The present invention discloses a composition for antistatic layer formation, which has realized antireflection and prevention of interference fringes. The composition for antistatic layer formation comprises electrically conductive fine particles, an ionizing radiation curing resin, and an organic solvent, the electrically conductive fine particles each comprising a core particle covered with an electrically conductive material, the refractive index of the core particle being lower than that of the electrically conductive material.

First Aspect of Invention and Third Aspect of Invention
Display surfaces of optical articles such as liquid crystal displays and plasma displays are required to cause no significant reflection of light applied from external light sources such as fluorescent lamps from the viewpoint of enhancing visibility. A phenomenon that the reflectance is reduced by covering the surface of a transparent object with a transparent film having a low refractive index has hitherto been known in the art. Therefore, the visibility can be improved by providing an antireflection film utilizing this phenomenon onto the display surface of an image display device. The antireflection film may have a single-layer structure comprising a low refractive index layer having a low refractive index provided on a display surface, or a multilayer structure comprising one or a plurality of medium to high refractive index layers, for further improving the antireflection effect, provided on a display surface and a low refractive index layer provided on the antireflection effect improving layer(s).
The antireflection film having a single-layer structure has a simpler layer construction than the multilayered antireflection film and thus has superior productivity and cost performance. On the other hand, for the multilayered antireflection film, advantageously, the antireflection properties can be improved by combining layer constructions and thus can realize high performance than the antireflection film having a single layer structure. Further, damage to the surface of an optical article deteriorates the visibility, and, thus, it is common practice to impart hard properties to the antireflection film. Furthermore, an optical article formed of plastic has insulating properties and thus is electrified upon exposure to static electricity and the like, and the adherence of dust onto the surface deteriorates the visual field. This has led to a demand for imparting antistatic properties to optical articles.
An antistatic antireflection film produced by forming a metal oxide-containing antistatic layer on a transparent base material film, further forming a hardcoat layer on the antistatic layer, and forming, as the uppermost layer, a low refractive index layer having a lower refractive index than the underlying layer is known as a film to which these antistatic properties and hard properties have been imparted to antireflection films (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 255403/2001).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 255403/2001 describes an antireflection film comprising an antistatic layer which uses a metal oxide or a metal as an antistatic material from the viewpoint of preventing a deterioration in visual field caused by the adherence of dust on the surface of displays. Since metal oxides or metals generally have a higher refractive index than a binder resin, an antistatic layer with a metal oxide or a metal added thereto has a higher refractive index than the base material film or the hardcoat layer and, thus, a refractive index difference occurs between the base material film and the antistatic layer or between the hardcoat layer and the antistatic layer. The refractive index difference poses a problem that interference fringes, which deteriorate the visibility of optical articles such as displays, occur.
For example, for an example of an antireflection film comprising a conventional general antistatic layer, a triacetylcellulose film (a transparent base material film) has a refractive index of about 1.5, a metal oxide-containing or metal-containing antistatic layer has a refractive index of about 1.57 to 1.70, and the hardcoat layer has a refractive index of about 1.50. This great difference in refractive index between layers in contact with each other causes a problem that external light which entered from surface side is reflected from the interface of the transparent base material film and the antistatic layer and the interface of the antistatic layer and the hardcoat layer and the reflected lights cause interferences which are sometimes observed as uneven interference (color shading).
Accordingly, there is an urgent need for the development of a composition for the formation of an antistatic layer which can effectively prevent the occurrence of interference fringes and dust adherence, and an antistatic layer for use in an antireflection film formed using this composition.
Second Aspect of Invention and Fourth Aspect of Invention
Display surfaces of optical articles such as liquid crystal displays and plasma displays are required to cause no significant reflection of light applied from external light sources such as fluorescent lamps from the viewpoint of enhancing visibility. For antireflection purposes, it is common practice to apply an antireflection film, prepared by forming a low refractive index layer having a lower refractive index than the underlying layer either, onto a transparent base material film directly or through other layer, onto the surface of an optical article. Further, damage to the surface of an optical article deteriorates the visibility, and, thus, it is common practice to impart hard properties to the antireflection film. Furthermore, an optical article formed of plastic has insulating properties and thus is electrified upon exposure to static electricity and the like, and the adherence of dust onto the surface deteriorates the visual field. This has led to a demand for imparting antistatic properties to optical articles.
An antistatic antireflection film produced by forming a hardcoat layer on a transparent base material film, forming a metal oxide-containing antistatic layer on the hardcoat layer, and forming, as the uppermost layer, a low refractive index layer having a lower refractive index than the underlying layer is known as a film to which these antistatic properties and hard properties have been imparted to antireflection films (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 267804/2002). In the antireflection film disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 267804/2002, the refractive index of the antistatic layer is described to be not less than 1.60 and not more than 1.75.
The refractive index of the antistatic layer containing a metal oxide as an antistatic agent is generally in the range of about 1.57 to 1.75. When an antireflection film having a laminate structure of transparent base material film/hardcoat layer/antistatic layer/low refractive index layer (refractive index n=not more than 1.42) is formed by designing a low refractive index layer so that the minimum reflectance is provided at a wavelength of 550 nm, and stacking the conventional low refractive index layer (n=not more than 1.42) onto an antistatic layer having a refractive index of about 1.57 to 1.75, due to a large difference in refractive index between both the layers, a V-shaped reflectance curve is provided. That is, the reflectance in a short wave area and the reflectance in a long wave area in a visible light region are high, leading to a problem that a reddish/bluish color occurs in the antireflection film and the strength of color at the time of reflection increases with increasing the refractive index difference. Such coloring is particularly significant when the antistatic layer is a thin film having a thickness of 50 nm to 150 nm and, at the same time, the low refractive index layer is a thin film having a thickness of 50 nm to 150 nm.
FIG. 1 is a reflectance curve in which the reflectance (%) is plotted as ordinate and the light wavelength (nm) is plotted as abscissa in the case where, in an antireflection film having a laminate structure of transparent base material film/hardcoat layer/antistatic layer/low refractive index layer, the low refractive index layer has a refractive index (n1) of 1.37 and the antistatic layer has a refractive index (n2) on levels of 1.53, 1.57, 1.61, and 1.65. In FIG. 1, a curve indicated by a solid line shows a reflectance curve of the antireflection film comprising no antistatic layer. As is apparent from FIG. 1, the larger the difference in refractive index between the antistatic layer and the low refractive index layer, the larger the curve in the V-shaped curve and the higher the reflectance in the short wave area and the long wave area and, thus, the stronger the reddish/bluish color in the antireflection film.
Accordingly, there is an urgent need for the development of an antireflection film comprising an antistatic layer having a laminate structure of transparent base material film/hardcoat layer/antistatic layer (thin film)/low refractive index layer (thin film) in which coloring at the time of reflection has been prevented.


[Object] To provide an information processing system, a storage medium, and an information processing method that can make a response to a user on the basis of an episode constructed from an interaction with the user to enhance the user's memory. [Solution] A control section is included, the control section including an accumulation function of, when recognizing a specific user on a basis of sensor data acquired via an agent device, generating episode data in the accumulation section on a basis of a keyword extracted from the sensor data, generating a question for drawing out information concerning the episode data, and accumulating a reply from the specific user to the question in the episode data, and a responding function of, when recognizing the specific user on the basis of the sensor data acquired via the agent device, retrieving the episode data through the accumulation section on the basis of the keyword extracted from the sensor data, and generating response data concerning the retrieved episode data for the agent device to respond to the specific user.

Conventionally, a technology of, in the case where one cannot remember a person's name or face in the daily life, supplementing information has been proposed.
For example, Patent Literature 1 below describes a robot system that detects the degree of closeness on the basis of a conversation between a person and a user, and accordingly provides the person with user's privacy information.
In addition, Patent Literature 2 below describes a life support device for patients with brain dysfunction that displays a pseudo-face image of a close relative when talking on the phone with the close relative, and changes the pseudo-face image in a manner almost matching an interaction content to increase the degree of contribution to recovery of the brain function of the elderly with brain dysfunction.

Information processing system, storage medium, and information processing method to make a response to a user on a basis of an episode constructed from an interaction with a user


A method of operating a mobile device with a camera, a display and a position sensor to provide a display of supplementary information aligned with a view of a scene. One or more image obtained from the camera is uploaded to a remote server together with corresponding data from the position sensor. Image processing is then performed to track image motion between that image and subsequent images obtained from the camera, determining a mapping between the uploaded image and a current image. Data is then received via the network indicative of a pixel location for display of supplementary information within the reference image. The mapping is used to determine a corresponding pixel location for display of the supplementary information within the current image, and the supplementary information is displayed on the display correctly aligned with the view of the scene.

The present invention relates to augmented reality and, in particular, it concerns a system and method providing network-based real time augmented reality for mobile devices.
Augmented reality (AR) refers to a manner of presenting supplementary information or graphic content overlying and visually combined with a view of the real world, whether viewed directly or as images on a display. In the case of a directly viewed scene, the supplementary information is generally displayed via a transparent display arrangement. In the case of images viewed on a display, the supplementary content is generally combined on the same display.
A key issue in implementation of any AR solution is the resolution of registration achieved between the real world scene and the supplementary information. For low resolution AR, for example, where it is sufficient to provide a simple text label deployed in the general direction of features occupying a large part of the field of view, it is possible to implement a rudimentary AR system using GPS together with an inertial navigation system (INS) or another basic position sensor suite. An example of such an implementation is described in "Shared Database of Annotation Information for Wearable Augmented Reality System", Koji Makita et al., Graduate School of Information Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama, Ikoma, Nara, 630-0192 Japan, pp. 464-471 (XP-002408355). A range of commercial applications have recently become available for various smart-phone devices which provide AR functionality based on built-in position sensors. The performance of such applications is limited by the precision of the position sensors and the noise level in their readings.
In more demanding AR applications, it may be necessary to provide more precise registration of the supplementary information with the real world view than can be achieved using low-cost position sensors, for example, allowing the system to distinguish between two objects which appear small and close together in a sampled image. In order to achieve high resolution registration of the supplementary information to the real world, techniques have been developed based on image processing through which sampled images are registered to a geographic information system (GIS) including ortho-photo data. Examples of this technology may be found in R. P. Wildes et al., "Video georegistration: algorithm and quantitative evaluation", ICCV 2001, Vol. 2, pp. 343-350; and in R. W. Cannata et al., "Autonomous video registration using sensor model parameter adjustments", IEEE Workshop on Video Registration (with ICCV 2001).
Image-processing-based AR applications such as those described in these articles potentially offer accurate pixel-by-pixel registration to the geographic database, and hence provide precise positioning of supplementary AR information sufficient to identify all visible features. However, this approach requires access to a large database of reference images, and strong processing capabilities. In practical terms, the hardware requirements for implementing image-processing-based AR have until now been generally prohibitive for domestic consumer electronics devices and other portable devices. Furthermore, remote image processing is typically not an effective option for mobile devices networked via a wide area network (WAN) due to the significant delay introduced by uploading images over the limited bandwidth of the WAN.
There is therefore a need for a system and method providing network-based real time augmented reality for mobile devices which would allow image-processing-based AR to be used effectively within the processing and communication bandwidth limitations of networked portable devices.

Network-based real time registered augmented reality for mobile devices


A testing probe includes a first sleeve, a first springy component, a first movable rod, a second springy component, and at least one second movable rod. The first sleeve has a first containing portion, which is located inside the first containing portion. The first movable rod is partially inserted into the first containing portion, and has a first stopper portion and a second containing portion. The first stopper portion is located inside the first containing portion and contacts the first springy component, so that the first movable rod and first containing portion are capable of relatively sliding. The second springy component is located inside the second containing portion. The second movable rod is partially inserted into the second containing portion, and has a second stopper portion. The second stopper portion is located inside the second containing portion and contacts the second springy component, so that the second movable rod and second containing portion are capable of relatively sliding.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a testing probe and a testing jig, and more particularly to a testing probe and a testing jig for testing an electrolytic capacitor.
2. Related Art
An electrical product is usually constituted by several small electronic elements, wherein the electrolytic capacitor is a small electronic element that is often seen. After the electrical product has been assembled, it has to be tested in a series of testing processes, such as electrical tests and functional tests. Taking the testing of the electrolytic capacitor as an example, the assembled electrolytic capacitor usually has to be tested in order to judge whether or not the problems, such as specification error, polarity inversion, and lack of elements, occur.
Referring to FIG. 1, a testing system includes a circuit board 11, an electrolytic capacitor 13 located on the circuit board 11, and a testing jig 20. The testing jig 20 includes a base 21 and a testing probe 23. In the prior art, the testing probe 23 is uncompressible. Thus, when the conventional testing probe 23 is utilized to test the electrolytic capacitor 13, the testing probe 23 tends to be broken or bent owing to the improperly applied force. As a result, the correctness of the testing result is influenced, and the lifetime of the testing jig 20 is thus shortened.
In order to solve the problems of the tendency of breaking or bending of the conventional testing probe, another testing probe 30 has been proposed, as shown in FIG. 2. The testing probe 30 includes a sleeve 31, a spring 33, and a movable rod 35. The sleeve 31 has a containing portion 311 and at least one neck 313. The spring 33 is located inside the containing portion 311. One end of the movable rod 35 is an arresting end portion 351 located inside the containing portion 311 and between the neck 313 and the spring 33. As shown in FIG. 2, the movable rod 35 and sleeve 31 may slide relatively and thus provide a probe stroke. Accordingly, when the testing probe 30 is utilized to test the electrolytic capacitor, the probe stroke may serve as the means for buffering the sustained stress of the testing probe 30, so as to avoid the break or bend owing to the improperly applied force. The probe stroke may be defined as the movable distance between the testing probe 30 and the contact portion (i.e., the other end of the movable rod 35) of the to-be-tested electrolytic capacitor.
However, the conventional testing probe 30 only utilizes the neck 313 to hold the arresting end portion 351 within the containing portion 311. In this case, when the ratio of the length (i.e., the probe stroke) of the movable rod 35, which is exposed to the outside of the containing portion 311, to the diameter of the neck 313 is too large, the testing probe 30 tends to be broken or bent at the neck 313, as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, the maximum probe stroke that can be provided by the conventional testing probe 30 is restricted.
Consequently, it is an important subjective in manufacturing electrical products to provide a testing probe, which may provide a longer probe stroke and have better probe intensity, and a testing jig using the same.


An object of the present invention is to provide a kidney-imaging agent which is composed of bioabsorbable materials, transiently accumulates in a kidney for a short period of time, and does not remain in the kidney for a prolonged time after accumulation. The present invention provides a kidney-imaging agent which comprises a gelatin-like protein.

Kidney is an organ that filters waste products and excess water from blood to generate urine so as to maintain homeostasis of body fluid (extracellular fluid) and excrete protein metabolites such as urea. In addition, the kidney is responsible for regulation of endocrine secretion and metabolism such as vitamin D activation, erythropoietin production or renin production. Therefore, the kidney is known as a very important organ for the living body.
Examples of kidney diseases include acute glomerulonephritis, chronic glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, pyelonephritis, hypertensive nephrosclerosis, diabetic glomerulosclerosis, nephrolithiasis, amyloid nephropathy, renal vein thrombosis, Alport syndrome, and renal tumor. The kidney is an organ having a complex structure. In general, deterioration of renal function is irreversible except for some acute diseases. In addition, renal diseases progress as predicted, eventually resulting in "chronic renal failure." As a result of symptomatic progression, dialysis becomes required. In the case of dialysis, patients must continuously receive dialysis for 4 to 6 hours a day two or three times per week through life. Therefore, the QOL of patients is remarkably impaired. At the same time, the medical cost required for dialysis is extremely expensive (¥1,300,000,000,000), causing an enormous burden on the total medical expense in Japan (¥33,000,000,000,000). This has been problematic.
To date, a variety of drug therapies have been performed for various renal diseases. For example, drug therapies for glomerulonephritis include administration of corticosteroids for suppression of inflammatory reaction and an immunosuppressive therapy. In addition, in the case of renal cell cancer that is a major kidney cancer, stent placement and a drug therapy using molecular target drugs such as Nexavar (Sorafenib) have been conducted, in addition to surgical resection. The term "renal cell cancer" used herein refers to adenocarcinoma formed through malignant alteration of renal tubular epithelial cells in the kidney. However, satisfactory drug treatment still has not been realized in clinical practice because such drug therapies are problematic in terms of levels of side effects upon non-kidney organs, efficacy, and the like.
Meanwhile, drug delivery systems (DDSs) that allow efficient distribution of drugs to target organs have been actively studied and developed for practical use in recent years. For instance, a method using drug-carrying vesicles such as liposomes, emulsions, lipid microspheres, and nanoparticles, improved stability of PEG-modified drugs or drug carriers in blood, active targeting with the use of antibodies, and the like are suggested.
However, there are various problems relating to the drug delivery system using these techniques. It has been difficult to achieve effective delivery of drugs to kidney lesions in particular. For example, when drug-carrying vesicles are used, drug-carrying vesicles are likely to be captured in the liver, spleen, or the like, making it difficult to achieve targeting of even a normal kidney. Further, it is very difficult to perform separate targeting of normal kidney tissue and affected kidney tissue.
In particular, it is known that very large amounts of drugs pass through the kidney because of the large blood flow volume of the kidney (0.8 to 1.2 liters/minute corresponding to 20% to 25% of the cardiac output for adults). However, in spite of such large amounts of drugs passing through the kidney, substantial amounts of drugs are not transferred to kidney functional units but are excreted in urine. Therefore, sufficient drug efficacy has not been exhibited in the kidney. In addition, substantially no drug carriers capable of delivering a drug targeting a kidney or kidney functional units have been available. There are a very small number of reports on effective drug carriers capable of aiding drug targeting. One example of such drug carriers is a polyvinylpyrrolidone compound (Nature Biotechnology 21, 399-404 (2003) Synthesis of a poly(vinylpyrrolidone-co-dimethyl maleic anhydride) co-polymer and its application for renal drug targeting). However, polyvinylpyrrolidone is known as a non-bioabsorbable material that can never be degraded or metabolized in vivo (JECFA Roma, 24 Mar.-2 Apr. 1980: Toxicological Evaluation of Certain Food Additives: WHO Food Additive Series No. 15). The above compound is designed to prevent filtration/excretion through the kidney. Therefore, in order to achieve drug accumulation in the kidney, a foreign substance which is a non-bioabsorbable material needs to remain in the kidney for long time. This is significantly problematic. For such reason, it is actually difficult to use the compound in practice. In particular, the long-term retention of the compound in the kidney would increase the risk of unexpected drug-induced nephrotoxic side effects. It is known that many drugs and contrast agents cause nephrotoxic side effects. Specifically, it is important for kidney-targeting carriers to be transferred to kidney functional units immediately after being administered while having transient accumulation effects. After administration, it is desirable for kidney-targeting carriers to be removed from the kidney in an adequate manner by degradation/metabolism/excretion. For example, it is desirable for contrast agents, PET diagnostic agents (radioisotope diagnostic agents) and the like to be accumulated in 1 or 2 hours after administration and is then removed as soon as possible. However, in the above case, it was found that the polyvinylpyrrolidone compound continuously remains in the kidney at high concentrations for several days or longer. It has been impossible to solve this issue. Further, it is impossible for the above polyvinylpyrrolidone compound to achieve separate targeting of normal kidney tissue and affected kidney tissue. Therefore, the long-term retention of the compound in a normal kidney would inevitably increase the risk of unexpected drug-induced nephrotoxic side effects. Therefore, it has been problematic that the compound cannot be used in practice as an agent targeting an affected kidney.
In addition, many imaging agents/in vivo diagnostic drugs have no selectivity to distinguish between a normal kidney and an affected kidney, which has been problematic. PET (positron emission tomography) diagnosis of legions with the use of FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose) has been employed for tumor or inflammation diagnosis. However, non-specific physiological accumulation of FDG results in accumulation of FDG in a normal kidney/urinary duct. This causes an increase in the background level, making it difficult to make a diagnosis of a legion formed in a kidney or urinary duct. Also for in vivo diagnostic drugs, imaging agents capable of separately targeting normal kidney tissue and affected kidney tissue have been awaited.
That is, a targeting agent that separately targets a normal kidney and an affected kidney while having transient accumulation effects has been strongly demanded as a kidney-imaging agent. Meanwhile, for example, in the case of IgA nephropathy diagnosis, there is a report on a composition comprising an anti-IgA antibody (JP Patent Publication (Kohyo) No. 2009-503115 A). However, this composition which is provided in this document is composed of an antibody. Therefore, such composition merely acts on limited diseases (e.g., only IgA nephropathy in the case of the anti-IgA antibody described in the document). Therefore, the composition obviously lacks versatility and thus it is also not useful in practice as a diagnostic agent. That is, a versatile targeting agent capable of targeting a kidney in which a wide range of diseases are developed has been awaited.
On the other hand, biopolymers such as gelatin have been widely used as medical materials. However, it has been unknown that biopolymers can be used for targeting of an affected kidney. In addition, along with the recent development of genetic engineering techniques, protein synthesis has been conducted via gene introduction into Escherichia coli or yeast. With the use of this technique, a variety of recombinant collagen-like proteins have been synthesized (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,172; and WO2008/103041). Such proteins are superior to natural gelatin in terms of non-infectious properties and homogeneity. In addition, since the sequences of the proteins have been determined, the proteins are advantageous in that they can be precisely designed in terms of strength and degradability. However, the above suggestion is limited to the use of the proteins as a substitute of natural gelatin. Needless to say, it has been unknown that they can be used as targeting agents for an affected kidney.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Kidney-imaging agent comprising recombinant gelatin


A straddle-type vehicle is provided with an engine unit and an engine air-intake system. The engine unit includes a cylinder head provided with an air-intake port communicating with a combustion chamber, the air-intake port being provided with a valve seat disposed to an opening of the combustion chamber. The engine air-intake system includes a throttle body connected to an upstream side of the air-intake port and an air cleaner connected to an upstream side of the throttle body via an air-intake pipe so as that the air cleaner projects upward over the upper frames, the air cleaner having an inner clean section, and an axis connecting the clean section and the throttle body extends linearly toward the valve seat.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a straddle-type vehicle, and more specifically, it relates to an engine air-intake system for a straddle-type vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the engine air-intake system mounted in conventional straddle-type vehicles, a carburetor is disposed behind a cylinder head constituting a cylinder assembly of an engine arranged substantially upright, an air cleaner is disposed behind the carburetor, and an exhaust pipe constituting an engine exhaust system is disposed beside the engine air-intake system (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. HEI 11-11171 and 2002-274468).
Since the exhaust pipe is located, as a heat source, in the vicinity of the carburetor and the air cleaner, temperature of outside air to be led into the engine increases. In addition, since the carburetor and the air cleaner are located behind the cylinder head, it is difficult to cool them by the wind while the vehicle is moving. The increase in the temperature of the air will reduce the air-intake efficiency, resulting in reduction of the engine power. Moreover, since the air-intake path from the air cleaner to the air-intake port in the cylinder head has a long length and is bent steeply just before the air-intake port, the air-intake resistance will be increased. The increase in the air-intake resistance may deteriorate the throttle response and the air-intake efficiency.
Furthermore, in the arrangement of the substantially upright cylinder assembly, the center of mass of the vehicle will take a high position, which will deteriorate the steering performance of the vehicle.


An inflatable cushion for use in an airbag module is provided. The inflatable cushion generally includes a primary inflatable chamber configured for deployment from the air bag module, the primary inflatable chamber having an inlet opening for receipt of an inflation gas and the primary inflatable chamber defines a first volume. A secondary inflatable chamber secured to the primary inflation chamber, the secondary inflatable chamber defining a second volume, the second volume being less than the first volume and the secondary inflatable chamber being in fluid communication with the primary inflatable chamber such that the inflation gas must travel through the primary inflatable chamber prior to reaching the secondary inflatable chamber.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate generally to airbags or inflatable cushions. More specifically, exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods for deploying a two-chamber inflatable cushion from an airbag module in a gas-efficient manner.
Passenger side airbags or inflatable cushions have historically been designed as a single chamber cushion for restraining both the head and chest of a belted or unbelted occupant during a predetermined event. Because the head and chest of the occupant have different masses, each are restrained at different rates by a single chamber cushion.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an inflatable cushion and/or system for providing an inflatable cushion capable of providing differing amounts of support or cushion reaction to various portions of a vehicle occupant while also reducing the amount of gas needed for deploying a passenger airbag.


A rolled paper dispenser includes a base that has a rear surface, and a front surface. The rear surface is adapted to be mounted on wall. The rolled paper dispenser also includes a dispensing section that extends from the base at an angle away from the front surface of the base. The dispensing section is a generally elongated, flat, thin member and can include a securing section and an attachment section. The securing section extends from the dispensing section and defines an angle with the front surface of the base from about 25° to about 65°.

There are a great many different types of dispensers intended to hold and dispense sheets of paper from a roll, such as a toilet paper roll or a paper towel roll. These dispensers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and can range from very simple to complex in both the way they operate and their ornamentation. Simple wire or rod hangers, vertical tubes, and wall-mounted spindles are well known and widely used. An example paper holder and dispensing system is set forth in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20110215187A1. While known strategies for holding and dispensing paper from a roll may be suitable in many contexts, there remains ample room for alternative strategies.


A heater for top portions of containers 11 filled with contents and each having a top forming tubular portion 14 generally rectangular to square in cross section for heating seal parts 31, 35 of the top forming portion 14 with hot air for heat-sealing comprises a hot air nozzle 51 in the form of a bottomed tube having a generally rectangular to square cross section and to be inserted into the top forming portion 14 for heating. The hot air nozzle 51 having first to fourth four side walls 61 to 64 integral with one another with a ridgeline formed between the adjoining side walls. The side walls 61 to 64 is formed with orifices 68 as distributed over regions thereof corresponding to the respective seal parts 31, 35. The side walls 61 to 64 each have an outer surface facing obliquely upward.

The present invention relates to a heater for top portions of containers, and more particularly to a heater for containers each having an open upper end and filled with contents such as milk for use in folding the top portions of the containers to the shape of a gabled roof and heat-sealing the top portions.
FIG. 5 shows such a heater already known for use with containers 91 filled with contents and each having a top forming tubular portion 92 generally square in cross section for heating seal parts of the top forming portion with hot air which parts are to be heat-sealed. The heater comprises a hot air nozzle 93 in the form of a bottomed tube having a generally square cross section and to be inserted into the top forming portion 92 for heating. The hot air nozzle 93 has first to fourth four side walls 94 integral with one another with a ridgeline formed between the adjoining side walls. The side walls 94 are vertical and formed with orifices 95 as distributed over the regions thereof corresponding to the respective seal parts.
With the conventional heater, hot air is forced out from the nozzle 93 against the seal portions to heat these portions, whereupon the air changes its course, partly turning upward to flow out of the container 91. The rest of the air flows downward in the interior of the container. The downward flow of hot air forces up a portion of the liquid filled in the container which portion has been bubbled up when the liquid is placed into the container. Such bubbles will then adhere to the bottom surface of the nozzle 93 and will be scorched with the heat of the nozzle 93 to form an accumulation. The accumulation falls off from time to time and becomes incorporated into the contents, affording an unacceptable product.
The adhesion of bubbles can be obviated by reducing the rate of discharge of hot air, but an impaired heat pattern will then result to produce faulty seals.


In a multiprocessor, access to shared resources is provided by a semaphore control mechanism, herein disclosed. The semaphore control mechanism provides for a high degree of programmable firmware reuse requiring relatively few modifications from a uniprocessor.

Shared resources comprising a hardware component such as a display device or a printer in multiprocessing systems have been managed through a variety of mechanisms. Some of these mechanisms entail the use of atomic primitives such as "test and set", "compare and swap", or "load and reserve" to request access to the shared resource. At some system layer the details of such a mechanism and its primitives are specified.
These system level specifications define the resource sharing for a particular system and are not generally portable or scalable to another multiprocessing system without some additional modifications to the same system level specifications or to the specifications of some other system layers. In other words, management of such shared resources is not transparent to the system. Furthermore, for a multiprocessing system having multiple logical processing cores integrated into a single device, management of shared resources in a way that is transparent to the system has not previously been addressed.

Method and apparatus for shared resource management in a multiprocessing system

Abstract: A machine check abort (MCA) handling mechanism is disclosed, which works with the semaphore control mechanism in the multiprocessor to provide improved system availability and reliability. The MCA handling mechanism provides for synchronization of multiple processors and shared resources and for timely execution resumption within the processors that remain on-line.


The invention is configured in such a manner that it has color correction means for color correcting to image data; and color correction controlling means for setting a matrix coefficient to said color correction means, said color correction controlling means calculating the optimum color correction coefficient from combination of specific variables which fulfill Conditions 1 and 2 below, and applying these optimum color correction coefficient to said matrix coefficient.. Condition 1: Achromatic color data is not changed before or after color correction PA1 Condition 2: Luminance is not changed before or after color correction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device which corrects color shift of its own accord.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image processing device will be described with reference to FIGS. 4-6.
FIG. 4 is an overall structural diagram of a conventional image processing device. A scanning unit 41 scans a paper and converts it into electric signals, thus generating scanning data. A color correction unit 42 corrects color shift in this scanning data or data which has been received. An image processing unit 43 implements .gamma. correction, or lightness correction, and binary processing on the data which has been corrected for color shift in this manner. A control unit 45 controls the whole process.
There follows a description of the action of a conventional image processing device of the above configuration. Colors are represented by the three primary colors R, G and B. Hardware within the image processing device processes all colors in terms of these three primary ones. Now, colors may also be expressed by means of color coordinates (*L*a*b), wherein lightness and chromaticity are separated. This means that in calculating color shift in order to determine correction coefficients, it is possible to do so by correcting only the chromaticity, and leaving the lightness uniform. However, inasmuch as the correction of color shift is applied to devices which process color in terms of R, G and B, it requires to be expressed in the R/G/B system. Thus, color differences are calculated in terms of *L*a*b coordinates, while correction coefficients are calculated in terms of R, G and B coordinates.
FIGS. 5 and 6 will be used in order to explain the flow up to the acquisition of an optimal color correction matrix. The control unit 45 converts a plurality of color pattern data (Ri, Gi, Bi) for color correction, which it holds, into the *L*a*b system of color expression, as a result of which lightness information (*Li) is acquired (S1). By `color pattern data for color correction` here is meant color pattern data serving as a standard for use in correcting color shift, and expressed in numerical form. When output by a standard printing device, this data forms a standard color pattern. Similarly, when scanning by a standard scanning device, this data forms color pattern data for use in color correction. The correction coefficients for color shift are values which allow a particular device to approach as close as possible to these standard printing and scanning devices.
This color pattern data for use in color correction is output from the printing unit 44 (S2) to provide test pattern copy 6. In this case it is output without being processed by the color processing unit. The output color pattern is scanned by the scanning unit 41, smoothing is implemented in order to improve the precision with which the color correction is scanned, and this data becomes (R.sub.0 G.sub.0 B.sub.0) (S3).
Next, the data (R.sub.0 G.sub.0 B.sub.0) is converted temporarily into the *L*a*b system in order to obtain lightness information (*L), yielding (*L.sub.0 *a.sub.0 *b.sub.0). The lightness information (*L.sub.0) is converted into lightness information (Li) of the original color pattern data for use in color correction, thus giving (*Li*a.sub.0 *b.sub.0) (S4). In order to correct only the chromaticity, the color correction unit 42 substitutes the lightness data of the color pattern data for use in color correction for the lightness information of the data which has been scanned.
Then, the (*Li*a.sub.0 *b.sub.0) thus acquired is converted back into an RGB signal to yield (R.sub.ch G.sub.ch B.sub.ch) (S5). It is necessary to calculate the correction coefficients in terms of the RGB system because that is the system in which the hardware processes the color data in terms of the RGB system. The correction coefficients are made into 3.times.3 matrices corresponding to the three colors R, G and B, and are represented by the following formula (1). ##EQU1##
If the matrix to be determined is set up in accordance with formula (1), the variables may be represented by the six letters from a to f. The initial value, ranges of variation and resolution of each of these variables (i.e. the units of size of each of the variables, representing values per 0.1 or 0.01) are determined (S6). In FIG. 6, a matrix with values in place of the variables a-f according to formula (2) below is multiplied by (R.sub.ch G.sub.ch B.sub.ch), and (R.sub.tmp G.sub.tmp B.sub.tmp) are calculated (S7). ##EQU2##
Once it has become the correction matrix which serves to minimize color shift, it will be seen that (R.sub.ch G.sub.ch B.sub.ch) represent the pre-correction data, while (R.sub.tmp G.sub.tmp B.sub.tmp) represent the data after correction. The resultant (R.sub.tmp G.sub.tmp B.sub.tmp) are then converted back into *L*a*b coordinates to give (*L.sub.tmp *a.sub.tmp *b.sub.tmp) (S8) The error between this data and the standard color pattern data for use in color correction (*Li*ai*bi) is calculated for each color, and the sum of these errors .DELTA.E determined in accordance with formula (3) (S9). EQU .DELTA.E=[ (*Li-*L.sub.tmp).sup.2 +(ai-a.sub.tmp).sup.2 +(*bi-*b.sub.tmp).sup.2 ].sup.1/2 (3)
This sum is calculated every time the matrix variables a-f are altered within the range of variation (S11), and by repeating steps S7-S10, S11 the total sum within the range of variation of the matrix coefficients is calculated (S10), and the variables a-f of a transformation matrix where the sum of the errors .DELTA.E is smallest are determined. This matrix becomes the correction coefficient of both the scanning unit 41 and the printing unit 44, which is to say it becomes the color correction coefficient during the action of copying.
In the above description the color correction coefficients were calculated by means of the least square. This method requires a great deal of calculation time if the resolution is set too small. For instance, if the range of each of the variables a-f is between -2.0 and +2.0, and if the resolution is set in units of 0.01, the calculations in steps S7-S9 need to be implemented in 401.sup.6 ways, so that much time is expended in calculation. A method of effecting of the calculation in less time has also been proposed.
Firstly, calculations are not effected at a final resolution of 0.01, but rather each of the variables is broken down roughly (e.g. in units of 0.5). The method of the least square is then employed in order to calculate the matrix M11 where the sum of the errors .DELTA.E is smallest, and the matrix M12 where it is second smallest (S12). Resolution is set somewhat more finely (e.g. in units of 0.2) within the range of variables a-f determined by these matrices M11 and M12 (S14). Matrices M21 and M22 where .DELTA.E is respectively smallest and second smallest are calculated again (S7-S12). This is repeated a plurality of times (n times) until the value of each of the variables reaches its smallest resolution (e.g. 0.01), the matrix Mn1 where .DELTA.E is smallest is calculated, and this is adopted as the color correction coefficient (S15). In this way it is possible to obtain the optimum color correction coefficient.
However, in the above conventional examples nine signals are output from the control unit 45 to the color correction unit, and therefore the process of detecting minimum differences in color needs to be executed in all combinations of the nine variables. Consequently, if the number of samples per variable is n, this process must be executed n.sup.9 times. Even if the condition outlined below is applied and the number of variables limited to six as in formula (1) above, the process of detecting minimum differences in color needs to be executed n.sup.6 times.
Condition 1: Achromatic color data is not changed before or after color correction
From Ri=Gi=Bi=R0=G0=B0
m11+m12+m13=1
m21+m22+m23=1
m31+m32+m33=1
Thus there has been a problem in that the number of calculations involved is great, and this requires a large amount of time. There has also been the problem of lengthy processing time which resulted from the fact that the process of calculating the optimum color correction coefficient was implemented by means of software.

Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems, Inc.


A boomerang wind blade includes a blade body having a protruding front edge and a recess rear edge. Both sides of the center of the blade body are two wing parts bent at an angle. The wing shape of one wing part is round at the front edge and tapering towards the rear edge. The wing shape of the other wing part is round at the rear edge and tapering towards the front edge. The device with a boomerang wind blade has a shaft fixed to the center of the two wing parts of the blade body to rotate as the blade body is driven by wind. The device also has at least one generator coupled with the shaft to generate electrical power.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a wind power generator and, in particular, to a boomerang wind blades and the device thereof.
2. Related Art
The conventional wind turbine is a pillar in the combination with a generator set. The shaft of the generator set has a fan blade. When the wind blows the windward side of the fan blade, the fan blade rotates under the wind power. The shaft is driven to rotate so that the generator set for power generation.
For such conventional wind turbines, however, the fan blade rotates only when the windward side thereof is blown by wind. This means that the fan blade is only driven by wind power in a single direction. If the wind blows the fan blade from a direction other than the windward side, then the fan blade cannot be driven to achieve the power generation effect, resulting in low efficiency in wind power generation.

Boomerang wind blades and the device thereof

National Penghu University of Science and Technology


The present application relates to a method and system for storing higher resolution images during capture and storage of a movie comprising lower resolution images.

Digital cameras that capture still images and digital cameras that capture movies are well-known in the art. Also, digital cameras that are capable of capturing both still images and movies are also well-known. Typically, these digital cameras with both capabilities require the user to switch from movie capture mode to still image capture mode to capture a still image while filming a movie. This is undesirable because the movie is interrupted while the user makes this manual switch of modes (and makes the switch back to resume the movie).
A prior art camera exists that allows the user to capture a still image while in movie capture mode. This camera is sold by Canon as Model S2 IS. However, when the user decides to depress the button for capturing the still image, the camera automatically deactivates the movie capture and switches over to the still image capture mode to capture the still image. This takes approximately 1 second, but it is still a second of lost movie filming. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-M1 has a similar function with the same loss of movie frames.

Hybrid image and movie imaging system and method


A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) having sensing capabilities is fabricated by forming a layer having the capability to change the threshold current of the VCSEL. This can be accomplished by forming a deformable membrane or a cantilevered beam on the VCSEL. The deformation of movement of the beam causes a change in the threshold current of the VCSEL, so that it can go from lasing to nonlasing or vice versa. In addition, a layer which changes reflectivity in the presence of a particular chemical can also be formed on the VCSEL to produce the same result.

This invention relates, in general, to semiconductor lasers, including, but not limited to, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) having a sensing capability.
In the past, silicon sensors utilized a dynamic element, such as a deformable membrane or cantilevered beam that is displaced by pressure or an applied force. The detection of this displacement is done by measuring the change in piezoresistance or capacitance. One disadvantage of these silicon sensors is that the change in resistance or capacitance is very small and difficult to detect.
Another disadvantage of these silicon sensors is that they are typically large, thus increasing the cost per device. Cost is an important factor because in most applications, such as automotive or medical applications, a multiple amount of devices are used in each application to provide redundancy.

Vertical cavity surface emitting laser and sensor


A method of forming a dual damascene structure includes providing a substrate having a metallic layer already formed thereon, and then forming a dielectric layer having a top-wide/bottom-narrow opening over the substrate to expose a portion of the metallic layer. Next, the metallic layer is over-etched by applying etchant through the opening to form a groove in the metallic layer so that additional metallic layer surface is exposed. Thereafter, a glue layer is formed over the opening and the groove surface. If the glue layer is a metal, a high-temperature operation is carried out to form a low resistance alloy at the junction between the metallic layer and the glue layer. Consequently, ohmic contact area and reliability of the device are increased. Finally, conventional processes are used to deposit metal into the opening followed by the planarization of the newly deposited metallic layer.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming dual damascene structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of forming dual damascene structure that has a greater ohmic contact area.
2. Description of Related Art
FIGS. 1A through 1D are cross-sectional views showing the progression of manufacturing steps in forming a dual damascene structure according to a conventional method. First, a patterned conductive layer 102 is formed in a substrate 100 having certain device structures (not drawn) formed thereon as shown in FIG. 1A. Next, an oxide layer 104 and a silicon nitride layer 106 are sequentially formed over the substrate 100.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1B, photolithographic and etching techniques are used to pattern the silicon nitride layer 106 to form an opening. Subsequently, an insulating layer 108 is formed over the substrate 100. Then, using a patterned photoresist layer (not drawn) as a mask, the insulating layer 108 is anisotropically etched in a dry etching operation to form an insulating layer 108a. In the meantime, using the silicon nitride layer 106a as a mask, the oxide layer 104 is also etched until the conductive layer 102 is exposed.
Consequently, a trench 110a is formed in the oxide layer 104a and the insulating layer 108a as shown in FIG. 1C. Thereafter, a glue layer 112 is formed over the insulating layer 108a and the oxide layer 104a on the interior surface of trench 110a. Later, the trench 110a is completely filled by a metal to form a metallic layer 114. Finally, a chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) method is used to remove portions of the metallic layer 114 lying above the insulating layer 108a, thereby forming a metal plug 114a and a conductive line 114b as shown in FIG. 1D.
For a conventional dual damascene structure, its conductive layer 102 and its metal plug 114a have a two-dimensional contact area. As the line width of semiconductor devices continues to shrink, contact area provided by the aforementioned method will shrink as well. Hence, resistance of the ohmic contact will continue to increase, thus affecting reliability of the integrated circuit devices.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need to improve the method of forming dual damascene structure.

Method of forming dual damascene structure


A pick-up truck vehicle is provided with an elevatable cargo box to facilitate cargo loading and unloading. The vehicle includes a U-shaped cargo area within which the cargo box is located, thereby requiring removal of all suspension assemblies to the outer sides of the vehicle to permit the cargo box to be movable between elevated and lowered positions. The side-mounted suspension assembly employs a leaf spring coupled to a pivoting wheel carrier. A pair of integrally formed longitudinal members couple the wheel carrier pivotally to the frame, and a transverse, upwardly directed arm is pivotally coupled to the leaf spring by a dual pivot arrangement. Pivoting action therefore is present relative to the frame and the leaf spring. The wheel carrier is integrally formed with the longitudinal members and the upwardly directed arm and is disposed beneath the leaf spring.

Trucks such as pickup trucks and the like are often used to transport small cargo loads and/or to make deliveries and pickups. One of the difficulties of using such trucks is that of loading and unloading heavy or awkward cargo when a loading dock of proper height is not available. For example, the cargo box of a pickup truck can be three or more feet off of the ground, making it difficult to load or unload cargo to and from the cargo box.
Various attempts have been made in the past to make it easier to load and unload cargo. For example, Canadian patent application no. 2,145,259, published Sep. 23, 1995, illustrates a vehicle having a U-shaped chassis with a drop tray decking. The tray is powered by hydraulics at each corner of the decking to raise and lower the tray. However, such a system requires a sophisticated control system for activating the hydraulics to ensure that each of the hydraulic cylinders operate simultaneously.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,902,188 to Page and 5,288,197 to Harris show systems wherein the cargo platform of a vehicle and a trailer, respectively, is lowered by pivoting the platform rearward and downward to facilitate easier loading and unloading of cargo. These systems suffer from the fact that they require a clear space behind the vehicle or trailer to allow the cargo platform to move rearward as it is pivoted downward.
Vehicles according to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,902,188 to Page were briefly offered for sale in the United States under the trademark KELPIE KARGO. However, such vehicles were not commercially successful.
In order for a cargo box to be fully elevating, the rear suspension of the vehicle must be removed and replaced with an independent suspension assembly mounted on each side of the vehicle. Each suspension assembly must be sized to fit within the arm of the U-shaped cargo area. There exists problems in designing a suspension assembly which is able to not only carry the cargo load but also able to carry the load over adverse conditions and at sustained speeds.
For instance, small side to side deflections as experienced in a prior art trailing link suspension assembly will result in stability problems when the vehicle is travelling at high rates of speed and when the vehicle is turning. This problem becomes particularly acute in a vehicle having an elevating cargo box since sway bars and other stabilizing bars cannot be utilized.

Independent leaf spring suspension for vehicle with lift box


The present disclosure relates to the conversion of biometric data to meaningful heath risk indications. According to one aspect, there is provided a method of determining a health risk indicator for a user by: obtaining heart rate data for the user recorded over a monitoring period of at least one day; processing said heart rate data in dependence on biometric data for the user to determine an aggregate heartbeat value for the user over said monitoring period; and determining said health risk indicator in dependence on said aggregate heartbeat value.

According to The World Health Organization (WHO), physical inactivity is the fourth major cause of premature death worldwide (WHO, 2009) and a recent series of publications shows that inactivity kills about 6 million people every year worldwide; a similar number as smoking (I-M Lee, The Lancet 2012). It is also well established that about 80% of all adults do not fulfil the criteria of current recommendations for physical activity (see e.g. Folkehelseinstiuttet 2009) and that major reductions in lifestyle related diseases have to come from population-wide, cost-effective interventions such as systematically increased physical activity level (United Nations General Assembly A/66/83, 2011).
The public is overwhelmed by exercise advice and frequent disputes as to how, how often and for how long we should exercise. Navigating this information, which covers the whole range from professional athletes to heart patients, can prove confusing and frustrating. This in itself can lead to a lack of motivation.
Fitness monitoring devices such as pedometers are available. However, many fitness monitoring devices are based on motion sensing alone, which can lead to inaccurate estimation of activity levels. For example a wrist-worn accelerometer could indicate a higher activity level for a period during which a user is eating than a period during which they are climbing stairs.
While some fitness monitoring devices are based on personal heart rate monitors these tend to be aimed at fitness enthusiasts wishing to track their training. They do not provide meaningful health risk indications suitable for those who only wish to reduce their risk of developing lifestyle-related (e.g. cardiovascular) diseases. Prevention of disease is a common motivation for exercising. For older people in particular it is often the primary motivation.
There is a need for an accurate, yet simple and unified, recommendation about activity level, which directly links to an individuals' health.

BEIJING SHUNYUAN KAIHUA TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method of processing, by a processor of a computer, positron emission tomography (PET) information obtained from a PET detector, including the steps of obtaining a singles event list that includes a plurality of single event entries, each entry corresponding to a single event detected by the PET detector and including a timestamp, energy information, and crystal position information; and determining, based on the timestamp and the crystal position information of each entry and a predetermined coincidence time period, all event pairs within the plurality of single event entries, each event pair consisting of two single events whose respective timestamps differ by less than the predetermined coincidence time period, wherein the determining step determines that an event pair exists when at least two, but no more than k, single events are found within a given time window, wherein k is an integer value greater than or equal to two.

The use of positron emission tomography (PET) is growing in the field of medical imaging. In PET imaging, a radiopharmaceutical agent is introduced into the object to be imaged via injection, inhalation, or ingestion. After administration of the radiopharmaceutical, the physical and bio-molecular properties of the agent will cause it to concentrate at specific locations in the human body. The actual spatial distribution of the agent, the intensity of the region of accumulation of the agent, and the kinetics of the process from administration to eventually elimination are all factors that may have clinical significance. During this process, a positron emitter attached to the radiopharmaceutical agent will emit positrons according to the physical properties of the isotope, such as half-life, branching ratio, etc.
The radionuclide emits positrons, and when an emitted positron collides with an electron, an annihilation event occurs, wherein the positron and electron are destroyed. Most of the time an annihilation event produces two 511 keV gamma rays traveling at substantially 180 degrees apart.
By detecting the two gamma rays, and drawing a line between their locations, i.e., the line-of-response (LOR), one can retrieve the likely location of the original disintegration. While this process will only identify a line of possible interaction, by accumulating a large number of those lines, and through a tomographic reconstruction process, the original distribution can be estimated. In addition to the location of the two scintillation events, if accurate timing (within few hundred picoseconds) is available, a time-of-flight (ToF) calculation can add more information regarding the likely position of the event along the line. The collection of a large number of events creates the necessary information for an image of an object to be estimated through tomographic reconstruction. Two detected events occurring at substantially the same time at corresponding detector elements form a line-of-response that can be histogrammed according to their geometric attributes to define projections, or sinograms to be reconstructed. Direct reconstruction of the LORs in list-mode format without histogramming is also possible, which is usually done in the TOF case.
In PET, scintillation crystals with related detector electronics are used to detect these emitted photons, and then a 3D radioisotope distribution of the organism can be obtained. In PET, the initial data detected from scintillation crystals are single events. A pairing scheme is needed to connect two single events, whose arrival time difference is within a coincidence timing window, into coincidence events. In the coincidence events, which we call "prompts," not all paired events are from the same annihilation points, which we call "true coincidences." A fraction of them are due to the accidental pairing of two singles from two different annihilation points, which we call "randoms" or "accidental coincidences."
In conventional systems, single pairing is performed using a hardware implementation of pairing in and-logic and/or with ASIC chips, while multi-coincidence is rejected for most clinical PET scanners. Further, in conventional systems, the transaxial imaging FOV is determined coarsely by detector block/module pairs.
However, conventional pairing methods have several disadvantages, including: (1) little flexibility when there is need to change pairing parameters or schemes; (2) the detector block/module pair only defines a coarse transaxial imaging FOV, and there is a need to further trim down the excess imaging FOV using other methods in later data processing; (3) there is no direct evaluation or comparison of hardware pairing with "gold standard" pairing results obtained using, e.g., GATE simulated data, and there is a need to write separate pairing code to check results with GATE simulated data; (4) a hardware implementation of pairing does not allow the same circuitry to be used for different scanner geometries and variants; thus hardware reuse between different systems is limited or non-existent, which results in high engineering development and material cost; (5) using specialized hardware (and-logic and/or ASIC chips) for pairing increases the risk of having to re-spin ASICs or boards during the development and maintenance phases if defects and/or improvements are needed, which results in a significant cost increase; and (6) the specialized hardware used for pairing cannot be used by the scanner system to perform any other functions during the periods when the pairing function is idle.

System for online/offline singles-pairing with keeping/rejecting multi-coincidences for positron emission tomography


A seat, especially an aircraft passenger seat, has seat components such as a seat part, a seat back (3), and a shell body (5). The shell body forms at least a partially rear enclosure (9) of the seat part and the seat back (3). With an adjusting mechanism, the seat part and the seat back (3) can be adjusted in position relative to one another and relative to the rear enclosure (9). The distance between the rear enclosure and the seat back (3) is variable. A cover assembly (31, 45) bridges a distance formed by the variable distance between the seat back (3) and enclosure (9) between formed gaps.

Adjustable seats designed for modes of transportation for conveyance of passengers are known in the prior art. DE 100 19 484 A1, for example, discloses such a seat intended especially for use as an aircraft passenger seat in passenger aircraft.
On very long trips, such as on long-distance flights and for passages aboard a ship, for example, a ferry, a general object of aircraft or ferry outfitters to increase the comfort of the seat users and the passengers to be transported. Especially in first class and business class, the customer has the corresponding wishes to be satisfied. The trend includes the desire of passengers to be able to use the travel time for useful resting or for sleeping, for example, to effectively counteract fatigue phenomena at the destination in long-distance flights or the like.
To meet these demands, efforts are being made to configure the adjustment means and the interacting seat components such that diverse, individually triggerable adjustment positions especially for the seat part and seat back are made available to the seat occupant to adapt the overall seating system to his/her requirements. A comfortable resting or sleeping position can be made available to the seat occupant, in which the seat part in the travel direction (flight direction) is pushed comparatively far forward and the seat back can be tilted back low to the rear within the shell body. An essentially elongated shape necessarily arises for the shell body, with its rear area forming the rear enclosure of the seat back.
This design leads to seat configurations in which the seat part is in a position shifted correspondingly far forward and the seat back is in the upright starting position, as is prescribed in flight operation, for example, during taxiing, take-off and landing, where an intermediate space is caused between the rear enclosure and the seat back. This intermediate space forms a gap between the lower end area of the seat back and the adjacent wall areas of the shell body. The presence of a gap in this area leads to the fact that, beyond the edge of the rear enclosure on the shell body, there is the possibility of access to the area of the bearing structure of the seat part located underneath the bottom end of the seat back. In this area underneath the seat bottom, there are however the kinematics of the seat adjustment means, for example, upright seat legs or toggle lever arrangements which can pivot and which belong to the adjustment mechanism. This arrangement results in the danger that articles, such as drinking vessels, bottles, beverage cans, or the like which accidentally fall over the edge of the enclosure into the shell body pass through the gaps into the region of these kinematics and lead to malfunctions or damage the mechanisms. Additionally, there is the danger that individuals, for example, children at play, can reach into the gaps which have formed and possibly injure themselves on the moving parts of the kinematics.

Seat, especially an aircraft passenger seat


A method of generating a flow label of an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is provided. A terminal generates a flow label to have four tuple information selected from five tuple information according to the provided method when the terminal creates a header. A network device classifies flows based on the four tuple information in the flow label generated according to the provided method. Since the flow label is generated to include only selected information and the network device analyzes less amount of information to classify the flows, the processing overhead is reduced. Also, since the terminal generates the flow label with selected essential information to classify the flows, the network device can finely classify the flows. Therefore, the differentiated service can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of generating a flow label of an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), and more particularly, to a method of generating a flow label of IPv6 based on information about a service protocol and a source/destination port at an IPv6 terminal in order to guarantee a service quality (QoS) at IPv6.
2. Description of the Related Art
An address scheme of an Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) defines a flow of data stream based on five tuple configured of a source IP address, a destination IP address, a service protocol such as a transmission control protocol/user datagram protocol (TCP/UDP), a source port, and a destination port in order to classify data stream transmitted from a source to a destination. Additionally, the IPv4 guarantees a flow based quality of service (QoS) by additionally defining and using a service type (ToS) field or a different service code point (DSCP) field.
According to the development of Internet, the IPv4 was advanced to IPv6. The IPv6 allows a network device to classify flows of data stream according to the address scheme of the IPv4 for guaranteeing the Internet QoS. In case of the IPv6, various headers are overlapped in a chain based manner at a packet of the IPv6. Accordingly, it requires complicated operation steps to process the IPv6 packets to find a service protocol between a source and a destination and a source/destination port. Such an annoying and time consuming process slows down to process the IPv6 packets. In order to overcome such a drawback of the IPv6, the IPv6 supports a 1byte of a traffic class field that was defined in the IPv4 to provide a differentiated service, and also defines a 20 bit of a flow label having three tuple information in order to effectively and simply identify a source IPv6 address, a destination IPv6 address and a flow. If a network device uses such a flow label defined in the IPv6 to classify the flows of the data stream, processing overhead of the network device is reduced because the network device is not required to search many header information to find five tuple information.
The flow label defined in the IPv6 allows a network device to classify flows of data stream without searching headers to find information such as a service protocol, i.e., TCP/UDP, a source port and a destination port, which is attached front of a user protocol data in a packet when the network device receives a packet with many IPv6 headers. However, the flow label is not recognized by a network device that receives a packet with the flow label directly from a terminal in an IPv6 network. It is because the flow label is created by the terminal. Also, the flow label cannot be modified or changed by the network device. Such a limitation makes difficult to guarantee the signal quality (QoS) without specific signaling between the terminal and the network device.
In order to use the flow label, a terminal must previously set a network service quality guarantee based on a resource reservation protocol (RSVP) to generate the flow label. Or, the terminal must record values of a network service quality guarantee in a packet when the terminal transmit a first packet to a network device so that a network device recognizes the first packet as a packet already processed internally. However, conventional related technologies have drawbacks to classify the flows of the data stream as follows. At first, an Internet address scheme of IPv4 is not rapidly changed into the address scheme of IPv6. Also, a backbone router has an overhead problem of processing numerous flows and a flow aggregation problem in order to provide a flow based Internet QoS even in an IPv4 based network. Furthermore, the backbone router has a processing overhead of a flow refresh message which is periodically retransmitted.
As described above, a terminal forms a flow configured of five tuple information to classify each session when the terminal creates a header of an IPv6 packet. But, a network device has the processing overhead problem due to the five tuple information. Therefore, the flow label is defined to allow the network device classify the flow using only three tuple information instead of using five tuple information. However, the flow label causes a significant processing overhead in a network device, specially in a network device in a backbone, when a service quality level per a flow is reserved using the flow label
As a conventional technology related to the IP packet classification for guaranteeing QoS, an apparatus and a method for classifying an IP packet by extracting and combining a destination address (DA) and a source address (SA) from an IP packet header is disclosed in Korea Patent Publication No. 2004-54110 entitled "APPARATUS OF IP PACKET CLASSIFICATION BASED ON TUPLE SPACE SEARCH AND METHOD THEREOF" issued at 9th Dec. 2004. As another conventional technology, a method of improving a speed of packet classification by searching flows in high-speed in an internal cash memory storing a flow table was introduced in Korea Patent Publication No. 2003-89747 entitled "ROUTER PROVIDING DIFFERENTIATED QUALITY OF SERVICE AND FAST INTERNET PROTOCOL PACKET CLASSIFICATION METHOD FOR THE SAME."
In these conventional technologies, a time of searching is reduced by generating and processing a two-dimensional tuple in a cache for classifying input packets, or a speed of classifying a packet increases by additionally including an internal cache and storing a flow table in the cache. However, a method of generating a new flow label is not disclosed.

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present invention aims to provide a variable-length coding apparatus that achieves a short processing cycle without causing an increase in circuit scale.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable-length coding technique.
(2) Related Art
As digital still and video cameras have become widely used and communication technologies have advanced, image data compressing techniques are increasingly utilized. A representative example of such compressing techniques is the ISO-standardized Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) format.
The MPEG technique realizes image data compression in the following manner. A frame is divided into a plurality of blocks each consisting of a plurality of pixels, based on intraframe correlation. After this, the data in each block is subjected to a discrete cosine transform (DCT) operation, which is one of orthogonal transformations, quantized, and then variable-length coded.
The variable-length coding process is described in detail in the following. Based on the DCT coefficients obtained as a result of the DCT operation, a Level value, a Last value, and a Run value are generated. The Level value indicates a value of a nonzero DCT coefficient, the Last value indicates whether the nonzero DCT coefficient is the last in the block, and the Run value indicates the number of continuous zero DCT coefficients prior to the nonzero DCT coefficient. Then, a code is uniquely assigned to a combination of the generated Last value, Run value, and Level value. In the present specification, the combination of the Last value, Run value, and Level value is denoted as a combination (Last, Run, Level), and an absolute value of the Level value is referred to as a Level absolute value.
Here, the MPEG-4 format stipulates a variable-length code (VLC) table which defines a unique code for each combination (Last, Run, Level absolute value). In the following, each unique code defined on the VLC table is referred to as a VLC. A code to be assigned to a combination (Last, Run, Level) is generated by a VLC corresponding to a combination (Last, Run, Level absolute value) and a value indicating the sign of the Level value.
If there is no VLC corresponding to the combination (Last, Run, Level absolute value) on the VLC table, one of the following three escape modes is used to generate a code to be assigned to the combination (Last, Run, Level).
According to a first escape mode, an LMAX is retrieved from the VLC table, for the combination (Last, Run, Level absolute value). The LMAX is a maximum Level absolute value corresponding to the pair of the Last value and Run value. Subsequently, the retrieved LMAX is subtracted from the Level absolute value, so that New level (=the Level absolute value−the LMAX) is calculated. Following this, the VLC table is searched again for a VLC corresponding to a combination (Last, Run, New Level). If there is a corresponding VLC on the VLC table, based on the corresponding VLC, a code to be assigned to the combination (Last, Run, Level) is generated.
According to a second escape mode, an RMAX is retrieved for the combination (Last, Run, Level absolute value) from the VLC table. The RMAX is a maximum Run value corresponding to the pair of the Last value and Level absolute value. Subsequently, a value obtained by adding 1 to the retrieved RMAX is subtracted from the Run value, so that New Run (=the Run value−(the RMAX+1)) is calculated. Following this, the VLC table is searched to detect a VLC corresponding to a combination (Last, New Run, Level absolute value). If there is a corresponding VLC on the VLC table, a code is generated based on the corresponding VLC, and assigned to the combination (Last, Run, Level).
According to a third escape mode, a code having a fixed length is generated based on the combination (Last, Run, Level), and assigned to the combination (Last, Run, Level).
Conventionally, the VLC table is searched first for retrieving the VLC corresponding to the combination (Last, Run, Level absolute value). If detected, the retrieved VLC and the value indicating the sign of the Level value are used to generate a code assigned to the combination (Last, Run, Level).
If there is no VLC corresponding to the combination (Last, Run, Level absolute value) on the VLC table, a code generating operation is conducted according to the above-described first escape mode. If there is no VLC corresponding to the combination (Last, Run, New Level) on the VLC table, a code generating operation is conducted according to the second escape mode. If there is no VLC corresponding to the combination (Last, New Run, Level absolute value) on the VLC table, a code generating operation is conducted according to the third escape mode.
In the case of performing the variable-length coding process defined by MPEG-4 in this way, the VLC table needs to be searched many times until the fixed-length code is obtained as a last resort. This creates a problem of slow processing rate for data which requires the third escape mode frequently.
To solve this problem, a patent document 1 (Japanese patent application publication No. 2001-586928) discloses a variable-length coding method that uses three VLC tables for conducting the above-described four types of code generating operations, in parallel, based on a VLC corresponding to a combination (Last, Run, Level absolute value) and according to the first to third escape modes. As a result, four codes are generated. According to preset priorities among the generated four codes, an appropriate code is selected and output. By doing so, a time required for variable-length coding can be shortened.

Abstract: Such a variable-length coding apparatus judges whether a VLC table has a variable-length code (VLC) corresponding to a combination (Last, Run, Level), by using an LMAX and an RMAX for the combination (Last, Run, Level). Based on the result of the judgment, the variable-length coding apparatus generates and outputs a code assigned to the combination (Last, Run, Level).

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method and apparatus for automatic discovery of databases that determines what databases are installed at a client site, interrogates each database to determine what files or tables are present and what storage is associated with each, groups the databases into the smallest atomic units that can be backed up while preserving database integrity, and presents this information to backup procedures. In a preferred embodiment, a discovery process is performed by a script for each client to be backed up. Each script causes the creation of a temporary file describing each database. The temporary files are normalized into a common format which is then passed to a grouper program that analyzes the temporary files and produces a data descriptor file describing the smallest atomic units that can be backed up while still preserving database integrity at that client site. This data descriptor file is presented to a work item generator for scheduling backup procedures. Backups of each atomic unit can then be scheduled as desired.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of backup and recovery of databases and more particularly to the automatic discovery of databases on storage devices so that they can be grouped for backup purposes.
2. Background
Companies and institutions that use databases in their computer systems often have several of them, some of which may be created and managed by software from different vendors. For example, a large multinational manufacturing company may have at one client site a relational database for handling its manufacturing and inventory data. That company's sales department might use a separate relational database for tracking sales and accounts at that same client site. The company's finance department might use still another relational database to track assets and finances at that client site. It is possible that these databases will be stored on the same storage systems at the client site, which can, in turn, be accessed by the same servers or mainframe computers.
In the example given, the inventory data base may be created and managed by software supplied by Oracle.TM. Corporation, while the sales database may be created and managed by software from Informix.TM. Corporation or Sybase.TM. Corporation, or another supplier of relational databases. While such a mixing of software from different vendors is not the most common usage, it does occur with some frequency.
Since most of these databases hold critical information, regular and reliable backups are important. In addition to backups done for each database, most systems administrators consider it prudent to have disaster recovery backups available as well.
Heretofore, systems or database administrators who wished to perform the backups of such databases had to determine what storage units were used by which databases, which type of database used each, and how the different database systems allocated data to the storage units.
Such an effort is complicated by the fact that one of the most common types of database is a relational database and each relational data base has a number of files or tables created for it by the database application program. One Oracle.TM. relational database, for example, may have control files, data files, online redo log files, archive redo log files, initialization parameter files, and a file containing the Oracle.TM. code, among other files. Traditional backup planning requires that the system or database administrator know where each of these files for a given database is located on the storage units available to the system or server. FIG. 5 illustrates how a Sybase.TM.-like database, for example, DB-C, might allocate indexes C66, catalog tables C64, data tables C70, C72, into two logical groupings, system tables C60 and user database tables C68. In turn, these logical groupings may be physically allocated to two different storage units S6 and S7.
A vendor may supply its own backup and restore programs or offer guidelines for using commonly available operating system software utilities to perform backups and restores. Whether unique programs are supplied or only guidelines, these differ from each other and cannot be used interchangeably. That is, the Informix.TM. backup and restore procedures usually will not work with a database from Sybase.TM.. Since each database vendor also allocates data to storage units differently, system-wide backup and restore efforts require a significant a level of expertise on the part of the administrator(s).
Space for each database at a client site may be grouped across several storage devices, as shown in FIG. 2. If two databases from different vendors are allocated to the same storage unit at one client site, and that unit is backed up, all the databases that have any files on that device must be completely restored to preserve database integrity. To illustrate, suppose database DB-C of FIG. 2 is allocated across storage units S6 and S7 and database DB-D is allocated across units S7 and S8. Databases DB-C and DB-D share a storage unit S7. Assume a backup copy is made of storage of units S6, and S7 for database DB-C, using an operating system-level utility. After the backup copy is made, database DB-D is updated by many transactions, but database DB-C remains as it was. If a failure occurs and the backup copy is restored to units S6 and S7, database DB-C is operational again, but database DB-D may be corrupted. This problem can occur even if both databases DB-C and DB-D use the same vendor software.
If a given installation attempts to eliminate the risk of corruption by backing up each database individually, under manual control, using the procedures or programs designated by the vendor, that, too, can be problematic since it is slow and is prone to manual mistakes.
Consequently, if client site complete backups are done using present methods they are usually done either by writing all storage units to backup devices at one time, which restricts scheduling flexibility and requires that all units be restored at the same time, as well, or by requiring that each individual database be backed up by an expert administrator using the tools or system procedures supplied for use with only that database.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a way to discover and backup databases that is more convenient for the user than present methods.
Yet another object of the present invention is providing a method and apparatus to discover and backup databases that requires less user level expertise than present methods.
Still another object of the present invention is providing a method and apparatus to discover and backup databases that is less error prone than a primarily manual process.

Method and apparatus for automatic discovery of databases


The present invention provides a high-activity solid main catalyst component for ethylene polymerization, a process for preparing the same and a catalyst containing the same. The main catalyst component consists essentially of a magnesium compound, a titanium compound, an electron donor, an alkyl aluminum compound and fumed silica, and is prepared by a process comprising the step of: reacting powdered magnesium with an alkyl halide to form a magnesium compound in the nascent state; adding the magnesium compound in the nascent state together with a titanium compound and an alkyl aluminum compound into an electron donor to form a complex; adding and well dispersing a fumed silica thereto to form a homogeneous thick mixture; molding and drying the mixture to form main catalyst component particles with good particle morphology; and optionally, dispersing the main catalyst component particles into a hydrocarbon solvent or a mineral oil to form a slurry. The main catalyst component has high magnesium/titanium ratio, high titanium content, high polymerization activity, moderate initial activity so that polymerization can be stably performed, and there is little or no agglomerates during the preparation of the main catalyst component.

Among the current polyethylene catalysts, what is mostly used is still Ziegler-Natta type catalysts. Since coming out in 1950s, Ziegler-Natta type catalyst has developed from 1st generation to 5th generation and has properties ceaselessly improved through researching and developing of various countries' scientists, so that polyethylene industry is propelled. However, with the appearance of new polyethylene processes such as condensed-state technique and super-condensed-state technique, activity of catalysts is required to be higher and higher. Thus at present, one important aspect of researching and developing on this type of catalysts is to enhance activity of a catalyst.
Increasing the atom ratio of magnesium element to transition metal element and increasing the amount of transition metal in catalysts are effective approaches for enhancing activity of catalysts, but there exist operation difficulties during the practice of preparing the catalysts, in particular, conventional impregnating-and-drying processes can hardly meet the requirement. U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,716 discloses a process for preparing a high activity solid catalyst by conventional impregnating-and-drying process, but during practical preparation, when ratio of Mg/Ti reaches above 3.0, catalyst agglomerates will occur. Although the catalyst agglomerates can be removed, yield of the catalyst will be reduced. When a catalyst containing catalyst agglomerates is used in gas phase polymerization, the formation of localized hot-spots in the fluidized bed will likely occur so that reaction temperature control will be more difficult, and catalysts are easily attached to the well of a reactor by static interaction so as to form polymer pieces which, after growing to a certain weight or length and then falling from the well in to the gas distributor of the fluidized bed, can affect operation stability of the fluidized bed.
EP 0771820 discloses a supported catalyst and improved conventional impregnating processes. First, an impregnating solution containing magnesium, titanium and an electron donor is formed, the impregnating solution is mixed with a carrier, and the solvent is evaporated, then the carrier is impregnated with the impregnating solution with same composition once more, and the solvent is evaporated. Impregnating may be repeated as many times as required. As a result, a high ratio of Mg/Ti is obtained, and the resulting catalyst has less agglomerates and high activity. However, the catalyst preparation procedure needs repeated impregnating (at least two times), and it is necessary to strictly control the concentration and volume of the impregnating solution depending on the pore volume of carrier, which renders the preparation procedure quite complicated. Moreover, amount of the electron donor used is greatly increased, therefore, the production cost is increased, and load of solvent recycling unit is also increased.
EP 0584626 discloses a catalyst prepared by reducing TiCl4 using metal magnesium, adding a certain amount of MgCl2 to enhance Mg/Ti ratio, impregnating the resultant solution onto silica and then drying or mixing the resultant solution with a filler and then spray-drying. When spray-drying is employed, Mg/Ti ratio can be controlled within a range of from 4:1 to 6:1, while when impregnating-and-drying process is employed, Mg/Ti ratio can be controlled within a range of from 2:1 to 5:1. The main catalyst component prepared by the process has a structure formula of MgmTiClp[ED]q.

Solid main catalyst component for ethylene polymerization, a process for preparing the same and a catalyst containing the same

Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry