An electrical connector assembly comprises an insulative housing (11), a plurality terminals received in the housing (11), a locating frame (12) mounted on an upper surface of the housing (11), a plurality of locating pins (15) for connecting the locating frame (12) and the housing (11) to the printed circuit board (14). The housing (11) defines a plurality of receiving holes (111), which defines a plurality of spaced deformable retaining portions (112) separately on the inner wall thereof, and each deformable retaining portion (112) defines two slant surfaces (113) on two sides thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of electrical connector assemblies, and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly provided for mechanically and electrically connecting chip modules to printed circuit boards (PCBS).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical connector assemblies are widely used in the connector industry for electrically connecting chip modules to printed circuit boards (PCBs) in personal computer.
A conventional electrical connector assembly comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of terminals received in corresponding passageways of the housing, a locating frame mounted on an upper surface of the housing and a plurality of locating pins for connecting the housing and the locating frame to the printed circuit board. The housing defines a number of smoothly receiving holes for receiving the locating pin therein and the locating frame and the printed circuit board each define a plurality of first through holes and second through holes in correspondence with the receiving holes of the housing. In assembly, the terminals are inserted into the housing and then soldered to the printed circuit board. Successively the locating frame is mounted on the housing with the first holes in line with the receiving holes and the second holes. At last, the locating pins are inserted through the first through holes, the receiving holes and the second holes in turn and engages interferentially with the holes, thereby the locating frame and the housing are connected to the printed circuit board.
However, in the electrical connector assembly described in above context, the receiving holes of the housing are smoothly defined which makes a greater contacting surface between inner walls of the receiving holes and the locating pins. So there need a greater force, when the locating pins are inserted into the receiving holes, which make the assembly more difficult. In addition, the locating pin is usually made of metal material and the housing is made of insulative material. When the temperate changes, the size of the receiving holes opening on the housing make a greater change than the size of the locating pin, thereby the locating pin do not engage with the receiving holes, which influences the engagement between the locating pin and the housing.
Thus, there is a need to provide a new connector assembly that overcomes the above-mentioned problems.


The present disclosure relates to chemical compounds and their use in human therapy. In a specific embodiment, compounds of Formula (I) or an isomer, a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof or a pharmaceutically acceptable formulation comprising said compounds

Depression is a debilitating disease causing significant mortality and affecting up to ten percent of the population. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's) have proven to be effective in treating depression, but have the disadvantages of delayed onset of antidepressant activity, limited efficacy and significant side effects. See Novel strategies for pharmacotherapy of depression, K. A. Maubach, N. M. J. Rupniak, M. S. Kramer, and R. G. Hill, Current Opinion in Chemical Biology 1999, 3, 491–499. Another class of clinically effective antidepressants are substance P (SP) antagonists which show high affinity and selectivity for the neurokinin 1 (NK-1) receptor. Robust antidepressant activity has been reported for two NK-1 antagonists, MK-869 (M. S. Kramer, et al., Science 1998, 281 1640) and CP-122,721 (T. J. Rosen, et al., Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters 1998, 8, 28 and CNS Drug News, December, 2000, 24). NK1 antagonists offer an alternative approach for treating depression in patients that respond poorly to the SSRI's and other available drugs.
The first dual NK-1 antagonists-serotonin reuptake inhibitors were described by Ryckmans et al. [Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2002, 12, 261–264]. Ryckmans discloses phenoxy acetamides and phenyl propionamides as NK-1 antagonists and serotonin reuptake inhibitors and the potential of a new generation of antidepressants.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,824 discloses piperidinyl-propane-2-derivatives which exhibit both NK-1 receptor antagonism and/or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (hereinafter referred to as SSRI) activity.
International Application WO2004/005256 discloses cyclic amine derivatives that exhibit both NK-1 receptor antagonism and/or SSRI activity.
International Application WO2004/005255 discloses N-benzyl-3-phenyl-3-heterocyclic-propionamide compounds as tachykinin and/or serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
The compounds of the present disclosure have activity as NK-1 antagonists and/or also have activity as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Thus, they are of use in the treatment of conditions mediated by tachykinins and/or selective inhibition of the serotonin reuptake transporter protein. One aspect of the class of compounds of the present disclosure exhibit both NK-1 receptor antagonist and SSRI activity.
Thus, novel dual NK-1 antagonists and SSRI inhibitors effective for the treatment of numerous disorders, such as central nervous system disorders, would be advantageous.

Homopiperidine derivatives as NK-1 antagonists

Abstract: useful for the treatment or prevention of conditions mediated by tachykinins and/or selective inhibition of serotonin reuptake transporter protein. The compounds act as dual NK-1 antagonists and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.


A push-up device includes a base that has a rubber-padded bottom and opposed long flanges rising from the bottom. A series of apertures is formed in each flange to establish a series of aperture pairs, such that two wood dowels can be positioned through respective aperture pairs to establish respective hand holds for the left and right hands of a user. The distance between the dowels can be established as desired by the user by positioning the dowels in the appropriate aperture pairs. Alternatively, the apertures in each flange can be connected to each other to establish a long channel having a series of enlarged bays. In still another embodiment, an elongated rectangular base with opposed long flanges rising from the bottom of the base includes transverse hand ramps that span the flanges, with the hand ramps being angled relative to the base. The angle of successive hand ramps relatively to the horizontal plane becomes increasing acute, moving from the center of the base outwardly.

Executing push-ups is a well-known healthful exercise for developing and maintaining a strong upper body and general cardiovascular fitness. To execute a push-up, a person faces the ground in a prone position and supports himself or herself on the toes and hands, with the spacing between the hands being variably established as appropriate for focussing the exercise on a particular muscle group. For example, placing the hands relatively close together focusses the exercise on the triceps, whereas placing the hands relatively far apart focusses the exercise on the shoulders. The person then alternatingly pushes up and lowers himself or herself relative to the ground, all the while supporting himself or herself on the toes and hands only.
While it is beneficial to perform push-ups on the ground, the present invention recognizes that it is difficult and unpleasant to perform push-ups on uneven, rough, or gravelly ground. More specifically, a person can abrade, cut, and otherwise injure his or her hands when performing push-ups on rough ground. Furthermore, as recognized herein a person's hands can slip apart and cause the person to fall face down when the person performs push-ups on wet ground, such as wet grass, again potentially causing injury. Indeed, hand slippage can undesirably occur on any surface, particularly when the person places his or her hands relatively far apart. The present invention recognizes, however, that it is possible to provide a device for promoting and facilitating safe, efficient execution of push-ups without undue risk.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for facilitating push-ups. Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for facilitating push-ups which permits variable spacing between the hands. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a device for facilitating push-ups that is configured for optimal hand placement on hand holds on the device during push-ups. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a device for facilitating push-ups that is easy to use and cost-effective.


This disclosure describes decoding techniques for audio information encoded according to mid-side (MS) stereo encoding. The techniques involve a number of audio decoding tasks that are performed in a non-conventional order. By rearranging the order of the decoding tasks, various efficiencies can be achieved. In one embodiment, a method of decoding MS stereo audio information includes decoding a first channel of the audio information, computing an inverse modified discrete cosine transform (IMDCT) for the first channel prior to generating MS stereo information, decoding the second channel of the audio information, computing an IMDCT for the second channel prior to generating the MS stereo information, and generating the MS stereo information using the IMDCTs for the first and second channels.

Audio coding is used in many applications and environments such as satellite radio, digital radio, internet streaming (web radio), digital music players, and a variety of mobile multimedia applications. There are many audio coding standards, such as standards according to the motion pictures expert group (MPEG), windows media audio (WMA), and standards by Dolby Laboratories, Inc. Many audio coding standards continue to emerge, including the MP3 standard and successors to the MP3 standard, such as the advanced audio coding (AAC) standard used in "iPod" devices sold by Apple Computer, Inc. Audio coding standards generally seek to achieve low bitrate, high quality audio coding using compression techniques. Some audio coding is "loss-less", meaning that the coding does not degrade the audio signal, while other audio coding may introduce some loss in order to achieve additional compression.
In many applications, audio coding is used with video coding in order to provide multi-media content for applications such as video telephony (VT) or streaming video. Video coding standards according to the MPEG, for example, often use audio and video coding. The MPEG standards currently include MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, but other standards will likely emerge. Other exemplary video standards include the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) H.263 standards, ITU H.264 standards, QuickTime™ technology developed by Apple Computer Inc., Video for Windows™ developed by Microsoft Corporation, Indeo™ developed by Intel Corporation, RealVideo™ from RealNetworks, Inc., and Cinepak™ developed by SuperMac, Inc. Some audio and video standards are open source, while others remain proprietary. Many other audio and video coding standards will continue to emerge and evolve.
Stereo coding refers to audio coding that uses two different coding channels. Since humans have two ears, which can detect sound in a directional fashion, stereo coding can improve the quality of perceived sound that is detected by humans from a decoded audio signal. One relatively intuitive way to encode stereo sound information is to use left and right channels to code left and right signals respectively. However, for complex sound such as musical recordings, left and right encoding channels do not work particularly well, due to the fact that left and right microphones can detect the same sounds at different time delays. For this reason, mid-side (MS) stereo was developed to improve stereo sound quality.
In MS stereo, two different signals are used to respectively code the location of sound sources and the reverberant ambiance of the stereo image. Basically, MS stereo is encoded via a middle signal and a side signal. Following decode, a left channel is generally the sum of two coded channels, while the right channel is generally the difference between the two coded channels. By using a middle stereo component and a side stereo component, stereo redundancies in left and right channels can be exploited to achieve better quality stereo coding, as well as better levels of compression for a given level of quality.

Audio decoding techniques for mid-side stereo


Disclosed is a physical unclonable function generator circuit and method. In one embodiment, physical unclonable function (PUF) generator includes: a PUF cell array that comprises a plurality of bit cells, wherein each of the plurality of bit cells comprises at least two access transistors, at least one enable transistor, and at least two storage nodes, wherein the at least two storage nodes are pre-configured with substantially the same voltages allowing each of the plurality of bit cells having a first metastable logical state; a PUF control circuit coupled to the PUF cell array, wherein the PUF control circuit is configured to access the plurality of bit cells to determine second logical states by turning on the at least one enable transistor and turning off the at least two access transistors of each of the plurality of bit cells, and based on the second logical states of the plurality of bit cells, to generate a PUF output; and a noise injector coupled to the PUF control circuit and the PUF cell array, wherein the noise injector is configured to create stressed operation conditions to evaluate stability of the plurality of bit cells.

With the increasing use of integrated circuits in electronic devices that provide different types of information for a variety of different applications, there has been an increasing need to protect sensitive and/or critical information that may be stored within an electronic device to limit access to such information to only other devices that have permission to access the information. Some examples of such applications include the authentication of devices, protection of confidential information within a device, and securing a communication between two or more devices.
A physically unclonable function (PUF) generator is a physical structure generally within an integrated circuit that provides a number of corresponding outputs (e.g., responses) in response to inputs (e.g., challenges/requests) to the PUF generator. The PUF generator provides one or more sets of challenge response pairs (CRPs). A unique identity of the integrated circuit may be established by such CRPs provided by the PUF generator. With the establishment of the identity, secure communication can be guaranteed. The PUF generator can also be used for existing authentication purposes to replace the current method of assigning an identity to an electronic device. Since the PUF generator is based on intrinsic properties of a manufacturing process, the PUF has various advantages over conventional authentication approaches that inscribes an identity on a device which may be mimicked and/or reverse engineered more easily. However, such inherent variation may be affected by dynamic noise resulting in an unpredictable behavior of a PUF generator. There exists a need to develop a method to quickly evaluate stability of bit cells in the PUF generator in order to mask those that are unpredictable and filter out unstable bit cells in the PUF generator to produce unique, unclonable and reliable PUF signatures.

Method and apparatus for noise injection for PUF generator characterization

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


Process for moulding a make-up composition in a mould comprising a concave moulding surface forming the base of the mould and a bottom forming the upper component of the mould and closing off the space bounded by the said moulding surface, the composition being cast in the said mould in fluid form and subsequently solidifying to form a demouldable solid product capable of being packaged, in which the said composition is cast in a mould (1) whose bottom consists at least partly of a sheet (2) of open-cell plastic foam, so as partly to impregnate the said foam sheet (2) with the said composition and in which, after solidifying of the said composition, a moulded product consisting of the solidified composition and of the foam sheet which is bonded to it and which forms its support, is demoulded by removing the moulding surface (1).

The present invention relates to a process for molding a make-up composition by casting in a mold, in fluid form, and solidifying the composition, so as to obtain a solid molded product in the form of a block or cake, it being subsequently possible for the composition to be picked off from the molded product with the aid of a finger, a brush or a puff; the invention also relates to the product obtained by this process.
The make-up composition to be molded may be in the form of a paste obtained by mixing a solid particulate phase either with an aqueous phase or with a binding agent, especially a fatty phase, in a solvent; it may also be in the form of a product based on a heat-fusible wax or of a gel which is cast in the hot state. Depending on the composition employed, the solidification therefore takes place either by evaporation of water or of solvent, or by cooling, or by chemical reaction.
It is known to cast a make-up composition in a mold of a certain volume including chiefly a molding surface which imparts its shape (flat, curved or provided with relief or indented figures) to the surface for taking off the composition and a bottom, in most cases flat, provided with one or more openings through which the composition to be molded is cast. Depending on the make-up composition which is processed, the phenomenon of shrinkage during the solidification may be considerable. This is the case especially with the compositions described in patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,538, EP-A-165,137 and DE-A-3,327,001. The molded block obtained is then packaged but, because of the shrinkage, its dimensions and its shape can vary, and it is difficult to keep it in place in this package and to wedge it against the rigid surface forming the bottom of the package such as a case; the main function of the rigid surface is to prevent the molded block from breaking up in the course of the various handling operations and to protect it, but the shrinkage destroys the wedging and prevents the packaging from fulfilling its function in a satisfactory manner. If the molded block is badly wedged it tends to break up in the course of storage; because of its nature it is actually very brittle because it must be capable of being disintegrated to allow it to be picked off.
To avoid this disadvantage it has already been proposed, in EP-A-191,198 and in EP-A-38,645, to perform the casting in a dish resting on a molding surface, the bottom of the dish being provided with crosspieces, reinforcement or other anchoring devices. On solidifying, the composition binds to the bottom of the dish and a product of molding is then packaged, including of the solidified composition and its associated dish. The dish is used as a support for the solidified composition and, since the dish has determined dimensions, the molded product is easy to keep in place and to wedge in a rigid package. However, it has been found that after drying or cooling, cracks are formed because of a shrinkage of the composition in relation to the dish and to the regions for bonding to the latter. The product sold is consequently embrittled and tends to fragment during the various subsequent handling operations, especially when the product is being used.
It is therefore desirable to define a packaging for this type of composition, which at the same time makes it possible to ensure the wedging and the maintaining of the solidified composition in a protective packaging eliminating the risk of breaking up and to permit the shrinking of the composition without embrittlement of the molded block; two functions must therefore be ensured simultaneously.


Provided is a photoelectric conversion element that has an nip structure formed of amorphous silicon and that is improved in energy conversion efficiency by a structure in which an n+-type a-Si layer is in contact with a transparent electrode formed by an n+-type ZnO layer. This makes it possible to realize photoelectric conversion elements and a solar cell module or facility with large area and high power with an influence on the global resources minimized.

In general, as solar cells for converting solar energy into electricity, there have been proposed various solar cells such as silicon-based, compound-based, and organic-based solar cells. It is considered that since the silicon-based solar cells use, as its material, silicon which is present in a large amount as an earth resource, the problem of resource exhaustion or the like does not arise as compared with the other compound-based and organic-based solar cells.
The silicon-based solar cells can be classified into the monocrystalline type, the polycrystalline type, and the amorphous type. Among these silicon-based solar cells, the monocrystalline type and polycrystalline type solar cells are of the bulk type while the amorphous type solar cell is of the thin film type. Herein, it is necessary to form a film having a thickness of about 100 μm for the bulk type silicon solar cell while it is sufficient to form a film having a thickness of about 0.5 μm for the thin film type silicon solar cell.
Recently, among the above-mentioned various solar cells, the bulk-type silicon solar cells tend to be widely used because the energy conversion efficiency is relatively high and further the manufacturing cost is relatively low. However, with the rapid increase in demand for the bulk-type silicon solar cells, a large amount of monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon might be needed as materials and result in a serious increase in cost. This also might make it difficult to acquire the materials.
In the meanwhile, it has been proposed to use the solar energy as an alternative energy that substitutes for the thermal or hydraulic power. In order to use the solar energy as the alternative energy for substituting the thermal or hydraulic power, there is required a solar cell facility having a large area on the order of 1 km2 to supply high power instead of the thermal or hydraulic power.
In the case of the monocrystalline type or polycrystalline type silicon solar cell, it is necessary to form a thick monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon film, and therefore, it is very difficult to produce the solar cell facility with a large area and high power in terms of both cost and resource as also described above.
In contrast, in the case of the amorphous type silicon solar cell, the thickness of an amorphous silicon film can be 1/100 or less as compared with the monocrystalline type or polycrystalline type silicon solar cell, and therefore, it is suitable for actually manufacturing, at a low cost, the solar cell facility with a large area and high power.
However, it is pointed out that the amorphous type silicon solar cell is disadvantageous in that the energy conversion efficiency is about 6% to 7% and is extremely low as compared with the monocrystalline type or polycrystalline type silicon solar cell having an energy conversion efficiency of about 20%. In addition, it is also pointed out that the energy conversion efficiency of the amorphous type silicon solar cell decreases with an increase of the area.
Patent Document 1 discloses forming a transparent electrode having an oblique section on a substrate in order to improve the performance of a thin film type solar cell and using one of ZnO, SnO2, and ITO as the transparent electrode.
Patent Document 2 discloses an amorphous type silicon solar cell having SnO2 or ZnO as a transparent electrode layer.

Photoelectric conversion element and solar cell

National University Corporation Tohoku University


In the method, a set of limits applicable to a test rod pattern design are defined, and a sequence strategy for positioning one or more subsets of the test rod pattern design is established. Reactor operation on a subset of the test rod pattern design, which may be a subset of fuel bundles in a reactor core for example, is simulated to produce a plurality of simulated results. The simulated results are compared against the limits, and data from the comparison is provided to indicate whether any of the limits were violated by the test rod pattern design during the simulation. A designer or engineer may use the data to determine which operator parameters need to be adjusted (e.g., control blade notch positions for example) in order to create a derivative rod pattern design for simulation, and eventually perfect a rod pattern design for a particular core.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to nuclear reactors, and more particularly to identifying rod pattern designs for a core of a nuclear reactor.
2. Related Art
A core of a nuclear reactor such as boiling water reactor (BWR) or pressurized water reactor (PWR) has several hundred individual fuel bundles of fuel rods (BWR) or groups of fuel rods (PWR) that have different characteristics. These bundles (fuel rod groups) are preferably arranged so that interaction between rods within a fuel bundle (rod group), and between fuel bundles (fuel rod groups) satisfies all regulatory and reactor design constraints, including governmental and customer-specified constraints. Additionally, the rod pattern design, e.g., the arrangement of control mechanisms such as control blades (BWR) or control rods (PWR) within the core must be determined so as to optimize core cycle energy. Core cycle energy is the amount of energy that a reactor core generates before the core needs to be refreshed with new fuel elements, such as is done at an outage.
In the case of a BWR, for example, the number of potential bundle arrangements within the core and individual fuel element arrangements within a bundle may be in excess of several hundred factorial. From these many different possible configurations, only a small percentage of rod pattern designs may satisfy all applicable design constraints. Further, only a small percentage of these rod patterns designs, which do satisfy all applicable design constraints, are economical.
Traditionally, rod pattern design determinations have been made on a trial and error basis. Specifically, and based on only the past experience of the engineer or designer, in designing a rod pattern design an initial pattern design was identified. The initially identified rod pattern design was then simulated in a computer. If a particular design constraint was not satisfied, then the arrangement was modified and another computer simulation was run. Many weeks of resources typically were required before an appropriate rod pattern design was identified using the above-described procedure.
For example, a current process being used is a stand-alone manual rod pattern design process that requires a designer to repeatedly enter reactor plant specific operational parameters into an ASCII text file, which is an input file. Data entered into the input file includes blade notch positions of control blades (if the evaluated reactor is a boiling water reactor (BWR)), core flow, core exposure (e.g., the amount of burn in a core energy cycle, measured in mega-watt days per short time (MWD/st), etc.
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensed core simulation program reads the resulting input file and outputs the results of the simulation to a text or binary file. A designer then evaluates the simulation output to determine if the design criteria has been met, and also to verify that no violations of margins to thermal limits have occurred. Failure to meet design criteria (i.e., violations of one or more limits) require a manual designer modification to the input file. Specifically, the designer would manually change one or more operation parameter and rerun the core simulation program. This process was repeated until a satisfactory rod pattern design was achieved.
This process is extremely time consuming. The required ASCII text files are laborious to construct, and often are error prone. The files are fixed-format and extremely long, sometimes exceeding five thousand or more lines of code. A single error in the file results in a crash of the simulator, or worse, results in a mildly errant result that may be hard to initially detect, but will profligate with time and iterations to perhaps reduce core cycle energy when placed in an actual operating nuclear reactor core.
Further, no assistance is provided via the manual iterative process in order to guide a designer toward a more favorable rod pattern design solution. In the current process, the responsible designer or engineer's experience and intuition are the sole means of determining a rod pattern design solution.

Method and arrangement for developing rod patterns in nuclear reactors


A navigation application can be configured to output a navigation map corresponding to directions to a selected point of interest (POI). The navigation application can also be configured to detect that a location of an end-user device is within a predetermined parking proximity of the selected POI. The navigation application can further be configured to provide a request to a navigation server for parking options associated with the selected POI.

A position tracking device is a device that can employ a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS or other system such as a wireless carrier network to determine a precise location of a vehicle, person or other asset to which the position tracking device is attached to and/or located in and to record the position of the asset at regular intervals. The recorded location data can be stored within the position tracking unit, or recorded location data may be transmitted to a central location database or an internet-connected computer, using a cellular data connection such as the general packet radio service (GPRS) (e.g., a 2G or 3G data network), a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, Short Message Service (SMS) messages, radio or satellite modem embedded in the position tracking device, etc. This allows the asset's location to be displayed against a map backdrop either in real-time or when analyzing the track later, using tracking software. Position tracking software (e.g., a navigation application) is available for end-user devices, such that an end-user device can execute a navigation application that can operate as a position tracking device (e.g., a smartphone).
A parking lot, also known as a car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most countries where cars are the dominant mode of transportation, parking lots are a feature of every city and suburban area. Shopping malls, sports stadiums and similar venues often feature car parks of immense area. As an alternative, in many instances, street parking (e.g., parking at a parking meter or other curbside parking) is often available in urban areas.


This document describes techniques and devices for a refined search with machine learning. These techniques improve computer-aided searches through enabling selection of search criteria used in a prior search and providing a refined search result based on that selection. Furthermore, a machine-learning component of a search engine can be altered to improve future search results based on the selection and an indication of the desirability of the refined search result.

Computer-aided searches are not only commonplace for billions of people, they are nearly essential in many people's day-to-day lives. Because of this, conventional search techniques use complex search algorithms to provide search results that are better and better tailored to what a person seeks.
Even with these complex search algorithms, however, conventional search techniques can fail to provide a desired result. This can be due to a lack of information, or, more commonly, a failure to properly use the different parts of the information, such as which terms to confidence higher than others, and how to correlate different terms and user actions to discern what matters most and how to use them to gain the desired result. Assume, for example, that a person has been making phone calls to various businesses in the last few minutes, and then enters a search query for "medical providers." A search engine may decide that the person is wanting to make a phone call to his or her insurance provider or local physician, rather than to an emergency room or ambulance service, by using the prior business calls as search criteria along with the search terms. Assume, however, that the provided results—the person's insurance provider and local physician—are not the desired result. In this example and often in billions of searches made worldwide, the result does not provide what the person desired.
This background description is provided for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, material described in this section is neither expressly nor impliedly admitted to be prior art to the present disclosure or the appended claims.


A hand-held vacuum cleaner includes a housing, a suction fan and a first motor assembly located in the housing and a dirt container detachably mounted on the housing. A suction nozzle is selectively mounted on the housing and is usable both in an attached position and in a detached position for cleaning. A brushroll and a second motor are mounted within the suction nozzle. An electrified hose is connected to the housing and to the suction nozzle. The dirt container includes an inlet in fluid communication with the electrified hose, and an outlet in fluid communication with the suction fan and first motor assembly. A filter assembly is releasably positioned for form an outlet of the dirt container. The dirt container has a latching mechanism for securing the dirt container to the housing. The housing further includes a hollow section formed above the suction fan and first motor assembly for storing a cleaning attachment.

The present invention relates to a portable hand-held vacuum cleaner. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hand-held vacuum cleaner with a powered rotary brush within a detachable head for suctioning dirt and debris from carpets, floors, and above-floor surfaces.
Portable hand-held vacuum cleaners have become extremely popular for cleaning a variety of surfaces in homes, offices, cars or the like. They are utilized typically for small clean-up jobs or for cleaning in hard-to-reach places. These portable vacuum cleaner units are relatively light weight and have a handle in order to enable a user to readily utilize them in places where canister, upright or shop-type vacuum cleaners cannot be used or are inconvenient to use.
While such prior art portable hand-held vacuum cleaners have worked well for their intended purposes, they have been primarily useful for picking up light weight dry debris, such as dust and small particulate matter. Where heavier and more dense particulate matter is encountered, they have been less effective. In fact, even where dust or other lighter particulate matter are desired to be picked up or collected, the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the prior vacuum cleaners has been less than desired.
Another limiting factor of some prior art portable vacuums is the efficiency and effectiveness of the airflow path through the vacuum cleaner units, while depositing debris in a debris canister or container.
Some prior art hand-held vacuum cleaner units do not include brushes which would help loosen dirt or debris from the surface being cleaned prior to vacuuming. Furthermore, the prior art hand-held vacuums do not have a detachable head for vacuuming in hard-to-reach places or tight places where even a hand-held vacuum cleaner cannot fit.
Other hand-held vacuums are difficult to use in that they are awkward to service. Others are expensive to produce in that they have complex reciprocating brush mechanisms.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a new and improved hand-held vacuum cleaner which would overcome the foregoing deficiencies and others while meeting the above-stated needs and providing better and more advantageous overall results.
The present invention relates to a new and improved hand-held vacuum cleaner. More specifically, the hand-held vacuum cleaner has a detachable head or suction nozzle which houses a powered brushroll for loosening dirt and debris from a surface to be cleaned.
According to one aspect of the invention, the hand-held vacuum cleaner comprises a housing having a first end and a second end. A suction fan and a first motor assembly are housed within the housing. A dirt container is detachably mounted on the housing second end, and a suction nozzle is selectively mounted at the housing first end. The suction nozzle is usable both in an attached position and in a detached position for cleaning.
The suction nozzle has a handle. At least one air outlet is provided in a wall of the housing for allowing air to exhaust from the housing and for venting and cooling the motor. The housing further comprises a hollow section formed above the suction fan and first motor assembly for storing a cleaning attachment. A handle is secured to a top surface of the housing.
A brushroll and a second motor are housed within the suction nozzle. An electrified hose is connected at a first end to the suction nozzle and at a second end to the housing second end. The second motor is operatively connected to the electrified hose first end and to the brushroll.
The dirt container defines a dirt and dust collecting chamber. The dirt container comprises an inlet in fluid communication with the electrified hose, and an outlet in fluid communication with the suction fan and first motor assembly. A filter assembly is releasably positioned to form a wall and outlet of the dirt container. The filter assembly comprises a filter and a filter frame. The dirt container further comprises a latching mechanism for securing the dirt container to the housing second end.
One aspect of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved hand-held vacuum cleaner.
Another aspect of the present invention is the provision of a hand-held vacuum cleaner that includes a detachable suction nozzle.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a hand-held vacuum cleaner has a detachable suction nozzle or xe2x80x9cheadxe2x80x9d which houses a rotatable brushroll and a motor for powering the brushroll.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is the provision of a hand-held vacuum cleaner including an electrified hose for providing power to a motor located within a detachable suction nozzle.
Yet still another aspect of the present invention is the provision of the suction nozzle that is detachable from a housing of a vacuum cleaner and is usable in an attached or in a detached position.
Still other benefits and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description.

Hand-held vacuum cleaner with a detachable head


A device recognition system comprises an identification module of a computer device configured to generate an impedance signature for an external device using an impedance of the external device measured at least two different stimuli, the impedance signature used to identify the external device.

Computer devices generally include input/output (I/O) ports or "jacks" for connecting to external devices such as a microphone, speaker, headset, etc. "Jack retasking" is where an I/O port is programmed to function as either an input or an output based on the external device connected therewith. For example, a direct current (DC) load associated with the external device is measured and, based on the load measurement, the I/O port "retasked" for the external device. However, different types of external devices often have load measurements associated therewith that are similar and/or indistinguishable, resulting in possible misapplication of "retasking" programming.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention is a reactive modifier which is an acrylic polymer having a number average molecular weight of 5000 or more, obtained by copolymerizing (A) a hydrolyzable silyl group-containing monomer, (B) methyl methacrylate, (C) butyl acrylate and (D) an alkyl (meth)acrylate in which the alkyl chain has 7 to 9 carbon atoms, wherein the content of the component A is 0.01 to 10 parts by weight, the content of the component B is 5 to 95 parts by weight, the content of the component C is 5 to 95 parts by weight, the content of the component D is 5 to 95 parts by weight, the total content of the components A to D is 50 to 100 parts by weight and the weight ratio of the component C to the component D is 0.5 to 2.0. The present invention provides a reactive modifier which is inexpensive in the raw materials thereof, easy to handle and excellent in the storage stability as observed at the time of mixing with a polymer.

Methods in which hydrolyzable silyl group-containing (meth)acrylate polymers are used as modifiers for hydrolyzable silyl group-containing oxyalkylene polymers are proposed in Patent Documents 1 to 4.
Among these methods, the method disclosed in Patent Document 3 in which a copolymer containing a long-chain alkyl (meth)acrylate is blended is excellent from the viewpoints of transparency, tensile strength and other various practical properties. However, in the method in which a copolymer containing a long-chain alkyl (meth)acrylate is blended, there are problems that a long-chain alkyl (meth)acrylate monomer as raw material is generally expensive and is not easy to handle because it is solid at normal temperature. Also, when two or more alkyl (meth)acrylates are copolymerized, it is generally necessary to cool the monomer units mixed together in advance for the sake of safety; however, in the case where along-chain alkyl (meth)acrylate monomer is among the monomers used, there is a problem that it is unfavorably segregated when mixed with the cooled other monomers.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-122541
Patent Document2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.60-31556
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-112642
Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.6-172631


A universal serial bus connector includes an insulating housing, a tongue board assembly disposed to a front of the insulating housing, a plurality of first and second conductive terminals, and a shielding shell. Each of the first conductive terminals has a base strip, a fastening strip, a contact portion and a soldering strip. The fastening strips are integrally molded to the tongue board assembly with contact portions thereof projecting under a bottom of the tongue board assembly. Each of the second conductive terminals has a touching portion and a soldering slice. Each of the soldering slices is soldered to a top surface of a portion of one of the first conductive terminals facing to a bottom surface of the soldering slice. The second conductive terminals are integrally molded to the tongue board assembly with the touching portions thereof projecting beyond a top of the tongue board assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a connector, and more particularly to a universal serial bus connector.
2. The Related Art
In order to unify connectors of different equipments for improving universalities of the connectors, universal serial bus (USB) connectors are the most common-used connector interfaces of current computers. The universal serial bus connectors support plug-and-play external buses. The universal serial bus connectors can be used for many kinds of peripheral devices, such as loudspeakers, telephones, joysticks, printers, scanners, cameras. With the popularity of the universal serial bus connectors, the universal serial bus connectors have been widely used in charging and data transmission fields at present.
Referring to FIG. 9, a current universal serial bus connector 100′ adapted for being interconnected with a docking connector, includes an insulating housing 10′, a base body 11′, a plurality of conductive terminals 20′ and a rectangular hollow-shaped shielding shell 30′. The conductive terminals 20′ are integrally molded to the base body 11′ with front ends thereof projecting beyond a top surface of the base body 11′ and rear ends thereof being exposed outside from a rear end of the base body 11′. The shielding shell 30′ surrounds the base body 11′ together with the conductive terminals 20′ to form an insertion space 40′ between the shielding shell 30′ and the base body 11′. The insulating housing 10′ is molded to a rear end of the shielding shell 30′. The docking connector includes a docking tongue board, and a plurality of docking terminals disposed to the docking tongue board. When the current universal serial bus connector 100′ is inserted into the docking connector, the docking tongue board together with the docking terminals is received in the insertion space 40′.
However, an obverse surface and a reverse surface of the current universal serial bus connector 100′ need be distinguished to make the current universal serial bus connector 100′ able to be inserted into the docking connector, if the current universal serial bus connector 100′ is inserted into the docking connector reversely, the current universal serial bus connector 100′ has no way of being inserted into the docking connector that causes the current universal serial bus connector 100′ to be inserted into the docking connector in just one direction for making the current universal serial bus connector 100′ unable to realize a fool-proof function. Furthermore, if the current universal serial bus connector 100′ is hard inserted into the docking connector reversely that will generate damage of the docking tongue board and the docking terminals of the docking connector.
So it's essential for providing an innovative universal serial bus connector which is able to be inserted into the docking connector matched with the innovative universal serial bus connector in dual directions for facilitating users' usage.


The present invention relates to a multi-blade electric rotary razor which comprises a razor blade cartridge turned by a motor, and at least one pair of razor blade assemblies disposed at an equal-angle distance at the razor blade cartridge along a direction in which the razor blade cartridge rotates, at least one pair of razor blades (hereinafter referred to as first razor blades) being arranged in an overlapping manner at a predetermined distance at the razor blade assembly along a radius direction of the razor blade cartridge. The electric rotary razor of the present invention has a structure of a wet shaver where multiple razor blades are arranged, and uses the motor to turn the razor blade cartridge during shaving for user convenience and thorough shaving. The multi-blade razor blade assembly alleviates a dermal stimulation, minimizes a possibility of a scar, and does not require shaving cream, making shaving convenient and unhindered by time and space.

Generally, a razor can be categorized into a wet type and a dry type.
In the wet type razor, a cutting part of a blade tightly contacts user's skin, and thus, the wet type razor provides an outstanding hair cutting performance. However, the wet type razor can scar a wound on a user's skin, depending on the skin state of the user or when force applied by the user exceeds a proper limit during the shaving.
The dry razor is operated by a motor or the like, and can be used more safely than the wet razor. This can be achieved by installing a safety-net such that the cutting part of a blade does not directly contact user's skin. Therefore, the dry razor is safer and can be used more conveniently than the wet razor. On the other hand, because the safety-nut or the like is installed, a blade does not tightly contacts user's skin, and thus, the hair-cutting performance of the dry razor is inferior a little when compared to the wet type razor.


A surf craft includes: a body having a nose and a tail; a bottom surface extending from the nose of the body to the tail of the body; a channel formed in the bottom surface of the body, the channel including a channel entrance located towards the nose of the body having a depth that is substantially flush with the bottom surface of the surf craft, a channel exit having a depth such that a bottom surface of the channel curves from the bottom surface of the surf craft towards an upper surface of the surf craft, first and second opposing sidewalls. The first and second opposing sidewalls curve outwards along a substantial portion of the channel such that a width of the channel exit is wider than a width of the channel entrance.

Surf craft, such as bodyboards, kneeboards, surfboards, sailboards, wake surf boards, wakeboards, and paddle boards, may include one or more devices to aid in tracking or directional control of the surf craft. For example, surf craft frequently include fins located on a bottom of the surf craft to aid in directional control of the surf craft as the surf craft moves through water. Bodyboards are typically finless and rarely have fins attached.
Further, surf craft may also employ specific shaping along a bottom surface of the surf craft to further aid in controlling the surf craft. Exemplary shaping may include a shallow concave depression on the bottom of the surf craft to improve performance. Benefits may include better lift, speed, and traction of the surf craft.
Providing a concave bottom of the surf craft aids in compressing the flow of water along the bottom surface of the surf craft down a length of the surf craft. Existing shapes begin at or before the widest point where water is urged into a narrower portion of the channel, such as at a tail of the surf craft, thereby increasing pressure of the water and lift on the surf craft. Common designs include single, double and single-to-double concaves. An unusual concave design known as a Venturi concave bottom resembles an hourglass in shape.
Another bottom contour is a channel bottom including a series of straight, flat planes/grooves (typically 4-8) that direct water flow down the length of each groove/channel. These channels are reported to improve hold for turns without creating stiff tracking, which is reported for concave shapes, which can be less responsive as a result.
While attempts have been made to utilize a Venturi concave bottom and other various designs, improvement is needed such that tracking and performance of the surf craft is improved with or without the addition of fins or other various devices on the bottom of the surf craft.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved surf craft having a channel formed along the bottom of the surf craft to enhance performance of the surf craft, such as by improving tracking and handling of the surf craft.


A color image processing apparatus includes an input unit for inputting a plurality of color component signals representing a color image, a first operation unit for obtaining differences between a specified color component signal among the plurality of color component signals and other color component signals and outputting the differential signals, a second operation unit for smoothing-processing the differential signals obtained by the first operation unit, and a third operation unit for adding the differential signals smoothing processed by the second operation unit and the specified color component signal and outputting the result as the other-color component signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image processing apparatus for processing a color image signal representing a color image.
2. Related Background Art
In order to process a color image electrically, it is well known that a color image signal is formed by reading the color image with a plurality of sensors having different spectral-response characteristics. The assignee of the present invention has proposed a constitution of reading a color image with a plurality of sensors having different spectral-response characteristics, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,974,072, 4,953,014 and 4,985,760.
In these documents, a CCD having line filters of athree-line pattern B (blue), G (green) and R (red) is used, as shown in FIG. 6. Accordingly, a portion at a black edge is colored due to the difference in MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) between sensors having different spectral-response characteristics, so that there is an adverse effect on the decision of saturation. That is, as shown in FIG. 16A, a G (green) signal rises up sharply, while a B (blue) signal rises up gradually. As a result, while the points A and B should gray, whereas actually, the peripheral region may become greenish, and the internal region bluish.
In addition to the above color aberration due to difference of MTF, there is a color aberration caused by physical misregistrations of sensors. That is, the CCD of three lines is used as shown in FIG. 6, temporal correction (insertion of a delay circuit) is necessary because the focusing position of each sensor is different. However, as mechanical vibration cannot be suppressed, the phase of each signal becomes slightly displaced, as shown in FIG. 15A. Specifically, considering R (red) and G (green) as shown in FIG. 15, even with the same shape of sensor, the line becomes reddish at point A and bluish at point B, so that a portion of black edge yields some color aberration.
As above described, the color aberration caused by differences in MTF for a three-line sensor or mechanical vibration has a disadvantage of bringing about many inconveniences in various image processings performed at later stages.

Color image processing with smoothing of differential components and addition of the result to a specific color component


An apparatus and method for breaking a semiconductor wafer along scribe lines to separate individual die. A scribe line of the wafer is aligned with a straight, elongated pyramid-shaped edge of a precision bending bar, and a compressive force is applied to the surface of the wafer by a compressive member to bend the wafer over the edge and break the wafer along the scribe line.

This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for breaking frangible substrates, and more particularly to the breaking of brittle semiconductor wafers and the like to separate the wafer into individual dies.
In the manufacture of microelectronic devices, such as integrated circuits and the like, a plurality of such devices are fabricated as individual dies on a single semiconductor wafer. The wafer is then separated into individual dies utilizing semiconductor scribing and breaking equipment. Wafer scribing may be performed with saws, sharp diamond-pointed scribing tools or lasers to form stress lines on the wafer along which the wafer will be broken to separate the individual dies. Wafers are broken along the scribe lines by applying tensile strain across the scribe line sufficient to cause the wafer to break. This may be accomplished in different ways. In one known form of wafer breaking apparatus shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,006 to Turner, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a scribe line is aligned with a straight sharp blade of an impulse bar, and the sharp edge is forced to impact the bottom surface of the wafer directly beneath the scribe line, bending the wafer upwardly and placing the upper surface of the wafer under tension along the scribe line opposite the sharp edge. Another known form of breaking apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,269 to Loomis in which the wafer is supported on the plane surface of a mandrel having a sharp edge. A scribe line on the wafer on is aligned along the edge. A break wheel having either wheel profiles which engage the upper surface of the wafer on opposite sides of the scribe line or a compliant surface that rolls over the wafer along the scribe line causes the wafer to bend over the edge and break along the scribe line. The tensile strain applied to the wafer is adjusted by varying the angle of the break plane surface of the mandrel which supports the wafer relative to the break wheel.
Known breaking apparatus typically require close alignment between the scribe line along which the wafer is to be broken and the breaking mechanism of the apparatus. With the Turner apparatus of the '006 patent, this requires accurate alignment between the straight blade of the impulse bar and the scribe line, and with the Loomis apparatus, it requires close alignment of the scribe line relative to the break edge of the mandrel, and close alignment of the profile members of the break wheel to the scribe line. To accommodate a varying or different pitch between scribe lines, as, for example, for dies having a non-square profile or for wafers having different size dies, readjustment of the mechanism to accommodate the different pitches may require changing components of the breaking apparatus and involve substantial set-up time. Moreover, the contact force applied to the wafer by the breaking apparatus must be adjusted to avoid damage to sensitive components on the wafer as well as to avoid unwanted breaking of the wafer at places other than along the desired scribe line.
Another important factor that impacts breaking is that the size of parts to be broken has gotten smaller over the years. Due to the physics of breaking a part with a small ratio between die size and substrate material thickness, not only has the alignment become more critical, but also the force required to cause the break has grown. This imposes a greater requirement with known breaking apparatus for accurate alignment between the scribe lines to be broken and the breaking element, such as a breaker bar or edge, particularly the alignment with respect to the theta (rotary) axis. This contributes to an increase in the difficulty of breaking such parts.
It is desirable to provide breaking apparatus which avoids these and other problems of known devices by accommodating wafers with different die pitch, wafers of different materials and/or different thicknesses which may require different breaking forces, affords automated operation with quick and easy set-up, and is able to accommodate easily dies with different pitches. It is to these ends that the present invention is directed.

Method and apparatus for breaking semiconductor wafers


Catalysts that include at least one catalytically active element and one helper catalyst can be used to increase the rate or lower the overpotential of chemical reactions. The helper catalyst can simultaneously act as a director molecule, suppressing undesired reactions and thus increasing selectivity toward the desired reaction. These catalysts can be useful for a variety of chemical reactions including, in particular, the electrochemical conversion of CO2 or formic acid. The catalysts can also suppress H2 evolution, permitting electrochemical cell operation at potentials below RHE. Chemical processes and devices using the catalysts are also disclosed, including processes to produce CO, OH−, HCO−, H2CO, (HCO2)−, H2CO2, CH3OH, CH4, C2H4, CH3CH2OH, CH3COO−, CH3COOH, C2H6, O2, H2, (COOH)2, or (COO−)2, and a specific device, namely, a CO2 sensor.

There is a present need to decrease carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial facilities. Over the years, a number of electrochemical processes have been suggested for the conversion of CO2 into useful products. Processes for CO2 conversion and the catalysts for them are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,959,094; 4,240,882; 4,523,981; 4,545,872; 4,595,465; 4,608,132; 4,608,133; 4,609,440; 4,609,441; 4,609,451; 4,620,906; 4,668,349; 4,673,473; 4,711,708; 4,756,807; 4,818,353; 5,064,733; 5,284,563; 5,382,332; 5,457,079; 5,709,789; 5,928,806; 5,952,540; 6,024,855; 6,660,680; 6,987,134 (the '134 patent); U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,157,404; 7,378,561; 7,479,570; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2008/0223727 A1 (the '727 publication); and papers reviewed by Hori (Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry, 42, 89-189, 2008) ("the Hon review"), Gattrell, et al. (Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 594, 1-19, 2006) ("the Gattrell review"), DuBois (Encyclopedia of Electrochemistry, 7a, 202-225, 2006) ("the DuBois review"), and the papers Li, et al. (Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, 36, 1105-1115, 2006), Li, et al. (Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, 37, 1107-1117, 2007), and Oloman, et al. (ChemSusChem, 1, 385-391, 2008) ("the Li and Oloman papers").
Generally an electrochemical cell 10 contains an anode 50, a cathode 51 and an electrolyte 53 as indicated in FIG. 1. The devices can also include a membrane 52. Catalysts are placed on the anode, and or cathode and or in the electrolyte to promote desired chemical reactions. During operation, reactants or a solution containing reactants is fed into the cell via anode reactant manifold 54 and cathode reactant manifold 55. Then a voltage is applied between the anode and the cathode, to promote an electrochemical reaction.
When an electrochemical cell is used as a CO2 conversion system, a reactant comprising CO2, carbonate or bicarbonate is fed into the cell. A voltage is applied to the cell, and the CO2 reacts to form new chemical compounds. Examples of cathode reactions in the Hori review include:CO2+2e−→CO+O2 2CO2+2e−→CO+CO32−CO2+H2O+2e−→CO+2OH−CO2+2H2O+4e−→HCO−+3OH−CO2+2H2O+2e−→H2CO+2OH−CO2+H2O+2e−→(HCO2)−+OH−CO2+2H2O+2e−→H2CO2+2OH−CO2+6H2O+6e−→CH3OH+6OH−CO2+6H2O+8e−→CH4+8OH−2CO2+8H2O+12e−→C2H4+12OH−2CO2+9H2O+12e−→CH3CH2OH+12OH−2CO2+6H2O+8e−→CH3COOH+8OH−2CO2+5H2O+8e−→CH3COO−+7OH−CO2+10H2O+14e−→C2H6+14OH−CO2+2H++2e−→CO+H2O, acetic acid, oxalic acid, oxylateCO2+4H++4e−→CH4+O2 where e− is an electron. The examples given above are merely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all possible cathode reactions.
Examples of reactions on the anode mentioned in the Hon review include:2O2−→O2+4e−2CO32−→O2+2CO2+4e−4OH−→O2+2H2O+4e−2H2O→O2+4H++4e−
The examples given above are merely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all possible anode reactions.
In the previous literature, catalysts comprising one or more of V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Sn, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, Al, Si, In, Sn, Tl, Pb, Bi, Sb, Te, U, Sm, Tb, La, Ce, and Nd have all shown activity for CO2 conversion. Reviews include Ma, et al. (Catalysis Today, 148, 221-231, 2009), Hori (Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry, 42, 89-189, 2008), Gattrell, et al. (Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 594, 1-19, 2006), DuBois (Encyclopedia of Electrochemistry, 7a, 202-225, 2006) and references therein.
The results in the Hori review show that the conversion of CO2 is only mildly affected by solvent unless the solvent also acts as a reactant. Water can act like a reactant, so reactions in water are different than reactions in non-aqueous solutions. But the reactions are the same in most non-aqueous solvents, and importantly, the overpotentials are almost the same in water and in the non-aqueous solvents.
Zhang, et al. (ChemSusChem, 2, 234-238, 2009) and Chu, et al. (ChemSusChem, 1, pages 205-209, 2008) report CO2 conversion catalyzed by an ionic liquid. Zhao, et al. (The Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 32, pages 287-291, 2004) and Yuan, et al. (Electrochimica Acta 54, pages 2912-2915, 2009) report the use of an ionic liquid as a solvent and electrolyte, but not a co-catalyst, for CO2 electroconversion. Each of these papers is incorporated by reference. Catalyst Today, Volume 48, pages 189-410 November 2009 provides the proceedings of the 10th international conference on CO2 utilization. These pages are incorporated by reference. The catalysts have been in the form of either bulk materials, supported particles, collections of particles, small metal ions or organometallics. Still, according to Bell (A. Bell, Ed., Basic Research Needs, Catalysis For Energy, U.S. Department Of Energy Report PNNL17712, 2008) ("the Bell Report"), "The major obstacle preventing efficient conversion of carbon dioxide into energy-bearing products is the lack of catalyst" with sufficient activity at low overpotentials and high electron conversion efficiencies.
The overpotential is associated with lost energy of the process, and so one needs the overpotential to be as low as possible. Yet, according to the Bell Report, "Electron conversion efficiencies of greater than 50 percent can be obtained, but at the expense of very high overpotentials".
The '134 patent also considers the use of salt (NaCl) as a secondary "catalyst" for CO2 reduction in the gas phase, but salt does not lower the overpotential for the reaction.
A second disadvantage of many of the catalysts is that they also have low electron conversion efficiency. Electron conversion efficiencies over 50% are desirable for practical catalyst systems.
The examples above consider applications for CO2 conversion, but the present invention overcomes limitations of other systems. For example some commercial CO2 sensors use an electrochemical reaction to detect the presence of CO2. At present, these sensors require over 1-5 watts of power, which may be too high for portable sensing applications.
The present invention also considers, for example, new methods to produce or electrochemically react formic acid. Other methods of generating formic acid are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,618,725; 7,612,233; 7,420,088; 7,351,860; 7,323,593; 7,253,316; 7,241,365; 7,138,545; 6,992,212; 6,963,909; 6,955,743; 6,906,222; 6,867,329; 6,849,764; 6,841,700; 6,713,649; 6,429,333; 5,879,915; 5,869,739; 5,763,662; 5,639,910; 5,334,759; 5,206,433; 4,879,070; and 4,299,891. These processes do not use CO2 as a reactant.
Formic acid can be used, for example, in fuel cells. It has been shown that the oxidation reaction of formic acid in a fuel cell can be poisoned by organic acids such as acetic acid, as well as by methyl formate or methanol. See, for example, Masel, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,618,725 (Low Contaminant Formic Acid Fuel For Direct Liquid Fuel Cell).
Another benefit of the present invention is that it can suppress undesirable side reactions, such as the generation of hydrogen gas from the electrolysis of water in an electrochemical cell. This hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can reduce the electron conversion efficiency of a desired reaction, and in some instances may present a safety hazard from the buildup of potentially explosive hydrogen gas. In Monsanto U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,151 (Electrohydrodimerization Process Improvement And Improved Electrolyte Recovery Process), Franke, et al. described inhibiting formation of hydrogen at the cathode surface by adding to the aqueous solution a nitrilocarboxylic acid. One such nitrilocarboxylic acid cited is the complexing agent ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The patent also discloses that the "generation of hydrogen at the cathode is even more significantly inhibited by including in the electrolysis medium a boric acid, a condensed phosphoric acid or an alkali metal or ammonium salt thereof," such as ammonium triphosphate. The process improvement method also discloses incorporating at least a small amount of quaternary ammonium cations in the aqueous phase as a "directive salt", in order to improve the phase partition extraction efficiency for separating the desired product. "In general, there need be only an amount sufficient to provide the desired hydrodimer selectivity (typically at least about 75%) although much higher proportions can be present if convenient or desired." Quaternary ammonium salts can also be used in the process as conductive salts to provide the desired conductivity of the cell electrolyte. A more detailed history of the development of this process is provided by D. E. Danly, "Development and Commercialization of the Monsanto Electrochemical Adiponitrile Process," Journal of the Electrochemical Society, October 1984, pages 435C-442C. This paper indicates that the hydrogen suppression by the addition of the nitrilocarboxylic acid EDTA was accomplished by chelating Fe and Cd anode corrosion products before they could reach the cathode. The paper stated that, "In the absence of EDTA, hydrogen evolution at the cathode increased over a day's operation to the point where it represented greater than 10% loss in cathodic current efficiency."
Rezaei and Taki have recently shown that the quaternary amine tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate (TBAHS) can increase the hydrogen overpotential for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in a lead acid battery that uses Pb—Sb—Sn positive and negative electrode grids. (Behzad Rezaei and Mahmood Taki, "Effects of tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate as an electrolyte additive on the electrochemical behavior of lead acid battery," J. Solid State Electrochem. (2008) 12:1663-1671). Water loss has been high in such batteries because antimony from the positive grid can migrate through the sulfuric acid electrolyte solution and be deposited on the negative plate, where it diminishes the overpotential for hydrogen evolution from the electrolysis of water. TBAHS was selected as a possible electrolyte additive material that might be able to withstand the sulfuric acid electrolyte. Rezaei, et al., similarly investigated ammonium hydrogen sulfate salts of a primary, a secondary, and a tertiary amine, as well as the "aromatic quaternary amine" 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate (BMIM HS). The results were somewhat inconsistent, particularly for the BMIM HS. Also, the addition of these materials to the battery electrolyte was found to increase the grid corrosion rate. (Behzad Rezaei, Shadpour Mallakpour, and Mahmood Taki, "Application of ionic liquids as an electrolyte additive on the electrochemical behavior of lead acid battery," J. of Power Sources, 187 (2009) 605-612).
Substituted benzaldehydes were studied for suppressing hydrogen evolution to reduce water loss during cycling by Dietz, et al., "Influence of benzaldehydes and their derivatives as inhibitors for hydrogen evolution in lead/acid batteries," Journal of Power Sources, 53, pages 359-365 (1995).
The addition of succinic acid to the electrolyte of a fuel cell was found to greatly increase the hydrogen evolution overpotential and reduce hydrogen generation in the investigation by Lee, et al., "Study on Suppression of Hydrogen Evolution Reaction for Zinc/Air Fuel Cell," Materials Science Forum, Vols. 539-543, pages 1427-1430 (2007).
One recent paper mentions hydrogen evolution from trace amounts of water as a side reaction during electrodeposition of metals from the deep eutectic solvent Ethaline 200 (choline chloride with ethylene glycol). See Haerens, et al., "Electrochemical decomposition of choline chloride based ionic liquid analogues," 2009 Green Chemistry 11 (9), pages 1357-1365.
The quaternary amine salt choline dihydrogen phosphate has recently been investigated as a possible solid state proton exchange membrane for applications such as fuel cells and sensors. See, for example, Yoshizawa-Fujita, et al., "A new class of proton-conducting ionic plastic crystals based on organic cations and dihydrogen phosphate," 2007 Electrochemistry Communications 9 (5), pages 1202-1205, and Cahill, et al., "Investigation of proton dynamics and the proton transport pathway in choline dihydrogen phosphate using solid-state NMR," 2010 Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 12 (20), pages 5431-5438.
In light of the above, there still exists a need for cost effective methods to suppress undesired reactions such as the hydrogen evolution reaction in applications such as electrochemical cells, fuel cells, and sensors, while simultaneously enhancing the rate or yield of the desired reaction(s). In particular there is a need to suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction using additives that do not contain carboxylate groups, since carboxylic acids and their salts inhibit desired reactions such as formic acid electrooxidation or carbon dioxide conversion.


A method for coupling a lid to a support substrate having a semiconductor chip coupled thereto and a clamp fixture. Each semiconductor component has a semiconductor chip mounted to a semiconductor component and a lid coupled to the support substrate via a lid attach material. The lid attach material is cured either using a two-step process that includes a partial cure step followed by a clampless cure step or by curing the die attach material in a clamp fixture without including a pre-cure step. The semiconductor component manufacture decides on the curing approach based on cost and the number of semiconductor components being manufactured. If the semiconductor manufacturer opts for curing with a clamp fixture, the clamp fixture includes a base plate insert on which the semiconductor components are placed and a compression mechanism that includes a compression plate having a compressive material disposed thereon.

In the manufacture of semiconductor components, steps such as photolithography, etching, doping, and passivation are referred to as front-end processing steps, whereas steps such as dicing, substrate mounting, and encapsulation are referred to as back-end processing steps. Thus, the steps up to and including passivation are the front-end steps and the steps from dicing to completion of the semiconductor component are the back-end steps. After completion of the back-end steps, the semiconductor components are subjected to a power cycling test in which they are electrically stressed to detect any defective semiconductor components. One type of defect associated with the back-end steps is excessive lid tilt. FIG. 1 illustrates a semiconductor component 10 having excessive lid tilt. What is shown in FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a pin grid array (PGA) substrate 12 having a major surface 14 on which a semiconductor chip 16 is flip-chip mounted. Solder bumps 18 that are formed on a top surface 20 of semiconductor chip 16 are bonded to bond pads (not shown) disposed on major surface 14 of PGA substrate 12. After bonding, an underfill material 22 is dispensed between semiconductor chip 16 and major surface 14. A thermal interface material 24 is disposed on a back surface 26 of semiconductor chip 16 and a lid adhesive 28 is dispensed on major surface 14. A lid 30 having an inner surface 32, an outer surface 34, and a lip or support 36 is positioned in lid adhesive 28 to form semiconductor component 10.
Semiconductor component 10 is placed in a side-actuated or clamshell clamp fixture (not shown) which applies an asymmetric force on lid 30, i.e., the force applied to one side 42 of lid 30 is greater than the force applied to the other side 44 of lid 30. The clamp fixture housing PGA substrate 12, semiconductor chip 16, and lid 30 is placed in a curing oven to cure lid adhesive 28. A drawback of prior art clamp fixtures is that they cause lid tilt by applying an uneven force to lid 30. Often, the lid tilt exceeds specified tolerances. When the distance indicated by arrows 46 equals the distance indicated by arrows 48, the amount of lid tilt is zero. The amount of lid tilt is unacceptable when the distance indicated by arrows 46 exceeds the distance indicated by arrows 48 by more than a specified amount. Lid tilt becomes an even greater problem when the clamp fixture is adapted to accept multiple semiconductor components 10. One consequence of excessive lid tilt arises during power cycling of semiconductor component 10. During power cycling, semiconductor chip 16 generates heat which is transferred to PGA substrate 12, underfill material 22, and lid adhesive 28. Because PGA substrate 12, semiconductor chip 16, underfill material 22, and lid adhesive 28 have different coefficients of thermal expansion, the heat generated by semiconductor chip 16 causes movement between semiconductor chip 16 and lid 30. This movement squeezes out the thermal interface material 24 that is between semiconductor chip 16 and lid 30. The greater the amount of lid tilt, the greater the amount of thermal interface material 24 that is squeezed out from between semiconductor chip 16 and lid 30. The squeezing out of thermal interface material 24 decreases the amount of material between semiconductor chip 16 and lid 30, thereby increasing the thermal resistance between them. Thus, heat is not effectively removed from semiconductor chip 16 through lid 30 which may result in thermal failure of semiconductor chip 16.
Accordingly, what is needed are methods for manufacturing a semiconductor component that is capable of dissipating heat and a fixture for manufacturing the semiconductor component.

Methods and fixture for coupling a lid to a support substrate


A medical insertion device which may be used with or installed within an imaging system, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The medical insertion device can generally be used to retain, position and effect insertion of a medical instrument, for example a biopsy device or an ablation treatment device. The device can generally provide linear and/or angular degrees of freedom for positioning of the medical instrument prior to an insertion of the medical instrument. The medical insertion device includes a mounting arm, an interface connected to the mounting arm for interfacing with a medical instrument, a mechanism for movement of the medical instrument or a part of the medical instrument in an insertion direction, a carriage connected to a distal end of the mounting arm, and a pivot connection between the carriage and the distal end of the mounting arm to permit pitch or yaw of the mounting arm.

Cancer diagnosis and treatment can require the medical practitioner to be able to pin point a suspicious lesion within the patient. After the area is located, the next step in a typical treatment process can include a biopsy procedure to identify the pathology, which can be performed in the operating room, with the patient under general anesthetic. In other instances, biopsy procedures can include the implementation of core needle biopsy procedures using minimally invasive core needle extraction methods.
Difficulties can arise in performing of a conventional procedure. As an example, for breast biopsy with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, the patient may have to be shuttled in and out of the magnet several times before a biopsy is actually performed. During this time, the contrast agent could have already lost some of its effect and image quality could suffer. This process itself may be time consuming and cumbersome, especially in a time-sensitive environment.
In addition, contrast laden blood from a hematoma as well as an air pocket at the biopsy site can make it difficult to subsequently verify that the correct site identified from the imaging system was biopsied, or to rapidly confirm that the sample obtained has a suspect morphology. This practice could also require removal of a relatively large volume of tissue, with a fraction of that assumed to be from the lesion.

Automated in-bore MR guided robotic diagnostic and therapeutic system


Provided herein are compositions, systems, kits, and methods for treating cancer in at least one bone of a subject using nanoparticles encapsulating, or conjugated to, an anti-cancer agent. In other embodiments, provided herein are composition, systems, kits, and methods for treating a bone disease (e.g., osteoporosis) in a subject using nanoparticle encapsulating, or conjugated to, a RANKL inhibitor. The nanoparticle are, in certain embodiments, neutral or nearly neutral in charge (e.g., zeta potential between −5 and +5 mV) and less than 250 nm in diameter on average (e.g. have an average diameter between 100 and 200 nm).

Bone is a common site for metastasis in a number of human cancers (e.g., breast and prostate), in large part because of the relatively slow blood flow in bone marrow and the presence of adhesion receptors on bone marrow capillary endothelial cells that support cancer cell localization in the bone. These characteristics, together with the fact that bone marrow is an environment rich in growth factors and cytokines, all promote progression of bone metastasis [1, 2]. Among cancers that metastasize to bone, prostate cancer presents with a significantly high incidence: ˜70-80% of patients develop bone metastases. The 5-year survival rate of patients with bone metastases is very low compared with those in whom the disease is localized (20% vs. 100%). As with prostate cancer, the majority of patients with advanced-stage breast cancer show evidence of skeletal metastases by the time of their death [3]. The consequences of bone metastasis are often devastating; it affects bone remodeling, causes bone pain, fractures and nerve compression, and in prostatic disease is the major cause of prostate cancer-related morbidity and mortality [4]. Since bone is less highly perfused than soft-tissue organs (7% of cardiac output goes to bone vs. 30% to liver) [5], intravenously administered anticancer chemotherapeutics do not achieve enough of a therapeutic dose at bone metastatic sites to suppress tumor growth. A major fraction of the administered drug is either excreted and/or metabolized, often via hepatic processes; or may accumulate in other, more highly perfused body compartments or tissues prior to reaching the marrow in sufficient doses.
To overcome this challenge, such approaches as conjugating anticancer drugs [6] or drug-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) to bone-seeking agents (e.g., bisphosphonates [7], tetracycline [8], or E-selectin [overexpressed in bone marrow endothelium] [9]) have been investigated, but these remain inefficient. For example, Wang et al. [10] found that bisphosphonate-conjugated to NPs made with bovine serum albumin did not target bone in vivo, despite in vitro results showing that they had significantly higher affinity than unconjugated NPs to hydroxyapatite, a major component of bone. In a recent study in a bone metastasis model of myeloma, Swami et al. [11] found no significant differences in the efficacy (bone loss, tumor burden, and survival) of alendronate (bisphosphonate)-conjugated NPs loaded with the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib compared with unconjugated NPs or drug alone. It is now increasingly recognized that for cancer chemotherapy to succeed, effective treatment of metastatic and advanced-stage tumors is critical.

Nanoparticles for drug delivery to treat bone disease


Electric toothbrush comprising means for locating dental plaque An electric toothbrush comprises means (1, 22) for emitting excitation radiation towards teeth (10), means (2, 24) for detecting luminescence return radiation emitted by affected tooth areas, optical fibre means (4a, 4b, 4c) for guiding the excitation radiation, and electrical means (14, 15) for imposing a brushing rhythm. The optical fibre means pick up a narrow beam of return radiation and guide it to the detection means (24) which comprise filter means (40, 42) for extracting at least one useful signal component from a noise component, the useful signal component being in synchronism with the brushing rhythm, the detection means (24) converting the useful signal into a location signal (44) revealing the affected areas.

The invention relates to an electric toothbrush having cleaning bristles for personal care, comprising:
means for emitting excitation radiation towards teeth, PA1 means for detecting luminescence return radiation emitted in response to excitation radiation from affected tooth areas, PA1 optical fibre means for guiding the excitation radiation to the proximity of the teeth, PA1 electrical means for imposing on the toothbrush at least one brushing rhythm.
The presence of dental plaque is the major cause of the development of caries. Plaque is formed slowly and systematically on the tooth surfaces between the routine brushing sessions. When brushing is inadequate or is not effected properly the accumulation of dental plaque, particularly in the interdental spaces, promotes the growth of bacteria which can form acids which attack the protective enamel of the teeth and which give rise to dental caries. It is therefore particularly advartageous when dental plaque can be detected and can be removed in order to prevent its accumulation.
Current practice is generally that the dentist tends to dental care of this kind. Indeed, a third person has the fullest opportunity to examine the teeth and to take action where necessary.
Nevertheless, the document WO 92/06671 is known, which relates to a toothbrush with which self-diagnosis as regards the presence of dental plaque is possible. First of all, a substance capable of fluorescing under the influence of excitation radiation is applied to the teeth. This substance has the property that is absorbed selectively by caries and dental plaque. It can be a fluorescent additive mixed with a toothpaste, so that during cleaning of his teeth the user can detect the presence of dental plaque. For this purpose, the toothbrush comprises a light source which emits the excitation radiation, which is guided to the proximity of the teeth by means of optical fibers. Affected zones of the teeth then emit radiation thus induced, which can be detected visually by the user who examines his teeth either by means of a sensor which actuates visual or audible means, which automatically warn the user when dental plaque is detected. To enable detection it is necessary to first rinse the oral cavity and the toothbrush.
However, such a device has several drawbacks. In particular, the sensor is disposed on the base carrying the bristles, so that it is exposed to direct contact with the toothpaste, the fluorescent additive and saliva. Therefore, such an active sensor should be approved for such a use. Moreover, after it has been used for a certain time the sensor may become opaque, for example as a result of a deposited layer, which reduces its detection capability.
Furthermore, the dimensions of the sensor are not negligible, which makes it necessary to provide an area without bristles which is large enough to ensure that the sensor can receive the induced radiation, which has an adverse effect on the cleaning efficiency.
As a result, the arrangement and the dimensions of the radiation sensor make that it picks up the bulk of the induced radiation emitted by the teeth as a whole. Such a configuration does not allow an accurate detection of the areas affected with dental plaque, which areas are generally situated in the interstices and are therefore not readily accessible because they have limited width dimensions of the order of approximately 1 mm. For an effective cleaning of these areas it is therefore necessary to locate them precisely, i.e. separately and not as a whole.
It is obvious that when the toothpaste with its additive has spread in the oral cavity the described method does not allow the detection of dental plaque. As a matter of fact, the whole oral cavity will emit the induced radiation. It is therefore necessary to rinse the oral cavity so as to ensure that the fluorescent additive only settles on the affected tooth areas.
In order to achieve a correct removal of the dental plaque and to ensure an efficient cleaning, it is therefore necessary to repeat a sequence of operations consisting of brushing the teeth with the toothpaste and its fluorescent additive and subsequently of rinsing the oral cavity as well as the toothbrush itself. This constitutes a tedious sequence of operations to be carried out every day.

Electric toothbrush with means for locating dental plaque


An exercising apparatus includes a base, two supporting brackets, a driving assembly, a pedal assembly and a case. The supporting brackets are mounted on the base. The driving assembly includes a motor, an eccentric wheel and a lifting bracket. The motor has a motor shaft. The eccentric wheel is mounted eccentrically on the motor shaft. The lifting bracket has a wheel slot and two pivoting brackets. The wheel slot is defined through the lifting bracket and engages the eccentric wheel. The pivoting brackets are formed near two ends of the lifting bracket. The pedal assembly includes two pedals and two pedal pads. The pedals are mounted respectively and pivotally on the supporting brackets and the pivoting brackets of the lifting bracket. The pedal pads are mounted respectively on the pedals. The case is mounted on the base and has two openings corresponding to the pedal pads.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an exercising apparatus, and more particularly to an exercising apparatus that is provided for shaking a user's heels up and down to produce exercising effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional exercising apparatus comprises an eccentric axle and a pulsating disc. The pulsating disc is connected to and is driven by the eccentric axle to shake the pulsating disc horizontally. When a user stand on the pulsating disc, the user is shaken horizontally by the pulsating disc and an exercising effect is provided to the user to improve the user's blood circulation.
Though the conventional exercising apparatus can provide exercising effect to the user, the horizontal movement of the pulsating disc is too violent and the user can not stand on the pulsating disc for a long time and easily fall off from the pulsating disc. The horizontal movement of the pulsating disc also causes itching and unpleasant feelings or even makes the user vomit.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides an exercising apparatus to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


A method for selecting a representative image of an eye from a plurality of captured images, comprises associating neighboring images from the plurality of images with each other to determine a spatial relationship (shift) of the images and an initial quality value for each image. The method determines an accumulated quality value for at least one portion of each image using the initial quality values corresponding to those other images of the plurality of images that are spatially related with the portion. The spatial relationship between a portion of an image and the other images is identified based of the determined spatial arrangement of the images. The method selects a representative image from the plurality of images using, for each image, at least the initial quality value for the image and the accumulated quality value of at least one portion of the image.

Scanning-laser ophthalmoscopes with adaptive optics (AO/SLO) are medical devices which are becoming increasingly common and increasingly useful for retina imaging. Such devices are able to take microscopic images of a retina with a pixel pitch in the order of microns, and can make the images of individual rods and cones of the eye visible to a doctor.
An image is formed by a device which scans a laser in a raster arrangement over the surface of the retina and senses the amount of light returned. A representative device has a frame rate of around 60 Hz, with a resonant scanner forming scan-lines at a rate of 12 kHz and a pixel clock around 5 MHz, and one representative image size is 400×400 pixels.
By taking a video sequence of images of the retina, instead of still images, the transit of blood cells can be detected, allowing analysis of the velocity of blood flow.
However, AO/SLO can contain substantial image distortion. In a patient who is awake, the eye is in constant motion. One form of this motion is referred to as saccades. Saccades can be extremely fast, causing strong spatial distortions in AO/SLO images. A saccade can cause a rapid translation of the field of view of the retina from image to image, sometimes resulting in shifts between two neighbouring images of more than half the width of the images. When the eye is moving during the raster scanning process, many image distortions are caused, and are analogous to shutter distortion in many modern cameras that use a charge-coupled device (CCD) as an image sensor. Such distortion can cause large changes to the aspect ratio of a single image when motion is in the slow-scan direction of the raster sequence (e.g. between lines), and substantial shearing when motion is in the fast-scan direction of the raster sequence (along a line). If a saccade begins, or ends, or changes direction in the middle of a scan, such distortions may change across the image, or may appear in combination. While it may be possible to analyse the velocity of blood flow with non-aligned images, for many doctors, or for automated software, it is much easier to analyse substantially still images that are well-aligned to a common coordinate system, in order to make a diagnosis.
With many images distorted, it can be difficult to choose a common coordinate system onto which all images should be mapped. One way to achieve such a common coordinate system is to select a relatively undistorted reference image to which all others are mapped. Manual selection of an undistorted reference image can be a tedious and time-consuming process.
When examining methods for selecting a reference image, it is important to distinguish between on-line systems and off-line systems. In an on-line system, images are aligned in real time for immediate display, thus the reference image can only be selected from images that have already occurred, and without knowledge of the position or quality of those images yet to be captured. In an off-line system, where images are processed after all have been collected, the reference image can be selected from all of the gathered images. As more knowledge is available to the selection algorithm, an off-line method can produce a better, albeit less timely, result.
A good reference frame can sometimes be selected by supplementing local quality measures, such as variance and mean intensity, with a mean distance measurement. For example, an on-line system may regard an image as of high quality when the mean distance from that image to recent images is of a smaller value than the mean distance of other images to recent images. However, while the distance between recent images might be small enough, it does not guarantee that a distance between the selected image and other images in a collection of images is acceptable. Furthermore, the mean distance of an image to a collection of images can be problematic in the presence of fast motion such as saccades, where an image falling between widely separated groups of images can have a lower mean distance than an image within one of the groups.
Moreover, while it is theoretically possible for off-line systems to provide a better result in comparison with an on-line approach, to achieve this, the off-line systems might need to exhaustively consider every possible pair of images in the collection, which is not efficient. Therefore, a need exists to provide a system and method for ophthalmic reference image selection in presence of fast motion.