A liquid phase microextraction (LPME) method was developed for the determination of sulfur compounds in crude oils and its fractions (e.g diesel). Wide ranges of sulfur compounds including benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene and their derivatives were used as model compounds for extraction. After extraction, the analyses were performed by gas chromatography equipped with sulfur chemiluminescence detector (GC-SCD). Various experiments conditions influencing the extraction such as extraction times, extraction solvents, solvent volume and quantitative parameters were optimized to achieve higher extraction efficiency and high accuracy. The optimized conditions were applied to the determination of sulfur compounds in crude oil and diesel.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a hollow fiber membrane supported liquid-phase microextraction (HFM-LPME) method for determining sulfur compound concentration in a hydrocarbon sample and a hollow fiber membrane supported liquid-phase microextraction (HFM-LPME) system for determining sulfur compound concentration in a hydrocarbon sample.
Description of the Related Art
The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Fossil fuel is the main source of world wide's energy, petroleum products such as diesel is extensively used as a fuel for transportation systems (C. Song, Catalysis Today 86 (2003) 211; J. H. Kim, X. Ma, A. Zhon, C. Song, Catal Today 111 (2006) 74—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Crude oil consists of more than 200 sulfur compounds which includes derivatives of thiophenes and benzothiophene in the range of 0.01 to 3% as a total sulfur (C. Song, X. Ma, Appl. Catal. B Environmental, 41 (2003) 207; P. T. Vasudevan, J. L. Firrro, Catalysis Rev.—Science Eng. 38(1996)161; M. R. Gary F. Khorasheh, Ind. Eng. Chem, 17 (1978) 196; S. Zhang, D. Liue, W. Deng, Energy Fuels 21 (2007) 3057—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The sulfur content in petroleum product increases along with the boiling points of the distillate fractions (P. S. Tam, J. W. Eldridge, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 29 (1990) 321; A. Stanislaus, A. Marafi, M. S. Rana, Catalysis Today 153, (2010) 1—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The sulfur compounds in petroleum products significantly damage the environmental and also leads to undesirable effects in refining processes such as deactivation of catalysts (A. Marafi, A. Al-Hindi, A. Stanislaus, Fuel Process. Technol. 88 (2007) 905; X. L. Ma, K. Sakanishi, I. Mochida, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 34 (1995) 748—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Sulfur compounds generate SOx and particulate emissions during combustion process (X. Ma, S. Velu, J. H. Kim, C. Song, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 56 (2005)137; M. M. Mariq, R. E. Chase, N. Xu, P. M. Laing, Environ. Sci. Technol., 36 (2002) 283; A. Sydbom, A. Blomberg, S. Parnia, N. Stenfors, T. Sandstrom, S.- E. Dahlen, Eur. Respir. J. 17 (2001) 733; I. Vergov, I. Shishkova, Petrol. Coal. 51 (2009) 136—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The presence of SOx in the exhaust gas is also one of the leading causes of acid rain (L. Hylander, M. Goodsite, Sci. Tot. Environ. 368 (2006) 352; Y. Shiraishi, T. Hirari, Eng. Chem. Res. 37 (1998) 218—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). To improve the air quality, environmental regulations have been implemented in many parts of the world to reduce the SOx by restricting the emission level to less than 10 mg L−1 (N. Gupta, P. Roychoudhury, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 66 (2005) 356; F. Ali, A. Malki, Fuel Process. Technol. 42 (1995) 35; J. D. Holbery, K. R. Seddon, Green Chem 10 (2008) 87; S. T. Oyama, J. Catal. 216 (2003) 343—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Analytical methods capable of detecting sulfur in low concentrations from complex sample matrices are highly demanding.
Quantitative determination of sulfur compounds in crude oils are a challenging task due to the complicated sample matrix. The American Petroleum Institute (API) gravity and viscosity of are higher for crude oils and diesel, traditional sample preparation methods are not effective. Based on the physical and chemical properties of the samples several American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods based on gas chromatography methods have been reported for quantitative measurement of sulfur compounds (C. L. Hemler, L. F. Smith, in: R. A. Meyers (Ed.), Handbook of Petroleum Refining Processes, McGraw-Hill, 2004—incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). To avoid the sample preparation prior to sample introduction into GC system, crude oils were simply diluted with organic solvents (P. K. Niccum, C. R. Santner, in: R. A. Meyers (Ed.), Handbook of Petroleum Refining Processes, McGraw-Hill, Texas, 2004—incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The metallic constituents (Ni and V could be as high as 1000 μg g−1) that also cause the greatest concern for GC analysis (J. G. Speight, The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum, Taylor & Francis, New York, 2006—incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Selectivity of the ASTM method relates on the instrumental conditions for example, ASTM D5623, ASTM D3328, ASTM D6228 methods were reported for sulfur analysis in petrochemical matrices using GC with pulsed flame photometric detector (PFPD) and ASTM D5504 was reported for GC with sulfur chemiluminescence detection (Determination of Sulfur Compounds in Natural Gas and Gaseous Fuels by Gas Chromatography and Chemiluminescence, ASTM D5504 (05.06), ASTM, Philadelphia, Pa., 2002; ASTM Standard D 3328-06, Standard Test Method for Comparison of Waterborne Petroleum Oils by Gas Chromatography, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa., www.astm.org; ASTM Standard D 6228-98, Standard Test Method for Determination of Sulfur Compounds in Natural Gas and Gaseous Fuels by Gas Chromatography and Flame Photometric Detection, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa., www.astm.org; ASTM Standard D 5623-94, Standard Test Method for Sulfur Compounds in Light Petroleum Liquids by Gas Chromatography and Sulfur Selective Detection, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa., www.astm.org; ASTM Standard D 5623-94, Standard Test Method for Sulfur Compounds in Light Petroleum Liquids by Gas Chromatography and Sulfur Selective Detection, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa., www.astm.org—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). All these ASTM methods, samples were directly analyzed with series of dilutions. Large volume dilution may lead to poor quantitation and the particulates in crude oil might contaminate the GC injection port (Paola A. Mello, Juliana S. F. Pereira, Marcia F. Mesko, Juliano S. Barin, Erico M. M. Flores, Anal. Chim. Acta. 746 (2012) 15—incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).
More environmentally-friendly alternatives to conventional methods have been disclosed for determination of sulfur compounds in other sample matrices which includes solid-phase microextraction, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction, and solid-phase extraction (U. C. Meier, J. Chromatogr. A. 1286 (2013) 159; V. P. Jofré, M. V. Assof, M. L. Fanzone, H. C. Goicoechea, L. D. Martinez, M. F. Silva, Anal. Chim. Acta. 683 (2010) 126; E. Kabir, K- H. Kim, Microchem. J. 103 (2012) 42—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). However, these methods have not been investigated for the complex sulfur compound detection in complex sample matrices such as crude oil and heavy diesel samples.
Hollow fiber membrane supported liquid-phase microextraction (HFM-LPME) has been reported for extraction of various classes of analytes from various complex sample matrices such as beverages, urine, soil, waste water, and oil spills in sediment samples (Xiong J, Hu B. J Chromatogr A. 1193 (2008) 7; Li Xu, C. Basheer, H. K. Lee, J. Chromatogr A. 1216 (2009) 701; Q. Xiao, C. Yu, J. Xing, B. Hu, J. Chromatogr A. 1125 (2006) 133—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). HFM-LPME is a fast, simple and inexpensive solvent minimized sample preparation method. The LPME combines extraction, sample cleanup and sample preconcentration in a single step. The porous HFM membrane acts as a filtering device that eliminates interfering particles. After extraction the clean extract is suitable for direct instrumental analyses. Thus, HFM-LPME has the potential for selective extraction of analytes from complex matrices. The technique is based on the distribution of analytes between microliter volumes of organic phase (acceptor phase) and the sample (donor phase).
The current disclosure describes a single step HFM-LPME for the determination of low and high concentrations of sulfur compounds in crude oils and diesel samples.

Simple method for the detection of sulfur compounds in crude oils and diesel

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology


An optical pickup records information on an optical recording medium and retrieves information from the optical recording medium by radiating a light beam on the optical recording medium. The optical pickup includes a light source which emits the light beam. The optical pickup also includes an object lens which directs the convergent light beam to a recording layer of the optical recording medium. The optical pickup further includes an aberration correction lens assembly located between the light source and the object lens. The aberration correction lens assembly includes at least one movable lens which is movable in an optical axis direction. The aberration correction lens assembly moves the movable lens to convert the light beam to a convergent light beam or a divergent light beam so as to correct spherical aberration. A distance between a principal plane of the aberration correction lens assembly on a light emergent side and a principal plane of the object lens falls within a range determined in accordance with a numerical aperture of the object lens, a focal length of the aberration correction lens assembly on the light emergent side, and a focal length of the object lens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup for recording information on a recording layer of an optical-type information recording medium such as optical disc and for retrieving (playing back) information from the recording layer by radiating a convergent light beam on the recording layer, and more particularly to an optical system used for such optical pickup.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent times, optical discs are widely utilized as means for recording and retrieving information or data (e.g., image/video data, voice/sound data, and computer data). For example, high density recording type optical discs which are called DVDs (digital versatile discs) are marketed.
In order to increase the recording capacity, a next generation optical disc system is studied. In such optical disc system, it is desired that a violet laser having a short wavelength is used as a light source, and an optical pickup includes an object lens having a large numerical aperture (e.g., 0.8 or more). This would make it possible to record data (or information) on an optical disc at a density greater than DVD.
In general, a cover layer is placed on an uppermost recording layer of an optical disc. The cover layer is a light transmissive layer. When an object lens has a large numerical aperture, spherical aberration often occurs if a thickness of the cover layer deviates from a reference (standard) value, because the light beam passes through the cover layer when recording and retrieving the data. If the spherical aberration occurs in a great quantity, the object lens cannot show an originally designed (expected) spatial frequency characteristic (MTF: modulation transfer function). In particular, jitter increases due to irregularity in the cover layer thickness when short marks and pits are recorded and scanned (read, retrieved).
In order to solve such inconvenience, it is necessary to correct (compensate for) the spherical aberration resulting from the cover layer thickness irregularity. It is also necessary to correct another spherical aberration resulting from the object lens shape irregularity, which inevitably occurs during an object lens manufacturing process. To this end, use of an expander lens assembly, which has two lens (concave lens and convex lens), in an optical pickup is proposed in for example Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 2000-131603. Alternative resolution can be found in Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 11-259906, which has a mechanism to move a collimator lens.
When the expander lens assembly is used to correct the spherical aberration, a parallel light beam is transformed to a convergent light beam, a divergent light beam or another parallel light beam having a slightly different diameter by the expander lens assembly before the light beam is incident to the object lens, so that the light beam which has passed through the object lens has certain spherical aberration to counterbalance another spherical aberration which will be generated at the cover layer. If the cover layer has the reference thickness, the expander lens assembly changes (transforms) the parallel light beam to another parallel light beam having a slightly different diameter before the light beam enters the object lens. If the object lens is designed such that spherical aberration produced when the light beam passes through the object lens will be counterbalanced by spherical aberration produced at the cover layer having the reference thickness, then a spot created on a recording layer by the convergent light beam which has passed through the cover layer has no spherical aberration. On the other hand, if the cover layer's thickness deviates from the reference value, the expander lens assembly changes the parallel light beam to the convergent or divergent light beam before the light beam enters the object lens. The expander lens assembly changes the light beam such that spherical aberration produced when the convergent or divergent light beam passes through the object lens will be counterbalanced by spherical aberration produced at the cover layer. As a result, there is no spherical aberration on the recording layer.
For some of the high-density optical disc systems, it is desired to use a DPP (differential push pull) method for detection of tracking errors, which utilizes multiple beams, or to use a CTC (cross talk canceler) method for high density recordation.
If the optical pickup includes an optical system for spherical aberration correction such as expander lens assembly, and multiple beams are used, then spot-to-spot intervals (spot distance) of the multiple beams on the recording layer change upon actuation of the spherical aberration correcting optical system.
The change in the beam spot intervals deteriorates sensitivity of the tracking error detection in the DPP method, and changes a delay time between a-main beam and a sub-beam in the CTC method.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Optical pickup including aberration correction lens assembly


An apparatus for providing for virtual communication and collaboration comprises a collaborative virtual environment (CVE) application executing within a distributed data processing system, and a navigation module implemented within the CVE application. The CVE application provides a virtual world represented as a grid of an interconnected set of locations each divided into a set of zones and each having an assigned context through a user interface provided to a plurality of users through one or more client systems. The CVE provides each user with a respective avatar representation for navigating and interacting within the locations of the virtual world. The navigation module provides a user interface element and automatically directs the avatar representation to traverse the set of zones the set of locations of the virtual world in a particular order of locations and at a particular.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to computer-based virtual worlds, and more particularly, to navigation and interaction in computer-based virtual worlds implemented as a metaphor for real-world meeting places.
2. Description of Background
The existence of an environment where people can have and share experiences is acknowledged as a primary requirement for effective communication and collaboration. Thus, collaboration in the real world typically occurs at specific locations at which people can see and hear each other, and thereby can communicate. The physical locations where people meet have boundaries (for example, walls) that separate the locations from one another. These boundaries server to limit what people can see and hear, and therefore allows these locations to provide a means to structure collaboration. Physical locations can also provide a means to structure information. Information objects such as books, notes, and presentations can be placed in a location and arranged in sublocations to enable people to find and organize specific information. Furthermore, physical locations can be designed for specific types of work or collaboration. For example, an individual's office is designed for individual work, while a conference room is designed for cooperative work among multiple participants.
The development of computer-mediated communication has created potential for people to collaborate and interact with others in new ways. For example, a collaborative virtual environment (CVE) is a computer-based, distributed, virtual space where people can meet and interact with other, with agents, or with virtual objects. CVEs are implemented to reflect real world interaction by providing a text-based system for interaction or a two or three-dimensional graphical virtual world that is visualized for virtual interaction. Virtual worlds are built on coding protocols that use the metaphor of an imaginary place or the real world without its physical limitations to define what can and cannot be done. A virtual world can be represented using graphics, images, video, force feedback, and audio data to define a representation of a place that can be accessed by one or more users within a distributed computer system. Typically, the virtual world enables multiple users to simultaneously perceive and interact with the virtual world and with each other through different computers that are connected by a network. For example, virtual communities such as Linden Lab's "Second Life" provide a three-dimensional, persistent virtual world in which users interact with each other (socially and economically), the local environment, and with software agents using virtual characters in a cyber space. The degree of interaction between the users and the virtual world is implemented by one or more computer applications that govern such interactions as simulated physics, exchange of information between players, and the like.
User participation in a virtual world can be driven by, for example, social, educational, and business motivations. While virtual worlds have primarily been adopted to offer a new spaces for promoting socialization, they have also exhibited potential to support collaboration by providing new ways to communicate and increasing the awareness of the participants and available resources, without the physical space and time constraints of the real world. For example, while an individual who is geographically distant from a location where an impromptu conference is being held would be physically unable to attend to conference (for example, the individual may be an employee at an off-site location or a satellite office), this individual would be able to participate in such a conference were it held in a virtual world via a network. Nevertheless, the limitations of the provided for virtual communication may still prevent this individual from sharing physical information objects such as notes, papers, and presentations with the other participants. Therefore, while virtual worlds provide a mechanism through which better and more effective collaboration can be enabled by providing new ways for people to interact and communicate, the nature of the interactions between users in a virtual world is limited by the constraints of the system implementing the virtual world.
Accordingly, it desirable to implement information and communication technologies to support large-scale, distributed enterprises to improve the efficiency and quality of collaboration, communication, and information gathering and dissemination.

Apparatus for navigation and interaction in a virtual meeting place

International Business Machines Corporation


A laser projection apparatus including a liquid crystal optical element of a transparent and scattering type having a liquid crystal and solidified matrix composite. A laser beam having a wavelength of approximately 1 .mu.m emitted from a laser beam source is supplied to the liquid crystal optical element, and a projection optical system operates for reduction-projection a laser beam emitted from the liquid crystal optical element onto an object. Further, with respect to a certain pixel of the liquid crystal optical element, there are overlapped portions between lead lines of a common electrode and lead lines of a segment electrode in the vicinity of the pixel, a width W.sub.1 (.mu.m) of the overlapped portion, a reduction projection ratio (projection by 1/N) and a gap d(.mu.m) between electrodes of the liquid crystal optical element satisfy the relation, W.sub.1 +d<10.times.N. Further, the refractive index anisotropy .DELTA.n of the employed liquid crystal is 0.18 or higher, the viscosity .eta.(cSt) thereof is equal to or less than 60, the refractive index anistropy .DELTA.n, a means particle diameter R(.mu.m) of liquid crystal which is dispersed and held in a solidified matrix and the gap d(.mu.m) between electrodes satisfy the following relationships, (1) 0.5<.DELTA.n.multidot.R<1.3, and (2) 3.5<.DELTA.n.multidot.d<8.0. A multiplexed driving is employed for driving the liquid crystal optical element.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a liquid crystal optical element of a transparent and scattering type for controlling a near infrared ray laser beam and a laser projection apparatus employing the liquid crystal optical element.
2. Discussion of Background
As a projection apparatus employing a YAG laser, there are, for instance, a laser material processing apparatus for working an object, a marking apparatus for marking characters or figures, and the like, which are widely used. As the conventional technology, an apparatus for performing mechanical scanning by employing a scanner, an apparatus employing a fixed mask of a metal or the like, an apparatus employing a conventional twisted nematic (TN) type liquid crystal optical element as a mask and the like are pointed out.
For example, a transparent type liquid crystal element having polarizing plates and a laser marker which irradiates a laser beam reflected with a pattern information of the transparent type liquid crystal element on an object to be worked, are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11088/1989 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,835).
Further, a laser marker employing an STN liquid crystal mask is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 241681/1990.
A laser marker provided with polarizers and optical fibers is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 193281/1991.
A laser marker which is characterized in that the laser marker is provided with both a fixed display portion and a liquid crystal performing variable display, is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 264178/1991.
A laser marker apparatus has recently been known which employs a transparent and scattering type liquid crystal optical element having an operational mode which is different from those of the above.
For instance, a laser letter marking apparatus employing a transparent and scattering type liquid crystal mask is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 180285/1991. Further, a laser marking apparatus employing a scattering type liquid crystal is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 241683/1992. However, there is no detailed description on the inner structure of a scattering type liquid crystal optical element in the laser letter marking apparatus.
In the conventional technology it is extremely difficult to mark arbitrary figures or characters, or work an arbitrary portion of object, and the laser marker apparatus is complicated by itself. In case of employing a TN type liquid crystal optical element, the arbitrarily of the apparatus is improved by controlling the switching-on and the switching-off of the respective pixels.
However, since two sheets of polarizer are employed in the TN type liquid crystal optical element, the coefficient of utilization of laser beam is low. Accordingly, the conventional technology has such drawbacks in that the sheets of polarizer are heated and are apt to be deteriorated by intensifying the laser beam.
A guest/host (GH) type liquid crystal optical element may be employed to cope with the drawbacks. However, the GH type liquid crystal optical element has the disadvantage of insufficient ON/OFF contrast ratio.
A system is proposed which employs a mask of a transparent and scattering type liquid crystal optical element which employs a liquid crystal and solidified matrix composite wherein liquid crystal is dispersed in a matrix. This transparent and scattering type optical element is provided with an advantage wherein the coefficient of utilization of laser beam is high and a high contrast ratio can be provided.
However, when the conventional liquid crystal and solidified matrix composite which is employed in the application in use of visible light wavelength region, is simply utilized, a characteristic thereof (such as threshold value characteristic) at the wavelength of near infrared ray, that is employed, is not sufficient, it is difficult to form a high density information at one time by a time-sharing (multiplexed) driving, and, therefore, a high processing and marking characteristics has not been achieved.
The multiplex driving is an indispensable driving method in forming an image by employing a number of pixels. The multiplexed driving is necessary even in case of low pixel numbers, for instance, in a 36.times.36 dots matrix, since the pixel number is 1296, and 1297 terminals are required in the static driving. By contrast, in the multiplexed driving, only 650 terminals are required in case of 1/2 duty, and 328 terminals, in case of 1/4 duty.
However, in case of forming electrodes to perform the multiplex driving, when the pixel number exceeds a certain value, there causes inevitably overlapped portions wherein lines of segment electrodes and lines of common electrodes are overlapped. These overlapped portions of electrodes adversely influence a projected image.

Liquid crystal optical element and a laser projection apparatus using polymer dispersed liquid crystal


A bill position adjustment method and system for bill acceptor is disclosed to include a body with an insertion slot and a bill passage, a transmission mechanism for transferring an inserted bill, a recognition device for recognizing the authenticity and value of an inserted bill, an entrance sensor and a stoppage sensor mounted in the bill passage for controlling the transmission mechanism to transfer the inserted bill into position for recognition, a bill passage adjustment mechanism for adjusting the width of the bill passage to correct the direction of an inserted bill into accurate alignment with the recognition device, and a bill sensor mounted in a sensor zone in the insertion slot for detecting the width of an inserted bill and controlling the bill passage adjustment mechanism to adjust the width of the bill passage subject to the detection result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bill acceptor for use with an automatic vending machine and more particularly, to a bill position adjustment method and system for bill acceptor, which automatically adjust the width of the bill passage to correct the direction of an inserted bill into accurate alignment with a recognition device for accurate recognition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Following fast development of technology, the distance among people has been greatly shortened, our mode of living has been changed, requesting convenience and rapidness. In consequence, different automatic vending machines, auto teller machines, bill acceptors and many other automatic service machines are developed and intensively used public places to serve people without serviceman. These automatic machines are highly invited for the advantage of saving much labor and bringing convenience to people.
Further, to avoid direct loss due to counterfeiting and to avoid inadvertently passing counterfeit bills to consumers, a bill acceptor has recognition means to recognize the authenticity of a bill before receiving it. However, the bill passage of a bill acceptor is specifically designed for a particular bill of one specific width. Because different bills issued from different countries have different sizes (length, width and thickness) and different anti-counterfeit characteristics at different locations. A bill that is inserted into a bill acceptor must be kept in accurate alignment with the recognition device so that the recognition device can accurate recognize the anti-counterfeit characteristics. If an inserted bill is biased, the recognition device may reject the bill due to a recognition error. In this case, the user must insert the bill again, causing inconvenience.
Further, after recognition of a bill to be a true bill, a transmission mechanism is controlled to transfer the bill to a bill box. If a bill is biased when it is being transferred to the bill box, it may be curved in the bill box, lowering the available space of the bill box, or jammed in the bill entrance of the bill box, causing a machine failure.
There is known a bill acceptor that has two clamping arms arranged at two opposite lateral sides of the bill passage and movable relative to each other for holding an inserted bill in accurate alignment with the recognition device. However, this design is still not satisfactory in function because of the following drawbacks:    1. The bill acceptor fits only one specific kind of bills having a specific width.    2. When a wrinkled and softened bill is inserted into the bill acceptor, the bill will be deformed after clamped by the two clamping arms, causing the recognition device unable to accurate recognize the anti-counterfeit characteristics of the bill or the transmission mechanism unable to transfer the bill positively.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a bill acceptor that eliminates the aforesaid problems.

Bill position adjustment method and system for bill acceptor

Internatinal Currency Technologies Corp.


A food slicer has a support member including a base portion and an upstanding portion integrally formed with the base portion. The upstanding portion includes a rotating cutting blade for slicing food product. The base portion includes a food product table slidably secured thereto for movement across the cutting blade for holding product while it is being sliced. An adjustable gage plate is provided for determining the thickness of a food product to be sliced. A sharpening mechanism for sharpening the cutting blade as needed is removably secured to a portion of the product table to provide accurate sharpening of the cutting blade. The sharpening mechanism includes a first rotating sharpening member and a second deburring member where the first and second members are mounted independent from each other.

The basic design of both manual and automatic food slicers has proven to be quite effective and durable throughout the years. Although various important improvements have been made to such slicers, the overall design has not changed very much particularly with regard to the overall cleanliness, ergonomics, or ease of operation.
Today, food slicers are utilized to slice a number of food products such as meats, cheeses and the like in a variety of environments such as delicatessens, supermarkets, and restaurants to name a few. Such food slicers need to be quite durable since they tend to be used for many hours during a day by many different individuals while providing the desired performance, safety and cleanliness.
Additionally, food slicers need to be designed to allow adaptability since they need to handle a variety of products of different shapes, sizes, and textures while readily providing slices of different thicknesses of the product being sliced. The speed at which a particular product is moved across the cutting blade can also vary on automatic food slicers to improve productivity.
To ensure a sharp blade for accurate slicing; food slicers typically include some type of sharpening mechanism. Such mechanisms usually are either mounted to the food slicer during use and only removed for cleaning or are only mounted to the slicer for sharpening and stored elsewhere when not sharpening the blade.
With the first type of mechanism, contamination from food scraps and juices can be a concern for the sharpener itself as well as any mounting mechanisms or additional guarding used to provide for enhanced safety. With the second type of mechanism, care must be exercised since the sharpener needs to be accurately mounted by an operator close to the blade with the gage plate in its fully open position.

Sharpener carried by the product table of a food slicer


Provided is an apparatus and method for detecting fraudulent passwords so that computer break-in attempts can be distinguished from authorized users incorrectly entering their passwords. An actual password is mapped against a computer keyboard and the resultant data is stored in memory. The profile of an entered password is compared to the stored profile. If the profile of the entered password differs significantly from the stored profile, then the login attempt is flagged as an attempted intrusion. In one embodiment of the current invention, passwords are mapped according to the distance subsequent keystrokes are from each other. Different embodiments may have different mapping schemes. For example, mapping data may correspond to statistical data that corresponds to the likelihood that a particular character is typed by mistake when another character is intended.

As computers have become increasingly interconnected via networks such as the Internet, many computing devices have been increasingly vulnerable to access by unauthorized users. Unauthorized users, or "hackers," are continually using more intelligent and sophisticated methods of breaking into computer users' accounts than previously encountered by computer security personnel. To guard against hackers, counterintelligence methods must, by necessity, also must become more intelligent and sophisticated.
Since hackers often make multiple attempts to login to a targeted computer by randomly trying each of a list of commonly used passwords, one important counterintelligence method is the recognition of false passwords. One current method of detecting false passwords is to look for "alert" passwords, or those likely to be included in such a list of commonly used passwords. Although alert passwords can reduce false positives with respect to detecting break-in attempts, the method may also produce an unacceptable number of false negatives.
Other false password detection methods include analysis of the timing of keystrokes or other keystroke dynamics of password attempts. For example, some of these types of biometric authentication techniques examine the duration of and latency between keystrokes during password entry. However, these methods do not compare entered passwords to actual stored, valid passwords.

Method and apparatus for detecting password attacks using modeling techniques


Embodiments of the invention relate to a method and apparatus to produce a flightplan for a sUAS. Embodiments can produce such a flightplan for a variety of environmental and/or geographical parameters. A specific embodiment produces an optimal flightplan based on one or more metrics and/or one or more assumptions or boundary conditions. Embodiments take in vehicle parameters and/or the properties of the sensor systems used for imaging, and compute a partial, or complete, flightplan. Such a flightplan can include altitude, airspeeds, flight paths encompassing the target area, and/or the direction and/or path to turn in-between flightlines. Embodiments can improve the flight planning procedure compared to a manual process, which can be completely dependent on the operator, to implement a partially, or totally, automated process. Specific embodiments can produce a flightplan that results in the optimal data collection path.

Remote sensing by aerial vehicles is a practice that has been around for several decades. Recent advancements in small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), paralleled with miniaturization of high quality cameras systems, has led to the development of a new platform for aerial photography and data collection. The unique flight profile of sUAS and their novelty leaves much work to be done in the area of controls research known as coverage planning. Currently the flight planning is manual and entirely dependent on an operator. Often the optimal path is counter-intuitive, either by selecting a direction for flight that is not obvious or by turning to the adjacent flightline by first turning away from it.
Precision maps acquired using aerial photography are a truly cross-industry product that is ubiquitous with the Internet age. The geospatial industry has been around in its modern form for nearly two decades, and now products like Google Maps™ and Bing™ Maps bring geospatial data to the masses in a manner never before seen. Advances in optics and sensors have increased the quality of the data product. However, the methods of acquisition have remained largely the same.
Satellites now provide frequent large scale imaging, but their timing and position are largely pre-determined. Furthermore the capital cost of developing, launching, and maintaining a satellite precludes rapid evolution of satellite-based imagery. Therefore, aerial platforms have been the method of choice for on-demand data. Small to midsized aircraft are outfitted with large cameras and sensing equipment, and are available for scheduled flights nearly world-wide [25].
Recently, a new technology has matured to the point of wide-scale adoption for this same purpose. Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) have become reliable and robust enough to now be considered for routine use in aerial photography missions [17]. These sUAS in fact are an ideal candidate platform for small scale (sub 1000 acre) surveys because of their low operational cost, ease of deployment, and flight profile.
Emerging civilian data collection projects are utilizing military sUAS for a role they were not designed to fill. Military sUAS are designed to fill an operational gap in real time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) at the squad level. These vehicles trade robustness and ease of operations for performance, endurance, and stability. Fixed or gimbaled cameras stream live video back to a single operator, who flies the vehicle much like a video game through the forward looking camera. The first forays into using sUAS for remote sensing focused on these types of surplus military systems [24].
When military sUAS are adapted to civilian mapping missions, the design tradeoffs of the military sUAS severely limit the performance of the systems. One prominent case is the acquisition of dozens of Raven systems by the (United States Geological Service) USGS in support of their sUAS program [16]. Ravens were designed by AeroVironment in 2002 for the U.S. Army's SUAV program to complete ISR missions. These systems employ both full color and near infrared cameras, operating at 480×600 lines of (National Television System Committee) NTSC resolution. While these imaging systems may be adequate for locating a man-sized object on the move from 300 m, they are less effective at geospatial data collection.
While it is possible to collect geospatial data from real time video, it is sub-optimal [18]. Video-photography and still-photography are essentially a trade off between resolution and frame rate. Moreover, progressive scan cameras add further image loss as compared to stills. A still camera operates at very high resolution and low frame rate, while a video camera operates at a low resolution and high-frame rate. While more "pictures" will guarantee coverage, the use of real time video results in the need for extra processing and larger logistical footprint in exchange for the extra coverage. Video generates large amounts of data that can be cost prohibitive to store on board the aircraft, and, therefore, the data is typically sent back to the ground via a line-of-sight radio modem. Any break in the link between the aircraft and the recording station on the ground results in lost coverage. Furthermore, the processing of excessive image overlap is more time consuming than processing the data acquired from stills that have less image overlap.
An early UAS vehicle, the Tadpole, led to the NOVA series of aircraft. By the mid 2000s, miniaturization of all components for UAS allowed full navigation and guidance, such as in the Procerus® Kestrel™ autopilot. A still camera of sufficient resolution was placed on the aircraft to use direct-georeferencing techniques. Furthermore, batteries could power an aircraft for enough time to collect a statistically relevant sample of imagery. The NOVA 1 [23] aircraft incorporated such a still camera, batteries, and full navigation and guidance.
The NOVA 2 incorporated improved navigation and control technology in the form of a Kestrel™ v2 system, the accompanying ground station software Virtual Cockpit™ v4.0, and Ground Control Station (GCS) hardware. Wilkinson's work on the system architecture highlighted the need for proper flight planning, and this was the first system where flight planning was injected into the workflow as a critical process [24].
When discussing the motion of vehicle UAV in the air, "flightlines" are typically defined as the path, commonly linear, from one waypoint to the next. Curved flightlines can also be used. Two or more flightlines form a flight path, or the total intended path of the aircraft. The "target area" is defined as the area on the ground of interest for data collecting, such as photography, and the flight path is generally centered above the target area.
The NOVA 2 [24] had a limited flight envelope of 22 m/s for safe slow-flight. Additionally, the early payloads were only capable of taking an image every 2.5 seconds. A typical wind speed of ˜4 m/s downwind at this image rate resulted in an Airbase (B), or the distance between the centroid of pictures, of 65 m. For many missions the required B based on the desired resolution was on the order of ˜50 m, thus limiting flights to flying against the wind (upwind), lowering the B to 45 m. Therefore, wind effects led to flightplans where the target acquisition flew "upwind" only, resulting in the pattern shown in FIG. 1, which is known as a "dipole."
These first flightplans were effective but highly inefficient. No inflight adjustments were made, and, therefore, the plans were created to account for the worst wind conditions. The vehicle traveled downwind outside of the target area, and there were no constraints on maneuvering to the next flightline.
The NOVA 2.1 is the current iteration of the NOVA series of aircraft, and like its predecessors incorporates the latest in guidance and navigation. The NOVA 2.1 features a Kestrel™ v2.23 and Virtual Cockpit™ v6.0. For the first time in the NOVA series, this system had custom software written for automated pre-flight procedures and very rudimentary flight planning. Based on the dipole patterns developed for the NOVA 2, a flightplan could be generated with simple inputs of flightline width, number of lines, length of lines, and direction. This is in no way optimal, but decreased the Concept of Operations (CONOPS) of flight planning from 45 minutes down to 10.
The performance envelope of the NOVA 2.1 also improved over the NOVA 2 platform, with the minimum safe working speed decreased from 22 m/s down to 15 m/s, and the flight time from ˜50 minutes to ˜90 minutes at an optimum 17 m/s. Furthermore, improvements in the payload brought acquisition time from 2.5 seconds down to 2.3 seconds. At an optimal flight speed, even with a 4 m/s tailwind the B is under the typical requirement of 50 m.
The NOVA series of aircraft are "all electric", meaning an electric motor is used for propulsion. This has direct coverage planning implications because the mass of the vehicle does not decrease as the flight continues, with traditional combustion propulsion. Therefore, traditional range and efficiency calculations are invalid and speed-to-fly theory as used by Evers becomes applicable [5]. In his study, Evers concludes that modifying the airspeed of an aircraft in the presence of wind, either by increasing ground coverage and speeding up into the wind, or slowing to optimal cruise and "floating" downwind, results in an increased range of the aircraft.
The NOVA 2.1 was the first successfully deployed version of the NOVA aircraft series, and was routinely deployed to South Florida in the summer of 2010. Even with the increased efficiency of creating flightplans, it became quickly apparent that there was much to improve on the CONOPS. The improved dynamics of the vehicle, along with payload improvements, removed the constraints behind the inefficient "dipole" pattern. More traditional flightplans could now be pursued.
The Kestrel™ 2.23, when fully tuned, is capable of following a linear path with error on the same magnitude of that of lateral GPS (around 5 meters) [20]. Kestrel™ autopilots are capable of completely autonomous navigation and control, but flight planning is completely dependent on pilot-on-the-loop involvement. In other words, the aircraft is capable of flying itself with operator oversight. An extensive preflight procedure has been developed for the NOVA series of aircraft as part of the CONOPS, and part of that procedure is carefully determining where the aircraft will go in-flight to ensure coverage. The Kestrel™ series is not designed for coverage planning, but, instead, is designed for ISR missions, and, therefore, loose waypoint following.
The flight-planning portion of the Kestrel™ series utilizes only the ground station software, Virtual Cockpit™. The hardware has no capabilities to determine the aircraft's path. Seemingly autonomous functions, such as return-to-home failsafes, are simply a pre-loaded set of commands that are executed with no on board intelligence. Virtual Cockpit™ is further limited by the fact that vehicle dynamics are not considered, and only linear flight paths are allowed. This means that the operator can command a flight path that the dynamics of the vehicle will not execute on. Such a case is examined in FIG. 2, where a turn with too tight of a radius is commanded. The vehicle overshoots waypoint 3 and has trouble intercepting the flightline back to waypoint 4.
This scenario is described for farming equipment by Jin, where the local curvature between farm lines is too great for the field equipment to follow. As a result, some area in the field lines will not be covered (Jin & Tang, 2010). Analogous to this case, when the commanded local curvature is beyond what the vehicle is capable of, some area in the target area will be missed. This behavior is quickly recognized by even novice pilots, and in real world deployments, this limitation is typically accounted for by the operator attempting to compensate with a "best-guess" approach, armed with a general knowledge of vehicle dynamics, or by just observing the actual flight path of the vehicle. FIG. 3 shows the same desired flight path, but with operator compensation in the form of a "turning waypoint" labeled here as 3. With this waypoint, the vehicle reintercepts the flightline from waypoint 4 to 5 successfully. This approach is non optimal, and completely dependent on, and of, the operator.
An additional problem is in the way the Kestrel™ series executes the navigation algorithm. Waypoints have a singularly defined "radius", that when entered, triggers the next command in the navigation script. The autopilot continuously calculates the absolute difference between its current latitude and longitude, and the latitude and longitude of the desired waypoint [20]. When that distance, or error, becomes less than the radius, it is considered to be at that waypoint.
Osborne and Rysdyk highlight the problem with this type of navigation [15]. FIG. 4A shows a tracking pattern with zero radius, where the vehicle passes 2 before turning; FIG. 4B shows an optimized radius, where the vehicle starts to turn before 2 and overshoots the next path line before aligning with the next path line; and FIG. 4C shows too much of a radius, where the vehicle starts to turn well before 2 and slowly aligns with the next path line. The Kestrel™ autopilot systems allow the operator to tune this value. However, this value is the same for all waypoints, all inbound orientations, and all wind magnitudes. Osborne suggested a correction for this by using a lookup table and variable waypoint radii based on the wind speed, magnitude, and incoming flight angle [15]. Osborne's suggestions did improve ground tracking. However, the fundamental problem still exists for paths that exceed vehicle dynamics, as is the case with the NOVA 2.1 aircraft.
The radius is optimally tuned for orthogonal turns. However, the incoming angle to the i+1 flightline makes a significant difference in the tracking performance of the aircraft as shown in FIGS. 5A-5C. Among obtuse, right, and acute incoming angles, the obtuse angle has the best performance, the right angle has some slight overshoot, and the acute angle has severe re-intercept problems. It should be noted that photogrammetric flightplans most commonly use acute and right angles, and rarely use obtuse angles.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and system to produce a flight path for sUAS's.

Flight path development for remote sensing vehicles in a moving reference frame

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


An nMOS transistor 31 has a gate connected to a bit line *BL with its source and drain short-circuited and connected to a dummy word line DWL0. After setting the bit lines BL and *BL to a precharge potential Vpr=Vii/2, a transfer gate 11 is turned on. Next, the potential on the dummy word line DWL0 is raised from Vs=Vpr-Vth, where Vth is a threshold voltage of the nMOS 31, to Vii and then a sense amplifier 30 is set in an active state. If a pMOS transistor is employed in place of the nMOS transistor 31, its source and drain are short-circuited and connected to the bit line *BL with its gate connected to the dummy word line DWL0.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and a semiconductor device including same.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing part of a prior art DRAM.
In a memory cell 10, one end of a capacitor 11 is connected through a transfer gate 12 to a bit line *BL, and in a memory cell 20, one end of a capacitor 21 is connected through a transfer gate 22 to a bit line BL. A potential Vpr=Vii/2 is applied to the other ends of the capacitors 11 and 21, where Vii is an internal power-supply voltage, e.g., 3.0 V. The gates of the transfer gates 12 and 22 are respectively connected to word lines WL0 and WL1.
When the contents of a memory cell, the cell 10 for instance, are to be read out, the bit lines BL and *BL are set to a precharge potential Vpr, then the transfer gate 12 is set to on for a proper time and the difference between the potentials of the bit line BL and the bit line *BL is amplified by a sense amplifier 30. When writing data in the memory cell 10, the bit line *BL is set to 0 V (writing a lower level "L") or to the internal power-supply potential Vii (writing a higher level "H") with the transfer gate 12 being on after said amplification, next the transfer gate 12 is turned off.
The solid lines in FIG. 9(A) indicate the waveforms of the voltages at the word line WL0 and the bit line *BL in reading out "L" from the memory cell 10, and the solid lines in FIG. 9(B) indicate waveforms of the voltages at the word line WL0 and the bit line *BL in reading out "H" from the memory cell 10.
Due to miniaturization of circuit elements and lowering operating voltages, the potential change .DELTA. of the bit line *BL in readout becomes reduced. In addition, the ratio of the current leak at the capacitor 11 to the electrical charge held by the capacitor 11 increases. The current leak occurring when "H" is held in the capacitor 11 is larger than that occurring when "L" is held in the capacitor 11. Since, if the potential change .DELTA. is too small, the sense amplifier operates erroneously, resulting in erroneous data readout, so it is necessary to give the potential change .DELTA. a sufficient margin which allows the potential difference between the bit line BL and the bit line *BL to be amplified without the sense amplifier 30 operating erroneously.
Thus, in the prior art, the source and the drain of an nMOS transistor 31 are connected to the bit line *BL with its gate connected to a dummy word line DWLO, and likewise, an nMOS transistor 32 is connected between the bit line BL and a dummy word line DWL1. When reading out the contents of the memory cell 10, the potential of the word line WL0 is shifted to high to turn on the transfer gate 12, and at the same time, the potential of the dummy word line DWL0 is shifted from 0 V to the internal power-supply potential Vii to supplement a positive charge to the bit line *BL in order to compensate for the reduction in the potential change .DELTA. due to the current leak at the capacitor 11. The alternate long and short lines in FIGS. 9(A) and 9(B) indicate waveforms of the voltages at the bit line *BL when such a compensating operation is performed.
However, since a positive charge, which is equal to or exceeding that supplemented to the bit line *BL in "H" readout, is supplemented to the bit line *BL in "L" readout, the margin contained in the potential change .DELTA. in "L" readout is reduced, presenting a disadvantage.


A silver halide photographic material is disclosed, which contains a connected-dye compound having a fixed configuration in which one cyanine dye plane is in parallel with and lies over the other so that the connected-dye compound always shows an absorption assignable to a cyanine dye aggregate thereof. The silver halide photographic material has excellent storage stability.

Cyanine dyes are important compounds used as photographic sensitizing dyes, dyes, fluorescent coatings, functional materials (e.g., nonlinear optical materials), pigments, medicines, etc.
It is known that cyanine dyes form aggregates to give an aggregation absorption different from the absorptions assignable to the monomers. In particular, J aggregates are extensively utilized for the spectral sensitization of silver halide photographic materials. In general, however, controlling the aggregates of cyanine dyes is very difficult and the mode of aggregation changes are aggregates into various ones as a result of the influence of dye addition conditions, the compositions of silver halide emulsions, additives, or other factors.
Proposed as a means for enabling a dye aggregate to have only one mode of aggregation is a compound comprising two cyanine dyes connected to each other (hereinafter referred to as a connected-dye compound). Examples thereof include the dye described in Tetrahedron Letter, Vol. 21, pp. 2977-2980 (1980) and the dye described in Dyes and Pigments, Vol. 10, pp. 111-120 (1989).
However, these conventional connected-dye compounds have a problem that the configuration of the connected groups is still unfixed and the same aggregation state cannot always be maintained, or that the mode of connection is different from that of a dye aggregation model (i.e., the structure in which one dye plane is in parallel with and lies over the other).
It has consequently been desired to develop a connected-dye compound having the same configuration as a dye aggregate.


A wireless power transfer system includes a transmission device that performs power supply by wireless power transfer to a power receiving device, a position acquiring section that acquires a current position of the power receiving device, and a control section that performs control to authorize the power supply in a case where the power receiving device is in a preset area and to not authorize the power supply in a case where the power receiving device is outside the preset area.

Patent Literature 1 describes a technique relating to wireless power transfer of a radio transmission system including a receiving power measuring section that acquires a power level of received power, a power consumption measuring section that acquires a power level of consumed power that is consumed in a device that drives with supply of power that has been received, and a power transmission control section that controls a power level of power that is transmitted via a power transmission antenna based on a difference between the acquired power level and the acquired power level.
Patent Literature 2 describes a wireless power transfer system that transmits power to an electric device, and the system sets a power source circuit with a primary coil interposed in a support body that supports the electric device, sets a load circuit with a secondary coil interposed in the electric device, and transmits power to a load circuit side from a power source circuit side by a mutual inducing effect in both coils.
Recently, with lap-top personal computers and tablet type terminals becoming widespread and with acceleration of improvement of infrastructure of electric vehicles as a background, an approach to realization of wireless power transfer with larger power and over longer distances is being promoted. For example, as described in non patent literature 1, it has been demonstrated that high efficiency power transmission is possible even when the transmission device and the power receiving device are separated by approximately a few meters.

Non-contact power supply system and non-contact power supply method


The similarity groups of the pressure differential—current characteristics of solenoid valves are measured in advance, and the measurement results are used to select the solenoid valves to be used for first to fourth pressure increase control valves. Only solenoid valves in the same region in terms of their similarity group of the pressure differential—current characteristics are used for the first to fourth pressure increase control valves. A board on which the first to fourth control valves are mounted is provided with a mark unit that indicates the similarity group of the pressure differential—current characteristics of the first to forth pressure increase control valves. The mark unit includes a resistor. A brake ECU uses the resistance value of the resistor to identify the similarity group of the pressure differential—current characteristics of the first to fourth pressure increase control valves.

Known vehicle brake fluid pressure control devices that perform ABS control include pressure increase control valves disposed in brake conduits that connect a master cylinder (hereinafter "M/C") to wheel cylinders (hereinafter "W/C") provided in each wheel. The pressure increase control valves control the flow of brake fluid to each W/C, and are normally open solenoid valves that can be controlled to two-positions, namely, an open position and a closed position.
When a pressure increase mode is set during ABS control of a vehicle brake fluid pressure control device like that described above, the pressure increase control valve is opened for determined periods to apply the M/C pressure to the W/Cs. However, because the pressure increase control valve is rapidly switched between open and closed positions, namely, because pulsed pressure increase is performed as is standard in known technology, a pulsing sound (operating noise) is generated every time switching takes place. To address this problem, technologies have been proposed (for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2003-19952) in which the pressure increase control valves are controlled like a linear valve by adjusting the control current (the amount of current) to the pressure increase control valves (this control will be referred to hereinafter as "linear operation" or "operated linearly" depending on the context). Use of this configuration allows the pulsing sound that occurs in the pressure increase mode to be reduced.
More specifically, in each pressure increase control valve, the pressure differential between the upstream and downstream sides is changed in accordance with the size of the gap between the valve element and the valve seat inside the valve. Accordingly, if the magnitude of the control current is changed to adjust the size of the gap, namely, to adjust the pressure differential between the upstream and downstream sides of the pressure increase control valve, linear operation of the pressure increase control valve can be achieved. Thus, the pressure increase control valve does not rapidly switch between open and closed positions, whereby pulsing noise is reduced (as in the example of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2003-19952).
If the W/C pressure is smoothly adjusted by performing linear operation of the pressure increase control valve as in the art described above, the relationship of the control current applied to the pressure increase control valves and the pressure differential is extremely important. However, this relationship is liable to change if there is variation in the characteristics of the pressure increase control valves caused by manufacturing error. In this case, the adjustment accuracy of the W/C pressure falls.
To address this difficulty, a known art (refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-H11-147466) proposes a configuration for brake fluid pressure control in which a brake ECU directly measures the characteristics of linear valves (solenoid valves). The characteristics are then stored in the brake ECU, and operation performed in accordance with the characteristics of the linear valves (solenoid valves). Accordingly, a fall in adjustment accuracy due to variation in the characteristics of the linear valves (solenoid valves) is inhibited.
However, if the characteristics of the solenoid valves are directly measured in this way, a device for measuring the characteristics must be provided in the brake ECU, which makes the vehicle brake fluid pressure control device more complicated and more expensive. In order to avoid these problems, the characteristic measuring device could be omitted by (i) trying to reduce the variation in the characteristics of the solenoid valves caused by manufacturing error, or (ii) measuring the characteristics of the solenoid valves first and then only selecting good solenoid valves for use in the vehicle brake fluid pressure control device. However, if the former approach were used, the manufacturing costs of the solenoid valves would be increased by the need for more rigorous management of the design and processing of the solenoid valves. On the other hand, if the latter approach were used, the manufacturing yield would reduce because the un-suitable solenoid valves that were not selected would have to be done away with.

Vehicle brake fluid pressure control device


A device and two-step sequential method for providing medication for injection and infusion by a jet injector includes a cassette which connects an injector system to a reservoir. The cassette forms a fluid pathway at an interface of a cassette lower body and a cassette upper body. The cassette also forms an impulse chamber with a nozzle leading therefrom. The fluid pathway interconnects the reservoir with the impulse chamber. The medication flows from the reservoir along the fluid pathway and into the impulse chamber. Force from an impulse generator drives the fluid medicament from the impulse chamber through the nozzle, out an orifice in a tip of the nozzle, and into the skin of a patient. To prevent the pressure waves generated by the jet injector from damaging a glass reservoir, the fluid pathway is formed with pressure attenuators.

Subcutaneous and intramuscular delivery of fluid medicaments by injection are common in the medical arts. Some medications, such as insulin, must be given frequently by injection to an individual. In many cases, these injections are self-administered. In other cases, injections are given to a large number of persons, such as inoculations to prevent disease. In any event, it is desirable that the injections be accomplished easily.
Many patients dislike needle injections due to pain, fear, and nervousness over needles. Additionally, practice has indicated there are serious risks related to needle injections. For example, blood-borne pathogens, such as HIV and hepatitis, can be transmitted to health care workers by accidental needle-sticks. Specific environments which have an exceptionally high risk of accidental needle-sticks include emergency rooms, county hospitals, and sites of mass immunizations. Also, the disposal of used needles is a growing concern. This disposal presents a problem to individuals other than healthcare workers. Children, for example, may find used needles in the trash, putting them at risk of contracting infection. Discarded needles likewise pose a risk to waste disposal workers.
Injectable medications are typically supplied in glass vials sealed with an inert rubber stopper. To administer the fluid medicament, the user must transfer the fluid medicament from the vial to a fluid medicament delivery device, such as a syringe and needle, or a needleless jet injector syringe. Transferring the fluid medicament adds cost to administering injections in a hospital or clinic because of the labor expense. Immunizing large populations requires administering many injections per hour, hence transferring the fluid medicament presents a significant time constraint. For the patient who must self-administer fluid medicaments, such as a diabetic patient requiring several insulin injections a day, transferring the fluid medicament can be an inconvenience. Also, with each transfer, there is an opportunity for error in the amount of fluid medicament being transferred and administered.
In an effort to eliminate transferring a fluid medicament from a vial, pre-filled glass cartridges have been developed. These pre-filled cartridges are similar in design to a syringe. One end is closed and includes either a needle or an inert rubber stopper. If a needle is not integral, then a needle subassembly that penetrates the rubber stopper is attached prior to use. A movable rubber plunger closes the end opposite the needle. To administer the fluid medicament, the pre-filled cartridge is placed in a device consisting of a holder and a driver that meets the movable rubber plunger. The user depresses the plunger to dispense the medication.
An example of the use of pre-filled cartridges is in the treatment of diabetes with multiple daily injections of insulin. A pre-filled cartridge contains an amount of insulin sufficient for several days. Insulin is then delivered from the pre-filled cartridge using a pen injector, a pen shaped device for injecting the insulin. A disadvantage of pre-filled cartridges, however, is that they still require using a needle to penetrate the skin and deliver the medication to the target tissue.
In efforts to minimize the fears and risks associated with needle injections, several types of needle-free jet injectors have been developed. These devices penetrate the skin using a high velocity fluid jet, and deliver medication into the tissue of a patient. In order to accomplish this, a force is exerted on the liquid medication. Jet injectors, in general, contain a fluid medicament which has been transferred into a chamber having a small orifice at one end. A ram is accelerated using either a coil spring or a compressed gas energy source. The ram impacts a plunger, which in turn creates a high pressure impulse within the chamber. This pressure impulse ejects the fluid medicament through the orifice at high velocity, piercing the skin. The energy source continues to apply a force to the plunger, which quickly propels the medication through the opening in the skin, emptying the syringe in a fraction of a second.
Neither glass vials containing multiple doses of a medication nor pre-filled cartridges can be used with existing jet injectors. This is because a significant amount of impulse energy is transmitted from the energy source. Although not directly impacted, the glass walls of the cartridge do not have sufficient strength to withstand the large amplitude pressure waves that result when the ram impacts the plunger. To withstand the stresses caused by the high pressures, existing jet injector syringes have thick walls molded from an impact resistant plastic, such as polycarbonate.
It is known that the amount of the fluid medicament delivered by any injection system must be accurate. To this end, manual syringes are available in varying sizes, marked for ease of reading and accuracy of medication dose. Control mechanisms for jet injectors vary depending on whether a single use, single dose is contemplated. When multiple doses are to be administered, controlling the amount of fluid medicament dispensed becomes more complex.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a medicament reservoir for use with a jet injector system. Another object of the invention is to provide a jet injector assembly to isolate the reservoir from the pressure waves created when the ram impacts the plunger. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a jet injector system which can use existing pre-filled cartridges. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a high workload injector that draws a fluid medicament directly from a multi-dose vial.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an accurate and simple to use control mechanism to deliver predetermined amounts of a medication. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a fluid medicament jet injector with a separate reservoir, which is relatively simple to manufacture, is relatively easy to use, and is comparatively cost effective.

Sequential impulse/delivery fluid medicament injector


A semiconductor memory device (M) includes a memory array (MA) having a plurality of memory cells, a redundancy array (RA) having a plurality of memory cells, a non-volatile redundancy information memory (NVR) having a plurality of memory cells for storing redundancy information, and a redundancy control unit (RU) for selecting either memory cells in the memory array (MA) or memory cells in the redundancy array (RA). In one example, the non-volatile redundancy information memory (NVR) is connected directly to the redundancy control unit (RU) by means of at least one sense amplifier (SA).

As the storage capacity of semiconductor memory devices continues to increase, the number of memory cells included in such memories also increases. With the increase in the number of memory cells, the probability that one or more memory cells are defective is increased. In order to avoid having to discard the memory device due to just one or a few defective memory cells, redundant memory elements are included in the semiconductor memory device. The redundant memory elements are usually rows and/or columns and are used to replace the rows and/or columns that contain defective memory cells.
During wafer testing, all memory cells are tested. The information about which memory cells are defective and sometimes the information about which redundant memory elements are selected to replace the defective memory elements is called redundancy information. After the wafer test the redundancy information is stored in a non-volatile memory in a one-time programming (OTP) operation. During read, write or erase operations, the memory device addresses memory cells. A redundancy control unit accesses the redundancy information to check if the memory cells addressed are functioning or if they need to be replaced by a redundant element. If they are defective, the memory cells will be replaced with redundant elements. As a result, the semiconductor memory device will function as expected and the production yield is significantly increased.
FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor memory device M. The semiconductor memory device M comprises a memory array MA for storing user data, a redundancy array RA providing redundant memory elements, and a non-volatile redundancy information memory NVR for storing redundancy information. The memory cells in the memory array MA and the non-volatile redundancy information memory NVR can be read by means of the sense amplifier SA and written by means of the bitline driver BL while the memory cells in the redundancy array RA can be read by means of the redundancy array sense amplifier RSA and written by means of the redundancy array bitline driver RBL. A bitline multiplexer BLM is used to connect the data bus DB to either the bitline driver BL or to the redundancy array bitline driver RBL, while a sense amplifier multiplexer SAM is used to connect either the sense amplifier SA or the redundancy array sense amplifier RSA to the data bus DB. Both the bitline multiplexer BLM and the sense amplifier multiplexer SAM are controlled by the redundancy control unit RU.
FIG. 1 shows the flow of the redundancy information during power up or during initialization of the semiconductor memory device M. The elements involved are drawn using thicker lines. Memory cells in the non-volatile redundancy information memory NVR are selected by means of the address decoder AD and the redundancy information stored is read by means of the sense amplifier SA. The redundancy control unit RU controls the sense amplifier multiplexer SAM so that the sense amplifier SA is connected to the data bus DB. The redundancy information is then transferred by means of the data bus DB to the redundancy information memory RM. The redundancy information memory RM is usually a static random access memory (SRAM), which allows for fast access of the information stored in it.
FIG. 2 shows the same semiconductor memory device M as in FIG. 1 and illustrates the flow of the redundancy information when memory cells are accessed, such as during read, write, or erase operations. The data path of the redundancy information is again indicated by using thicker lines for the elements involved. Every time a memory cell is accessed, the redundancy information corresponding to the address of the memory cell accessed, is read from the redundancy information memory RM into the redundancy decoder RD, where it is decoded. The redundancy information is then transferred by means of the data bus DB to the redundancy control unit RU. The redundancy control unit RU controls the bitline driver multiplexer BLM and the sense amplifier multiplexer SAM, so that depending on the redundancy information, either a memory cell in the memory array MA or a memory cell in the redundancy array RA is accessed.
The semiconductor memory device M suffers from a number of disadvantages. First, the redundancy information has to be read out of the redundancy information memory RM, decoded by the redundancy decoder RD and then loaded into the redundancy control unit RU every time before a memory cell can be accessed. For these steps, a total number of about twenty clock cycles is necessary, which slows down the access to the memory cells and leads to poor performance. Second, both the redundancy information memory RM and the redundancy decoder RD require chip area. At present, the required chip area amounts to 1.5 mm2.

Semiconductor memory device having a redundancy information memory directly connected to a redundancy control circuit

Infineon Technologies Flash GmbH & Co. KG


Crabtree positive yeast cells that have endogenous expressed pyruvate decarboxylase genes inactivated and an engineered biosynthetic pathway utilizing pyruvate were found to have improved growth and product yield when glucose repression was reduced. These cells were able to grow in media containing a high glucose concentration.

Yeasts have been used for production of products that use naturally produced pyruvate as a starting substrate in their biosynthetic pathways. To enhance production of such products, yeasts have been engineered by expressing enzymes to alter endogenous biosynthetic pathways or introduce new pathways, and/or by disrupting expression of endogenous enzymes to alter metabolite flow. Introduced pathways that use cellular pyruvate include pathways for production of isomers of butanol, which are important industrial chemicals, useful as fuel additives, as feedstock chemicals in the plastics industry, and as foodgrade extractants in the food and flavor industry.
Disruption of pyruvate decarboxylase has been used to increase availability of pyruvate for pathways to produce desired products. For example, US20070031950 discloses a yeast strain with a disruption of one or more pyruvate decarboxylase or pyruvate dehydrogenase genes and expression of a D-lactate dehydrogenase gene, which is used for production of D-lactic acid. US2005/0059136 discloses glucose tolerant C2 carbon source-independent (GCSI) yeast strains with no pyruvate decarboxylase activity, which may have an exogenous lactate dehydrogenase gene. Nevoigt and Stahl (Yeast 12:1331-1337 (1996)) describe the impact of reduced pyruvate decarboxylase and increased NAD-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae on glycerol yield. US Patent Application Publication No. 20090305363 discloses increased conversion of pyruvate to acetolactate by engineering yeast for expression of a cytosol-localized acetolactate synthase and substantial elimination of pyruvate decarboxylase activity.
Reducing glucose repression has been used to improve respiratory capacity of yeast for increased biomass production. W0199826079 discloses overexpression of the Hap1 transcription factor to reduce glucose repression, resulting in increased respiratory capacity and increased biomass production. EP1728854 discloses a process for biomass production using yeast overexpressing the Hap1 transcription factor grown in aerobic conditions. Functional deletion of the HXK2 (hexokinase2) gene has been used to reduce glucose repression. Disclosed in WO2000061722 is production of yeast biomass by aerobically growing yeast having one or more functionally deleted hexokinase2 genes or analogs. Rossell et al. (Yeast Research 8:155-164 (2008)) found that Saccharomyces cerevisiae with a deletion of the HXK2 gene showed 75% reduction in fermentative capacity, defined as the specific rate of carbon dioxide production under sugar-excess and anaerobic conditions. After starvation, the fermentation capacity was similar to that of a strain without the HXK2 gene deletion. Diderich et al. (Applied and Environmental Microbiology 67:1587-1593 (2001)) found that S. cerevisiae with a deletion of the HXK2 gene had lower pyruvate decarboxylase activity.
There remains a need to improve growth and product production during fermentation of yeasts that have increased pyruvate availability due to reduction or elimination of pyruvate decarboxylase activity.


Embodiments of the present invention disclose a session management method and system based on an M2M application and an apparatus. In one embodiment, a session management method is based on a machine-to-machine application. Gateway equipment information and group number information of a group user device are acquired and it is determined that group information of the group user device has changed. A gateway equipment is instructed to execute bearer change processing on the group user device. The instructing is based on the gateway equipment information and the group number information of the group user device. The bearer change processing is executed on the group user device.

In an existing communication manner, there are mainly two communication modes, namely, human to human (H2H) and machine to machine (M2M). An H2H application mainly refers to communication with humans being communication subjects, such as telephone communication. However, an M2M application is also called a machine type communications (MTC) application, and refers to network communication performed between multiple network elements without involvement of humans, such as traffic control and management, factory equipment monitoring, and remote meter reading.
Furthermore, a network operator or a user within an industry may perform management and control on an M2M group as a whole. For example, in a remote meter reading application in a power industry, all electric meters in a certain region may form a group, a network operator or a power industry user may perform management and control on the group as a whole. In addition, the network operator or the user within the industry may also perform management and control on all M2M user devices having a same M2M application characteristic as a whole. For example, a network operator or a user within an industry may perform management and control on multiple M2M user devices under a same industrial user as a whole (by forming a group). Each M2M terminal device in the group may subscribe to same subscription data, or each M2M terminal device in the group may share one piece of subscription data (group subscription data).
In the human to human communication mode, if subscription data of a user changes, a home subscription database (HLR/HSS) initiates a subscription data modification procedure. According to acquired new subscription data, a mobility management network element (MME/SGSN) may initiate a session management procedure, for example, a bearer modification procedure. For a group formed of M2M user devices, if subscription data changes, subscription data of all user devices in the group may change; or in a scenario where all user devices in a group share group subscription data, when the group subscription data changes, an existing session management procedure is initiated based on user device granularity, however, because the number of user devices in the group is large, a large number of signaling overheads of a network side is caused, which may result in signaling congestion to the network side, and increase a network load.

Session management method and system based on M2M application, and apparatus


A data reproducing method includes the steps of causing an optical information recording and reproducing apparatus to read first data from an optical information recording and reproducing medium when a first reproduction request is received, and storing the first data in a temporary storage memory. During the processing step of the host computer, the stored first data is processed by the host computer. At the predicting step, second data that specified by a second reproduction request is predicted, on the basis of the first data during at least one of the data processing period of the host computer and the period for storing the first data in the temporary storage memory. During the transferring step, the predicted second data is read from the optical information recording and reproducing medium and then transferred to the temporary storage memory, before the second reproduction request is made.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for reproducing data recorded on an optical information recording and reproducing medium such as an optical card.
2. Description of the Related Art
To reproduce data recorded on an optical information recording and reproducing medium, the data is read out by an optical information recording and reproducing apparatus, which transfers it to the host computer. Then, there follows data processing including data display on the screen, evaluation of data by the operator, and the printing out of data.
Referring to the flowchart in FIG. 8, the above-described data reproducing operation will be explained in detail.
When the program is started, a judgment is made to see if a reproduction request has occurred for the data recorded on the optical information recording and reproducing medium at step SP1. If it has, the optical information recording and reproducing apparatus reads out the data specified by the reproduction request, and transfers it to the host computer (step SP2).
Then, data processing including display on the screen is performed on the transferred data (step SP3). During the data processing, the program is judging whether or not there has occurred a reproduction request for the next data recorded on the medium or a program end request (step SP4).
The time required to read data from the optical information recording and reproducing medium is longer than that required to read data from a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk or a floppy disk, or from other recording mediums. Because of this, there arose in the FIG. 8 conventional method a problem: it was impossible to shorten the time from when a data reproduction request has occurred to the optical information recording medium until the host computer begins to process the data. With the recent trend of dealing with increasingly large volumes of data such as image data, the shortening of the time required to retrieve the data from the optical information recording medium is a very important problem to be solved in the field of information processing.

Data reproducing method and apparatus capable of shortening the total time of data reproduction for a plurality of reproduction requests


The invention relates to a wind energy system with hydraulic energy transmission with non-symmetric actuation. The non-symmetric actuation is caused by valve control and mechanical means for controlling the actuation of the pistons. A cylinder unit is provided comprising a drive unit and an output unit associated with two hydraulic connections. The drive and the output unit comprise a minimum of two cylinders, in which pistons are reciprocating. Some of the cylinders can be switched off during low wind speeds. The cylinders communicate with a low pressure manifold and a high pressure manifold. These manifolds are part of the hydraulic connections. Use of the fluid-working machine as transmission in wind energy systems increases the overall economical efficiency.

The present invention relates to wind energy systems and fluid working machines. Specifically, the present invention relates to a wind energy system with a fluid working machine acting as a transmission.
Wind energy systems are experiencing an increasing demand. Therefore, large multi-megawatt wind turbines are being installed in many locations throughout the world. They change the kinetic energy of the wind to electrical energy. For large wind energy systems, a transmission box is inevitable in the majority of cases as a result of the high loads that arise from the energy entered from the rotor. However, the construction of the transmission box causes problems as many load changes take place due to the fact that the energy from the wind frequently varies. Therefore, the requirements for the transmission box are numerous and strict.
It is known in the art to use a gearbox as transmission box. In the early phase of wind energy systems, the gearbox was the source of failures and defects in many wind turbines. The reason for these gearbox problems was the difficulty of a correct dimensioning of the gearbox with regard to the load spectrum. Today, the early phase problems have been largely solved, but the construction of the gearboxes is still a difficult task considering size, mass and costs.

Wind energy system with fluid-working machine with non-symmetric actuation


A refrigerator or freezer device at a refrigerator or freezer (1) having, a house (3), fan devices (4), refrigeration or freezing aggregates (5), a perforated trough bottom assembly (2), an inlet (6) and an outlet (7) where the perforated trough bottom assembly (2) can include a first perforated trough bottom part (2b) and a second perforated trough bottom part (2a), where the first part and second part are subjected to the action of the fan devices (4) and the refrigeration or freezing aggregates (5) and the first part (2b) of said perforated trough bottom assembly (2) next to the inlet (6) is heated so that food materials are prevented from being stuck to the perforated trough bottom assembly (2).

It is a known problem that whenever introducing food material in a continuously running freezer there are challenges with warm products sticking to cold surfaces. Especially the perforated trough bottom or conveyor carrying and transporting the food in a partly or semi-fluidized bed freezer tends to clog with pieces of foodstuff, ice and snow. This limits the time between defrosting of the freezer and also decreases the freezing result resulting in pieces of food being stuck together.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,202 a freezer is described in which the tendency of sticking together of food material, as e.g. French fries or peas, on the mesh belt food conveyor is prevented by introducing hot air into an internal duct in the food weir. This arrangement is complicated as it first of all necessitates a food weir and moreover must feed hot air into the weir. The food can nevertheless stick to the mesh belt food convelyor in spite of the heated food weir which implies that the conveyor must be cleaned often. An object of the invention is to provide a refrigeration or freezer device, which eliminates the above described problems. The object is achieved with the refrigeration or freezer device according to claim 1.
Preferred embodiments of the refrigeration or freezer device have been given the characterizing features which appears in the sub claims.
The refrigeration or freezer device according to the embodiments comprises substantially less loose parts than corresponding known freezers which are provided with arrangements to avoid sticking of food material.
The embodiments of the invention focus on avoiding any foodstuff, ice or snow sticking to the trough rather than mechanically removing what has already accumulated.
The refrigeration or freezer according to the embodiments is furthermore easy to manufacture industrially and is also very effective in use.


An exemplary apparatus, can include, for example, a circulating tumor cell (CTC) treatment arrangement, a pump arrangement configured to circulate a fluid through the CTC treatment arrangement, and an electric field generator electrically connected to the CTC treatment arrangement, and configured to apply an electric field to the fluid circulating through the CTC treatment arrangement. The pump arrangement can be a peristaltic pump, which can be configured to continuously circulate the fluid through the CTC treatment arrangement. According to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, method, system and computer-accessible medium can be provided for killing at least one circulating tumor cell (CTC). Using such exemplary embodiment, blood can be pumped from a body of a patient to an electroporation chamber inside of a CTC treatment arrangement. An electric field can be applied to the blood located in the electroporation chamber in order to kill the CTC. The electric field-applied blood can be pumped back into the body.

Metastasis cancer is a group of cancer cells that spread from the primary tumor site to other parts of the body such as liver, lungs, brain and bone. These circulating tumor cells (e.g., "CTC"s) can travel through lymphatic fluid or the bloodstream to other tissue where they separate out from the primary tumor tissue. However, these cells first have to break into the bloodstream that can carry them to travel anywhere inside the body, then they have to accumulate at certain locations and penetrate into tissue to start a new tumor. Metastasis cancer usually requires more difficult treatment than the primary tumor because these cancer cells become more aggressive. According to the American Cancer Society, a 5 years survival rate of metastasis cancer can be about 5% to about 27%. (See, e.g., Reference 1). Thus a large number of people die because of metastasis cancer.
The process by which CTCs travel to other sites can develop from virtually any type of metastatic cancer. Metastasis involves the following steps:                1. Local invasion: Cancer cells invade nearby tissues.        2. Intravasation: Cancer cells invade and move through nearby lymph or blood vessels.        3. Circulation: Cancer cells move through the bloodstream or lymphatic fluid into other parts of the body.        4. Extravasation/Arrest: Cancer cells accumulate at a capillary and start invading nearby tissues.        5. Proliferation: These cells proliferate and develop into a secondary tumor called micrometastases.        6. Angiogenesis: Micrometastases release chemicals causing the growth of new blood vessels to obtain the oxygen and nutrients needed for the growth of tumors. There are several clinical treatments for the first two steps and the last two steps such as chemo/immunotherapy, endocrine therapy, biological therapy and radiation/surgery/intervention. (See, e.g., Reference 2).
Thus, it may be beneficial to provide an exemplary system, method and computer-accessible medium for selectively targeting CTCs in a sample of blood that can eliminate CTCs externally in a large volume of blood, while not damaging the blood stream, in order to treat CTCs that remain in the blood stream after clinical treatments to prevent primary cancer patients from getting metastatic cancers, as well as to avoid, reduce and/or eliminate the deficiencies and issues of the prior systems, devices and methods.

System, method and computer-accessible medium for treating circulating tumor cells in the blood stream