This invention aims to appropriately transmit HARQ-ACK in future wireless communication systems. A user equipment includes a reception unit which receives a DL signal, and a control unit which controls transmission of a delivery acknowledgement signal for the DL signal, wherein the reception unit receives information concerning an instruction to transmit the delivery acknowledgement signal and the control unit controls transmission of the delivery acknowledgement signal on the basis of the information concerning the instruction to transmit the delivery acknowledgement signal. The reception unit of the user equipment further receives downlink control information including the information concerning the instruction to transmit the delivery acknowledgement signal.

In UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks, LTE (Long Term Evolution) has been specified to achieve, e.g., higher data rates and lower delays (non-patent literature 1). To achieve broader bands and higher speeds than LTE, LTE-Advanced (Rel. 10-12) has been specified, and a successor system of LTE called, e.g., 5G (5th generation mobile communication systems) or FRA (Future Radio Access) is now under study.
Future wireless communication systems (e.g., 5G) are expected to involve not only further increases in speed and capacity for mobile broadband applications but also, e.g., delay reduction and handling of connection from a large number of devices. In addition, for further increases in speed and capacity, broader frequency spectra are expected to be used.
In existing LTE systems (LTE Rel. 8-12), HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest) is supported to lessen degradation in communication quality resulting from signal reception errors in wireless communication between a user equipment (UE) and a radio base station (eNB). In HARQ, the user equipment (or the radio base station) feeds back a delivery acknowledgement signal (HARQ-ACK) associated with data in accordance with the reception result of the data, and the radio base station (or the user equipment) controls data retransmission on the basis of the fed back HARQ-ACK.
Since the use of HARQ can effectively lessen degradation in communication quality of wireless communication between a user equipment and a radio base station, HARQ is expected to be supported even in future wireless communication systems.

User equipment, radio base station, and wireless communication method


A dispensing system (20) for drawing fuel from a storage tank (22) to a nozzle (44). The system includes an above-tank suction pump (26) which draws fuel from the tank. The fuel is discharged from the suction pump into a vertically aligned air separator (38) so as to produce a fuel stream that is substantially free of air. The fuel stream is discharged from the air separator to a flow meter (30) and the nozzle through a fuel shutoff valve (46). The open/closed state of the fuel shutoff valve is controlled by a control actuator (48) based on the differential processor across the air separator. Should this differential pressure drop below a given level, the fuel shutoff valve is closed to prevent the system from inadvertently supply a fuel stream with an unacceptably high air content. Gaseous fluid removed by the air separator is supplied to an air eliminator (40). The fuel components of this fluid stream are removed in the air eliminator and returned to the suction pump.

A dispensing system is the assembly at a gasoline station that actually delivers the fuel, (e.g. gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene or alcohol) from a storage tank into the tank of the vehicle in which the fuel is to be used. At most gasoline stations and other locations at which the fuel is dispensed, the fuel is stored in an underground storage tank. The dispensing system includes a pump that draws the fuel from the storage tank to an above ground level elevation so that it will flow into the vehicle fuel tank. In a typical dispensing system, the fuel is pumped from the storage tank, passed through a flow meter and then is delivered to the vehicle through a flexible hose. The flow meter performs a volumetric measurement of the quantity of the fuel that is discharged to provide the data needed to ensure that the customer is accurately charged for the amount of fuel delivered. Often this charge data is presented on a display associated with a data processing unit that also forms part of the dispensing system.
In the past it has been a common practice to design a fuel dispensing system so that it includes a submersible pump that is located in the base of the associated storage tank. When the pump is actuated, it forces the fuel from the tank through a supply line that leads to an above-ground dispenser and from there through a hose through which it is delivered to the vehicle. A disadvantage of this dispensing system is that should there be any leaks in the supply line to the dispenser, the fuel, which is under pressure, is prone to flow out of the tank wherein it can potentially serve as an environmental pollutant.
One solution to this problem is to provide a dispensing system with a suction pump. This type of system is designed so that the pump is located in the actual above ground housing in which most of the other components of the system, the flow meter, the processor and the hose connection, are contained. The pump develops a suction which draws the fuel from the storage tank and then forces the fuel from the pump and through the flow meter and the hose. An advantage of providing a dispensing system with a suction pump is that should there be any leaks in the supply line, the suction drawn by the pump, instead of allowing the fuel to flow out, will draw air into the line. Thus, these type of dispensing systems serve to minimize the unwanted fuel leakage and the attendant enviromental damage such leakage can foster.
While a dispensing system with a suction pump is useful for reducing the likelihood of environmental damage, there is a disadvantage associated with its use. Should a leak be present in the associated supply line, the air drawn into the line by the pump will be compressed in the pump and entrained into the fuel stream that flows through the flow meter and out through the hose. The air is then delivered to the vehicle along with the liquid-state fuel. Consumers, who pay for fuel based on volumetric quantity delivered, take exception to finding they have paid for fuel and have, instead, received a sizeable quantity of air. In many jurisdictions regulatory authorities have placed strict limits on the error rate between the quantity of liquid-state fuel that is measured by the flow meter and the actual amount of fuel actually delivered.
Thus, a typical dispensing system with a suction-type pump is further provided with some type of air separation unit. One such air separation has an elongated, horizontally aligned chamber that is located downstream of the pump. The fuel is introduced in this chamber so as to form a horizontally oriented vortex. Air disposed within the fuel stream as it enters the chamber is supposed to migrate to the center of the chamber where it is forced out through an appropriate duct. While this air separator is of some utility, its overall ability to remove air from the fuel stream in certain situations is open to question.
Moreover, it is further desirable to provide this type of system for monitoring the quantity of air in the fuel stream prior to the fuel stream being applied to the flow meter. This monitoring is desirable because, in the event the quantity of the air is above a given level, the air separator, regardless of its efficiency, may not be able to remove sufficient quantities of air from the fuel stream. When the fuel stream is in this state, the dispensing system should shut down as opposed to continue to operate while possibly delivering inaccurately metered volumes of fuel. In the known prior art system, this monitoring is performed by simply monitoring the pressure of the fuel stream at a point downstream from the air separator and upstream of outlet of the dispensing system. If the fuel stream at this point contains a significant quantity of air, the pressure head at this point should fall. This pressure drop is then interpreted as an indication that the fuel stream contains such a large quantity of air that downstream delivery of the fuel should cease. A potential problem with this type of monitoring system is that the pressure head being monitored may change as a function of flow rates downstream of the point at which the monitoring occurs. In some circumstances, these variations could potentially result in a pressure head developing that does not accurately represent the quantity of air in the fuel stream. Thus a potential exists that the pressure head being monitored will indicate that there is only a minimal amount of air in the fuel stream when, in fact, that is not the case. If this occurs, the dispensing system will continue to allow fuel to be dispensed even though the fuel stream may contain an unacceptably high quantity of air.


A plane antenna with high gain and antenna efficiency. The antenna includes an antenna unit comprising: a first dielectric body; a first grounding conductor body provided on a lower side of the first dielectric body; a current supply line in a form of a strip line provided on an upper side of the first dielectric body; a patch shaped radiative element provided on the upper side of the first dielectric body at an end of the current supply line; a second dielectric body formed on the upper side of the first dielectric body over the radiative element and the current supply line; and a second grounding conductor body provided on the upper side of the second dielectric body, which has a slot at a position located directly above the radiative element; wherein the radiative elements and the slots of the plane antenna are arranged in a planar array with a constant interval in two orthogonal directions, where the constant interval has a value equal to 0.72 to 0.93 or more preferably 0.85 to 0.93 times a wavelength corresponding to a central frequency of a frequency band for waves to be used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microstrip type plane antenna to be utilized in microwave communication.
2. Description of the Background Art
A plane antenna has been developed as an alternative to a parabola antenna for microwave communication.
As an example of such a plane antenna, there is a microstrip type plane antenna shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B), where the antenna comprises: a dielectric body 2; a grounding conductor body 1 provided on a lower side of the dielectric body 2; a current supply line 5 in a form of a strip line provided on an upper side of the dielectric body 2; and a patch shaped radiative element 4 provided on the upper side of the dielectric body 2 at an end of the current supply line 5. The antenna for practical use actually has a plurality of the patch shaped radiative elements 4 arranged in an array, among which the current supply lines 5 are arranged with their lengths, branching positions, and line widths appropriately adjusted for the sake of phase matching and impedance matching.
However, in this type of a microstrip type plane antenna, the current supply lines 5 are exposed on the radiation plane, so that there are unnecessary radiations radiated from branching and curving sections of the current supply lines 5. As a result, the radiation characteristic has been rather low in this type of a microstrip type plane antenna.
As an improvement on such a conventional microstrip type plane antenna, there has been a proposition of a microstrip type plane antenna shown in FIGS. 2(A) and 2(B), where the antenna comprises: a first dielectric body 2; a first grounding conductor body 1 provided on a lower side of the first dielectric body 2; a current supply line 5 in a form of a strip line provided on an upper side of the first dielectric body 2; a patch shaped radiative element 4 provided on the upper side of the first dielectric body 2 at an end of the current supply line 5; a second dielectric body 21 formed on the upper side of the first dielectric body 2 over the radiative element 4 and the current supply line 5; and a second grounding conductor body 11 provided on the upper side of the second dielectric body 21, which has a slot 3 at a position located directly above the radiative element 4.
In a microstrip type plane antenna formed from a plurality of such antenna units arranged in an array, the current supply lines 5 are arranged in a space sandwiched between the first and second grounding conductor bodies 1 and 11, so that the unnecessary radiations from the branching and curving sections of the current supply lines 5 tend to be suppressed by being obstructed by the second grounding conductor body 11 while the radiations from the radiative elements 4 can be transmitted without any obstruction through the slots 3 as shown in FIG. 2(C), such that the antenna efficiency can be improved.
Although this microstrip type plane antenna is effective in suppressing the unnecessary radiations from the current supply lines, it is also associated with a problem that the radiation efficiency of this antenna becomes low when the area of the slot 3 is small such that the gain is lower by 1 to 4 dB compared with the antenna of FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B). If the area of the slot 3 is increased, the gain may be improved, but the effect of suppressing the unnecessary radiations from the current supply line would be weakened such that the antenna gain becomes low.

Plane antenna with high gain and antenna efficiency


Embodiments are disclosed for selecting locations for transmitting emergency beacons. In an embodiment, a method comprises: determining a current location of a mobile device in a geographic area; configuring a transmitter of the mobile device for device-to-device (D2D) communication; determining one or more candidate transmit locations for D2D communication, wherein each candidate transmit location is determined based at least in part on its elevation, proximity to a D2D device density location that is within a maximum communication distance from the candidate transmit location, and an availability of a trail or path to the candidate transmit location; receiving input selecting a particular candidate transmit location from the one or more candidate transmit locations; in accordance with the input, determining a route from the current location of the mobile device to the particular candidate transmit location; and presenting the route through an output device.

Because of their utility, mobile devices, such as smartphones, are standard equipment for hikers, backpackers, mountain climbers, skiers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Most smartphones include terrestrial and satellite-based localization technology for obtaining a position fix, and an electronic compass for obtaining a heading. A map application provides maps with routes, such as hiking trails. The map shows a marker of the user's location on the route and a direction indicator that indicates their direction of travel. Most mobile devices also include a wireless transceiver that allows the user to communicate with other mobile devices through wireless local area networks (e.g., WiFi, Bluetooth) and cellular networks.
Some mobile devices are also enabled with D2D communication capability, which allows direct wireless communication between two mobile users without assistance from a base station or core network. In the case of a natural disaster (e.g., hurricane, earthquake), conventional cellular communication networks may not work. In such disaster scenarios, a wireless ad hoc network can be established between two or more D2D devices to obtain emergency assistance. If a user (e.g., a hiker), however, is alone in an emergency situation in a remote area (e.g., a forest) where no cellular or WiFi service is available, the user may not know in which direction to walk to increase their odds of establishing D2D communication with other D2D-enabled devices to obtain emergency assistance.

Location selection for transmitting emergency beacons


A method comprising monitoring a user's movements and determining when the user is falling asleep into a sleep session. The method further comprising identifying the sleep session as a power nap or a longer sleep, and waking up the user at a predetermined time, based on a combination of user preferences and measured information regarding the sleep session.

As accelerometers and other motion sensors are becoming cheaper and smaller. There are numerous systems available, which enable a user to monitor his or her motions, whether in activity or sleep.
For example, there are pedometers or other activity monitors that track a user's activities to improve health. There are also some sleep monitors, which use accelerometers.


An apparatus is disclosed for attachment to a jack including a first axle. The apparatus includes a fulcrum wheel disposed on a second axle, the second axle being connected directly or indirectly to the first axle. A lever has a first end connected directly or indirectly to the second axle and a second end having a terminus. A first line intersects the first axle and second axle. A second line intersects the second axle and the lever terminus. The first and second lines meet at an obtuse angle. In another aspect, an apparatus is disclosed including a jack having a first axle, an extension member, and a fulcrum wheel is disposed on a second axle connected to the extension member. A lever has a first end attachable to the extension member proximate the second axle. A method of moving a jack relative to a ground surface is also disclosed.

An exemplary prior art jack for a trailer, such as a boat trailer to be towed by a motor vehicle, is shown in FIG. 1. Jack 10 is mounted on horizontal member 12 of boat trailer 14. When trailer 14 is detached from a towing vehicle (not shown), horizontal member 12 is generally supported so that tongue 16 does not rest on the ground. Such support may be accomplished by a structure such as a block or a variable length apparatus that has an easily adjustable height such as jack 10. Jack 10 is especially suitable for raising tongue 16 of horizontal member 12 to the same level as a hitch 18 of the towing vehicle. Jack 10 also typically provides a wheel 20 so that the horizontal member 12 may be moved with respect to the ground surface 22. Crank handle 24 is turned to telescope post 26 within sleeve 28 to thereby raise and lower horizontal member 12 with respect to ground surface 22.
To attach trailer 14 to hitch 18, a driver of the towing vehicle backs the vehicle up to the boat trailer 14 to position hitch 18 as close as possible to ball coupler 30 of trailer tongue 16. However, most vehicle drivers are conservative because hitting the trailer with the vehicle can cause great damage. Accordingly, even with skilled drivers, a distance usually remains between the towing vehicle's hitch 18 and the ball coupler 30 of the trailer 14.
To close this gap, a user must push trailer 14 on jack wheel 20 to position ball coupler 30 over hitch 18. It is to be understood that different coupling mechanisms and hitches may be used that are known in the art. Although jack wheel 20 pivots about post 26 to facilitate this maneuver, it is still a very difficult task because of the weight of trailer 14 (and any boat thereon) and the fact that it is very hard to pivot jack wheel 20 while it bears such considerable weight. A user generally must kick jack wheel 20 in order to turn to in the appropriate direction for bringing ball coupler 30 toward hitch 18. Then the user must push on jack 10 or horizontal member 12 to bring ball coupler 30 to hitch 18.
After placing ball coupler 30 over hitch 18, the user turns crank handle 24 to lower ball coupler 30 onto hitch 18. After ball coupler 30 is secured onto hitch 18, the user turns crank handle 24 to raise jack wheel 20 off ground surface 22. Then the user pulls pin 32 to allow jack 10 to pivot into a horizontal orientation, so that jack 10 is out of the way during trailer transport and storage.
Moreover, another problem is commonly encountered by boat trailer users. After bearing the weight of the trailer for a period of time on a soft ground surface such as gravel, soil, sand or asphalt, the jack wheel 20 may sink into the ground, thereby rendering it difficult to thereafter move the trailer 14. For a trailer hauling a typical boat, the weight of the tongue could be on the order of 500 pounds. Thus, it can be exceedingly difficult for a user to lift horizontal member 12 in order to dislodge jack wheel 20 from its embedded position in the ground. Also, such lifting attempts can result in great back strain and a high likelihood of injury.
Accordingly, the present invention presents an apparatus and method to ease the guidance and maneuvering of a trailer tongue.


An electromagnetically operable rotary shutter is rendered bi-stable by the use of two linear electric motors, one to open the shutter and a second to close the shutter together with a latch that holds the shutter in either an open or a closed position in the absence of power to purposefully open or close the shutter.

Electrically operated lens shutters used in various types of photographic and laboratory equipment are well known in the art. Lens shutters especially adapted for use in scientific applications can open and close in a fraction of a second; frequencies of 2 to 400 cycles per second and higher are common.
Lens shutters generally are of two types. In one type, a so-called "guillotine" shutter has one or two thin, metal blades or leaves arranged to cover a lens opening. Pivot connections allow each blade to swing between a closed position where the blades cover the lens opening and an open position where the blades are drawn aside from the lens opening.
The present invention concerns a second type of shutter wherein a plurality of pivotally mounted blades, usually five, is arranged around the lens. Each blade is connected to a rotatable ring. In the operation of these rotary shutters, the rotation of the ring in one direction causes the blades to swing in unison to an open position. Counter rotation of the ring swings the blades to a closed position over the lens opening after exposure. Generally, a linear electric motor is used to activate the shutter. When activated, the linear motor pulls on a lever arm that rotates the ring to open the shutter. To close the shutter, the motor is deactivated and a spring causes the counter rotation of the ring to close the shutter. As noted above, shutters of this sort can cycle open and close several hundred times per second.
It is common in both types of shutters to provide a shock absorber or damper that absorbs the impact as the blades are pivoted between the open and closed positions. In this respect, reference is made to various US patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,595,553; 3,664,251; and 6,652,165, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. As disclosed in these references, the shock absorber operates to stop the shutter blade very rapidly, yet softly and without damage. There also is little or no bounce as the shutter first is snapped open by the linear electric motor and then is snapped closed by the spring when the motor is deenergized.
In some applications, however, it is desirable to hold the shutter open for an extended period to prolong the exposure time. In these cases, it has been the practice to keep the motor activated for the duration of the exposure in order to hold the shutter open against the bias of the spring urging the shutter to a closed position.
Maintaining power to the coil of a linear electric motor for an extended period has its drawbacks due mainly to the resulting generation of heat. If not dissipated, the heat could adversely affect the alignment of the optics, cause image distortion and shorten the life of the motor and other heat sensitive components of the shutter system. A fan, heat sink or heat dissipating fins that normally can solve a heat-generating problem are not appropriate in many applications. For example, fans are of little use if the shutter is located in a vacuum environment. In military and space exploration applications, weight can be an issue so the use of any additional component such as a heat sink or heat radiating fins is not appropriate.
In some applications, space also is a limitation. Space limitations particularly in the region of the shutter opening dictate the parameters of size and placement of apparatus for holding the shutter open. For example, components placed near the shutter opening must have a relatively low profile so as not to interfere with the cone angle of the light passing through the open shutter.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved photographic shutter and, in particular, a high-speed rotary shutter having long exposure capabilities.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotary photographic shutter that allows long exposures without generation of excessive heat.
Yet another object is to provide a rotary shutter that does not automatically close once power to the motor operating the shutter is cut off.
A further object is to provide a rotary photographic shutter that is bi-stable in that it remains latched in either an open or a closed position until power is applied to a motor to specifically open or close the shutter.

Bi-stable mechanical photographic shutter


In a training phase of a facial image reconstruction system, a thermal facial image is input into a convolutional encoder and a pre-trained thermal facial recognition model for feature fusion. The fusion result is input into a convolutional decoder for visible facial image reconstruction. A hybrid loss function is used in the training phase. In the training phase, the reconstructed visible facial image and its corresponding real visible facial image are input into the pre-trained visible facial recognition model and the pre-trained facial landmark detection model to calculate the hybrid loss function for model learning and parameter update.

Along with the development in the technology of big data and deep learning, facial recognition technology is already a mature technology. However, the recognition rate may decrease in some extreme and complicated situations such as dusky illumination, heavy makeup on user's face or disguise. Therefore, over the years, many researches are dedicated to performing facial recognition using infrared light thermal image.
According to the infrared light thermal image technology, an infrared light is emitted to detect the thermal radiation from the human body to form an image according to the temperature difference between different parts of the body. With an infrared light of some wavebands (for example, 8 μm˜14 μm), normally an image can be photographed without using any additional light source. The infrared light thermal image technology can be used in applications such as thermal imaging/temperature control, maintenance predictability and gas leakage detection.
In recent years, infrared light facial recognition has had many opportunities and applications in people's real life and has achieved very good recognition results in areas such as biometric passport clearance system and building self-service clearance system. Such type of infrared light facial recognition is independent of the ambient light and can provide high quality facial image.
Normally, for the infrared light thermal facial recognition technology to effectively recognize identity, relevant facial infrared light features must be established in advance. However, it is not easy to investigate and track the identity of unknown faces. Therefore, it could be a possible resolution to reconstruct the infrared light facial image as a visible light image.
Current technology works very well with the reconstruction of known facial image but works not so good with the reconstruction of unknown facial image. Furthermore, some technologies fail to emphasize facial discriminability.

Facial image reconstruction method and system

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


This invention relates to olefin metathesis catalysts general formula (I):

The development of well defined catalysts with good functional group tolerance has established olefin metathesis as a powerful tool for the formation of carbon-carbon double bonds. See Grubbs, R. H. Handbook of Metathesis; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, Germany, 2003. Substitution of a phosphine for an N-heterocyclic carbene ligand, in ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts, led to more efficient complexes that maintain the high functional group tolerance and air and moisture stability of the phosphine-containing complexes. See for example, Schwab, P.; France, M. B.; Ziller, J. W.; Grubbs, R. H. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1995, 34, 2039-2041; Schwab, P.; Grubbs, R. H.; Ziller, J. W. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 100-110; or Scholl, M.; Ding, S.; Lee, C. W.; Grubbs, R. H. Org. Lett. 1999, 1, 953-956.
Nevertheless, the development of catalysts that could efficiently control E/Z selectivity in cross-metathesis reactions, or afford tetrasubstituted double bond products in ring-closing metathesis reactions, still represents a major challenge. Furthermore, catalysts more stable toward decomposition are always highly desired.
Thus, what is needed in the art is a catalyst that can accomplish these goals. This invention answers that need.

Olefin metathesis initiators bearing thiazol-2-ylidene ligands

Abstract: having a thiazol-2-ylidene ligand of general formula (II):

Abstract: The catalysts have been found to be particularly good initiators of (a) ring-closing metathesis reactions used to prepare tetra-substituted cyclic olefins, and (b) cross-metathesis reactions used to prepare tri-substituted and di-substituted olefins.


An exposing device including means which has a plurality of pixels and modulates, per pixel, an optical beam irradiated from a light source, for exposing a plotted image on an exposure surface by modulating, per pixel, the plurality of pixels of the modulating means based on image data, the multi beam exposing device comprising: beam position detecting means for detecting exposure point positional information pertaining to an optical beam irradiated on the exposure surface from predetermined pixels to be measured of the modulating means; and positional deviation calculating means for calculating a relative positional deviation between positional information pertaining to the pixels to be measured of the modulating means and exposure point positional information pertaining to each of the optical beams projected at the exposure surface from each of the pixels to be measured detected by the use of the beam position detecting means, based on the two positional informations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi beam exposing device for focusing and irradiating, per pixel, each of beams emitted from a means for selectively turning on or off a plurality of pixels such as a spatial light modulator disposed in an exposing head based on image data (i.e., pattern data), with an optical element such as a lens array, so as to expose a predetermined pattern. The present invention also relates to an exposure method using the multi beam exposing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been developed a multi beam exposing device for subjecting a member to be exposed, to image exposure with an optical beam modulated in accordance with image data, by utilizing a spatial light modulator such as a digital micro mirror device (abbreviated as "a DMD") as a pattern generator.
Such a DMD is a mirror device including numerous micro mirrors, the angle of the reflection surface of each being varied in response to, for example, a control signal, with the mirrors being arranged on a semiconductor substrate made of silicon or the like in a two-dimensional manner. The DMD is configured such that the angle of the reflection surface of the micro mirrors is varied by static electricity generated by electric charges accumulated in each of several memory cells.
In a conventional multi beam exposing device using a DMD, there is used, for example, an exposing head for collimating a laser beam emitted from a laser beam-emitting light source by means of a lens system, and reflecting each of the laser beams off the plurality of micro mirrors of the DMD that are arranged at substantially the focusing position of the lens system, so as to emit each of the beams from a plurality of beam emitting ports. Each of the beams emitted from the plurality of beam emitting ports in the exposing head is focused on the exposure surface of a photosensitive material (i.e., a member to be exposed) in a small spot diameter with a lens system having an optical element such as a micro lens array for focusing one beam per pixel with a single lens, thereby achieving image exposure with a high resolution.
In the above-described exposing device, the laser beam is modulated (i.e., deflected) by a controller, not shown, controlling the turning on or off of each of the micro mirrors in the DMD based on the control signal produced in accordance with image data or the like. Then, the exposure surface (i.e., recording surface) is exposed to the modulated laser beam by irradiation.
The exposing device is configured such that a photosensitive material (such as a photoresist) is disposed on the recording surface, and thereafter, that patternwise exposure can be performed on the photosensitive material by modulating each of the DMDs in accordance with the image data while moving the position of a beam spot relative to the photosensitive material, the beam spot being formed by irradiation of the laser beams from the plurality of exposing heads, respectively, in the multi beam exposing device on the photosensitive material.
In the case where the above-described multi beam exposing device is used in, for example, exposure of a circuit pattern on a substrate with high accuracy, there are instances where a relationship of precise similarity is not established between an image formed at the reflection surface formed by all of the micro mirrors in the DMD and an image projected at the exposure surface. This is a result of the lens for use in an illumination optical system or a focusing optical system in the exposing head having an inherent distortion characteristic. In other words, an image projected on the exposure surface may be deformed and deviate in position due to the distortion, and as a result, may not strictly match the designed circuit pattern.
In view of this, there has been proposed a means for correcting the distortion in a conventional exposing device. Such a means for correcting the distortion is adapted to set an origin at a predetermined position in the entire exposed region to be projected on a plotted surface with an exposing unit, to measure a relative position (i.e., an exposure point) of an optical image by a given micro mirror with specialized equipment before plotting, and to store the actual measurement value as exposure point coordinate data in the ROM of a system control circuit. In plotting, the actual measurement value is output as exposure point coordinate data to an exposure point coordinate data memory.
In this manner, bit data on the circuit pattern which has been substantially subjected to the distortion correction is stored in the exposure data memory. Therefore, since the exposure data to be given to each of the micro mirrors is a value with the distortion taken into account, the circuit pattern can be plotted with high accuracy even if there is distortion in the optical element in the exposing unit (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-57834).
In the above-described multi beam exposing device, the distortion of a plotted image caused by the exposing head varies with the lapse of time due to factors such as temperature and vibration when plotting with higher accuracy, and therefore, it is necessary to measure the distortion of a plotted image varying with the lapse of time each time before plotting with specialized equipment, so as to properly correct the distortion.

Multi beam exposing device and exposing method using the same


A dispenser for contact lens solutions is provided, comprising a support structure and at least one flexible and collapsible container supported therefrom. An outlet extends from the bottom of the container, the outlet having a valve adapted to allow the outflow of solution while preventing backflow or the entry of air into the container. The container may be provided with multiple compartments for separate solutions, or multiple containers may be provided. There is further provided a method for storing and dispensing contact lens solution with the dispenser.

Within the prior art there exists a disposable package or container for storing and discharging a small unit of chemical solutions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,939 by Brown describes such a device used for storing and dispensing small quantities of liquids. Another example of a container for storing and discharging a solution is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,993 wherein a disposable container for dispensing sterile liquid medication is disclosed. However, to maintain the sterility of the solutions, the container of the above prior arts are made sterile. The containers are sterilized with ethylene oxide which increases the cost of packaging of an ophthalmic solution significantly.
Repeated use of the ophthalmic solution from the container of the prior art increases the probability that microbial contaminants will be introduced into the solution. Thus, serious infections can be transferred from person to person in this way. To prevent this, antimicrobial preservatives are included into the solutions with the exception of those packaged for one time use. However, an increasing number of ophthalmologists prefer to use a non-preserved solution because patients have shown an allergic reaction to the commonly used preservatives.
Nowhere within the prior art is there found a collapsible and disposable airless package for storing and dispensing solutions in the use with contact lenses.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a multidose flexible container, for storing and dispensing contact lens solution, which does not require air venting to function; the container collapses while the solution is being drained.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a multidose disposable container that is capable to reduce waste volume, as opposed to conventional rigid containers, for storing and dispensing solutions in the use with contact lenses.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a flexible container, for storing and dispensing solutions in the use with contact lenses, which may not require the use of preservatives.
Further and other objects of the invention will become apparent to the man skilled in the art when considering the following summary of the invention and the more detail description of the preferred embodiments illustrated herein.


A system and control method mitigates hysteresis of an adjustable component in the system. A control module can allow small control changes to be effected to the component within limits of the component's and/or the system's normal hysteresis band. The control method can allow finer, more accurate and more aggressive control to be obtained from the component. The system and method can utilize two separate control regimes to control adjustments to the component. The first control regime can control changes larger than a hysteresis band and/or changes in a same direction as the last adjustment that was performed with the first control regime. The first control regime can be a feedback-based adjustment to the component. The second control regime can be utilized to control changes within the hysteresis band. The second control regime can use open-loop based adjustments to the component.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present teachings and may not constitute prior art.
Moveable components, such as control valves, have performance limitations due to hysteresis. In the case of a valve, the hysteresis is a limitation of the valve to return to a specific control output given an identical control input. For example, the ability of the valve to return to a specific control output, given an identical control input, can vary depending upon whether the control point is approached from below or approached from above. In other words, if a control input to the valve is a command to go 50% open, the valve may go to 48% open when approaching the control point, from say 40% open originally, and may go to 52% open when approaching the control point, from say 60% open originally, giving a hysteresis of ±2%.
The hysteresis, in the case of a valve, can be caused by several factors. The factors can include, by way of non-limiting example, mechanical slop in the valve linkages, mechanical slop in the feedback linkages, mechanical or electrical slop in the feedback sensor, mechanical backlash, and imposed software hysteresis bands or "dead band" for a given closeness of the desired control point compared to the feedback signal from the valve, etc., or some combination thereof, depending on the particulars of the valve and control methodology. The "dead band" can be considered to be a region wherein the valve is close enough to the actual/desired value that the control system will not call for any further changes to the valve position.
In some applications, depending on the loading conditions and other factors, the hysteresis can prevent proper control of the system, in particular when small changes in control are required to adjust about a setpoint to account for setpoint variations or to mitigate the effects of disturbances. The hysteresis can lead to either no output change for small control input change, or to excessive change for a small control input change. Both situations can lead to the output not matching the desired control point.
To reduce the hysteresis for a component, expensive precise control linkages and mechanisms can be utilized to reduce the mechanical slop. Additionally, better performing or more precise sensors can also be utilized to reduce the electrical slop in the feedback loop. The result, however, can be a control arrangement that is expensive and increases the overall costs of the system within which the component and the associated control system are utilized.

Hysteresis mitigation and control method


The technology disclosed provides a so-called “pointer sentinel mixture architecture” for neural network sequence models that has the ability to either reproduce a token from a recent context or produce a token from a predefined vocabulary. In one implementation, a pointer sentinel-LSTM architecture achieves state of the art language modeling performance of 70.9 perplexity on the Penn Treebank dataset, while using far fewer parameters than a standard softmax LSTM.

The subject matter discussed in this section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in this section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in this section or associated with the subject matter provided as background should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in this section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves can also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
Recent neural network sequence models with softmax classifiers have achieved their best language modeling performance only with very large hidden states and large vocabularies. Even then they struggle to predict rare or unseen words even if the context makes the prediction unambiguous. The technology disclosed provides a so-called "pointer sentinel mixture architecture" for neural network sequence models that has the ability to either reproduce a token from a recent context or produce a token from a predefined vocabulary. In one implementation, a pointer sentinel-LSTM architecture achieves state of the art language modeling performance of 70.9 perplexity on the Penn Treebank dataset, while using far fewer parameters than a standard softmax LSTM.


A toroidal-type continuously variable transmission includes an input shaft, an input disk and an output disk, plural power rollers, a power roller bearing, an oil passage, and a mesh filter. The input and output disks are supported mutually concentrically with the input shaft and mutually independently rotatably. The plural power rollers are sandwiched between the input disk and the output disks. The power roller bearing rotatably supports the power rollers. The oil passage for leading lubricating oil to the power roller bearing. The mesh filter is provided in the oil passage. Accordingly, the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission can prevent an occurrence of biting-in of foreign substances at a power roller bearing, to thereby increase the life of the power roller bearing.

The present invention relates to a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission to be used as, for example, an automotive transmission.
A related toroidal-type continuously variable transmission to be used as, for example, an automotive transmission is configured as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12. That is, an input disk 2 and an output disk 3 are rotatably supported on an input shaft 1, which is connected to a drive source (not shown) such as an engine, through a needle roller bearing. A cam plate 4 is spline-engaged with the input shaft 1 on the back-surface side of the input disk 2. A roller 5 is interposed between the cam plate 4 and the input disk 2. A loading cam or hydraulic loading pressing mechanism 6 for pressing the input disk 2 against an output disk 3 is provided therebetween.
Trunnions 8a and 8b each swinging about a pivot shaft 7 are provided between the input disk 2 and the output disk 3. A displacement shaft 9 is provided in each of the trunnions 8a and 8b through a radial needle roller bearing 8. A power roller 10 is rotatably supported on each of the displacement shafts 9 through an associated needle roller bearing 9a. Each of these power rollers 10 has a traction portion contacting the input disk 2 and the output disk 3 and is rolling-contacted therebetween in such a way as to tiltably rotate.
A power roller bearing 11 is provided between the power roller 10 and each of the trunnions 8a and 8b. This power roller bearing 11 allows the power roller 10 to rotate, while supporting a thrust load applied to the power roller 10. A plurality of balls 12 of such a power roller bearing 11 are held by an annular retainer 14 provided between an annular outer ring 13, which is provided at the side of each of the trunnions 8a and 8b, and the power roller 10 serving as a rotary portion. A radial bearing 16 is provided on a yoke 15 for tiltingly rotatably supporting each of the trunnions 8a and 8b, which supports the pivot shaft 7.
A valve body is placed under the input disk and the output disk. A mechanism for controlling a height position of the power roller is built into this valve body. This mechanism comprises an actuator, a hydraulic control valve for driving this actuator, and so on.
In the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission, power is transmitted between the power roller and each of the input disk and the output disk by interposing an oil film therebetween and using a shearing force of this oil film so as to secure traction. There are known techniques of thus providing a lubricating system in a toroidal-type continuously variable transmission, in which lubricating oil collected and stored in an oil pan is sucked up by an engine-driven oil pump having a line filter provided at the suction side thereof, and in which the lubricating oil is then supplied to the traction surfaces of an input disk and an output disk, and also a traction surface of a power roller through oil passages provided in drive rods of trunnions, (see, for example, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,318 and JP-A-2002-286110).
As described above, foreign substances, whose sizes are equal to or more than a predetermined size, can be eliminated by providing the line filter at the suction side of the oil pump. However, in a case where foreign substances unremoved by the line filter or burrs remain in the oil passage from the line filter to an oil passage outlet, or where dust enters there during fabrication of the transmission, foreign substances blow off to the power roller together with the lubricating oil.
The power roller bearing of the toroidal-type continuously variable transmission is used especially under a high bearing pressure at a high revolution rate. Thus, the related toroidal-type continuously variable transmission has a drawback in that such biting-in of foreign substances decreases the life of the power roller bearing.

Toroidal-type continuously variable transmission


A single molecule sensing device includes a first electrode, a second electrode and a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) connected to the first and second electrodes. At least one linker molecule having first and second functional groups is functionalized with a sidewall of the SWNT, the at least one linker molecule having the first functional group non-covalently functionalized with a sidewall of the single-walled carbon nanotube. A single sensitizing molecule having at least one functional group is functionalized with the second functional group of the at least one linker molecule.

A biosensor is an analytical device that incorporates a biological recognition element in direct spatial contact with a transduction element. That integration ensures the rapid and convenient conversion of biological events to detectable signals. Among diverse electrical biosensing architectures, devices based on field-effect transistors (FETs) have attracted great attention because they are a type of biosensor that can directly translate interactions between target molecules (e.g., biological molecules) and the transistor surface into readable electrical signals. In a standard field effect transistor, current flows along a conducting path (the channel) that is connected to two electrodes, (the source and the drain). The channel conductance between the source and the drain is switched on and off by a third (gate) electrode that is capacitively coupled through a thin dielectric layer. Field-effect transistors detect target chemicals and measure chemical concentrations for a wide range of commercial applications including, for example, industrial process control, leak detection, effluent monitoring, and medical diagnostics.
A problem with field-effect transistors is their limit of sensitivity. Field-effect transistors are not able to accomplish single molecule detection, i.e., these transistors are not able to detect at the level of one single molecule. Additionally, these transistors are not able to monitor the dynamics of a single molecule reaction. The sensitivity limitation of field-effect transistors prevents their use as detectors in important biochemical assays, such as detectors in a single molecule sequencing reaction.
Improving upon sensitivity has been explored in the past using devices based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). See A. Star et al., Nano. Lett. 3, 459 (2003); A. Star et al., Org. Lett. 6, 2089 (2004); K. Besterman et al., Nano. Lett. 3, 727 (2003); G. Gruner, Anal. Biooanal. Chem. 384, 322 (2005); R. Chen et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 4984 (2003). The motivation for using SWNTs in sensor FETs is that SWNTs are extremely small conductors, typically only 1 nanometer in diameter.
Past research has coated SWNT sensor FETs with chemoselective polymers, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, and biomolecules like proteins and antibodies. These sensitizing molecules or sensitizing agents direct the innate sensitivity of the SWNT towards a particular chemical target. Past work has exclusively used coatings of sensitizing agents in which numerous molecules were attached to the SWNT. See K. Besterman et al., Nano. Lett. 3, 727 (2003); R. Chen et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 4984 (2003). Prior work, however, has lacked any method to controllably attach single sensitizing molecules to the SWNT, and the use of multiple sensitizing molecules typically resulted in a mixture of true signal and ensemble properties. This has complicated the analysis of any data acquired from the sensor FET, and precluded the application of probing a single molecule's dynamics.
The state of the art in improving this embodiment to single molecule sensitivity has used a special technique for creating one single covalent defect on the SWNT. See Goldsmith et al. Science 315, 77 (2007). Once the SWNT contains a single defect, a variety of attachment chemistries can be chosen which link to the reactive defect site selectively, without coating the rest of the SWNT with additional sensitizing molecules. This method of fabrication previously relied on electrochemical oxidation of the SWNT, creating a defect site on the wall of the SWNT constituting a functional group, followed by covalent functionalization of the sensitizing molecule to the defect site functional group. See Goldsmith et al, Nano Letters 8, 189 (2008); Coroneus et al. ChemPhysChem 9, 1053 (2008); Sorgenfrei et al., Nat. Nano. 6, 126 (2011). This method provides a single molecule device that is sensitive to dynamic fluctuations. The SWNT defect also invariably results in a drop in the conductivity of the SWNT and an increase in device noise, both as a result of the necessary disruption of the SWNT's sp2 conjugation and aromaticity. Reports of this technique indicate that when electrochemical oxidation is terminated to result in a 90% reduction in conductivity, 88% of the devices remain conductive, but of those only 19% of devices yield functional devices with single sensitizing molecules attached. When electrochemical oxidation is terminated at greater than a 99% reduction in conductivity, only 18% of the devices remain conductive, and of those only 28% yield functional single sensitizing molecule devices. Coroneus et al. established process controls that achieved higher yields approaching 40%. Nevertheless, devices fabricated using this method usually display great chemical variability near the defect site, including broken carbon-carbon bonds which may be tautomerized or protonated, creating high variability among the electronic characteristics of different devices. Furthermore, devices of this type can only be fabricated serially, one device at a time. No methods exist for producing multiple, single-molecule devices in parallel.
SWNTs can also be tailored with sensitizing molecules by non-covalent means. In a non-covalent scheme, sensitizing molecules are weakly bound to SWNTs, thus preserving the sp2 SWNT structure and resulting in more consistent electronic characteristics. See Chen et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 3838 (2001). However, such methods do not reveal a method to reliably bind a single sensitizing molecule non-covalently to a SWNT, nor does the prior art demonstrate any device that utilizes a single, non-covalently bound sensitizing molecule.
Consequently, there remains a need for electronic devices that can achieve single molecule dynamic sensing, especially if those devices can be fabricated in greater yields, with chemical functionality, and with more consistent electronic characteristics. Potential applications of a robust system which is capable of the long-term probing and detecting of the dynamics of single molecules could include environmental detection, medical diagnostic tools, biomolecule sequencing such as DNA or RNA sequencing, and other fields of interest, such as security or defense.

Electronic device for monitoring single molecule dynamics

The Regents of the University of California


A method for forming a thin film solar cell that includes one or more moisture barrier layer made of a water-insoluble material for protection against water and oxygen damage to the top electrode layer material is disclosed.

Thin film photovoltaic (PV) solar cells are one class of energy source devices which harness a renewable source of energy in the form of light that is converted into useful electrical energy which may be used for numerous applications. Thin film solar cells are multi-layered semiconductor structures formed by depositing various thin layers and films of semiconductor and other materials on a substrate. These solar cells may be made into light-weight flexible sheets in some forms comprised of a plurality of individual electrically interconnected cells. The attributes of light weight and flexibility gives thin film solar cells broad potential applicability as an electric power source for use in portable electronics, aerospace, and residential and commercial buildings where they can be incorporated into various architectural features such as roof shingles, facades, and skylights.
Thin film solar cell semiconductor packages generally include a bottom contact or electrode formed on the substrate and a top contact or electrode formed above the bottom electrode. Top electrodes have been made for example of light transmittance conductive oxide ("TCO") materials. TCO materials are susceptible to attack and degradation by environment factors including water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. Such TCO degradation may induce high series resistance (Rs) and result in lower solar energy conversions efficiencies for the solar cell.
An improved thin film solar cell is therefore desired that addresses the foregoing problems.
All drawings are schematic and are not drawn to scale.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A dye-receiving element for thermal dye transfer comprising a support having thereon, in order, a subbing layer and a dye image-receiving layer containing a thermally-transferred dye image, wherein the subbing layer contains an iono-conductive material.

In recent years, thermal transfer systems have been developed to obtain prints from pictures which have been generated electronically from a color video camera. According to one way of obtaining such prints, an electronic picture is first subjected to color separation by color filters. The respective color-separated images are then converted into electrical signals. These signals are then operated on to produce cyan, magenta and yellow electrical signals. These signals are then transmitted to a thermal printer. To obtain the print, a cyan, magenta or yellow dye-donor element is placed face-to-face with a dye-receiving element. The two are then inserted between a thermal printing head and a platen roller. A line-type thermal printing head is used to apply heat from the back of the dye-donor sheet. The thermal printing head has many heating elements and is heated up sequentially in response to the cyan, magenta and yellow signals. The process is then repeated for the other two colors. A color hard copy is thus obtained which corresponds to the original picture viewed on a screen. Further details of this process and an apparatus for carrying it out are contained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,271, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Dye-receiving elements used in thermal dye transfer generally comprise a polymeric dye image-receiving layer coated on a base or support. Transport through the thermal printer and image quality are very dependent on the charging characteristics of the receiver element. During the printing process, static charges can build up in the imaged area as the donor is separated from the receiver after printing each dye patch. If the printer is equipped with a smooth, curved steel chute for sheet guidance, transport problems can be encountered if the charged receiver sheet (image side against the steel chute) conforms too well to the chute during rewind. The attraction of the charged sheet to the steel chute can cause transport of the sheet to cease and failure will occur. This problem is exaggerated when printing is done at elevated humidities such as 85% RH. In addition to transport failures, the charged area on the sheet can attract dust and dirt during the printing process which can cause image quality problems.

Subbing layer for dye-receiving element for thermal dye transfer


A method of fabricating a hermetic terminal having an annular ring, a lead arranged to penetrate through the ring in which one end side thereof is an inner lead portion electrically connected to a piezoelectric vibrating piece and the other end side thereof is an outer lead portion electrically connected to outside as the ring is between them, and a filler fixing the lead to the ring, wherein the hermetic terminal seals the piezoelectric vibrating piece inside a case, the method includes the steps of: applying plating to a hermetic terminal intermediate having the lead fixed in the ring with the filler to plate the ring and the lead; setting the hermetic terminal intermediate after subjected to plating on a holding member; and flattening an end part of an inner lead portion in the lead to form a stair portion in the hermetic terminal intermediate set on the holding member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a hermetic terminal and a hermetic terminal, a method of fabricating a piezoelectric oscillator and a piezoelectric oscillator, an oscillator, an electronic appliance, and a radio clock.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, mobile telephones and portable information terminal devices employ a piezoelectric oscillator using quartz crystal as a time source, a timing source of control signals, and a reference signal source. As this type of piezoelectric oscillator, various ones are offered. As one of them, a cylinder package piezoelectric oscillator formed in a cylindrical shape is known.
As shown in FIG. 30, a piezoelectric oscillator 70 is configured to have a tuning fork piezoelectric vibrating piece 71, a case 72 in a cylindrical shape with a bottom in which the piezoelectric vibrating piece 71 is accommodated, and a hermetic terminal 73 that hermetically seals the piezoelectric vibrating piece 71 inside the case 72.
The hermetic terminal 73 is configured of an annular ring 74 formed of a metal material, two leads 75 arranged as they penetrate through the ring 74 and are individually joined to two mount electrodes 71a of the piezoelectric vibrating piece 71, and a filler 76 that fixes the leads 75 to the ring 74 in one piece in an insulating state and hermetically seals the inside of the case 72.
The two leads 75 each have an inner lead portion 75a that is the portion extended inside the case 72 and have an outer lead portion 75b that is the portion extended outside the case 72. Then, the outer lead portion 75b functions as an external connecting terminal.
In addition, the case 72 is pressed, fitted, and fixed to the outer side of the ring 74. Since the case 72 is press fitted under a vacuum atmosphere, the space surrounding the piezoelectric vibrating piece 71 inside the case 72 is hermetically sealed in the vacuum state.
In the piezoelectric oscillator 70 thus configured, a predetermined voltage is applied as drive voltage to each of the outer lead portions 75b of the two leads 75, and then current is carried from the inner lead portion 75a to the piezoelectric vibrating piece 71 through the mount electrode 71a. Thus, the piezoelectric vibrating piece 71 oscillates at a predetermined frequency.
This type of piezoelectric oscillator is mounted on various electronic appliances. However, since these electronic appliances are being reduced in size year after year, also in the piezoelectric oscillator, further size reduction is demanded. In order to reduce the size of the piezoelectric oscillator, it is effective to reduce the outer diameter of the ring. To this end, it is necessary to reduce the diameters of two leads. However, in the case in which the leads are made narrower than the current form, the stiffness is decreased, and then it is likely to deform the leads in the process of fabrication. Particularly, the outer lead portions that are longer than the inner lead portions tend to become deformed. When the outer lead portions become deformed, they cannot maintain themselves in the state of being parallel with each other. Thus, the quality is degraded, and the oscillator cannot be used as a product. Consequently, it is likely to cause a reduction in yields.
In addition, in the process of fabrication, the outer lead portions are entangled with the outer lead portions of another hermetic terminal, which might temporarily stop the production line. Also in this point, it is likely to cause a reduction in yields. Particularly, the more size reduction is aimed, the more the problems might occur noticeably. On this account, in the fabricating method under present conditions, it is difficult to fabricate a piezoelectric oscillator of high yields and high quality which can be further reduced in size. Particularly, it is difficult to fabricate a hermetic terminal configuring a piezoelectric oscillator.
Then, a piezoelectric oscillator is provided which has a hermetic terminal with a single lead, not two leads (see JP-A-2002-43886). This hermetic terminal has a projecting piece formed in one piece with a ring, and the projecting piece serves as the role of the inner lead portion before. In other words, the lead and the projecting piece are electrically connected to a piezoelectric vibrating piece. As described above, since the projecting piece formed in one piece with the ring is allowed to function as the inner lead portion, two leads, which are required before, can be reduced to a single lead.
On this account, even though the outer diameter of the ring is reduced, it is unnecessary to reduce the diameter of the lead as compared with the case of using two leads, a reduction in stiffness can be prevented, and the deformation of the lead can be prevented. In addition to this, since a single lead is provided, leads are unlikely to become entangled with each other in the process of fabrication, and thus the hermetic terminal can be reduced in size, and the piezoelectric oscillator can be reduced in size.
In addition, in the hermetic terminal which supports the piezoelectric vibrating piece inside the case including the hermetic terminal 73 of the piezoelectric oscillator 70 shown in FIG. 30 and the hermetic terminal described in the Patent Reference 1, some of them are configured in which a piezoelectric vibrating piece is arranged closer to the center inside the case, in order to reliably prevent such a problem that the piezoelectric vibrating piece is contacted to the case, one of the end parts of the inner lead portion supporting the piezoelectric vibrating piece is flattened to form a stair portion, and the stair portion holds the piezoelectric vibrating piece.
In the manufacture of the piezoelectric oscillator including the hermetic terminal having this stair portion, generally, after the flattening process for forming the stair portion, plating is applied to the hermetic terminal to plate the lead, and then, the hermetic terminal is set in a holding member such as a unit frame. Then, the hermetic terminal is transferred to the subsequent process step in every holding member, and the set hermetic terminal is used to complete the piezoelectric oscillator.
Here, the reason why plating is performed after the flattening step is that in the case in which the inner lead portion is flattened after plated, a plating might be removed from the formed stair portion by being flattened. In addition, the reason why the holding member is set after plated is that it is difficult to plate the hermetic terminal in the state in which the hermetic terminal is set on the holding member.
However, the methods before still have the following problems.
In the fabricating method in which the flattening process is performed for forming the stair portion, the hermetic terminal is plated, and then the hermetic terminal is set on the holding member, it is extremely difficult to align and set the hermetic terminal in setting the hermetic terminals on the holding member. In other words, in setting the hermetic terminal on the holding member, the stair portion is already formed on the inner lead portion by flattening the inner lead portion. Thus, in setting the hermetic terminal on the holding member, it is necessary to align the direction (orientation) of the stair portion by a demand from the subsequent process step so that the hermetic terminal can be directed upward, for example. However, since the hermetic terminal is a tiny component and the size of the stair portion is also small, it is extremely difficult to set the hermetic terminal on the holding member as the direction (orientation) of the stair portion is aligned in one direction particularly in the case in which the premise is automation of high efficiency (at high speed), which is a cause that hinders automation. In addition, the difficulty in setting the hermetic terminals as they are aligned is noticeable in the case in which the lead is a single lead particularly as the hermetic terminal described in Patent Reference 1 because of low instability when a hermetic terminal intermediate is laid down.
In addition, in the hermetic terminal described in Patent Reference 1, it is necessary to form the projecting piece in one piece with the ring. In addition to this, it is necessary to form the projecting piece on a part of the ring formed annular. However, this process is not easily to perform, which takes a lot of efforts and time. Particularly, since it is necessary to bend the projecting piece while the ring is prevented from being deformed in bending the projecting piece, productivity is not excellent. Therefore, actually, it is necessary to produce a large amount of hermetic terminals a day, but the hermetic terminal is not suited for such mass production.

Method of fabricating hermetic terminal and hermetic terminal, method of fabricating piezoelectric oscillator and piezoelectric oscillator, oscillator, electronic appliance, and radio clock


An ultrasound imaging apparatus (16) is disclosed for providing two-dimensional ultrasound images of a patient. The ultrasound imaging apparatus comprises an input interface (18) for receiving three-dimensional ultrasound data of a volume of the patient from an ultrasound acquisition unit as a continuous data stream and a motion detection unit (22) for determining a motion of an object in the three-dimensional ultrasound data and a direction of the motion in the three-dimensional ultrasound data. An image processing unit (20) determines a spatial rotation angle (46) of an image plane (32, 34) within the volume on the basis of the determined direction of the motion and determines two-dimensional ultrasound image data on the basis of the three-dimensional ultrasound data in the image plane within the volume. The two-dimensional image data is provided via an output interface to a display unit (26).

In the field of ultrasound imaging systems, it is generally known to capture three-dimensional ultrasound image data from a volume of a patient and to derive two-dimensional ultrasound images from the three-dimensional ultrasound data in an image plane in order to display two-dimensional ultrasound images on a display screen. The two-dimensional ultrasound images derived from the three-dimensional ultrasound data can be determined in three different spatial image planes which are oriented orthogonal to each other.
It is further known to capture the three-dimensional ultrasound data from the patient in real time as a sequence of three-dimensional frames in order to provide a real time image of the patient including a motion of objects in the field of view in real time.
The image planes can be determined electronically in the ultrasound system and the two-dimensional images can be derived electronically from the three-dimensional ultrasound data having different spatial orientations corresponding to the position of the ultrasound probe in order to provide a certain image or view on certain organs of the patient. A corresponding system is e.g. known from EP 2 335 596 A1, wherein the image planes are determined as two-dimensional slices through the three-dimensional ultrasound data on the basis of the position of the ultrasound probe, which is detected by means of a position detecting unit.
The disadvantage of the known ultrasound image systems is that the image planes are determined on the basis of the probe position and the probe steering direction so that any image plane depends on the ultrasound probe position and the viewing direction and that the visualization of a dynamic behavior in the two-dimensional ultrasound images is complicated.


An image processing method in an image processing apparatus which has storing means for storing group information set every predetermined print service request, receives a print job according to a predetermined print service request from a data processing apparatus, and processes the received print job. This method has: a discriminating step of discriminating whether a print job according to a specific print service request which is received corresponds to the group information stored in the storing means or not; a setting step of, if it is determined by the discriminating step that the print job does not correspond, setting specific group information for enabling the print job to be executed into the non-corresponding print job; and a job control step of controlling permission/inhibition of the execution of the print job according to the predetermined print service request or the specific print service request on the basis of the group information or the specific group information.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image processing apparatus for receiving a print job according to a predetermined print service request from a data processing apparatus and processing the received print job.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, networks have been widespread and it is a general way that image forming apparatuses including a copying apparatus, a printer, a hybrid image processing apparatus in which a scanner and a printer are integrated and image processes are executed, and the like are connected to the network and a plurality of users use them in common.
There is a case where, in enterprises or the like, it is necessary to manage a use situation of the image forming apparatus every division which uses it or permit printing to only the specific user. To cope with such a request, an image forming apparatus having a division managing function has been devised.
For example, according to the proposal shown in JP-A-09-258932, in a network printing apparatus, a managing function such that the user who issued a print job is specified and only the print job issued by the user who has been permitted to print is printed can be provided.
According to the proposal shown in JP-A-10-207661, a means for setting a user name or a group name is provided in a printer driver whose printing is instructed by the user, and therefore a function for permitting/inhibiting the printing and limiting the number of print copies in accordance with the set user name or group name can be provided.
However, there is a problem such that in the case of using the managing function in the conventional image forming apparatus, since the printing can be limited only by the user name or group name, if it is difficult to print by setting the user name or group name, the printing cannot be performed.

Image processing apparatus, method, and control program


A method of making a reconfigurable article is disclosed. The method includes providing a powder comprising a plurality of base material particles. The method also includes providing a powder comprising a plurality of removable material particles; and forming a base article from the base material comprising a plurality of removable material particles. A method of using a reconfigurable article is also disclosed. The method includes forming a base article, the base article comprising a base material and a removable material, wherein the base article comprises a downhole tool or component. The method also includes inserting the base article into a wellbore. The method further includes performing a first operation utilizing the base article; exposing the removable material of the base article to a wellbore condition that is configured to remove the removable material and form a modified article; and performing a second operation using the article.

In the well drilling, completion and production arts, it is frequently desirable to employ articles, such as downhole tools and components, which can be reconfigured in the downhole environment to perform more than one function. For example, it may be desirable for a downhole article to have one configuration during one operation, such as drilling, and another configuration during other operations, such as completion or production.

Method of making and using a reconfigurable downhole article


A transmission device includes an exciting light source outputting an exciting light, a first optical part which supplies an optical amplifying part with a signal light and the exciting light, a second optical part which supplies an amplified light to an optical transmission line and receives a light received via the optical transmission line, and a control part which determines whether the light received includes the exciting light output by the exciting light source and controls the exciting light source to stop outputting the exciting light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to transmission devices connected to an optical transmission line, and more particularly to a communication device which has the function of amplifying a signal light and communicates with a remote communication device in two ways.
Recently, communications utilizing an optical fiber as a transmission medium have been practically used, and a long-distance signal transfer has been realized. In order to advance such optical communications, it is desired to further improve the light amplifying technique and the two-way communication technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, a transmission device used in an optical communication system is equipped with a light amplifying device which amplifies a light to be transmitted to an optical fiber in order to enable a long-distance light transfer.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional light amplifier device 11, which is made up of an exciting light source 12, a wave combiner 13, an optical amplifier 14 of an optical fiber type, and an optical isolator 15. The combiner 13 combines a light to be transmitted and an exciting light from the source 12 together. The optical amplifier 14 optically amplifies the output signal of the combiner 13. The amplified signal light passes through the optical isolator 15, and is output to an optical fiber cable 16.
The optical amplifier 14 is formed of, for example, a rare-earth doped optical fiber, such as an erbium-doped optical fiber. The optical isolator 15 isolates a reflected light from the transmission line in order to prevent the reflected light from being applied to the optical amplifier 14. If the reflected light is applied to the optical amplifier 14, the optical amplifier 14 will oscillate in an unstable state.
The light amplifier device 11 shown in FIG. 1 cannot realize the two-way optical transmission because the optical isolator 15 is connected to the optical fiber cable 16.
A two-way transmission device which has the light amplifying function is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Publication No. 58-115948 or No. 6-53585. The two-way transmission devices disclosed in the above publications do not use an optical isolator as described above, and thus the light amplifiers equipped therewith may oscillate in the unstable state.
It is possible to modify the structure shown in FIG. 1 in order to enable the two-way optical transmission by positioning the combiner 13 between the optical isolator 15 and the optical fiber cable 16. In this case, a received signal light from the cable 16 bypasses the optical isolator 15 and is applied to a receive part (not shown). However, the above modification has a problem caused when the cable 16 is broken. The amplified light transmitted to the cable 16 from the optical amplifier 14 is reflected by an end surface of the broken part of the cable 16. The reflected light is applied to the receive part, which cannot discriminate whether the received light is a signal light from a remote transmission device or the above reflected light. In other words, the above modification does not have any function of determining whether the received light is a reflected light caused by a break of the cable 16. Further, the reflected light emitted from the end surface of the broken part of the cable 16 has a high energy level, which may damage a maintenance person.

Transmission device connected to optical transmission line


The patent application taught an object based information storage, search and mining system and method, which can store, retrieve, and mine massively amount of object data efficiently. A first embodiment includes an object based search engine which can organize and identify the objects efficiently from the search space based on certain operational measure quantifying the search objectives. A second embodiment includes an operational measure estimator which can adaptively adjust or reconfigure itself to improve the accuracy of the estimation. A third embodiment includes a method for mapping objects onto a topological maps to enable identifying objects rapidly from the search space according to certain measures for search objectives. A forth embodiment includes a method for conducting object based search through mapping query objects and search objects onto topological maps and searching effectively through the maps based on certain operational measures.

Field of the Invention
Generally, the present invention relates to multimedia data searching. More specifically, the present invention relates to data mining, internet search engines, multimedia storage, multimedia data bases, data warehousing, multimedia data compression, multimedia communications, data security and intelligence agents.
Description of Related Art
There are massive amount of multimedia objects on the Internet. Current Internet search engines are "text" or "hypertext" based. It is difficult to search for non-text media objects, like video, image, and audio, which are more targeted for human consumption. Most of the current methods for organizing multimedia data are based on "metadata", which is also text based information. There is no current effective method to arrange or sort media objects available in the disorder of the World Wide Web, or to construct an ordered media storage and media storage network structure based on the multimedia data content itself. Most, if not all, of the current search engines available today utilize fixed search criteria and cannot tailor or adjust to the requester's individual tastes or measures. The techniques and systems used in prior art systems are therefore optimized for, if not dedicated to, text-based searching, which limits their effectiveness for searching objects which are not text-based. However, the reduction of media objects to a set of metadata, as used by conventional systems, necessarily eliminates large amounts of the most useful data and therefore can often yield an unsatisfactory search result.
There has therefore been a need for systems, processors, techniques and methods for characterizing, searching for and sorting media objects available on the internet without the need to attach metadata to those media objects.

Object-based information storage, search and mining system


A signal switching circuit allows a PCIe card access to additional data channels when installation of the PCIe cards on first and second PCIe connectors are detected. First and second PCIe connectors output a first detection signal when each of the first and second PCIe connectors receives a PCIe card. The first and second PCIe connectors output a second detection signal when each of the first and second PCIe connectors does not receive a PCIe card. A first multiplexer receives the first or second detection signal and connects an input terminal to first or second output terminal of the first multiplexer, to transmit PCIe signals to the first or second PCIe connector. A second multiplexer receives the first or second detection signal and connects an input terminal to first or second output terminal of the second multiplexer, to transmit PCIe signals to the first or second PCIe connectors.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a peripheral component interconnect express connector assembly having a signal switching circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a chipset arranged on a motherboard can provide sixteen pairs of data channels to two peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) X16 connectors, which are arranged on the motherboard. Thus each PCIe X16 connector can transmit data through eight pairs of channels only. For example, when the chipset provides sixteen pairs of data channels, eight pairs of data channels are provided to a first PCIe X16 connector, and the other eight pairs of data channels are provided to a second PCIe X16 connector. When the first PCIe X16 connector receives a PCIe X16 card, and the second PCIe X16 connector is free, the added PCIe X16 card is able to communicate with the motherboard only through the original eight pairs of data channels. At the same time, the eight pairs of data channels of the second PCIe X16 connector are not used. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

Signal switching circuit and peripheral component interconnect express connector assembly having the signal switching circuit

Zhongshan Innocloud Intellectual Property Services Co., Ltd.


A bearing protection arrangement of a journal bearing arranged between a housing and a rotary component of a wind turbine. The bearing protection arrangement includes a wind speed monitor arranged to monitor wind speed in the vicinity of the wind turbine and to generate a wake-up signal when the wind speed exceeds a pre-defined minimum; a mode switch module of a backup battery arranged to provide restart power to an auxiliary of the wind turbine, which mode switch module is adapted to switch the backup battery from a normal-power mode into a low-power mode to conserve sufficient restart power after low wind-speed conditions, and to switch the backup battery from the low-power mode into a normal-power mode in response to the wake-up signal. A wind turbine and a method of protecting a journal bearing of a wind turbine during standstill.

In some types of wind turbine, the aerodynamic rotor of the wind turbine may be connected to a journal or shaft of a drivetrain that extends through a housing, which in turn is mounted to a bedframe of the wind turbine. The aerodynamic rotor of the wind turbine turns relatively slowly. Due to their advantage in durability and handling of high loads, and because they are equally applicable for use in slow rotation and fast rotation applications, journal bearings (also referred to as plane bearings or fluid bearings) may be used at any part of the drive train. In a gearbox turbine, a gearbox increases the rotational speed of the low-speed rotor shaft to a higher speed for an electrical generator, and a journal bearing may be used at a first or second stage where the loading is high.
In contrast to ball bearings or roller bearings, journal bearings do not make use of rolling elements within the bearing. Instead, the journal or shaft is only separated from the bearing housing by a thin film of lubricant such as oil. With this type of bearing, a minimum rate of rotation is necessary in order to maintain a sufficient lubricant film between the shaft and the housing when the shaft is subject to radial loading. In other words, to maintain a satisfactory state within the bearing, the rotation rate of the shaft should ideally not drop below a certain lower threshold for any prolonged length of time.
For a journal bearing, a problem arises when the rate of shaft rotation drops below that minimum threshold. When that happens, the radial loading on the shaft will result in a high friction contact between the shaft and the bearing liner. This can result in permanent damage to the bearing, and a replacement is a very expensive undertaking.
However, with the known wind turbine designs, it is not always possible to ensure that the shaft always rotates at a speed that is above the safe threshold. This is because the rate of drive train rotation is dependent on wind speed. If the wind speed is too low, the drive train rotational speed will not be sufficient to prevent bearing damage from radial loading.
For these reasons, a wind turbine may be designed to respond to such a low wind speed situation by deploying a brake system that holds the aerodynamic rotor and the shaft at standstill. A "standstill" state during which the brakes are engaged can persist for an indefinite length of time. The brake system ensures that the bearing will not undergo any damage when there is no wind or only insufficient wind speed to turn the rotor shaft at the minimum required rate.
Alternatively, instead of providing a brake system to hold the rotary component during low wind conditions, a pump can be provided to supply lubricant under pressure in order to "float" the rotary component on a layer of pressurized lubricant within the bearing. Such an arrangement does not need any brakes and can cope with very low rotation speeds. However, if there is a grid failure, the pump must be powered by the wind turbine. When wind drops too low for the wind turbine to generate sufficient power, the pump ceases operation. During this standstill time, static friction in the bearing acts as a brake and is sufficient to prevent the aerodynamic rotor from turning. However, when the wind speed picks up again, the pump must restart to "float" the shaft again before the aerodynamic rotor resumes turning. In the absence of the grid, for example during a grid failure, the pump must be powered by the wind turbine's backup battery. In a wind turbine that uses several journal bearings, one or both types of brake may be deployed as appropriate.
The controller of such a wind turbine will generally be equipped with some means of receiving wind speed data, for example from an external wind-speed sensor such as an anemometer mounted on the nacelle, or from a wind park controller. When the wind speed increases again to a level above the critical minimum, this is reported to the wind turbine controller, which releases the brake system, and the drive train will once again be able to rotate at a rate that ensures adequate lubrication.
A wind turbine generally comprises various auxiliaries which must be continually provided with power. Auxiliaries can be fans, controllers, etc., and the brake system and lubricant pump mentioned above are also auxiliaries. As long as the aerodynamic rotor is turning, power is generated for the grid, and may also be used to power the wind turbine controller and the auxiliaries. When the aerodynamic rotor is stationary (e.g. during calm conditions, stormy conditions, etc.), the auxiliaries of the wind turbine can be provided with power from the grid. However, a reliable power supply from the grid is not always guaranteed. For this reason, power generated by the wind turbine or received from the grid is also used to charge an internal battery backup or auxiliary power supply.
When wind speeds are too low, i.e. too low for the wind turbine to generate power, the brake system will be engaged to hold the rotor shaft in position in order to avoid damage to the journal bearings. The brakes will only be released when the wind speed has increased again to a level that will cause the aerodynamic rotor to rotate at the required minimum rate. However, if a grid failure has occurred and the battery backup is depleted during this time, the wind turbine controller will be unable to receive any data, and will be unable to process wind speed readings from an external wind speed sensor. In such a situation, there is no way for the controller to determine when the wind speed is sufficiently high to allow the brake system to be released.
This can result in a serious problem, since the wind speed may become so high that the aerodynamic rotor is forcibly turned, even though the brakes are still engaged. This can lead to serious brake and rotor shaft damage. Such a situation may even be a fire hazard due to heat generated by friction from the brake slippage and bearing slippage in the absence of lubrication.
To avoid such serious damage, the known wind turbine designs generally include a battery backup with sufficient capacity to reliably provide auxiliary power during a worst-case scenario in which the wind turbine is disconnected from the grid during prolonged calm or windless conditions lasting for several hours or even days. The wind turbine can generate power for its auxiliary systems in the event of a grid failure, as long as there is sufficient wind to turn the aerodynamic rotor. However, during a calm period in which there is not enough wind to turn the aerodynamic rotor, and during which there is no grid supply, the battery must provide power to various auxiliaries. The battery must be able to provide sufficient power to put the wind turbine back into operation, for example to release the brakes, to operate the yaw drive to turn the aerodynamic rotor into the wind, etc. However, the cost of a battery increases with size, so that a large battery backup with the capacity necessary to outlast such a long standstill state is a very expensive component, adding to the overall cost of the wind turbine.
Furthermore, battery systems can lose capacity over time, for example if the battery is not properly maintained to correctly complete charging/discharging cycles. Correct maintenance of a battery may necessitate cooling of the battery to avoid extreme temperatures, and avoiding prolonged durations at low charge levels. If the battery system loses capacity, it may be unable to provide power during prolonged standstill conditions until such time when the brakes may be released again.


The present invention relates to yeast cells for use in the prevention or treatment of gastric or intestinal ulcers.

Gastric or intestinal ulcers are manifested essentially by a loss of substance from a mucosal epithelial covering without any tendency for spontaneous healing and by lesion of the gastric or intestinal, notably duodenal, wall. It is generally considered that gastric or intestinal, notably duodenal, ulcers result from a mismatch between aggressive factors, such as acid and peptic gastric secretions, and defensive factors, such as prostaglandin synthesis, mucus and the surface epithelium.
Apart from Helicobacter pylori, gastrointestinal ulcers are mainly drug-induced. Thus, aspirin and the non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, notably inhibit the cyclooxygenases, leading to a decrease in prostaglandin synthesis and secretion of protective gastrointestinal mucus. In consequence, the gastrointestinal mucosa is exposed to acid attack by the gastric secretions.
NSAIDs with increased selectivity with respect to type 2 cyclooxygenase (COX-2), which is mainly inflammatory, relative to COX-1, forming the COXIB class of medicinal products, have been developed. However, the clinical studies conducted to date indicate that the COXIBs also present an increased risk of development of gastrointestinal ulcers (Yeomans (2002) Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 17:488-494), which might reflect the role of COX-2 in the repair of mucosal lesions (Halter et al. (2001) Gut 49:443-453).
Thus, the problem of gastrointestinal ulcers linked to NSAIDs is particularly acute for persons treated long-term with these compounds, for example for controlling joint pain and inflammation.
At present, the main treatments used for gastrointestinal ulcers linked to NSAIDs employ two types of compounds (Yeomans (2002) Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 17:488-494; Florent et al. (1990) Acta Endoscopica 20: 427-439):
(i) inhibitors of gastric secretions: proton pump inhibitors, such as omeprazole, or antagonists of the H2 histamine receptors, such as cimetidine and ranitidine;
(ii) stimulators of mucus secretion, such as the prostaglandins, and notably misoprostol (Graham et al. (1988) Lancet 2:1277-1280).
However, none of these treatments is completely satisfactory.
Saccharomyces boulardii (Ultra-Levure®) is a particular strain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This probiotic is mainly indicated as a supplement to rehydration for the treatment of diarrhoea. Its usefulness has notably been established in children (Villarruel et al. (2007) Acta Paediatr 96:538-541; Szajewska et al. (2007) Aliment Pharmacol Ther 25:257-264) and for diarrhoea associated with taking antibiotics (Surawicz et al. (1989) Gastroenterology 96:981-988; Kotowska et al. (2005) Aliment Pharmacol Ther 21:583-590) or with infections with Clostridium difficile (Surawicz et al. (2000) Clin Infect Dis 31:1012-1017).

Medicinal product for treating gastrointestinal ulcers