In a magnetic recording medium, a longitudinal hard magnetic layer, interlayer, longitudinal soft magnetic layer, and magnetic recording layer are multilayered on a substrate. The interlayer is one of a magnetic layer having saturation magnetization smaller than that of the longitudinal hard magnetic layer, a nonmagnetic layer mainly containing cobalt or ruthenium or having a thickness of 0.5 nm or less, and an oxide layer of the longitudinal hard magnetic layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a perpendicular magnetic recording type magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus and a perpendicular magnetic recording medium used in the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a perpendicular double-layered medium in which a perpendicular magnetic recording layer is multilayered on a high-permeability soft magnetic layer, this soft magnetic layer takes part of the function of a recording head, i.e., passes a recording magnetic field, which is generated from a magnetic head and which magnetizes the perpendicular magnetic recording layer, in the horizontal direction and returns this magnetic field to the magnetic head, thereby improving the recording/reproduction efficiency. On the other hand, the soft magnetic layer readily forms magnetic domains because it reduces the magnetostatic energy. A magnetic wall is formed in the boundary between these magnetic domains, and spike noise is generated in a region in which this magnetic wall exists. To suppress this spike noise, it is only necessary to suppress the formation of the magnetic wall in the soft magnetic layer. As a method of suppressing the formation of this magnetic wall, as described in, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-258274, a large number of media have been proposed in which a hard magnetic layer is formed below a soft magnetic layer to fix the direction of easy magnetization in this soft magnetic layer in the radial direction.
In these media, however, the soft magnetic layer is directly formed on the hard magnetic layer, so the exchange coupling interaction acts more than necessary between these layers. The soft magnetic layer largely changes the magnetization direction even when applied with a weak external magnetic field of, e.g., about 7,900 A/m.
In this case, the stronger the coupling with the soft magnetic layer, the more easily the hard magnetic layer is influenced by the soft magnetic layer. As a consequence, the magnetization direction, i.e., the direction of the easy axis in the hard magnetic layer changes from the radius direction. That is, a so-called pinning failure phenomenon occurs. In effect, in a magnetic recording/reproducing device (HDD) a voice coil motor (VCM) which uses a permanent magnet to drive an arm is positioned close to a magnetic disk. A leakage flux generated from this VCM has a magnitude of about 7,900 A/m even in the vicinity of the edge of the magnetic disk. Therefore, if the above-mentioned medium is used in the HDD, pinning failure sometimes occurs as a particularly serious problem.
The use of the hard magnetic layer is convenient to control the direction of the easy axis in the soft magnetic layer. However, the hard magnetic layer is basically the same as a longitudinal magnetic recording medium, i.e., it generates medium noise. The thickness of the soft magnetic layer is preferably small in order to prevent the generation of dust during film formation and reduce the cost. However, the smaller the thickness of the soft magnetic layer and the shorter the distance between the hard magnetic layer and the magnetic head, the larger the noise from the hard magnetic layer. One means for reducing the noise from this hard magnetic layer is to reduce its thickness. Reducing the thickness of the hard magnetic layer is also advantageous in improving the film formation process and in the cost. If, however, the exchange coupling acts strongly, pinning failure easily occurs.

Perpendicular magnetic recording medium and magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus using the same


A graphics generation system includes a column-interleaved distributed frame buffer and data routing apparatus which directs graphics commands to only a selected group of rendering processing elements (RPEs) required to render a given object to be displayed. In one embodiment, the system specifies this selected group of processing elements using a starting and ending RPE number. This starting and ending RPE number is used to selectively enable only those processing elements needed to process the object data and render the object to be displayed.

As computing technology progresses, it is apparent that the single-processor model of executing at most one instruction in every machine cycle will be supplanted in many applications by parallel-processor arrangements. One such application for parallel-processors is in the computer graphics field where image processing requires picture elements (pixels) to be read, written and processed simultaneously. Image processing constantly requires faster machines to process ever-increasing amounts of data and to render higher quality images in less time.
Systems used to generate and manipulate 3D (three-dimensional) images typically include a transformation processing subsystem, a rendering subsystem, a frame buffer, and a raster display subsystem. The transformation processing subsystem performs operations including 3D transformations, clipping, shading and projection. These are operations that are required to convert the data from 3D "world coordinates" into the coordinates needed to render an object on the raster display.
The rendering subsystem takes the output of the transformation processing subsystem and renders the objects as pixels in the frame buffer. This process includes operations such as raster conversion, shading calculations, texture mapping and anti-aliasing.
The frame buffer is a memory subsystem that is used to store the image that is being generated. The information in the frame buffer can be read and written by the rendering subsystem, and is read by the raster display subsystem to generate data in the next display.
The raster display subsystem converts the data in the frame buffer into a video output image signal. The raster display subsystem must be able to read sequential pixels from the frame buffer very quickly in order to generate the video output signal.
The implementation of a rendering subsystem frequently includes a number of processing elements operating in parallel to satisfy the computational demands of the rendering task. It is important for the processing elements of the rendering subsystem to be able to quickly read and write pixels to and from the frame buffer. Frame buffer access for parallel rendering subsystems is difficult because of the very high-bandwidth required by the frame buffer interface.
A prior art solution to the frame buffer access problem is to make each processor responsible for generating a specified set of the pixels in the frame buffer, and distributing the frame buffer memory among the processing elements such that each processing element has sufficient memory to store the pixels for which it is responsible. Frame buffers that utilize this technique are referred to as distributed frame buffers. It is possible to allocate pixels to distributed frame buffer elements in many different ways. These include contiguous block, 2D interleaved, scan line interleaved, and column interleaved.
The ever-increasing computer performance requirements provide a continuing challenge to improve distributed frame buffer organization and operation in view of competing factors such as load balancing, algorithm efficiency, scalability, and raster display complexity and cost.

High resolution graphics system architecture


Provided is a treadmill. The treadmill includes a first frame and a second frame, a front roller and a rear roller respectively provided in the first frame and the second frame and a plurality of slats extending perpendicularly to a direction in which the first frame and the second frame are located. The slats are located between the first frame and the second frame and installed movably with respect to the first frame and the second frame. Some of the plurality of slats include a base portion providing a first surface and a strength reinforcing portion protruding from the base portion. The strength reinforcing portion includes a first reinforcing portion protruding from the base portion and a second reinforcing portion extending in a direction intersecting a protrusion direction of the first reinforcing portion, the second reinforcing portion provides a second surface.

The present disclosure relates to a treadmill.
A treadmill is an exercise machine that gives the effect of a walking or running exercise in a small space using a belt rotating along an infinite orbit, and is also called a running machine. Demands for treadmills are ever increasing because treadmills allow users to walk or run indoors at proper temperatures, regardless of the weather.
Recently, to meet various needs of consumers about treadmills, new types of treadmills have been developed.
For example, to reproduce the effect of landing on the ground in a track, a treadmill having a slat belt structure is under development. The slat belt structure includes two belts arranged in parallel with each other and a plurality of slats that extend perpendicularly to a rotating direction of the belts and are connected between the two belts. Users exercise contacting the slats instead of the belts, so that the users may feel like exercising in a real track as compared to exercising on a treadmill having an existing simple belt structure.
However, since the slat belt structure needs to bear a load of a user and absorb a shock during a user's exercise, a slat may be excessively bent or damaged when the slat has a strength lower than a certain level.


The present invention relates to a bioactive molecule, herein referred to as the CD8.sup.+ suppressor molecule, that is produced by the CD8.sup.+ subset of human T-lymphocytes and suppresses type-1 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) replication through inhibition of viral transcription. The invention relates to isolation of clonal CD8.sup.+ cells lines that produce the antiviral activity and the development of an assay system for detection of the antiviral activity. The clonal cell lines and the assay system, described herein, may be utilized to purify, characterize and clone the CD8.sup.+ suppressor molecule. The CD8.sup.+ suppressor molecule may have therapeutic applications for treatment of diseases associated with HIV-1 infection.

The type-1 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) has been implicated as the primary cause of the slowly degenerate disease of the immune system termed acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Barre-Sinoussi, F. et al., 1983 Science 220:868-70; Gallo, R. et al. 1984, Science 224:500-3). Infection of the CD4+ subclass of T-lymphocytes with the HIV-1 virus leads to depletion of this essential lymphocyte subclass which inevitably leads to opportunistic infections, neurological disease, neoplastic growth and eventually death. HIV-1 infection and HIV-1 associated diseases represent a major health problem and considerable attention is currently being directed towards the successful design of effective therapeutics.
HIV-1 is a member of the lentivirus family of retroviruses (Teich, N. et al., 1984 In RNA Tumor Viruses ed. R. Weiss, N. Teich, H. Varmus, J. Coffin CSH Press, pp. 949-56). The life cycle of HIV-1 is characterized by a period of proviral latency followed by active replication of the virus. The primary cellular target for the infectious HIV-1 virus is the CD4 subset of human T-lymphocytes. Targeting of the virus to the CD4 subset of cells is due to the fact that the CD4 cell surface protein acts as the cellular receptor for the HIV-1 virus (Dalgleish, A. et al., 2984, Nature 312:763-67; Klatzmann et al. 1984, Nature 312:767-68; Maddon et al. 1986 Cell 47:333-48).
After binding to the cell surface, the HIV-1 virion becomes internalized, and once inside the cell, the viral life cycle begins by conversion of the RNA genome into linear DNA molecules. This process is dependent on the action of the virally encoded reverse transcriptase. Following replication of the viral genome, the linear DNA molecule integrates into the host genome through the action of the viral integrase protein, thus establishing the proviral form of HIV-1.
During the early phase of proviral expression, transcription of the viral genome results in expression of regulatory proteins such as Tat, Nef and Rev. Transcriptional activation of the proviral DNA is mediated through the viral 5' LTR sequences (long terminal repeats). The initial low level of viral transcription is dramatically increased by the HIV encoded transactivator protein termed tat (transactivator protein) (Cullen, B. R. et al. 1989, Cell 58:423-26). The Rev protein promotes the transition from the early phase expression of regulatory proteins to late phase expression of structural proteins. Assembly of newly synthesized viral particles is followed by budding of virus particles from the cell membrane allowing the virus to infect new cells.
The HIV-1 virus is capable of establishing a latent state of infection for prolonged periods of time. Individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus may remain clinically healthy for long periods of time, with the estimated average length of the asymptomatic period between primary HIV infection and the progression to AIDS and increase in viral replication being approximately 8 to 10 years. Several possibilities have been proposed to explain the maintenance of the low levels of viral replication during this period of latency. It is generally believed that the humoral immune response to HIV-1 is not sufficiently protective against progression of the disease and attention has, therefore, turned to the possibility that the T-lymphocyte population of cells may directly inhibit HIV-1 replication.
A number of groups have recently noted that the CD8.sup.+ subset of T-lymphocytes have the ability to inhibit the replication of HIV-1 in vitro (Walker, C. M. et al., 1989, Cellular Immunology 119:470-475; Kannagi, M. et al. 1990, J. Virology 64:3399-3406; Walker, C. M. et al., 1991 J. Virology 65:5921-5927). For example, addition of CD8 cells to naturally HIV-1 infected CD4 cell cultures was found to inhibit the replication of HIV-1 in the infected cultures in a dose dependent manner. (Ref. supra). Furthermore, the inhibitory effect is not dependent on cell-cell contact as an inhibitory effect is observed across a semi-permeable membrane suggesting that the CD8 suppressor activity is a soluble inhibitor of HIV-1 replication. (Ref. supra). To date, the molecular identity of the CD8 suppressor molecule, or a combination of factors, as well as the mechanism by which it exerts its antiviral effect remains undefined.

cDNA cloning methods for the identification of a CD8+ T-lymphocytes suppressor factor capable of inhibiting HIV-1 replication


Systems and methods for inspecting wound optical fiber to detect and characterize defects are disclosed. The method includes illuminating the wound optical fiber with light from a light source and capturing a digital image based on measurement light that is redirected by the wound optical fiber to a digital camera. The method also includes processing the digital image with a computer to detect and characterize the defects. The types of defects that can be detected using the systems and methods disclosed herein include bubbles, abrasions, punctures, scratches, surface contamination, winding errors, periodic dimensional errors, aperiodic dimensional errors and dents.

The fabrication of optical fibers generally involves subjecting a preform to heat and drawing the preform under tension to create the optical fiber. A number of other operations, such as coating, are usually performed as part of the fabrication process. The final optical fiber is typically wound onto a storage spool that can accommodate from many hundreds of meters up to many kilometers of optical fiber.
The optical fiber is inspected during the fabrication process. Such inspections are typically performed on the optical fiber as an isolated strand prior to the optical fiber being wound upon itself on the spool for storage.
Presently, the inspection of optical fibers on storage spools is done manually and is thus a tedious and labor-intensive operation. During the manual inspection, an operator has to visually check the wound fiber for many different types of defects, with some defects being easier to spot than others. For example, abrasions and micro-defects in the optical fiber coating (e.g., bubbles and punctures) are easily missed in view of the optical fiber's bright reflective surface and small diameter. Moreover, one layer of optical fiber on the storage spool can represent over a thousand windings, which makes the inspection process daunting.


The present invention relates to systems and methods for medical imaging. Digital images are processed to provide phase images of a region of interest to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of various conditions. A preferred embodiment of the invention provides improved mammography screening for cancerous or precancerous conditions.

There are numerous features in the human body in which medical imaging techniques can be used effectively to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. Various diseases or conditions involve calcified materials, structures or deposits within the human body that are indicative of the medical condition of the patient. These can include features of the human skeleton, such as the spine, calcified deposits within the arterial system such as obstructions to blood flow in the coronary arteries, or microcrystalline deposits in breast tissue that can become cancerous. Breast cancer, for example, is one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies and the second largest cause of cancer deaths in American females. Several improvements in diagnostic protocols have enhanced our ability for earlier detection of breast cancer, resulting in improvement of therapeutic outcome and an increased survival rate for breast cancer victims. Triple assessment is involved in identification of breast cancer. They are (1) clinical examination, (2) radiological assessment using mammography or ultrasound for example and, (3) pathological assessment using cytology or biopsy.
Although an impressive array of body-imaging techniques, such as x-ray imaging, x-ray computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, thermal infrared imaging (TIR), ultrasound, and radioisotope imaging are currently available to yield useful information, there are important limitations of safety, resolution, cost, and lack or limited specificity to key chemicals or structures necessary for functional body monitoring.
On the other hand, x-ray mammography, the current standard for monitoring breast cancer, has been shown to be effective in screening asymptomatic women to detect breast cancers. Abnormalities detected in mammography are classified as: Spiculated masses, Stellate lesions, Circumscribed masses, and microcalcification. Mammography is extremely useful in identifying pre-cancerous microcalcifications. Microcalcifications are found within the duct wall or lumen. Malignant microcalcifications are usually linear or branching whereas benign micro calcifications are rounded and punctuate.
This apparent positive benefit has resulted in a number of leading health care societies recommending that all women be screened using mammography on at least biennial basis. In order for mass screening to be cost effective, methods need to be developed to achieve it with high accuracy and speed. Moreover, as the microcalcifications are imbedded in dense soft tissue, the diagnosis of mammograms is subjective and solely depends on the interpretations of the radiologist of the mammogram. At times, even for qualified personnel, it is difficult to interpret screening mammograms in large numbers. So an appropriate use of imaging processing techniques to enhance the important features of mammograms improves the specificity and objectivity of clinical cancer diagnosis.


A rescue device for escape from buildings having more than a single story where the device is portable and may be deployed quickly in the event of an emergency. The rescue device has a lightweight frame for attaching to a structure and a single concentric chute. The lightweight frame is made of a coated tubular aluminum and has a platform to sit on as an individual prepares to evacuate the building. The frame has an outside clamp arm attached to its outer portion to provide support to the rescue device when in use and the rescue device is secured to the building by a cinch strap which secures the outside clamp arm against the outside of a building and to the inside of the building by the inside clamp arm. The inside clamp arm which is hinged to the frame such that the inside clamp arm and outside clamp arm can be folded up for easy portability of the rescue device.

This invention relates to a rescue device for the safe and rapid evacuation of a building during an emergency situation. Fires and other emergency situations require immediate action to safely evacuate the building and minimize injury to individuals trying to escape from the building. The problems with respect to such disasters have been more serious in multi-story buildings as evacuation is much more difficult than that of a single story building. As it is well known, elevators in the multi-story buildings can not be used safely when a building is burning. Also, staircases become unusable due to smoke or lack of lighting due to electrical disruption from the disaster. Although a fireman's ladder may be able to reach some of the lower stories, there are numerous buildings that exceed the ability of any fireman's ladder to reach and can evacuate a small number of people per hour. The rescue chute allows many more individuals to be evacuated per hour compared to the ladder truck. An evacuation with a ladder truck requires a fireman to help get the individuals down the ladder and approximately 6 people in an hour make it safely. With the rescue chute one person every 17 seconds may be evacuated at a height of 100 feet. Additionally, a response from a fire rescue unit may not be sufficiently timely and the height at which an individual can safely jump is also substantially limited. There are numerous documented cases in which hundreds of lives were lost in multi-story buildings because the individuals have been unable to safely evacuate that building before the loss of their life. There are numerous methods that suggest various means of resolving this problem, however they leave much to be desired. In Curiel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,611, it is suggested to utilize a platform system in which the members are attached to an endless conveyor system to lower individual to safety during an emergency situation. This system has substantial drawbacks in that a separate structure must be built to house conveyor system with the platform members and is an expensive system. In Leisman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,186, a double chute system is utilized relying on the friction on an individual inside to slow his rate of decent. This system is not beneficial for use by small individuals or children. In Curiel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,031, it is suggested that a double chute that is tapered near the lower end. This is a problem as an individual utilizing the system from a substantial height may not be able to slow sufficiently to eliminate injury when reaching the bottom. In Tracy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,595, a chute is suggested with semi-cylindrical band throughout the chute that is expensive and is not easily transported.
In Reece et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,195, the rescue chute lacks the ability to be easily stored and transported and cannot be operated by most individuals without substantial instruction. Also the within chute is a simple chute and a heat shield is optional and would be only required in extreme cases.
Most of the current aerial ladders and rescue platforms are limited in the height that they can reach and the number of people that can escape is relatively limited. These devices do not lend themselves to the rescue of disabled, injured or elderly individuals.


An analog-to-digital converter comprising a capacitor array having a plurality of unit capacitors, each having first and second inputs; a comparator having a pair of inputs and at least one output; and a controller configured to couple one input of each unit capacitor of the plurality of capacitors to the inputs of the comparator, and to control a feedback loop between the pair of inputs and the at least one output of the comparator.

Analog-to-digital converters (A/D converters) are well known in the art as circuits that change a continuously varying voltage or current into numerical digital form. The input may be AC (alternating current) or DC (direct current), and the output may be serial or parallel, binary or decimal. A/D converters produce a digital output code that is a function of the analog input voltage and a voltage reference input. Moreover, the width of a given digital output code corresponds to a range of analog input voltages for which that code is produced.
In an ideal A/D converter, each output code has an identical width, meaning the range of analog input voltages remains constant from one code transition point to the next. However, practically speaking, all A/D converters suffer from non-linearity due to their physical imperfections, causing their outputs to deviate from an ideal linear function.
There are two measurements of non-linearity: differential non-linearity (DNL) and integral non-linearity (INL). DNL occurs when the range of analog input voltages is not uniform for all digital output values. As such, DNL indicates the difference between the actual output code width and the ideal code width of one least significant bit (LSB). DNL may be caused by inaccuracies in capacitor sizing that often leads to missing codes in the output of the A/D converter. Missing codes in the output results in granularity and effectively reduces a dynamic range of the converter's output. INL is the cumulative deviation over a number of consecutive code values, i.e., cumulative DNL errors, and specifies how much the overall transfer function deviates from an ideal linear response.
Conventional methods for determining the DNL and INL of an A/D converter include using either a quasi-DC voltage ramp or a low-frequency analog voltage as the input. A simple DC-voltage ramp test can incorporate a logic analyzer, a high-accuracy digital-to-analog converter (D/A converter), and a high-precision DC source for sweeping the input range of the A/D converter being tested. If the setup includes a high-accuracy D/A converter, the logic analyzer monitors offset and gain errors by directly processing the A/D converter's output data. The precision signal source creates test voltages for the converter being tested by sweeping through the input range of the converter from zero to full scale. Once reconstructed by the D/A converter, each test voltage at the A/D converter input is subtracted from its corresponding DC level at the output of the D/A converter, producing a small voltage difference that can be displayed with an X-Y plotter and linked to the INL and DNL errors. A change in quantization level indicates differential nonlinearity, and a deviation of the differential voltage from zero indicates the presence of integral nonlinearity.

Analog-to-digital converter with capacitor array


An image processing apparatus divides an image into a plurality of first image blocks, each of which is a partial area of the image, and further divides each first image block to acquire a plurality of compartments that correspond to filters for determining an edge direction of an image of the first image block. The image processing apparatus determines the edge direction of each first image block based on the plurality of compartments and the filters, and decides that a first image block whose edge direction cannot be determined is a failed image block. The image processing apparatus then generates, from the failed image block, a second image block constituted by a plurality of compartments that differ in size from the plurality of acquired compartments, and determines the edge direction of the second storage block based on the plurality of newly generated compartments and the filters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that extracts an edge feature from an image and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, various image retrieval methods and recognition methods using edge features have been proposed. A typical edge extraction method involves performing a calculation per pixel using differential filters on a range that includes neighboring pixels. Filters used include a Prewitt filter, Sobel filter, Robison filter, and Kirsch filter. In the case where edge features are used in image retrieval or the like, the edge distribution in a partial area of the image is used as a feature amount in many cases.
The edge histogram disclosed in "Efficient Use of MPEG-7 Edge Histogram Descriptor" (Chee Sun Won et al., ETRI Journal, Vol. 24, No. 1, February 2002; hereinafter, document 1) uses an edge extraction method required to obtain edge distributions at a lower calculation cost compared to a method using the Sobel filter or the like. The edge extraction method disclosed in document 1 will now be described.
Firstly, an input image 10 is divided into 4×4 sub-images 11, such as shown in FIG. 12. The respective sub-images are further divided into square image blocks 12 so as to approximate a prescribed number. Next, the image blocks are further divided into four (2×2) compartments 13, and average luminances a(0) to a(3) are determined for the respective compartments. Next, the respective edge strengths m_v, m_h, m_d45, m_d135 and m_nd are calculated, using filters corresponding to the four directions shown in FIGS. 13A to 13D, that is, (a) vertical, (b) horizontal, (c) 45 degree and (d) 135 degree, and the non-direction shown in FIG. 13E. For example, m_v will be represented by the following expression when a(n) expresses the average luminance of each of the four compartments into which the image blocks 12 are divided (note that n=0 to 3, and shows the number attached to each of the four compartments).m—v=|1×a(0)+(−1)×a(1)+1×a(2)+(−1)×a(3)|  (1)
When the maximum value among the edge strengths m_v, m_h, m_d45, m_d135 and m_nd is greater than or equal to a prescribed threshold A, the direction of the maximum value is determined to be the direction of the edge of the target image block. The threshold A is the minimum strength value at which an edge is considered to exist. An edge histogram Eij is calculated by counting the directions of each image block 12 included in a sub-image 11. Note that i=0 to 4 corresponds to the filters shown in FIGS. 13A to 13E, and j=0 to 15 corresponds to the sub-images 11. The edge histogram Eij thus obtained is used as the feature amount.
However, the edge extraction method shown in document 1 is not always able to satisfactorily obtain edge features despite the advantage of having a small calculation cost compared to edge extraction methods that use the Sobel filter or the like. The case in which this edge extraction method is applied to image retrieval that targets the lines of a binary image will be described as an example in which this problem is markedly evident.
In FIG. 14A, four equidistant lines 21 overlap a total of 16 areas respectively obtained by dividing four image blocks of width 2d in four. With the lines of binary images, hatching composed on equidistantly spaced straight lines is often used in order to represent areas of particular density, such as with the areas corresponding to the lines 21. It is not always possible to extract hatching, depending on the relation between the size of the image blocks 12 and the spacing of the lines 21, with respect to such hatched areas. For example, consider the case where the size of the image blocks 12 and the spacing of the lines 21 are synchronized, as shown in FIG. 14A. Assume that the size (width and height) of the image blocks 12 is 2d, the thickness (width) of the lines 21 is b, and the spacing between the lines 21 is g. When these values are in the relation shown in the following equation (2), for example, the a(n) values in equation (1) will all be the same. Thus, the m_v value will be 0, making it impossible to detect the vertical lines, despite the vertical lines clearly existing.d=b+g  (2)
In the case where image retrieval using edge histograms is performed, an image can be retrieved if the edge histogram of an image provided by a query is similar to the edge histogram of an image stored in a database. Consequently, the feature amounts of the edge histograms in the database and the query will be similar if it is always impossible to detect an edge even when the lines 21 exists such as in FIG. 14A. However, in the case where the size of the image blocks 12 and the spacing of the lines 21 are slightly out of sync, as in FIG. 14B, it may or may not be possible to detect an edge, depending on the extent of the deviation. For example, consider the case where the image blocks 12 and the hatched lines 21 are disposed in a relation such as FIG. 14B. The values in equation (1) will be as follows when the size (width and height) of the image blocks 12 is 2d, the deviation of the left edge of the line 21 from the left edge of the image block 12 is a, the thickness of the lines 21 is b, the spacing between the lines 21 is g, the luminance of the lines 21 is 0, and the luminance of the white background is 255.a(0)=a(2)=(d−(b−a)×255)/d a(1)=a(3)=((d−b)×255)/d m—v=(a×255)/d  (3)
Consequently, assuming the size of the image blocks is the same for the image in the query and the image in the database, the value of m_v will be larger or smaller than the threshold A depending on the value of a, either enabling or preventing an edge from being detected.
This state expands in the direction of the hatched lines 21 as the lines 21 increase in length, and also expands perpendicular to the lines 21 depending on conditions such as the thickness and spacing of the lines 21. Hatching is also sometimes applied to wide areas, which leads to the feature amounts of the edge histograms differing greatly even with images that look extremely similar, and results in not being able to retrieve similar images.

Image processing apparatus and control method thereof


Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for reducing image noise. The method includes decomposing an original image into a luminance channel image and at least one chrominance channel image, and calculating a weighted average value of each pixel of the luminance channel image and the chrominance channel image by using luminance information, to correct each pixel of the luminance channel image and the chrominance channel image. By virtue of the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to effectively avoid color dispersion at edges of images, to achieve easy implementation, and to effect low cost.

1. Field
The present invention relates to image processing technology, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for reducing image noise.
2. Description of the Related Art
In digital cameras, ISO is a parameter that indicates image sensor gain. An image captured when ISO is set relatively low has less noise and vivid colors, but the captured image tends to blur due to slow shutter speed. An image captured when ISO is set relatively high and brightness is relatively low has higher image sensor gain, and is seldom affected by blurring, but is more easily subject to the influence of noise as compared with the case in which ISO is set relatively low.
As should be noted, the foregoing introduction to the background of the art is merely meant to facilitate a clear and complete explanation to the technical solutions of the present invention, and is enunciated in an effort to make easier the comprehension by persons skilled in the art. It should not be construed so, that these technical solutions were publicly known to persons skilled in the art simply because they have been enunciated in the Background of the Related Art of the present invention.

Method and apparatus for reducing image noise


A suspension for a wheeled vehicle includes a chassis, left and right hub carriers, and left and right support members for supporting the left and right hub carriers on the chassis in opposite positions relative to a reference axis through the chassis that is vertical when the chassis is level and for enabling the hub carriers to individually move up and down relative to a reference plane that is perpendicular to the reference axis. Left and right linkages are provided for cooperating with the left and right support members in order to control chamber as the left and right hub carriers move up and down relative to the reference plane. The suspension also includes differential camber control components for controlling the camber of the left and right hub carriers according to any difference in the positions of the left and right hub carriers relative to the reference plane in order to offset for chassis roll. The differential camber control components include a moveable linkage-connecting component that is mounted moveably on the chassis and connected to an inboard end of the left linkage and an inboard end of the right linkage. The differential camber control components also include left and right auxiliary linkages connecting the moveable linkage-connecting component to the left and right support members. That is done so that the moveable linkage-connecting component responds to any difference in the position of the left and right hub carriers relative to the reference plane by moving relative to the chassis toward the one of the left and right hub carriers that is lower relative to the reference plane, thereby to offset for chassis roll.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to automobile suspensions, and more particularly to a high performance automobile suspension that helps maintain a desired camber during various driving maneuvers and roadway conditions.
2. Background Information
Recall that automobile suspensions, including the suspensions of cars, trucks, radio controlled (R/C) models, and other wheeled vehicles, often include a chassis, left and right hub carriers, left and right upper linkages, and left and right lower linkages. The hub carriers provide the structure upon which the wheels are mounted, and the upper and lower linkages support the hub carriers on the chassis.
The upper and lower linkages may take the form of A-arms or other known forms of suspension linkages. They cooperate to support the hub carriers on the chassis, to enable up and down movement of the hub carriers, and to control hub carrier camber. For that purpose, the upper and lower linkages have outboard ends pivotally connected to the hub carriers, inboard ends pivotally connected to fixed mounting points on the chassis, and relative lengths chosen to control camber as desired during hub carrier travel.
Linkage lengths may be chosen, for example, to maintain constant camber during up-and-down hub carrier travel. They may be chosen, instead, to provide positive or negative camber change during hub carrier travel. That may be done to offset chassis roll during a high speed cornering maneuver in order to keep the outside tire flat on the roadway. But existing suspensions do not do both and so a better suspension is needed.


A loader has an operator's station, comprising a cab with an operator's seat that is mounted on a pivot at the forward portions of the operator's station. An actuator is mounted between the operator's station and a loader frame to tilt the operator's station about the pivot a limited number of degrees when operating accessories mounted on a forward portion of the loader frame. The accessory is shown as a backhoe, and the forward tilting of the operator's station permits increased the downward field of view for an operator to observe the lower end of a digging arm of a backhoe at greater depths than with a fixed position operator's station.

The present invention relates to a loader that has a relocatable or multiple position operator's station achieved by pivoting the disclosed operator's cab about a forward corner pivot axis such that the cab and the operator seat can be tilted forwardly a selected number of degrees and retained in that position to provide for greater downward angle visibility for operating front mounted digging arms, such as backhoes. By tilting the cab, good visibility for deep excavations can be obtained without requiring the operator to relocate to a second seat or station mounted on the backhoe or digger.
Typical backhoe attachments at the front end of loaders require the operator to relocate from the operator's station to a second seat mounted on the backhoe frame to obtain good visibility for deep excavations. This usually requires controls in two locations and it take time to accomplish moving the operator's seat.
Forward pivoting cabs that have releasable latches so that the cab can be pivoted forwardly to open the region under the cab for service, are known. This full open movement provides clearance for components underneath the cab.

Relocatable position operator seat station for loader


Upon receiving a start instruction, a control device turns on first and third system main relays, and performs precharge processing for charging a capacitor. Here, a limiting resistor for preventing an inrush current into the capacitor in a discharged state at the time of start is not provided in a load drive device. The control device controls a gate voltage of a power MOSFET of the third system main relay such that the power MOSFET operates in a saturation region, in a range not exceeding a maximum rated power.

FIG. 12 is an overall block diagram of a load drive device including a conventional power supply control device. Referring to FIG. 12, a load drive device 200 includes a DC power supply 210, system main relays 220 to 240, a limiting resistor 250 connected in series to system main relay 240, an inverter 260 receiving supply of electric power from DC power supply 210 and driving a motor-generator 270, a capacitor 280 smoothing an input voltage of the inverter, and a control device 290.
System main relay 240 includes a power transistor and a diode connected thereto in an anti-parallel manner. System main relay 240 and limiting resistor 250 connected in series are connected in parallel to system main relay 230.
Here, DC power supply 210, system main relays 220 to 240, limiting resistor 250, and control device 290 form the power supply control device in load drive device 200, and inverter 260, motor-generator 270 and capacitor 280 form the load device receiving supply of electric power from the power supply control device in load drive device 200.
When a start instruction of load drive device 200 is given to control device 290, control device 290 initially turns on system main relay 220 and the power transistor of system main relay 240. Then, a circuit from a positive electrode to a negative electrode of DC power supply 210 through system main relay 220, capacitor 280, system main relay 240, and limiting resistor 250 is formed, and charging from DC power supply 210 to capacitor 280 is started.
Here, as limiting resistor 250 is provided in load drive device 200, an inrush current from DC power supply 210 to capacitor 280 is prevented, and welding of system main relays 220, 230 can be prevented.
As charging of capacitor 280 proceeds, control device 290 turns on system main relay 230, and thereafter turns off the power transistor of system main relay 240.
Thus, in the power supply control device above, generation of the inrush current is prevented by providing limiting resistor 250, however, limiting resistor 250 that is used only at the time of start of the system has been one of factors to increase the cost.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-111240 proposes a power supply control device capable of preventing an inrush current without providing a limiting resistor. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-111240 discloses a technique to prevent the inrush current while suppressing an effective value of a flow-in current into a DC-DC converter by causing a transistor provided between a main battery and the DC-DC converter to perform PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) operation.
Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-92807 discloses a technique to charge a capacitor with a constant current using a precharge circuit provided between a battery for driving and an inverter and to protect a transistor within the precharge circuit by reducing the constant current when a temperature of the transistor within the precharge circuit attains a temperature equal to or higher than a certain level.
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-111240, however, remains as the technique simply to cause the transistor to perform PWM operation in order to prevent the inrush current, and maximum rating, a temperature of the transistor and the like are not considered.
In addition, the precharge circuit disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-92807 has a complicated circuit configuration, and reduction in cost is not sufficient.

Power supply control device and precharge processing method


An image forming device for adequately forming an image in which images overlap one another. The priority order (display order) of the images overlapping with one another is judged for the area where images of different attributes overlap with one another. When the priority rank of a three-dimensional image is high, a planar image in the overlapping area is deleted, or a three-dimensional image is formed on a planar image. When the rank of a planar image is high, only the color image of a three-dimensional image in the overlapping area is deleted, and a planar image is formed using foaming toner.

With the advance of the application software for image drawing, images having a variety of colors and patterns are processed and edited on personal computers (PC) and work stations (WS).
Further, with the advance of the image forming devices using the electrophotography method, the ink jet method, and the like, it has been made possible to print the images created by such application software on paper or the like with high precision.
Conventionally, when a composite image having an overlapping area where parts of different images (figures), characters, and the like are overlapped one over another is to be represented by using application software, an image having a higher priority rank has been preferentially represented on the basis of priority ranks (display order) which are normally established for the images.
On the application software, such a composite image is handled as if, in the overlapping area, both images were given. Conventionally, when an image is to be formed with an image forming device, only the image which priority rank is higher has been formed into an image if it is opaque. On the other hand, if the image having a higher priority rank is transparent, the image processing has been separately applied to the overlapping area so as to form an image in which both the images are blended into one.
This is because, for example, when the image which priority rank is higher is opaque, the image which priority rank is lower will not show up to the surface, thus there is no need for forming the image having a lower priority rank into an image. If the image which priority rank is higher is formed into an image on the image formed from the image having a lower priority rank, the geometry and color of the image with a lower priority rank can have an influence on the image having a higher priority rank.
As an example of such a technology, JP H09-104987 A discloses the technology which, by writing a divided job sequence into a map memory, and developing the pixel information in accordance with the result of the overlapping judgment, efficiently carries out detection of the drawing elements which are overlapped one over another, thus preventing the effect of the parallel processing of drawn images from being cancelled.
In recent years, with the advance of the image processing apparatus, there have arisen various demands for the processing up to the stage of image formation.
For example, in order to introduce the electrophotography type image forming device, which eliminates the need for photochemical process, into the light printing market, an electrophotography type image forming device which can provide a still higher quality of image has been required.
In some applications of the electrophotography, there arises a case in which images are formed having a different attribute, such as an embossed image, which has an attribute of height in addition to that of planarity using only color toners, such as embossed printing with which an embossed image is formed by using foaming toners in addition to the conventional color toners.
With these technologies, how the image formation is carried out in the area where the toners are overlaid one over another (in the overlapping area where images are overlapped one over another) is an extremely important problem.
With conventional image forming devices, however, an area where images are overlapped one over another, and an area where images are not overlapped have been differently processed for image formation. Thus, such a problem arose that an error is caused between the respective areas, resulting in a gap being produced at the boundary between the images formed. Also, when the image having a higher priority rank is to be overlapped on the image with a lower one so as to generate a delicate expression for the image formed, it was very difficult to cope with the situation.
In addition, in such a case as that when images having different attributes, i.e., a planar image, which is represented on a planar surface only with color toners, and an embossed image, which represents a height by using foaming toners, are to be represented, it is desirable to carry out image formation also for the image with a lower priority rank.
In view of the above problems, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an image forming device which is capable of adequately forming an image for the areas where images are overlapped one over another.

Image forming device and image forming method


A vacuum control system for controlling vacuum while an animal is being milked. The vacuum control system comprises a vacuum pump which is interconnected to a buffer vessel via a vacuum line. Each teat cup of the milking apparatus has a milk line which interconnects the teat cup to the buffer vessel. The teat cup is also interconnected to the vacuum pump via a pulse line which contains a pulsator. A regulator which includes an rpm governor and an electronic filter unit is connected to the vacuum pump and also by the filter unit to a vacuum sensor which, in turn is connected to the vacuum line. The filter unit is connected both to the rpm governor and to an electronic fast-acting control valve which is activated by the regulator on the basis of signals which it receives from the vacuum sensor. If the vacuum decreases in the vacuum line (and thus the buffer vessel) as result of, for example, a teat cup being disconnected from the teat of an animal being milked, the rpm governor causes the vacuum pump to increase its rpm and therefore capacity whereby the vacuum and vacuum line is maintained in a constant value. On the other hand, if the vacuum and vacuum line increases over its desired level, the electronic fast-acting valve is actuated to admit air to the vacuum line and thereby maintain the vacuum therein at a constant desired level.

This Application is a 371 of International Application No. PCT/NL00/00007, filed Jan. 5, 2000.
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a vacuum control system for controlling vacuum while milking an animal.
2. Background of the Invention
In known vacuum control systems the vacuum pump runs at a constant rotational speed of approximately 1,500 revolutions per minute and the regulator comprises a mechanical valve with the aid of which air is admitted to the vacuum control system, so that a desired vacuum level is maintained in the system. If the regulator operates properly, the vacuum level is independent of the air consumption of the teat cup or a pulsator, if any. In that case the vacuum pump displaces a quantity of air of approximately 400 liters per minute. As a result, the vacuum is maintained within the maximally allowed deviation from the desired value, even in the situation of an open teat cup. If all the teat cups are connected to the teats of an animal to be milked, this means that the greater part of the 400 liters of air per minute flows through the mechanical valve of the regulator. This has the disadvantage that the energy consumption of the vacuum pump is high, because the pump is always displacing the maximum quantity of air. The vacuum level further depends on the pump capacity. Another disadvantage is that, if it is desired to guarantee the stability of the vacuum, level in the long term, it is necessary to check the mechanical valve regularly, such valve not having a calibration point.
An object of the invention is to obviate the above-mentioned drawbacks or at least to minimize them.
In accordance with the invention, the above object of the invention is to achieved by means of using a speed regulator, preferably a frequency regulator to control vacuum pump rpm or using an electronic valve to control the amount of air admitted to the system or by using both controls. In this manner it is possible to reduce the number of revolutions of the vacuum pump during milking when the air consumption is very low, as a result of which much energy is saved relative to known systems. Because of the fact that it is possible to select a higher rotational speed of the pump than the situation of the existing pump, that is, for example, 3,600 revolutions per minute, it is further possible to displace the same quantity of air of 400 liters per minute with a smaller pump. A further advantage of the frequency regulator is that the stability of the vacuum level can be guaranteed in the long term. The frequency regulator also offers the possibility of controlling the vacuum level per animal or per teat.
A further advantage is that by means of the electronic valve, which is known per se from automotive engineering, it is possible to anticipate vacuum fluctuation because of the fact that the valve comprises a very fast-acting control valve. In this manner a very stable vacuum level can be guaranteed in the situation of suddenly occurring alterations in the system, such as, for example, may occur when a teat cup is disconnected from a teat.
According to an inventive feature, a vacuum sensor is connected to the regulator. By means of the vacuum sensor, it is possible to activate the frequency regulator on the basis of the measured vacuum.


Adsorbent pellets coated with an outer nano-porous layer can be loaded with gas at loading pressures of 250 bar or greater, enabling a much higher loading than can be achieved at low pressures. The nano-porous layer provides nano-valves which can be sealed with an adsorbate such as ethanol or a hydrocarbon to close the nano-valves. The closed nano-valves maintain the high loading pressure inside the adsorbent pellets, and thus maintain the gas loading, during storage of the loaded nano-valved adsorbent pellets at much lower pressure. To release the gas, the nano-porous layer can be heated to a temperature sufficient to vaporize the adsorbate and open the nano-valves.

The U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") has given priority to the development of transformational technologies that reduce the barriers to natural gas use in vehicles. While natural gas enjoys a significant price advantage over gasoline, there are significant technological and economic barriers to its use. These challenges arise largely from the low volumetric energy density of natural gas compared to liquid phase gasoline. Therefore, the suitable on-board storage of methane becomes an important challenge in developing natural gas-powered vehicles.
Technological approaches for storing natural gas on-board have included the storage of liquified natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas ("CNG") and absorbed natural gas ("ANG"). LNG has been commercially used for heavy-duty vehicles, whereas the storage of CNG has been commercialized for light-duty vehicles. The storage of ANG is developmental, with a Department of Energy target storage pressure of 35 bar.
High surface area adsorbents such as zeolites, metal organic frameworks ("MOF's"), covalent organic frameworks ("COF's"), activated carbon and carbon nanotubes have been investigated for storing natural gas. So far, storage capacities of these adsorbents for methane (CH4) at ambient temperature and 35 bar have been much lower than the DOE ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy) targets of 12.5 MJ/L volumetric, and 0.5 grams CH4/gram sorbent gravimetric. Thus far, the reported adsorbent capacities at 35 bar have not exceeded 0.29 grams CH4/gram sorbent. However, the adsorbents are far from saturation and have the potential to adsorb higher levels of methane using higher loading pressures that exceed the 35 bar storage pressure.
There is a need or desire for a method for loading and releasing natural gas and other gases (including, for example, carbon dioxide and hydrogen) into adsorbents that maintains higher loading levels of CH4 at a storage pressure of 35 bar.

Method for loading and storing gas in nano-valved sorbents

University of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc.


A wired drill pipe telemetry system includes a surface computer; and a drill string telemetry link comprising a plurality of wired drill pipes each having a telemetry section, at least one of the plurality of wired drill pipes having a diagnostic module electrically coupling the telemetry section and wherein the diagnostic module includes a line interface adapted to interface with a wired drill pipe telemetry section; a transceiver adapted to communicate signals between the wired drill pipe telemetry section and the diagnostic module; and a controller operatively connected with the transceiver and adapted to control the transceiver.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to drill string telemetry. More specifically, the present invention relates to a fault diagnosis and/or identification system for a downhole drilling operation.
2. Background Art
Downhole systems, such as Measurement While Drilling (MWD) and Logging While Drilling (LWD) systems, derive much of their value from their abilities to provide real-time information about borehole conditions and/or formation properties. These downhole measurements may be used to make decisions during the drilling process or to take advantage of sophisticated drilling techniques, such as geosteering. These techniques rely heavily on instantaneous knowledge of the formation that is being drilled. Therefore, it is important to be able to send large amounts of data from the MWD/LWD tool to the surface and to send commands from the MWD/LWD tools to the surface. A number of telemetry techniques have been developed for such communications, including wired drill pipe (WDP) telemetry.
The idea of putting a conductive wire in a drill string has been around for some time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,848 issued to Denison discloses a drill string telemeter system, wherein a wireline is used to transmit the information from the bottom of the borehole to an intermediate position in the drill string, and a special drilling string, having an insulated electrical conductor, is used to transmit the information from the intermediate position to the surface. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,957,118 issued to Barry et al. discloses a cable system for wellbore telemetry, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,502 issued to Heilhecker et al. discloses methods for installing an electric conductor in a drill string.
For downhole drilling operations, a large number of drill pipes are used to form a chain between the surface Kelley (or top drive) and a drilling tool with a drill bit. For example, a 15,000 ft (5472 m) well will typically have 500 drill pipes if each of the drill pipes is 30 ft (9.14 m) long. In wired drill pipe operations, some or all of the drill pipes may be provided with conductive wires to form a wired drill pip ("WDP") and provide a telemetry link between the surface and the drilling tool. With 500 drill pipes, there are 1000 joints, each of which may include inductive couplers such as toroidal transformers. The sheer number of connections in a drill string raises concerns of reliability for the system. A commercial drilling system is expected to have a minimum mean time between failure (MTBF) of about 500 hours or more. If one of the wired connections in the drill string fails, then the entire telemetry system fails. Therefore, where there are 500 wired drill pipes in a 15,000 ft (5472 m) well, each wired drill pipe should have an MTBF of at least about 250,000 hr (28.5 yr) in order for the entire system to have an MTBF of 500 hr. This means that each WDP should have a failure rate of less than 4×10 per hr. This requirement is beyond the current WDP technology. Therefore, it is necessary that methods are available for testing the reliability of a WDP and for quickly identifying any failure.
Currently, there are few tests that can be performed to ensure WDP reliability. Before the WDP are brought onto the rig floor, these pipes may be visually inspected and the pin and box connections of the pipes may be tested for electrical continuity using test boxes. It is possible that two WDP sections may pass a continuity test individually, but they might fail when they are connected together. Such failures might, for example result from debris in the connection that damages the inductive coupler. Once the WDPs are connected (e.g., made up into triples), visual inspection of the pin and box connections and testing of electrical continuity using test boxes will be difficult, if not impossible, on the rig floor. This limits the utility of the currently available methods for WDP inspection.
In addition, the WDP telemetry link may suffer from intermittent failures that would be difficult to identify. For example, if the failure is due to shock, downhole pressure, or downhole temperature, then the faulty WDP section might recover when conditions change as drilling is stopped, or as the drill string is tripped out of the hole. This would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to locate the faulty WDP section.
In view of the above problems, it is desirable to have techniques for performing diagnostics on and/or for monitoring the integrity of a WDP telemetry system.

Method and apparatus for performing diagnostics in a wellbore operation


Generation of a high power rf pulse is achieved in a simple transmitting device that uses permanent magnet material(s) to store energy. Such energy is released through the thermal quenching of the magnetic material(s). Thermal quenching is accomplished, e.g., through an explosion. Such thermal quenching is facilitated in one embodiment by using a magnetic composite material comprising both magnetic particles and explosive particles. The rf pulse thus generated may be used for any desired purpose, e.g., tracking or research. The transmitting device includes a permanent magnet for establishing a constant magnetic flux for so long as the magnet retains its normal magnetic properties. The magnetic flux passes through a coil. Upon the thermal quenching of the magnetic material(s), the magnetic properties rapidly change, causing the magnetic flux to also rapidly change, thus inducing a high power electrical pulse in the coil. This high power electrical pulse may be used in a broad band spark transmitter or used to power a narrow band transmitter, causing the rf pulse to be generated. In one embodiment, the power of the electrical pulse is increased by charging a capacitor, followed by a very short discharge of the capacitor.

The present invention relates to pulse generators, and more particularly to pulse generators deriving their operating power from the thermal quenching of magnetic composite materials.
One particular application for pulse generators made in accordance with the present invention is an electromagnetic tracer, e.g., a compact electromagnetic tracer suited for use in an exploding projectile, such as an exploding projectile used on a battle field. The tracer transmits a high power rf pulse at the impact or explosion point of the projectile. Such high power rf pulse advantageously allows the impact location of the projectile to be electronically determined, e.g., through triangulation, without the need for risk forward observers, or expensive radar tracking systems.
Many exploding projectiles used on a battle field are launched some distance from the battlefield. There is thus a need to determine the impact location of such projectiles so that, as required, corrections can be made to the trajectory of subsequently launched projectiles in order to hit a desired target. One technique commonly used to determine the impact location of an exploding projectile is to place observers within visual distance of the battle field, which observers are in radio contact with the projectile launch site. Through observation, the observers radio information back to the launch site indicating how close the impact location was to a desired target. Appropriate corrections can then be made as subsequent projectiles are launched so that such are guided along a trajectory leading to the desired target. Unfortunately, depending on the terrain of the battle field, such observers must frequently be forward on the battle field in order to accurately observe the impact location, thereby placing such observers at risk. What is needed, therefore, is an impact-location determining technique that avoids the use of risk forward observers.
One method known in the art that avoids the use of risk forward observers is to track the exploding projectile with radar systems, or equivalent. Unfortunately, such tracking systems are extremely expensive to manufacture, operate, and maintain. Further, depending upon the terrain of the battle field, such radar tracking systems may not always produce reliable results. It is thus apparent that what is needed is an inexpensive and reliable method of determining the impact location of an exploding projectile.
There are numerous other non-military applications where high power radio frequency (rf) pulses are needed for tracking or research purposes. For such applications, the rf pulse is most conveniently triggered from a remote location. Unfortunately, in the prior art, such remote generation of high power pulses has required storage of electrical energy, e.g., batteries and/or charged capacitors, at the remote location, along with appropriate switching circuitry for releasing such energy upon receipt of a trigger signal. Such conventional means for storing and releasing electrical energy is bulky and expensive, and represents an inefficient use of materials if only one high power rf pulse is required. What is needed is a more efficient and alternate means of providing power for remote generation of a single high power rf pulse.

Pulse power generation from thermal quenching of magnetic materials


A liquid crystal lens panel includes a first substrate including a first base substrate and a first electrode layer disposed on the first base substrate; a second substrate including a second base substrate facing the first base substrate and a second electrode layer disposed on a surface of the second base substrate, the second substrate facing the first base substrate; and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. The liquid crystal layer has a refractive index of about 0.2 to about 0.29 and a dielectric constant of about 5.5 F/m to about 10 F/m.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a liquid crystal lens panel and a display device having the same. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a liquid crystal lens panel capable of improving a display quality of a three-dimensional (3D) image and a display device having the same.
2. Discussion of the Background
A 3D image display typically provides a left-eye image and a right-eye image having a binocular disparity, to a left eye and a right eye of a viewer, respectively. The viewer sees the images with both eyes and mixes the images together in brain and perceive the 3D image.
For the 3D image, a 3D image display device employing a linear polarization method, which separates the left-eye image and the right-eye image from each other using 3D glasses, has been suggested, but the viewer bears inconvenience of wearing 3D glasses.

Liquid crystal lens panel comprising a liquid crystal layer having a refractive index of 0.2 to 0.29 and a dielectric constant of 5.5 F/m to 10 F/m and display device having the same


A mobile ad hoc network (MANET) may include a plurality of mobile nodes each including a wireless communications device and a controller connected thereto. The controller may operate in accordance with a multi-layer protocol hierarchy. More particularly, at an upper protocol layer, the controller may establish a quality-of-service (QoS) threshold. Furthermore, at least one intermediate protocol layer below the upper protocol layer, the controller may select between unicast and multicast communications modes based upon the QoS threshold. As such, at a lower protocol layer below the at least one intermediate protocol layer, the controller may cooperate with the wireless communications device to transmit data to at least one destination mobile node based upon the selected communications mode.

Wireless networks have experienced increased development in the past decade. One of the most rapidly developing areas is mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). Physically, a MANET includes a number of geographically distributed, potentially mobile nodes sharing one or more common radio channels. Compared with other types of networks, such as cellular networks or satellite networks, the most distinctive feature of MANETS is the lack of any fixed infrastructure. The network is formed of mobile (and potentially stationary) nodes, and is created on the fly as the nodes communicate with each other. The network does not depend on a particular node and dynamically adjusts as some nodes join or others leave the network.
In a hostile environment where a fixed communication infrastructure is unreliable or unavailable, such as in a battle field or in a natural disaster area struck by earthquake or hurricane, a MANET can be quickly deployed to provide much needed communications. While the military is still a major driving force behind the development of these networks, ad hoc networks are quickly finding new applications in civilian or commercial areas. MANETs will allow people and applications to exchange data in the field or in a class room without using any network structure except that which they create by simply turning on their computers or PDAs.
As wireless communication increasingly permeates everyday life, new applications for MANETs will continue to emerge and become an important factor in wireless communications. Yet, MANETs pose serious challenges to designers. Due to the lack of a fixed infrastructure, nodes must self-organize and reconfigure as they move, join or leave the network. All nodes are essentially the same, and there is no natural hierarchy or central controller in the network. All functions have to be distributed among the nodes. Nodes are often powered by batteries and have limited communication and computation capabilities. Also, the bandwidth of the system is usually limited. The distance between two nodes often exceeds the radio transmission range, and a transmission may have to be relayed by other nodes before reaching its destination. Consequently, a MANET network typically has a multi-hop topology, and this topology changes as the nodes move around.
The MANET working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has been actively evaluating and standardizing routing protocols, including multicasting protocols. Because the network topology changes arbitrarily as the nodes move, information is subject to becoming obsolete, and different nodes often have different views of the network, both in time (information may be outdated at some nodes but current at others) and in space (a node may only know the network topology in its neighborhood and not far away from itself).
A routing protocol needs to adapt to frequent topology changes, possibly with less than accurate information. Because of these unique requirements, routing in these networks is very different than in others. Gathering fresh information about the entire network is often costly and impractical. Some routing protocols are reactive (i.e., on-demand) protocols. That is, they collect routing information only when necessary and only to destinations to which they need routes, and do not maintain unused routes. In this way the routing overhead may be reduced compared to pro-active protocols, which maintain optimal routes to all destinations at all time. Ad Hoc on Demand Distance Vector (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and Temporally Ordered Routing Algorithm (TORA) are representatives of reactive routing protocols presented at the MANET working group.
An example of a proactive routing protocol is found in Clausen et al. entitled "Optimized Link State Routing Protocol," Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) MANET Working Group, Internet Draft, Oct. 31, 2001. Examples of other various routing protocols include Destination Sequenced Distance-Vector (DSDV) routing which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,654 to Perkins, and the Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP) which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,556 to Haas. ZRP is a hybrid protocol using both proactive and reactive approaches.
These conventional routing protocols use a best effort approach in selecting a route from the source node to the destination node. Typically, minimizing the number of hops is the main criteria in such approaches.
Quality-of-service (QoS) routing in MANETs is gaining interest. To provide quality-of-service, a protocol needs not only to find a route but also to identify and/or secure the resources along the route. Because of the potentially limited, shared bandwidth of the network, and the lack of a central controller which can account for and control these limited resources, nodes must negotiate with each other to manage the resources required for QoS routes. This is further complicated by frequent topology changes. Due to these constraints, QoS routing is more demanding than best-effort or minimum-hop routing.
Some examples of QoS routing approaches are set forth by Chenxi Zhu in the publication entitled "Medium Access Control and Quality-of-Service Routing for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks," 2001, and by M. Mirhakkak et al. in the publication entitled "Dynamic Quality-of-Service for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks," MITRE Corp., 2000. Zhu discusses establishing bandwidth guaranteed QoS routes in small networks whose topologies change at a low to medium rate. Mirhakkak et al. are concerned with resource reservation requests that specify a range of QoS values while the network makes a commitment to provide service within this range.
Since MANETs are still in the initial stages of development, most attempts to implement QoS functionality in MANETs thus far have focused primarily on using QoS parameters to establish routes, as is the case with the above-noted prior art approaches. Yet, as MANETs continue to increase in size and complexity, further QoS functionality may be needed along with ways to efficiently distribute QoS operations among different network protocol hierarchy layers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) providing quality-of-service (QoS) based unicast and multicast features


A component based software program, where each component is based on a component-type. Component-types are created from base classes comprising slot definitions. The slot definitions are identified and stored in a component-type object. One or more components of the component-type are created, each comprising a reference, to a component-type object and a slotmap having storage locations for values associated with property slots definitions, in the component-type object. Values for property slots are entered into components by being placed in the storage locations. Also disclosed is a method for automatically designating unique names to components. One root component is created. Further non-root components are placed within the root component or within other components, so that all components form a tree structure. A component is assigned a unique identification string, comprising a sequential list of all of the component's ancestors and the component's name.

Many different endeavors require custom software to solve their problems. Typically these problems are well understood by domain experts, such as, for example building automation experts, factory automation experts, and traffic control experts. However it is rare that domain experts have the required skills to use common programming techniques such as object oriented programming. Today domain experts must attempt to specify their requirements to programmers who then build the desired system. This process is error prone, time consuming and fraught with miscommunication. What is needed is the ability for domain experts who understand the problem space to be able to build the software system themselves. It is not feasible to expect that domain experts have the time or inclination to become professional programmers. Therefore it is necessary to provide tools which enable the creation of custom software by a lay person. Ideally these tools would allow a software system's configuration parameters, execution logic, and data to be visualized graphically. Graphical tools would allow the domain expert to create, monitor, and change the software system without having to understand cryptic programming language syntax.
Component oriented systems are part of a new concept that provides some of these features by encapsulating software functions into components that can be connected to build an application that addresses a real world need. However, known prior approaches still require knowledge of a programming language in order to implement a practical system. Software components, up to this point, still require programming skills to connect the components together to create a functional system. Furthermore, existing component technologies do not allow the domain expert to graphically visualize the entire system and make changes at runtime. For example a domain expert may wish to change execution flow or add a new behavior at runtime and immediately see what effect this has on the software system. This exploratory programming approach is at odds with current solutions which require the software to be stopped, recompiled, and then restarted. Furthermore additions, modifications or updates of the software may be needed in order to improve performance add features, etc. Current solutions once again require that the software be stopped, recompiled and restarted for any updates, additions or modifications. Stopping of the software may be especially difficult in some environments where critical processes are being controlled. Another specific challenge in providing such a solution is the need to allow the domain expert to enhance or extend software components to adapt them to the unique needs of a specific domain application. Historically these additions or extensions have required conventional programming skills and knowledge.
The present invention addresses these and other needs.

Dynamic objects with property slot definition and runtime mechanisms


The noise reducing equipment of the present invention is used in combination with a vertically oriented sound barrier wall to reduce the level of noise from a source of sound such as traffic generated on one side of the sound barrier wall and comprises an assembly composed of a predetermined number of interconnected resonant chambers mounted in tandem to said sound barrier wall in a relationship such that the assembly extends from said sound barrier wall on the side thereof opposite the source of sound with the resonant chamber closest to the sound barrier wall having a volumetric area larger than the volumetric area possessed by each of the other resonant chambers and an additional sound barrier section extending from the most distant resonant chamber relative to the location of the sound barrier wall. In addition, at least one external surface of the assembly should be coated with a photo-catalyst comprising titanium dioxide.

It is known to use a sound barrier wall for reducing and impeding the transmission of sound waves. A sound barrier wall can, for example, be installed alongside an expressway to confine and minimize traffic noise generated by passing automobiles. It is also known to add resonance equipment on top of a sound barrier wall which includes several different type of Helmholtz resonators responsive to selected resonance frequencies of the source of noise to be abated so as to more effectively minimize the noise level at the barrier wall and confine the level of noise to an acceptable level. An arrangement consisting of a combination of a sound barrier wall and resonance equipment is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. P3485552 for reducing noise from e.g. traffic to an acceptable low level. The sound resonance equipment disclosed in this patent publication includes an outer shell which surrounds a plurality of resonant chambers responsive to different resonance frequencies and includes means for mounting the resonance equipment to the top of a vertically installed sound barrier wall to form a substantially uniform arrangement of an equal number of resonant chambers on each opposite side of the sound barrier wall.
Although the sound resonance equipment taught and described in the aforementioned Japanese Patent No. P3485552 is effective for reducing noise the construction and installation requirements to form a substantially uniform arrangement of an equal number of resonant chambers on each opposite side of the sound barrier wall is expensive, difficult to maintain and unsightly in appearance. Less expensive noise reducing equipment which can be more easily installed and maintained without any noticeable decrease in its effectiveness to abate noise is the principal object of the present invention.


The invention provides controlled release compositions for treatment of parasitic mites in honeybees, the compositions composed of a covalently crosslinked polymer gel and an active agent that includes a salt of formic acid. The invention also provides methods for controlling parasitic mites in honeybees, the methods involving treating the honeybees with a controlled release composition composed a covalently crosslinked polymer gel and an active agent that includes a salt of formic acid. The invention further provides a kit for treatment of parasitic mites in honeybees, the kit including an envelope that contains a controlled release composition of the invention. Optionally, the active agent can include formic acid.

Parasitic mites have caused serious problems both for the beekeeping industry and more broadly in agriculture, since honeybees are important for pollination of many important crops. There are two types of parasitic mites that cause problems for honeybees. Both Varroa jacobsoni and the tracheal mite Acarapis woodi cause infestations that have resulted in extensive reductions in honeybee populations. The successful management of honeybees in the face of these pests requires multiple approaches for control, including breeding of resistant strains and various treatments and control measures.
Various treatments have been attempted to control parasitic mites in honeybees, although limitations of currently available treatments include toxicity of the chemicals used, marginal effectiveness, inconvenience of use, difficulties in registration of the composition with environmental agencies, mite resistance, and/or contamination of beeswax. There are currently two products registered in the United States for control of Varroa: Apistan®. (Wellmark International, Dallas, Tex.), a plastic strip containing fluvalinate, and CheckMite+™ (Bayer), a plastic strip containing coumaphos. In addition, another product, called Api Life Var, containing thymol, is available in a few states. This product is stated to be only 75% effective, so does not provide a complete treatment. Unfortunately, there are now strains of mites that are resistant to both fluvalinate and coumaphos. Furthermore, there are concerns about contamination of honey and beeswax with these agents.
Other treatments have been used on an experimental basis with varying results. Essential oils have been used with mixed success. Experimental work has been carried out with an ester of formic acid, methylformate. Results of that work are unknown at the present time. Tracheal mites can sometimes be controlled with menthol or, less effectively, by use of vegetable oil patties placed in the hive. However, none of these materials is active against both types of parasitic mites.
Formic acid has been used quite effectively in much of the world to control mite infestation, but it is not currently registered for use in the United States. Formic acid vapors are known to be effective for controlling parasitic mites in honeybees. However, formic acid is corrosive and toxic; thus, using it can be hazardous for the user. Methods and compositions for application of formic acid have taken a variety of forms, including liquid, support materials soaked in liquid formic acid, strips of formic acid, and menthol-paste.
Formic acid has been used in liquid form in Europe and Canada and has been shown to control parasitic mites of honeybees in a wide variety of situations. The first comprehensive report on such use of formic acid appeared in a special issue on varroatosis (Ritter and Ruttner. 1980. Allg. Dtsch. Imkerztg. vol. 14, pp. 151–153). Subsequently, the "Illertisser Mite plate" (IMP), a cardboard-like material that could be soaked with formic acid and placed in the hive was developed (Wachendorfer et al. 1985. Apidologie. vol. 16, pp. 291–306). This method, or modifications of it, was tested against parasitic bee mites in a number of countries, including Germany (Hoppe et al. 1989. Amer. Bee J. vol 129, pp. 739–742), Sweden (Fries, I. 1989. Swedish J. Agric. Res. vol. 19, pp. 213–216) and Dubai (Bracey and Fisher. 1989. Amer. Bee J. vol. 129, pp. 735–737). Other known application methods have included soaked cheesecloth (Liu and Nasr. 1992. Amer. Bee J. vol. 132, pp. 666–668) and containers with wicks (Sharma et al. 1983. Indian Bee J. vol. 45, pp. 1–2; Lupo and Gerling. 1990. Apidologie. vol. 21, pp. 261–267). Nelson et al. (1994. Bee Science. vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 128–134) disclosed formic acid application for controlling tracheal mites and compared treatments using liquid formic acid, formic acid gel-strips, menthol-paste and the German product IMP.
Most of the above-mentioned methods use varying concentrations of dilute liquid formic acid, and most require multiple applications. In addition, use of the IMP apparatus often necessitates the removal of part of the honeycomb from the hive to meet space requirements.
Another approach that has been developed for dispensing formic acid involves mixing either polyacrylic acid or fumed silica with a formic acid solution to make a gel. This approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,374 and in J Agric Food Chem 47(9): 3850–3 (1999). This technology was also developed into a commercial product that was registered for use in the United States under the trade name Apicure™ (BetterBee). However, due to problems of leakage from the packaging, it was removed from the market after a short time.
There have been numerous reports indicating the effectiveness of formic acid in gel for controlling parasitic mites in honeybees (Vet Parasitol 111(2–3):241–5 (2003) and J Vet Med B 48(1):11–4 (2001). Formic acid is very corrosive and safely dispensing it inside the beehive has been problematic. Moreover, because formic acid is a strong acid, it can destroy gelling agents and/or prevent adequate gel stability (thus resulting in failure to form a stable gel, leakiness of the resulting gel, and other similar stability problems). Formic acid can be difficult to mix with other reagents as well, which can also contribute to instability problems of resulting gels. Further, current methods can require handling liquid formic acid, frequent applications and/or extensive hive manipulation.
In addition to the above concerns, there is increasing resistance by Varroa to the currently approved products. If additional effective treatments were available, this could provide the ability to alternate treatment courses, thus minimizing the occurrence of such resistance.

Methods and reagents for treating honeybees for parasitic mites


A portable computer terminal is disclosed which may operate in a hand-held mode and while docked within a vehicle. The terminal interacts with an illumination means therein which can be used for bar code reading and, while docked, for providing illumination for a head up display on the vehicle's windshield. Textual messages undergo text to voice conversion as well as head up display. Moreover, to provide full hands-off operation, voice recognition of predefined sets of commands is incorporated within the terminal. In another embodiment, the illumination means is placed in a housing separate from the terminal. A wireless link between the illumination means and the terminal provide for communicating text and graphics for head up display.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to wireless communication terminals for use in vehicular mounted environments; and, more particularly, it relates to wireless communication used in vehicles which implement voice recognition and head-up display technology to provide hands-off interfacing with a driver.
2. Related Art
The use of radio transceiving devices in trucks or other automobiles is well known. Such devices typically support voice communication only, but others also or alternately enable the driver to receive textual messages. Similarly, in either implementation, the driver typically receives feedback from conventional transceiving devices in a textual form.
To display textual messages received and/or textual feedback (hereinafter "textual information"), most conventional transceiving devices employ LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. Although they could be made larger, the screens are typically as small as possible to conform to the small footprint otherwise desired for the transceiving devices. Because of the limited screen size, drivers often find the screen very difficult to read, especially in bright day-light conditions. With the small screens, the textual information displayed tends to be rather cryptic and abbreviated, adding to the reading difficulty,
Compounding the problem, most conventional transceiving devices in vehicular applications are mounted out of a driver's normal field of view. Thus, to interface with such a device, drivers must look away from the road, creating a dangerous situation. Furthermore, if a driver needs to interact with such a device to enter data or commands, the driver not only looks away from the road, but also has to remove his hand or hands from the steering wheel to interact with some manual input means. Again, this creates a very hazardous situation.
In addition, when the image on the terminal's screen changes and needs to be read, it is often very difficult to gain the attention of the driver. The changes alone to the image on the screen typically does not attract a driver's attention. Beeping or buzzing sounds to gain the driver's attention may be employed but are often masked by road noise.
Hence, it would be highly desirable to solve the foregoing variety problems encountered in the use of vehicular-mounted transceiving devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular-mounted computing device or terminal which allows drivers to interface therewith without requiring visual or manual attention.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular-mounted computing device or terminal which brings information to a driver's attention in a non-invasive, non-hazardous manner.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention and claims with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Code reading terminal with integrated vehicular head-up display capability