form of a cell phone call placed by the person to the authentication system. The authentication system includes a user profile database. If the credential information and voice print match those of persons authorized to access the resource, and the user is at a registered permissible location to access the resource, the authentication system sends a signal to the resource indicating that the authentication was successful.

This invention relates to method of authenticating a person seeking to access a resource, which can be either a physical resource (such as a secure room) or a computer network resource, such as the network itself, a file on a network server, or other network resource.
Various industries have long recognized a need to authenticate users who seek to gain access to secure resources such as restricted buildings, rooms, safes, or other structures, or network resources such as computer systems for instance. Various authentication mechanisms have been proposed. In a simple embodiment, an authentication system extracts data from an authentication token (such as an encoded card) and receives a password (such as a personal identification number) from the user. The authentication system validates the information from the token, and the password from the person, in order to confirm that the user is entitled to gain access with the authentication token. In more complex applications, an authentication system receives biometric data (such as a fingerprint, an iris-scan, a face-scan, or a voiceprint) from the person and validates the biometric data in order to confirm that the person is authorized to gain access to the resource.
A method and authentication system is described herein for authenticating users seeking to access either physical or network resources through a combination of credential data (which could be a username plus password and/or the use of a token and/or card), voice print identification, and geographic location. The voice print and geographical location are preferably, but not necessarily, obtained from a telephone call between the user and the authentication system. The unique combination of credential data, and data obtained from a telephone call between the user and the authentication system, provides for a secure method of authenticating users.
Prior art references include US published patent application 2003/0135740 to Talmor et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,242.

Location-based voice-print authentication method and system


An apparatus and method adaptable to desired offsets for determining an undesired offset of a signal having a maximum and a minimum state that includes: providing a peak and trough estimate of, respectively, the maximum and minimum amplitude state; averaging such estimates to provide a reference level that is proportional to the undesired offset; and controlling the peak and trough estimates whenever a comparison of the signal and the reference level is, respectively, indicative of the maximum and minimum amplitude states to thus assure adaptation to the desired offset of the signal.

A modulating signal to be used for modulating a transmitter may be viewed as having a reference level (the DC part of the signal) and an amplitude varying with time about that reference level. Often this modulating signal, for example analog voice, will have a reference level of "0" or a none zero reference level that is of no consequence to users of the signal. When this reference level is of consequence to users of the signal additional problems may be presented to practitioners that wish to send this signal over, for example, a wireless communications system. In such circumstances not only must the original reference level be recovered but additional problems introduced by the communications system must be eliminated.
For example in a wireless communications system relying on radio waves, the modulating signal is typically imposed on a radio signal as frequency variation about an assigned transmit frequency. For any number of practical reasons the actual frequency of a transmitted radio signal will often vary slightly from the assigned frequency. This variation may be referred to as a transmit error. Similarly a receiver bent on receiving this radio signal, while nominally tuned to the assigned frequency, will usually introduce a receive error (variation from the assigned frequency). These frequency errors in combination may result in a reference level error or offset at the receiver output. When the modulating signal requires the reference level for accurate demodulation, for example a data signal, this reference level error or undesired offset will usually need to be eliminated.
To this end practitioners have estimated a reference level by averaging a maximum amplitude estimate and a minimum amplitude estimate. This approach, without more, works reasonably well unless and until a pattern within the signal is encountered. A pattern in for example a data signal is experienced when the data signal has a desired, nonzero offset over a time period of consequence, e.g. a run of a particular nonzero data character. Under such circumstances either the maximum or minimum amplitude estimate tends to decay causing an error in the estimated reference level. When this error becomes significant, depending in turn on the precise data signal, etc. an unacceptable degree of inaccuracy in the demodulated signal may result.
Another solution at least conceptually, suggests locking the receiver frequency to the transmitter frequency to help eliminate the reference level offsets. Unfortunately this approach is generally considered impractical due to the degree of complexity involved. To date the absence of practical solutions, if not paucity of solutions, has often resulted in practitioners resorting to simply disallowing modulating signals with desired offsets beyond some boundary. Such disallowance amounts to tacit acceptance of an otherwise unnecessary limitation on the communications system.
Clearly a need exists for a method and apparatus that accurately determines an undesired offset in a signal, such method and apparatus being further capable of pattern adaptive offset restoration.

Apparatus and method for pattern adaptive offset restoration


According to one embodiment, a plug includes four terminals arranged around a core shaft at substantially equal intervals, a housing that supports proximal ends of the four terminals, and a cylindrical cover fixed to the housing such as to surround the four terminals. The four terminals include two power terminals and two ground terminals, and at least the two power terminals have insulating coating layers respectively at their distal end portions.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a plug used to supply power to electronic devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-373729 discloses a plug used for a charger-use cable for an electrically powered wheelchair. The plug includes a rod-like core conductor, a cylindrical outer conductor that surrounds the core conductor, an insulation cylinder provided between the core conductor and outer conductor, and an insulation housing that supports the proximal ends of these members. The core conductor includes a neck portion that has a narrow diameter in the vicinity of the distal end portion and an insulation piece that engages with the neck portion and covers the distal end portion. The insulation cylinder extends outwards such as to cover the distal end portion of the outer conductor.
In the plug, the distal end portion of the core conductor and the distal end portion of the outer conductor are each covered with an insulating material. With this structure, the user is protected from electrical shocks by touching these distal end portions.
However, after repetitious plug-in and plug-out, it is highly possible that the insulation piece that covers the distal end of the core conductor may be deformed in the conventional case. Due to the deformation, the insulation piece may be detached from the neck portion, and thus there is conventionally a drawback of the durability of the plug. Further, when forming the neck portion, it is necessary to provide a separate step of processing the core conductor, and thus the manufacturing process for the plug is complicated. Furthermore, if the insulation piece is made of a resin, not only a forming mold exclusively used for the preparation of the insulation piece is required, but also the number of parts required is increased, which causes an increase in the production cost.


In a gain switching LNA including a first transistor, a first transistor group (for example, second to ninth transistors) and a second transistor group (for example, tenth to seventeenth transistors), a first resistor connected between an emitter of the tenth transistor and a collector of the first transistor and a second resistor connected to emitters of eleventh to seventeenth transistors and the collector of the first transistor and having a resistance one seventh as high as that of the first resistor are provided. In a high-gain mode, since isolation of the tenth to seventeenth transistors which are turned OFF and the first and second to ninth transistors is secured by the first resistor and the second resistor, there is no deterioration in the noise factor.

According to the studies by the inventors of the present invention, a circuit receiving a radio signal (hereinafter, referred to as a receiver) is a circuit which performs frequency conversion to a lower frequency and amplification to a desired level without reducing a signal-to-noise ratio (hereinafter, abbreviated to SNR) of the signal inputted from an antenna and distorting the signal as far as possible. For this reason, the receiver is provided with a low-noise amplifier circuit (hereinafter, referred to as LNA) disposed at a position as close as possible to an antenna.
The LNA is required to have such features as (1) high gain, (2) a ratio between a signal-to-noise ratio at an LNA input and a signal-to-noise ratio at an LNA output (hereinafter, referred to as a noise factor) is small, and (3) low distortion. Further, since an efficient power transfer is necessary in order to receive a weak radio signal inputted from an antenna, the LNA is required to have (4) impedance matching between the input and the output.
However, since a mixer, an amplifier circuit and others are provided on a latter stages of the LNA in a receiver, when a strong input signal is inputted from an antenna, if the gain of the LNA is high [(1) mentioned above], the signal is distorted in the mixer, the amplification circuit and others on the latter stages, and the desired receiving operation cannot be performed. Therefore, the LNA is also required to perform the gain switching operation in general.

Gain switching low-noise amplifier circuit


A coin acceptance mechanism and a method of determining an acceptable coin includes a pair of spaced apart coils between which a coin is passed. A signal is generated in one of the coils and induced in the other coil when a coin passes between the coils. The peak amplitude of the signal induced in the other coil and the peak phase difference between the signals in the pair of coils are both compared to a range of acceptable values stored in a memory to determine if a coin is acceptable and to assign a value to the coin deemed acceptable. The coin acceptance mechanism has a program mode in which it can be programmed to recognize coins of various values and coins or tokens from various countries.

Some known coin acceptance mechanisms include means for sensing the phase change of a signal established in a first coil and induced in a second spaced apart coil when a coin passes between the pair of coils. Others include means for sensing the change in amplitude of a signal established in a first coil and induced in a second coil when a coin passes between the pair of coils. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,610, U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,644, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,934.
It is desirable to be able to readily change the criteria for determining an acceptable coin to enable the coin acceptance mechanism to work with coins of various national governments and coins or tokens of various denominations. The size and metallurgical content of Canadian coins differs from that of United States coins and differs from that of Australian coins. Hence, it is desirable to have a coin mechanism in which the criteria for determining whether a coin or token is acceptable can be varied to accommodate coins of various nationalities, values, size and metallurgical content.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages associated with the prior art by providing a coin acceptance mechanism which can be programmed to determine a range of acceptable values for criteria associated with acceptable coins of various nationalities and values.

Coin acceptance mechanism and method of determining an acceptable coin


A signature processing method determines, when displaying an input signature on a display unit, whether a predetermined condition is satisfied. When it is determined that the predetermined condition is satisfied, the signature on the display unit is displayed in a manner that it is difficult for others to discern the signature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods, apparatuses, and programs for processing an input handwritten signature in order to determine whether or not the signature is written by an authentic user, and to storage media therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a conventional user authentication method is performed using a user ID and a password. However, users tend to forget their passwords. In such cases, it is necessary to obtain the password based on the user ID in one way or another, and a security hole results. In order not to forget his/her password, the user often uses a word which is easy to remember, e.g., the user's birthday or the name of the user's child, as the password. The use of an easy-to-remember word as the password, itself is a security hole.
In order to prevent these problems, as described in "Method and Apparatus for Authenticating a Handwritten Character String" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-143668 and in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-171926, a user authentication method (signature authentication method) is proposed in which handwritten data (signature data) is used in place of a password.
Unlike a password, handwritten data includes the characteristics of a person even when another person inputs the same word. As a result, a person other than the authorized user will fail in user authentication. Such characteristics include the shape of the characters, the stroke order of the characters, writing speed, writing rhythm, and the like.
Unlike fingerprints, the degree of freedom in registration contents is high. By registering a word such as a spell, it becomes more difficult for a person other than the user to pose as a registered user. By registering invariable signature data, the user who has registered the signature data can easily be authenticated.
In conventional authentication methods using passwords, it is possible to hide the input password using a symbol such as "*" in order to hide the password from another person who may be able to see the screen. However, in conventional authentication methods using signatures, signature data input by a user is displayed without any alteration while it is being input, and hence, another person can easily discern the input signature. In order to prevent this problem, handwritten information can be hidden from the user while it is being input. If this is done, however, it becomes difficult for the user to input the same signature data repeatedly.
In authentication methods using passwords, when a user forgets a password, a hint such as "the name of your pet" is given to the user in order to enable the user to recall the password. However, in conventional authentication methods using signatures, it is very difficult to express the shape of a user's signature in a sentence. When the user forgets the registered signature, it is impossible to assist the user in recalling his/her signature.

Method, apparatus, and program for processing signature, and storage medium therefor


A device management system includes an accommodation apparatus, a network device, and a device management apparatus. The accommodation apparatus includes a plurality of storage spaces. Each of the plurality of storage spaces is capable of storing an electronic device. The network device is connected to an electronic device accommodated in the accommodation apparatus. The device management apparatus includes a processor. The processor obtains connection information when a first electronic device is newly placed in the accommodation apparatus. The connection information indicates an expected connection point in the network device. The first electronic device is to be connected to the network device at the expected connection point with a cable. The processor identifies an actual connection point at which the network device has been connected to the first electronic device with the cable. The processor determines, based on the connection information, whether the actual connection point is appropriate.

An increasing number of facilities (data centers, for example) install and operate servers and other electronic devices in recent years (such a facility will be collectively referred to below as a data center). Data centers are usually assumed to be used from the outside. Accordingly, a data center is connected to the outside through a network, and all servers installed in the data center are also connected to the network. At present, several thousands to tens of thousands of servers are being operated and managed in a large-scale data center.
When many servers are to be installed, it is desirable to install more servers in a unit area. In general, therefore, an accommodation apparatus (a rack, for example), in which a plurality of servers may be accommodated, is used in the data center (such an accommodation apparatus will be collectively referred to below as a rack). A network device (referred to below as a switch) to be connected to the accommodated servers is also generally mounted in the rack.
To accept additional servers from customers or to lend additional servers to customers, for example, the data center may add servers. In general, servers have been added, that is, new servers have been installed in units of racks. By doing so, trouble due to incorrect wiring is suppressed from occurring in the network in use by servers in operation (that is, servers that are working). In other words, a situation is suppressed in which it is difficult for servers in operation to provide services. Thus, with the network in use disconnected, racks have been installed, servers have been accommodated (mounted) in the installed racks, the accommodated servers have been wired (servers, a network device, and the like have been mutually connected with cables), and other related working has been carried out. Before servers are actually connected to the network, the servers are generally tested in units of racks to confirm they will be correctly wired. Only when the wiring of the servers is confirmed to be correct in the test, the servers are connected to the network.
Installation of servers in the data center usually depends on customers. That is, the types and the number of servers accommodated in existing racks depend on requests from the customers and the background of the requests. The types and the number of servers to be accommodated in racks to be newly installed also depend on requests from customers. Thus, when servers are added in units of racks, the number of servers placed in a unit area, that is, the installation efficiency (space usage efficiency in the data center), is likely to be largely lowered. To suppress the installation efficiency from being lowered, it is desirable to install servers individually while suppressing trouble from occurring in the network in use by servers in operation.
International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2005/006190, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-303019, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-97650 disclose related techniques.

Device management system and device management apparatus


A full bridge switching power supply is coupled to an ozonator load via a series resonant circuit having a resonant frequency above the switching frequency. Power output is controlled by varying the duration of the times when diagonal switches are conducting, and the output voltage has a longer rise time than fall time due to there being intervals between the conduction periods of diagonal switches during which one of the switches is turned on to permit resonant current flow. The driving voltages for attaining this action are symmetrical rectangular waves of identical shape having different phases that are derived from out of phase pulses where width is varied by the timing of their trailing edges.

1.0 Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solid state power supply that is particularly adapted for driving an ozone generator.
2.0 Discussion of Related Art
One of the most efficient ways for producing ozone, O.sub.3, is to subject oxygen, O.sub.2, or a gas containing a high concentration of O.sub.2 to a corona discharge. This corona discharge can be produced by applying a cyclic voltage to spaced electrodes. Ozone is generally produced during the portion of a cycle occurring just prior to a peak. Therefore, more ozone is produced by increasing the frequency, but a point is reached when the power dissipated in the gap between the electrodes tends to cause the ozone molecules of O.sub.3 to break down into oxygen molecules O.sub.2.
A brief review of the teachings of prior references now follows. McKnight, U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,653, teaches a power supply circuit for an ozonator that is powered by a three-phase input voltage.
Huynh et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,694 teaches a full-wave inverter using four thyristor switching elements T.sub.1 through T.sub.4. It is indicated that the thyristors are preferably provided by SCRs. Bilateral diodes are also connected in parallel across the thyristors.
Huynh et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,866 teaches an ozonator power supply that includes a full wave rectifier for rectifying a three phase voltage, and a full wave bridge inverter using four thyristor switching elements for synthesizing the rectified voltage or DC into an AC waveform for application to the ozonator. A current pulse amplitude control circuit 43 for controlling the conduction of the pass transistor used to control the amplitude of the current pulses. A pulse width control logic and drive circuit 45 are used for controlling the operation of the thyristor switches T.sub.1 through T.sub.4 in a manner providing pulse width control.
Mickal et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,182 teaches a three phase power supply circuit to supply power to an electrostatic filter. As shown in the figures, a three phase AC voltage is rectified by a full wave rectifier and applied to a full wave thyristor inverter circuit. Transformer coupling is used between the inverter and the electrostatic filter.
Divan U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,483 shows a static inverter for inverting a DC voltage to a three phase AC voltage. The inverter includes a full-wave transistorized inverter with bilateral diodes connected across the collector and emitter electrodes of each transistor.
Ngo U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,763 teaches an AC to AC converter type power supply circuit. As shown in the figures, a three phase full-wave rectifier circuit 12 including a plurality of CMOS switching elements is used to rectify the three phase input voltage. The DC voltage that is provided by the rectifier 12 is switched via a CMOS switching circuit 50 into a polyphase inverter circuit 18. The inverter 18 is a three phase inverter for converting the DC voltage back into synthesized three phase AC output voltages.
3.0 Brief Summary of the Invention
The objects of the invention are:
1. To provide a versatile and reliable pulse-width-modulated (PWM) voltage source inverter power supply with zero voltage switching scheme for an ozonator which results in the efficient operation.
2. To provide a control circuit for a transistor bridge inverter power supply for an ozonator, wherein the ozonator load power can be controlled by the width of the inverter output voltage. Therefore, the input power factor is close to unity and independent of the power loading.
3. To provide an ozonator load voltage, wherein the rise time of the ozonator voltage waveform is substantially longer than the fall time of the ozonator voltage waveform.
In accordance with this invention, the voltage wave applied to an ozonator has a sawtooth shape with a slow rise and a fast fall so that a corona discharge is produced for a greater portion of a cycle than would be the case for a sinusoidal wave. In order to obtain best results, the frequency and amplitude of the sawtooth waves are controllable.
A voltage source inverter power supply circuit of one embodiment of this invention is comprised of a three phase bridge rectifier to convert a three phase 60 Hz power source to a DC power source, a capacitor connected across the DC power source to smooth the output DC current and to maintain the DC bus voltage, a DC/DC converter with a soft start circuit (not shown) and a transistor bridge inverter connected to the DC power source by its input and to an electrical network by its outputs and capacitors connected across the bridge inverter input to filter the high frequency noise. The electrical network includes a step up high voltage transformer with its primary low voltage winding connected to the output of the transistor bridge inverter through a series resonant circuit comprising a capacitor and an inductor connected in series, and through its secondary high voltage winding for to the ozonator load.
The inductor provides a limitation of high frequency output harmonics and short circuit limiting while the capacitor is used to block out any DC components from the output of the transistor inverter. The ozonator load has an electrical equivalent circuit comprising resistors and capacitors connected as shown inside the dashed rectangle of FIG. 1. Cg.sub.1 and Cg.sub.2 represent air gap capacitors, Cd represents a glass dielectric capacitor, Rd represents a glass dielectric loss resistor and Rg.sub.1 and Rg.sub.2 represent a air gap resistor which provides a conductance path when a corona discharge occurs. The step up high voltage transformer and the series inductor-capacitor circuit in combination with the ozonator load form a resonant circuit having its natural frequency above the switching frequency.
In operation, forced-commutation is provided by a control circuit. The inverter output voltage has three levels of voltage pulse +V.sub.DC, zero, -V.sub.DC. During a positive half cycle, the output voltage level +V.sub.DC is obtained by firing a first pair of diagonal transistors that conduct current in one direction through the electrical network. The following zero level of the inverter output voltage is obtained by turning off one of the first pair of transistors and firing one of the second pair of transistors. In the negative half cycle, the output voltage level -V.sub.DC is obtained by turning on a second pair of diagonal transistors and turning off the first pair of diagonal transistors so as to conduct current in reverse direction through the electrical network. The following zero level of the inverter output voltage is obtained by turning off one of the second pair of transistors and firing one of the first pair of transistors. A cycle of the inverter output voltage is now complete. The action is repeated to produce the next cycle. A control circuit generates base drive control signals for the first and second pairs of transistors. The base drive control signals control the width of the positive inverter output voltage pulses supplied to the ozonator load by firing the first pair of transistors for a period of time, and then turning one of the first pair of transistors off by controlling the timing of its base drive control signal and firing one of the second pair of transistors by controlling the timing of its base drive control signal. Similarly, the base drive control signals control the width of the negative inverter output voltage pulses supplied to the ozonator load by turning the second pair of transistors on for a period of time, and then turning one of the second pair of transistors off by controlling the timing of its base drive control signal and firing one of the first pair of transistors by controlling the timing of its base drive control signal.
The control circuit includes a pulse width modulator integrated circuit for producing the first and second interleaved square wave cycle signals, and the widths of the pulses in the first and second square wave signals are adjustable to change the timing of the base drive control signals. The pulse width modulator integrated circuit is also controllable to control the frequency of the first and second out of phase square wave signals.

Power supply for an ozone generator with a bridge inverter


A composition for the treatment of UTIs comprising: One of, a monosaccharide L-arabinose, L-frucose, D-mannose, L-rhamnose, L-xylose, lyxose or galactose; Extract from one of Boswellia serrata, Boswellia sacra or Boswellia carteri containing boswellic acids, terpenes and incensole acetate; Extract from the seeds of one of, Cucurbitaceae maxima, Cucurbitaceae pepo or Cucurbitaceae moschata; Turmeric extract; Green tea extract containing polyphenolic catechins; and, Piper nigrum.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are generally defined as the presence (>100,000/mL) of bacteria in the urine and symptoms. UTIs are caused by Gram-negative bacteria, particularly Escherichia coli (E-Coli), in about 90% of reported cases and infect primarily women of all ages
This infection is enabled by the adherence and colonization of bacteria to urinary tract epithelial cells. Adherence by E. coli is performed by proteinaceous fibres (fimbriae) on the bacteria cell wall, which attach to specific oligosaccharide receptors on uroepithelial cells. Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most frequently seen bacterial infections in primary care and hospital settings patients. In the United States for example, 11% of women over the age of 18 experience one episode of UTI a year. The most common incidences of UTIs occur in women between the ages of 18 to 24 and in the 50+ year old group (this is due in particular to menopause and the decline in oestrogen that makes the epithelium of the urogenital track particularly susceptible to damage and infection). Following the first episode of UTI, the probability of recurrence of a UTI in healthy 18 to 29 year-old women is as high as 24% and 5% of women who have experienced an episode of UTI will suffer multiple episodes within 1 year. The main risk factors identified in women between the ages of 18 to 39 who have suffered with UTIs are sexual relationship and a history of recurrent UTI.
Recurrent UTI is defined as three episodes with the last twelve months or two episodes in the last six months.
The treatment for UTIs involves the use of antibiotics, this however causes antibiotic resistance among uropathogenic microorganisms and disturbs the healthy balance of the intestinal microbiota. Repeated use of antibiotics in the treatment of women who suffer recurrent UTIs has significantly contributed to multiple strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria, resulting in serious chronic infections extremely difficult to control.
Antibiotic-free protective approaches to managing UTIs have gained popularity in recent years worldwide, particularly in managing recurrent UTIs. This gain in popularity is to do with the growing resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics and the urgent need for antibiotic-free treatment alternatives, as well as the absence of side effects, like for example: yeast infections, liver and kidney damage as well as disruption of the normal intestinal flora responsible for the human immune response.
It is an object of the current invention to provide an antibiotic free composition that can both provide symptom relief as well as comprehensively address the etiology of UTIs, on several levels: antibacterial, anti-inflammatory as well as calming the overactive bladder, which does not create bacterial resistance or serious disturbances to the intestinal flora.

Composition for the treatment of urinary tract infections


A backplane assembly for a cluster of modules with the backplane assembly comprised of an electrical backplane and an optical backplane which has optical connectors that extend through openings in the electrical backplane to thereby share a connector shell with the electrical backplane with the clearance between the optical connectors and the electrical backplane sufficiently great so as to permit the optical backplane to be attached or detached from the cluster of modules without having to disconnect the electrical backplane.

With the increasing sophistication and complexity of control systems using clusters of modules interconnected by a common network or backplane it becomes increasingly necessary to have high bandwidth connections between the modules. Most of the current common networks use an electrical backplane to provide electrical transmission between modules through a gang of mechanical pin type connectors. In order to provide higher bandwidth transmission between modules it is preferred to use an optical backplane because the optical backplane provides higher transmission rates, has greater noise immunity, and is not limited by the number of modules or the length of the physical path between modules. In order to provide the benefits of both an electrical backplane and an optical backplane the optical backplane has been formed as an integral part of the electrical backplane so that integral backplane can be connected or disconnected as a unit.
The present invention provides an improved common network that allows one to have the benefits of both optical backplanes and electrical backplanes without having to connect or disconnect both the electrical backplane and the optical backplane as an integral unit. The present invention provides a removable and separable optical backplane that has optical connectors that can be inserted through openings in the electrical backplane and into optical engagement with the electronic system modules. Thus the invention permits the optical backplane to be connected directly to the system modules when the electrical backplane is connected to the system modules and allows the optical backplane to be disconnected from the system modules and removed from the electrical backplane without having to either disconnect or reconnect the electrical backplane. By permitting one to have an optical backplane that is free of the electrical backplane it allows one to physically remove the optical backplane from the electrical backplane which permits easy repair and maintenance as well as more flexibility in design of the system.

Backplane connectors with separable electrical and optical connectors


Described herein is a phantom device that simplifies usage, testing, and development of light imaging systems. The phantom device includes a body and a fluorescent light source internal to the body. The body comprises an optical material designed to at least partially resemble the optical behavior of mammalian tissue. The phantom device has many uses. One use of the phantom device permits testing of tomography software in the imaging system, such as software configured for 3D reconstruction of the fluorescent light source. Another use tests spectral unmixing software in the imaging system. The phantom device also allows a user to compare trans- and epi-fluorescent illumination imaging results.

Imaging with light is gaining popularity. One type of light imaging involves the capture of low intensity light from a biological sample. A source of the light indicates a portion of the sample where an activity of interest may be taking place. In one example, the sample is a small animal such as a mouse and the light source could be tumor cells labeled with light emitting reporters such as firefly luciferase or fluorescent proteins or dyes. This technology is known as in vivo optical imaging.
Detection of light-emitting probes in-vivo within small living animals relies on the semitransparent nature of mammalian tissue, and requires complex instrumentation such as a high-sensitivity low-noise camera and advanced imaging software tools to interpret an image. The propagation of light through tissue is a diffusive process and therefore depends on the scattering and absorption properties of tissue. Complex computer routines can localize a source of light in three-dimensions in tissue by simulating the photon diffusion process. This technique is often referred to as diffuse imaging tomography. Testing and development of such software often employs a living specimen, such as a real mouse, to verify accurate software results. In addition, purchasers of an imaging system often train new users on the system and/or software to build user familiarity. However, a living mouse is not an ideal subject for these instances. Careful handling requirements and the need for anesthesia make living mammals non-ideal for software development, software testing, and personnel training.


Apparatus for moving a plurality of pallets loaded with building block and being supported in a vertical stack in parallel relation to one another. Uncured molded block is supported on pallets which are serially advanced on a conveyor toward an unloader. Pallets are arranged in a vertical stack for engagement with an unloader spade assembly having a plurality of laterally extending spades one above the other. The spades are constructed to support and lift the pallets when each is positioned under a corresponding pallet and the spade assembly is shifted upwardly. A transfer carriage is mounted on a track above the spade assembly for lateral shifting movement with the spade assembly being suspended therefrom. A pivot shaft is mounted on the transfer carriage for pivoting about a vertical axis and includes a driving end connected to the spade assembly for pivoting the spade assembly about the axis. Rollers are mounted on the transfer carriage. The spade assembly has a wear ring mounted thereon which rides on the roller means. The wear ring is removable while the spade assembly remains supported by the rollers on the transfer carriage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for moving a plurality of pallets loaded with building blocks and more particularly to such apparatus which includes a plurality of horizontal spades adapted for vertical, lateral and rotational shifting of a corresponding plurality of loaded pallets and having an improved rotation mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
In automated brick or block making plants, a block machine presses moldable product into a block mold to produce green or uncured blocks. The green blocks are transported to kilns for curing and are thereafter palletized for shipment from the plant.
Usually the block molding machine dispenses a plurality of green blocks on a rectangular metal pallet. The pallets are transported by conveyor to a stacker tower which receives the pallets, one at a time. After a pallet is received by the stacker at the level of the conveyor, the stacker shifts the pallet upwardly and then receives another pallet loaded with block directly therebeneath. This process continues until a vertical stack of pallets, typically about 8-10 in number, are held by the stacker.
The stacker is positioned adjacent a device known as a loader. The loader comprises a vertically-shiftable spade assembly from which a plurality of spades, positioned one above the other, extend laterally. There are the same number of spades in the loader as pallets with the spades being spaced apart from one another the same distance as the pallets in the stacker.
The spades are mounted on a vertical post which extends downwardly from a carriage that is laterally moveable along an axis toward and away from the stacker. The post is connected to the carriage via a ball bearing having a diameter in excess of one foot. An hydraulic rotary actuator mounted on the carriage pivots the spade assembly about a vertical axis. A pair of hydraulic rams are mounted on the spade assembly for vertically shifting the spade assembly in a manner which causes the spades to shift in tandem either upwardly or downwardly.
In operation, when the stacker is filled with loaded pallets, the loader carriage drives the spade assembly toward the stacker until each spade is received just beneath a corresponding pallet. One of the rams on the spade assembly actuates to shift the spades upwardly thereby lifting the pallets. The carriage then withdraws from the stacker, rotates 180.degree. and advances toward a rack positioned at the other end of the spade assembly travel path. The carriage moves the spade assembly bearing the loaded pallets into the rack and a ram on the spade assembly actuates thereby lowering the assembly and depositing the stacked pallets on the rack.
Thereafter, either by way of a forklift or on automated transport cars, the racks are moved into kilns for curing.
After the blocks are cured, the racks are removed from the kilns and transported to a second stacker and unloader which operate in reverse fashion from the stacker and loader as described above and are referred to as an unloader and unstacker. The unloader carriage moves toward the rack bearing the cured block and positions a spade under each pallet. The ram on the spade assembly actuates thereby raising the spade assembly and the corresponding pallets which are then transported laterally by the unloader carriage toward the unstacker. Prior to reaching the unstacker the spade assembly rotates 180.degree. and thereafter drives into the unstacker and deposits the pallets thereon. The unstacker lowers each pallet, one at a time, onto a conveyor which transports the cured block to a palletizing station prior to shipment.
The prior art loader and unloader suffer from several disadvantages which will be described with reference only to the loader because, as set forth above, the loader and unloader are structurally identical but differ in the manner in which each is operated. The large ball bearing in the prior art unloader absorbs the entire load of the spade assembly and blocks supported thereon. This imparts a substantial amount of wear to the ball bearing which must be replaced on a periodic basis. Replacement is both expensive and cumbersome because the entire spade assembly must be removed to replace the ball bearing. In addition, the ball bearing does not provide a stable suspension for resisting wobbling of the spade assembly as the carriage starts and stops.

Apparatus for moving a plurality of pallets loaded with building blocks