A method of fabricating a thin film resistor (100). The resistor material (104), e.g., NiCr, is deposited. A hard mask material (106), e.g., TiW, may be deposited over the resistor material (104). The resistor material (104) and hard mask material (106) are patterned and sputter etched to form the resistor body. For example, a sputter etch chemistry comprising BCl3, Cl2, and Ar may be used to etch the resistor material.

Thin film resistors are often used in precision analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog integrated circuits for precision data conversion, which may require precise control of the resistance of the thin film resistor over the operating temperatures and voltages. Often the final fine control of the resistance of these precision thin film resistors must be done using laser trimming. A widely used thin film resistor may be formed, for example, from a deposited layer of nickel and chromium alloy and defined using wet chemical etching to remove unwanted thin film resistor material. However, such wet etching techniques may suffer from dimension control problems such as the formation of a jagged etch on the thin film resistor body, resulting in resistor mismatch. FIG. 1 is a top view of a prior art resistor illustrating the jagged edge 10 on the resistor material 12. Because the width of the thin film resistor can substantially affect the resistance of the thin film resistor, such dimension control problems may impair the ability to construct thin film resistors having a precise resistance and may result in yield losses during manufacturing of precision integrated analog circuits incorporating such thin film resistors.

Method to produce thin film resistor using dry etch


A method and apparatus are provided for initializing a closed-loop fiber optic gyroscope system of the type that includes a fiber optic gyroscope for generating an interferometric measurement of phase shift and a demodulator for converting the gyroscope output to a corresponding value in a predetermined format for application to a feedback integrator. In contrast to prior art methods and apparatus that require recapture, the present invention relies upon the concept of resetting the initial value received from the gyro to a corresponding value that lies within the zeroeth fringe of a gyro output. The feedback integrator includes an arithmetic unit with feedback. The resetting process consists of the performance of an operation upon the value. Such operations include shifting and copying functions when the predetermined format is two's-complement logic, integer function when the predetermined format is fixed point logic and both INTEGER and ROUND functions when the predetermined format is floating point logic.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for facilitating the operation of a closed-loop fiber optic gyroscope. More particularly, this invention pertains to methods and apparatus for obtaining accurate rate information at loop initialization.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The Sagnac interferometer is an instrument for determining rotation by measurement of the non-reciprocal phase difference generated between a pair of counterpropagating light beams. This instrument generally comprises a light source such as a laser, an optical waveguide consisting of several mirrors or a plurality of turns of optical fiber, a beamsplitter/combiner, a detector and a signal processor.
In an interferometer, the waves coming out of the beamsplitter counterpropagate along a single optical path. The optical waveguide is "reciprocal"; that is, any distortion of the optical path affects the counterpropagating beams similarly although they do not necessarily experience such perturbation at the same time or in the same direction. Time-varying perturbations may be observed where the time interval is comparable to the propagation time of the light around the optical waveguide whereas "non-reciprocal" perturbations affect the counterpropagating beams differently and according to the direction of propagation. Such non-reciprocal perturbations are occasioned by physical effects that disrupt the symmetry of the optical medium in which the two waves propagate. Two of the non-reciprocal effects are quite well known. The Faraday, or collinear magneto-optic effect, occurs when a magnetic field creates a preferential spin orientation of the electrons in an optical material whereas the Sagnac, or inertial relativistic effect, occurs when rotation of the interferometer with respect to an inertial frame breaks the symmetry of propagation time. The latter effect is employed as the principle of operation of both the ring and the fiber optic gyroscopes.
It is known that the fringe or interference pattern formed by the counterpropagating beams of a gyro consists of two elements, a d.c. component and a component that is related (e.g. cosine function) to the source of the phase difference between the beams. This phase difference provides a measure of the non-reciprocal perturbation due, for example, to rotation. As a consequence of the shape of the fringe pattern, when small phase differences are to be measured (e.g. low rotation rates), the intensity of the combined beam is relatively insensitive to phase difference as such difference occurs close to the maximum of the phase fringe pattern. Further, mere intensity of the composite beam does not indicate the sense or direction of rotation.
The above-described characteristics that result from the shape of the fringe pattern are commonly addressed by the superposition of an artificially biased phase difference upon the counterpropagating beams. The biasing of the phase shift, also known as "non-reciprocal null-shift," enhances the sensitivity of the intensity measurement to phase differences. A maximum degree of sensitivity is achieved by shifting the operating point of the gyroscope to .+-..pi./2 (or odd multiples thereof). Furthermore, by alternating the bias between +.pi./2 and -.pi./2, two different operating points are observed. This enables the system to separate the effects of phase differences from those of d.c. intensity changes.
In addition to phase modulation, the processing of an interferometer output commonly employs "phase nulling" that introduces an additional phase shift through a negative feedback mechanism to compensate for that due to the non-reciprocal (Sagnac) effect. Commonly, the negative feedback generates a phase ramp whose slope is proportional to the rate of rotation to be measured. In actual practice, a ramp whose height varies between 0 and 2.pi. radians is employed as the nulling phase shift cannot be increased indefinitely due to voltage constraints.
Various solutions to the problems associated with the design of closed loop or feedback systems for measuring rotation rate by means of a fiber optic gyroscope are disclosed in a number of U.S. patents. Ser. No. 4,705,399 of Graindorge et al. discloses a digitally-based arrangement that employs a "stairstep" waveform in which the height of each step is equal to the measured phase difference while the width or period of each is the group delay time of the optical coil. On the average, the slope of the ramp is equivalent to the measured non-reciprocal phase difference per unit of time. The phase modulation may be directly added to the digital ramp through the synchronization offered by a digital signal processor to generate a combined signal that controls a phase modulator. U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,143 of John G. Mark and Daniel A. Tazartes entitled "Loop Controller For Multiplexed Triaxial Gyro" discloses an application specific integrated circuit ("ASIC") that functions as a loop controller for a triaxial gyro. The controller accepts the digitized outputs of three modulated gyros, measures the rotation associated with each, digitally processes the outputs and provides analog signals for driving the gyro phase modulators. Microprocessor control adds a degree of flexibility, enabling the use of various types of modulation (e.g. random, pseudo-random, orthogonal, deterministic) and enhanced computational power for updating system parameters. U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,589 of John G. Mark and Daniel A. Tazartes entitled "Loop Controller For Fiber Optic Gyroscope With Distributed Data Processing" discloses a loop controller architecture that includes distinct units for distributing the necessary data processing functions, allowing operations to occur in parallel to enable additional useful gyro functions within each loop transit time. The gyro architecture eliminates any need for the gyro processor to perform throughput-intensive test and branch operations.
Pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/893,961 of John G Mark and Daniel Tazartes entitled "Rate Control Loop For Fiber Optic Gyroscope" teaches a closed loop gyro configured to reduce the impact of so-called deadbeat residual error that is recognized as a significant contributor to bias error in, for example, high-g operational environments. This is accomplished by employing a rate controller within the feedback path that includes a cascaded plurality of feedback integrators. Such arrangement results in the assumption of a higher-order relationship of residual gyro error to sensed gyro rate.
Each of the above-described arrangements is subject to turn-on errors that are difficult to detect. An interferometric fiber optic gyro operates on a modulo 2.pi. basis in which a phase shift of .phi.+2n.pi. is indistinguishable to a first order from one of .phi., n being an integer. This, of course, follows from the cosine relationship that describes the interferometric relationship between intensity I and phase shift .phi.. Such relationship is preserved upon conversion to an electrical output at a photodetector. For gyros with large Sagnac scale factors (ratio of .DELTA..phi., phase offset to .theta., gyro rate) that operate over a substantial range of angular rates such inherent ambiguity can be troublesome, particularly at system turn-on. For example, a 1000 m gyro with a Sagnac scale factor of 3.5 .mu.rad./degree/hr. exhibits a phase shift of .+-..pi. at angular rates of .+-.250 degrees/second. The rate tracking of the closed-loop gyro system must therefore operate to values of greater than .+-..pi. if operation beyond .+-.250 degrees/second is anticipated, a scenario that is present in the case of virtually all present-day high performance aircraft.
In the above-described closed-loop prior art gyro arrangements it is assumed that the closed-loop system will power up in all cases within the zeroeth mode or fringe defined by the range -.pi.<.phi.<.pi.. As the rate increases during operation of a craft, changes in phase are registered and accumulated within a feedback integrator so that values well outside the zeroeth fringe can be tracked within the feedback integrator of the loop. Each of the prior art arrangements includes apparatus such that the value fed back will properly remain within the zeroeth fringe so that errors and voltages for driving the phase modulator(s) are minimized. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,589, the binary word representing the phase ramp integrator is scaled such that it will accommodate only the range -.pi. to .pi.. Values added or subtracted to this integrator may cause overflows that exactly represent rollovers in the amount of .+-.2.pi., thus preserving the modulo 2.pi. operation. A left shift operation between the primary feedback integrator and the phase ramp integrator also ensures that the range of the feedback integrator is substantially greater than .+-..pi..
Generally, the assumption of rate within the zeroeth fringe upon initialization works well. However, various sources can produce false fringe capture upon power-up. This can occur, for example, in the presence of large signals at initialization that can lead to an accumulation in the feedback integrator outside the zeroeth fringe. As the gyro is insensitive to excess numbers of .+-.2.pi. or multiples thereof, the tracking loop can thereafter be completely stable despite providing a large rate estimate (and, hence, error) due to the initial false phase accumulation within the feedback integrator.
The prior art has addressed the problem of accumulation-induced error by clearing the phase-tracking feedback integrator some time after initialization, then recapturing the loop once the signals have settled. This approach has the undesirable consequence of requiring loop re-capture that can consume valuable time. The loop of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/893,961, which, as mentioned above, discloses a gyro arrangement for higher order operation, unfortunately leads to even more difficult initial loop capture procedures as simply resetting the phase-tracking accumulator to zero will generate a transient that can cause the loop to drive to a large value before recapturing. This re-opens the possibility of operating on the wrong fringe.

Method and apparatus for initialization of a fiber optic gyroscope


A digital-to-analog converter circuit including one or more digital-to-analog converter cells and a separate voltage protection circuit connected by a common output node. A first digital-to-analog converter cell includes a first transistor which is configured to be switched to a conductive state when the first digital-to-analog converter cell is activated. A first terminal of the first transistor is coupled to a defined potential, wherein a second terminal of the first transistor is coupled to a common output node of the one or more digital-to-analog converter cells. The digital-to-analog converter circuit further includes a voltage protection circuit coupled between the common output node of the one or more digital-to-analog converter cells and an output node of the digital-to-analog converter circuit to regulate a voltage between the common output node and the defined potential.

Due to the down-scaling of Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technologies, Digital Power Amplifiers (DPAs) have become feasible for Radio Frequency (RF) applications. DPAs may, e.g., be used for System-on-a-Chip (SoC) products for Internet of Things (IoT) or Machine to Machine (M2M) cellular communications (e.g. on Long Term Evolution, LTE, Cat-0).
A DPA comprises a cell field and a decoder, which determines for each clock period which cells must be active based on the envelope of the RF signal to be amplified. Active cells are switched on the basis of a Local Oscillator (LO) signal. The outputs of the cell field are connected to an Output Matching Network (OMN), which may be an LC network, a transformer or a power combiner. However, the OMN may also comprise further elements.
One option for implementing a DPA for RF applications is the Switched Capacitor (SC) DAC technique. An SC RF DAC provides ideally linear Amplitude Modulation—Amplitude Modulation (AM-AM) characteristics and constant Amplitude Modulation—Phase Modulation (AM-PM) characteristics, i.e., a potentially high linearity. SC RF DACs have proven to be feasible as transmitter output stages and as DPAs for low or medium power applications (e.g. Bluetooth, WiFi). However, for cellular applications, where very high power is required, the SC approach shows shortcomings.
Since the switching capacitance must scale with the required output power (assuming constant supply voltage), blocking capacitance, switches, buffers must also be scaled in order to maintain performance. Hence, the size of an SC RF DAC increases with the required output power. As size increases, the length of distribution signals and power lines increases as well as the associated parasitic series inductance. Hence, LC products increase dramatically, so that obtaining well matched delays across the whole DAC cell field gets difficult. Supply impedance becomes more critical due to increased supply current and larger blocks. Hence, obtaining low enough supply impedance both at RF and at the modulation frequencies gets challenging. The alternative solution of increasing the supply voltage is also problematic since NMOS (towards VSS) as well as PMOS (towards VDD) switches must be realized with transistor stacks. Hence, switch impedance, complexity of the DAC unit cell and the supply concept become critical.
These shortcomings may lead to excessive AM-PM (and many times also AM-AM) distortions at already moderate output power levels. Moreover, due to the high complexity and size of the cell field, leakage of LO signals to the output of the DPA may occur. Critical system specifications like Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) or Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) may get out of control as the output power of the DPA moves up to the power range of cellular applications, where the PA may deliver around 2 Watt saturated power.
These problems may be partly overcome with a Switched Current (SI) DPA. The possibility of using open-drain transistor stacks allows a few (e.g. 3) times higher voltage swing at the same supply voltage. Moreover, open-drain NMOS stacks may be made smaller and more efficient than complementary PMOS-NMOS switches. In a SC RF DPA the capacitors must be arranged inside the cell field (i.e. in each DAC unit cell), whereas in a SI RF DPA all passive elements may be placed outside the cell field. The very large cell field of a SC RF DPA for a cellular phone usually requires the design of a power combiner which is tricky and may decrease efficiency. For a SI RF DPA, a simple transformer may be enough. These factors allow the design of SI RF DPAs with considerably better performance than their SC counterparts when Watt-level output powers are required.
However, also conventional SI RF DPA comprise a cell field of large size and high complexity. This may still lead to significant LO leakage, distortions and far-off noise caused by highorder Differential Non-Linearity (DNL).
Hence, there may be a desire for an improved SI DPA concept.

Digital-to-analog converter circuit, a method for operating the same, an apparatus and a method for controlling a digital-to-analog converter cell


The present invention provides methods and compositions for the safe, effective, and efficient storage and transport of microbial cultures. In particular, the present invention provides compositions and methods for the storage and transport of bacterial cultures. The present invention is suitable for use in circumstances where long-term storage of microbial cultures is desired.

Over the years, microbiologists have developed various methods for the storage or preservation of microorganisms, including subculturing, drying, freezing-drying, and freezing. Other methods, such as storage under liquid paraffin, in distilled water, and liquid drying (i.e., L-drying), have also been used with mixed success (See, e.g., K. A. Malik, "Maintenance of Microorganisms by Simple Methods," in Maintenance of Microorganisms, 2d ed., B. E. Kirsop and A. Doyle (eds.), Academic Press, London, 1991!, pp. 121-132). However, no one method fulfills all of the needs of each culture; the choice of method is often the result of weighing the advantages and disadvantages of multiple methods (See e.g., J. J. S. Snell, "General Introduction to Maintenance Methods," in Maintenance of Microorganisms, 2d ed., B. E. Kirsop and A. Doyle (eds.), Academic Press, London, 1991!, pp. 21-30).
Subculturing
Subculturing involves the periodic transfer of organisms to fresh growth media. This new culture (i.e., subculture) is allowed to grow under the appropriate conditions, its growth is slowed by refrigeration or other means, and it is used to replace the old culture. The time that is allowed to elapse between production of each subculture primarily depends upon the organism to be preserved. For example, subcultures of some organisms will remain viable for several years (e.g., some Staphylococcus cultures), while others require subculturing after only a few weeks or days (e.g., Neisseria). Although subculturing is attractive in some respects, there are many drawbacks to the method. For example, contamination presents a major problem that is present at each subculturing step. Contamination presents significant problems, as for most uses of preserved cultures, it is highly desired that the culture be pure. If a preserved culture becomes contaminated, there is the risk that the contaminants will outgrow and/or kill the original culture. Furthermore, even if there are viable organisms of interest in the contaminated culture, it may be very difficult to separate them from the contaminants. Thus, a contaminated culture is of questionable value, and it is critical to constantly monitor the purity of subcultures during the subculturing process, for the life of the culture.
In addition to the dangers of contamination, loss of viability is a constant concern. Problems with the preservation media (e.g., use of an inappropriate medium for the culture to be preserved), and dehydration of the cultures must be avoided. Storage of organisms in water, layering oil on top of the grown culture, use of media with limited nutrients and minimal carbohydrates, and for most organisms, lowering the storage temperature, may be helpful.
Furthermore, cultures preserved by continuous subculturing are very prone to genetic changes and selection. This risk increases with each subculture. Use of large inocula may help to reduce the risk, but it may increase the risk of contamination. In sum, subculturing is often convenient in situations where it is often necessary to use the culture, as it avoids the necessity of continually freezing and thawing frozen cultures or utilizing the entire lyophilized culture, if the culture has been freeze-dried. However, it is important that the culture be checked for purity before its use.
Drying
Desiccation has been widely used as a method to preserve microorganisms. A variety of methods are used, although all depend upon the removal of water from the culture and prevention of rehydration. Although drying methods have been more commonly used with molds than bacteria, some bacteria and yeasts have been successfully preserved using these methods. In the most commonly used methods, the cultures are dried in soil, sand, kieselguhr, and silica gel, dried onto paper or gelatin strips or discs, or pre-dried plugs.
None of the drying methods has found universal acceptance, as their efficacy appears to be culture-specific (i.e., some organisms may not be dried as they become non-viable during the process). For cultures that are suited for preservation by drying, long-term viability is often good, contamination is less likely than with subculturing, and capital equipment costs are small. However, stability of strain characteristics appears to be strain-specific and genetic changes have been reported.
Freezing
In freezing, water is made unavailable to the organisms, and the dehydrated cells are maintained at low temperatures. Damage may be caused to the cells during the cooling stage and/or the subsequent thawing. This damage may be caused either by the concentration of electrolytes through removal of water as ice, or by the formation of ice crystals that shear the cells. Damage may be somewhat limited by adjusting the cooling and warming rates, as well as by adding cryoprotectants (e.g., dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), glycerol, or blood) to the cell suspension. Although various temperatures have been used to store frozen cultures (e.g., -20.degree., -30.degree., -40.degree., -70.degree., -140.degree., and -196.degree. C.), poor results are usually observed at temperatures above -30.degree. C.
Freezing in liquid nitrogen has been widely used for many organisms (e.g., bacteria, fungi, protozoa, etc.), and is currently recommended for storage of valuable seed stock cultures. There are numerous advantages to this method, as virtually no loss of viability occurs during storage (although some cells may die during the cooling and warming); in general, there is no genetic change or loss of characters; and the longevity and stability is greater for most cultures than that obtainable by freeze-drying (See, E. R. James, "Maintenance of Parasitic Protozoa by Cryopreservation," in Maintenance of Microorganisms, 2d ed., B. E. Kirsop and A. Doyle (eds.), Academic Press, London, 1991!, pp. 209-226; P. H. Calcott and A. M. Gargett, FEMS Microbiol. Lett., 10:151-155 1981!; D. L. Williams and P. H. Calcott, J. Gen. Microbiol., 128:215-218 1982!; and B. E. Kirsop, "Maintenance of Yeasts," in Maintenance of Microorganisms, 2d ed., B. E. Kirsop and A. Doyle (eds.), Academic Press, London, 1991!, pp. 161-182).
Disadvantages of freezing cultures in liquid nitrogen include the need to continually replenish the liquid nitrogen, the high cost of equipment, the risk of explosion if glass containers are used, storage space may become problematic, and the method is not very convenient for distribution of large numbers of cultures.
A relatively recently described method for freezing and storing cultures on beads has been successful (See, R. K. A. Feltham et al., J. Appl. Bacteriol., 44:313-316 1978!; and Jones et al., "Maintenance of Bacteria on Glass Beads at -60.degree. C. to -76.degree. C.," in Maintenance of Microorganisms, 2d ed., B. E. Kirsop and A. Doyle (eds.), Academic Press, London, 1991!, pp. 45-50). This method is very quick, easy to perform, requires minimal storage space, and requires no manipulation during storage. The main disadvantages are related to the costs of the freezer, as well as the equipment necessary to monitor and maintain the low temperature of the cultures.
In addition, methods have been developed to preserve various microorganisms by deep freezing and cryopreservation, in which the cells are pre-dried onto desiccated carriers such as silica gel, glass beads, polymeric materials, filter paper strips, other materials (See, T. M. Sidyakina, "Low Temperature Freezing of Microorganisms on Silica Gel," in Maintenance of Microorganisms, 2d ed., B. E. Kirsop and A. Doyle (eds.), Academic Press, London, 1991!, pp. 65-70; and K. A. Malik, "Maintenance of Microorganisms by Simple Methods," in Maintenance of Microorganisms, 2d ed., B. E. Kirsop and A. Doyle (eds.), Academic Press, London, 1991!, pp. 121-132). Cells that have been immobilized have been reported to retain their viability and characteristics much better than free cells (See, Sidyakina supra). However, these methods require additional manipulation during the process, and may be too cumbersome for some situations.
Freeze-Drying (Lyophilization)
Freeze-drying involves the removal of water by sublimination from a frozen culture. Organisms are grown on a suitable growth medium, aliquots are suspended in an appropriate freeze-drying liquid in ampules or vials, and placed in the freeze-drying apparatus, where they are frozen, and exposed to a vacuum. The water vapor from the culture is either trapped in a refrigerated condenser unit, or in phosphorous pentoxide. After freeze-drying, the cultures are sealed in their vials, often under vacuum or in an inert gas, and are stored at room temperature, refrigerated, or frozen. Two methods of freeze-drying are commonly used in industry, namely centrifugal and shelf freeze-drying (See, R. H. Rudge, "Maintenance of Bacteria by Freeze-Drying," in Maintenance of Microorganisms, 2d ed., B. E. Kirsop and A. Doyle (eds.), Academic Press, London, 1991!, pp. 31-44).
Although freeze drying has been widely used to preserve various organisms, there are problems associated with this method. For example, glass ampules are generally sealed closed with a flame (e.g., a torch), requiring some care in order to avoid injury to the operator, and some ampules are very difficult to open, requiring filing in order to sufficiently weaken the glass so that the ampule can be broken. This presents risks of contamination of the culture through the introduction of contaminants through the filed area of the ampule, as well as risk of injury to the operator, should the ampule unexpectedly break. In addition, there is the risk of injury and inoculation from the broken glass (i.e., the operator may be cut on the edge of the broken glass and be inoculated with the organisms present in the ampule). Thus, there are major safety considerations associated with the use of freeze drying methods.
Despite the number of methods available for preservation of microorganisms, it is clear that improved methods are needed. Improved methods and devices should be economical, easy and safe to use and transport, and provide for long-term viability of preserved cultures.

Preservation of microorganisms in a vial with a cap comprising an immobilized desiccant


Apparatus for filtering cellulose acetate solutions, including a backflush filter to effect filtration so as to avoid solvent losses and filtering aids that must be dumped, dilution means including solvent supply means for diluting the backflush liquid, separation means for eliminating solid insoluble components, and means for recycling backflush liquid freed from solids to a plant for producing new cellulose acetate spin solution.

The invention relates to a method of filtering cellulose acetate solutions as well as to a plant for carrying out the method.
When producing acetate rayon (artificial silk), it is necessary to carefully filter the highly viscous cellulose acetate solution so as to obtain favorable fiber properties. It has been known to carry out the filtration by means of filter presses (Ullmanns Encyklopadie der technischen Chemie, 3rd Editlion, Vol. 3, pp.17 to 20). Such filter presses must be supplied with various filtering aids--such as, e.g., filter cloths of cellulose or fabric, or other precoating means.
In a continuous production process, these filter presses will be clogged after a few days at the latest, and the filtering aids or precoating means will have to be disposed of.
Filter presses are regenerated by being opened and supplied with new filtering aids. This results in a substantial loss of cellulose acetate, which may be reduced by washing the filters with solvent. All of these manipulations must be carried out in a "solvent atmosphere". Since acetone is used as the solvent, the wearing of gas masks becomes indispensible, and there is a constant danger of explosion.

Method of filtering cellulose acetate solutions as well as a plant for carrying out the method


Embodiments of the invention relate to providing interoperability between hosts supporting multiple encapsulation. One embodiment includes a method that includes mapping packet encapsulation protocol type information for virtual switches. Each virtual switch is associated with one or more virtual machines (VMs). It is determined whether one or more common encapsulation protocol types exist for a first VM associated with a first virtual switch and a second VM associated with a second virtual switch based on the mapping. A common encapsulation protocol type is selected if it is determined that one or more common encapsulation protocol types exist for the first virtual switch and the second virtual switch. A packet is encapsulated for communication between the first VM and the second VM using the selected common encapsulation protocol type.

Embodiments of the invention relate to overlay virtual environments and, in particular, providing interoperability between hosts supporting multiple encapsulation networks.
Network virtualization that use overlays use encapsulation, such as virtual extensible local area network (VxLAN) encapsulation and network virtualization generic routing encapsulation (NVGRE), which may be supported by a hypervisor and networking vendors. To use VxLAN or NVGRE encapsulation, hypervisor virtual switches are modified to support the respective overlay technology. Incompatibility with encapsulation types makes it necessary to use a translation gateway, which translates between the different packet formats. The translation gateways are often communication bottlenecks, which may impact communication performance.

Interoperability for distributed overlay virtual environments

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention concerns a process and a device for more efficiently obtaining a highly pure fraction of thrombocytes during density centrifugation of blood, which no longer has to be filtered before infusion into a patient for leukocytes contained therein, in order to prevent immunization of the recipient. The invention is based on a two-stage density separation, wherein in a first stage a separation is made between cells and thrombocyte-rich plasma, and the thrombocyte-rich plasma is not separated into a thrombocyte concentrate and thrombocyte-poor plasm until a second stage. During the first separation, the position of the phase boundary is changed cyclically in the first separation stage. Through alternating the phase boundary in the first stage, it becomes possible for the first time in the second stage to obtain highly pure thrombocyte concentrations with minimally low leukocyte contamination from the transferred thrombocyte-rich plasma without loss of efficiency.

The present invention is directed to a process for separation of blood into its components through density centrifugation, wherein in a first separation stage with a monitored phase boundary, the blood is coarsely separated into at least two phases, of which a first fraction consists primarily of blood cells and the second fraction primarily of thrombocyte-rich blood plasma, and wherein in a second separation stage, one of the fractions is further separated for the purpose of obtaining a concentrate of one blood component. The invention further concerns a device for separation of blood into its components through density centrifugation with a first separation stage, the separation chamber, to which the blood to be separated may be delivered on the input side via a blood pump, wherein the blood is coarsely separated into at least two phases, of which the first fraction consists primarily of blood cells and the second fraction primarily of thrombocyte-rich blood plasma, and which has means for detection of the phase boundary between the two fractions with a second separation stage, the collection chamber, to which the thrombocyte-rich blood plasma may be delivered via a plasma pump, and in which this fraction may be further separated for the purpose of obtaining a concentrate of one blood component, and with a program controller for operation of the device including the adjustment of the pump speed of the plasma pump. Preferably, the thrombocyte-rich blood plasma fraction is further separated in the second separation stage for the purpose of obtaining a thrombocyte concentrate.
Such devices have become known, for example, through the cell separator of the applicant Fresenius AS 104, of the Baxter company CS 3000, or the Cobe company Spectra. Specific blood components which are delivered to the patient are needed for the treatment of patients with certain diseases. Thus, for example, thrombocyte concentrates are needed for the treatment of thrombocytopenic patients. For this purpose, the blood of a donor, connected to an extracorporeal circuit, is subjected to density centrifugation in a blood centrifuge, and separated into its components. During this blood separation, in a first stage the blood is coarsely separated into two phases, i.e., into a dark red cell concentrate fraction, which at first consists primarily of erythrocytes, and into a clear, yellowish fraction which consists primarily of thrombocyte-rich blood plasma. The position of the boundary between the two phases is monitored by a detector device and regulated, for example, by a plasma pump. The term "high phase boundary" is used when the volume of cells outbalances the volume of cell-rich plasma, and the term "low phase boundary" is used in the opposite case. In known processes for obtaining thrombocyte concentrates, in the usual mode of operation, after reaching the desired position, the position of the phase boundary is kept constant during the entire duration of the separation.
If one wishes to obtain a thrombocyte concentrate, the thrombocyte-rich plasma is separated in a second stage into thrombocyte-poor plasma and the desired thrombocyte concentrate. The thrombocyte concentrate is used for the treatment of the patient; the remaining components of the blood are recombined and retransfused to the donor.
A standard thrombocyte concentrate, consisting of approximately 3 to 4.times.10.sup.11 cells, should be obtained with the shortest possible separation period, with the highest possible yield, and the lowest possible contamination by leukocytes. In a foreign organism (in this case, the patient), leukocytes trigger defense mechanisms which can sharply restrict the effectiveness of preparations administered subsequently.
Lymphocytes, a subfraction of the leukocytes (which are the determining factor in triggering the defense mechanisms), and thrombocytes cannot be separated from each other with certainty by centrifugation according to the known processes because of the small difference in size. Consequently, according to the prior art, to assure avoidance of immunization a thrombocyte concentrate is additionally filtered to separate out the leukocytes, before it is transfused to a patient. Comparable measures are performed with other blood components.
Consequently, with the known process an additional processing step in another separation device is necessary, whereby time and cost are disadvantageously increased, also with regard to maintaining sterility.
The object of the invention is to design a process and apparatus such that a blood component, in particular a thrombocyte concentrate, which has extremely low contamination and consequently does not have to be further filtered, can be obtained directly.

Method and apparatus for the separation of blood into its components


A computing system receives a compressed archive file that includes a one or more new executable software modules, and a installation file specifying instructions for installing such modules on the computing system. The modules and the installation file are extracted from the compressed archive file, and the modules installed in accordance with the instructions. Instances of executing software modules that correspond to the installed modules are notified about their impending termination. The instances are then terminated before launching corresponding instances of the installed modules.

Computer systems can perform many operations. It may be important that such operations not be interrupted to the extent possible. For example, a network device such as a switch or router can play a critical role in establishing and maintaining communications between nodes in a communications network. It is therefore important that the network device remain in operation as much as possible.
Software, for example, whether at the operating system layer, application layer, or at any tier in a multi-tier software architecture, is often being revised, upgraded, and patched to improve or add functionality to the computer system in which the software executes. As an example, a new internetworking protocol may be developed, or an existing protocol revised, and then software implementing such protocol installed on a network device.
Generally, when installing new software on a computing system, the operation of the system may be interrupted, at least insofar as the operation of the system that is controlled by the new software is concerned, and in fact, the computing system may even need to be shutdown and rebooted as part of the installation process. Thus, the desire to improve functionality of the computing system by installing new software often times conflicts with the goal of maintaining the computing system in an operational state as much as possible. For example, upgrading software that executes a new or improved internetworking protocol in a network device may require interrupting operation of the network device, potentially causing interruption in the communications between nodes in a communication network that rely, at least in part, on the network device to maintain such communications.

Method and apparatus for modifying software


An oil additive for repairing abrasions and lubricating engine bearing surfaces is provided. A mixture of granular granulated alloy material and granular polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) are added to the engine or engine oil, with normal engine operations peening and burnishing the granulated metal alloy material granules to the surfaces to thereby form a matrix which entraps the PTFE granules. Continued operation of the engine gradually wears away particles of the matrix to uncover the embedded PTFE granules for slow release of granules. In one embodiment, about 1% to 2% by composition of the mixture is granules of titanium dioxide for preparing the bearing surfaces and enhancing additive performance. The granules of the mixture are micron to submicron in size and can adhere readily to surface abrasions and smooth surfaces.

The present invention relates to dry powder lubricants for addition to oil supplies in engines.
Applicant's previously granted patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,122, Engine Oil Additive Dry Lubricant Powder, provide an additive which forms a sub-micron layer coating; on the bearing surfaces in an engine. A mixture of two types of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and about 1-2% T.sub.1 O.sub.2 are added to the engine oil. The titanium dioxide burnishes the surfaces and enhances the adhesion of the PTFE. Although this method of lubricating engines is effective, a need exists for a lubrication powder which is especially suited for older, more worn engines, such as those having 50,000 or more accrued road miles. The coating is abraded away and needs to be constantly replaced. That is not a problem in the use of the material which accomplishes its purpose. However, it would be more desirable to have a surface which was more slowly abraded.
A current technology for engine additives provides granulated alloy material which are added to the engine oil and are subsequently peened into surface abrasions and burnished to fill in cracks and scratches and to build surfaces towards original clearances. Although this effectively repairs damaged bearing surfaces, it does not form a lubricating coating as found in the applicants previous invention.


In a method for starting a synchronous machine, a default torque is predefined, and a rotational speed of the synchronous machine is adjusted after starting. A torque which is higher than the default torque is predefined, and the higher torque is reduced in the subsequent second step to a positive value which is less than the default torque, and is increased to the default torque in a third step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for starting a synchronous machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various methods are known, for example from published U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2007/0170880 A1, for controlling electric machines, for example permanent-magnet synchronous machines. The control of electric machines requires a knowledge as accurate as possible of the rotor position of the electric machine, which may be ascertained by using a digital sensor system, for example.
When a digital sensor system is used, it is disadvantageous that only an approximate position of the rotor may be estimated at a standstill. At very low rotational speeds, in particular for dynamic acceleration processes, it is not possible to adequately estimate the rotor position for good current control and torque control due to the time interval between two digital sensor signals. As a result, use of a digital sensor system for determining the rotor position with an acceptable level of convenience is possible only for drive trains having a sliding clutch or a hydraulic converter between the electric machine and the wheels of the vehicle. In particular for drive trains having a low gear ratio of the electric machine with respect to the wheel, the currently existing control problems in the form of torque surges and noise generation are very noticeable.

Method for starting a synchronous machine


An apparatus for forming a container includes a frame, and a forming station coupled to the frame. The forming apparatus includes a plurality of folding plows configured to fold portions of a blank to form a container. The apparatus also includes a transfer assembly including a plurality of containment bars for supporting the container in a formed state. The containment bars facilitate retaining the formed state of the container while the transfer assembly transfers the container to an operator.

This invention relates generally to forming a container, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for forming a container.
Many businesses are required to package materials before shipping the materials to other locations. Specifically, these businesses package products into containers for shipping and transportation. In at least some of these cases, the products are packaged in corrugated containers. In such a case, an operator manually erects and loads a corrugated paperboard carton from collapsed, partially assembled box blanks. One type of blank commonly used for packaging materials is a regular slotted container type commonly known as an R.S.C. type container. This type of blank requires folding of major and minor flaps at both the upper and lower ends of the blank to form the top and bottom walls of the container. The R.S.C. type blank often times includes four top wall flaps and four bottom wall flaps. When folded over, at least a portion of the four flaps overlap each other, thus leading to a container having additional thickness when compared to containers having only a single layer of corrugated paperboard material.
In at least some known applications, an operator must manually erect the container without the use of a forming machine by folding the flaps and sealing both the top and bottom walls of the container. As such, time and materials are required to form the container prior to the operator being able to load the materials into the container.
In response to the additional labor costs required to form such containers, at least some known folding machines have been developed to aid in the forming of such containers from R.S.C. type blanks. These known folding machines fold and secure the four bottom flaps with tape, staples, or glue, and then direct the container to the operator for loading.

Methods and apparatus for forming a container

Smurfit-Stone Container Enterprises, Inc.


The invention comprises a device and method to estimate the elasticity of soft elastic solids from surface wave measurements. The method is non-destructive, reliable and repeatable. The final device is low-cost and portable. It is based in audio-frequency shear wave propagation in elastic soft solids. Within this frequency range, shear wavelength is centimeter sized. Thus, the experimental data is usually collected in the near-field of the source. Therefore, an inversion algorithm taking into account near-field effects was developed for use with the device. Example applications are shown in beef samples, tissue mimicking materials and in vivo skeletal muscle of healthy volunteers.

Incompressible elastic solids sometimes are also referred to as soft-solids because they are easy to deform. Elastic properties of soft-solids are of great interest in food industry (meat, beef, cheese, fruits), polymer industry (rubber, soft polymers) and medicine (muscles and soft tissues in general). Some of the existing methods to determine elasticity of soft-solids are destructive (Tensile tests, Warner-Bratzler shear force, WBSF, test). Non-destructive methods include ultrasound elastography and surface wave elastography.
Ultrasound elastography is capable of mapping locally the elasticity in soft-tissues. Another advantage is that the method estimates the elasticity of tissue in a direct way, without needing inversion algorithms. Ultrasound elastography needs a dedicated ultrasound scanner which is onerous. Moreover, ultrasound elastography has some limitations. For example, it does not work in materials without sound scatterers inside (termed as speckle-less materials). In addition, it is not useful in materials where ultrasound frequencies are highly attenuated (food industry in general like cheese, yoghurt and fruits). Thus, ultrasound elastography is limited to some applications in medicine.
Surface wave methods have been proposed as an alternative to ultrasound elastography. These methods have the advantage that they are low-cost compared with ultrasound. However, surface waves have not a direct relation with elasticity and thus, inversion algorithms are needed to properly estimate the elasticity. Most authors assume Rayleigh surface wave propagation. In such case, the inversion algorithm is simple. However, in most practical cases the conditions for Rayleigh wave propagation are not achieved. Thus, the elasticity estimation is biased due to the inversion algorithm. Other authors assume guided wave propagation in thin plates like skin or arteries. However, guided waves are affected by near-field effects that are not negligible in soft-solids. Most surface wave methods are based on laser vibrometry to scan de displacement field over the surface. A major drawback is that the elasticity estimation is not performed in real-time. These methods use a single measurement device, which scans over the surface of the sample. Thus, they can not follow rapid changes in elasticity like muscle activation.
The present invention provides a non-destructive device and a reliable method to estimate the elasticity of soft-solids samples using surface waves. The proposed method overcomes some drawbacks found in the previous works as described above. Thus, the present invention provides an alternative elastographic device and method, which is non-destructive, low-cost, real-time, quantitative and repeatable.

Device and method for determining the elasticity of soft-solids


A document management system comprises a document management apparatus that manages a document ID by associating the document ID with a storage time of the document, and checks the storage time in response to an inquiry about a permission of destroying the document and gives a permission of destroying the document when the storage time has expired, and a document destruction apparatus including a mode selection unit that selects one of a first destruction mode and a second destruction mode and an execution unit that destroys the document according to a destruction mode selected by the mode selection unit. The execution unit destroys the document without reading the document ID in the first destruction mode, and reads the document ID to inquire the permission of destroying the and destroys the document when the document management apparatus gives the permission of destroying the document in the second destruction mode.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a document management system suitable for being applied to the management of documents, and also relates to a document destruction apparatus.
2. Related Art
Generally, confidential documents, such as documents intended for use only in a section or a company, are frequently handled in corporate offices and public institutions, such as a city office. Originals of such confidential documents are stored under strict control to prevent confidential information from being leaked. Further, confidential documents rendered unnecessary are destroyed by using a shredder or the like.
A storage times are designated for most of accounting documents, such as debit notes, receipts, and statements of account. Thus, in a case where confidential documents are destroyed by being shredded, it is necessary for a person in charge to check in advance according to an original ledger whether the confidential document to be destroyed can really be destroyed.
However, in the case of destroying a large amount of confidential documents, it is very troublesome and time-consuming to perform document destruction by checking the storage times of the confidential documents one by one. Additionally, there is a fear that a confidential document having a remaining storage time may be destroyed by mistake due to human error.
There is only one original of each confidential document. Thus, even when an image representing a confidential document is saved as electronic data, the original of each confidential document cannot be restored. Therefore, the troublesome checking operation at the destruction of a confidential document cannot be omitted. Also, occurrence of erroneous destruction of a confidential document due to human checking error cannot be prevented.

Document management system and document destruction apparatus


In an optical recording device wherein an information signal is recorded in digital form as recording areas and intermediate areas, an optimum write beam intensity is determined. The resulting recorded pattern is then read, and the read-out signal is analyzed to derive an analysis signal (V.sub.a) indicative of deviation of the DC component of the read signal from an optimum level in relation to the minimum and maximum levels of the read signal, which optimum level is defined by the duty cycle of the information signal. At such optimum level the average ratio of the lengths of the recording areas to the intermediate areas will correspond to the duty cycle of the information signal. The write beam intensity is then adjusted to reduce such deviation.

The invention relates to a recording device for recording on a radiation-sensitive record carrier; and it relates, more particular, to recording an information pattern including recording areas having first optical properties which alternate with intermediate areas having second optical properties. The recording device comprises an optical write head including a scanner for scanning the record carrier with the air of a write beam; a modulator for switching the intensity of the write beam, in conformity with a bivalent signal of a specific duty cycle, between a low write intensity, which does not bring about a change in optical properties of the record carrier at the scanning location, and a high write intensity, which brings about an optically detectable change of the record carrier at the scanning location; an optical read head, including a scanner for scanning the information pattern, thus formed, with the aid of a read beam, the read beam being modulated by the information pattern being scanned, a radiation sensitive detector for converting the modulated read beam into a corresponding read signal; an analysis circuit for deriving from the read signal an analysis signal which indicates the deviation of the average ratio between the length of the recording areas and the intermediate areas relative to an optimum ratio defined by the duty cycle; and a circuit for setting the write intensity, depending on the analysis signal, to a value for which the ratio between the lengths of the recording areas and the intermediate areas substantially corresponds to the optimum ratio defined by the duty cycle.
The invention further relates to an analysis circuit for use in such a recording device. A recording device the type as described in the preceding paragraph is known, inter alia from U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,873. The prior art recording device is employed for recording signals whose average duty cycle is 50%. The magnitude of the 2nd-harmonic signal component of such signals indicates the extent to which the average ratio between the lengths of the recording areas and intermediate areas deviates from the optimum ratio defined by the duty cycle, which in that case is unity. Depending upon the magnitude of the detected 2nd-harmonic signal component, the write-intensity for a prior art recording device is set to a value for which this component is substantially zero. A drawback for such a write intensity control is that it cannot be employed for recording processes in which the width of the recording areas recorded within a recording zone is not constant but varies, as is often the case, for example, in thermal recording processes, where the width of the recording zone is larger at the end of the recording than at the beginning. When an information pattern comprising recording areas of varying width is read, this width variation gives rise to a comparatively large additional 2nd-harmonic component. As a result of this additional component, the magnitude of the 2nd-harmonic signal component can no longer be used for write-intensity control.

Optical recording device wherein recording beam intensity is set in accordance with an optimum value of the DC component of a recorded signal


An X-ray CT scanning apparatus comprises an X-ray source for irradiating a beam of X-ray to an object to be examined, a detector provided with at least two rows of detector elements for detecting the X-ray beam to have a real data, and a couch driver for traveling in an axial direction of the body of the object a couch on which the object is placed, in which the X-ray beam being irradiated from the X-ray source which is being rotated and simultaneously, the couch being traveled with the couch driver, the object is scanned in a helical direction so that the real data sampled by the detector is not identical in the sweep pattern to its opposite data. Two data located on both sides of the target slicing location may be selected from groups of the real data and their opposite data sampled by the detector and used to interpolate a data at the target slicing location. The group of the real data and their opposite data sampled by the detector may be filtered in the direction of slices to produce a desired data at the target slicing location. Also, a combination of the above three methods can be implemented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an X-ray CT (computerized tomography) scanning apparatus and more particularly, to an X-ray CT apparatus capable of reducing undesired artifact in a reconstructed image caused by the action of helical scanning.
2. Prior Art
(1)Single Slice CT
X-ray CT scanning apparatuses of the single slice type are commonly used which includes an X-ray source 101 for irradiating a fan-shaped beam of X-ray (a fan beam) and a detector 103 composed of an M number, e.g. 1000, of detector elements aligned in an arcuate or linear row, as shown in FIG. 1A. The X-ray source 101 and the detector 103 are rotated in a combination around an object to be scanned, as shown in FIG. 1A, for sampling intensity information (referred to as projection data hereinafter) of X-ray beams which have passed through the object. For example, projection data of 1000 times are sampled from one cycle of the irradiation and used for reconstruction of a visual image which will be explained later. It should be assumed that one time of the irradiation is termed one view, data of each detector element in one view is called one beam, and all the beams in one view are combined to a real data (from the detector elements).
(2)Two Different Scanning Methods
Two different scanning methods on the X-ray CT apparatus will now be explained.
One of the two scanning methods is of such a conventional type as shown in FIG. 2A where a cross section A is scanned by the source 101 which travels one full circle. If another cross section B is required to be scanned in addition to the cross section A, either a couch on which the object to be scanned is placed or a combination of the X-ray source 101 and the detector 103 is shifted to the cross section B after the completion of scanning the cross section A. The data is then collected by the combination traveling around the object. This will require a considerable length of time for scanning a series of cross sections of the object which is extended lengthwisely (along the Z axis).
The other scanning method is of such a helical scan type as shown in FIG. 2B where the X-ray source 101 and the detector 103 are rotated in circles while the couch travels lengthwisely of the object to be scanned in synchronization with the rotating movement. This allows the X-ray source 101 to scan the object as travel along a helical path. The helical scanning method is faster in the scanning speed and broader in the scanning area.
It is also assumed that the coordinate system involved is as shown at the left in FIG. 7C. The X-Y plane is a plane to be scanned by the conventional manner where the cross sections A and B fall. The Z axis is equivalent to a lengthwise direction of the object to be scanned or a slice direction in the single slice type CT scanning.
(3)Reconstruction of Conventional Scanned Image
Reconstruction of a scanned image sampled by the X-ray CT apparatus is explained below in brief. The procedure related to the conventional scanning manner consists of three steps. It is assumed that the object to be scanned is translated to a signal across the center of rotation denoted by the solid arrow shown at the upper left in FIG. 3.
[1]Sampling and compensation of data
The data is sampled by the conventional scanning method. Although the angle of rotation is shown through 90 degrees in the drawings, 360 or 180+any other fan shaping angle may be employed. Resultant patterns of projection data are as shown at the upper right in FIG. 3 and then compensated with relevant factors including the sensitivity of the detector 103, the intensity of X-ray beams, and other parameters, thus producing a raw data.
[2]Convolution with reconstructing function
The raw data sampled from all the angles are subjected to convolution of a reconstructing function. Patterns of the resultant convoluted data are shown at the lower right in FIG. 3 as have a decay at the original signal.
[3]Back projection
The convoluted data is then added to the pixels which are arrayed along the path of an X-ray beam. A result of the back projection is shown at the lower left in FIG. 3. By repeating the back projection for the convoluted data at all the angles, the original signal is reconstructed.
(4)Reconstruction of Helical Scanned Image
FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate side-viewed patterns generated by the two, conventional and helical, scanning methods of FIGS. 2A and 2B respectively. The horizontal axis represents the slice direction (along the Z-axis) and the vertical axis is a phase (angle) of the rotation. The sampling locations are denoted by the arrows. Those drawings are referred to as "scan diagrams".
In the conventional scanning method of FIG. 4A, data at the target slicing location is sampled through 360 degrees of the phase by the prescribed step of [1] allowing the reconstruction of an image in the steps [1] to [3].
The helical scanning method of FIG. 4B however permits a helical scanning action which samples one view at the target slicing location. It is hence needed for interpolation along the Z-axis of the raw data instead of the step [1] before the steps [2] and [3] are executed. Typical methods of the interpolation for the single-slice type CT scanning are as follows:
(a) 360-degree interpolation
The 360-degree interpolation is shown in FIG. 5A where the real data of two views which are in phase with each other and designated on both sides of the target slicing location are used for linear interpolation with an inverse of the ratio of distance between the slicing location and the sampling location.
For example, if the target slicing location is expressed by Z=Z0 (at the z coordinate point of the slicing plane), its scanned data is one view at zero of the phase. For sampling data at a phase point .theta., the two real data 1 and 2 on the upper and lower sides of the slicing location respectively are selected and used for linear interpolation with an inverse of the ratio of distance between their sampling location and the slicing location Z(in the z coordinate). By repeating this process, the interpolated projection data throughout the phase is obtained.
(b)Counter beam interpolation
This employs an opposite beam of imaginary data, so called "180.degree. LI". If the X-ray source is located at the black point as shown in FIG. C, scanning beams incident on the detector elements are denoted by the arrows of the real line. The irradiating path of the beam 1 at the left side is identical to that of a beam from the X-ray source located at the white point. The beam irradiated from the white point and denoted by the dotted arrow is hence called an opposite beam. Similarly, the opposite beams of the beams 2 and 3 are irradiated from the gray point and the dark gray point respectively as also denoted by the dotted arrows. All the scanning beams irradiated from the black point are opposite to their respective opposite beams. This allows imaginary data of the opposite beams to be produced from data of the X-ray source from the white to dark gray points (as thus referred to as counter data). The opposite beam interpolation performs linear interpolation between the real data and its opposite data.
In the helical scanning, the sampling location for opposite data is varied depending on a beam (or a channel) as shown in FIG. 5D. For ease of the description, the sampling location is represented by the center channel denoted by the dotted line as shown in FIG. 5B. The interpolation of data sampled by the helical scanning may be implemented with the use of non-linear functions of which methods are also known.
(5)Slice Profile and Image Quality
Two of primary factors representing the performance of the system are slice profile and image quality. The slice profile is a impulse response along the Z-axis or (slice) direction. Its example is shown in FIG. 6 where an ideal slice has a square-like profile and its effective thickness (a width on a half of a value I.sub.O) W.sub.as is small. More specifically, the profile 1 is identical in the effective slice thickness W.sub.as to the profile 2 but is more favorable in the shape than the same. The profile 2 is smaller in the effective slice thickness W.sub.as and thus more favorable than the profile 3.
As shown in FIG. 5A, the distance between two sampling locations of data to be used for the interpolation is termed an interpolation interval. The interpolation interval is equal to the helical pitch in the 360-degree interpolation and 1/2 the helical pitch in the opposite beam interpolation. The smaller the interpolation interval, the thinner the effective slice thickness W.sub.as is in the helical scanning action. Accordingly, the opposite beam interpolation is preferable.
(6)Multi-slice type CT scanning
For scanning a wider area at a higher resolution, a multi-slice type of CT scanning is provided having multiple rows, e.g. two, four, or eight rows, of detector elements as shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C. FIG. 8A illustrates a fan beam viewed from the Z direction in which the center circle is an effective field of view (FOV). FIG. 8B explains four-row multi-slice CT scanning viewed from a direction vertical to the Z axis. The fundamental slice thickness T is defined by the width of a Z-axial beam at the center of rotation (spaced by a distance FCD from the X-ray source) which is irradiated from the X-ray source to a row of the detector elements.
(7)Helical Scanning of Multi-Slice Type CT Mode
The helical scanning of the multi-slice type CT mode is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication 4-224736 (1992). It is said that the helical pitch P of the multi-slice type CT scanning is substantially similar to the pitch of the single-slice type CT scanning and equal to a product of the number N of rows of the detector elements and the fundamental slice thickness T or a total slice thickness Ta at the center of rotation, as is expressed by: EQU P=N.times.T (1)
In this description, the helical pitch will be expressed hereinafter by a value calculated by dividing P by T. From the equation (1), the helical pitch is 4.
As depicted in the above publication, one of the interpolation methods for the helical scanning with the pitch of N in the N-row multi-slice type CT mode a modification of the 360-degree interpolation of the single-slice CT mode.
FIG. 9 is a scan diagram in which the four-row multi-slice type CT scanning employs such a modification of the interpolation. More particularly, similar to the 360-degree interpolation shown in FIG. 5A, the interpolation is carried out between two real data sampled at both sides of the target slicing location. This modification is now called an adjacent interpolation. Since the interpolation interval is equal to the fundamental slice thickness as alike in the 360-degree interpolation, the effective slice thickness W.sub.as is also similar to that of the 360-degree interpolation.
In the interpolation for the above (7) scanning, the effective slice thickness W.sub.as is not small. Hence, the opposite beams may be used for decreasing the effective slice thickness W.sub.as.
FIG. 10A shows the helical scanning with an opposite beam at a pitch of 4, in which the opposite beam is denoted by the shaded area: a first rotation by the diagonal hatching and a second rotation by the vertical hatching. As apparent, most of the shaded area overlaps the sampling location of real data. Opposite data from scanning with the opposite beam is specified by the black rectangular area corresponding to the real data at the blank point in the single-slice type CT scanning. However, a majority of the opposite data is located on the same side of the target slicing location as of the real data. This requires extrapolation and if the opposite beam is desired without interruption, it may depart from the target slicing location depending on the channel or path. As the result, the extrapolation will increase generation of error and the departure from the target slicing location will cause the effective slice thickness W.sub.as to increase.
This drawback may be compensated by the opposite beams located opposite to the real data being sampled for opposite data as shown in FIG. 10B. Although no extrapolation is involved hence causing minimal error, there is generated an interruption between two adjacent beams in weighted interpolation. Consequently, the quality of a reconstructed image will be declined due to the interruption.


A method and apparatus for forming stacks of printed products supplied in an overlapping flow by an endless conveyor to a stacking shaft. A main stack is formed on a stack support in the stacking shaft. An auxiliary rake is moved from an idle position outside of the stacking shaft to an end position inside the stacking shaft. The stack support is lowered to form an intermediate space below the auxiliary rake between the main stack and a partial stack. An intermediate element is extended into the intermediate space to an end position in the stacking shaft. The printed products are deposited on the intermediate element or on previously deposited printed products, wherein a partial stack forms on the intermediate element. The main stack is carried away from the stacking shaft and the auxiliary rake is retracted to its idle position. Thereafter the intermediate element is retracted to an idle position outside of the stacking shaft to transfer the partial stack, formed so far, as a new main stack to the stack support.

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for forming stacks of printed products supplied in an overlapping flow which is conveyed continuously in the direction of a stacking shaft.
With fast-moving apparatuses of the aforementioned type, the overlapping flow that is conveyed on an endless conveyor is normally slowed down or even stopped to generate a gap between two printed products. An intermediate element is inserted into this gap in the stacking shaft, and a partial stack is then formed thereon with the following printed products. Solutions for forming such a gap are known for which the overlapping flow must be accelerated in its downstream region or for which upstream sections of the overlapping flow are slowed down and downstream sections are accelerated.
Speed changes of this type will cause erratic behavior of the overlapping flow, which can make the stacking operation more difficult or can even interrupt it. This can result in changes in the overlapping length, even resulting in a negative overlapping, as well as an offset on the side. This can even cause a slanted positioning and damage to single or multiple printed products in the partial stack and can furthermore cause problems during the forming of the main stack.
With other known apparatuses, the overlapping flow is supplied continuously to the stacking shaft, wherein the stacks formed in this way are only separated later on. However, the respective method cannot be automated at a justifiable expense.
An apparatus for arranging printed products in vertical partial stacks is disclosed in German patent document DE 19855510 A1. For this, two support fingers of a separating device, which are arranged on both sides of the stacking shaft, move into the region of the stacking shaft. The support fingers are pushed between two successively following printed products of the overlapping flow, thereby preventing the dropping of the following printed product. As a result of this delay in the overlapping flow, the stack support which takes the form of two rakes arranged on either side of the stacking shaft, can be inserted into the gap between the dropping printed products and can thus accommodate a partial stack that forms. The disadvantage of such an arrangement is that printed products can be speared or not cleanly separated during the insertion of the support fingers, which can then result in malfunctions and operational stops for the total system.
Another apparatus disclosed in German patent document DE 19947329 A1 is used to form a vertical stack with printed products supplied in an overlapping flow by a conveyor belt and to discharge these in the form of a desired number of partial stacks. This apparatus is provided with a first support finger, arranged on the side of the stacking shaft that is facing away from the conveyor belt. The support finger is moved vertically from a starting position, in which the finger projects above the overlapping flow into the center of the stacking shaft, to an end position where it projects into the overlapping flow. The printed products, which are conveyed into the stacking shaft after the first support finger assumes the end position, are thus deposited so as to form a partial stack on the support finger. A second support finger, arranged on the side of the stacking shaft that is facing the conveyor belt, is also inserted into the stacking shaft and, together with the first support finger, functions to support the partial stack, and to separate this partial stack from the previous partial stack or from the main stack. Once the support fingers have moved horizontally out of the stacking shaft, the printed products in the partial stack drop onto the stack support inside the stacking shaft to form a main stack. An arrangement of this type has the disadvantage that with high speeds for supplying the overlapping flow, thin printed products can be deformed and damaged by the support fingers or that during the intermediate storage, they can project on both sides of the respective support finger far below the horizontal line into the stacking shaft and can therefore drop deformed into the shaft. In turn, this can lead to malfunctions and stopping times for the total system.
With separating devices which are arranged on the conveyor belt side that is facing away from the stacking shaft and, in particular, are embodied as rakes and are operated at high speeds, it is possible when processing thin or large-surface printed products that the first product following the location of separation from the rake is gripped so that it is positioned in part above and in part below the finger of the rake and can also be damaged. Since a printed product, which is jammed in this way, cannot be removed automatically during the normal production process, the complete system must be shut down.

Method and apparatus for forming stacks of printed products supplied in an overlapping flow


A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal panel, a backlight unit supplying light to the liquid crystal panel, a photo sensor detecting a brightness of an ambient surrounding the liquid crystal panel and generating a sense signal, and a signal processor adjusting a luminance of the light supplied by the backlight unit according to the sense signal.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device and a method of driving the same. Although embodiments of the invention are suitable for a wide scope of applications, they are particularly suitable for obtaining a liquid crystal display device having a backlight unit that automatically adjusts according to ambient brightness and a method of driving the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, a display device has become thinner with larger display area as an industrial utilization increases. Among the various types of flat panel display ("FPD") devices, liquid crystal display ("LCD") devices and plasma display panel ("PDP") devices are widely used.
A PDP device is an self-emissive type display device where light is emitted from plasma of fluorescent materials in a sidewall between two substrates according to an applied voltage. In contrast, an LCD device is a non-emissive type display device where images are displayed by adjusting light from a backlight unit with a liquid crystal layer as a shutter. Since grey levels are displayed by a digital voltage in a PDP device, the PDP device has a disadvantage in displaying natural images. On the contrary, since an analog voltage is applied to both sides of a liquid crystal layer in an LCD device, the LCD device displays a natural image as compared with a PDP device.
Among LCD devices, an active matrix liquid crystal display ("AMLCD") device is widely used. In an AMLCD device, a thin film transistor ("TFT") is connected to a pixel and adjusts a voltage level of the pixel as a switching element to change light transmittance of the pixel and display images.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a liquid crystal display device according to the related art. In FIG. 1, a liquid crystal display ("LCD") device includes a liquid crystal panel 1, a gate driver 4, a data driver 6, a timing controller 7, a backlight unit 8 and a source voltage generator 9. The liquid crystal panel 1 includes a plurality of thin film transistors (not shown) disposed in a matrix thereon. The gate driver 4 controls input of a data signal into the liquid crystal panel 1, and the data driver 6 inputs the data signal to the liquid crystal panel 1. The timing controller 7 controls a timing of the gate driver 4 and the data driver 6.
The backlight unit 8 is disposed under and supplies light to the liquid crystal panel 1. Further, the backlight unit 8 includes a backlight lamp 8a emitting light and a backlight driver 8b controlling the backlight lamp 8a. The source voltage generator 9 supplies source voltages to the gate driver 4, the data driver 6, the timing controller 7 and the backlight unit 8. The source voltage generator 9 is formed on a printed circuit board ("PCB"). Although not shown, the backlight lamp 8a includes one of at least one fluorescent lamp and a plurality of light emitting diodes ("LEDs").
Each of the thin film transistors ("TFTs") uses hydrogenated amorphous silicon ("a-Si:H") in a semiconductor layer. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon yields higher productivity while easily fabricated on a large sized substrate. In addition, since hydrogenated amorphous silicon is deposited at a temperature less than about 350° C., a glass substrate of low cost can be used. Accordingly, hydrogenated amorphous silicon is used mainly in a TFT, which is referred to as an amorphous silicon thin film transistor ("a-Si TFT").
However, since hydrogenated amorphous silicon has a disordered atomic arrangement, weak silicon-silicon ("Si—Si") bonds and dangling bonds exist in hydrogenated amorphous silicon. These types of bonds become metastable when light or an electric field is applied to hydrogenated amorphous silicon. As a result, such metastability makes the TFT unstable. Specifically, electric characteristics of hydrogenated amorphous silicon are degraded due to light irradiation. Furthermore, a TFT using hydrogenated amorphous silicon is difficult to be implemented in a driving circuit due to degraded electric characteristics such as a low field effect mobility between about 0.1 cm2/Vsec to about 1.0 cm2/Vsec, and poor reliability.
Accordingly, the substrate including a-Si TFTs is connected to a printed circuit board ("PCB") using a tape carrier package ("TCP") that has a driving integrated circuit ("IC"). The driving IC and its packaging increase production cost of the LCD device. Additionally, as the resolution of a liquid crystal panel for an LCD device increases, a pad pitch between gate pads or between data pads of the substrate including the a-Si TFT becomes smaller. Thus, bonding between the TCP and the substrate including the a-Si TFT becomes harder.
To solve these problems, a polycrystalline silicon thin film transistor ("p-Si TFT") is suggested. Due to a higher field effect mobility of a p-Si TFT as compared to an a-Si TFT, a driving circuit can be integrated on a substrate including the p-Si TFT, such that a driving element and a switching element are simultaneously formed. Accordingly, the TCP is not needed and the production cost is reduced. Moreover, a driving system may be integrated in the liquid crystal panel, and an LCD device where a driving system is integrated in a liquid crystal panel may be referred to a system on panel ("SOP") type LCD device.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a liquid crystal display device using a polycrystalline silicon thin film transistor according to the related art. In FIG. 2, a liquid crystal display ("LCD") device includes a liquid crystal panel 10 having a liquid crystal layer interposed between two substrates. The liquid crystal panel 10 includes a display area 12 for displaying images and a non-display area 13 defined therein. A gate line "GL" and a data line "DL" crossing each other are formed in the display area 12. In addition, a thin film transistor ("TFT") "T" is connected to the gate line "GL" and the data line "DL."
A gate driver 14 and a data driver 16 are formed in the non-display area 13. The gate driver 14 and the data driver 16 respectively receive a gate signal and a data signal from an exterior system (not shown) and control the TFT "T" in the display area 12 through the gate line "GL" and the data line "DL," thereby changing light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer. Even though not shown in FIG. 2, a timing controller and a source voltage generator are formed on a printed circuit board ("PCB) and connected to the liquid crystal panel 10. Moreover, a backlight unit is disposed under the liquid crystal panel 10.
Since a backlight unit of an LCD device emits light of constant intensity, a display quality of the LCD device is deteriorated according to ambient brightness. When the backlight unit emits light of relatively low intensity, images displayed in the LCD device are rarely recognized under a circumstance of high ambient brightness. In addition, when the backlight unit emits light of relatively high intensity, power is wasted under a circumstance of low ambient brightness because light of relatively low intensity is enough to display recognizable images.

Liquid crystal display device and method of driving the same


An electrical-overstress (EOS) protection circuit for an electronic device includes series-connected resistors, a mode-control switch, and a bias circuit. The series-connected resistors are electrically coupled between an input and an output, and the mode-control switch is electrically coupled between the output and a ground. The bias circuit is electrically coupled to the input for generating a mode-control signal to control the mode-control switch. The bias circuit generates the mode-control signal in a way such that the mode-control switch is open in a normal mode and closed in an EOS mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a protection circuit, and more particularly to an electrical-overstress (EOS) protection circuit for an electronic device such as an integrated circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic devices such as semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) are typically designed to operate at specified voltages or voltage ranges. The electronic devices may fail or even be damaged when the input voltage exceeds the specified voltages or voltage ranges. Such abnormal and harmful input is commonly known as electrical overstress (EOS).
As the incidence of an EOS, which may take the form of for example an electrical spike, is usually unavoidable in common electronic applications, there is a need to provide a protection circuit in the electronic device to prevent the EOS from driving the electronic device to failure or damage.

Electrical-overstress protection circuit for an integrated circuit


Disclosed are various embodiments for systems and methods for image processing. A resizing template may be generated having one or more image sizes of an original image based at least in part on resize settings. A preview may then be generated of preview images of the original image based at least in part on the resizing template and the resize settings. The resize settings may be further adjusted via the preview. Upon approval of the preview and the adjusted resize settings, the original image is processed to generate final resized images according to the template and the modified resize settings.

Images may be processed and resized to conform to various device and image size requirements. Processing an image can be a difficult and timely task. Rotating, resizing, renaming, cropping, and compressing are all various functions that may be performed when processing an image. While processing a single image is a timely task, the time to process multiple images is exponentially greater as each image needs to be processed individually. One alternative to processing multiple images is batch processing with scripts. However, batch processing with scripts requires implementing a set of commands and scripts for processing the images. Since not all images are the same, the final images generated via batch processing with scripts may not all turn out as desired.

Systems and methods for image processing using a resizing template


The present invention discloses a method of treating cancer comprising administering an effective amount of an alkaloid, in which the alkaloid is liensinine, isoliensinine, dauricine, cepharanthine, hernandezine or thalidezine and isolated from the traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. The use of the alkaloid in treating neurodegenerative disorder is also disclosed.

Autophagy is a cellular degradation process that involves the delivery of cytoplasmic cargo such as long-lived protein, mis-folded protein or damaged organelles, sequestered inside double-membrane vesicles (autophagosome) before entering lysosome for degradation. Autophagy occurs at low basal levels in cells to maintain normal homeostatic functions by turnover of proteins and organelles. Upon cellular stressful conditions such as nutrient deprivation, oxidative stress, infection or protein aggregate accumulation, autophagy starts with membrane isolation and expansion to form autophagosome that sequesters all unwanted cytoplasmic materials. Followed by fusion of the autophagosome with lysosome to form an autolysosome, all the engulfed materials are degraded to recycle intracellular nutrients and energy [1]. Both autophagy impairment and the age-related decline of autophagic function lead to the pathogenesis of many age-related diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancers [2].
One of the key roles for autophagy is to degrade toxic aggregate-prone cytoplasmic proteins that are inaccessible to the proteasome when they form oligomers or aggregates [3]; aggregate-prone proteins with polyglutamine and polyalanine expansions, in turn, are degraded by autophagy [4] Inhibition of mTOR induces autophagy and reduces toxicity of polyglutamine expansions or mutant proteins in fly and mouse models [4-7]. These mutant proteins include mutant α-synuclein which causes Parkinson's disease, and polyglutamine-expanded mutant huntingtin that causes Huntington's disease [8,9]. In contrast, protein aggregates form in the cytoplasm when autophagy is inhibited in normal mice [10]. Rapamycin, a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved immunosuppressant, is found effective in treating fruit fly and mouse models of Huntington's disease through increased autophagic clearance of mutant huntingtin [5]. Besides, a small-molecule screen also revealed new chemicals that attenuate the toxicity of mutant huntingtin through autophagy [9].
While autophagy may play a protective role in neurodegenerative diseases [9], autophagic dysfunction is associated with DNA damage, chromosome instability [11, 12], and increased incidence of malignancies [12]. Modulators of autophagy may play a protective role through promoting autophagic cell death in tumors or augmenting the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents when used in combination. Several clinically approved or experimental antitumor agents induced autophagy-related cell death in various types of cancer cells [13-16].
Recently, natural compounds from alkaloids have been found to induce autophagy with potential neuroprotective or anti-cancer effects. For instance, alkaloids isolated from Chinese herbal medicine are important source for drug discovery [17]. Alkaloids such as berberine, matrine and tetrandrine, exhibit their anti-cancer effects through cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy, inhibition of metastasis or angiogenesis [18-20]. Camptothecin and vinblastine are chemotherapeutic drugs that have been approved for clinical use [21,22]. In addition, alkaloids such as isorhynchophylline [23] and berberine [24] were also reported for their neuroprotective effects in vitro.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Group of alkaloids, the novel autophagic enhancers for treatment of cancers and neurodegenerative conditions thereof

Macau University of Science and Technology


An electronic device for generating secure synchronization signals operating with an external clock emitting a first frequency signal is such that for very high resolution synchronization signals, the temporal accuracy of the signals is less than a nanosecond, thereby enabling different elements of a laser pulse chain to be synchronized. The device is provided with securing means having an internal clock emitting an internal clock signal oscillating at a second frequency roughly identical to the first frequency, wherein electronic security management means is arranged so that the internal clock signal replaces the external clock signal and security measures are triggered when the external clock signal is lost, thereby causing the partial or complete stop of the device to be synchronized.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is that of electronic devices for generating synchronization signals. More specifically, the technical field is that of very high resolution synchronization signals, the temporal accuracy of the signals being less than a nanosecond. These devices are in particular used in the laser subsystems that deliver high-energy, ultra-brief laser pulse trains, the duration of the pulses being of the order of a few hundreds of femtoseconds and their energy being of the order of a terawatt.
2. Description of the Invention
These subsystems more often than not comprise a large number of optoelectronic elements needed for generating, amplifying and formatting the laser pulses and elements for controlling, monitoring and measuring these pulses. Now, the pulses emitted are of very brief duration, so it is vitally important to synchronize the various elements of the subsystem with a high temporal accuracy so as to ensure both optimal operation of the subsystem and the best possible reproducibility of the emitted pulses.
The current synchronization devices present a certain number of drawbacks. On the one hand, the internal clock of these various devices is not necessarily perfectly synchronized with an external signal taken from an element of the system to be synchronized. On the other hand, when the system comprises a large number of elements to be synchronized it becomes impossible to synchronize them all with a single synchronization device. In this case, several synchronization devices are used, these devices being synchronized between themselves by trigger devices. These triggers are produced from clock signals internal to the synchronization devices. These clock signals are periodic. It can be demonstrated that the triggering accuracy is equal to a period of the clock signal. For example, for a clock signal emitted at a frequency of 100 megahertz, the synchronization accuracy is then equal to one period, or 10 nanoseconds. This accuracy is not sufficient, for certain applications, to permit a perfect synchronization of the various elements of the system.
To overcome these drawbacks, the device can operate no longer with an internal clock but with an external clock taken from the device to be synchronized. Thus, any temporal drift and any triggering inaccuracy of the synchronization signals is avoided. However, this solution presents the drawback that, if the external signal disappears, the entire synchronization devices can no longer function. The disappearance of the synchronization signals can then have serious consequences. In practice, the breakdown of the external clock signal is the manifestation of a malfunction of the system to be synchronized. For some applications, in particular in pulsed laser subsystems, it is important to take measures to protect the elements of the subsystem that can be damaged by this malfunction. Such is the case in particular with power amplifiers which must operate only in the presence of the laser beam to be amplified.
The device according to the invention comprises a security device for compensating for the malfunctions of the external clock by the provision of an internal clock which takes over from the external clock in the event of a malfunction. The device also comprises electronic management means for continuing to manage the system to be synchronized and so prevent elements from being damaged.

Electronic device for generating secure synchronization signals