A set of golf clubs including golf club heads having improved mass distribution characteristics. The set includes golf club heads having a club head main body including a hitting face and a face support, a muscle back shell and a weight insert.

Typical iron club heads are solid with flat hitting faces and generally configured as either muscle back or cavity back clubs. Traditionally, all irons were configured as muscle back clubs, which are smooth at the back with low offset, a thin topline and a thin sole. Cavity back irons have a hollowed out back and the club head mass is redistributed to the sole and the perimeter of the club head, which moves the center of gravity lower to the ground and rearward. The weight distribution makes the iron launch the ball higher and increases rotational moment of inertia thereby lowering its tendency to rotate on mis-hits and enlarging the sweet spot.
Some muscle back irons have an interior hollow section, such that the club resembles a muscle back on the outside but the interior hollow section alters the club's mass characteristics. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,207 to Teramoto et al. The Teramoto patent discloses a set of iron golf clubs in which the iron club is cast by the lost wax method, and the back member is welded at the back of the face member to form a hollow section between the back and face members. As the club changes from a longer iron to a shorter iron, the hollow section is gradually decreased to zero and the sole width is gradually decreased. No support is provided to the hitting face.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,969 to Kobayashi. The Kobayashi patent discloses a set of golf clubs wherein each one-piece club head includes a hollow section behind the striking face. Each of the club heads is made of a stainless steel by, for example, a lost wax casting process. The material of each of the face portions of the club heads is then annealed to increase its elasticity. The striking face is thinner for long irons, but no support is provided to the hitting face.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 7,126,339 to Nagai et al., which discloses utility golf clubs, which generally include a hollow interior.
Previous muscle-back club heads generally have a low moment of inertia about the longitudinal axis of the shaft ("MOI-SA") because they are relatively small. Because of their size, they also tend to have a low moment of inertia about a vertical axis extending through the center of gravity ("MOI-Y"). Conversely, previous game improvement club heads have relatively higher MOI-Y, at the expense of a higher MOI-SA because they are relatively large. Generally, better players have a tendency to prefer golf clubs having a lower MOI-SA so that they can control the orientation of the club head throughout the swing with greater ease. However, because even the better player will experience imperfect ball strikes, they are often penalized by the associated lower MOI-Y of the small club heads.
There remains a need in the art for an improved iron-type golf club. In particular, there is a need for an iron-type golf club that provides a lower MOI-SA in combination with a higher MOI-Y.


Disclosed is a mobile communication terminal which is provided with an equalizer function of audio equipment to adjust a timbre of transmitting/received speech sounds so as to satisfy a great number of users having various individualities and tastes simultaneously. The mobile communication terminal according to the present invention includes an equalizer connected to a CODEC, a speaker and a microphone for adjusting a timbre of an analog speech signal inputted thereto from the CODEC and/or a speech signal inputted thereto through the microphone, and an equalizer control circuit for controlling a timbre control operation of the equalizer according to a control signal of a CPU.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile communication terminals, and more particularly, mobile communication terminals having an equalizer function.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the construction of a mobile communication terminal according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional mobile communication terminal including a microphone 10 for inputting a transmitting speech signal of a user, a speaker 20 for reproducing a speech signal received by the mobile communication terminal from his/her counterpart's mobile communication terminal via a base station, CODEC (Coder and Decoder) 30 for coding and decoding a speech signal, i.e., for converting both an analog speech signal into a digital speech signal and a digital speech signal into an analog speech signal, and a CPU 40 for both controlling the CODEC 30 and processing the digital speech signal inputted thereto from the CODEC 30.
An operation of the conventional mobile communication terminal constructed above will be described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 1.
When an analog speech signal of a user is inputted to his/her mobile communication terminal through the microphone 10, it is applied to the CODEC 30 which converts his/her analog speech signal into a digital speech signal for application to the CPU 40. At this time, the CPU 40 converts the digital speech signal inputted thereto into a high frequency signal for transmission to a base station through an antenna (not shown).
Then, when a digital speech signal of a high frequency band of the user's counterpart is received by the mobile communication terminal from the base station through the antenna, it is applied to the CODEC 30 through the CPU 40 of thereof. The CODEC 30 converts the digital speech signal into an analog speech signal to output the converted analog speech signal to the outside through the speaker 20 so that a speech of the user's counterpart is reproduced. At this point, the CPU 40 controls the operation of the CODEC 30.
However, since the conventional mobile communication terminal does not include a separate unit for adjusting a timbre or tone color of transmitting/received speech sounds, users had spoken by telephone with each other with a timbre set initially by a manufacturer irrespective of their intentions. In this case, a difference between sensibilities of respective individuals causes some users to be discontented with a sharp or dull speech sound, but mobile communication terminal manufacturers cannot satisfy a great number of users having various desires and individualities simultaneously.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mobile communication terminal with equalizer function


One embodiment of the deposit removal method includes: preparing a substrate having a pattern on which a deposit is deposited, the pattern being formed by etching; exposing the substrate to a first atmosphere containing hydrogen fluoride gas; exposing the substrate to oxygen plasma while heating after the step of exposing the substrate to the first atmosphere; and exposing the substrate to a second atmosphere containing hydrogen fluoride gas to remove the deposit on the substrate after the step of exposing the substrate to the oxygen plasma.

In a semiconductor device manufacturing field, to form desired patterns on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer by applying a film deposition process and an etching process has been conventionally in practice. When a STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) process is carried out in such a semiconductor device manufacturing step, a deposit of a silicon oxide (for example, SiO2 or SiOBr) is deposited on sidewall portions of the patterns. Conventionally, the removal of such a deposit has been performed by, for example, a process using single gas of hydrogen fluoride (HF).
However, when the composition and the bonding state of the deposit are close to those of silicon dioxide (for example, gate oxide films) being structures in the patterns, there is a problem that a selection ratio to these cannot be taken. Incidentally, water being a bi-product generated by a reaction between the deposit and hydrogen fluoride (SiO2+4HF→SiF4+2H2O) accelerates the reaction to cause a chain reaction, so that not only the deposit but also the silicon dioxide being the structures in the patterns is sometimes scraped away. Further, when the queuing time (q-time) after the etching process is long, the selection ratio sometimes becomes worse due to an influence of the water depending on a moisture absorption state of the deposit.
As an art to remove a natural oxide film formed on a surface of a silicon substrate, there has been known an art to use hydrogen fluoride vapor and H2O or alcohol vapor. However, this art is an art to remove the natural oxide film and is not an art to remove a deposit deposited on sidewall portions of patterns.
There has also been disclosed an art to continuously etch a polysilicon film under an etching condition having high etching selectivity after removing a natural oxide film formed on a surface of the polysilicon film by exposing the polysilicon film to hydrogen fluoride gas in a vacuum region. When the oxide film is etched by using etching gas containing carbon, an etching by-product containing a carbon-based substance adheres on the surface of the polysilicon film.
As described above, when the deposit deposited on the patterns is removed, there has conventionally been the problem that selectivity between the deposit and the silicon dioxide being the structure in the patterns is low, so that the silicon dioxide being the structure in the patterns is damaged. Further, there has been the problem, that, when the queuing time (q-time) after the etching process is long, the selection ratio further worsens due to the influence of water depending on the moisture absorption state of the deposit.
Further, detailed studies by the present inventors have led to the findings that using gas containing carbon as etching gas when silicon and film species before/after it are etched causes a problem that a deposit sometimes contains organic matter, and in this case, the method of removing the deposit of silicon oxide (for example, SiO2 or SiOBr) cannot completely remove the deposit.


A gallium nitride device substrate comprises a layer of gallium nitride containing an additional lattice parameter altering element located over a substitute substrate.

Sapphire and silicon carbon are used as substrates for many different electronic and optical devices formed using the gallium nitride (GaN) material system. The gallium nitride material system refers to alloys of indium (In), gallium (Ga), aluminum (Al), and boron (B) with nitrogen to form a nitride. Typically, the devices are fabricated by forming layers using various compositions of indium, gallium, aluminum, boron and nitrogen to create various alloy compositions. These alloys are typically grown, or deposited, as epitaxial layers over a substrate. These epitaxial layers are typically formed using growth techniques such as metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), also referred to as organo-metallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) or other techniques. Typical materials formed using the gallium nitride material system include indium gallium nitride (InGaN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), aluminum indium gallium nitride (AlInGaN) and others. Typical devices formed using the gallium nitride material system include, for example, transistors and light emitting devices that emit light from about the ultraviolet (UV) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to the blue and green visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Light emitting diodes that emit light in the blue and green portion of the visible spectrum and laser devices that emit blue light have active regions comprising gallium nitride and indium gallium nitride.
To make an optoelectronic device, many material layers are grown upon one another over a substrate until the device is completed. Depending on the particular composition, each material layer has what is referred to as a "critical thickness." The critical thickness is dependent on the substrate used, the composition of the material forming the layer and the growth conditions under which the layer is grown. One way of defining the critical thickness is the thickness at which an epitaxially grown material layer begins to develop dislocations. Dislocations are defects in the crystal lattice of the material. Dislocations form when a lattice parameter mismatch exists between adjacent material layers. The dislocations degrade the optical quality of the material. When forming these layers epitaxially, it is often desirable to grow the layers as thick as possible while preserving the crystal structure so that low-defect material having high optical quality is obtained. By growing the material layers well below their critical thickness, the lattice mismatch between the adjacent layers is compensated by elastic strain. However, this may limit the usefulness of a device.
Further, using indium gallium nitride (InGaN) grown on gallium nitride (GaN) as an example, increasing the indium content to extend the wavelength of an optical device increases the lattice mismatch between the gallium nitride and the indium gallium nitride, thus limiting the thickness of the indium gallium nitride material layer. Both the thickness and indium concentration in indium gallium nitride alloys are limited because of the lattice mismatch with the underlying gallium nitride. Unfortunately, no currently available substrate material is lattice matched to indium gallium nitride.

Gallium nitride device substrate containing a lattice parameter altering element

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


The present invention relates to a stabilized pemetrexed formulation, and more particularly to a stabilized pemetrexed formulation comprising acetylcysteine as antioxidant and a citrate salt as buffer.

Specific compounds known to have antifolate activity are well known as chemotherapeutic agents for cancer treatment. U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,932 discloses processes for preparing certain substituted pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidin-based antifolate derivatives, including pemetrexed, and European Patent Publication No. 0434426 discloses a series of 4-hydroxypyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine-L-glutamic acid derivatives.
Pemetrexed, a 5-substituted pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine, is a multitargeted antifolate that exhibits anticancer effects against various cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer, by inhibiting the activity of metabolites that are involved in folate metabolism.
It is known that pemetrexed enters cells through the reduced folate carrier (RFC) that is a major folate transport system, and is then activated by folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS) to form polyglutamate derivatives that target thymidylate synthase (TS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR).
Currently, pemetrexed is marketed under the trade name of Alimta and is used as an agent for treating malignant pleural mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancer (see Physicians' Desk Reference, 60th ed., pp. 1722-1728 (2006)). Alimta is sold in a lyophilized formulation that has to be reconstituted before administration. Specifically, Alimta is sold in a lyophilized powder formulation (100 mg or 500 mg) that needs to be reconstituted with 0.9% sodium chloride solution and finally diluted with 0.9% sodium chloride solution to a final concentration of 0.25 mg/ml, before administration to a patient.
Lyophilized powder formulations are complicated to prepare, and processes for preparing these formulations are very expensive. In addition, lyophilized formulations have the risk of being contaminated with microorganisms upon reconstitution, and pharmacists, physicians, nurses and the like who are involved in the preparation of medicines comprising these formulations are highly likely to be exposed to cell-destroying substances. Thus, in the case of cytotoxic anticancer agents such as pemetrexed, it is required to develop ready-to-use liquid formulations that can be stored for a long period of time, rather than developing lyophilized formulations.
In many cases, the problem of liquid formulations is instability during storage. Due to this instability, a large number of injectable formulations are used in the form of lyophilized formulations that are dissolved immediately before injection. Even in the case of pemetrexed or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, which has recently been provided in the form of lyophilized formulations, preparation as an aqueous solution formulation causes problems of unknown impurities increased when stored at room temperature for a long period of time. That is, this aqueous solution formulation suffers from a stability problem. Due to this stability problem, pemetrexed or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof is currently used in the form of lyophilized formations in clinical applications.
To overcome the above-described shortcomings, some formulations have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,686,365 (corresponding to Korean Patent Publication No. 2002-0081293) discloses a stable liquid formulation of pemetrexed, which comprises a therapeutically effective amount of pemetrexed, an effective amount of an antioxidant and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, wherein the antioxidant is selected from the group consisting of monothioglycerol, L-cysteine and thioglycolic acid.
However, with respect to the problem of the formulation disclosed in the above patent, it was reported that, when the formulation was stored at 25° C. for a long period of time, precipitation occurred, suggesting that the long-term stability of the formulation for a desired period cannot be guaranteed (PCT International Patent Publication No. WO 2012/015810). No liquid pemetrexed formulation stable for long-term storage has been experimentally or commercially realized so far. In fact, the present inventors prepared a pemetrexed-containing liquid formulation using the above-mentioned antioxidant L-cysteine and performed a stability test for the prepared formulation, only to observe several problems, including a change in the appearance, such as discoloration, an increase in impurities, and a decrease in the pH, after 2 weeks under stress testing conditions. In addition, the present inventors prepared pemetrexed-containing liquid formulations using about 60 kinds of stabilizers, including ascorbic acid, sodium thiosulfate, butylated hydroxyanisole, propyl gallate, EDTA, L-methionine, and acetyl cysteine, but these formulations all had insufficient stability.


A data communication system for use on a motor vehicle includes at least one master unit and at least one slave unit which are connected to a communication bus. When the master unit is enabled, the master controller of the master unit outputs connection request demand data to the slave unit. The slave unit has a slave controller which transmits its own connection request information to the master unit in response to the connection request demand data from the master unit. The slave controller transmits, to the master unit, first change information indicating whether the connection information stored in a first memory and connection information of the slave unit that has been transmitted to the master unit are identical to each other or not. The master controller transmits some or all of connection information stored in a second memory to slave units based on the first change information of the slave units. When the data communication system is enabled, the slave controller of each slave unit transmits its own connection request information to the master unit. In response to the connection request information, the master controller establishes a communication address of each slave unit different from those of the other slave units and transmits the established communication address to the slave unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication system, and more particularly to a data communication system suitable for use in a network of components of an audiovisual system on an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, automobile audio systems have been changing from systems which give the user only audio information such as music to systems which allow the user to enjoy both audio and visual information. Systems with both audio and visual capabilities are known as audiovisual systems.
Automobile audiovisual systems on automobiles are composed of many different audio and visual components. The audio components include a cassette tape deck, a radio tuner, a CD (compact disc) player, etc., while the visual components include a TV (television) tuner, a navigation system, etc.. Audio signals produced by some of these components are amplified by an amplifier and reproduced from loudspeakers in the automobile. Video signals produced by other components are displayed on a display unit in the automobile. Today, the audiovisual system components are controlled according to digital technology, i.e., by respective controllers in the form of microcomputers.
The components of an audiovisual system are required to be controlled systematically for systematic operation of the components. To meet this requirement, the controllers of the respective components are connected by a communication bus network, so that control data for the components will be transmitted through the communication bus.
For the convenience of description, either one of the components connected to the communication bus is referred to as a "master unit" for controlling the overall network, while each of the other components is referred to as a "slave unit".
When the master unit transmits communication data to a slave unit for access or the slave unit transmits data back to the master unit, it is necessary that the controllers be identified or specified. For this purpose, the controllers are allotted respective addresses indicating themselves.
In order for the master unit to access the slave units, the master unit has to have the addresses of all the slave units registered in itself. The master unit cannot access any slave unit whose address has not been registered by the master unit. Therefore, any such slave unit may not function even if it is physically or electrically connected to the communication bus.
To avoid the above situation, when a request for registration in the system (hereinafter also referred to as a "connection request" is sent from a slave unit to the master unit, the master unit issues, to the slave unit, the connection information of all the other slave units and the master unit which are connected to the communication bus. Since the connection information varies depending on the operating condition of each of the slave units, each slave unit transmits information for a connection request (hereinafter also referred to as "connection request information") to the master unit in each time period. Having received the connection information from the slave units, the master unit transmits the connection information of all the slave units and the connection information of its own to the slave units.
If there is no response from the master unit to the connection information transmitted from the slave units, the slave controller of each of the slave units determines that the master unit has failed to operate or has been disabled, and enters a low power consumption mode, and stands by in that mode. Thereafter, each slave unit sends a connection request to the master unit in each fixed time period (e.g., of 2 seconds) under the control of a timer in its own slave controller, and enters a normal mode if a response is received from the master unit.
FIG. 39 of the accompanying drawings is a timing chart of connection requests from slave units of a conventional automobile audiovisual system.
It is assumed in FIG. 39 that initially, the master unit is disabled due to a temporary voltage drop, for example, or the user presses a reset switch upon a malfunction of the system at a time t.sub.0. The master unit fails to respond to a connection request R.sub.NA from a slave unit A at a time t.sub.2 and a connection request R.sub.NB from a slave unit B at a time t.sub.1. Thereafter, the slave units A, B enter a low power consumption mode. Then, the slave units A, B temporarily enter a normal mode and send respective connection requests R.sub.NA, R.sub.NB to the master unit in each fixed time period (e.g., of 2 seconds) under the control of timers in their own slave controllers. If no response comes back from the master unit, the slave units A, B enter the low power consumption mode again.
When the master unit is subsequently enabled at a time t.sub.3, its master controller waits for connection requests from the slave units A, B for a wait time period (e.g., of 1 second) from the time t.sub.3 to a time t.sub.4. Since the slave controllers of the slave units A, B send connection requests R.sub.NA, R.sub.NB every 2 seconds, only the slave controller of the slave unit B can successfully request a connection during the wait time period from the time t.sub.3 to the time t.sub.4. Consequently, the slave unit A is unable to enter the normal mode until it sends a next connection request R.sub.NA at a time t.sub.5.
With the communication bus of the conventional automobile audiovisual system, therefore, even when the master unit is activated again from a disabled state, some of the slave units may be delayed in resuming their normal operation because the slave units issue connection requests at different times, as described above. The delayed operation of some slave units may be inconvenient for the user of the automobile audiovisual system.
One solution would be to increase the wait time period for the master unit to wait for connection confirmation requests after the master unit is enabled. However, inasmuch as the period of time required for the entire automobile audiovisual system to be enabled would also be increased, the automobile audiovisual system might also be inconvenient for the user.
FIG. 40 of the accompanying drawings is a timing chart of an exchange of connection requests and connection information between master and slave units connected through a communication bus of another conventional automobile audiovisual system.
When a slave unit A sends a connection request at a time t.sub.1, the master unit transmits the connection information of its own and of all slave units controlled by the master unit to the slave unit A a time period .DELTA.t after the time t.sub.1. Subsequently, the slave unit A sends a connection request in each time period (e.g., of 2 seconds), and the master unit transmits the above connection information to the slave unit A in response to each such connection request.
Concurrent with this, the master unit determines whether there have been connection requests from all the slave units within a certain time period (e.g., of 5 seconds), for thereby checking the number and types of the connected slave units to confirm any slave units that have been disconnected or dropped from service or that have been newly added. For example, if a slave unit B which has been connected so far is disconnected or dropped from service at a time t.sub.2, then the master unit receives no connection request from the slave unit B at a time t.sub.3, when the master unit confirms the number of connected slave units. Thereafter, the master unit regards the slave unit B as being disconnected, and subsequently transmits the connection information of its own and of all the slave units except the slave unit B. Conversely, when the slave unit A is newly connected and requests a connection at the time t.sub.1 the master unit determines that the slave unit A has not requested a connection so far, and subsequently transmits the connection information of its own and of all the slave units including the slave unit A.
However, the other conventional automobile audiovisual system is required to effect a frequent exchange of data for establishing a connection between the master and slave units. Since the communication bus is occupied for a long period of time by the exchange of the data for establishing a connection, the audiovisual data cannot efficiently be transmitted in the automobile audiovisual system.
In the conventional automobile audiovisual systems, the controllers of the master and slave units are allotted respective communication addresses of their own. Consequently, in the case where a plurality of slave units, such as CD players, having identical slave controllers and designed to perform identical functions, when the user tries to operate on one of the CD players, both of the CD players would be caused to operate in an identical fashion. To avoid such a shortcoming, the user is required to change the setting of a switch, such as a DIP switch, which is mounted on each slave unit for setting a communication address, to assign a different communication address to one of the CD players. However, the manual address setting procedure is time-consuming and is not reliable for setting a proper communication address.

System for data communication on automobile


An electric power steering control apparatus is intended to improve the convergence and control stability of a returning motion of a steering wheel when a driver of a vehicle on which the apparatus is installed lets his or her hands free from the steering wheel, and to reduce a burden to the driver when an excessive steering torque occurs during the returning motion. The apparatus includes a steering torque sensor 8 for detecting a steering torque of a steering system of the vehicle, a motor rotational-speed detector 7 for detecting a rotational speed of the electric motor, and a rotational-speed controller for controlling the electric motor based on output signals from the steering torque sensor and the motor rotational-speed sensor so that when the steering torque as detected is less than a predetermined torque value, the rotational speed of the electric motor does not exceed a predetermined speed value corresponding to the predetermined torque value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric power steering control apparatus for a vehicle such as a motor vehicle which is able to improve the convergence and control stability of a steering wheel during returning motion thereof with no steering load or torque being applied to the steering wheel by a driver or operator of the vehicle (i.e., hand free operation), as well as to reduce a burden to the driver when an excessive returning torque is applied to the steering wheel.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 34 is a schematic view showing a conventional electric power steering control apparatus disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. HEI 4-19270, and FIG. 35 is a circuit diagram showing a control unit of the apparatus. In FIG. 34, a steering wheel 201 is connected to a steering column 202 having a sensor 203 mounted thereon. The sensor 203 is connected to an electric power steering control circuit 204 which generates an output signal based on the signal from the sensor 203 for driving an electric motor 1. When the electric motor 1 is energized to generate driving power, an output shaft 205 of the motor 1 is driven to rotate the steering shaft 202 so that a pinion 206 attached to the steering column 202 is thereby rotated to movie a rack 207 to the right or left, i.e., in the lateral directions. The movement of the rack 207 causes front wheels 208 of the vehicle to be steered or turned to the right or left.
In FIG. 35, first to fourth field effect transistors (FETs) 21 to 24 cooperate with the electric motor 1 to constitute a bridge circuit and are connected to a logic control unit 25. The logic control unit 25 is connected to a central processing unit (CPU) 26. The logic control unit 25 includes a pair of AND circuits 25a, 25b and amplifiers 25c to 25g. The amplifiers 25c, 25e, 25f and 25g are connected to the first, the second, the fourth and the third FETs 21, 22, 24 and 23, respectively. The CPU 26 outputs a PWM signal S1, a forward rotation signal S2 to rotate the electric motor 1 in the forward direction and a reverse rotation signal S3 to rotate the electric motor 1 in the reverse direction. The first AND circuit 25a turns on the first FET 21 when the PWM signal S1 and the forward rotation signal S2 are input thereto from the CPU 26 at the same time. The second AND circuit 25b turns on the second FET 22 when the PWM signal S1 and the reverse rotation signal S3 are input thereto from the CPU 26 at the same time.
Also, if the forward rotation signal S2 is output from the CPU 26, the fourth FET 24 will normally be turned on. Likewise, if the reverse rotation signal S3 is output from the CPU 26, the third FET 23 will normally be turned on. Further a first current detector 27 for detecting a current during the forward rotation of the electric motor 1, a second current detector 28 for detecting a current during the reverse rotation of the motor 1, an amplifier 29 connected to a torque sensor 30, and a waveform shaping circuit 31 connected to a speed sensor 32 are connected to the CPU 26.
Next the operation of the above-mentioned conventional power steering control apparatus will be described. If the steering wheel 201 is operated by the driver, the torque sensor 30 and the speed sensor 32 sense a steering torque and a vehicle speed, respectively, and generate a corresponding torque signal and a corresponding speed signal at that time which are input to the CPU 26. Upon receipt of these signals, the CPU 26 calculates a command value for rotating the motor 1 based on the respective signals, and at the same time, the feedback current of the bridge circuit detected by the first current detector 27 is input to the CPU 26. Then, the CPU 26 calculates a PWM value based on a difference between the command value and the feedback current value and generates a corresponding output signal. Here, it is to be noted that the torque sensor 30 outputs a plus or positive signal when the steering wheel 201 is rotated in the forward direction and a minus or negative signal when the steering wheel 201 is rotated in the reverse direction.
If the steering wheel 201 is rotated in the forward direction, the command value will be plus and the PWM value will also be plus, so a duty ratio of the PWM signal can be determined. If the duty ratio of the PWM signal is determined, the PWM signal S1 and the forward rotation signal S2 for driving the electric motor 1 will be output from the CPU 26. In response to the PWM signal S1 and the forward rotation signal S2, the first AND circuit 25a of the logic control unit 25 is operated to generate a high-level signal so that the first FET 21 is thereby turned on under the PWM control. Also, in response to the forward rotation signal S2, the fourth FET 24 is turned on. If the first and fourth FETs 21 and 24 are operated or made conductive, a current will flow in a direction from the first FET 21 to fourth FET 24 via the electric motor 1. As a result, the electric motor 1 can be rotated in the forward direction.
If, in the above described state, the driver releases his or her hands from the steering wheel 201, the steering wheel 201 will be rotated in the reverse direction under the action of the caster angle of the front wheels, and the electric motor 1 will be rotated in the reverse direction, so the PWM value will become minus. If the PWM value is minus, it is determined whether the speed of the vehicle at that time is in a low or a high speed region. If the speed of the vehicle is in the low speed region, a duty ratio is then set such that a regenerative current is canceled out, and if the vehicle speed is in the high speed region, the duty ratio will be set to zero. If the duty ratio becomes zero, the first FET 21 will substantially be in its off (non-conductive) state. As a result, a regenerative current flows in a short circuit connecting the third FET 23, the electric motor 1 and the fourth FET 24, so that a regenerative braking force acts on the electric motor 1, thus restricting the returning speed of the steering wheel.
As described above, in the conventional electric power steering control apparatus, the direction of flow of the motor current when the steering wheel is in the returning state is detected and the FETs are controlled according to the result of detection, but in order to detect the motor current direction, there is a need for directly detecting a current flowing through a motor line (i.e., wiring connected to the motor 1) or providing a current detection circuit for detecting a motor current at a location within the motor control H bridge circuit at which the regenerative current can be detected. As a result, there have been problems in that the entire circuitry is complicated and the production cost is increased.
Since the braking force acting against the returning motion of the steering wheel is small, the returning speed of the steering wheel cannot be sufficiently suppressed particularly when the steering wheel is forced to return by an excessive reaction force. Therefore, when the steering wheel is returned at high speeds under the action of an excessive steering wheel return torque, there is the drawback that a burden to the driver is increased.
When the steering wheel is returned by a relatively limited reaction force during low-speed traveling or when the steering angle is large, a braking force develops which restrains the steering wheel return speed so that the driver has to return the steering wheel to the neutral position when the steering wheel is desired to be returned quickly to the, neutral position or it is desired to be returned quickly from the steered state to the straight travel state. As a result, there has been another problem in that the driver is excessively burdened.

Electric power steering control apparatus


A fluid-structure coupled numerical simulation method is provided. The method uses a finite volume method employing an orthogonal mesh and a computer and memory setting a solid area based on a solid rate inside a mesh and at a tangent position to each mesh, including the steps of: setting initial and boundary conditions of a moving film structure; setting a velocity boundary in the tangent direction of the film structure by computing a position and shape thereof; and computing a curvature thereof. The method further includes the step of computing a pressure balance based on a balance between a pressure obtained from a fluid computation and a repulsive force obtained from the tension and curvature of the film structure to implement processing of a mutually-coupled phenomenon. A shift amount of the film surface for each time of said computing steps is simulated using the same program.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid-structure coupled numerical simulation method and a program for a fluid-structure coupled numerical simulation storage device. Particularly, the present invention relates to the aforementioned method and program, in which when applying a fluid to a film structure, assuming that a film surface is a surface of a fixed area in a computational mesh, a fluid analysis is executed in the same solver with respect to the relationship between a repulsive force of the film surface of the film structure and a fluid pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, when simulating physical action of a design model, for example, conducting a thermal conductivity analysis, fluid analysis, structural analysis, electromagnetic field analysis, electromagnetic wave analysis and the like by a computer to verify the design model, a coupled analysis in which two or more kinds of simulation are applied is performed on an object model, corresponding to the object model for analysis being complicated.
In such coupled analysis, it is necessary to set a plurality of physical parameters for element groups if two or more physical models are provided, and so work of setting becomes complicated when one-dimensional list is used. Further, when boundary conditions are set, it is necessary to perform the setting while considering a setting condition for each of the element groups, that is, which boundary corresponds to which physical model, thereby bringing the complexity to the work. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-245097 discloses a coupled analysis method of easily setting conditions on element groups and boundaries regarding an object model, a method of setting the analysis conditions, a storage device and program in a coupled analysis system using two or more physical models.
FIG. 1 shows the coupled analysis system disclosed in the above-mentioned patent reference configured to have a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1, display 2, input device 3 such as a mouse and filing device (storage device) 4. The CPU 1 implements CAD model preparation processing 10 by which a model to which a numerical simulation is implemented is prepared. The prepared model is divided into mesh (elements), and at this time, mesh preparation processing 11 that defines a group and boundary of each mesh is implemented. Groups are registered in a group list 6, boundaries are registered in a boundary list 7, and the corresponding relations between groups and boundaries are registered in a corresponding list 5. As shown in FIG. 1, the corresponding list 5 is provided in the filing device 4. List-registration processing 12 that stores group numbers and corresponding boundary numbers is performed, and analysis conditions with respect to the groups and boundaries of the meshes (elements) divided are set by element group analysis-condition-setting processing 13 and element boundary analysis-condition-setting processing 14. For example, thermal conductivity is set to the element groups and a temperature and thermal conductivity are set to the boundaries in the thermal conductivity analysis. Further, a young's modulus or the like is set to the element groups and a weight condition or the like is set to the boundaries in the structural analysis. Both the analysis-condition-setting processings 13 and 14 are linked mutually.
Subsequently, physical-model simulation/computation processing 15 and computed-result display processing 16 are implemented. Here, computation is implemented in the computation processing 15 using the model divided into mesh and analysis conditions, thereby obtaining a solution. A general-purpose thermal analysis program, structural analysis program and fluid analysis program are used in the computation processing 15. The result display processing 16 is performed such that the computed result obtained by the computation processing is output to a screen of a display 2. As described above, the CPU performs such steps 10 and 11 of setting physical models of the element groups constituting the object model, and step 12 of retrieving boundaries of the object model corresponding to the element groups that were set. Further, the CPU performs a step 13 of reflecting the physical models of the element groups to the retrieved boundaries on analysis-condition-setting screen for the boundaries of the object model, and a step 14 of setting analysis conditions of the boundaries on the analysis-conditions-setting screen for the boundaries reflected. By using a principle of a specific group and the boundary thereof having a common physical-model characteristic, correlation between the group and boundary is reflected on a boundary condition setting screen, and the physical model of the group is set to automatically retrieve the boundary corresponding to the group, and the analysis conditions of the boundary are set on the boundary condition-setting screen.
As described above, the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-245097 includes the function of displaying a two-dimensional list of the physical models (thermal conductivity, fluid, structural analysis, static electromagnetic field and electromagnetic field) and names of the boundaries. Therefore, referencing the corresponding list 5 in the filing device 4, a situation in which the physical model of each element group is assigned is displayed on the boundary list and boundaries to which the conditions-setting in the boundaries list are needed are automatically checked. For example, a checked result is displayed with a circle or the like, and so the setting of the boundary condition of the physical model to which each boundary corresponds can be performed by clicking (or double clicking) an area of the boundary name checked. Accordingly, since the two-dimensional list is prepared as described above, the setting of physical parameters to the element groups becomes easy in an achievement analysis having a plurality of physical models. Further, situations of the physical parameters set to the element groups are determined, the boundary condition to which setting is needed is automatically checked, and can be set in the boundary list, thereby the setting of boundary conditions being facilitated. Furthermore, the element group list, boundary list and shapes of models can be output simultaneously, thus facilitating understanding of the setting conditions for analysis.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-271734 discloses a fluid-solidification analysis method to which computer simulation is applied. This method is to find an optimal method and optimal condition for producing a high quality product without casting defects such as a flow defect caused by the decrease in temperature in a molten metal flow, in the case where metal melt material is used as fluid to form cast or die-cast products.
The state of molten metal solidified is modeled with a solid-phase rate which shows a rate of the solid phase existing in the liquid phase based on the temperature of each minute element. The molten metal is treated as Newtonian fluid in the state of the solid-phase rate of 0% at a temperature higher than the liquidous line temperature, is treated as non-Newtonian fluid in the solid-liquid co-existent area at a temperature higher than the solidus line temperature and lower than the liquidous line temperature, and is treated as the obstacle not fluid in the state of the solid-phase rate of 100% at a temperature lower than the solidus line temperature. Thus, an optimum flow-field analysis method is applied to each solidified state, enabling an analysis result with high accuracy for the process to be practically obtained in a short period of time.
FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the fluid-solidification analysis method to which the computer simulation described in the above-described patent reference is applied. In order to implement the fluid-solidification analysis of molten metal inside a mold, a shape model is prepared based on a molded product by injection molding and the mold used for the injection molding in step S1. An analysis shape model divided into minute elements is prepared using mesh in step S2. The analysis model is suitable for a difference method, finite element method, boundary element method, FAN method, control volume method and the like that are fluid-solidification analysis methods.
In step S3, input condition data such as physical property data, boundary conditions, process conditions and the like necessary for the fluid-solidification analysis after preparing the analysis shape model are determined and input. Hereupon, the input condition data are set for simulating a process that produces a molded product by the numerical analysis with respect to the analysis shape model. Those are conditions necessary for the analysis, such as a inflow velocity of molten metal, inflow temperature and filling time, mold temperature, values of dynamic physical properties and thermal physical properties of the mold, values of dynamic physical properties and thermal physical properties of the molten material, boundary conditions (such as thermal boundary condition) and the like.
In the next step S4, a process in which the molten metal is filled inside the mold is simulated using a numerical analysis method on the basis of the given input condition data. When implementing the analysis, the solidified state of molten metal in each minute element is modeled using the solid-phase rate that shows a rate of solid phase existing in the liquid phase from the temperature of each minute element, and a state of the molten metal is determined. Specifically, as shown in step S5, the state of the molten metal, which is the complete liquid-phase state, solid-liquid co-existing state or complete solid-phase state, is determined from the temperature of the molten metal. The complete liquid-phase state is the range at a temperature higher than the liquidous line temperature and the solid-phase rate is 0%. The solid-liquid co-existent state is the range at a temperature higher than solidus line temperature and lower than liquidous line temperature. The complete solid-phase state is the range at the temperature lower than solidus line temperature and the solid-phase rate is 100%.
After the state is determined, an optimal flow-field analysis method is applied to each solidified state based on the state determined, and the simulation is implemented using the numerical analysis method to conduct a flow analysis. The flow analysis employing the numerical analysis method is implemented at predetermined time intervals in accordance with the input condition data and the solid-phase rate. Here, the predetermined time interval is an interval in the range of about 0.001 to 0.01 sec. When implementing the flow analysis to the state in which the molten metal in each minute element is in the solid-phase rate of 0% at the temperature higher than the liquidous line temperature, the flow analysis is implemented regarding the molten metal as Newtonian fluid. Further, in the state in which the molten metal in each minute element is in the solid-liquid coexistent range at the temperature higher than the solidus line temperature and lower than the liquidous line temperature, the flow analysis is implemented regarding the molten metal as non-Newtonian fluid. Furthermore, in the state in which the molten metal in each minute element is in the solid-phase rate of 100% at the temperature lower than the solidus line temperature, the molten metal is treated as the obstacle instead of fluid and the flow analysis is not implemented.
After the fluid analysis, in order for the filling state of molten metal in the mold being changed by the result of the fluid analysis to be reflected in temperature distribution, temperature analysis is implemented in step S6 regarding temperature changed situations of the molten metal and mold using the numerical analysis method at predetermined time intervals of about 0.01 to 0.02 sec. After the temperature analysis, whether to continue the analysis is judged from the given input condition data, and in the case of "NO", operation goes back to the step S4, and in the case of "YES", operation proceeds to step S8 to end. Further, positions such as flow defect portions where defects may occur are predicted in step S8 based on the analysis result obtained in step S7 indicating molten metal unfilled portions.
If the occurrence of defects are predicted in step S8, as shown in step S9, at least one of the conditions of the analysis shape model and input condition data is changed and each of process from the step S1 to step S8 is repeated until it is recognized that the occurrence of defects is not predicted. Then, the processing ends when the occurrence of defects is not predicted in the step S8.
As described above, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-245097 discloses the technology to simplify settings of boundary conditions that become complicated when the structural analysis and fluid analysis are implemented, and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-271734 discloses the technology to implement the fluid-solidification analysis of molten metal in a mold. Problems in the above-described computational solving method have not sufficiently been solved with a simplified method, and there remains complexity in the computation and modeling when implementing the fluid-structure coupled simulation or the like.
For example, there are provided methods of simulating a fluid-structure coupled processing phenomenon in a process of liquid being applied on a film. In such phenomenon a position or shape of a surface of the film is changed by the behavior of liquid discharged and the liquid flows on this surface, and so the phenomenon progresses while both the behaviors of the film and liquid being closely related to each other. There is proposed, for example, a method in which two solvers for a fluid and structure are provided and computation progresses while exchanging information on pressure distribution and a structure position between the two solbers. Further, there is provided another method in which a coupled Jacobian matrix is prepared using a finite element method, fluid equation or structure equation and the like, and the matrix solution is obtained. Although these methods are accurate, computational load is high and a convergence computation becomes unstable in the case where film is greatly transformed or the film touches another structure.

Fluid-structure coupled numerical simulation method and program for fluid-structure coupled numerical simulation storage device


A method of forming a semiconductor device may include forming a first pattern on a substrate, and forming a first dielectric layer on the first pattern. The first pattern may be between portions of the first dielectric layer and the substrate. A second dielectric layer may be formed on the first dielectric layer, and the first dielectric layer may be between the first pattern and the second dielectric layer. A second pattern may be formed on the second dielectric layer. Portions of the second dielectric layer may be exposed by the second pattern, and the first and second dielectric layers may be between portions of the first and second patterns. The exposed portions of the second dielectric layer may be isotropically etched.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices.
A NAND type non-volatile memory device is operated by storing charges in a floating gate and uses a blocking dielectric layer between a floating gate electrode and a control electrode. Methods of forming the blocking dielectric layer using a high-K material to increase capacitance of the blocking dielectric layers and improve leakage current characteristics thereof have been developed.

Methods of forming semiconductor devices


An inhibition device includes: a location information obtaining section that obtains, from a computing device, information on a touch location; a operation determining section that determines, in accordance with the information on the touch location, whether or not an operation of a user is an operation for causing the computing device to execute a predetermined process; and an inhibition information transmitting section that transmits inhibition information.

Electric power control by use of electronic devices is becoming increasingly important due to an increase in electric power consumption of CPUs (Central Processing Unit) as a result of performance advancements. Conventionally, electronic devices are equipped with such a function as power-saving mode called "suspension" or "hibernation" in order to reduce electric power consumption while users are not using the electronic devices.
The power-saving mode function works so that, before a user turns off a power supply of an electronic device, the electronic device transfers, to a non-volatile storage device (hard disk), information which is stored in a volatile storage device (memory). Then, the electronic device transfers the information back to the volatile storage device when the user turns the power supply back on. This allows the user to resume his/her operation in a state identical to that immediately before the power supply was turned off. Although this function is widely implemented in various electronic devices, the function is only available while a user is not using an electronic device at all. This is because operations of all of components included in the electronic device become suspended while the above function is taking effect.
Meanwhile, timings, with which a computation load is applied to a CPU, are limited. Therefore, such a method is possible in which, even while a user is using an electronic device, electric power consumption is dynamically reduced by suspending, with predetermined timings, part of components included in the electronic device (it is generally called "degenerate operation" when an electronic device is operating while part of components is suspended). Alternatively, another method is possible in which all the devices are made to operate by intensively supplying electric power only when a computation load is applied, and electric power consumption is therefore efficiently distributed.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an image capturing device that simultaneously achieves an improvement in start-up performance and a reduction in electric power consumption. In a case where an image is to be captured with the use of a camera, the image capturing device enhances image capturing performance by temporarily increasing a clock frequency of a CPU. Patent Literature 2 discloses a device that controls an operating frequency of a CPU in accordance with a process to be executed. In a case where the device receives user input, the device sets a clock frequency of the CPU to a predetermined rate.
Patent Literature 3 discloses an information processing system that includes a processor whose operating speed is changeable. The information processing system is designed to reduce electric power consumption by reducing, within tolerance of a response time, an operating frequency of the processor. Patent Literature 4 discloses an information processing device that eliminates delay time of low priority tasks. The information processing device enhances processing stability by eliminating, from execution time, delay time that has resulted from interrupt processing while electric power is controlled.
Patent Literature 5 discloses a processing system that executes, at a lower electric power consumption rate, a process that involves a time limit for a response. The processing system includes a hardware mechanism that changes, during a system operation, an operating frequency and a power supply voltage which are to be supplied to a processor.

Inhibition device, method for controlling inhibition device, device under control, electronic equipment, and computer readable storage medium


Organomodified silylated surfactant compositions that exhibit resistance to hydrolysis over a wide pH range.

The topical application of liquid compositions to the surfaces of both animate and inanimate objects to effect a desired change involve the processes of controlling wetting, spreading, foaming, detergency, and the like. When used in aqueous solutions to improve the delivery of active ingredients to the surface being treated, trisiloxane-type compounds have been found to be useful in enabling the control of these processes to achieve the desired effect. However, the trisiloxane compounds may only be used in a narrow pH range, ranging from a slightly acidic pH of 6 to a very mildly basic pH of 7.5. Outside this narrow pH range, the trisiloxane compounds are not stable to hydrolysis, undergoing rapid decomposition. Silicon based surfactants that are stable to hydrolysis over a wide pH range are very desirable, as such compounds would allow more effective formulations regarding the topical application of liquid compositions to the surfaces of both animate and inanimate objects. Such compositions may allow the use of smaller quantities of water. Another potential advantage is to increase the effectiveness of agricultural sprays.

Use of hydrolysis resistant organomodified silylated surfactants


A 3D display device includes two display portions (200, 201) each having a display for generating a particular image thereon. The two display portions are substantially symmetrically arranged. Images associated with the two display portions are slightly different from each other. An electronic device includes a main body (10) and an above-described display device (20). The display device is rotatably connected to the main body. The 3D display device and the electronic device with the 3D display device can provide 3D images directly and also provide 2D images to with a person via a naked eye. In addition, the 3D display device and the electronic device are very simple in construction and easily manufactured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to display devices and, more particularly, to a 3D (three-dimensional) display device and an electronic device with the display.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With the rapid development of communication technology, mobile phones have become a commonplace communication tool in the life of people, as a whole. Nowadays, more and more mobile phones have color displays and deliver multimedia messages. As a result, high-quality imaging systems, which can clearly and realistically display images and/or messages, should, advantageously, be provided. A system which can display 3D images has the potential to be popular with consumers since most present-day displays are limited to 2D (two-dimensional).
A person's two eyes can see objects respectively. Because there is a distance between the two eyes, images of an object that are perceived in the two eyes are slightly different. This difference in the perceived images is called parallax. The brain of a person combines the two different images, thereby generating a composite 3D image. That is, the person sees a 3D object.
In conjunction with the above theory, 3D shutter glasses have been produced and made available. A controller controls signals, which are sent to a display of a computer or a mobile phone. Left eye signals and right eye signals are sent alternately so that the display generates left eye images and right eye images accordingly. Correspondingly, shutters of the 3D shutter glasses are controlled to selectively cover the left eye and right eye, respectively. Thereby, the left eye sees the left images and the right eye sees the right images, alternately. People can see/perceive 3D images for persistence of vision. There are some shortcomings with such a shutter system. Firstly, it is inconvenient to wear the 3D shutter glasses. Secondly, people without 3D shutter glasses would tend to see ghost images on the display, which would appear abnormal.
What is needed, therefore, is a display device, which can provide 3D images and 2D images directly to people with the naked eye.

3D display device and an electronic device with the same


A method of localization and mapping of a mobile robot may reduce position errors in localization and mapping using a plurality of vector field sensors. The method includes acquiring a relative coordinate in a movement space using an encoder, acquiring an absolute coordinate in the movement space by detecting intensity and direction of a signal using vector field sensors, defining a plurality of virtual cells on a surface of the movement space such that each of the cells has a plurality of nodes having predetermined positions, and updating position information about the nodes of the cells based on the relative coordinate acquired through the encoder and the absolute coordinate acquired through the vector field sensors and implementing localization and mapping in the movement space in a manner that position information of a new node is estimated while position information of a previous node is determined.

1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to a method of localization and mapping of a mobile robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), a localization and mapping technique of a mobile robot, may be classified into two major categories. The first is recognition of the position of the mobile robot in an environment containing a specific indicator (e.g., a landmark or a beacon) recognizable by the mobile robot. The second is recognition of the position of the mobile robot in a general environment containing no specific indicator. In the case of the second category, various sensors are used to recognize the position in an environment containing no specific indicator. Representative sensing techniques used in this case include techniques of utilizing images, lasers, and ultrasound. These sensing techniques have been conventionally utilized to find landmarks distinct from other positions and discretely create the same to recognize the position of the mobile robot. Recently, research has been conducted into utilization of a continuous vector field, which is an extension of discrete landmarks, to reduce errors in localization and mapping.
However, in the case that a vector field is created using a single sensor to utilize the vector field, movement of the mobile robot around a cell configuring the vector field or along the boundary of the cell may result in insufficient updating of the information about the nodes (the boundary of the cell). Thereby, position errors may not be reduced. Particularly, when the mobile robot moves at a high speed, the errors may be worsened.

Mobile robot and method of localization and mapping of the same


Machine-readable media, methods, and apparatus are described to recover from stream under-run and/or over-run conditions. In some embodiments, an audio controller may discard any partial sample block of the stream.

An audio codec may provide an audio controller with more samples than the audio controller was programmed to accept. If the audio controller is unable to accept the additional samples, then the additional samples may be lost due to the over-run. Conversely, if the audio codec provides the audio controller with less data than the audio controller was programmed to accept, then the audio controller may interpret other data from the audio codec as one or more samples due to the under-run. Both under-run and over-run conditions may result in reduced audio quality and/or error conditions.


An apparatus for playback of an analog optical sound track on a film includes a transport for transporting the film past a scanner that generates a digital image signal representative of the analog optical sound track. The digital signal represents the optical signal as gray scale values with a range of greater than one bit. A processor processes the digital image signal for displaying and assessing a result while adjusting a threshold that determines the representation of gray scale values with one bit of resolution.

Optical recording is most common format employed for analog motion picture sound tracks. This analog format uses a variable area method where illumination from a calibrated light source is passed through a shutter modulated with the audio signal. The shutter opens in proportion to the intensity or level of the audio signal and results in the illumination beam from the light source being modulated in width. This varying width illumination is directed to expose a monochromatic photographic film which when processed, for example, results in a black audio waveform envelope surrounded at the waveform extremities by a substantially clear or colored film base material. In this way the instantaneous audio signal amplitude is represented by the width of the exposed and developed film track. FIG. 1 depicts in greatly simplified form an arrangement for recording a variable width analog audio sound track.
A second method can be employed for analog motion picture soundtracks where the audio signal causes the total width of the photographic audio track to be variably exposed. In this method, termed variable density, the exposure of the complete track width is varied in accordance with the intensity of the audio signal to produce a track which varies transmission, for example, between substantially clear or colored base film material and low transmission or high density areas of exposed and developed photographic material. Thus the instantaneous audio signal amplitude is represented by a variation in the transmission of illumination though the exposed and developed film track width.
Hence with either variable density or variable area recording methods the audio modulation (sound) can be recovered by suitably gathering, for example by means of a photo detector, illumination transmitted through the sound track area.
These analog film sound recording techniques can be subject to imperfections, physical damage and contamination during recording, printing and subsequent handling. Since these recording techniques use photographic film, the amount of light used in recording (Density) and the exposure time (Exposure) are critical parameters. The correct density for recording can be determined by series of tests to determine the highest possible contrast whilst maintaining a minimized image spread distortion.
Image spread distortion results when a spurious fringing image is produced beyond the outline of the wanted image. Typically image spread distortion results from diffusion of light within the film base, between the halide grains and the surrounding gelatin. This scattering of light causes an image to be formed just beyond the exposed area. Optimal negative and positive density and exposure can yield a clean sharp well defined image. However, with variable area recorded negatives, image spreading causes the peaks of the audio modulation envelope appear to be rounded while the valleys of the envelope appear to be sharpened and decreased in width. This image distortion causes a non-symmetrical envelope distortion which translates into both odd harmonic distortion and cross modulation distortion in the recovered audio. As the recording density is increased the image spreading increases and consequently becomes evident as sibilance, initially in the higher frequency content, because of the shorter recorded wavelengths. Increasing the recording density further, causes the distortion to become noticeable at progressively lower frequencies in the recorded spectrum.
Sound recording film is generally only sensitive blue illumination and employs a gray anti-halation dye to substantially reduce or eliminate halation effects. Halation can result from reflections from the back of the film base causing a secondary, unwanted exposure of the emulsion. Typically a fine grain and high contrast emulsion is used with a control gamma between 3.0 and 3.2.
The frequency response of these recording methods is determined by various parameters, for example, the speed at which the shutters open and close, the exposure of the film, and the modulation transfer function MTF of the film which is directly related to light diffusion. The higher the exposure time the lower the frequency bandwidth of the recording.
With these optical recording methods the resulting audio signal to noise ratio can be optimized by use of a high contrast image. For example, the darker audio envelope waveshape and the clearer the surroundings, the cleaner or quieter will be the sound. However, there is a limitation to the possible density at which the film can be exposed at without introducing audio distortion due to image spreading in the film emulsion.
Optimum density presents a compromise between signal to noise ratio image spread distortion. An optimum density can be determined by test exposures to find an acceptably low value for cross modulation distortion resulting from image spreading. Frequently older or archival audio tracks are improperly recorded and can exhibit severe distortion. However, often some image spread distortion is tolerated in order to obtain an improved audio signal to noise ratio. FIG. 2 shows a somewhat complementary variation of cross modulation distortion with density when printing from negative to positive film sound stock.
In addition to density and image spread distortion other imperfections can result, for example the density of the exposed or unexposed areas can vary randomly or in sections across or along the sound track area. During audio track playback such density variations can directly translate into spurious noise components interspersed with the wanted audio signal.
A further source of audio track degradation relates to mechanical imperfections variously imparted to the film and or it's reproduction. One such deficiency causes the film, or tracks thereon, to weave or move laterally with respect to a fixed transducer. Film weave can result in various forms of imperfection such as amplitude and phase modulation of the reproduced audio signal.
Analog optical recording methods are inherently susceptible to physical damage and contamination during handling. For example, dirt or dust can introduce transient, random noise events. Similarly scratches in either the exposed or unexposed areas can alter the optical transmission properties of the sound track and cause sever transient noise spikes. Furthermore other physical or mechanical consequences, such as the film perforation, improper film path lacing or related film damage can introduce unwanted cyclical repetitive effects into the soundtrack. These cyclical variations can introduce spurious illumination and give rise to a low frequency buzz, for example having an approximately 96 Hz rectangular pulse waveform, rich in harmonics and interspersed with the wanted audio signal. Similarly picture area light leakage into the sound track area can also cause image related audio degradation.
A German application DE 197 29 201 A1 discloses a telecine which scans optically recorded sound tracks. The disclosed apparatus scans the sound information signal and applies two dimensional filtering to the output values. further German application DE 197 33 528 A1 describes a system for stereo sound signals. An evaluation circuit is utilized to provide only the left or the right sound signal or the sum signal of both as a monophonic output signal.
Clearly an arrangement is needed that allows optically recorded analog audio sound tracks to reproduced and processed to not only substantially eliminate the noted deficiencies but to enhance the quality of the reproduced audio signal.

Digital imaging of optical film soundtracks


A non-aqueous ink jet ink composition contains a glitter pigment, glycol diether represented by the following formula 1 and having a flash point of 70° C. or less, and glycol monoether represented by the following formula 2:R1O—(R2O)m—R3  Formula 1:(In Formula 1, R1 and R3 each independently represent alkyl groups having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, R2 each independently represents alkylene groups having 2 to 3 carbon atoms, and m is an integer of 1 to 4.); andHO—(R4O)n—R5  Formula 2:(In Formula 2, R4 each independently represents alkylene groups having 2 to 3 carbon atoms, R5 is an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and n is an integer of 1 to 4.).

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a non-aqueous ink jet ink composition and an ink jet recording method.
2. Related Art
An ink jet recording method allows recording of high definition images with a relatively simple apparatus, and thus the ink jet recording method has been rapidly developed in various fields. In the development, various researches have been conducted for obtaining various images. For example, for the purpose of providing a non-aqueous ink composition for ink jet printing capable of recording images excellent in glossiness while the non-aqueous ink composition having good viscosity, JP-A-2012-219202 describes a non-aqueous ink composition for ink jet printing, which contains a glitter pigment, a compound represented by the following general formula (1), and an organic solvent.
(In Formula (1), R1, R2, and R3 each independently represent alkyl groups having carbon atoms of 1 or more and 3 or less.)
However, the ink composition described in JP-A-2012-219202 has a problem that the glitter of the recorded matter to be obtained has not yet been sufficient.

Non-aqueous ink jet ink composition and ink jet recording method


A method, system, and computer program product for efficient processing of Extensible Markup Language (XML) documents in Content Based Routing (“CBR”) networks. Specifically, the method involves converting existing XML documents to a machine-oriented notation (“mXML”) which is significantly more compact than XML, while still conveying the content and semantics of the data and the structure of the document. Documents are converted from XML to mXML upon entering a CBR subnetwork and/or upon receipt by an mXML-capable device. The documents are then processed in mXML format. Devices within the inventive system are provided with an awareness of whether target devices or processes are mXML-capable. Documents being routed to a target which is mXML-capable are passed in mXML format while documents being routed to a target which is not mXML-capable are converted to XML before they are passed.

1. Related Applications
The present invention is related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,204, titled "Array-Based Extensible Document Storage Format" (application Ser. No. 09/652,296), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,511, titled "High-Performance Extensible Document Transformation" (application Ser. No. 09/653,080), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,562, titled "Machine-Oriented Extensible Document Representation And Interchange Notation" (application Ser. No. 09/652,056), each filed Aug. 31, 2000. These related inventions are commonly assigned to International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), and are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a network of computer systems which interchange data in eXtensible Markup Language (XML), and particularly to the use of a machine-oriented notation for representation and interchange of extensible documents ("mXML") in network devices, e.g. those network devices that perform Content Based Routing ("CBR") within a communications network. The mXML notation and a method, system, and computer program product for operation upon (e.g. parsing and storing) documents in mXML is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 6,904,562, titled "Machine-Oriented Extensible Document Representation And Interchange Notation" (application Ser. No. 09/652,056) filed Aug. 31, 2000.

Conversion of documents between XML and processor efficient MXML in content based routing networks


The present invention relates to methods for establishing a connection between a user equipment and a wireless network. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods for selecting a preamble based on its power back-off metric in order to randomly access a wireless network while avoiding collisions with other user equipments attempting to access the network at the same time.

Mobile communication systems enable a mobile terminal (a.k.a., user equipment (UE)) to access a network via a network node (e.g., a base station). In some systems, before the UE begins transmitting traffic to the network via the network node, the UE performs a random access (RA) procedure to request access to the network. For example, the UE transmits an access burst to the network node using a random access channel.
To distinguish between different UEs performing RA, the access burst transmitted by the UE contains a preamble randomly chosen by the UE that the network node may use to identify the UE. Generally, the UE will uniformly, randomly select a preamble from a set of preambles (e.g., 64 preambles) that was derived from one or more root sequences (e.g., Zadoff-Chu sequences) associated with the network node.
A set of one or more preambles may be derived from a root sequence by cyclic shifting of the root sequence. The number of preambles that can be derived from a root sequence depends on the maximum expected round trip time between the UE and the network node. For instance, if a root sequence had a length of 800 μs and a very short maximum expected round trip time, then 64 preambles could be derived from the root sequence if the cyclic shift length was less than or equal to 800/64 μs, or 12.5 μs. The maximum expected round trip time is not always short. Indeed, sometimes it may be rather large. Because the cyclic shift length must be large enough to avoid any ambiguity in preamble detection due to propagation round trip time, in some instances, multiple root sequences (e.g., 64 root sequences) are required to generate 64 unique preambles.
According to some standards, a number of root sequences are available to derive the preambles. For instance, according to the 3G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard, a total of 838 root sequences are available for use. Each network node in the network is typically associated with a subset of the 838 root sequences. While different nodes may have the same root sequences associated with them, it is generally advisable to assign different root sequences to nodes that are physically near each other to avoid ambiguity.
Not all root sequences have the same properties. For instance, different root sequences can have different power back-off metrics (PBM) (e.g., different cubic metric (CM), peak-to-average power ratio, out-of-band emissions, etc.). All preambles derived from a particular root sequence inherit the PBM properties of the particular root sequence. While it may be desirable for a UE to select a preamble having the "best" PBM characteristics when randomly accessing a network node, all UEs should not use the preamble with the best PBM characteristics because this would result in an increase in collisions. Thus, there exists a need in the art for a method of selecting a preamble with desirable PBM characteristics while at the same time not exacerbating the collision problem.


A multiple fluid model tool for multi-dimensional fluid modeling of a biological structure is presented. For example, a system includes a modeling component, a machine learning component, and a three-dimensional health assessment component. The modeling component generates a three-dimensional model of a biological structure based on multi-dimensional medical imaging data. The machine learning component predicts one or more characteristics of the biological structure based on input data and a machine learning process associated with the three-dimensional model. The three-dimensional health assessment component that provides a three-dimensional design environment associated with the three-dimensional model. The three-dimensional design environment renders physics modeling data of the biological structure based on the input data and the one or more characteristics of the biological structure on the three-dimensional model.

During a medical procedure associated with a biological structure, it is often desirable to determine impact of a fluid with respect to the biological structure. To determine impact of the fluid with respect to the biological structure, numerical analysis of two dimensional (2D) medical data associated with the biological structure. For instance, magnetic resonance imaging and/or computerized tomography imaging can be employed to determine impact of the fluid with respect to the biological structure. However, analyzing impact of a fluid with respect to a biological structure generally involves human interpretation of 2D medial data associated with the biological structure, which can result in human trial and error with respect to analysis of the biological structure. Moreover, human interpretation of 2D medical data can be burdensome with respect to cost and/or redundancy associated with analysis of the biological structure.

Systems and methods for multi-dimensional fluid modeling of an organism or organ


A device for controlling gas-exchange valves of an internal combustion engine is provided, which device has hydraulic valve actuators each allocated to one gas-exchange valve. Each valve actuator has an actuating piston acting on the gas-exchange valve, and two hydraulic working chambers delimited by the actuating piston, of which the first working chamber acting upon the gas-exchange valve in the closing direction is constantly filled with fluid under pressure, and the second working chamber acting upon the gas-exchange valve in the opening direction is able to be alternately filled with fluid under pressure and relieved via two electric control valves. For the purpose of cost reduction, provided for each valve-actuator pair is a single first electric control valve that is acted upon with the fluid pressure on the intake side, and is connected on the outlet side to the second working chamber of one valve actuator. The second working chamber of the other valve actuator is filled with fluid with the aid of a switchover valve and the fluid pressure in the second working chamber of the one valve actuator.

In a device disclosed in German patent document 198 26 047, each valve actuator, whose actuating piston is joined in one piece with the valve tappet of the allocated gas-exchange valve, is permanently connected with its first working chamber to a fluid-pressure source delivering fluid under high pressure, and with its second working chamber is connected, on one hand, to a first electric control valve alternately closing or releasing a supply line to the fluid-pressure source, and on the other hand, is connected to a second electric control valve alternately releasing or closing a discharge line leading to a fluid reservoir. The electric control valves are designed as 2/2-way solenoid valves having spring resetting. When the gas-exchange valve is closed, because of the first working chamber connected permanently to the fluid-pressure source, and because of the second working chamber separated from the fluid-pressure source by the first electric control valve and connected to the discharge line by the second electric control valve, the actuating piston of the valve actuator takes its normal position. Both electric control valves are switched over to open the gas-exchange valve. In this manner, on the one hand, the second working chamber of the valve actuator is blocked with respect to the discharge line by the second electric control valve, and on the other hand, is connected by the first electric control valve to the supply line to the fluid-pressure source. Since the actuating-piston surface delimiting the second working chamber in the valve actuator is larger than the actuating-piston surface delimiting the first working chamber, the actuating piston moves out of its normal position, accompanied by reduction in the volume of the first working chamber, and thereby opens the gas-exchange valve. The size of the opening lift is a function of the formation of the electric control signal applied to the first electric control valve, and the opening speed is a function of the fluid pressure applied from the fluid-pressure source. To maintain the gas-exchange valve in a specific open position, the first electric control valve is subsequently switched over, so that it blocks the supply line to the second working chamber of the valve actuator. In this way, all open positions of the gas-exchange valve may be adjusted by an electric control unit for generating control signals. The gas-exchange valve is closed by resetting the second electric control valve into its open position, so that the first working chamber of the valve actuator is again connected to the discharge line. To control a gas-exchange valve, in each case two electric control valves are necessary which act upon the second working chamber of the allocated valve actuator with fluid pressure, or relieve it of pressure, accordingly.

Device for the control of gas exchange valves


A method of producing a spheroidal graphite cast iron article containing at least one pearlite stabilizing element selected from the group consisting of Mn, Cu, Sn, Sb and Pb and having a double layer structure which comprises a surface layer portion and an inner portion. The surface layer portion has a matrix 60% or more of which is ferrite phase and a thickness of at least 0.5 mm. The inner portion has a matrix substantially comprising pearlite phase. The method comprises: (1) heat-treating a starting spheroidal graphite cast iron at a temperature which transforms a whole part of a matrix of the starting spheroidal graphite cast iron substantially to austenite phase; (2) slowly cooling the austenitized spheroidal graphite cast iron at a cooling rate (5.degree. to 20.degree. C./min) which allows in a subsequent step the surface layer portion to be ferritized before the inner portion starts to be pearlitized; (3) holding the cooled spheroidal graphite cast iron at a temperature (710.degree. to 770.degree. C.) which allows the surface layer portion to be first ferritized and subsequently allows the inner portion to be pearlitized while preventing the ferrite phase of the surface layer portion from being transformed to another; and (4) cooling the spheroidal graphite cast iron thus transformed immediately after completion of the pearlitization of the inner portion.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a spheroidal graphite cast iron article excellent in bending characteristics and mechanical strength such as impact strength.
Since spheroidal graphite cast iron has an excellent mechanical strength and castability, it is widely used in various applications including automobile parts, machine parts, etc. Specifically, spheroidal graphite cast iron species of FCD 700 and FCD 800 in JIS G5502 are used for parts requiring a high mechanical strength, and spheroidal graphite cast iron species of FCD 370 and FCD 400 in JIS G5502 are used for parts requiring a large elongation. Further, since important parts of automobiles such as suspension parts are required to have good properties in tensile strength, elongation, fatigue resistance, impact strength, etc., the spheroidal graphite cast iron constituting such important parts should satisfy the above strength requirements. However, the as-cast surface of the spheroidal graphite cast iron has some unevenness due to sand inclusion and slag inclusion, and such an unevenness is likely to function as starting points of cracking and failure. Therefore, the spheroidal graphite cast iron having an as-cast surface fails to exhibit its inherent mechanical strength sufficiently.
In such circumstances, one of the inventors has previously proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,194 a thin spheroidal graphite cast iron article having a good mechanical strength, which has graphite particles dispersed in a ferrite matrix containing 10% or less of pearlite by volume fraction, and is characterized in that there is substantially no fine gap between the graphite particles and the ferrite matrix. Such a thin high-strength article of spheroidal graphite cast iron can be produced by pouring a melt having a spheroidal graphite cast iron composition into a casting mold; removing the casting mold by shake-out after the completion of solidification of the melt, while substantially the entire portion of the resulting cast iron product is still at a temperature of its A.sub.3 transformation point or higher; introducing the cast iron product into a soaking zone of a continuous furnace kept at a temperature of the A.sub.3 transformation point or higher, where the cast iron product is kept for 30 minutes or less to decompose cementite contained in the matrix; and transferring the cast iron product into a cooling zone of the continuous furnace to cool the cast iron product at such a cooling speed as to conduct the ferritization of the matrix.
However, unlike in the case of the thin articles of spheroidal graphite cast iron, spheroidal graphite cast iron articles having relatively large thickness, at least about 10 mm thickness for example, for use in parts which should satisfy higher mechanical strength requirements should retain a pearlite phase to show a good mechanical strength and at the same time should exhibit improved bending characteristics. For this purpose, the heat treatment of ferritizing the spheroidal graphite cast iron entirely or mostly is not satisfactory.
To solve this problem, one of the inventors has previously proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,561 a spheroidal graphite cast iron article which has a surface layer portion mostly composed of a ferrite phase and having a thickness of at least 1 mm, and an inner portion composed of a pearlite phase and a ferrite phase, the surface layer portion having a ferritization ratio of 70% or more which is larger than that of the inner portion by at least about 15%.
Such a spheroidal graphite cast iron article can be produced by the steps of (a) pouring a melt having the same composition as that of a spheroidal graphite cast iron to be produced into a casting mold; (b) removing the casting mold by shake-out after the completion of solidification of the melt, while substantially the entire portion of the resulting cast iron product is still at a temperature of its Al transformation point or higher; (c) when the temperature difference between the surface layer portion and the inner portion has become 40.degree. to 60.degree. C., introducing the cast iron product into a soaking furnace kept at a temperature of 750.degree. to 900.degree. C., where the cast iron product is held for such a period of time as to produce the surface layer portion having a ferritization ratio of 70% or more which is larger than that of the inner portion by at least about 15%; and (d) transferring the cast iron product into a cooling furnace to cool the cast iron product at a cooling speed of 15.degree. to 100.degree. C./min.
Another method of producing such a spheroidal graphite cast iron article comprises the steps of (a) introducing a pearlitized spheroidal graphite cast iron product into a soaking furnace kept at a temperature of 780.degree. to 870.degree. C., where the cast iron product is held for such a period of time as to produce the surface layer portion having a ferritization ratio of 70% or more which is larger than that of the inner portion by at least about 15%; and (b) transferring the cast iron product into a cooling furnace to cool the cast iron product at a cooling speed of 15.degree. to 100.degree. C./min.
Although the spheroidal graphite cast iron articles produced by the above methods have good bending characteristics and a high mechanical strength, both the methods involve the steps difficult to be strictly controlled. More specifically, in the first method, a cast iron product after the shake-out is introduced into the soaking furnace kept at 750.degree. to 900.degree. C. when the temperature difference between the surface layer portion and the inner portion reaches 40.degree. to 60.degree. C. However, it is very difficult to determine the timing for introducing the cast iron product to the soaking furnace. In the second method where a pearlitized spheroidal graphite cast iron product is subjected to ferritization in the soaking furnace kept at 780.degree. to 870.degree. C., the holding time in the soaking furnace for reaching a intended ferritization ratio is difficult to be suitably controlled.

Method of producing spheroidal graphite cast iron article


An electric wire identifier that includes an anti-short bushing in the form of an electrical insulating ring-like insert fitted onto the end of a metal or armored clad cable that defines the terminal end of the armored cable or into the end of an electrical connector that is generally inserted through a knock-out hole of an electric box or panel, and which bushing includes an integral extension or surface capable of retaining thereon suitable identifying indicia that is rendered visible throughout the lifetime of the electrical installation. In another form of the invention, the wire identifiers, in the form of a label or tag having a loop attachment that may be arranged in a tree or roll whereby the individual labels or tags can be readily dispensed as needed.

In the electrical arts, and in particular in areas wherein electrical wires and/or cables are being installed in buildings and/or in other installations requiring numerous terminals and/or wires or cables to be installed at remote locations, considerable difficulties have been encountered in the order and/or to what circuit a given wire or cable is to be connected. Generally, it was the installer's practice to mark a given wire or cable in a makeshift manner with whatever means available by which the installer could identify which wire or cable was to be connected to a particular circuit or terminal. Thus, each installer would create his or her own personal identification arrangement which, over time, may fade or disappear. The difficulty encountered with such practice rendered such identification ineffective in the event another installer or electrician would later be required to complete, repair and/or alter a given wiring installation, e.g. in a residential or commercial building.
In the event of new construction, the identification of the wires or cables would, in the course of construction, be covered over by the finished wall causing the terminal ending of a given wire or cable to be unmarked. In the event any repairs at some future time were required, considerable difficulties have been encountered in determining which wire or cable is causing a circuit or an electric appliance to malfunction.
One such effect to alleviate this long standing problem is evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,208, which discloses a pad of labels in the form of pressure sensitive labels having a release liner wherein the labels are preprinted with a series of repeated numerals. The respective labels are so formed so as to be readily peeled off from the pad, released from its liner and wrapped about a wire to be identified. Such labels have limited application in that in a finished construction, the labels would not be visible as the label would be within a closed wall or behind a junction box or panel.
Another known effort is evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,282 B2 which discloses a "clip on" type of marker that includes an elongated oval configuration having a hole formed in the opposed ends of the elongated oval configuration whereby the holes are each provided with a cut or slit for enabling the marker to be clipped onto a wire. An apparent disadvantage of a "clip on" type tag or marker is that over time, such "clip on" markers are prone to also "clip off", causing the associated wire to lose its identification.