A fixing apparatus including a heat roller having a heat source therein; and first and second pressing rollers arranged to be pressed sequentially against the heat roller beginning with a more upstream pressing roller in a direction of rotation of the heat roller, wherein when the hardness of the heat roller is Hh, the hardness of the first pressing roller is Hp1 and the ratio of the hardness of the two rollers satisfies Hr1=Hh/Hp1, the heat roller and the first pressing roller are structured in such a manner that the following condition is satisfied: Hr1.gtoreq.1.5.

The present invention relates to a fixing apparatus of an image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a facsimile machine or a copying machine, for fixing a toner image carried on a. sheet (plain paper, coat paper, an OHP (Over Head Projector) sheet, glossy paper, a cut sheet, such as a postcard or an envelope) to the surface of a sheet. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fixing apparatus having two pressing rollers which are pressed against one heat roller.
Hitherto, a fixing apparatus has been disclosed (refer to Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho. 58-21262) which is structured as shown in FIG. 8 in such a manner that two pressing rollers are sequentially pressed against one pressing roller beginning with a more upstream pressing roller in a direction of rotation of the one pressing roller.
The apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho. 58-21262 has two pressing rollers, which are arranged in such a manner that a downstream pressing roller has a higher circumferential speed, or a pressing belt arranged between two rollers. Thus, a recording medium moved to the surface of the heat roller is brought into contact with the wide area of the two rollers or the pressing belt. As a result, toner can efficiently be softened at lower temperatures.
As described above, the conventional fixing apparatus shown in FIG. 8 has the structure that the circumferential speed of the pressing roller 3 is higher than that of the pressing roller 2. Therefore, a tension is applied to the sheet between the pressing rollers 2 and 3 after the leading end of the sheet has been allowed to pass through a pressing portion between the pressing roller 2 and the heat roller 1, and then allowed to pass through a pressing portion between the pressing roller 3 and the heat roller 1. As a result, the sheet can satisfactorily be brought into contact with the heat roller 1. That is, the tension is not applied to the sheet before the leading end of the sheet reaches the pressing portion between the pressing roller 3 and the heat roller 1. As a result, the sheet cannot satisfactorily be brought into contact with the heat roller 1.
That is, the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 8 encounters considerably great difference in the heating value which is applied to toner on the sheet before and after the leading end reaches the pressing portion by the pressing roller heat roller 1. Thus, there arises a problem in that nonuniformity (nonuniformity in the strength of fixation, the color development characteristic, the transparency and the like) takes place in the leading end portion and the central portion of the sheet. Also the trailing end of the sheet has a similar problem. That is, the heating value, which is applied to toner on the sheet, becomes considerably different before and after period until the trailing end of the sheet passes through the pressing portion by the pressing roller 2 and the heat roller 1. As a result, results of the fixing operation have nonuniformity between the central portion of the sheet and the trailing end portion of same.
Although the above-mentioned structure attains an effect of softening the toner, the conventional structure has a problem in that a large quantity of stacked toner layers cannot satisfactorily strongly be fixed to the surface of a recording medium. Another problem arises in that a required result of the fixing operation by using heat cannot be obtained because the temperature of the recording medium is lowered during a period in which the wide areas of the recording medium and the heat roller are brought into contact with each other. What is worse, a slight difference in the speed between the heat roller and the pressing roller can result in a toner image, the surface of which is brought into contact with the rollers, being disordered.
A fixing apparatus has been known which is of a type having a heat roller and a pressing roller arranged to be pressed against the heat roller and structured in such a manner that a sheet having toner thereon is allowed to pass through the two rollers to heat, melt and fix toner to the surface of the sheet. There is apprehension that the fixing apparatus of the foregoing type encounters a problem that the sheet is wound around the heat roller because of the adhesive force of molten toner. If a color image is obtained by melting and fixing toner images in a plurality of colors stacked on a sheet, transparency must be realized by sufficiently heating, melting and mixing stacked toner in the plural colors. Therefore, the sheet can furthermore easily be wound around the heat roller.
On the other hand, an inventor of the present invention has found that the transparency of a toner image deteriorates if a large quantity of oil is applied to the surface of the heat roller. The reason for this will now be described. If oil in a large quantity is applied to the surface of the heat roller, the toner is heated and melted under the pressure through the large quantity of oil. As a result, the pressure of the surface of the heat roller is dispersed by the layer of the large quantity of oil, causing the smoothness of the surface of the heat roller not to be reflected on the surface of toner. Thus, it is conceivable that the resulting irregular reflection will deteriorate the transparency.


The invention is directed to a process and apparatus for drying a slurry, particularly a sludge, such as sewage sludge, in which a sludge mixture of recycled dried sludge and wet sludge is fed to a drier. The quantity of wet sludge or recycled dried sludge supplied to the drier is controlled based upon drier inlet temperature. In this way, the evaporation rate of the drier is kept substantially constant.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention refers to a process and apparatus for drying a slurry, particularly a sludge, such as sewage sludge, in which a sludge mixture of recycled dried sludge and wet sludge is fed to a drier to dehydrate the sludge mixture utilizing hot exhaust air from a furnace. The quantity of wet sludge or recycled dried sludge fed to the drier is controlled based upon the drier inlet temperature.
2. Description of the Prior Art Processes for drying sludge have been known in the art, for example, as described in WO 93/24800 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,801. In these processes, the furnace temperature and the drier inlet temperature, respectively, are controlled in response to changing dry content levels in the sludge mixture. As a result, the drier inlet temperature has to be lowered when the dry solids content of the sludge mixture fed into the drier increases (i.e., when the sludge mixer fed into the drier contains less water). This causes a decrease in drying performance since the drier inlet temperature is lower. If a wetter sludge mixture is fed into the drier, the drier inlet temperature has to be increased. However, the furnace is limited in capacity, and when the furnace reaches its upper limit, adequate drying can only be achieved by reducing throughput, which usually must be effected by manual intervention.
This invention addresses these problems in the art by providing a process and apparatus in which the operating conditions of the drier are kept substantially constant by using a control system according to the present invention.

Process and apparatus for drying a slurry


A system and method for selecting calendar events based on examining the content of a user's recent e-mail activity. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a scheduling manager assembles a keyword list, wherein the keyword list includes a collection of keywords with associated weights for each keyword among the collection of keywords. If the scheduling manager detects at least two conflicting calendar events scheduled within a calendar program, the scheduling manager searches the at least two conflicting calendar events for at least one keyword on the keyword list. The scheduling manager computes a keyword weight score for each of the at least two conflicting calendar events. If one calendar event among the at least two conflicting calendar events has a highest keyword weight score, the scheduling manager schedules the one calendar event within the calendar program.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of data processing systems, and more particularly, the field of increasing scheduling efficiency utilizing data processing systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The advent of the computer has facilitated the exchange of information and has transformed modern work environments via the use of applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, databases, etc. While a stand-alone computer with word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications installed enables a user to quickly enter and process information, networked computers facilitate the rapid exchange of information via a network, such as the Internet. A user typically navigates and exchanges information over the network through the use of web browsers, e-mail clients, file transfer protocol (FTP) clients, and other types of communication applications. The use of networks such as the Internet as a communication medium enables users to communicate from remote locations, reducing the need for costly face-to-face meetings.
With increased reliance on network-based work environments, software applications have been developed to enhance the efficiency and productivity of workers. One type of application that has emerged is an electronic calendar, also known as a "personal information and time manager". Some personal information and time managers are coupled with e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook™. Coupling e-mail clients with personal information and time managers enable users to send and receive e-mail messages and schedule appointments in the same application interface. Also, a user can immediately make an appointment in response to an c-mail message with a combined interface offered by Outlook™.
Lotus Organizer™ is one example of a popular electronic, personal information and time manager for scheduling appointments, making to-do lists, maintaining address lists, managing contacts, and more. The multi-access, multi-user database format utilized in Organizer™ allows multiple users to share the same file for group calendar planning, contacts, and task management. Organizer™ has a group scheduling feature that enables a user to schedule a meeting and invite other users to attend. Often, meetings may be set for the same time or overlapping times. A user must mentally prioritize between overlapping meetings and manually accept or decline meeting invitations. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method of automating calendar entry selections to address the aforementioned limitations.

Techniques for selecting calendar events by examining content of user's recent e-mail activity

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed herein is a human body communication system for communicating data via an electric field formed by intervention of a human body, the human body communication system including: a transmitter for generating the electric field by transmitting a potential difference signal corresponding to transmission data from a transmitting electrode; and a receiver for receiving the data by reading the potential difference signal in the electric field by a receiving electrode; wherein the transmitter and the receiver use the potential difference signal in a frequency band such that a quasi-electrostatic field formed within the human body is dominant over a radiation field formed outside the human body when the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode are each disposed in very close vicinity to the human body.

The present invention relates to a human body communication system and a communication device that communicate data using a human body as a transmission path, and particularly to a human body communication system and a communication device that communicate data via an electric field formed by the intervention of a human body.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a human body communication system and a communication device that transmit a relatively large amount of data such as audio via a human body, and particularly to a human body communication system and a communication device that transmit data via a human body with secrecy, with low power consumption, and without interfering with another communication system in a neighborhood.
In related art, listening to music with headphones connected to a portable type music reproducing device typified by a "WALKMAN (Registered Trademark of Sony Corporation)" is widely performed. The reproducing device proper can be put in a bag or a pocket, or worn on a body by a belt. However, when headphones are used, a headphone cable often becomes a hindrance and restricts the movement of a user when the cable winds around the body of the user.
As one method of achieving cable-less communication between the portable type music reproducing device and the headphones, the use of infrared communications such as IrDA and the like is considered. However, considering outdoor use, satisfactory communication quality may not be obtained due to effects of natural light. In addition, since infrared communications have a high directivity, positional relation between a transmitting device and a receiving device is limited considerably (for example a condition in which the transmitting device and the receiving device are within a line-of-sight range and there is no obstruction between the devices needs to be secured). Further, the light emission of an LED on the transmitter side increases power consumption. Infrared communications are thus considered to be unsuitable for practical use in battery-driven portable devices.
Bluetooth communication has spread as a radio communication technology using weak radio waves. Using the communication system for music data transmission between a portable type music reproducing device and headphones is considered, and the communication system is partly put to practical use. However, the Bluetooth communication uses a 2.4-GHz band as an ISM band (Industrial, Scientific and Medical frequency band) that does not require a license, interference of other radio waves of a microwave oven within a house, a wireless LAN and the like which radio waves use the same frequency band is inevitable. It is thus hard to say that the Bluetooth communication is a satisfactory transmission system from viewpoints of communication quality and secrecy.
Human body communication technology that incorporates a human body in a transmission path has recently started to draw attention. For example, a communication system (for personal authentication, payment, settlement of accounts or the like) is proposed in which a human body side communication device worn in contact with the skin of a human body is provided and an apparatus side communication device is provided in the vicinity of the human body, and by applying an alternating voltage to the human body via an electrode on the side of the human body communication device, simple information data is transmitted and received on the basis of the action of a capacitor with the human body interposed as a medium between the electrodes of the human body communication device and the apparatus side communication device, using a phenomenon of electrostatic induction occurring at the electrode of the apparatus side communication device (see for example "Human body communication already partly put to practical use, 10-Mbits/second prototype" (NIKKEI BYTE 2004 December)).
The present inventor et al. consider that it is possible to establish a connection between a portable music reproducing device and headphones by human body communication and thereby transmit audio data in a wireless manner. It is known for example that a communication between two devices that have an electrode, are independent of each other, and transmit weak radio waves having a level insufficient for mutual communication as they are is enabled by strengthening the radio waves with a human body as a medium (see for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 7-170215 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,701).
A human body has properties as a conductor and properties as a dielectric. A human body communication system using the former properties is referred to as a current type. In this case, the transmitting and receiving electrodes of a portable music reproducing device and headphones need to be in contact with a human body at all times. The human body communication system therefore has a problem in usability because the electrodes give an unpleasant feeling or a feeling of discomfort, for example.
A human body communication system using the properties of the human body as a dielectric is referred to as an electric field type. In this case, one of a radiation field propagating through space, a dielectric electromagnetic field, and a quasi-electrostatic field (not propagated) using the charging of a human body is formed between a transmitting electrode and a receiving electrode which electrodes are disposed such that the human body is interposed therebetween. A signal can be transmitted on the basis of a potential difference acting in such an electric field. While several human body communication systems of the electric field type are proposed, it has not been fully elucidated which of these electric fields is used.
For example, in a case where a portable type music reproducing device and headphones are connected to each other by a human body communication of the electric field type and an electric field formed by the interposition of a human body is a radiation field rather than a quasi-electrostatic field, even when excellent audio data transmission is achieved, the radiation field becomes a wave interfering with a neighboring radio system using a same frequency band, or another radio system interferes with the human body communication instead. In this case, the human body communication can be intercepted, and is therefore unable to maintain secrecy. Further, since an extra electric field (stronger than necessary) is radiated to the outside of the human body, power consumption is increased, which represents a critical problem especially for battery-driven portable devices.
The human body communication system in related art is predicated on the action of a capacitor with a human body interposed as a medium between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode. In such a case, a desired information communication speed cannot be obtained unless an electrode area is made considerably large, and it is therefore difficult to reduce the size of the device side communication device. When the electrode area is made considerably large, susceptibility to noise is increased instead, and therefore communication quality is lowered.

Human body communication system and communication device


Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, a device, and a storage medium for performance prediction of a communication waveform in a communication system. The method includes measuring, by a receiver, an actual SNR distribution of a communication link between a transmitter and the receiver; further includes evaluating, by a waveform performance prediction device, a normalized minimum SNR shift required for the communication waveform to operate, where the normalized minimum SNR shift is obtained based on a normalized SNR distribution using a neural network (NN), the normalized SNR distribution corresponding to the actual SNR distribution; and further includes, according to the normalized minimum SNR shift, obtaining, by a waveform performance prediction device, an actual minimum SNR shift for the actual SNR distribution, where according to the actual minimum SNR shift, the communication system is adjusted for operation.

For waveform selection and transmission power control in communication systems, it is important to determine required signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) levels for waveforms to operate. In a radio frequency (RF) environment where the link SNR is consistent or has a single modal distribution, the required SNR level of a waveform (modulation and forward error coding scheme (FEC)) can be obtained. However, in a Partial Band Partial Time (PBPT) jamming RF environment, the SNR of a communication link changes rapidly over time, such that symbols of a code word may have very different SNR conditions. Typical PBPT jamming RF environments present in frequency hopping (FH) communication systems, where the SNR levels of different hops can be significantly different due to different interference conditions over the hops' frequency bands.

Method, device, and storage medium for communication waveform performance predication


Data multiplexing and demultiplexing apparatus for respectively timeshare-multiplexing a plurality of data signals and demultiplexing the timeshared-multiplexed data signals. The multiplexing apparatus includes a plurality of code buffers each respectively receiving one of the data signals, a control circuit for generating switching and header control signals, a switching circuit responsive to the switching control signal for successively retrieving each of the data signals from the code buffers and for grouping the retrieved data signals so as to form respective packets of data and for generating one or more packs of data from the packets of data each having a fixed data length, and a header adding circuit responsive to the header control signal for respectively adding a packet header and a pack header to each packet and pack. The multiplexing apparatus further includes a device for determining if the amount of data to be contained within each pack is less than that which may be contained therein and, upon such determination, for adding data thereto from another packet so as to fill the respective pack, The demultiplexing apparatus includes a header separating circuit for separating the pack and packet headers from the multiplexed data, pack time information storing circuit for storing time information included in each pack header, switching circuit for separating the multiplexed data into the original data signals, and a plurality of buffers each respectively storing one of the data signals from the switching circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data multiplexing apparatus for timeshare-multiplexing a plurality of variable rate data and a multiplexed data demultiplexing apparatus for demultiplexing multiplexed data into a plurality of original data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
So far, to timeshare-multiplex a plurality of variable rate time sequencing data (for example, compressed digital moving picture (or sound) data) and to store them on a data storing medium, a plurality of data generated in a particular time of period were grouped together (this grouped data is hereinafter referred to as a pack), a header was added at the beginning of the pack, a code representing a time was written in the header, and thereby, the multiplexed data was generated. To demultiplex the multiplexed data into the original data, the data transfer rate of the data storing medium was adjusted in accordance with the time written at the pack header.
In the above mentioned conventional data multiplexing method, since a plurality of data generated in a particular period of time was grouped together as a multiplexing unit, the data length of the multiplexing unit varied, so that when this multiplexed data was stored on the data storing medium, the multiplexing unit could not be matched with the storing unit of the data storing medium.

Data multiplexing apparatus and multiplexed data demultiplexing apparatus


The invention provides methods of transforming plants and plant cells including recalcitrant cells with isolated nucleic acids encoding LEC1 transcriptional activators to induce transformation or regeneration efficiency, apomixis or somatic embryogenesis.

Major advances in plant transformation have occurred over the last few years. However, in major crop plants, such as maize and soybeans, serious genotype limitations still exist. Transformation of agronomically important maize inbred lines continues to be both difficult and time consuming. Traditionally, the only way to elicit a culture response has been by optimizing medium components and/or explant material and source. This has led to success in some genotypes, but most elite hybrids fail to produce a favorable culture response. While, transformation of model genotypes is efficient, the process of introgressing transgenes into production inbreds is laborious, expensive and time consuming. It would save considerable time and money if genes could be introduced into and evaluated directly in commercial hybrids.
Current methods for genetic engineering in maize require a specific cell type as the recipient of new DNA. These cells are found in relatively undifferentiated, rapidly growing callus cells or on the scutellar surface of the immature embryo (which gives rise to callus). Irrespective of the delivery method currently used, DNA is introduced into literally thousands of cells, yet transformants are recovered at frequencies of 10−5 relative to transiently-expressing cells. Exacerbating this problem, the trauma that accompanies DNA introduction directs recipient cells into cell cycle arrest and accumulating evidence suggests that many of these cells are directed into apoptosis or programmed cell death. (Reference Bowen et al, Third International Congress of the International Society for Plant Molecular Biology, 1991, Abstract 1093). Therefore it would be desirable to provide improved methods capable of increasing transformation efficiency in a number of cell types.
Typically a selectable marker is used to recover transformed cells. Traditional selection schemes expose all cells to a phytotoxic agent and rely on the introduction of a resistance gene to recover transformants. Unfortunately, the presence of dying cells may reduce the efficiency of stable transformation. It would therefore be useful to provide a positive selection system for recovering transformants.
In spite of increases in yield and harvested area worldwide, it is predicted that over the next ten years, meeting the demand for corn will require an additional 20% increase over current production (Dowswell, C. R., Paliwal, R. L., Cantrell, R. P., 1996, Maize in the Third World, Westview Press, Boulder, Colo.).
In hybrid crops, including grains, oil seeds, forages, fruits and vegetables, there are problems associated with the development and production of hybrid seeds. The process of cross-pollination of plants is laborious and expensive. In the cross-pollination process, the female plant must be prevented from being fertilized by its own pollen. Many methods have been developed over the years, such as detasseling in the case of corn, developing and maintaining male sterile lines, and developing plants that are incompatible with their own pollen, to name a few. Since hybrids do not breed true, the process must be repeated for the production of every hybrid seed lot.
To further complicate the process, inbred lines are crossed. For example in the case of corn, the inbreds can be low yielding. This provides a major challenge in the production of hybrid seed corn. In fact, certain hybrids cannot be commercialized at all due to the performance of the inbred lines. The production of hybrid seeds is consequently expensive, time consuming and provides known and unknown risks. It would therefore be valuable to develop new methods which contribute to the increase of production efficiency of hybrid seed.
As new traits are added to commercial crops by means of genetic engineering, problems arise in "stacking" traits. In order to develop heritable stacked traits, the traits must be linked because of segregating populations. Improved methods for developing hybrid seed which would not require linking of the traits would significantly shorten the time for developing commercial hybrid seeds.
Gene silencing is another problem in developing heritable traits with genetic engineering. Frequently gene silencing is seen following meiotic divisions. Elimination or reduction of this problem would advance the state of science and industry in this area.

“Methods of using leci transcriptional activator nucleic acids”


A method for driving an electromagnetic load, particularly a solenoid valve that influences the fuel quantity to be injected into an internal combustion engine, the duration of the driving of the solenoid valve being correctable by a delay time, characterized in that the delay time can be specified as a function of the instantaneous value of the current to the desired switch-off procedure.

The present invention concerns a method and an apparatus for controlling an electromagnetic load (device). From the German Patent Application No. DE-O 44 15 361, a method and an apparatus for controlling an electromagnetic load are known. Such electromagnetic loads are intended in particular to control the fuel metering in internal combustion engines. A solenoid valve establishes the injection duration in this process.
In solenoid valves, a certain time span normally passes between the drive time point and the reaction of the solenoid valve. This time span is normally known as the switching time of the valve. This switching time is a function of various parameters, such as the coil temperature and the current flowing through the coil. A variable switching time of the solenoid valve results in turn in a variable injection duration and thus in a changing injected fuel quantity.

Method and device for controlling an electromagnetic load


A method and apparatus are provided for visually emphasizing all of the numerical data contained in an electronic document. A determination is made as to whether a request to emphasize all of the numerical data in the electronic document has been received. If such a request is received, all of the numerical data within the electronic document is located and emphasized. Emphasizing may include adding a highlighting attribute to the located numerical data or adding other formatting to visually distinguish the numerical data from the remainder of the electronic document. A request may also be received to deemphasize the located numerical data. In response to receiving such a request, the emphasis is removed from the located numerical data.

Modern word processing application programs are utilized to prepare a wide variety of different document types. For instance, some users utilize word processing application programs to prepare text documents that include a large amount of numerical information. As an example, a corporate lawyer may utilize a word processing application program to create text documents that include a large amount of numerical data for filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Although modern word processing application programs include an endless array of tools for creating and editing text documents, these same word processors lack functionality for assisting a user in creating and editing a text document that includes numerical data. One shortcoming of current word processing applications programs in particular is exposed when a user attempts to locate numerical information in a text document utilizing a standard "find" function.
Unlike text strings, numerical information is more difficult to locate using the typical "find" function provided by current word processing application programs. Users are able to locate a text search string in a document using a typical "find" function because they have a preconceived knowledge of the string that they are looking for. For example, if a user is looking for the name "John" in a document, the user can easily modify the search string to match the desired string through a relatively small number of iterations. However, if a user is searching for a number that they do not already know, a telephone number for instance, it may be very difficult to locate the number in the document. The user may be forced to scan through the entire document until the desired number can be located. This can be very time consuming and frustrating for a computer user, especially if the document is a long one.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the various embodiments of the present invention have been made.

Method and apparatus for visually emphasizing numerical data contained within an electronic document


A column comprising a first end (2a) provided with a column packing means and a second end (2b) provided with a fluid collection means for collecting fluid from over some or all of the internal cross-section of the column, wherein said first and second ends (2a, 2b) are held apart by a column wall. The second end (2b) is provided with blocking means (52, 72, 82, 92) movable between a blocking position where said blocking means (52, 72, 82, 92) substantially obstructs the collection of fluid from a predetermined portion (CR, CR1, CR2) of the cross-section of the column and an non-blocking position where it does not substantially obstruct the collection of fluid from the predetermined portion (CR, CR1, CR2) of the cross-section of the column. This allows the resistance to flow through the collection means to be modified to control where the bed media is deposited over the cross-section of the column.

Columns used in liquid chromatography typically comprise a body-forming structure enclosing a porous media through which a carrier liquid flows, with separation taking place by material collection between the carrier liquid and solid phase of the porous media. Typically, the porous media is enclosed in the column as a packed bed, typically formed by consolidating a suspension of discrete particles. An alternative to the packed bed is the so-called expanded or fluidised bed, where effective porosity and volume of the expanded bed depends on the fluid velocity. The term 'bed' shall be used in the following to describe the porous solid phase in all types of chromatography. The efficiency of the chromatographic separation relies in both modes strongly on the liquid distribution and collection system at the fluid inlet and outlet of the packed bed, and on the homogeneity of the packed bed.
Prior to any separation process, the bed has to be prepared starting from a suspension of particles that has to be introduced into the column. The process of bed formation is called 'packing procedure' and is especially critical for packed beds. The goal of this procedure is to provide a bed of ideal homogeneity. Large scale columns are preferably prepared by injecting a slurry of media particles through a central slurry nozzle. The excess liquid during this procedure is removed at the column outlet, while the particles are retained by means of a filter material, a so-called 'bed support'. The process is complete once the packed bed has completely filled the chromatographic column. The packing process is considered as being successful if the homogeneity and stability of the packed bed allows for a good and robust chromatographic performance quantified in terms of the residence time distribution over the bed. However, if an attempt is made to pack an empty column with bed media using such a slurry nozzle and the bed height is small compared to the column width, then the packing efficiency and bed homogeneity is low. The fluid dynamics of the suspension phase becomes unfavourable such that particles are not distributed and deposited evenly across bed interface. Literally speaking, the jet of suspension leaving the nozzle is not strong enough to transport bed media all the way to the column walls, especially toward the end of the process when the bed interface is in vicinity of the top adapter confining the column at the inlet side. As a result, the bed interface grows with a non-uniform growth rate leading to an uneven bed interface with the maximum height of the interface occurring at a radius smaller than the perimeter of the bed.
Co-pending patent applications GB 0111485.9 and GB0111486.7 describe chromatography devices in which the liquid distribution at the inlet side of the column is achieved by first distributing the liquid radially through one or more horizontal collection slots and then allowing the liquid to enter the column though one or more annular slits arranged intermediate the centre of the column and the wall of the column. A similar liquid collection arrangement is used at the outlet end to collect the liquid leaving the column. Such a liquid collection system is also in operation for removing excess liquid during the packing process and object of the invention.
As used herein and in the appended claims: the term "fluid system" is intended to designate the apparatus in which liquid is either introduced to or withdrawn from a cell at a zone approximately transverse the direction of flow through the cell. The term "cell" is intended to include the terms "vessel" and "column", as well as any other structure utilised by practitioners of the separation arts, to effect a separation, and/or reaction, and/or catalysation and/or extraction of components from an admixture by bringing the admixture into contact with solid or liquid exchange media, above referred to as the packed bed, and/or for the purpose of sintering/consolidating bed material to form a bed, for example a monolithic bed. "Cross-sectional zone" (or region) refers to a region within a cell bounded by cross sections of the cell-oriented transverse (typically approximately normal) the longitudinal direction of flow through the cell. "Longitudinal direction of flow" refers to the direction of flow from an inlet towards an outlet within a cell. "Longitudinal" is used consistently to designate the dominant flow path of fluid through a cell without regard to direction. "Flow connection system" refers to a system of channels or paths that connect two points in a fluid circuit. "Collection system" refers to structures through which fluids are introduced to a cell and "collection system" refers to structures used to withdraw fluids from a cell, in each instance from a cross-sectional zone.

Method and device for packing chromatography columns


A communication device includes one or more programmable modules for receiving and selectively handling a telephone call including pre-specified caller identification information. The programmable module includes a registry of caller identification information and instructions on how to handle a particular telephone call when the telephone call includes caller identification information specified in the registry. The communication device includes several programmable modules, each configured to provide different functionality for selectively handling a telephone call. The programmable modules are inserted and removed from ports included with the communication device for providing functionality as needed. The communication device includes a web engine for configuring the programmable modules utilizing a web browser. The communication device includes functionality for announcing caller identification information to a user upon receipt of a telephone call.

Many telephone based communication devices are capable of receiving caller identification information included with a telephone call, such as digital caller identifying information transmitted between the first and second rings of the telephone. Typically, in order to utilize the caller identification information for handling certain telephone calls differently, e.g. for blocking or forwarding calls, a user must contact the provider of the telephone service, such as a telephone company, and request that certain calls be forwarded, blocked, or handled differently than normal. However, this may be a lengthy and time consuming process. Thus, there exists a need for a communication device capable of receiving a telephone call including caller identification information and selectively handling the telephone call based on caller identification information included with the telephone call, wherein a user of the communication device has the ability to configure the functionality for selectively handling the telephone call.

Communication device having advanced and pluggable telephony features


The present invention comprises computing systems, computer readable media, and methods of protecting computing systems. Embodiments comprise defining a virtual volume, mounting the virtual volume, and processing write accesses. Processing write accesses comprises creating a virtual volume record in a virtual volume database associated with the write access and storing write data at a free location of a shadow cache. Embodiments may also include processing read accesses comprising comparing the read accesses to a virtual volume record to determine if a matching virtual volume record exists, reading data from the target volume if the matching virtual volume record is absent, and reading a data from the shadow cache if the matching virtual volume record is present. Embodiments may also comprise processing at least one virtual volume record upon the occurrence of an event of interest and includes copying a cache data segment from the shadow cache to the target volume.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protecting computer data.
2. Description of Related Art
Computers and computer networks face a myriad of threats to the data they contain and to their smooth and continuous operation. Due to these threats, security is a growing problem for enterprise information technology organizations, original equipment manufacturers, and home users. Computer threats in the form of viruses, worms, spyware, and the like are constantly evolving, resulting in a constant need to protect against the havoc and destruction they may cause. Large organizations cannot afford to have significant computer and network down time as a result of damage to data and software that may be caused by the threats.
Furthermore, an increased number of patches and updates to applications and operating systems (OS) are being deployed at an increasing rate, to not only improve performance and fix bugs, but to combat against these increased security risks. With these new software deployments come new problems. These new problems may disrupt the manner in which a system operates, or cause a system to become unstable, due to software incompatibilities or unsatisfactory interoperability with previously installed software.
Backup systems and methods have been proposed for dealing with viruses, and the like, as well as patches, updates, and addition of new software. These systems usually save a state of the system at regular intervals, or before the installation of software patches and new software. If and when a problem is detected, the system may be restored to the saved state. However, the restoration may take costly time and lose any system states between the saved state and the state of the system when a decision is made to return to the saved state. In addition, many of these proposals cause changes to the original operating system's file system and organization of volumes, such as hard disk drives. Various techniques propose modifying partitions on a disk, modifying the disk structure, and even modifying the master boot record of the boot volume. However, these intrusive techniques modify system parameters and operation. These changes may be difficult to undo and may actually leave the system more vulnerable to threats.
Systems and methods are needed that integrate with an original operating system's file system to enable protection of a computing system from undesired changes, and enable ways to commit those changes to the system, if and when a user, a system administrator, or other event of interest determines that the changes are appropriate.

Systems, methods, and computer readable media for computer data protection


Impact modifiers which produce transparent, high notched Izod impact strength blends with amorphous, aromatic polyesters are described. The impact modifiers are core-shell polymers with cores comprised mainly of rubbery polymers of diolefins and vinyl aromatic monomers and shells comprised mainly of styrene copolymers (e.g. styrene and hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate).

The present invention concerns an impact modifier composition which significantly improves the notched impact resistance while maintaining clarity of an amorphous aromatic polyester resin (hereafter referred to as polyester). More specifically, the present invention concerns an impact modifier composition which contains a rubbery polymer and a polymer containing a hydroxyl group or another functional group which acts in a similar manner as the hydroxyl group.
Polyesters (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, etc.) exhibit various excellent properties such as resistance to temperature, chemicals, weathering, radiation and burning and also exhibit excellent clarity (in amorphous form), reasonable cost, as well as modability. Accordingly, polyesters are used for various purposes (e.g., fibers, films, molded and extruded products, etc.) The notched impact resistance of the polyester, however, is less than satisfactory. Plastics such as poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) have insufficient notched impact strength, and many attempts have been made to improve the impact strength. Many agents have been proposed to improve the impact strength. These are added to resins and subjected to melt-blending. In particular, when a cut (notch) is created in a molded or extruded part, the impact resistance of polyester is poor, and consequently notched impact strength must be further improved for polyester articles.
Various attempts have been made using conventional fibrous inorganic fillers (e.g., glass fiber, asbestos fiber, etc.) to improve the impact resistance of polyester. Even when these methods are implemented, however, the impact resistance improvement is less than satisfactory and clarity in amorphous polyesters is adversely affected.
Various techniques wherein rubbery polymers or rubber-containing polymers are mixed with polyesters have been developed to improve the impact resistance of polyesters and thermoplastic materials. Specifically, certain core-shell polymers comprising a core made of rubbery polymer and a shell, around the core, made of a glassy polymer are excellent agents for improvement of notched impact strength of polyesters where clarity is not an object.
When these prior art methods are used, the polyester resin generally exhibits poor compatibility with the shell of the rubber-containing polymer, and therefore impact resistance (especially notched Izod impact resistance) is not fully optimized. Even when these prior art core-shell modifiers are added to amorphous polyesters and found to produce ductile, notched breaks, the clarity of amorphous polyester resins is destroyed. An amorphous polyester may contain a small amount of crystallinity, but the level must be low enough so that clarity is not adversely affected. Further, although the polyester may be crystallized under certain conditions, in the present invention the molding and cooling conditions are such that crystallization (and loss of clarity) is avoided.
Lane, U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,013 teaches core/shell polymers functionalized with an epoxy group, such as a shell of methyl methacrylate/glycidyl methacrylate, to improve the melt strength of polyesters. Although Lane broadly teaches butadiene-based elastomers with optional minor amounts of styrene in the core and teaches styrene as a major component of the outer stage, she does not teach or suggest a solution to preparing an efficient impact modifier which will retain clarity in the amorphous polyester.
Kishimoto et al., Japanese Kokai 54-48850, disclose butadiene-based core/shell polymers with hydroxyalkyl groups in the shell portion as modifiers for crystalline polyesters, such as poly(butylene terephthalate), but do not teach the means to modify such core/shell polymers to make them useful as impact modifiers in clear, amorphous polyesters.
The object of the present invention is to provide a composition for improving the impact strength of polyesters, such as PET or PET copolyesters, when they are processed into clear, tough objects while retaining their amorphous nature. The composition will provide tough, ductile notched Izod breaks (>10 ft. lbs./in., at room temperature) at loadings of 25% or less in amorphous polyesters and copolyesters. It is another objective that said composition provide tough ductile notched Izod breaks without reducing the transparency of amorphous polyesters. Another object is to provide a composition which will also overcome the embrittlement caused by physical aging which commonly occurs in amorphous aromatic polyesters when conditioned at temperatures approaching glass transition temperature (Tg). A further object is to provide a process for making an impact modifier composition for improving the impact strength of polyester. A still further object is to provide clear amorphous extrusion/melt shaped or injection molded PET or PET copolyester articles.

Amorphous, aromatic polyester containing impact modifier


The silicon wires formed around metal particles by crystal growth have the problem of metal pollution. For its solution, in the present invention, a silicon bridge is formed through standard silicon processes such as the lithography and the wet etching using hydrofluoric acid performed to an SOI substrate. Thereafter, a thermal oxide film is desirably formed at a high temperature to form a high-quality gate insulating film. It is also desirable to form a coaxial gate electrode. Then, after burying the bridge sections of the silicon bridge in a resist film, the silicon on the bridge girders is removed, and thereafter, the silicon wires buried in the resist film are collected. In this manner, the silicon wires can be collected without dispersing into the hydrofluoric acid solution. Then, a transistor using the silicon wires as a channel is formed.

In the modern information society, the semiconductor is used in all sorts of things. For example, not to speak of the personal computer and the mobile phone, the semiconductor is used in all of digital consumer electronics such as the flat panel display, the HDD DVD recorder, and the digital video camera. As described above, the trend toward the so-called ubiquitous society in which the information processing spreads to all parts of our society beyond the old framework knows no bounds, and this trend will be further accelerated in the future. As the technology serving as the basis thereof, the mere development of the software is insufficient, and the development of new device technology suitable for the various using environments is indispensable more than ever. For example, for the achievement of the electronic paper which can be flexibly bent like a newspaper and a book, a new technology quite different from the conventional one, that is, the technology for fabricating a transistor on a plastic substrate is required. In another example, in order to perform inventory management of all commodities and to calculate the price of many purchased goods in a moment in a supermarket or the like, it is necessary to fabricate a large amount of the RF-ID (Radio-Frequency Identification) tags capable of transmitting the information through radio waves at low cost.
In addition, in another example, in order to realize a display fabricated on the whole area of the wall, a method for forming transistors on a large area by using a printing technology is required. If this can be realized, the sense of reality as if traveling all over the world is no longer a fantasy even at home. Also, the wearable transistor which can be flexibly bent and can wear well against water and wind is indispensable for fabricating the audio player on the clothes. If the wearable transistors can be highly integrated at low cost, for example, the T-shirt having a moving image thereon is realized. Further, the transistors are embedded not only in the clothes but also in the eyeglasses and ultimately in the contact lenses so as to display the information images thereon. As described above, the transistors which can be integrated on an intended substrate and on a wall are called the flexible transistors. The flexible transistor is expected to be applied to the entirely new field as described above.
The organic transistor is a representative of the flexible transistor. The organic transistor is a field effect transistor in which an organic material such as polythiophene and pentacene is used as the channel material. The organic transistors can be fabricated on a plastic substrate by a printing method such as the inkjet printer and the roll-to-roll printing using the organic semiconductor in a solution state.
However, the performance of the organic semiconductor required in the expected application field is difficult to be achieved due to its low mobility. Although the mobility of the organic semiconductor is remarkably increased owing to the advancement in the material development in recent years, even the single crystal pentacene fabricated by the deposition method has the mobility of only about 1 cm2/Vs. In addition, when forming it by the deposition method, the organic semiconductor is adhered on the whole substrate surface, and the device isolation becomes difficult. Therefore, the deposition method is not suitable for the method of forming the transistors on a flexible plastic substrate. The transistors formed by a printing method which is more suitable than the deposition method is also under development. However, in the case of the printing method, since the single crystallization of the organic semiconductor is difficult, the mobility is reduced by one or two orders of magnitude and is about 0.1 cm2/Vs at most. On the other hand, when the organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) material is used as the display element of the electronic paper, the mobility of about 10 cm2/Vs is required. Also, the mobility of about 10 cm2/Vs is required even in the case where the frequency of about 13.56 MHz band is used for the RF-ID tag. Therefore, it is difficult to satisfy the required performance in the expected application field by the mobility of the organic semiconductor.
The low mobility of the organic semiconductor is derived from the basic characteristics of the material. More specifically, since the coupling between the carrier (the electron or the hole) and the phonon (the lattice vibration) is strong in the organic semiconductor and the carriers are strongly scattered, the mobility is low. In addition, the strong mutual coupling between the electron (hole) and lattice forms a quasiparticle such as polaron and bipolaron and the effective mass of the carriers is increased. As a result, the mobility is decreased due to the increase of the effective mass. This is fundamentally related to the fact that the heavy mass is difficult to move. Therefore, the solution of the problem is difficult. Consequently, even if the organic semiconductor in a single crystal state is formed, the mobility of about 10 cm2/Vs is very difficult to be achieved. Furthermore, the single crystal state is an ideal state and the single crystallization of the entire organic semiconductor is difficult when practically using the organic semiconductor. In the amorphous state and the polycrystalline state other than the single crystal state, the large resistance is caused when the carriers passes through the grain boundary. Therefore, the mobility is lower than that of the single crystal state. This is the common problem in the semiconductor fabricated by the various deposition method and solution method. For example, polycrystalline Si is used for the transistor which is used for driving the liquid crystal display, and the mobility of the polycrystalline Si is one order of magnitude lower than the mobility of single crystal Si used for the LSI. As described above, since the mobility of the organic semiconductor is low due to the unique characteristics of the material and the fabrication method, it is difficult to practically use the organic semiconductor. The organic semiconductor has not only the problem of the lower mobility but also the problem of low reliability, that is, the device characteristics are rapidly degraded in the air. In view of the current situation of the organic semiconductor and the expectation for the flexible transistor, the attempt to realize the flexible transistor by using the inorganic semiconductor as the channel material without using the organic semiconductor has been made.
As a representative example, the fabrication of a polycrystalline silicon chip by the transfer method is known. In this method, the chip in which the transistors using polycrystalline silicon as a channel material are integrated is fabricated on a glass substrate, and then, the chip is separated from the glass substrate and attached to a plastic substrate. According to this transfer method, the same performance as the transistor using the polycrystalline silicon fabricated on the glass substrate can be realized by a chip fabricated on the plastic substrate. When integrating the elements on a flexible plastic substrate, the temperature cannot be increased so high. However, in this transfer method, since the polycrystalline silicon transistor can be fabricated on the glass substrate, a relatively high-temperature process of about 500° C. can be used. As a result, the channel mobility of the transistor of about 10 cm2/Vs can be achieved. However, in the operation for fabricating the polycrystalline silicon transistor on the glass substrate, since the step using lithography is performed many times, the process cost is very high. The increase of the process cost is fatal problem from the viewpoint of the application to the flexible transistor.
For example, for the full-scale spread of the electronic paper, it is necessary to fabricate the electronic paper at the low cost equal to that of the paper. Also, the devices for the RF-ID tags must be fabricated by the process at low cost enough to be disposable. Therefore, the flexible transistors are preferably fabricated by the printing method not by the transfer method. In addition, in the application to a large area, that is, in the case of forming a display device on a whole area of a wall, since there is the limitation in the transfer method in which the transistors are formed on a glass substrate, it is quite difficult to form a display device on a whole area of a wall by the transfer method. As described above, the polycrystalline silicon chip on the plastic substrate by the transfer method is superior to the organic semiconductor in performance. However, it cannot sufficiently satisfy the requirements for the flexible transistor in terms of the cost and the area enlargement. Further, since it uses the polycrystalline silicon, the performance equal to that of the LSI using the single crystal silicon cannot be achieved.
As another method of using the inorganic semiconductor, the method of using a silicon nanowire as a channel material is known. In Nature vol. 425, p. 274 (2003), the field effect transistor using the silicon nanowire on the plastic substrate is disclosed. The silicon nanowire indicates the wire-shaped single crystal silicon with a diameter of several nm to several tens nm and a length of several tens μm or more. The silicon nanowire can be dispersed into a solution by using the surface active agent. As a result, the field effect transistors using the silicon nanowire can be integrated on the plastic substrate by the printing method. Since the crystal structure of the silicon nanowire is the single crystal, the channel mobility of the field effect transistor using the silicon nanowire is about 100 cm2/Vs which is almost equal to that of the single crystal silicon used in the standard LSI. Therefore, the field effect transistor using the silicon nanowire can achieve the high mobility required in the flexible transistor expected for various applications, and thus, it can be said that the field effect transistor using the silicon nanowire is a quite promising device. In addition, for the practical application of the field effect transistor using the silicon nanowire, the knowledge of the silicon transistor developed in the conventional LSI can be utilized for the new application of the flexible transistor.
The silicon nanowire has the other advantages as follows. As is well known in the art, although the silicon substrate used in the standard LSI has a thickness of at least about 500 μm, the region effectively used as the channel of the transistor is at most 100 nm or less, and only the region of several nm from the substrate surface is used as the channel inversion layer. In other words, most silicon substrate is used as a mere supporting substrate. If the silicon layer necessary for forming the channel is about 5 nm, the region effectively used is only one-hundred thousandth. Meanwhile, in the case of the silicon nanowire, the flexible plastic substrate can be used for the supporting substrate, and the silicon necessary for forming the channel is effectively utilized in the transistor using the silicon nanowire with a diameter of several nm to several tens nm. Therefore, it can be said that the transistor using the silicon nanowire is an attractive device in terms of the effective use of the resource.
For fabricating the silicon nanowire, the method of making full use of the nano technology is used. First, metal nanoparticles such as gold and silver with a diameter of about several nm are prepared, and a sample in which the nanoparticles are dispersed on a substrate such as glass is prepared. Next, when the sample is placed in the atmosphere of monosilane gas by using the chemical vapor deposition method, the single crystal silicon nanowire is grown around the metal nanoparticles. As described above, the nanometer scale material, for example, the silicon nanowire can be collected from the chemical reaction at the atomic and molecular level by using the so-called bottom-up process. Since macro devices such as the transistor and the integrated circuit are assembled eventually, the transistor using the silicon nanowire can be regarded as the combination of the bottom-up process and the top-down process.
The above-described field effect transistor using the nanowire structure is not limited to that using silicon as the nanowire material. Actually, even in the case where the nanowire made of germanium or compound semiconductor such as InP is used as the channel material, the field effect transistor can be operated similarly to the case of using the silicon nanowire. Also, the one-dimensional wire structure made of inorganic material is not always necessary. For example, the mobility of the transistor is high also in the case where the carbon nanotube which is a pure organic material is used as the channel material. If a large amount of high-quality carbon nanotube can be obtained in the future, the flexible device using the carbon nanotube can be fabricated in the same process as that of the silicon nanowire.
Also, the wire structure is not always required to have the nanometer scale diameter, and it is also preferable to use the top-down process without using the bottom-up process. Applied Physics Letter, Vol. 84, p. 5398 (2004) discloses the method of forming the silicon wire, in which a silicon layer of an SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) substrate is processed into a wire shape with a width of several μm and length of several tens μm by using the lithography, and then, SiO2 of the BOX layer is removed by using hydrofluoric acid so as to lift-off the silicon wire. The silicon wires fabricated in the top-down process as described above are wider than the silicon nanowires fabricated in the bottom-up process in many cases. However, the channel mobility is determined based on the wire material and the wire crystallinity and not dependent on the wire width. Therefore, the sufficient performance as the flexible device can be achieved in both cases.

Semiconductor material, field effect transistor and manufacturing method thereof


The present invention relates to a dental cleaning device, particularly to a flosser device for cleaning teeth gaps. The flosser device according to the present invention removes food particles from different tooth gaps by mounting the flosser element to the flosser element longitudinal connecting slot and the flosser element transverse connecting slot to adjust the position of the flosser. The flosser element base is disposed in the gradually narrowing flosser element connecting slots, so that the flosser element arms diverse outwardly to tension a length of flosser between the flosser element arms. Besides, the center of the flosser element connecting slot is hollow to form a base receiving hole so that the base press-release point projects through the base receiving hole out of the handle after the flosser element base is mounted on the flosser element connecting mechanism, and a user can draw out the flosser element by pressing the base press-release point for replacement.

Currently, there are many methods of cleaning tooth gaps that range from toothpick to flossers which can all substantially realize the cleaning purpose. A toothpick is an elongated device with a pointed end, whereby the waste and food particles are removed by moving the pointed end through the tooth gaps. A flosser is a linear object, whereby waste and food particles in the tooth gaps are removed by putting the flosser through the tooth gaps when tightly griping two ends of the flosser. Yet, the above methods are difficult to implement so that inconvenience is caused to a user.
There are a lot of known technologies in the market targeted at the above problems. One is the US 2003/0098037 entitled ("Dental Floss Device" published on May 29, 2003, wherein a user can tightly grip the handle of the floss device in cooperation with the floss element on the top, such that the floss element goes into the oral cavity to remove food particles in tooth gaps. Besides, only a small length of floss needs to be used on the floss element to achieve the same effect. But, the above floss element can only be assembled to the top of the handle in horizontal direction so that a user cannot adjust the direction of the floss according to the configuration of the oral cavity to remove food particles in the gaps between different teeth. The problem of inconvenience cannot be totally solved.
In view of the problem in the above device, another prior art is US 2005/0092346 entitled "Flosser apparatus with Detachable and Adjustable Floss Element" on May 5, 2005. The flosser apparatus can not only achieve the above effect but also solve the shortcoming that the floss element can only be assembled to the top of the handle in horizontal direction. Its cross-shaped floss element base cooperates with cross-shaped floss element connecting slot to adjust the direction of the floss element so that a user can adjust the direction of the floss according to the structure of the oral cavity to remove food particles in the gaps between different teeth. On the other hand, the configuration of the floss element base cooperates with the configuration besides the floss element connecting slot to cause a pressing force to allow the floss element arms to open to tension a length of floss between the floss element arms for ease of a user's use. However, the design thereof utilizes a third type of lever such as used in forceps, roasting clamps, chopsticks, that is, the point of force application is between the tension points and the pivot point, the pivot point is at the bottom of the floss element, and the point of force application is at the bottom of the floss element arms in the middle of the floss element. Besides, the positions where the top portions of the floss element open the floss are the tension points. The point of force application of this kind of lever is sure to be nearer to the pivot point than the tension points. So the apparatus requires a lot of user's force so that it is not desirable in opening the floss element arms. Moreover, after the floss element is mounted onto the floss element connecting slot, the floss element arms be detached for replacement purpose. The sole method is to firstly tightly grip the floss element arms, then draw hard. In this manner, the floss element arms are easily broken. The apparatus is not convenient in use, so the above problems are not completely solved.


Rather than storing a table within a digital camera or other optical device of defective pixels within its image sensor, defective pixels are dynamically identified by comparing the output values of individual pixels under test with those of neighboring pixels. If the neighbors are all above or below the pixel under test by a defined threshold amount, the output of the pixel under test is replaced with a value calculated from the outputs of neighboring pixels.

Image sensors with an increasing number of image sensing photo-detector elements are being used in digital cameras designed to be sold in large quantities to consumers. Although such cameras most commonly utilize sensors having from 2 to 4 megapixels at the present time, it is not uncommon to find digital cameras available that employ image sensors as large as large as 5 to 6 megapixels. And this number will likely increase in the future. Normally, not all the light sensing elements in these sensors work correctly; some are defective. Defective light sensing elements do not react to light properly, and thus distort a resulting image. In some cases, one or more light sensing elements may always produce an output, even though light is not present. In other cases, a few may produce no light output even when very bright light impinges on their surface. The result can be a visible bright or dark spot in the captured image, respectively. In a third case, a light output is produced which is responsive to the light impinging on a sensor's surface, but this output is not correctly related to the light falling on the sensor. These pinpoint imperfections may be isolated or found in clusters. Since each pixel in the usual sensor captures information associated with different colors of the scene being photographed, these defective pixels are often visualized as pixels of the wrong color, not just pixels which are too light or too dark.
A great deal of time and cost is expended in sorting out image sensors with these imperfections. In order to be able to use as many of these partially defective sensors as possible, electronic defective pixel correction techniques are used. Such techniques employ a predefined list of locations which identify where the defective pixels are located in the sensor. The locations of these defective pixels are obtained by using a time consuming calibration procedure on each sensor. This procedure usually employs measuring the signal output of the sensor pixels with a black and then a white image incident on the sensor. For the black image, all light is blocked from the sensor and pixels with a higher output above a set threshold are identified as defective. Similarly, for the white image, a uniform illumination field is allowed to fall onto the sensor in order to identify any defective pixels that generate a lower output signal above a specified threshold. Any such pixels are considered "exceptional" and are included in a defective pixel list for each sensor that is tested. The list includes the locations in the array of the defective pixels.
When such a calibrated image sensor is installed in a digital camera or other host device, its defective pixel list is loaded into a memory of the digital camera in the form of a look-up table. During image processing, the digital camera's processor searches this lookup table to determine if a particular pixel is defective and therefore needs to be corrected. This correction usually takes the form of replacing the output from a defective pixel with a simple average of the outputs of good pixels adjacent to the defective pixel. As the number of pixels in a sensor becomes larger, the size of the memory necessary to store the look-up table increases as well as the time required to do the look-up and then calculate the average of the adjacent pixels.

Dynamic identification and correction of defective pixels


An operational amplifier enhances its negative slew rate by providing more base current to a bottom PNP output drive transistor. A large signal applied at the inverting input of the operational amplifier unbalances the differential input stage and provides maximum current through a current mirror circuit to the base of the PNP output transistor. A transistor is biased on by sufficient current flow through the current mirror circuit to draw even more base current from the base of the PNP output transistor and thereby enhance its negative slew rate.

The present invention relates to operational amplifiers, and more particularly, to an operational amplifier having a negative slew rate enhancement circuit.
Operational amplifiers (op amps) are well known in electronic circuit design. A conventional op amp receives first and second input signals at its inverting and non-inverting inputs and provides an output signal as an amplified difference of the first and second input signals. The first and second input signals are typically processed through one or more differential amplifier stages and then through a differential-to-single-ended converter. An output drive stage takes the single-ended output signal and enables upper and lower output drive transistors serially coupled between first and second power supply potentials. The upper drive transistor in the output drive stage may be an NPN-type device while the bottom drive transistor is a PNP-type device.
A significant problem inherent in most if not all op amps is the limited negative slew rate (rate of voltage change over time) of the bottom PNP drive transistor. The positive slew may reach 300 V/us while the negative slew rate is only 200 V/us. The current sinking capability of the bottom PNP drive transistor also tends to be lower than the upper NPN drive transistor. As the need for higher speed op amps continues to grow, it becomes advantageous to increase the negative slew rate and also to provide more current sinking capability.

Negative slew rate enhancement circuit for an operational amplifier


Various methods and apparatus for synchronizing data between members of a web farm are disclosed. The web farm may include a primary member and at least one backup member. The web farm members may include modules for determining whether new data is available to the web farm; placing the web farm in a prepare state if new data is available; placing the web farm in a commit state if members of the web farm successfully receive the new data; and placing the web farm in an abort state if any of the members of the web farm do not successfully receive the new data.

I. Field
This disclosure relates to data communication, and in particular, to a novel and improved web farm data synchronization system.
II. Background
Web farms are integral to high-volume web sites because they increase the availability of web sites by distributing processing tasks among several web farm "members."
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art web farm 100 including members 1 . . . n. Each member is configured to function as a web server as is known in the art and may include a processor 102 and a database 104 for the storage and retrieval of data.
One challenge in implementing a web farm is ensuring that data files are synchronized among all members of the web farm. Typically, new data is presented simultaneously to all members of the web farm 100 through a gateway 106. For the web site to function effectively, data that is presented to the web farm must be stored within the individual members such that data integrity is maintained from member to member. For example, if the new data presented to the web farm represents a new customer to be stored in customer database, all members of the web farm must store the new customer data prior to a new transaction occurring. If any member of the web farm fails to store the new data, the integrity of any future transactions may be compromised.
The prior art has recognized the importance of data synchronization and made attempts to ensure the integrity of distributed data. For example, prior art web farms may employ a time delay to allow all members of the web farm to catch up and store the new data. However, this approach has certain disadvantages. Such a time delay necessarily imposes a limitation on the availability of the individual members of the web farm, and thus the availability of the hosted web site as whole. Furthermore, during the time delay, the new data is being stored on some members of the web farm, while the other members are catching up. Thus, the web farm is not synchronized during the time period. Should at least one of the members fail to synchronize the new data, the web farm may need to be rolled back, a process whereby the data is restored on the members to a previous known state. Rolling back a web farm is an undesirable procedure that is tedious and potentially error-prone.

Method and apparatus for two-phase commit in data distribution to a web farm


A monolithically integrated lithium thin film battery (10) provides increased areal capacity on a single level (without stacking of multiple cells). The Lithium thin film battery (10) comprises a substrate (12) having a surface (13) textured to comprise a plurality of openings (16) having sides (15) angled between 10 and 80 degrees to the surface (13). A current collector (18) and a cathode (22) are formed on the substrate (12) and within the openings (16). An electrolyte (24) comprising lithium phosphorous oxynitride is formed by physical vapor deposition on the cathode (22), thereby providing a layer on the surface of the cathode (22) and within the openings (16) of the cathode having substantially the same thickness. An anode (26) and a capping layer (28) are then formed on the electrolyte (24).

Lithium ion batteries are used in many consumer applications due to their high energy density and their long lifetime. Lithium thin film batteries differ from Lithium ion batteries in several important ways. Thin film batteries use a solid electrolyte instead of the liquid or gel electrolyte used in Lithium ion and Lithium polymer batteries (U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,625). The solid electrolyte prevents dendimer growth from a Lithium anode, so unlike Lithium ion or Lithium polymer batteries, a Lithium anode can be used in thin film batteries in rechargeable applications. The use of a Lithium anode can increase the theoretical capacity of the battery ten times compared to a Lithium ion cell. The solid electrolyte also makes packaging the cell much easier. With a liquid electrolyte, a 'can' is used to encapsulate the battery and seal in the electrolyte. As the size of the battery is scaled down, a larger fraction of the volume is needed for this packaging, thereby reducing the energy density of the battery. With the solid electrolyte of a Lithium thin film battery, a very thin encapsulation layer is used to prevent oxidation of the Lithium anode. Thus, thin film batteries can be scaled down more efficiently than Lithium ion or Lithium polymer batteries. Furthermore, the solid electrolyte provides a very stable interface between the anode and the cathode. Due to this stability, the cycleability of the cell is significantly improved by between 10× to 100×, compared to Lithium ion batteries.
One of the key drawbacks to Lithium thin film batteries is their scalability. They scale very well to small dimensions, but for applications that demand higher areal energy density, their scaling is limited. As Lithium ions are moved from the anode to the cathode and intercalated into the cathode, the volume of the cathode changes. Since the electrolyte is a solid, it is difficult to accommodate these volume changes and ionic conductivity is reduced. As the cathode becomes thicker, the stresses due to the volume expansion become worse. This mechanism will eventually limit the capacity that can be gained by scaling up the thickness of the cathode. When the cathode thickness exceeds about 10 micrometers, the power performance of the cell drops dramatically.
One known method of increasing the capacity of thin film batteries per unit area, taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,152, comprises stacking multiple cells on top of each other. The cells are stacked by depositing the layers sequentially with almost a ten fold increase in capacity, however, stress buildup and cost limit further stacking. Stacking can also be accomplished with a packaged cell, but cost and capacity density are issues with this approach. A further method involves forming the battery on the sidewalls of high aspect ratio trenches (PCT Publication Number WO 2005/027245 A2). This approach offers good scalability for small increases in cost; however, the solid electrolyte is deposited by physical vapor deposition in which conformal coating can not be achieved on sidewalls, preventing fabrication of batteries.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an monolithically integrated Lithium thin film battery that provides increased areal capacity on a single level (without stacking of multiple cells). Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.


A system for electromagnetically interrogating electronically coded labels is provided. The system includes at least one electromagnetically interrogatable electronic coded label, an interrogator containing a generator of electromagnetic interrogation signals and a receiver of electromagnetic reply signals from the label. The system is adapted to make use of electromagnetic signals, other than those generated by the interrogator, which may reach the label.

The present invention relates to personnel or item management, or warehouse or transportation logistics, wherein electromagnetically interrogatable electronic coded labels attached to personnel or objects transmit data to or receive data from an interrogation system by means of electromagnetic waves.
Frequently such systems operate in regions in which other users of the electromagnetic spectrum also generate electromagnetic waves for related or unrelated purposes.
With increasing crowding of the electromagnetic spectrum, and a modern tendency of regulators to encourage re-use of spectrum by different users, there is generally a considerable amount of electromagnetic radiation in any region occupied by electronically coded labels. When used for communication, this radiation is often at a significant level to achieve long range, possibly in unfavorable propagation contexts, or to overcome noise. Although subject to regulation, this radiation is often at a particularly significant level close to its source. However, only a small part of such radiation reaches an intended receiver. Most is dissipated in objects other than the intended receiver or travels unimpeded to indefinitely far regions of space.
Passive electromagnetically interrogated electronically coded labels generally need to obtain their operating power from an electromagnetic wave. That power can come from a range of sources. Generally it is provided as an interrogation illumination signal specifically generated by an interrogator for this purpose.
However labels can be designed to receive operating power, either in whole or in part, from other sources such as the radiation first mentioned herein. This can be achieved without significant change to the power which those other sources provide to their intended receivers.
It is also true that such other sources can provide interfering signals to receivers of electronic label interrogators. With care, the operating frequency and waveforms of electronic label interrogators can be adjusted so that they combine with electromagnetic signals introduced for other purposes, to enhance the operating power available to electromagnetically interrogatable electronic coded labels. Alternatively or in addition, the signals from electronic label interrogators can be adjusted so as to avoid interference, within the receivers of such interrogators, to extraneous signal sources to which interrogator systems are exposed.
It would be particularly advantageous if both objectives could be simultaneously achieved. It will be shown herein that it is possible to do so.
An illustration of a multi-faceted electromagnetic communication situation is provided in FIG. 1, wherein a label interrogator 1 transmits through interrogation antenna 2, electromagnetic signals to a group of electronic coded labels 3 which may return information bearing reply signals to the interrogator through the same antenna 2 or a different antenna. The figure illustrates that transmitter 4 of a data link which operates in the vicinity of the interrogator may radiate, through data link antenna 5, an electromagnetic signal which may in part also illuminate the region occupied by labels 3.
The interrogator 1 of FIG. 1 may also be fitted with a signal sensing antenna 11 which assists the interrogator in its determination of what other electromagnetic signals may be present in its vicinity.
For precise control of signals generated by the interrogator 1 or the data link transmitter 4, the system may make use of a low noise oscillator or timing signal generator 6 conveying its signals to the signal sources 1 and 4 via connecting cables 7 and 8, or via electromagnetic waves launched by antenna 9.
In addition data or command signals may flow between the interrogator 1 and the data link 4 via signal path 10 which may be wired or electromagnetic.
Many principles of remote interrogation and programming of electromagnetically coded labels are described in the disclosures of PCT/AU90/00043, PCT/AU92/00143, PCT/AU92/00477, PCT/AU97/00428, PCT/AU98/00017, PCT/AU97/00385 and PCT/AU99/01165, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by cross reference.
In operation of electronic label interrogation systems according to the prior art it is usual practice to seek to operate in regions of an electromagnetic spectrum unoccupied by other users. This is particularly true in systems which make use of passive labels, from which replies reaching a receiver are particularly weak as a result of two way propagation loss between interrogator and label, and energy conversion loss in the label.
In the prior art a principal factor which restricts interrogation range of a passive labelling system is a difficulty of developing, at a distance, sufficient radio frequency voltage at a rectifier element within the coded label for that rectifier to operate efficiently.
In the present invention, both limitations just mentioned are reduced when behaviour of the interrogator is adapted in relation to other electromagnetic propagation signals which may reach the coded labels or the interrogator receiver, so that label rectifier voltage is enhanced, or the interrogator receiver interfering signals are reduced.
Such adaptation may be possible because the interrogator may be supplied with information about other signals by being told characteristics of other signal sources in the region of an interrogator. Such characteristics may include: frequency; spectrum; power level; antenna positioning, orientation, and pattern; and frequency hopping if applicable. The interrogator may alternatively make its own measurements of adjacent extraneous electromagnetic fields.
An interrogator may share hardware with another system of independent function, for example there may be a common transmitting antenna between an interrogation system and the transmitter of a communication system.
There may be a common low-noise master oscillator when phase coherence between an interrogator transmitter signal and a transmitter signal of another system is important.
The interrogator signal may be arranged to form a particular spatial interference pattern with the transmitter signal of another system, or another signal from another antenna of the same or different interrogator. In such cases the phase and frequency relations between signals become important. The time for which coherent operation lasts also becomes important.
It may be advantageous to exploit fortuitous reflections from an object in creating useful interference patterns. Signals from an interrogator or from other systems may be reflected.
In frequency hopping systems, diagnosing and adopting the same hopping pattern, possibly with a frequency offset, as is being used by other systems, and using a phase coherent carrier, is a good way of ensuring a positive reinforcement of transmitter signals and simultaneous minimisation of interfering signals in the receiver. Such cooperating signals can be from two interrogators, or an interrogator and a communication system.

Electronic label interrogation through incidental electromagnetic radiation


Devices, systems and techniques for optical communication are provided based on polarization division multiplexing (PDM) to use an optical monitor channel at a distinct optical monitor wavelength to monitor optical polarization fluctuation and polarization mode dispersion during the transmission from the transmitter to the receiver to facilitate the effective demultiplexing of the two orthogonal signal channels at the receiver through automatic feedback control on a dynamic polarization controller and a polarization beam splitter.

This application relates to apparatus, systems, and techniques for optical communication.
Communication capacity in communication systems is valuable and various techniques have been developed and investigated to increase capacity of communication systems. In optical communications, spectrally-efficient optical communication techniques have been developed and investigated. Optical wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), for example, can be used to increase the amount of data to be transmitted in a single fiber by simultaneously transmitting multiple optical WDM channels through the fiber. Dense WDM and ultradense WDM further increase the number of channels that can be carried in a single fiber.
One method for doubling the spectral efficiency and system capacity is polarization-division-multiplexing (PDM), in which two independently modulated data channels located at the same optical wavelength are simultaneously transmitted on orthogonal polarization states of the fiber. For systems with low polarization-mode-dispersion (PMD) and polarization-dependent-loss (PDL), PDM can be used for upgrading existing fiber links or for the deployment of spectrally-efficient new optical fiber systems.

Optical polarization division multiplexing in optical communication


A composite fused quartz material is disclosed for processing semiconductor grade silicon material in an improved manner. The modified vitreous material includes a disperse phase of fine size silicon metal particles which are distributed in preselected regions of the fused quartz matrix as a means of exercising temperature control in the various semiconductor processing operations using these fused quartz parts. Such utilization of the modified vitreous material in single crystal silicon rod growth and production of semiconductor grade silicon by diffusion doping is described. A method to produce the modified vitreous material is also disclosed.

Semiconductor grade silicon is conventionally grown as a single crystal from a molten batch of polysilicon contained in a fused quartz vessel. The Czochralski method for doing so draws a single crystal silicon rod from the molten polysilicon mass at elevated temperatures often exceeding 1450.degree. C. and which now is carried out in a batch or continuous manner. Careful control of the operating temperatures must be exercised for numerous reasons to maintain a satisfactory yield of the semiconductor material being produced in such manner. To illustrate, in a typical manufacturing method heaters are employed along with heat shields to carefully control both axial and radial temperatures in the melt. By controlling temperature along with the rod pulling rate in said method, the diameter of the growing crystal is thereby controlled. As a single crystal is being pulled in such batch type process operation, the melt level in the crucible container also drops so that automatically controlled elevation of said crucible is commonly employed to avert undesired changes in the thermal profile during the growth process. It can thereby be appreciated that controlling the temperature distribution in this method remains a critical consideration.
Similarly, careful temperature control is exercised when producing a silicon semiconductor element by doping the above described single crystal material at elevated temperatures with a gaseous atmosphere containing a doping element. In this commerical process, the single crystal material is heated in a closed vessel of fused quartz and the gaseous atmosphere admitted for thermal diffusion of the doping element into the single crystal material. The fused quartz vessel commonly employed is a hollow cylinder closed at both ends which is often fabricated with optically clear fused quartz so as to enable penetration of the infrared heating energy being again supplied from surrounding heater elements. Since undesirable temperature fluctuations can occur in said diffusion process from heat losses experienced in a variety of ways, the control of temperature distribution in this equipment also remains important. It becomes desirable, therefore, to modify the fused quartz material now used in the overall thermal processing of semiconductor grade silicon in a manner which helps control the temperature distribution during the particular processing operations.

Fused quartz member for use in semiconductor manufacture