Disclosed herein are unique single stranded DNA oligonucleotide products identified as binding with high affinity and specificity to ovarian tumor cells that may be used in the delivery of therapy to and diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most common and highly malignant diseases affecting women. In 2014, the most recent year that statistics have been released, almost 22,000 new cases of EOC were diagnosed with over 14,000 EOC related deaths in the Unites States alone (Howlander et al., 2016, SEER Cancer Statistics Review, National Cancer Institute). Since the majority of EOC are diagnosed at stage II or later, there are fewer treatment options for patients and poor long-term prognosis with a 5-year mean survival rate of 44%. Moreover, the relative survival rate decreases to 27% when EOC is diagnosed at stage III which constitutes almost 62% of all new cases each year (Choi et al., (2008) Gynecol. Oncol. 109:203-209). Current treatment regimens include surgical resection of malignant tissue followed by adjuvant platinum-taxane combination therapy giving a high rate of initial response, but 60% to 75% of patients demonstrate local recurrence (Kroep (2012) Curr. Pharm. Des. 18:3735-3740; Bicaku et al., (2012) Br. J Cancer 106:1967-1975).
There remains limited understanding of the pathogenesis of ovarian tumors due to the heterogeneous nature of the disease. Subtypes include serous, endometrioid, mucinous, clear cell, transitional cell, squamous cell, mixed epithelial, and undifferentiated (Conic et al. (2011) Scientific World Journal 11:1243-1269). Further, the origin of tumors is difficult to understand since the physical development of cyst-like structures within the ovary is uncharacteristic of normal epithelial ovarian tissue (Dubeau, (2008) Lancet Oncol. 9:1191-1197), and at least a portion of serous ovarian tumors likely originate within the fallopian tube (Dubeau, (2008) Lancet Oncol. 9:1191-1197).
Genome wide studies on the proteome and transcriptome abnormalities of EOC generated a large number of potential tumor biomarkers, including CA-125 and WFDC2 (HE4) proteins (Cohen et al., (2014) World J. Biol. Chem. 5:286-300; Hellstrom et al., (2008) Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 622:15-21; Sorace et al., (2003) BMC Bioinformatics 4:24). A widely accepted Risk of Malignancy Index (RMI) is used to differentiate between a malignant and benign abdominal mass (Jacobs et al., (1990) Br. J. Obstet. Gynaecol. 97:922-929). The criteria used include a woman's age, ultrasound score, menopausal status, a clinical impression score, and serum CA-125 count. The Risk of Malignancy Algorithm (RMA) improved upon RMI by including an additional biomarker HE4 (Moore et al., (2009) Gynecol. Oncol. 112:40-46), and the OVA1 blood tests includes a panel of five biomarkers which include CA125, HE4, transferrin, prealbumin, and β2 microglobulin (Zhang et al., (2004), Cancer Res. 64:5882-5890); however, comprehensive serum studies evaluating the effectiveness of RMI, ROMA, and OVA1 blood tests have given conflicting results and still fail to promote early detection of EOC (Cohen et al., (2014) World J. Biol. Chem. 5:286-300; Yip et al., (2011) PLoS One 6:e29533).
Alternative approaches to generate more sensitive diagnostic tools to aid in early detection of EOC include recognition of novel or existing tumor markers and membrane structures in their native state on the cell surface of EOC cells. Aptamers are single-stranded (ss) DNA/RNA oligonucleotides that fold into complex secondary and tertiary structures that enable them to bind with antibody-like properties to multiple targets. Aptamers have been used as probes for diagnostic identification of tumors in vivo, as single molecule antagonists, and as directed therapy agents when conjugated to chemotherapeutics or small molecule vehicles both in vitro and in vivo (Kruspe et al., (2014) Mol. Ther. Nucleic Acids 3:e143; Zhu et al., (2014) Theranostics 4:931-944; Brody et al., (2000) J. Biotechnol. 74:5-13; Zhou et al., (2014) Analyst 139:2627-2640; Shum et al., (2013) J. Cancer Ther. 4:872-890; Jalalian et al., (2013) Eur. J. Pharm. Sci. 50:191-197; Cunningham et al., (2005) Ophthalmology 112:1747-1757).
The potential clinical significance of aptamers has grown significantly (Research 2013) with reports of several clinical trials including Macugen (pegaptanib) to inhibit VEGF-165 mediated ocular neovascularization in age related macular degeneration (AMD) (Ng and Adamis, (2006) Ann NY Acad. Sci. 1082:151-171; Ng et al., (2006) Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 5:123-132), and Fovista, the anti-PDGF-β aptamer to treat wet AMD (Tolentino et al., (2014) Expert Opin. Investig. Drugs 24:183-199). Additional antagonistic aptamers disrupt complement component 5 (ARC1905) (Biesecker et al., (1999) Immunopharmacology 42:219-230), bind tumor specific antigens such as B-cell receptors on human lymphoma and leukemia (Mallikaratchy et al., (2011) Nucleic Acids Res. 39:2458-2469), as well as a pro-apoptotic AS1411 aptamer that targets nucleolin and inhibits nuclear factor-κB and Bcl-2 (Soundararajan et al., (2008) Cancer Res. 68:2358-2365; Girvan et al., (2006) Mol. Cancer Ther. 5:1790-1799). Since biomarkers on the surface of specific tumor subtypes is not always known, protocols such as whole Cell-SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential enrichment) can be used to screen for unique aptamers based on their ability to bind to the target tumor cells. Notably, aptamers have been identified by whole Cell-SELEX that can bind to the HGC-27 gastric cancer cell line and to paraffin-embedded primary gastric tumor sections (Zhang et al., (2014) Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 46:1-8).
Since ovarian cancer is often diagnosed in late stages with few treatment options and poor long-term prognosis, there is a need for new clinical tools for early detection and treatment of ovarian malignancies, which will significantly help reduce mortality and improve current long-term survival rates. Additionally, development of targeted therapies to selectively deliver anti-cancer agents to tumor cells without damaging neighboring unaffected cells would improve response rates and outcome. Described herein are novel DNA oligonucleotides that bind to malignant ovarian tumor cells and internalize with high affinity and specificity.

DNA aptamers against cancer and uses thereof in delivery of therapy and diagnosis of cancer

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte


According to one embodiment, a gas sensor includes a film structure including a gas sensitive film and a heater film heating the gas sensitive film, a physical quantity sensing section sensing a predetermined physical quantity which varies based on storage of a gas to be carried out by the gas sensitive film, a voltage generation section generating a first voltage for heating the gas sensitive film at a first temperature and a second voltage for heating the gas sensitive film at a second temperature higher than the first temperature, and a voltage switching section switching between the first voltage and the second voltage to be supplied to the heater film.

In a gas sensor having a film structure including a gas sensitive film and heater film, gas sensing is carried out in a state where the gas sensitive film is heated by the heater film in order to improve the sensing sensitivity (sensing speed) of the gas.
However, in the gas sensor using the above-mentioned gas sensing method, appropriate gas sensing is not always carried out.

Gas sensor including sensing section for sensing predetermined physical quantity and voltage switching section for switching between voltages for heating gas sensitive film


Methods of calibrating a helical scan recorder include transporting a storage media past a drum at a controlled linear velocity and recording tracks on the media using a write head. During a read-after-write operation, servo signals recorded on the tracks are read. The servo signals from the tracks are used to determine an axial offset variance of the write head and a read head on the drum. In one mode, calibration is achieved for a first helical scan recorder which does not have a capstan, by installing a drum of the recorder in a second helical scan recorder, using the second recorder to record servo signals on two tracks, reading the servo signals from those two tracks in the second recorder, using the servo signals to determine axial offset variance, and storing a value indicative of axial offset variance in a memory of the first recorder. The axial offset variance is used in a write splice operation and, in one mode, to determine linear velocity of the media.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to the operation of a helical scan recorder, and particularly for determining parameters of the helical scan recorder for enhancing performance thereof.
2. Related Art and Other Considerations
Numerous prior art patents and publications teach recording and reading of information stored in helical stripes (or "tracks") on magnetic storage media (e.g., magnetic tape). In a helical scan arrangement, travelling magnetic tape is at least partially wrapped around a rotating drum (or scanner) so that heads (both write head(s) and read head(s)) positioned on the drum are contiguous to the drum as the drum is rotated.
One or more write heads on the drum physically record data on the tape in a series of discrete tracks oriented at an angle with respect to the direction of tape travel. As used herein, track or stripe "pitch" means a distance between centerlines of two adjacent tracks, the centerlines of the tracks extending along the direction of head travel and the distances therebetween being taken perpendicularly to the centerlines. In a dual azimuth system, track pitch equates to the width of a track. The data on the track is formatted, prior to recording on the tape, to provide sufficient referencing information to enable later recovery during readout by one or more read heads.
Examples of helical scan recorders are shown, inter alia, in the following U.S. patents (all of which are incorporated herein by reference):
U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,628 to Hinz et al. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,495 to Georgis et al. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,261 to Hughes et al. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,068,757 to Hughes et al. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,422 to Zook et al.
On a drum of a helical scan recorder, the write head(s) are distanced from the read head(s) both by a radial distance and an axial distance (the axial distance being taken along the major axis of the drum). The separation of the write head and read head along the major axis of the drum is herein denoted as the "axial offset" or "axial offset distance". Although a helical scan recorder is intended to be manufactured to have a specification axial offset distance, it generally turns out that the drum of a helical scan recorder as manufactured has an actual axial offset distance which varies from the specification axial offset distance. As used herein, "axial offset variance" means the differential between (1) a desired (e.g., specification or reference) axial offset distance by which a write head is supposed to be separated from a read head on the drum along the drum axis, and (2) an actual axial offset distance by which a write head is actually separated from a read head on the drum along the drum axis.
To the extent that axial offset variance has been measured in the prior art, such measurements have taken the form of imprecise gauging with the use of optical measurement devices such as a high power microscope. However, the margin of error of such measurement devices is greater than the precision required for use in a helical scan recorder.
Axial offset variance has importance for a number of reasons. For example, axial offset variance is a factor which complicates write splice operations. In a write splice, the recorder must start recording exactly at a point ("splice location") at which the previous recording had stopped. To maximize media usage, the junction of new data to old data must be seamless, so that track pitches are continuous.
If there is no axial offset variance (e.g., axial offset variance=0), track pitch uniformity can easily be obtained at the write splice location. However, even a small axial offset variance (for example, two microns) will result in nonuniformity of track pitch at the write splice location. Subsequent read operations in the neighborhood of the write splice location can cause servoing problems, particularly if several splices are close together.
Axial offset variance also can be a factor in determining linear tape speed in certain helical scan recorders, such as a capstanless helical scan recorder. In this regard, see simultaneously-filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/150,726 (attorney docket 1300-135) of Georgis and Zweighaft entitled "Method And Apparatus For Controlling Linear Tape Speed In A Helical Scan Recorder" (incorporated herein by reference) now abandoned.

Method and apparatus for determining and using head parameters in a helical scan recorder


A device for detecting a display mode of a video signal having first pixels corresponding to a first field, second pixels corresponding to a second field, and third pixels corresponding to a third field, includes a pixel converter, a measurement circuit, and a decision circuit. The pixel converter converts the second pixels to generate converted pixels. The measurement circuit generates measurement values related to differences between a converted pixel, a first pixel, and a third pixel. The decision circuit determines the display mode of the video signal according to the first, second, and third measurement values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Telecine processing, and more particularly, to devices and methods for detecting a display mode of a video signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A movie is typically captured and played at a speed of twenty-four frames per second. If there is a requirement that the movie must be played by a video playback device such as a television (TV) or a digital versatile disc (DVD) player, Telecine processing can be utilized for converting image data of the movie into that complying with NTSC or PAL specifications.
The Telecine processing mentioned above is typically classified to be one of various kinds of processing types such as still scene processing, 3:2 pull-down processing, 2:3 pull-down processing, and 2:2 pull-down processing. Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the 3:2 pull-down processing according to the prior art, where three fields 121-1, 121-2, and 122-1 correspond to a frame 111, two fields 122-2 and 123-1 correspond to a frame 112, three fields 123-2, 124-1, and 124-2 correspond to a frame 113, and two fields 125-1 and 125-2 correspond to a frame 114. In addition, after utilizing the 2:2 pull-down processing shown in FIG. 2, two fields 221-1 and 221-2 correspond to a frame 211, two fields 222-1 and 222-2 correspond to a frame 212, two fields 223-1 and 223-2 correspond to a frame 213, and two fields 224-1 and 224-2 correspond to a frame 214.
However, if the video playback device has not correctly detected whether the image data to be played is generated by utilizing the Telecine processing or which kind of processing type has been utilized for generating the image data, when the video playback device attempts to recovery the frames to play the movie utilizing a progressive scan method, erroneous images would be generated.

Device and method for detecting display mode of video signal


A vehicle covering and storage system is provided. The vehicle storage system may include a motorized vehicle having an outer surface. The present invention may further include an attachment component. The attachment component includes a fabric panel having a front surface and a back surface. At least one strap is attached to the front surface of the fabric panel. The at least one strap is attached to the fabric panel at a plurality of attachment points along the length of the strap forming a plurality of loops in between the attachment points. The back surface of the fabric panel is attachable to the outer surface of the motorized vehicle.

The present invention relates to a vehicle covering system and, more particularly, to a vehicle covering system for attachment of accessories, such as bags for additional storage space.
Power sports vehicles and other vehicles lack storage space. Many of these vehicles (like a motorcycle, UTV, or ATV) have no space for additional equipment for packaging. Current systems are made to attach permanently and are usually hard cases with limited package size and versatility. These systems have limitations and do not contour and cover the vehicle.
As can be seen, there is a need for an improved system for providing addition storage for the vehicles listed above.


The present invention relates to an aldose reductase inhibitor represented by the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 is (CH.sub.2).sub.2 COOH and R.sub.2 is phenyl or p-hydroxyphenyl, or R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are combined together to form a group of the formula: ##STR2## which was isolated from the fermentation products of Chaetomella circinoseta RF-3192.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aldose reductase inhibitor represented by the formula (I): ##STR3## wherein R.sub.1 is (CH.sub.2).sub.2 COOH and R.sub.2 is phenyl or p-hydroxyphenyl, or R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are combined together to form a group of the formula: ##STR4## The present invention also relates to a microorganism producing said inhibitor and to a process for producing said inhibitor.
2. Related Art
The incidence rate of diabetes has hitherto increased and various complications thereof have become a quite serious problem. The diabetic complications may be caused by, for example, accumulation of polyol (e.g., sorbitol), free radical peroxidation, and glucosylation of proteins at the site of lysine residues. An inhibitor for aldose reductase (abbreviated hereinafter as AR) relating to polyol metabolism is expected to serve as a medicine for diabetic complications, that is, diseases arising from diabetes such as diabetic neuropathy, diabetic cataract, diabetic keratopathy, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic nephropathy. So there have been many investigations into the development of such a medicine. Tolrestat represented by the following formula (II) (SimardDuquesne, N. et al., Metabolism 34, 885-892, 1985) and WF-3681 represented by the following formula (III) (JP Kokoku No. 3-52458) are known as AR inhibitor. But AR inhibitor structurally similar to the compound of this invention is not known at all. ##STR5##
It has been revealed that AR as a rate-limiting enzyme in the metabolic pathway of polyol is present in blood vessels, peripheral nerves, lenses, retinae, and so forth, in which many diabetic complications often occur. Therefore, the significance of AR became understood in relation to diabetes. In the state of glycophilia such as diabetes, a larger amount of glucose than that of glucose capable of being metabolized in the glycolysis system is present in cells and the metabolism of glucose in the metabolic pathway of a polyol can readily be promoted because glucose is used as a substrate for AR. As a result, the abnormal accumulation of sorbitol is further enhanced. Sorbitol is a relatively stable substance; once the cells produce sorbitol, very little extracellular release of the sorbitol is found. The unbalance between the production and metabolism causes the intracellular accumulation of this sugar alcohol. This results in hypertonicity and osmotic uptake of water, thereby making it impossible to maintain the normal function of the cells and exhibiting a disorder of the cells. If the AR activity is inhibited, the abnormal intracellular accumulation of sorbitol can be avoided and the normal function of the cells can be maintained. Accordingly, the present inventors have made an effort to search compounds having an AR-inhibiting activity.


A n level clock distribution network for a datapath block includes an external buffer that outputs a clock signal and a datapath block having a logic block and a buffer block containing one or more nth-level buffers implemented with predefined modular buffers. The logic block includes one or more predefined areas containing clocked logic elements. The number of clocked logic elements in a predefined area is constrained to be less than or equal to a predetermined maximum number. Each nth-level buffer receives the clock signal outputted by the external buffer and distributes this clock signal to the clocked logic elements within a corresponding predefined area of the logic block. The nth-level buffer driving each predefined area is implemented by selecting one or more buffers from a family of predefined modular buffers appropriate for the number of clocked logic elements in the predefined area. In cases where more than one predefined modular buffer is selected, the selected predefined modular buffers are connected in parallel. Because a family of predefined modular buffers is used instead of custom buffers, the design of the buffer block is greatly simplified. Moreover, this network is easily implemented with an automated place and route design tool by predefining each modular buffer in a standard cell library of the automated place and route design tool.

Large integrated circuits generally have a multi-level clock distribution network for providing clock signals to the clocked logic elements of the circuit. These networks are typically designed to be used with automated place and route design tools. In general, these clock distribution networks use several levels of buffers to distribute the clock signals to the clocked logic elements. Some automated place and route design tools attempt to equalize the clock line lengths and capacitive loading within each level of buffering. However, in conventional clock distribution schemes, the automated place and route design tools cannot efficiently route the clock lines from the lowest level of buffers to the clocked logic elements with low clock skew. As a result, the designer typically must hand tune the routing of the clock lines to the clocked logic elements at the lowest level of buffering. This hand tuning of the clock lines is necessary to reduce undesirable clock skew between the clocked logic elements.
For example, FIG. 1 shows an exemplary clock distribution network 100 having four levels of buffering for an integrated circuit 101. The clock distribution network 100 includes a phase locked loop (PLL) 103 connected to a first-level buffer 105. The PLL 103 receives a raw clock signal from an off chip source (not shown) and outputs a clock signal synchronized with the raw clock signal. The clock signal outputted by the PLL 103 can be of a different frequency of than the raw clock signal outputted by the PLL 103 can be of a different frequency of than the raw clock signal. The first-level buffer 105 drives, in this example, five second-level buffers 107A-107E. In addition, in this example, each second-level buffer 107A-107E drives five third-level buffers. For clarity, only the third-level buffers 109A-109E driven by the second-level buffer 107E are shown. The third-level buffers 109A-109E respectively drive a corresponding datapath blocks 111A-111E. Each datapath block includes a logic block with a relatively large number (up to several hundred) of clocked logic elements such as flip flops. Each datapath block also includes fourth-level buffers connected to receive the buffered clock signals from the third-level buffers. The datapath block's fourth-level buffers provide clock signals to the clocked logic elements within the datapath block's logic block.
FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram of the datapath block 111A shown in FIG. 1. The datapath block 111A includes a logic block 201 that has clocked logic elements distributed in N rows within the logic block, where N can be an integer greater than 1. The datapath block 111A also includes a buffer block 203 that includes fourth-level buffers 205.sub.1 -205.sub.N. These fourth-level buffers 205.sub.1 -205.sub.N are coupled to receive the buffered clock signal from the third-level buffer 109A (FIG. 1) and drive flip-flops 207. Each fourth-level buffer 205.sub.1 -205.sub.N respectively drives the flip-flops 207 located in a corresponding predefined area (i.e., a row in this embodiment) 209.sub.1 -209.sub.N. In this embodiment, the datapaths can be up to sixty-four bits wide. Consequently, the number of flip-flops in each row 209.sub.1 -209.sub.N can vary between one and sixty-four. As is well known in the art of clock distribution networks, the capacitive loading driven by a clock buffer depends on both the length of the driven clock line as well as the capacitive loading of each of the clocked logic elements connected to the clock line. Because the number of clocked logic elements and the clock line length within each row can vary, the capacitive load driven by each fourth-level buffer can vary. As a result, each fourth-level buffer 205.sub.1 -205.sub.N is typically custom designed to drive the particular capacitive load of its corresponding row 209.sub.1 -209.sub.N to equalize the clock skew in the datapath block. The required customization of the fourth-level buffers undesirably increases the complexity, time and expense of designing the clock distribution network. Also, the input capacitance of each of the custom fourth-level buffers may be different, thereby introducing further complexity in equalizing the clock skew between the third-level buffers 107A-107E (FIG. 1) and the datapath blocks. As a result, the designer may be required to go through several iterations of designing the clock distribution network to achieve an acceptable clock skew. In addition, the custom fourth-level buffers may also increase or inefficiently utilize the area of the buffer block 201.

Clock distribution network with modular buffers


The prevention and treatment of carriage of E. coli O157:H7 by a ruminant animal is accomplished by administering dominant probiotic bacteria to the animal. The dominant probiotic bacteria prevent the establishment of E. coli O157:H7 when inoculated prior to administering E. coli O157:H7, are reisolatable from the gastrointestinal tract of inoculated animals for up to 28 days post-inoculation, and are capable of reducing or eliminating E. coli O157:H7 from animals previously inoculated with the pathogen. In particular, the dominant probiotic bacteria are strains E. coli 271 ATCC 202020, E. coli 786 ATCC 202018 and E. coli 797 ATCC 202019.

E. coli O157:H7, an important human pathogen causing hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome, has been reported with increased frequency during the past decade as a cause of human illness [for reviews, see Bell, P. B. et al. (1994) JAMA 272:1349-1353; Griffin, P. M. et al. (1991) Epidemiol. Rev. 13:60-98; Padhye, N. Y. et al. (1992) J. Food Prot. 55:555-565]. Cattle, especially young animals, have been implicated as a principal reservoir of E. coli O157:H7, with undercooked ground beef being a major vehicle of foodborne outbreaks. Also, the number of fruit-, fruit juice-, vegetable- (lettuce) and water- (including recreational lakes) related outbreaks have increased dramatically in recent years.
A recent national survey performed by the USDA National Animal Health Monitoring System revealed that 1.6% of feedlot cattle fecally shed E. coli O157:H7 and 0.4% shed E. coli O157:NM [Dagatz, D. (1995) USDA:APHIS:VS, Centers for epidemiology and animal health. Fort Collins, Colo. (personal communication)]. A major study of calves on dairy farms revealed that 1.5% that were between the age of weaning and 4 months shed E. coli O157:H7 in their feces [Zhao, T. et al. (1995) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:1290-1293]. Experimental infection of calves and adult cattle with E. coli O157:H7 varies widely among animals of the same age group, but persists longer in calves than in adults and previous infection does not prevent reinfection by the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 [Cray, C. W. et al. (1995) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:1585-1590]. Other animals, such as chickens, deer, and sheep have also been determined to have the ability to carry E. coli O157:H7 for an extended period of time.
Many public health concerns have been raised regarding E. coli O157:H7 contamination of foods. Such concerns have been heightened by the unique acid tolerance of E. coli O157:H7. Proper cooking is an effective method to kill E. coli O157:H7 in foods. However, unsanitary practices in preparing foods often result in foodborne illness, hence methods to reduce or eliminate carriage of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle are needed to reduce the public's exposure to the pathogen in food and the environment [Wang, G., et al. (1996) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:2567-2570].
Vaccination has been the traditional approach to protecting cattle from carriage of harmful bacteria. However, E. coli O157:H7 does not adhere to or infect cattle. The primary sites of E. coli O157:H7 localization in calves are the rumen and colon. The rumen appears to be the most important site for long-term carriage of E. coli O157:H7, and may serve as the source of bacteria found in the colon [Brown, C., et al. (1995) Vet. Pathol. 32:587. Histologic examination of colon tissue revealed no evidence of attachment of E. coli O157:H7 to colon tissue. Hence, the presence of E. coli O157:H7 in the colon appears to be a transient state whereby the bacteria are passing through, rather than colonizing the colon. Vaccines are not likely to be effective in reducing the amount of E. coli O157:H7 carried and shed by cattle.
The amount of E. coli O157:H7 carried by calves can be affected by nutrition and management practices. Rasmussen, et al. [(1993) FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 114:79-841 determined that E. coli O157:H7 grew unrestricted in rumen fluid collected from fasted cattle.
Some strains of E. coli can produce colicins that are inhibitory in vitro, to diarrheagenic E. coli strains, including strains of serotype O157:H7 [Bradley, D. E., et al. (1991) Can J. Microbiol. 37:97-104; Murinda, S. E., et al. (1996) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:3196-3202]. Murinda et al. assayed twenty-four E. coli colicin-producing strains and determined that all E. coli O157:H7 strains evaluated were sensitive to Col E1 to E8, K and N on mitomycin-C-containing agar and also to Col G, Col. H and MccB17 on Luria agar. Patterns of colicin-sensitivity and resistance have been used for strain identification. Biological control of a bacterial strain based on its bacteriocin-sensitivity has not been achieved. However, Doyle, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,388, disclosed prevention or inhibition of Campylobacter jejuni colonization of poultry by administering a selected bacterial strain capable of competing with C. jejuni for colonization sites in poultry cecum and of inhibiting growth of C. jejuni.

Control of enterohemorrhagic E. coli 0157:H7 in cattle by probiotic bacteria and specific strains of E. coli

University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc.


The subject of the invention is a transparent substrate (1), in particular one made of glass, coated with a stack (7) of thin layers comprising at least one layer (4) having reflection properties in the infrared and/or in the solar radiation range, this layer (4) being interposed between a first and a second coating (3, 6) comprising a dielectric material. An interlayer (2) made of a material having a refractive index less than that of the substrate (1) is interposed between the substrate (1) and the stack (7) such that the difference in refractive indices between the substrate (1) and the layer (2) is at least 0.07 and preferably at least 0.12.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to transparent substrates, in particular those made of glass, coated with a stack of thin layers including at least one metal layer having reflective properties on long-wavelength infrared radiation and/or on solar radiation.
The invention also relates to the use of such substrates in the manufacture of thermal-insulation and/or solar-protection glazing, denoted hereinbelow by the term "functional" glazing. Such glazing may be used on both buildings and vehicles, especially for the purpose of decreasing the air-conditioning load and/or for reducing excessive overheating resulting from the presence of expansive glazed surfaces in rooms and passenger compartments.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, two approaches have been proposed for improving the thermal, antisolar or low emissivity properties of a stack of layers with reflective properties:
The first solution, which is the simplest, is to increase the thickness of the functional layer in order to lower the emissivity or increase the anti-solar capacity of the functional layer. However, this solution, has until the present invention had disadvantageous repercussions with respect to the optical appearance of the substrate carrying the stack, since it results in a decrease in its light transmission (T.sub.L) and, above all, a more marked coloration in reflection, and usually, in tints which are unattractive. A limit in terms of thickness of the functional layer is therefore rapidly reached, beyond which the substrate no longer satisfies the desired optical criteria. PA1 The second solution is to improve the quality of the "functional" layer, for a given thickness, through better crystallization which makes the layer less absorbent. This may be achieved by arranging below the functional layer, a particular type of dielectric material which promotes its growth or its "wetting". Thus, European Patent Application EP-A-0,611,213 recommends a wetting coating based on niobium or tantalum oxide below the low-emissivity silver layer, while French Patent Application 94/04810 filed on Apr. 21, 1994, published under the number FR-A-2,719,036 and corresponding to European Patent Application EP-A-0,678,484, describes a "double" wetting coating below the low-emissivity layer and consists of a first layer of niobium or tantalum oxide surmounted by a second layer of zinc oxide. This approach is limited because the quality of the functional layer improved by these subjacent layers reaches a maximum level which is difficult to exceed, for a given layer thickness.

Transparent substrates coated with a stack of thin layers having reflection properties in the infrared and/or in the solar radiation range


A new and unique x Mangave plant named ‘Life on Mars’ characterized by a medium, rounded mound of fleshy, linear to lanceolate leaves that are slightly arching margins and develop glaucous, blue-green with lighter greenish-white to creamy yellow margins and developing bright reddish-purple splotches of variable sizes with high ultraviolet light. The leaves have numerous small, semi-flexible marginal teeth. The new plant is suitable for the garden or as a potted plant in the garden or home.

The present invention relates to the new and distinct x Mangave hybrid plant, x Mangave 'Life on Mars' that was discovered by the inventor at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Mich., USA as a whole plant mutation of 'Mission to Mars' U.S. Plant Pat. No. 29,393 in a batch of tissue culture propagated plants. The new plant was discovered on Jun. 14, 2019. Through trials at the same nursery the plant was assigned the code 19-SP-MANG-851-Q. The new plant has been successfully asexually propagated by sterile shoot-tip tissue culture and by basal offsets at the same nursery in Zeeland, Mich. The asexual tissue culture propagation has been found to produce stable and identical plants that maintain all the unique characteristics of the original plant.


A printing apparatus includes a generation unit for generating one page of a print image which is larger than one sheet of paper, and a printing unit for performing printing on one sheet of paper based on one page of the print image, which is larger than the paper and generated by the generation unit. The generation unit, based on an allocation number representing the number of pages to be allocated to one sheet of paper, performs clipping to remove a portion of the print data which can be printed by the printing unit to prevent the print image of each page which is not printed from deviating the image of each page, when a plurality of pages of print data printed on one sheet of paper are generated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and more specifically to a printing apparatus, a printing method and a program which perform printing by assigning print data for two or more pages to one sheet of paper in a marginless printing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a price reduction and performance improvement of so-called digital cameras in recent years, a system for printing image data shot by a digital camera with a printer has come into use in addition to an existing system by which a photograph is shot and printed using a conventional silver salt picture film.
FIG. 5 shows a printing system in which a host computer and a printing apparatus are interconnected through an interface. In the printing system of FIG. 5 consisting of a host computer 1002 and a printer 1003, a variety of data editing is performed by various application programs running on the host computer 1002. Then the edited data is output as print data through an interface 1001 (e.g., Ethernet®), USB and IEEE1394) to the printer 1003 for printing. In this printing system, when print data is to be printed by the printer 1003, the associated application program causes a printer driver operational on the host computer 1002 to display a dialog box for a user to specify print parameters such as paper size used for printing before the application outputs the print data.
In a printing system in which a digital camera is used in place of the host computer, shot image data is output as print data from the digital camera through the interface to the printer for printing. Further, in a printing system in which a storage media is connected to the printer, image data stored in the storage media is output as print data to the printer for printing. In these printing systems, an operation unit of the digital camera or of the printer allows the user to specify the print parameters such as paper size.
There is a general trend for silver salt pictures being printed with no blank margins and, in line with this tendency, printers have entered the market which allow for a printing without leaving blank margins (referred to simply as a marginless printing) to produce photograph-like prints. Many of these printers, as shown in FIG. 1, realize the marginless printing by outputting a print image 501 of a Wi×Hi size, slightly larger than an effective print area of a print medium, Wc×Hc, to produce a printed image slightly overrunning the edges of the effective area of the print medium. In some printers, the image output for those portions outside the effective area is printed to exactly the edges of the print medium and, in others, the overrunning printed portions are cut away (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-187261).
Meanwhile, there are printers and printing systems available which, to reduce the number of printed sheets or to provide an overall view of a document, compresses a plurality of pages of print data and allocate them to one sheet of paper for printing (multipage printing function). For example, a plurality of pages of print images, like the ones 501 of Wi×Hi size shown in FIG. 1, are assigned to divided areas 801-804 of a single sheet 810 and printed, as shown in FIG. 3. While in FIG. 3, all the printed images shown are the same, actual printed images assigned to one page may be different (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-147345 (1999)).
When a multipage printing, such as shown in FIG. 3, is performed in a marginless printing mode of FIG. 1, a combination of multiple print images is generated as print data of a size slightly larger than and overrunning the effective area of the print medium 610, as shown in FIG. 2. That is, an output image 601 is generated which comprises a plurality of print data arranged to contact with each other at their sides, and this output image is printed. Individual printed images 901-904 in FIG. 4 are each deviated from their own print areas. Particularly when the same images are to be printed, a problem arises that the way the individual images are deviated varies from one print area to another.


Presented herein is a portable cushion that is divided into multiple inner cells, said structure comprising a base layer, at least two columns of at least two inflatable cells each disposed on said base layer, a lightweight, portable air pressure generator for supplying air to the cushion, and a hose to connect said cushion to said air pressure generator, wherein the inflating sequence of the cushion enables one layer of cells to fully inflate before the subsequent layer of cells is able to inflate.

Rising from a seated position and seating oneself are actions that require specific motor skills, stability, and a certain amount of muscle strength.
For people who do not possess these abilities and strengths, such as elderly persons, people with specific physical impairments, and people recovering from some surgeries, the seemingly simple task of getting out of a chair may be impossible without some assistance.
Available related art inflatable cushions, which provide support for rising from a chair, attempt to provide solutions to this problem. Illustrative of such attempts are U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,471, U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,329, U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,957, GB2287878, and GB229641, which each provides inflatable cushions for lifting assistance. However, such devices are not portable, they do not provide extra stability, and oftentimes these aids rely on the arm supports of a chair to stabilize the user.
The available aids are unstable, particularly on chairs that do not incorporate armrests and, furthermore, the available related art devices are rarely portable. There is a clear need for a portable device that lifts the user from a seated to a substantially standing position, which furthermore enables the user to stand of his own impetus, without additional support. Such a device should further provide the user with a stable seating area while said device is in use.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to disclose such a device as will subsequently be described and claimed in the instant invention.


An electrical rotor and stator structure includes at least one stator, at least one rotor and multiple outward pillar structures. The at least one stator includes multiple first magnetic members. Each first magnetic member has a first surface. The at least one rotor is able to be rotated pivotally relative to the at least one stator. The at least one rotor includes multiple second magnetic members. Each second magnetic member has a second surface facing and opposite to the first surface. The multiple outward pillar structures are installed on the second surfaces and the first surfaces.

In recent years, with the increasing cost of energy, the regulations on energy consumption have been increasingly stringent in every country. Taking energy conservation in the manufacture industry for example, motors are accounted for more than 70 percentages of the overall electricity consumption. Therefore, how to increase the energy efficiency of the motors has become an important issue. Among different motors, the brushless permanent magnet motor offers a simple design that is easy to maintain and has high efficiency. In particular, an axial flux motor (AFM) of the brushless permanent magnet motor is the one having a smaller length-diameter ratio and suitable for thinner design.
Magnet is one of key components of the brushless permanent magnet motor that determines the performance and speed thereof. Therefore, methods, that can improve magnets in increasing the energy product, better control of the lines of flux inside the motor and suppressing the flux leakage, can increase the energy efficiency of motors. Hence, the capability of the magnets is a crucial issue in the development of the motors.
Among various types of magnets, rare-earth (material) magnets generally are strong permanent magnets made from alloys of rare earth elements. Motors using rare-earth magnet have higher energy product and better torque density, thus to be widely used in the mechanical and electrical applications.
However, the cost of rare earth metals has surged almost threefold in recent years. Hence, price of the motors that use rare-earth magnet has risen. Rising price forces the industry to endeavor to design a motor that utilizes less rare-earth magnets and levels up the energy efficiency of the motors.

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A modular building system formed of blocks supported around a loadbearing pipe frame. The blocks include half cylinder protruding portions located at opposing ends of the blocks wherein the protruding portions of adjacent blocks form cylindrical fastener portions. Horizontally adjacent blocks form courses, and horizontal courses of blocks are stacked to form walls. The fastener formed by the protruding portions of a lower course extend through an aperture in the lower portion of blocks forming an upper course, and a retainer member is engaged with the fastener formed by the protruding portions to thereby lock an upper course block to two lower adjacent blocks. The retainer member is formed with a through hole for receiving a vertical pipe member in sliding engagement wherein the vertical pipe members carry vertical loads without substantially transmitting vertical loads to the blocks.

Conventional concrete block construction uses rectangular blocks which are layered in courses and supported on a concrete foundation. Great care and skill is required to achieve level courses and to form truly vertical walls, resulting in high labor costs.
Numerous attempts have been made to provide a building block construction which may be assembled by unskilled labor. Such systems typically include a design which insures uniformity of construction as the blocks are assembled, such as mating protrusions and indentations, or holes which are formed in the blocks and aligned between adjacent blocks, such as by the use of pins or rods.
Although prior designs have experienced a certain degree of success, they have typically relied on the blocks as a structural component for carrying vertical loads in a structure formed by the blocks. The requirement to carry vertical loads has resulted in the blocks requiring additional material for withstanding the stresses of the loads, and thus have increased the costs of the blocks. In addition, materials such as plastic are known to flex and/or crack over time when exposed to stress, such that there is a need for a structural construction system incorporating blocks formed of plastics material, but which isolates stresses from the blocks while providing a reliably strong structure.


A mobile machine for abrading a surface by propelling abrasive material against the surface from a blast assembly which moves from side to side of the machine. The machine includes a wheeled frame with a pair of parallel track members mounted across the frame. The blast assembly is supported on rollers which travel upon the track members. A coupling with a worm drive bore is mounted to the front and the rear of the blast assembly. A motor-drive worm drive shaft is journaled through each worm drive bore to move the blast assembly back and forth across the frame. The blast assembly includes a blast housing with a blast corridor and a blast opening to the surface being abraded, a hopper to gravity feed abrasive material into the blast corridor, a centrifugal blast wheel with rotating blades which propel abrasive material against the surface, a return corridor and an air wash. A remote dust collector is connected to the air wash to draw air and abrasive material from the blast opening to the air wash. Abrasive material falls from the air wash into the hopper for reuse. A vacuum blower attached to an on-board dust collector or a cyclone separator may be mounted upon the air wash to provide additional air flow for the return of abrasive material to the air wash and the hopper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to machines for abrading a surface and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to machines for removing an upper layer of concrete in a road, a bridge, an airport runway or an airport taxiway.
2. Description of Related Art
Various machines have been used to remove an upper layer of a worn concrete surface in preparation for resurfacing. The familiar pneumatic hammer, or jack hammer, is one tool for concrete removal. Breaking up concrete with a jack hammer is, however, a slow and labor-intensive process. Moreover, the stress and vibration from a jack hammer may fracture or damage supporting structures.
Milling machines are also devices for concrete removal. The cutters of milling machines are rotated against the concrete to cut away the concrete. A problem with these devices is that the rotating cutters may damage or grab the metal reinforcing grid in the concrete.
Hydrodemolition may also be utilized to remove concrete. By directing jets of water under high pressure against the concrete, the concrete is eroded away. Unfortunately, the slurry created by hydrodemolition may be difficult to contain. The use of hydrodemolition on bridges makes control of the slurry even more problematic. Bridges often span rivers and streams and it is undesirable for the slurry from hydrodemolition to run into the river or stream below a bridge.

Surface abrading machine having transverse oscilliation


A voice-based method to control unmanned vehicles (UV) or robots that makes use of the UV or robot state and context information to constrain the output of automatic speech recognition (ASR) language models (LM) to improve the ASR accuracy and robustness in controlled and adverse environments. The voiced interaction between the human user and the machine provides a natural human-machine interface that is easy and straightforward for the human being, and reduces users' training requirements.

Providing human-machine control information to unmanned vehicles (UVs) or robots is typically unnatural and too cumbersome depending on the situation or type of user input interface (for example, joystick, keyboard, switches, etc.). Also, specific training is usually required. In recent years, voice based human-machine interface technologies to control UVs and robots have shown significant progress, despite the fact that some solutions are still naive.
In a traditional voice controlled UV or robot, the system utilizes automatic speech recognition (ASR) to recognize voice commands uttered by the human operator and to generate the corresponding machine command. The corresponding machine command is generated by the steps of receiving the recognized voice command, interpreting the voice command, and generating a control signal or machine command suitable for transmission to the remotely UV or robot. In most voice-controlled UVs or robots, ASR is employed as a "black box" that receives a speech signal and delivers the recognized text string with little concern on the potentials for error or for limitations of the ASR technology. Some innovations include the use of special microphones to reduce the effect of noise, noise cancelling methods, and natural language post-processing. However, the integration of ASR technology to the UV or robot technology and operation has been minimally explored and implemented.
In JP Publication 2013-128287, entitled WIRELESSLY CONTROLLING UNMANNED AIRCRAFT AND ACCESSING ASSOCIATED SURVEILLANCE DATA, the control of "an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) may be accomplished by using a wireless device (e.g., cell phone) to send a control message to a receiver at the UAV via a wireless telecommunication network (e.g., an existing cellular network configured solely for mobile telephone communication). In addition, the wireless device may be used to receive communications from a transmitter at the UAV, where the wireless device receives the communications from the transmitter via the wireless network. Examples of such communications include surveillance information and UAV monitoring information."
In Korean patent publication KR101330991, entitled VOICE RELAY SYSTEM FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE USING PTT SIGNAL, a voice relay system for an unmanned aircraft using PTT signals is proposed. This invention relays voice communication between a wireless controller and an aircontrol center through an unmanned aircraft and receives the voice of a pilot.
In Korean patent publication KR20110135070, entitled VOICE CONTROL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE FOR ANTICOLLISION AND DISTINGUISH POSITION, "a voice ground control system and method thereof for UAV anti-collision and positioning are provided to easily receive an aviation instruction to control of a controller by performing communication between an ACC and a UAV". "AGC (Ground Control) voice communication system includes a GC voice input device for converting the voice of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) pilot into an analog voice signal, AGC electric wave generating/recovery device and a GC transceiver for transceiving the UAV. A UV voice communication system includes a UAV electric wave generating/restoring apparatus, a frequency control device, and a UAV transceiver. An ACC (Air Control Center) voice communication system includes an ACC voice input/output device, an ACC wave generating/restoring device, and ACC device".
In U.S. Pat. No. 8,311,827, entitled VEHICLE CONTROL, a speech recognition interface and method is described to control a UAV. The system and method includes receiving one or more instructions issued as speech; analyzing the speech using speech recognition software to provide a sequence of words and a word confidence measure for each word so recognized; analyzing the sequence of words to identify a semantic concept corresponding to an instruction based on the analysis, and a semantic confidence level for the identified semantic concept derived at least in part with reference to the word confidence measures of the words associated with the semantic concept; providing a spoken confirmation of the semantic concept so identified based on the semantic confidence level and an indicated verbosity level, the spoken confirmation being provided with one of a speaking rate or a pitch that is increased as the indicated verbosity level decreases; and using the semantic concept so identified to provide a control input for the vehicle. The step of providing the spoken confirmation of the semantic concept comprises indicating that the instruction was not understood when the semantic confidence level is below a threshold, or the step of using the semantic concept comprises providing the control input for the vehicle when the semantic confidence level exceeds the threshold.
In US Patent Publication 2008-0065275, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING MANNED AND UNMANNED AIRCRAFT USING SPEECH RECOGNITION TOOLS, a system and method is provided for controlling an aircraft with voice instructions from an air traffic controller, and transmitting a voice response to the air traffic controller. At least one response logic unit is also provided to interpret the received voice instruction from the air traffic controller, determine a response to the interpreted voice instruction, and translate the interpreted voice instruction to a command suitable for input to at least one autopilot unit. The at least one autopilot unit is provided to receive the command from the response logic unit, wherein the command is configured to guide the flight of the unmanned aircraft.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,300, a dialog processing method and apparatus for uninhabited air vehicles is described. The apparatus contains a recognition unit for recognizing incoming data, an interpretation unit for interpreting the data according to a grammar and a response unit for generating an appropriate response to the incoming data. The method may utilize natural language processes and may reduce to a finite state machine. The incoming data is combined with uninhabited air vehicle state information to increase the accuracy of this interpretation. Additionally, the dialog states may be limited to customary air traffic control dialogs.
In US Patent Publication 2008/0201148, a system for dynamically generating a contextual database that is accessed by a speech recognition system which interfaces with a subassembly of a vehicle is described. The system comprises: a situation sensor that generates one or more signals indicative of the situation of the vehicle, the one or more signals including contextual data that are indicative of the position and speed of the vehicle; a spoken name generator that receives the one or more signals from the situation sensor; an electronic flight bag having a first data array, the spoken name generator dynamically accessing, interpreting, analyzing and sorting through the first data array in the electronic flight bag and selecting only the data that are relevant to a pilot with respect to the present position, movement and flight plan for the aircraft; a contextual dynamic grammars database that includes a second data array which is smaller than the first data array; and a speech recognition system that interfaces with the contextual dynamic grammars database and awaits one or more commands from a pilot or other operator of the vehicle before generating and sending one or more activation signals to the subassembly, so that upon receiving the one or more commands, the speech recognition system compares the vocabulary used in the one or more commands with data elements that are stored in the second data array in the contextual dynamic grammars database and when the speech recognition system reliably recognizes the one or more commands received from the pilot or other operator and matches them with data elements contained in the contextual dynamic grammars database, the speech recognition system processes the command by communicating the one or more activation signals to the subassembly
As mentioned above, in other patent publications related to UV voice control, ASR accuracy is improved by using noise cancellation techniques or by incorporating spontaneous speech in the language model which is not dynamically adapted. Examples of such are described in EP publication 2040250 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,774,202 B2. In these examples ASR appears to be employed on a "black box" basis.

State and context dependent voice based interface for an unmanned vehicle or robot


A system and method for conducting verifiably correct auctions that preserves the secrecy of the bids while providing for verifiable correctness and trustworthiness of the auction is disclosed. Some of the elements of the method and apparatus are that the auction operator accepts all bids submitted and follows the published rules of the auction. In one embodiment, the bids are maintained secret from the auctioneer and all bidders until the auction closes and no bidder is able to change or repudiate her bid. In another embodiment, the auction operator computes the auction results and publishes proofs of the results' correctness. In yet another embodiment, any party can check these proofs of correctness via publicly verifiable computations on encrypted bids.

1. Field of Invention
Method and apparatus for facilitating verifiably correct auctions.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In recent years, auctions and electronic marketplaces have been used to facilitate trillions of dollars in trade in the world economy. Individual events, for instance, the procurement of truckload services by Proctor and Gamble, approach $1 billion in transaction value. The eBay marketplace reported a record $44.3 billion volume in the 2005 calendar year, representing a 30% increase over 2004. Governments world-wide use auctions to allocate property rights, including high profile auctions for wireless spectrum and licenses for new cars. Previously used for rare goods, or for time-sensitive goods (e.g., flowers, fish), auctions can now be harnessed for all kinds of commercial transactions. In a typical week in February, 2006, the U.S. treasury sells more than $25 billion in three-month treasury bills. Most recently sponsored search auctions have driven upwards of $1 billion in revenue to Google in a single quarter.
Despite this success, there is increasing evidence that fraud is an issue that can plague electronic auctions. Indeed, a number of authors have argued that the reason that theoretically appealing auctions such as Vickrey auctions are rare in practice is because of the problem of fraud and untrustworthy auctioneers. Two kinds of manipulations come to mind. The first is an auctioneer that deviates from the rules of an auction. This problem can be alleviated at a cost in privacy by the public revelation, and verification of all bids. Another, more subtle and harder to prevent problem can occur when an auctioneer is in collusion with some bidders, perhaps conveying useful information about bids received during the bidding process. Other fraud possibilities that arise in electronic auctions include refusal of the auctioneer to accept bids into the auction and refusal by bidders to reveal bids after the bid submission deadline.

Practical secrecy-preserving, verifiably correct and trustworthy auctions

President and Fellows of Harvard College


A remote-controlled dynamoelectric machine inspection vehicle that can fit and travel within a narrow air gap between a stator and rotor of a dynamoelectric machine. The inspection vehicle has an effectuator that can remotely activate a hammer driven by a high pressure pneumatic three-stage miniature piston that propels the hammer against a stator slot wedge creating an impact force that causes the wedge to vibrate. The vibrations are sensed to determine the tightness of the wedge.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for remotely testing dynamoelectric machine stator wedge tightness with the rotor in place. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus which includes a remotely controlled carriage small enough to fit into the air gap between the rotor and stator of a dynamoelectric machine, which carries an impactor to induce vibrations in the wedges which are measured by a sensor to provide information on wedge tightness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During scheduled and some forced outages of dynamoelectric machines, such as electric utility steam driven electric generators, one of the major concerns is the condition of the stator coils. Many tests are performed to quantify stator integrity. In the past, the most time consuming of these tests has been the test of stator wedge tightness since, originally, it has required removal of the rotor to gain access to the stator bore area, specifically the tooth tip area where the wedges are located. Removal of the rotor requires two to three days alone. The accepted industry method of testing stator wedge tightness is to "tap" the wedge, feel the resulting vibration, and listen to the sound. A loose wedge will vibrate more than a tight one, and can be felt with the fingers. In addition, a loose wedge will emit a characteristic hollow sound, which the experienced technician quickly learns to recognize as a loose wedge.
It is very important that wedge tightness be carefully ascertained and corrected if deficient because the tightness of the stator wedge is the only structural element that prevents stator coil vibration due to the combined effects of magnetic and mechanical loading. Field experience has shown that failure to hold the stator coil stationary in the stator slot permits ever increasing levels of vibration leading to deterioration and finally failure of the stator mica insulation and, in many instances, grounding or "flashover" of the coils. When this occurs, the owner/operator of the unit is faced with a time-consuming and expensive rewinding process. For these reasons, stator wedge tightness is of interest during routine outages, and not just when the rotor is removed.
One of the difficulties in testing wedge tightness without removal of the rotor is that there is as little as between 0.6 inch (1.52 cm) and 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) of clearance between the stator bore and the rotor retainer ring through which apparatus may be inserted to inspect the wedges distributed along the length of the stator. Another difficulty is that the wedges are made of non-conducive, non-magnetically permeable material such as, for example, fiberglass coated with Kevlar which is, compared to other materials such as steel, an absorbent of mechanical energy so that the techniques available for measuring tightness are limited. An additional difficulty, especially in the case of an impact tester, is that the stator coils extend radially outward about a horizontal axis such that the effect of gravity on the impactor varies with the angular position of the stator wedge being tested.
Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,000 discloses a low profile remotely controlled carriage for insertion into the gap between the rotor and stator of a dynamoelectric machine such as an electric generator for performing inspections. The carriage is positioned over a wedge with the aid of a miniaturized television camera. A solenoid when energized strikes the wedge and a microphone records the acoustic response. It has been found, however, that it is desirable to apply a larger and more repeatable impact force to the wedge than can be developed by a solenoid. It has also been found that it is difficult to assess with a computer the acoustic response recorded by the microphone.
The inspection apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,000 issued Dec. 26, 1989, also includes an eddy current tester which is used to assess the condition of the insulation between the stator laminations. Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,563 also discloses an eddy current tester mounted on a carriage inserted between the rotor and stator of an electric generator for inspecting the insulation between the stator laminations. The carriage in U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,563 is held in place against the stator by permanent magnets embedded in the carriage chassis.
Other attempts have been made to quantify the "tap, listen and feel" process for testing stator wedge tightness. A mechanical impedance probe has been developed which is based upon the recognition that during a resonance sweep, a tight wedge will resonate (shift phase) at a slightly higher frequency than a loose one. This method does not discriminate between different degrees of looseness nor does the apparatus have sufficient power to resonate wedges of the size and style used with the larger steam driven units. In addition, the unit is too large to fit into the rotor stator gap.
Another type of apparatus for measuring wedge tightness uses a force measurement system. The theory of operation is that when an impact force is applied to a stator wedge, the hammer will maintain contact with a loose wedge for a longer interval before recoiling than with the same wedge in a tight condition. This has been confirmed, however, the sensitivity of the test does not permit clear discrimination between the tight and loose conditions. Furthermore, a version of such a device small enough for use in the air gap of a generator has not been developed.
Commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,962,660 and 5,295,388 describe a low profile remotely controlled carriage which is inserted between the rotor and stator of an electric generator and carries an impactor which can be preloaded to strike the stator wedges in all orientations around the stator with a selected high impact force which causes the stator wedge to vibrate. An eddy current coil is employed to sense the vibration. The impact is imparted by a motor driven spring and cable system. The motor is used to load and cock the spring. An encoder on the motor counts the revolutions made while loading the spring to identify when the hammer is cocked and ready to be released under the force of the spring. The cable that connects the spring to the hammer on the existing system would typically fail at least once per inspection and sometimes two or three times. Each time there was a failure of the cable, the carriage would need to be removed from the generator and repaired. This repair would typically take two to three hours to complete with an hour for the carriage removal and another hour for reinstallation. Furthermore, the size of the system would not permit the current carriage to fit into gaps of less than 0.75 inch (1.90 cm). Furthermore, it is desirable to improve the cycle time of such a system.
Accordingly, a new wedge tightness tester is desired that can fit within the air gaps of dynamoelectric machines having air gaps in the order of 0.60 inches (1.52 cm) or larger. Furthermore, a new wedge tightness tester is desired that has an improved cycle time and enhanced reliability.

Apparatus for impact testing for electric generator stator wedge tightness


A tool for cutting surfaces at repeatable angles relative to the surface being cut is provided. In one embodiment, the tool is used for cutting a bone in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the bone. The tool includes a cylindrical bone cutter having an operable portion located at a proximal end of the cutter for cutting bone. The bone cutter has an internal surface and the internal surface defines an internal bore extending along a longitudinal axis of the cutter from a proximal end to a distal end. A probe, slidably mounted within the bore of the cutter, extends beyond the operable portion of the cutter, and is biased towards the bone surface. An indicator coupled to the probe designates the position of the probe relative to the operable portion of the cutter. When the indicator is maximally displaced away from the proximal end of the cutter, while maintaining the probe and the cutter in contact with the bone surface, the longitudinal axis of the cutter will be substantially perpendicular to the surface of the bone. At this point of maximum displacement, force may be applied to the cutter to make a cut into the bone that is orthogonal to the bone surface. Methods for using the tool are also provided.

Defects in articular cartilage associated with trauma and osteochondritis dissecans are difficult for surgeons to repair. The patient can expect to face progressive deterioration over time leading to advanced osteochondritis, arthritis and the possibility of joint replacement. The knee as a weight-bearing joint is particularly susceptible to this problem, although similar injuries to the articular cartilage of other joints in humans and other mammals also occur with regularity.
FIG. 1 illustrates a knee joint 10 between the distal end 11 (i.e., that surface farthest from the center of the body) of a femur 12 and the proximal end 13 (i.e., that surface closest to the center of the body) of the tibia 14. Portions 15, 17 of the connective tissue which movably ties the femur 12 to the underlying tibia 14 and fibula 18 are shown. Normally interposed between opposing surfaces of the femur 12 and tibia 14 are lateral and medial meniscus cartilages, 21 and 23, respectively. The condyles 22 at the distal end 11 of the femur 12 are normally supported by the meniscus cartilages 21 and 23 on the proximal end 13 of the tibia 14. Normally, the distal end 11 of femur 12, including the condyles 22 is covered by a layer 28 of cartilaginous material about 5 mm thick, referred to as the articular cartilage. Articular cartilage 28 forms a generally resilient pad which is fixed on the distal surface 11 of the femur 12 to protect the femur from wear and mechanical shock. The articular cartilage 28, when lubricated by fluid in the knee joint 10, provides a surface which is readily slidable on the underlying surfaces of the meniscus cartilages 21 and 23 or on the proximal surface 13 of the tibia 14 if one or both of the meniscus cartilages 21, 23 should be partially or totally absent. Nevertheless, the articular cartilage 28 may become damaged in that it may be torn 24 or holed or become excessively worn.
Methods have been used to repair such articular cartilage damage before it can spread or result in eventual injury or wear to the underlying condyles 22, meniscus cartilages 21, 23, or tissues associated with the tibia 14. It has been known to replace damaged articular cartilage with a layer of fibrous material. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,964, incorporated herein by reference. Repairing defects in articular cartilage in human or other mammalian joints therefore requires materials that have been approved by the FDA for use in the human body. It is often problematic to find such materials that are commercially available and relatively low in cost in which completion of the repairs are within the skills of qualified orthopedic surgeons. Another repair method involves packing an articular cartilage defect with bits of cancellous and cortical bone (Soviet Patent SU 1454423, Jun. 27, 1986, incorporated herein by reference) that have been chipped from defect-free bone. This latter technique avoids using foreign materials but, like the former methods, does not preserve the original orientation of bone and cartilage.
Prostheses have also been used for replacement of the joint itself. Problems encountered after implanting such prostheses are usually caused by the cements used to attach the prostheses to the host bone. Further, some prostheses associated with joint replacements are actually much larger than the degenerated tissue that needs to be replaced so that extensive portions of healthy bone are typically removed to accommodate the prostheses.
A vastly improved method and apparatus for cartilage repair is disclosed in a copending and commonly owned patent application entitled "Apparatus and Methods for Articular Cartilage Defect Repair", filed Mar. 7, 1995 and assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 08/399,428, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. application Ser. No. 08/399,428 discloses an apparatus and method for drilling out damaged cartilage and replacing the damaged portion with healthy cartilage from another part of the body. A section of the damaged cartilage and the bone thereunder is drilled-out. A bone plug, with healthy cartilage attached to its surface, is cut from another section of bone and then inserted into the drilled-out section of the damaged cartilage. The new bone plug with healthy cartilage provides a solution to the cartilage repair problem.
While the method and apparatus for cartilage repair disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/399,428 is an improvement over the prior art, a difficulty remains in that the healthy cartilage attached to the bone plug should be in registration with the remaining cartilage in the damaged cartilage area. In other words, the new healthy cartilage should be at the same level as the surrounding cartilage. To accomplish this, the drilled-out portion should be drilled at the same angle and size as the healthy bone plug. Otherwise, for example, if the healthy bone plug is cut at an angle, when it is inserted into a damaged area where the drilled-out portion is normal to the bone surface the healthy cartilage will not properly register with the surrounding cartilage and the repair may be unsuccessful or of limited success. During many bone cutting operations, the surgeon cannot directly see the surface of the bone to ensure that a bone cutter is correctly orientated with respect to the bone surface. Thus, the need remains to develop an apparatus and method which cuts bone at a repeatable orientation with respect to the bone surface.

Apparatus and method for cutting a surface at a repeatable angle


An induction heating device is disclosed for heating a rolling roller by induction heating so as to equalize the diameter of the rolling roller. The device includes an induction heater and a means for moving the induction heater to a portion of the roller surface to be heated, while the distance from the induction heater to the surface is maintained constant. An electric power supply means supplies electric power to the induction heater, and a means is provided for adjusting the quantity of heat to be produced by the induction heater according to the quantity of heat that is required by the portion of the roller to be heated. The heat quantity adjusting means includes a frequency control means for controlling the frequency of electric power supplied to the induction heater, wherein the frequency control means adjusts the frequency of electric power within a predetermined frequency range to a frequency which is suitable to produce the quantity of heat required by the portion of the rolling roller to be heated. The greater the amount of heating that is required, the higher the frequency utilized. Preferably, the frequency is adjusted within a range of from about 25 to about 200 kHz.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an induction heating device and a method of induction heating. More particularly, the present invention relates to an induction heating device and a method of induction heating used for local heating of a rolling roller of a rolling mill.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in a hot rolling process, a temperature difference occurs between a portion of a rolling roller in the roller width direction in which a rolled sheet passes and a portion of the rolling roller in the roller width direction in which the rolled sheet does not pass. Therefore, a difference in the roller diameter is caused in the roller width direction by the difference in the thermal expansion of the roller. Therefore, a hot rolling mill, which use an induction heating device for locally heating a low temperature portion of the rolling roller under the condition of non-contact so that the thermal expansion of the rolling roller can be kept constant in the roller width direction, was developed, as disclosed, for example, in JP2000-225406.
FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration showing an outline of a sheet rolling mill provided with a conventional induction heating device. In the sheet rolling mill, there are provided a pair of work rollers 1, 2 which are arranged opposed to each other. Also, there are provided a pair of backup rollers 3, 4 which are arranged in an upper and a lower portion. The sheet 5 to be rolled is inserted between the work rollers 1, 2 and hot-rolled and drawn out in the direction of arrow X. In this process of hot-rolling, the work rollers 1, 2 are thermally expanded by the heat of the sheet 5 to be rolled. Therefore, what is called a heat-crown is generated in which the roller diameter distribution in the roller axis direction becomes maximum at the center of the roller axis.
When hot-rolling is continued under the condition where a heat-crown is generated, the sheet thickness becomes unequal, and the quality of the rolled sheet deteriorates. In order to solve the above problems associated with a heat-crown, there are provided four induction heaters 6 on the delivery side (alternatively on the entry side) of the work rollers 1, 2 in such a manner that the induction heaters 6 can slide on the sliding rails 7 which are arranged in parallel with the axes of the work rollers 1, 2, while the induction heaters 6 are arranged opposed to the work rollers 1, 2. These induction heaters 6 are supplied with electric power by the electric power source unit 8xe2x80x2.
As shown in FIG. 8, each induction heater 6 is composed as follows. In a hollow portion of the coil 61, for example, there are provided ferromagnetic body cores 62 (ferrite), the profile of each of which is a rectangular parallelepiped, and also there are provided water-cooled plates 63 to cool the cores, wherein the ferromagnetic body cores 62 and the water-cooled plates 63 are alternately arranged in contact with each other. Cooling water is supplied from the cooling water supply unit 66 to each water-cooled plate 63 via the pipes 65, 64. Using the above structure, the occurrence of overheating caused by heat generated by the coil 61 and the ferromagnetic body cores 62 can be prevented.
This induction heating device reads the width of the sheet, reads the temperature of the sheet, reads a target profile of the rolled sheet, estimates current and future roller profile and controls the heating quantity and the heating position of the rollers so that an optimum sheet profile can be obtained after rolling.
In the above apparatus of the prior art, the quantity of heat given by the induction heater 6 is controlled when an electric current or voltage is controlled by the electric power supply unit 8xe2x80x2, and the frequency of electric power is not controlled. Therefore, the following problems may be encountered.
(1) When the frequency of electric power supplied to the coil 61 is low, the electric current generated on the surface of a roller penetrates into a deep portion of the roller. Therefore, not only the surface of the rolling roller 1, 2 but also the inside is heated. As a result, the heating density is lowered. Accordingly, the heating efficiency, which is necessary for correcting the thermal expansion of the rolling roller 1, 2, is lowered. Further, since the magnetic flux density in the core 62 tends to increase when the frequency is low, the size of the induction heater 6 necessary for obtaining a predetermined quantity of heat is increased.
(2) On the other hand, when the frequency of electric power supplied to the coil 61 is high, the high frequency loss of a feeder is increased, as is the loss of a matching circuit including the core 62, and the voltage impressed upon the coil. As a result, the electric power transmission efficiency is lowered and electric breakdown tends to occur due to the high voltage.
(3) Electric power outputted from the electric power supply unit 8xe2x80x2 is adjusted by adjusting the electric current or voltage. Therefore, it is not possible to reduce the size of the electric power supply unit 8xe2x80x2 significantly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an induction heating device for heating a rolling roller by induction heating and a method of induction heating by which the diameter of the rolling roller can be stably equalized.
According to the present invention, there is provided an induction heating device for heating a rolling roller by induction heating so as to equalize the diameter of the rolling roller, comprising:
an induction heater; an induction heater moving means for moving the induction heater to a heating portion while a distance from the induction heater to the surface of a portion to be heated is kept constant; an electric power supply means for supplying electric power to the induction heater; and a heat quantity adjusting means for adjusting the quantity of heat of the induction heater according to the quantity of heat required by the heating portion, the heat quantity adjusting means including a frequency control means for controlling the frequency of electric power supplied to the induction heater, wherein the frequency control means adjusts the frequency of electric power to be high in a predetermined frequency range when the quantity of heat required by the heating portion is large, and adjusts the frequency of electric power to be low when the quantity of heat required by the heating portion is small.
According to the present invention, there is also provided an induction heating method of heating a rolling roller by an induction heating device so as to equalize the diameter of the rolling roller,
the induction heating device comprising: an induction heater; an induction heater moving means for moving the induction heater to a heating portion while the distance from the induction heater to the surface of a portion to be heated is kept constant; an electric power supply means for supplying electric power to the induction heater; and a heat quantity adjusting means for adjusting the quantity of heat of the induction heater according to the quantity of heat required by the heating portion,
the induction heating method comprising the steps of: adjusting the frequency of electric power to be high in a predetermined frequency range by the frequency control means when the quantity of heat required by the heating portion is large; and adjusting the frequency of electric power to be low by the frequency control means when the quantity of heat required by the heating portion is small.
The present invention can be more fully understood from the description of preferred embodiments of the invention set forth below, together with the accompanying drawings.

Induction heating device for rolling roller and method of induction heating


Disclosed is a metallic-molding-material runner system that includes a collection of branches. The collection of branches is configured to substantially equilibrate flow of a metallic-molding material from a molding system into a mold.

Molding systems, such as the Thixosystem manufactured by Husky Injection Molding Systems Limited, are used for molding parts made from a metallic-molding material, such as (but limited to) magnesium, aluminum, and/or zinc, (or alloys thereof), etc. Some molds define a complicated mold cavity that may be difficult to fill with the metallic-molding material because the metallic-molding material needs to be handled at a very hot operating temperature (such as, 1075 degrees Fahrenheit or 580 degrees Centigrade) and then it needs to be cooled down to a temperature that is significantly lower than the operating temperature.
A critical issue with filling the mold with the metallic-molding material is whether there is sufficient "pack-out" pressure applied to the metallic-molding material to pack out the mold. The pack-out problem usually leads to defects in a molded part, such as shrinkage-porosity defects and/or flow defects. For example, magnesium experiences a reduction of approximately 10% in volume when the magnesium changes from a molten state to a solid state. To overcome this difficulty, a sufficient pack-out pressure must be applied to the metallic-molding material after the mold is filled. However, molds usually have complicated geometries and it is very difficult to ensure pack out of the mold. If a first section of the mold becomes filled before a second section of the mold is filled, the first section will become packed out under a significantly lower pressure because the second section has not yet been filled. The first section will shrink significantly and will have a lower density in comparison to the second section because the second section will experience a pack out pressure that was not experienced by the first section.
The following is a summary of potential art that does not appear to provide a solution to the above-mentioned problem of packing out molds with a metallic-molding material. Resin-based molding materials are not analogous to metallic-molding materials because metallic-molding materials (i) have a low heat capacity such that heat flows quickly from the metallic-molding material over to molding-system components, while in sharp contrast, resin-based molding materials have a high heat capacity such that heat flows slowly from the resin-based molding material over to molding-system components, and (ii) metallic-molding materials are melted at significantly higher temperatures in sharp contrast to the temperatures at which resin-based molding materials are melted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,855 (Inventor: Betters et al; Published: Jun. 9, 1998) discloses molding of large components for use in automotive bumpers by using a sequential fill valve gated injection molding system operative on plastic-resin-based molding material.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,875,383 (Inventor: Smith et al; Published: Apr. 5, 2005) discloses injection molding of a molten material by sequentially injecting the molten material into mold cavities at a rate to fill and pack the cavities with the molten material, and then holding the molten material in the mold cavities. The methods and devices appear to be effective to reduce the clamping force needed to clamp multiple cavity molds.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,767 (Inventor: Tarr et al; Published: Aug. 8, 2000) discloses an injection mold bushing having central passageway for shut-off gate pin and separate passageway for injecting molten plastic. The wear bushing is positioned at the outlet end of the mold bushing to protect it from wear from the molten plastic and to direct the plastic through a tip orifice.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,486 (Inventor: Doughty et al; Published: Jul. 27, 2004) discloses an injection molding system that includes a controller to control rate of material flow through first runner independently of second runner.
The following references appear to be applicable to systems and components for molding metallic-molding materials, but they appear to not resolve the problem of pack out of metallic molding material held in a mold.
PCT Patent No. WO 2004/078383 A1 (Inventor: Manda; Published: Sep. 16, 2004; Assignee: Husky Injection Molding Systems Limited, Canada) discloses a sprue apparatus for injection molding or die-casting machine. The sprue apparatus has a nozzle connection interface, a melt duct, a mold-connection interface, and thermal regulators for regulating thermal zones that segment length of the sprue apparatus.
European Patent No. 1,101,550 A1 (Inventor: Massano et al; Published: May 23, 2001; Assignee: Plasthing Services S.r.l., Italy) discloses a mold for injection molding of e.g. magnesium, magnesium alloy. The mold has electrical resistors arranged for heating feed socket, distribution plate, injectors and spacer elements.
PCT Patent No. WO 2005/110704 A1 (Inventor: Manda et al; Published: Assignee: Husky Injection Molding Systems Limited, Canada) discloses a molding-machine-melt-conduit coupler useful in a runner system and in an injection-molding machine. The coupler includes coupling structure having surface coupling with two melt conduits and cooling structure to provide coolant to coupling structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,669 (Inventor: Suzuki et al; Published: Sep. 6, 2005; Assignee: Denso Corporation, Japan) discloses injection molding of metal products that involves heating tip of hot runner, spraying lubricant onto molding surface and metering material, simultaneously between mold clamping and pressurizing processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,021 (Inventor: Shibata et al; Published: Mar. 18, 2003; Assignee: Ju-Oh Inc., Japan) discloses a metal mold of hot runner type injection molding machine and method of manufacturing the metal mold.

Metallic-molding-material runner having equilibrated flow


An apparatus for aligning a mask having an image and at least one complimentary alignment mark to a substrate having a first surface and a substantially opposing second surface. The substrate further has at least one alignment mark on the second surface. A mask support supports the mask in proximity to the first surface of the substrate. A substrate support supports the substrate with the first surface in proximity to the mask. An alignment means aligns the at least one alignment mark on the second surface of the substrate to the at least one complimentary alignment mark on the mask. An exposure source projects the image of the mask onto the first surface of the substrate, and a controller controls the mask support, substrate support, alignment means, and exposure source.

Multiple layers are built upon a substrate during the fabrication of an integrated circuit. These layers define various electrical structures of the integrated circuit. The alignment of the layers requires accuracy and precision. Typically, alignment marks are included in one or more of the initial layers, and the masks for the subsequent layers are aligned to these alignment marks. Thus, the accuracy of the alignment tends to be dependent upon the clarity and accuracy of the alignment marks. As layers of the integrated circuit are built up, etched, polished, and removed, the alignment marks might be completely removed, significantly altered, or covered during the fabrication of the integrated circuit. As a result, the subsequent layers of the integrated circuit may be misaligned as the alignment marks are changed during processing. Even the slight misalignment of a layer during the fabrication of the integrated circuit can cause one or more components of the integrated circuit to malfunction. Thus, misalignment of a layer tends to reduce the process yield and increase the cost of the integrated circuits. Moreover, misalignment of a layer can create device reliability issues.
What is needed, therefore, is a system for reliably aligning the various layers of an integrated circuit to a substrate.


The present invention relates to an image sensor for a capsule endoscope which enables a dual mode operation, and more particularly, to an image sensor for a capsule endoscope wherein two image sensors identically designed and manufactured for photographing the inside of a human body are used and set as a master and a slave, respectively so as to enable a dual mode operation in which two chips are linkage-operated.

An apparatus and a method for collecting video information among the various medical information of the inside of the human body are widely well-known. Recently, an endoscope of the capsule type has been developed from the general wire endoscope and it is used to diagnose different diseases in the medical field.
In the endoscope of the capsule type, in other words, the capsule endoscope, where the patient swallows it like the tablet, the video data of the digestive organ of the inside of the human body, which is caught through the camera of the endoscope, is transmitted to the external receiving device and it can play the video in the monitor.
The moving speed and the movement of the ingesta are different according to the property of each digestive organ of the human body. Especially, since the moving speed thereof is fast in throat and the large intestine is wide, it is not easy to obtain the video information without missing parts.
In order to solve this problem, a bi-directional photographing capsule endoscope equipped a sensor capable of bilaterally photographing a target object (using two image sensors) has been developed away from an one-way manner (using one image sensor) along with the high-speed photography.
When two image sensors for just taking a photograph at high speed are utilized for the bi-directional photographing capsule endoscope, the power consumption of the capsule endoscope is increased to double. In this case, there is a problem in that the operating time is drastically decreased due to the property of the battery. Also, since the image sensor makes up the majority of the total power consumption of the capsule endoscope, it cannot complete the photography of the target organ just as intended owing to the increasing of the consumable current of the image sensor.
Moreover, there are problems in that tow image sensors (master and slave) should be designed and manufactured or a controller for controlling the operation thereof should be added thereto.

Image sensor for capsule endoscope enabling dual mode operation


Various implementations are disclosed of producing a 3-dimensional model of a scene. Various method, electronic device, or system implementations use RGB-D camera to provide RGB-D video content or periodic aligned RGB images and depth images to localize camera spatial position(s) defined in a three dimensional (3D) coordinate system or reconstruct a 3D virtual representation of a current camera frame in the 3D coordinate system, each in real time.

Digital video capabilities can be incorporated into a wide range of devices, including digital televisions, digital direct broadcast systems, wireless broadcast systems, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop or desktop computers, tablet computers, e-book readers, digital cameras, digital recording devices, digital media players, video gaming devices, video game consoles, cellular or satellite radio telephones, so-called "smart phones," video teleconferencing devices, video streaming devices, and the like. Digital video devices implement video coding techniques, such as those described in the standards defined by MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264/MPEG-4, Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), and extensions of such standards. The video devices may transmit, receive, encode, decode, or store digital video information more efficiently by implementing such video coding techniques.
Digital video capabilities include virtual representation of a current view of the real world scene of an RGB-D sensor.

Reconstructing views of real world 3D scenes