Olefins or mixtures of olefins, particularly propene or mixtures of propene advantageously with ethene, can be polymerized using a Ziegler-Natta catalyst system containing, besides a transition-metal-based procatalyst and cocatalyst which is an organometallic compound, a compound particularly suited for controlling the stereospecificity of the produced polymer. Such a compound called an external donor may also have other effects. By using an acetal derivative of an aldehyde that has two ether groups for this purpose, advantageously selected from the group of dialkoxyphenylalkanes, e.g., dimethoxyphenylpropane, a good stereospecificity of the product is attained combined with the high hydrogen sensitivity of the catalyst system, whereby the use of hydrogen as the chain transfer agent offers an easy control method of the molecular weight of the product by means of adjusting the amount of hydrogen available in the polymerization reaction. The acetal derivative is a compound according to formula (III): ##STR1## wherein R is C.sub.1-4 alkyl group, R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are the same or different and each is a hydrocarbon group or a group which can together form a ring, R.sup.3 is hydrogen or a hydrocarbon group. If with the acetal derivative donor is used a clearly less hydrogen sensitive donor, e.g., alkoxysilanes, much broader MWD's of the product are achieved.

Olefins are conventionally polymerized using a Ziegler-Natta catalyst system comprising a procatalyst and a cocatalyst as its essential components. The procatalyst is formed by a transition metal compound of subgroups 4-8 of the periodic system of elements (Hubbard, IUPAC 1970). The cocatalyst is formed by an organic compound of a metal of major groups 1-3 of the periodic system of elements.
The transition metal conventionally is a titanium, zirconium, or vanadium compound, advantageously a titanium compound, and in fact, titanium has been found a particularly advantageous transition metal. Said compounds typically are halides or oxyhalides, or alternatively, organic compounds, conventionally alkoxides, alcoholates or haloalkoxides. Other kinds of organic compounds are less frequently used, while not necessarily unknown in the art. The transition metal compound can be expressed in the form of the following generalized formula: EQU (R'O).sub.n R".sub.m MX.sub.p-n-m (I)
where M is a transition metal of subgroups 4-8, advantageously Ti, Zr or V, while R' and R" represent the similar or dissimilar organic groups chiefly having a backbone of 1-20 carbons, M is a transition metal and X is a halogen, advantageously chlorine. Advantageously and commonly, R' and R" are simply a hydrocarbon group, advantageously an alkyl group. p is the oxidization state of the metal M, commonly p is 4 or 5. n and m are an integer in the range 0-p.
The most advantageous compounds are selected from the group consisting of titanium alkoxides, halides and haloalkoxides, in particular when the halogen is chlorine. Accordingly, suitable compounds include titanium tetramethoxide, tetraethoxide, tetrapropoxides, tetrabutoxides and similar oxides, corresponding titanium alkoxyhalides in which 1-3 alkoxide groups are replaced by a halogen, chlorine in particular, and titanium halides, TiBr.sub.4 and TiCl.sub.4 in particular. The most commonly used of these compounds is TiCl.sub.4. Obviously, two or a greater number of transition metal compounds can be used in the form of different mixtures.
The cocatalyst most commonly consists of an organic compound of a metal of major groups 1-3. While usually an aluminum compound is employed, also boron, zinc and alkali metal compounds have been used. An aluminium compound can be written using the formula (II) as: EQU R.sub.n AlX.sub.3-n (II)
where R is an organic hydrocarbon group, advantageously a C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 alkyl, X is a halogen and n is an integer in the range of 1-3. Different kinds of cocatalyst can be used simultaneously in the form of various mixtures.
Additionally, a catalyst system contains components having catalyst improving and modifying characteristics. The procatalyst can be prepared on a more or less inert support, whereby the procatalyst component may be in solid state even if the transition metal compound as such is not in solid form. The procatalyst can be complexed with a so-called internal donor compound capable of electron donation so as to improve the stereospecificity and/or activity of the catalyst system. The preparation of the procatalyst can be implemented using an auxiliary component which may be a dissolving or slurrying medium and from which a portion is possibly complexed with the procatalyst composition. Such a compound may also act as an electron donor. Also the cocatalyst feed, which typically takes place separately from the procatalyst composition not earlier than to the polymerization process, can be complemented with the electron donor compound with a particular goal of improving the stereospecificity of the end product. Then, the electron donor is called an external donor.
To achieve a heterogenic, solid-state procatalyst composition, a separate support compound is required provided that the transition metal compound of the procatalyst is not one itself. The latter case is true for the transition metal compounds listed above. Widely varied types of solid inorganic or organic compounds can be used as the support. Typical of these are oxides of silicon, aluminium, titanium, magnesium, chromium, thorium or zirconium or mixtures of these oxides, salts of different inorganic acids such as salts of the said metals or earth alkali or earth metals including magnesium silicate and calcium silicate, calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, etc. (cf., e.g., FI patent publication 85,710). Important compounds as supports have been found from magnesium compounds including, e.g., alkoxides, hydroxides, hydroxyhalogenides and halogenides, of which the latter ones, particularly magnesium dichloride is an extremely important support for procatalyst compositions. Supports are typically subjected to different treatments before their use, whereby they can be heat-treated by, e.g., calcining; they can be chemically treated to remove so-called surface hydroxyl groups; they can be mechanically treated by, e.g., grinding in a ball mill or spray mill (cf., e.g., FI Pat. No. 882,626). An important support group is formed by magnesium halides, particularly MgCl.sub.2, which can be advantageously complexed with alcohols, whereby the complexed support can be brought to a morphologically advantageous form by crystallization and/or solidification from an emulsion by a spray-drying technique or from a melt by a spray-crystallization technique (cf., e.g., FI Pat. No. 862,459). Above all, organic supports comprise different polymers either in native form or modified. Of such supports worth mentioning are different polyolefins (polymers made from ethene, propene and other olefins), as well as different polymers of aromatic olefinic compounds (PS, ABS, etc.).
If the olefin monomers being polymerized can assume different spatial configurations when bonding to polymer molecule being formed, this formation generally requires a particular controlling compound capable of complexing the procatalyst so that the new monomer unit being joined to the polymer chain can principally adopt a certain position only. Owing to their manner of bonding to the procatalyst, such compounds are called electron donors, or simply donors. The donor may also render other properties besides the above-mentioned stereospecificity; for instance, the donor may improve the catalyst activity by increasing the bonding rate of the monomer units to the polymer molecule. Such a donor which is incorporated by complexing in the procatalyst already during its preparation is called an internal donor. These donors include a plurality of alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, derivatives of carboxylic acids such as esters, anhydrides, halides, as well as different ethers, silanes, siloxanes, etc. Simultaneous use of several donors is also possible. Advantageous compounds in this respect have been found to be, e.g., mono- and diesters of aromatic carboxylic acids and aliphatic alcohols, whose simultaneous use facilitates exchange esterification in conjunction with the use of a donor compound (cf. FI Pat. No. 906,282).
A stereospecificity-controlling compound which is fed into the polymerization reactor only in conjunction with the cocatalyst is called an external donor. Such donors are often the same compounds as those employed as internal donors, while in many cases the external donor in a single polymerization reaction advantageously should not be the same compound as the internal donor, because then the unlike properties of the different compounds can be exploited particularly if the combination of different donors amplifies the effect of their properties and if they have synergistic coeffects. Hence, finding a suitable optimum of such coeffects is the primary goal in the selection of different donors. Advantageous external donors are, e.g., different silane and ether compounds. Particularly alkoxysilanes (cf., e.g., EP Pat. No. 231,878 and EP Pat. No. 261,961) and different linear and cyclic ethers, e.g., trimethyl-methoxyether, dimethoxypropane (cf. EP Pat. No. 449,302) and cineol (cf. Fl Pat. No. 932,580). Also nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds have been used such as tetramethylpiperidine (cf. JP Pat. No. 63,105,007).
During the polymerization process, the number of monomer units joining to a polymer molecule may vary from a few units to millions of units. Conventionally, the molecular weight of a commercial-grade solid polyolefin is in the range of 10,000-1,000,000 g/mol. If the degree of polymerization remains lower, the product is a soft and plastic wax or paste-like plastisol, even a viscous liquid which may find use in special applications. A degree of polymerization exceeding one million is difficult to attain, and moreover, such a polymer often is too hard for most applications or too difficult to process. Thus, the molecular weight control of the polymer has an important role, which can be accomplished by means of so-called chain-length controlling agents. Conventionally, the chain-controlling agent added to the polymerization reaction is hydrogen whose benefit is not to introduce any undesirable group in the molecule. If the hydrogen addition is capable of controlling the molecular weight of the produced polymer, the polymerization catalyst is said to be hydrogen sensitive. Different catalyst systems also have different hydrogen sensitivities, whereby different amounts of hydrogen will be required to polymers having the same melt flow rate. On the other hand, hydrogen addition elevates the polymerization activity of the catalyst.
Polymerization can be carried out in gas phase, whereby either gaseous monomer or an inert gas or a mixture thereof is fed to the reactor so that the entering gas keeps the growing polymer in the form of particles on which the growth of the polymer molecules takes place. The reaction temperature is so high that even the monomers are vaporized that are liquid under normal conditions. In a continuous polymerization process the polymer particles are removed continuously from the reactor, and the monomer or monomer mixture feed is continuous. Alternatively, the reaction products removal and precursor feed may also be intermittent. The polymer particle layer which advantageously is kept in a fluidized state can be stirred by mechanical agitation. A great number of different agitator means and agitation systems are available. Gas-phase polymerization is often carried out in a circulating fluidized-bed reactor in which the solid particles form a bed maintained in fluidized state by the upward directed flow of the gaseous feed medium. The fluidized bed may also be formed by inert solids comprised of most varied inorganic and organic compounds.
If liquid-phase polymerization is desired, a medium is required that is liquid at the polymerization temperature, whereby said medium may comprise a single polymer or a greater number of polymers (usually referred to as bulk polymerization), or a separate solvent or diluting agent capable of dissolving or slurrying the monomer or/and the polymer. Where such slurrying involves the formation of a suspension or a slurry, the polymerization process is named respectively. Here, the medium may then be a hydrocarbon solvent particularly including alkanes and cycloalkanes such as propane, butane, isobutane, pentane, hexane, heptane, cyclohexane, etc., which are commonly used. The formation and stability of the slurry may be improved by mechanical agitation, whereby suspending agents called suspenders and colloid stabilizing agents must often be added. The polymerization reactor may be a conventional mixing vessel reactor complemented with widely varying additional arrangements, or alternatively, a loop- or ring-type tubular reactor in which the polymer slurry is circulated by means of different feed, end product removal and agitating arrangements. When the polymerization is carried out in a medium to produce a polymer with a high MFR, catalyst systems of low hydrogen sensitivity may involve problems in the addition of required amount of hydrogen, because only a certain maximum concentration of oxygen can be dissolved in the medium.
Molecular weight distribution (MWD) of polyolefin produced using a high yield Ziegler-Natta catalyst system comprising a titanium-compound-containing procatalyst and an organoaluminium cocatalyst is typically relatively narrow. Polydispersity (Mw/Mn) of polypropylene produced by continuous polymerization reactor with the above mentioned catalyst system is typically about 4-5. When the MWD is broadened, e.g., increasing the polydispersity to 6-8, stiffness of polypropylene can be increased. However, simultaneously impact strength usually decreases. In addition to effect on mechanical properties, broadness of MWD influences on the processability of the polymer. When the increase in stiffness and better processability obtained with fabrication processes using extrusion techniques are combined, it is possible to produce products with markedly higher output and at least similar stiffness.
The broadness of MWD is measured most usually by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), which gives the polydispersity (Mw/Mn). Another relatively common method is based on the effects of MWD on rheological properties. Measuring the shear thinning or elasticity of molten polymer samples, e.g. Shear Thinning Index (SHII) or Elasticity Index, gives good information on broadness of MWD. Broadened MWD increases usually both elasticity and shear thinning of polymer melts.
The most common industrial method to broaden the MWD of polyolefins in continuous polymerization reactors is to produce the polymer in two reactors connected in series, and the polymers produced in each reactor should have clearly different molecular weight. However, it is not always possible or feasible to use two reactors in series to broaden the MWD. According to patent application EP 452916 Al (Idemitsu Petrochemicals KK) MWD of polypropylene can be broadened by using a special type of alkoxysilane as an external donor. In a patent application of Mitsui Petrochemical Ind. Ltd., EP 385765 A2 the MDW of polypropylene is broadened by using a catalyst system having a 1:1 mixture of two different alkoxysilanes as an external donor.

Stereospecific catalyst system for polymerization of olefins


A light guide panel includes a panel body having incident edges extending around the periphery thereof and a strong light region defined in a front surface thereof, and a light guide structure including a plurality of transversely extended first light-guiding grooves located in the front surface of the panel body and longitudinally spaced from one another at a predetermined interval, each first light-guiding groove having a first peak value area facing toward said strong light region and two first valley value areas located at two opposite ends of the first peak value area, each first peak value area curved in direction from the incident edges of the panel body toward the strong light region, the gap between the first peak value areas of each two adjacent first light-guiding grooves being gradually reduced in direction from the incident edges toward the strong light region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to light guide technology and more particularly, to a light guide panel having a light guide structure formed of curved light-guiding grooves on the surface thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
The light guide structure of a conventional light guide panel is made by milling straight light-guiding grooves out of the surface of the light guide panel to control the optical performance of the surface of the light guide panel. However, because the light-guiding grooves are straight grooves and because the light guide panel is a multilateral panel having multiple incident surfaces, it is difficult to accurately control the optical performance. Therefore, a light guide panel having the light guide structure thereof formed of straight light-guiding grooves can maximumly have only two incident surfaces, limiting the light guide panel's optical performance.

Light guide panel with an improved light guide structure


One embodiment includes an internal combustion engine, a sensor signal representative of an observed engine speed, and a controller. This controller is responsive to the sensor signal to determine a control input representative of a difference between the observed engine speed and a desired engine speed. The controller defines a compensator that is one or more of a proportional-integral type, a proportional-derivative type, and a proportional-integral-derivative type. The controller determines at least one gain factor of the compensator with a signal corresponding to engine load. The compensator is responsive to the control input to generate an output signal to adjust engine fueling as a function of the control input and the gain factor.

The present invention relates to engine control, and more particularly, but not exclusively, relates to gain adjustment for a quadratic proportional-integral-derivative compensator to regulate operation of an internal combustion engine that drives an electric power generator.
In certain internal combustion engine systems, it is desirable to minimize variation of engine speed despite significant changes in load. While various isochronous control schemes have been developed, in certain applications there is still room for improvement. Thus, a need persists for further contributions in this area of technology.

Load-based quadratic compensator gain adjustment


Embodiments of the invention provide methods and materials for chemical cross-coupling reactions that utilize aryl alcohol derivatives as cross-coupling partners. Embodiments of the invention include methods for the amination of aryl sulfamates and carbamates, which are attractive cross-coupling partners, particularly for use in multistep synthesis. Illustrative embodiments include versatile means to use simple derivatives of phenol as precursors to polysubstituted aryl amines, as exemplified by a concise synthesis of the antibacterial drug linezolid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and materials for the synthesis of organic compounds.
2. Description of Related Art
Methodologies involving the synthesis of organic molecules play an important role in many technical fields. Materials science, agriculture, biology, and medicine, rely on organic compounds produced by synthetic methods for their ongoing successes and future progress. Consequently, in the past century artisans have devoted significant efforts to the development of new methodologies for the synthesis of various organic compounds. The large number of synthetic methodologies known in the art as a result of these endeavors allows artisans to construct molecules of great complexity. As complex organic molecules become more and more important in a number of scientific disciplines, the ability to prepare key synthetic entities in both a practical and economical fashion becomes increasingly more valuable (see, e.g. Wender et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 2008, 41, 40-49).
Of the many synthetic methods used to generate organic compounds, transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions are known as one of the most effective means of constructing carbon-carbon (C—C) and carbon-heteroatom (C—X such as C—N) bonds (see, e.g. Negishi et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 1982, 15, 340-348; Metal-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions; Diedrich, F., Meijere, A., Eds.; Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 2004; Vol. 2.; Hassan et al., Chem. Rev. 2002, 102, 1359-1469; Topics in Current Chemistry; Miyaura, N., Ed.; Vol. 219; Springer-Verlag: New York, 2002; Corbet et al., Rev. 2006, 106, 2651-2710; Negishi, Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 2007, 80, 233-257). Carbon-nitrogen bonds are ubiquitous in medicinal agents and natural products. Transition metal-catalyzed amination reactions, pioneered by Buchwald and Hartwig, are amongst the most powerful methods available for accessing these coveted motifs. Copper- and palladium-mediated aminations of aryl halides and triflates are now well-established and examples of mesylate and tosylate aminations have been reported. Most recent efforts have focused on the amination of classically "inert" phenolic derivatives, i.e., aryl methyl ethers and aryl pivalate esters which could potentially be used in multistep synthesis.
Despite advances in this technology, general methodologies that provide efficient and cost-effective cross-coupling of phenol derivatives have yet to be realized. With the aim of assembling polysubstituted aryl amines, motifs commonly encountered in drug scaffolds, naturally-occurring small molecules, pesticides, ligands for catalysis, and materials chemistry, we worked to discover versatile class of phenol-derived substrates that could undergo transition metal-catalyzed amination.

The Regents of the University of California


An IV catheter introducer having an elastomeric grommet disposed between the housing and the IV catheter assembly that helps avoid unintentional separation of IV catheter assembly from the housing during shipping and handling prior to use, that acts as a needle guide, that helps align the housing and IV catheter assembly coaxially, that indicates that top side of the catheter introducer, that provides proper rotational alignment between the grommet and housing, that wipes blood off the needle during withdrawal of the needle from the catheter assembly and grommet, that impedes blood flow out of the catheter hub after needle withdrawal, and that assists the user in separating the housing from the IV catheter assembly following insertion of the catheter and withdrawal of the needle.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is a medical device, optionally having a retractable needle, that is used to insert a catheter into a patient's body, especially for the intravenous delivery of a fluid. The subject invention prevents reduces the likelihood of spilling blood following withdrawal of the needle, and also reduces the likelihood of needlestick injuries or pathogenic contamination to medical personnel and others.
2. Description of Related Art
Intravenous ("IV") catheter insertion devices are well known. When a catheter is inserted into a patient for the intravenous delivery of a fluid, a disposable needle passing through the catheter is utilized to puncture a vein to permit entry of the catheter. The needle is then withdrawn, leaving the catheter in place for connection to an IV bag or bottle, or to be capped for later use.
In recent years, because of the prevalence of blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis, there has been an increasing need for catheter introducers that prevent accidental needle stick injuries to medical personnel and to other employees who handle trash, laundry or other refuse containing used needles. As a result, new products have been designed that incorporate special needle covers or mechanisms for retracting the needle following use. Such devices are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,747,831; 4,828,548; 5,129,884; 5,501,675; 5,746,215; 5,817,058; 5,989,220; 6,083,202; 6,090,078; and 6,096,005. Some of the prior art devices contain numerous complicated parts that substantially increase manufacturing costs and interfere with the user's ability to feel when the needle is properly inserted into the patient. Other devices require two-handed operation or are prone to premature needle retraction during shipment, storage and handling.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,193, a patent from which the subject application claims priority, issued to the present applicants. Notwithstanding the many benefits and advantages achieved with the apparatus disclosed in that patent, applicants have now invented a new device having some structural features in common with those patented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,193 but also embodying additional structural elements. The newly added elements enable additional functional advantages beyond those readily achievable using the apparatus of the prior invention.
As with the IV catheter introducer previously disclosed, the apparatus comprising features newly disclosed herein can be manufactured economically and reliably at high speed, will not retract the needle prematurely, can be operated with one hand, and will better protect the user and others from accidental sticks and exposure to blood-borne pathogens.


The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication method, an information processing apparatus, and an information processing method for easily and quickly organizing a communication group containing a plurality of apparatuses. The user places a PDA 2 in proximity to a personal computer 1. When an electromagnetic wave emitted from a reader/writer of the PDA 2 is received by a reader/writer of the personal computer 1, the personal computer 1 notifies the PDA 2 of stored communication group organizing information. The PDA 2 stores the communication group organizing information while establishing a synchronization for a Bluetooth communication with the personal computer 1 based on the communication group organizing information to establish the Bluetooth communication with the personal computer 1. The present invention is applicable to a variety of information processing apparatuses such as a personal computer and a PDA.

The Bluetooth® technology draws attention as short-range radio communication means, and a variety of apparatuses featuring the Bluetooth interface have been developed and commercially available.
Radio communication systems such as the Bluetooth using radio waves have advantages such as no directivity and high transmission efficiency over infrared communication systems. When a communication, such as an IrDA, having a high directivity is used, apparatuses in communication must face each other in alignment. The communication system such as Bluetooth apparatuses is free from such restrictions.
The Bluetooth specifications are controlled by Bluetooth SIG Inc., and the detailed information about the Bluetooth specifications is available from Bluetooth SIG Inc. In a communication in compliance with the Bluetooth specifications, an apparatus called a master broadcasts a device detecting message to apparatuses present in a surrounding area to detect the apparatuses.
The master detects apparatuses present in the surrounding area, namely, communicable apparatuses, by reply messages transmitted from an apparatus (a slave) that has received the device detecting message.
When establishing a communication with a particular apparatus from among detected apparatuses, the master identifies each apparatus based on identification information contained in the reply messages, and then establishes the communication with that particular apparatus.
In the Bluetooth communication, information called a Bluetooth address identifying each apparatus is assigned the apparatus. The Bluetooth address, unique (particular) to each apparatus, is used in various processes such as a management of apparatuses.
A Bluetooth system typically employs a piconet, i.e., a network containing a master and slaves, and in the same piconet, a maximum of seven slaves belong to a single master. All apparatuses belonging to the same piconet are synchronized in a frequency axis (a frequency hopping pattern) and in a time axis (a time slot).
A plurality of piconets may be linked to form a network, which is called a scatternet.
The Bluetooth specifications specify data exchanged over the radio communication, and a profile formulated for each of services, and the service provided by each apparatus is described using the profile.
For example, a PAN (Personal Area Network) profile currently being formulated as one of the profiles specifies a communication method between slaves. The apparatuses belonging to the piconet organized based on the PAN profile exchange a variety of data over the piconet as a network. Similarly, a planned standard is expected to define the scatternet as a single network where a variety of data is exchanged over. The network may be the one based on an IP (Internet Protocol).
When a network is organized, which apparatus to serve as a master, which apparatuses to serve as slaves, and what service to be used in communication must be determined. The master acquires information about apparatuses in the surrounding area using the device detecting message, and determines these network parameters in response to an instruction from the user.
In a Bluetooth radio communication system, the device detecting message is broadcasted to all apparatuses within a search area (within a radium of 10 meters to 100 meters). The user recognizes information presented on a display, and selects an apparatus to communicate with from among apparatuses that have transmitted reply messages in response to the device detecting message. This is a time-consuming operation.
More specifically, since the user must select an apparatus each time communication is made, the communication system is not user friendly. As the Bluetooth compatible apparatuses are widely used, the ease of use of the system is more adversely affected.
The user needs to select a desired service from among services reported by the apparatuses when data is actually exchanged. This step consumes more time before starting communication.
Even after the selection of the apparatus to communicate with and the selection of the service with the selected apparatus, the user is further forced to enter a numeric input of a predetermined digit called a pass key to both apparatuses for communication. The input of the pass key is particularly required to establish a first communication with an apparatus which requires security. The pass key input degrades the ease of use of the system.
The above-referenced steps presents difficulty for user to organize a communication group (a network) through a Bluetooth communication formed of a plurality of apparatuses.

Communication system and method, and information processing apparatus and method


Aspects of the present disclosure relate to management of evaluated rule data sets. Specifically, a unreduced evaluated rule data set may contain a number of items to be compared or analyzed according to a number of rules, and may also contain the results of such analysis. An illustrative reduced evaluated data set can include the results of evaluated rules. When utilized in conjunction with an item data set and a rule data set, the information contained within the unreduced evaluated rule data set may be maintained. The reduce memory requirements of the reduced evaluated rule data set may facilitate storage of the reduced evaluated rule data set in faster to access memory, or may facilitate distributed computation of the reduced evaluated rule data set.

Generally described, computing devices utilize a communication network, or a series of communication networks, to exchange data. Companies and organizations operate computer networks that interconnect a number of computing devices to support operations or provide services to third parties. The computing devices can be located in a single geographic location or located in multiple, distinct geographic locations (e.g., interconnected via private or public communication networks). Specifically, data centers or data processing centers, herein generally referred to as a "data center," may include a number of interconnected computing devices to provide computing resources to users of the data center. The data centers may be private data centers operated on behalf of an organization or public data centers operated on behalf, or for the benefit of, the general public.
Data centers or other computing devices may be utilized to process data intensive applications, such as machine learning applications. In one aspect, machine learning applications may generally describe applications that enable computing devices to define or modify behaviors based on empirical data. For example, a machine learning algorithm may be utilized to determine what rules best facilitate a medical diagnosis based on a number of tests, or to determine the likelihood that a credit card transaction is fraudulent. Generally, machine learning applications utilize a set of data, sometimes referred to as training data, to predict or evolve related decision algorithms. Training data may correspond to a set data points evaluated based on a set of rules. For example, training data may comprise a number of credit card transactions, a number of rules determining whether elements of a transaction are indicative of fraud, and the result of each credit card transaction when evaluated according to the rule. A machine learning application may utilize training data, in addition to other data, such as historical records of fraudulent transactions, to determine an algorithm for predicting fraudulent transactions. For example, a machine learning application may select an algorithm that incorporates a number of the rules within the training data, while not incorporating other rules. In some applications or environments, training data may require large amounts of memory to store, due to the volume of data points or rules included.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Machine learning memory management and distributed rule evaluation


A glass antenna for an automobile improving antenna gain is provided.

Heretofore, a high frequency wave antenna for an automobile to receive digital TV broadcast band wave shown in FIG. 6 is reported in WO2006/001486. In this prior art example, a defogger constituted by a plurality of heater wires 43 and bus bars 45 is provided on a rear window glass plate 10, and an antenna conductor 41 and a feeding point 42 are provided. A uppermost heater wire right under the antenna conductor 41 has a meander shape. In this construction, in a digital TV broadcast band, influence of heater wires 43 and 44 to the antenna conductor 41 is reduced, and the antenna gain in the digital TV broadcast band is improved.
However, in this prior art example, since the heater wire 44 at the highest position is too long, its resistance per a unit length need to be reduced. Accordingly, the line width of the heater wire 34 at the highest position becomes too wide, and there has been a problem that the width of the heater wire 34 at the highest position prevents visibility.

Abstract: The glass antenna can receive two wavelength bands, that are a first wavelength band and a second wavelength band higher than the first wavelength band, and provided that the first wavelength band is designated as H band and the second wavelength band is designated as L band, antenna conductors 6, 7 for H band each having a shape and dimension configured to receive H band is provided on a rear glass plate 10 for an automobile, and an antenna conductor 1 for L band having a shape and dimension configured to receive L band is provided on the rear window glass plate 10, the antenna conductors 6, 7 for H band and the antenna conductor 1 for L band constitute two types of antenna conductors, the antenna conductor 1 for L band has a portion extending in a predetermined direction, and provided that the portion is designated as a predetermined direction extending portion 1c, the predetermined direction extending portion 1c has a detour portion 1b.


Disclosed herein is an apparatus that includes a plurality of column planes each including a plurality of bit lines, an access control circuit configured to select one of the plurality of bit lines in each of the plurality of column planes based on a column address to read a plurality of data-bits, a data generating circuit configured to generate an expected-bit based at least in part on the data-bits, and an analyzing circuit configured to generate a fail-bit data indicating which one of the data-bits does not match the expected-bit when one of the data-bits does not match the expected-bit.

As methods for replacing a defective bit line with a spare bit line, a local column redundancy method in which a spare bit line is prepared for each column plane and a global column redundancy method in which a spare column plane is prepared and a defective bit line included in each column plane is replaced with one of bit lines in the spare column plane are known. The local column redundancy method has an advantage that, even when two or more bit lines are defective among a plurality of bit lines belonging to different column planes and selected at the same time with a same column address, these bit lines can be replaced with spare bit lines. However, in the local column redundancy method, if there is one defective bit line, all the bit lines selected at the same time with a column address are replaced with spare bit lines and therefore many spare bit lines need to be prepared. In contrast thereto, the global column redundancy method enables only defective bit lines to be replaced with bit lines in the spare column plane and the recovery efficiency is accordingly high. However, in the global column redundancy method, which bit line among a plurality of bit lines selected at the same time with a same column address is to be replaced with a spare bit line needs to be identified in a test process for detecting defective bit lines, and the test process is complicated. Therefore, simplification of the test process in a semiconductor device according to the global column redundancy method is demanded.

Semiconductor device equipped with global column redundancy


An operator station is provided. The operator station may include a platform. The platform may at least partially extend along a plane. The operator station may include a first linkage member attached to a first portion of the platform and a second linkage member attached to a second portion of the platform. The first linkage member may be pivotal with respect to a first pivot axis, and the second linkage member may be pivotal with respect to a second pivot axis. The operator station may include an actuating member attached to the first linkage member. The actuating member may actuate the first linkage member for pivoting the first linkage member in a first direction and pivoting the second linkage member in the first direction. The platform may linearly translate in the plane during pivoting of the first linkage member and the second linkage member.

Various types of machines used, for example, in the construction industry, include operator stations. The operator stations contain various systems and controls by which an operator can control the machine to perform an operation (e.g., a paving operation, a milling operation, and/or the like). Such operator stations are generally arranged at the rear of a machine frame, which may obstruct the operator's visibility and/or interfere with the operator's ability to oversee aspects of the operation.
One attempt at improving an operator's visibility while operating a machine is disclosed in Chinese Utility Model No. 202641889, (hereinafter, "the '889 utility model"). Per the '889 utility model, a construction machine, comprising a cab and a frame, is provided for adjusting the inclination of the cab relative to the horizontal plane. The cab can be tilted at a certain angle, which is convenient for a driver to observe and operate low-position items.
While the method disclosed by the '889 utility model addresses one method of improving operator visibility by way of tilting the cab at various angles, a need exists for more efficient control over positioning an operator station outside of machine frame for improved visibility and/or overcoming other problems in the art.

Movable operator station for improved visibility


A comminuting and distribution device for recycling yard waste is provided. The device includes a mixing tank mounted on an upper surface of a movable support structure. The mixing tank includes a slurry preparation structure therein for creating a slurry from yard waste and fluid deposited within the mixing tank. A distribution structure draws the slurry from a mixing tank and distributes the same to a desired location outside the mixing tank for fertilizing a lawn, garden or the like.

This invention relates to the recycling of yard waste, and in particular, to an apparatus for the comminution of yard waste and the reintroduction of the comminuted yard waste into a lawn an/or garden in order to provide fertilizer for the same.
Due to environmental concerns, landfill operators have banned the placement of yard waste in their landfills. Consequently, many municipalities now prohibit the depositing of yard waste in refuge containers. As a result, home owners are left to find a new manner to dispose yard waste, such as grass clippings, leaves and the like.
In order to reduce the quantity of yard waste, lawn mower manufacturers have developed lawn mowers which mulch the yard waste into small particles which are reintroduced into the lawn. However, these present day mulching lawn mowers have significant drawbacks. For example, mulching lawn mowers deposit the mulched particles within close proximity to the mower itself. Thereafter, the user of the mulching lawn mower must transport the mulched particles if the user wishes to reintroduce the particles into remote areas which necessitate greater fertilization. This, in turn, is time consuming for the user.
In addition, mulching mowers typically do not mulch the yard waste into small pieces which facilitate the quick biodegradation of the pieces into the soil. As a result, it may take a substantial amount of time before the yard waste degrades and hence, provides nutrition for the lawn or garden. Further, since the pieces of yard waste may remain quite substantial in size, the decomposing yard waste may become odorous and attract rodents and the like.
Finally, when using a mulching lawn mower, the mulched material may congregate at specific spots on the lawn thereby preventing sunlight, and hence growth of the lawn at that locale. This, in turn, may cause damage to the lawn in certain areas.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide an apparatus for the comminution and distribution of yard waste.
It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide an apparatus for economically fertilizing a lawn and/or garden.
It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide an apparatus which simply and easily facilitates the disposal of yard waste.
In accordance with the present invention, a comminuting and distribution device for yard waste includes a movable support structure having an upper surface and a downwardly facing surface. A mixing tank is mounted on the upper surface of the support structure. The mixing tank defines an interior for receiving yard waste and fluid therein. A blade assembly is supported within the interior of the mixing tank. The blade assembly includes a blade for comminuting yard waste received within the mixing tank and for mixing the comminuted yard waste with fluid received within the mixing tank so as to form a slurry. A distribution structure draws the slurry from the mixing tank and distributes the same to desired locations outside the mixing tank.
A rotatable shaft extends into the mixing tank. The rotatable shaft is interconnected to the blade of the blade assembly. A drive mechanism rotates the rotatable shaft.
The distribution structure includes a pump for drawing slurry from the interior of the mixing tank and a distribution tube having an inlet interconnected to the pump for receiving the drawn slurry therein. The distribution tube also includes an outlet which is operatively connected to a distribution hose. The distribution hose also includes an outlet for distributing the drawn slurry to a desired location therethrough. A control valve interconnects the outlet of the distribution tube and the inlet of the distribution hose. The control valve controls the flow of slurry into the distribution hose.
A spray nozzle may be interconnected to the outlet of the distribution hose. The spray nozzle includes an actuator movable between a first opened position wherein the drawn slurry flows through the spray nozzle, and a second closed position wherein the spray nozzle prevents the flow of drawn slurry from the outlet of the distribution hose.
The device further includes a recirculation assembly having an inlet operatively connected to the outlet of the distribution tube so as to allow for the flow of slurry therein, and an outlet positioned within the mixing tank for reintroducing a portion of the drawn slurry into the mixing tank. A control valve interconnects the outlet of the distribution tube and the inlet of the recirculation assembly. The control valve controls the flow of drawn slurry into the recirculation assembly.
A distribution element may be operatively connected to the distribution tube. The distribution element distributes a portion of the slurry below the support structure. A distribution element control valve interconnects the distribution tube and the distribution element. The distribution element control valve is movable between a first opened position for allowing the flow of drawn slurry through the distribution element and a second closed position. It is contemplated that the device include a vacuum hose having a movable inlet positioned outside of the mixing tank and an outlet communicating with the interior of the mixing tank. A vacuum producing device is mounted within the mixing tank to generate a suction for drawing yard waste into the inlet of the vacuum hose and through the outlet of the vacuum hose into the interior of the mixing tank.
A fluid structure supplies fluid to the interior of the mixing tank. The fluid structure includes an outlet communicating with the interior of the mixing tank and an inlet operatively connectable to a fluid source. The fluid supply structure includes a pump for drawing fluid from the fluid source and pumping the fluid through the outlet of the fluid supply structure. A control mechanism controls the volume of fluid pumped by the fluid supply structure pump through the fluid supply structure outlet. The control mechanism includes a float for sensing the volume of fluid within the interior of the mixing tank.
It is contemplated to provide a separation element within the mixing tank for separating the yard waste in the mixing tank from the slurry. The separation element may include a mesh screen.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a comminuting and distribution device for yard waste is provided. The device includes a movable support structure having an upper surface and a downwardly facing bottom surface. A mixing tank is mounted on the upper surface of the support structure. The mixing tank defines an interior for receiving yard waste and the fluid therein. A fluid supply structure is provided for supply fluid to the interior of the mixing tank. The fluid supply structure includes an outlet communicating with the interior of the mixing tank and an inlet operatively connectable to a fluid source. A slurry preparation structure is supported within the interior of the mixing tank for creating a slurry from the yard waste and the fluid within the mixing tank. A distribution structure draws the slurry from the mixing tank and distributes the same to a desired location outside the mixing tank.
In yet a still further aspect of the present invention, a comminuting and distribution device includes a movable support structure having an upper surface and a downwardly facing bottom surface. A mixing tank is mounted on the upper surface of the support structure. The mixing tank defines an interior for receiving yard waste and the fluid therein. The vacuum hose is provided and includes a movable inlet positioned outside of the mixing tank and an outlet communicating with the interior of the mixing tank. A vacuum producing device is mounted within the mixing tank. The vacuum generates a suction for drawing yard waste into the inlet of the vacuum hose and through the outlet of the vacuum hose into the interior of the mixing tank. A slurry preparation structure is supported within the interior of the mixing tank for creating a slurry from the yard waste and the fluid within the mixing tank. The distribution structure draws the slurry from the mixing tank and distributes the same to the desired location outside of the mixing tank.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.

Comminuting and distributing device for recycling yard waste


A similar image search system includes an image database which stores a number of pieces of image data representing a number of images. Search image data representing the whole and/or a part of an image similar to which in feature is to be searched for is input and the image database is searched for similitude image data. A search report representing result of search is output.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a similar image search system, and more particularly to a similar image search system for searching for an image similar to an image to be processed.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been taken various medical images such as X-rays, computerized axial tomographies, and magnetic resonance images in various medical facilities. Generally these medical images are used for diagnosing and grasping the condition of the disease of the patient or progress of the disease and a reader such as a doctor diagnoses viewing an image and determines the course of treatment.
In medical facilities, the medical images used in diagnosis have been stored in the form of hard copies. However, in order to simplify the management of increasing medical images and to save the storing spaces, there has been proposed an image filing system in which pieces of digital image data are read out from medical images and the medical images are stored in recording media such as optical discs or magnetic discs in the form of image data.
Such a system can save the image storing spaces and makes it feasible to use images for various purposes.
In the case of an unexperienced reader or a rare disease or a disease out of reader's special interest, it is sometimes difficult for the reader to properly judge the name of the disease. In such a case, the reader sometimes consults other doctors or refers to past similar cases.
However it is very difficult to search for similar images among numerous images stored in the form of hard copies, and in the case of a small scale medical facilities storing a small amount of past cases, a desired similar case cannot be constantly obtained. Accordingly, there has been a demand for a system which makes it feasible to search for images similar to the image to be diagnosed (the image on the basis of which the patient's disease is to be diagnosed) among a number of images.
We, this applicant, has proposed a diagnosis-aid system in which information on prospective diseases are searched for and output on the basis of the condition of the disease input. (See Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-32476). In this system, when information on the condition of the patient such as result of reading an image of the affected part, result of diagnosis, result of interview with the patient, result of medical examination and the like is input, a name of disease prospected on the basis of the condition of the patient input or an image typical of the disease and the like are output, thereby aiding the doctor in making a proper diagnosis irrespective his or her experience or ability.
However, the diagnosis-aid system is arranged to input contents such as recorded in a medial chart and not to input an image to be diagnosed. That is, the diagnosis-aid system requires input of the reader's view and accordingly, is not effective when diagnosis of the image is difficult.


Apparatus and methods for controlling yaw of a rotorcraft in the event of one or both of low airspeed and engine failure are disclosed. A yaw propulsion device, such as an air jet or a fan may be used. A pneumatic fan may be driven by compressed air released into a channel surrounding an outer portion of the fan. Power for the yaw propulsion device and other system may be provided by a hydraulic pump and/or generator engaging the rotor. Low speed yaw control may be provided by auxiliary rudders positioned within the stream tube of a prop. The auxiliary rudders may one or both of fold down and disengage from rudder controls when not in use. Apparatus for generating horizontal lift imbalance induced a tail boom positioned within the downwash of a rotor may also be used, including compressed air vents or lateral or trailing edge flaps.

1. Related Applications
This application: is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/545,904, filed Jul. 10, 2012, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Applications Ser. No. 61/499,996, filed on Jun. 22, 2011; is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/199,677, filed on Sep. 7, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/381,347, filed on Sep. 9, 2010; is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/199,679, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,668,162, on Mar. 11, 2014, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/403,136, filed on Sep. 9, 2010; is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/334,261, filed on Dec. 22, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61/429,282, filed on Jan. 3, 2011; and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/335,541, filed on Dec. 22, 2011, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/429,289, filed on Jan. 3, 2011; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
2. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rotating wing aircraft, and, more particularly to rotating wing aircraft relying on autorotation of a rotor to provide lift.
3. The Background Art
Rotating wing aircraft rely on a rotating wing to provide lift. In contrast, fixed wing aircraft rely on air flow over a fixed wing to provide lift. Fixed wing aircraft must therefore achieve a minimum ground velocity on takeoff before the lift on the wing is sufficient to overcome the weight of the plane. Fixed wing aircraft therefore generally require a long runway along which to accelerate to achieve this minimum velocity and takeoff.
In contrast, rotating wing aircraft can take off and land vertically or along short runways inasmuch as powered rotation of the rotating wing provides the needed lift. This makes rotating wing aircraft particularly useful for landing in urban locations or undeveloped areas without a proper runway.
The most common rotating wing aircraft in use today are helicopters. A helicopter typically includes a fuselage, housing an engine and passenger compartment, and a rotor, driven by the engine, to provide lift. Forced rotation of the rotor causes a reactive torque on the fuselage. Accordingly, conventional helicopters require either two counter rotating rotors or a tail rotor in order to counteract this reactive torque.
Another type of rotating wing aircraft is the autogyro. An autogyro aircraft derives lift from an unpowered, freely rotating rotor or plurality of rotary blades. The energy to rotate the rotor results from a windmill-like effect of air passing through the underside of the rotor. The forward movement of the aircraft comes in response to a thrusting engine such as a motor driven propeller mounted fore or aft.
During the developing years of aviation aircraft, autogyro aircraft were proposed to avoid the problem of aircraft stalling in flight and to reduce the need for runways. The relative airspeed of the rotating wing is independent of the forward airspeed of the autogyro, allowing slow ground speed for takeoff and landing, and safety in slow-speed flight. Engines may be tractor-mounted on the front of an autogyro or pusher-mounted on the rear of the autogyro.
Airflow passing the rotary wing, alternately called rotor blades, which are tilted upward toward the front of the autogyro, act somewhat like a windmill to provide the driving force to rotate the wing, i.e. autorotation of the rotor. The Bernoulli effect of the airflow moving over the rotor surface creates lift.
Various autogyro devices in the past have provided some means to begin rotation of the rotor prior to takeoff, thus further minimizing the takeoff distance down a runway. One type of autogyro is the "gyrodyne," which includes a gyrodyne built by Fairey aviation in 1962 and the XV-1 convertiplane first flight tested in 1954. The gyrodyne includes a thrust source providing thrust in a flight direction and a large rotor for providing autorotating lift at cruising speeds. To provide initial rotation of the rotor, jet engines were secured to the tip of each blade of the rotor and powered during takeoff, landing, and hovering.
At high speeds, the direction and orientation of an autogyro may be readily controlled using conventional control surfaces such as ailerons, rudders, elevators, and the like, that are exposed to air flow over the airframe of the autogyro. Pitch and roll may also be controlled by cyclically altering the pitch of the blades in order to increase the lift at a certain point in the rotation of each blade. Pitch and roll may also be controlled by altering the angle of the mast coupling the rotor to the airframe.
In an emergency landing when an autogyro has lost power, the airspeed of the autogyro is likely to be low due to a lack of propulsion. Where cross winds are present yaw control may be critical in order to maintain the autogyro aligned with a runway. At low airspeeds, pitch and roll may still be accomplished using cyclic pitch and mast tilt controls inasmuch as the rotor typically is still auto-rotating.
However, yaw control is not readily accomplished at low air speeds using conventional control surfaces. Control surfaces, such as rudders, may not have sufficient airflow thereover at low speeds to induce a yaw moment. In addition, autogyros typically do not have a tail rotor coupled to the engine to counteract torque exerted by the engine on the rotor as do helicopters.
In view of the foregoing, it would be an advancement in the art to provide means for controlling yaw of an autogyro at low speeds and, in particular, for controlling yaw of an autogyro in the event of engine failure.

Low speed autogyro yaw control apparatus and method


This invention provides a segmented annular seal (10) the sealing leakage gaps between relatively movable components 14,16 between high and low pressure regions in a gas turbine engine, for example for sealing an engine shaft 16. The seal comprises an annular array of circumferentially spaced and radially movable arcuate seal segments (12) which extend in a continuous end to end relationship in annular housing (14) and project radially from the housing for effecting a seal against an engine shaft (16), rotor or the like. The segments (12) are located in a channel (22) in the housing (14) sized such that the segments (12) are able to follow radial movements of the shaft (16). In order to reduce an axial loading on the segments (12) that ends to cause them to seize a pressure balance region (30) vented to the upstream pressure region is formed on the downstream side of the segments (12). A second pressure balance region (42) vented to the downstream pressure region may be formed on the upstream side of the segments (12) to relieve a twisting moment acting on the segments.

This invention relates to a pressure balanced annular seal. In particular the invention concerns a segmented annular seal assembly for sealing between relatively movable components in a gas turbine engine.
The invention has for a principal objective the reduction or elimination of pressure loading on seal segments in the direction of main gas flow by use of pressure balance features acting in the opposite direction to the main direction of gas flow.
The relatively movable components of the present invention are commonly relatively rotatable, but in this case movable is intended to embrace lateral or transverse movement as well as rotational movement. It will be understood that, in use, a turning shaft, rotor or the like may also be subject to a certain amount of lateral or transverse movement. Therefore it will be understood also that such a seal will be effective even when the shaft rotor or the like is rotationally stationary.
A segmented annular seal assembly is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,203 in which a plurality of arcuate brush seal segments are disposed in a radially inwardly opening groove of a stationary component to engage the surface of a relatively rotating component. Each brush seal segment has limited radial and axial clearances with respect to the fixed housing provided by a hook or flange carried on the upstream side of each segment engaged with a slot formed in the housing. A spring is disposed between the segment and the base of the groove and biases the seal segments towards the rotating component so as to follow radial movements. It is claimed that this arrangement permits at start up high pressure flow on the upstream side to bias the segments in an axial downstream direction and also permits the high pressure to enter into the base of the groove and the radially outer face of the segments to bias the segment radially inwardly to ensure proper sealing of the bristle tips along the rotor surface.
However, a disadvantage of the arrangement is that friction between the downstream faces of the segments and the downstream wall of the groove due to the high pressure on the upstream side can cause the segments to stick to the wall and fail to track radial excursions of the rotor leading to increased seal leakage. This can lead to uneven and excessive seal wear, and it is impracticable to employ a bias force sufficient to overcome the sticking force as it would increase seal wear to unacceptable levels.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,115 a segmented seal is mounted in a seal carrier which is movable in radial directions to accommodate radial transients. The seal carrier segments are disposed in a channel creating a space on the radially outer side of the segments to which upstream pressure is supplied thereby create a bias force acting radially downwards to bias the seal portions into contact with the rotor. However, the structure of the embodiments disclosed exposes the upstream facing faces of the movable seal parts to upstream pressure, and the downstream facing faces of the movable seal parts to downstream pressure. Consequently the seal carrier segments are subject to a tilting force as a result of the difference in pressure between the upstream and downstream sides. This may lead to the segments jamming in the channel so that they cannot follow radial transient movements and suffer uneven and premature wear as a result.
In such prior art arrangements as these shaft seal segments which slide (radially in the case of axial flow, axial in the case of radial flow) suffer from high contact loading associated with the net pressure differential across them. The imbalance in pressure across the seal causes a net force in the direction of fluid flow. The segments then seize against the retaining plate/ring and segment movement is either very difficult or prohibited. The additional forces required to move the segments manifest themselves as higher loading between the seal and a relatively rotatable part or a static structure, in the case of a static seal. Where there is relative movement high wear results.


A medical instrument includes a housing with an aperture, a window component that comprises a transparent material and closes off the aperture, and a thin-walled area that surrounds the aperture.

Medical instruments must be cleaned and sterilized before every use. Sterilization is performed as a rule by autoclaving, that is, in a pure steam atmosphere at high pressure and at temperatures well over 100 degrees Celsius. Penetration of steam into an endoscope or other optical medical instrument would have disadvantageous consequences for the instrument's optical properties.
As a rule, therefore, optical medical instruments comprise hermetically sealed and insulated apertures through which light must pass in and out, for example on the distal and proximal ends of an endoscope, and which are closed off by window components made of a transparent material. Many window components are made of sapphire, which is characterized by great hardness and chemical resistance. To form a hermetically sealed connection, the edge of a sapphire window can be joined with the housing by soldering. Sapphire, however, is (single-axis) streaming-birefringent and therefore is not unconditionally suited for diagnostic methods that use polarized light.
Glasses are not birefringent but are frequently disturbed by thermally induced mechanical stresses immediately upon cooling after the soldering procedure. An additional problem consists in the fact that a few conventional glass solders are not biocompatible with advantageous mechanical properties relating to manufacturing. Therefore these glass solders cannot automatically be used for medical instruments that come into contact with the human body.


To provide a plating removing apparatus for 2-piece wheels, which can easily and beautifully remove plating at the welding planned portion on the rim inner circumferential surface and achieves 2-piece wheels with rims plated without requiring any troublesome operation, said apparatus comprising a pair of support rollers 13 horizontally arranged, a positioning member 15 that positions the rim 2 in the axial direction of the support roller 13, a pair of holding rollers 19 that hold the rim 2 between the support rollers 13 and the holding rollers 19, a rotation drive means that rotates and drives the rim 2 held between the support rollers 13 and holding rollers 19, and a grinding means that extends to an inside of the rim 2 for grinding the welding planned portion RW of the rim 2 with respect to the disk, and for removing plating of the relevant welding planned portion.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a plating removing apparatus for a two-piece wheel which removes plating of a welding planned portion on an inner circumferential surface of a rim in a the two-piece wheel which has the rim and a disk.
2. Background Art
Widely practiced vehicle wheels made of aluminum alloys and other light alloys, include a one-piece wheel integrally formed by molding, a two-piece wheel configured by dividing the wheel into two parts that are a rim and a disk, and a three-piece wheel configured by dividing the wheel into three parts that are an inner rim, an outer rim, and a disk. Wheels subjected to a treatment of chromium plating or other plating to enhance their design features are also extensively put into practical use (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 11-236681).
In general, it is common to configure a two-piece wheel by plating only a disk and a rim is not plated because of the following reasons.
That is, in the two-piece wheel, in a state that the disk is fitted and fixed to an inside of the rim by shrink-fitting, an inner circumferential surface of the rim and an outer circumferential surface of the disk are welded to integrate the two into one. In the event that the rim and the disk are subjected to a plating treatment, the two must be welded by removing plating layers of welding planned portions thereof in order to prevent welding defects of the disk with respect to the rim. Because the plating layer of the welding planned portion on the disk is outwardly exposed, it is comparatively easy to remove the plating layer manually by the use of portable grinder or the like. However, because the plating layer of the welding planned portion on the rim is formed on an inner circumferential surface of the rim, while the disk must be fixed to a proper position in the axial direction of the rim, there is a problem in that the plating layer cannot be accurately removed by hand using a portable grinder, or the like.
In addition, in place of a plating removing treatment by a portable grinder or the like, it is possible to provide a configuration in which formation of a plating layer at a welding planned portion is prevented by affixing a masking tape to the welding planned portions when a rim is subjected to a plating process. However, in such event, in order to affix the masking tape to a proper position, marks such as marking-off line must be formed on an inner circumferential surface of the rim, and the masking tape must be affixed along the marks, causing an extremely troublesome process. In addition, since the plating treatment requires a special technique which is not carried out by a wheel manufacturer but by a manufacturer specialized in the plating process, there is a problem of a labor charge increased for affixing the masking tape in the plating process, resulting in an increase of the wheel manufacturing cost. Furthermore, since an inner circumferential surface of the rim is formed with delicate irregularities, even if the masking tape is neatly affixed, parts of a welding planned portion may be plated by an invasion of plating liquid between the masking tape and the rim when the rim is immersed in the plating liquid. As shown in FIG. 10, there is yet another problem expected in a boundary part 103 adjacent to a base material part 101 in a welding planned portion of a rim 100, in which an elevated part 104 is formed along a side edge of the masking tape in a plated area 102, forming a level difference at the boundary 103 between the base material part 101 and the plated area 102. Accordingly, plating is easily exfoliated by a physical shock, and an incomplete plated area 105 including, for example, a copper plating layer in the case of chromium plating, is formed as a substrate layer by the plating liquid invaded between the masking tape and the rim, causing the plated area 102 to be easily exfoliated from the incomplete plated area 105.
Furthermore, there is considered a method to remove plating of a welding planned portion by cutting or the like in a machine process after performing a plating treatment, in place of a plating removal treatment by a portable grinder or the like. However, in such event, cutting the plated area by a single cutting treatment causes a force exerted on the plated area in the direction to exfoliate the plating when the cutting tool is withdrawn from the plated area, resulting in a problem of easy exfoliation of the plated area from the boundary adjacent to the base material portion. In addition, in order to prevent this, it is considered to insert the cutting tool from both side edges of the welding planned portion and to withdraw the cutting tool at halfway in the width direction of the welding planned portion. However, it is required to perform the cutting treatment twice, resulting in a troublesome process which is problematic.

Plating removing apparatus for two-piece wheel


A method for adjusting automatic gain control of a radio receiver begins by determining power level of a radio frequency (RF) signal received by the radio receiver to produce a determined power level. The method then continues by comparing the determined power level with a plurality of power thresholds to determine whether an automatic gain adjustment is needed. The method then continues, when the automatic gain adjustment is needed, by determining, from the comparing the determined power level with the plurality of power thresholds, a sign of the automatic gain adjustment. The method continues by determining, from the comparing the determined power level with the plurality of power thresholds, a magnitude of the automatic gain adjustment. The method continues by addressing a gain adjustment look up table for at least a portion of the radio receiver based on the magnitude to produce a gain setting. The method then continues by adjusting the automatic gain of the radio receiver based on the sign of the automatic gain adjustment and the gain setting.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems and more particularly to radio receivers used within such systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication systems are known to, support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, et cetera communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
For each wireless communication device to participate in wireless communications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.
As is also known, the receiver is coupled to the antenna and includes a low noise amplifier, programmable gain amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, a filtering stage, automatic gain control, and a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna and amplifies them. The programmable gain amplifier may further amplify the RF signals. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the amplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert the amplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF) signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IF signals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filtered signals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filtered signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.
As is further known, the signal strength of a received RF signal may vary dramatically (e.g., by 100 dB). The automatic gain control of the receiver functions to adjust the gain of the low noise amplifier, the programmable gain amplifier, and/or digital gain within the data recovery stage such that the receiver is sensitive enough to detect low power level signals and, once detected, to adjust the gain of these components to achieve nominal signal level. The automatic gain control also decreases the gain of the low noise amplifier, the programmable gain amplifier, and/or the digital gain of the data recovery stage when the received signal is a strong signal.
While such automatic gain control mechanisms work in many situations, there are some situations in which the automatic gain control does not adjust the gain of the low noise amplifier, the programmable gain amplifier, and/or the digital gain of the data recovery module. When this occurs, data is lost since the nominal signal level, which is expected for conversion to the digital domain, is not achieved.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for automatic gain control of a radio receiver that overcomes the above mentioned limitations of existing automatic gain control circuits.

Automatic gain control adjustment of a radio receiver


A voltage regulator circuit includes a digital control block, an amplifier and a transistor. The digital control block receives a first reference voltage and a feedback voltage, converts the received voltages from analog to digital signals, performs an integration operation on the converted signals, and converts the result of the integration operation to an analog signal. The amplifier is responsive to the output of the digital control block and to a regulated output voltage of the regulator circuit. The transistor has a first terminal responsive to the output of the amplifier, a second terminal that receives the input voltage being regulated, and a third terminal that supplies the regulated output voltage. The transistor may be an NMOS or a bipolar NPN transistor. The feedback voltage may be generated by dividing the regulated output voltage. The digital control block optionally generates a biasing signal to bias the amplifier.

Low dropout regulators are widely used for powering electronic circuit blocks. In applications where the power conversion efficiency is not particularly demanding, they are preferred over switching regulators for to their simplicity and ease of use.
FIG. 1 is a transistor schematic diagram of an LDO regulator 10, as known in the prior art. LDO regulator 10 includes a pair of amplifiers 12 and 14, and a pass transistor 16. Amplifier 14 together with pass transistor 16 form a fast and high current unity gain voltage follower adapted to maintain output voltage VOUT within a predefined range in response to a fast load transient. Amplifier 12 is used to form an outer feedback loop adapted to control the DC accuracy of regulator 10. In order to guarantee stable operation while satisfying output voltage accuracy requirements, system partitioning is made such that amplifier 14 has relatively low voltage gain and high bandwidth whereas amplifier 12 has a relatively high voltage gain and low bandwidth. Amplifier 12 additionally has a requirement for low input referred offset voltage as it directly impacts the accuracy of the output voltage of regulator 10. The low bandwidth, high gain and low input offset requirements are generally satisfied with specialized manufacturing processes which supports integrated capacitors and components with good matching properties, which are also expensive compared to non-specialized manufacturing processes. Additionally, the resulting amplifier 10 is usually one of the largest circuit blocks in size, compared to other blocks in the LDO.

Hybrid low dropout voltage regulator circuit


A semiconductor device fabricating method is described. The semiconductor device fabricating method comprises forming an epitaxial layer on a substrate, wherein the epitaxial layer is the same conductive type as the substrate. A first doped region having the different conductive type from the epitaxial layer is formed in the epitaxial layer. An annealing process is performed to diffuse dopants in the first doped region. A second doped region and an adjacent third doped region are formed in the first doped region. The second doped region is a different conductive type from that of the first doped region, and the third doped region is the same conductive type as that of the first doped region. A gate structure is formed on the epitaxial layer covering a portion of the second and the third doped regions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same, and in particular, to a bipolar-CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor)-DMOS (double diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor) (BCD transistor) and method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bipolar-CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor)-DMOS (double diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor) (hereinafter "BCD") process, which was developed by ST Microelectronics corporation, is used for system on chip (SoC) product fabrication. ST Microelectronics's BCD process, combines fabrication of bipolar, CMOS and DMOS processes for a single device.
The BCD process is used for high voltage, high power and high integration density. For requirements of high voltage, a reduced surface field (RESURF) of a device is needed. FIG. 1 is a conventional P-type BCD transistor 150. During the conventional BCD process, an N-type buried region 103 is needed to be formed in a substrate 100 and an epitaxial layer 102 by ion implantation and diffusion processes. Also, an N-type isolation region (N-ISO region) 104 is formed in the epitaxial layer 102, which is connected to the N-type buried region 103. Next, a drain region 108, a lateral diffused drain region 109 and a source region 110 are formed in a portion of the epitaxial layer 102 surrounding by the N-type buried region 103 and the N-ISO region 104. In the conventional BCD process, the drain region 108 and the surrounding lateral diffused drain region 109 are used for RESURF requirements. The lateral diffused drain region 109 has less dopant concentration than the drain region 108, thereby resulting in a high breakdown field (BVdss), increased chip area and increased on resistance (Ron). Thus, typically, conventional BCD transistors have high Ron/BVdss ratios, thereby having less reliability.
Therefore, a semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same with high breakdown field (BVdss) and low on resistance (Ron) is needed.

Method for fabricating semiconductor device, method for fabricating bipolar-CMOS-DMOS

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation


A thermosetting resin composition contains (A) an imide compound having a maleimide group, (B) an epoxy resin, (C) a phenolic resin, and optionally, (D) an aromatic polymer/organopolysiloxane copolymer. Component (B) and/or (C) includes a compound containing a naphthalene ring having an allyl group and preferably, a compound containing a naphthalene ring and a double bond conjugated with an aromatic ring. The composition is easily workable and cures to products having improved heat resistance, low thermal expansion, and low water absorption.

Thermosetting resin compositions are used as electrically insulating materials, structural materials, adhesives and the like by casting, impregnating, laminating or molding. The recent trend is toward severer requirements on materials used in these applications, and especially the heat resistance of materials is an important requirement.
Polyimide and epoxy resins form typical classes of commonly used thermosetting resin compositions. Polyimide resins have good heat resistance, but require long-term high-temperature heating to process, that is, having a processing disadvantage. Epoxy resins which are modified to improve heat resistance are easier to process, but poor in mechanical and electrical properties at high temperatures and long-term heat degradation resistance, and high-level heat resistance.
There are known some substitutes for the polyimide and epoxy resins, including a thermosetting resin mixture comprising a polyimide and an alkenylphenol or alkenylphenol ether (Japanese Patent Application Kokai=JP-A No. 994/1977) and a thermosetting resin composition comprising a maleimide compound, a polyallylated phenol and an epoxy resin (Japanese Patent Publication 57-28416). The polyallylated phenol used in the latter composition is obtained by Claisen rearrangement of a polyallyl ether or has the structure that generates a phenolic hydroxyl group through Claisen rearrangement upon heat curing. Each substituting allyl group and the hydroxyl or ether group are at ortho positions on a common aromatic ring, and in the case of novolak type resin compositions, these groups tend to remain unreacted even after curing, leaving problems in as-cured properties and heat degradation resistance at high temperatures.


A transparent organic light-emitting display device is described herein. The transparent substrate includes a display area and non-display area adjacent to the display area. An organic light-emitting element is disposed on the display area of the transparent substrate. A first power line is disposed on the display area of the transparent substrate. The first power line supplies power to the organic light-emitting element. A first circuit board comprises a first power supply provided on a first side of the transparent substrate and a second circuit board comprises a second power supply provided on a second side of the transparent substrate. The first power supply is configured to receive power from the second power supply via the first power line. An additional interconnection film to supply power to the first power supply is not required, and thus the width of the bezel can be reduced.

Field of Technology
The present disclosure relates to a transparent display device and a transparent organic light-emitting display device with reduced width and thickness of their bezels.
Description of the Related Art
An organic light-emitting display (OLED) device is capable of emitting light and thus does not require an additional light source, unlike a liquid crystal display (LCD). Therefore, an OLED device can be made lighter and thinner than a LCD device. Further, an OLED device has advantages in that it consumes less power, realizes better colors and has good response speed, view angle and contrast ratio (CR) than a LCD device. For at least these reasons, an OLED device is considered as the next generation display.

Transparent display device having a minimized bezel


A T2 preparation sequence uses a segmented BIR-4 adiabatic pulse with two substantially equal delays and is insensitive to B1 field variations and can simultaneously suppress fat signals with low specific absorption rate (SAR). An adiabatic reverse half passage pulse is applied followed by a predetermined delay. An adiabatic full passage pulse is applied followed by a substantially equal delay, followed by an adiabatic half passage pulse. Fat signal suppression is achieved by increasing or decreasing either the first delay or the second delay.

Modern medical imaging methods permit physicians and researchers to more accurately diagnose, treat, and investigate a wide variety of disorders. Such imaging methods are based on various technologies including acoustic waves (ultrasound), radioactive decay (positron emission tomography), and nuclear magnetic resonance (magnetic resonance imaging). Each of these imaging techniques has its own characteristic advantages and disadvantages, but medical researchers, physicians and other practitioners continue to seek higher resolution, more reliable, less invasive, and more easily interpretable imaging systems and methods.
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging systems generally use a static magnetic field (B0) and a radio frequency magnetic field (B1) to produce images. Unfortunately, the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) obtained with B0 field strengths of about 1.5 T can limit the application of this technique. Application of higher magnetic fields (for example, 3 T) can improve SNR, but these higher magnetic fields are associated with undesirable changes in off-resonance susceptibilities, magnetic field inhomogeneities, and increased specific absorption rate (SAR). Because B0 and B1 cannot be controlled with arbitrary precision, especially at high field strengths, MR signals and images can be degraded by imperfections such as non-uniformities in these magnetic fields.
One important type of MR imaging is so-called T2-weighted imaging in which image contrast is based primarily on spin-spin relaxation time constants (so-called "transverse relaxation") referred to as T2. Conventional T2 prep sequences used to prepare a specimen for extracting a T2-weighted image consist of an initial 90° pulse to convert a substantial part of the longitudinal magnetization in the image field of view to transverse magnetization, followed by a combination of delays and RF pulses designed to refocus this transverse magnetization. Magnetization changes due to T2 relaxation accumulate during these pulses and delays. A final 90° pulse is applied to return a substantial part of the refocused magnetization to the longitudinal axis. The T2 relaxation between the application of the two 90° pulses provides the desired image contrast between sample components with different T2 relaxation rates.
Some conventional T2 preparation (T2 prep) sequences have been designed to be robust to flow as well as to inhomogeneites in both B0 and B1. Such sequences use opposing pairs of so-called Malcom-Levitt (MLEV) pulses that can compensate pulse shape imperfections in the RF magnetic field B1. Two representative sequences of such MLEV weighted composite T2 prep sequences are shown in FIGS. 1A-1B. Pulses indicated as 180x0 are composite pulses, each consisting of a 90°x180°y90°x pulse sequence. Such MLEV weighted composite pulses can compensate some imperfections in B1, with larger numbers of such pulses providing increased compensation. However, increasing the number of MLEV pulses results in an increase in specific absorption rate (SAR), thus limiting the use of large numbers of MLEV pulses, especially at high B0. Thus, MLEV pulse based T2 prep is unsatisfactory in many applications.
Combinations of T2 prep and spectrally selective fat suppression (FatSat) sequences are commonly used to enhance contrast in magnetic resonance images. In a typical T2 prep sequence, the T2 weighting is achieved by exciting the magnetization in the transverse plane with a 90 degree tip-down pulse, a train of equally-spaced composite 180 degree pulses with Malcom-Levitt (MLEV) phase cycling, and a 90° tip-up pulse. The most commonly used technique for suppression of the fat signal is based on excitation at the resonance frequency of the lipid protons. For most sequences, a narrow band RF pulse selectively excites the lipid magnetization into the transverse plane. This transverse magnetization is then dephased by a spoiling gradient to suppress the signal from fat in the acquisition sequences that follow the fat suppression sequence. However, conventional fat saturation methods are based on a chemically selective RF pulse which is typically relatively long (>10 ms at 1.5 T and >5 ms at 3 T). In some applications, such a pulse can be associated with significant increases in SAR and can require significant additional image acquisition time. In view of these and other disadvantages, improved imaging methods are needed to obtain the advantages of high field imaging with reduced sensitivity to imperfections in B0 and B1, reduced SAR, and fat saturation with reduced SAR.

Method for spectrally selective B1 insensitive T2 preparation contrast enhancement for high field magnetic resonance imaging

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health


There is provided a jitter amplifier for amplifying or attenuating a jitter component contained in an input signal, having a jitter demodulating section for demodulating the jitter component from the input signal and an amplifying circuit for amplifying or attenuating the jitter component by controlling phase of the input signal based on the jitter component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a jitter amplifier, a jitter amplification method, an electronic device, a test apparatus and a testing method. More specifically, the invention relates to a jitter amplifier for amplifying or attenuating a jitter component contained in an input signal and to an electronic device and a test apparatus having such jitter amplifier
2. Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a PLL (Phase Locked Loop) as a circuit for outputting a jitter component contained in an input signal by changing it by a predetermined gain G. However, an original purpose of use of the PLL is to generate an oscillating signal synchronized with a reference signal and is not to change and output the jitter component
The PLL has a phase detector, a loop filter, a voltage controlled oscillator and a frequency divider. The phase detector compares phase of a predetermined reference signal (input signal) with that of an oscillating signal and outputs a control signal corresponding to their phase difference.
The loop filter passes a predetermined frequency component of the control signal. The voltage controlled oscillator generates the oscillating signal having frequency corresponding to voltage level of the control signal passed by the loop filter. This oscillating signal is fed back to the phase detector via the frequency divider. Having such arrangement, the PLL generates the oscillating signal synchronized with the reference signal.
Here, a transfer function of the phase detector will be denoted as Kd, a transfer function of the loop filter as F(s) and a transfer function of the voltage controlled oscillator as K0/s and a frequency dividing ratio of the frequency divider is assumed to be 1. In this case, an open-loop transfer function HOPEN(s) of the PLL may be expressed by Equation 1 as follows:
                                          H            OPEN                                          (            s            )                          =                              Kd            ·                          F                                            (                s                )                                      ·                          K              0                                s                                    Eq        .                                          1
Further, a closed-loop transfer function HCLOSED(s) may be expressed by using the open-loop transfer function by Equation 2 as follows:
                                          H            CLOSED                                          (            s            )                          =                                            H              OPEN                                                  (              s              )                                            1            +                                          H                OPEN                                                          (                s                )                                                                        Eq        .                                          2
From the above, a gain G(ω) of the PLL may be expressed by Equation 3 in a control zone as follows:
                              G                                (            ω            )                          =                              ±                                                                          H                  CLOSED                                                                  (                  jω                  )                                                                            =                      ±                                                                                              H                    OPEN                                                                          (                    jω                    )                                                                    1                  +                                                            H                      OPEN                                                                                (                      jω                      )                                                                                                                                          Eq        .                                          3
Here, ω is angular frequency.
Accordingly, the gain G(ω) of the PLL is in a range of 1 or less and −1 or more.
The PLL is designed so that the gain G(ω) is almost zeroed in general in order to reduce jitter in the oscillating signal. However, the gain G(ω) must be almost 1 in a low offset frequency range in order to synchronize the phase of the oscillating signal with the reference signal. Therefore, it is unable to attenuate the jitter in the low offset frequency even if the PLL is used as a jitter attenuator.
Still more, because the gain G(ω) of the PLL is in the range of 1 or less and −1 or more as described above, it is unable to amplify the jitter component of the reference signal. That is, the PLL is incapable of functioning as a jitter amplifier.

Jitter amplifier, jitter amplification method, electronic device, testing apparatus, and testing method