A method for testing a memory device which statistically characterizes the failure time for a subset of cells sampled from the memory array before performing testing of the memory array in general. The memory device includes a testing unit which determines the failure times for cells in the sample subset, and a parameter calculation unit which computes one or more statistical parameters from the failure times. These statistical parameters are then used to determine a refresh pause time which is used in a data retention test of the memory array. The testing method may be performed when power is applied to the memory device. Thus, the BIST method may provide for the accurate detection of memory faults in the memory array at any power-up temperature. In addition, the testing method may be performed after the memory array attains an operational temperature, or in response to an operating system command.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of digital electronic memory devices, and in particular to a method for testing and repairing these devices in the field.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common practice for the manufacturers of memory chips to test the functionality of the memories at the manufacturing site. After the chips have been tested and certified for shipment, upon sale to the users, the users generally depend upon the reliability of the chips for their own systems to function properly. As the line width of memory cells within a memory array circuit chip continue to shrink (now at less than half a micron), this reliability becomes more difficult to achieve. One of the challenges for the manufacturers of memory devices, is to increase memory capacity without decreasing chip yields due to malfunctioning parts.
Before the memory chips are released for shipment, they typically undergo testing to verify that each of the memory cells within the memory array is functioning properly. This testing method is routinely done because it is not uncommon for a significant percentage of the memory cells within the chip to fail, either because of manufacturing defects or degradation faults.
In the past, chip memories have been tested using an external memory tester or Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) at the manufacturing site. This testing technique is not available to users once the chips have been shipped, making it difficult to detect faulty memory cells at the user site. Even if test equipment is available to users, field repairs are expensive, time-consuming, and impractical.
In addition, some repairs of memories have also been performed at the manufacturing site. Conventional repairing techniques bypass the defective cells using fuseable links that cause address redirection. However, these techniques require significant capital investment for implementing the technical complexity of the repairing process, and moreover, fail to address the possibility of failure after shipment from the manufacturing facility.
Because of the complexity of field repairs, some memory chips have been equipped with built-in self test (BIST) and built-in self repair (BISR) circuitry. As used herein, the term "BIST" refers to the actual test, while "BIST unit" and "BIST circuitry" refer to the circuitry that performs BIST. Similarly, "BISR" refers to the process of builtin self repair, while "BISR unit" and "BISR circuitry" refer to the circuitry that performs BISR. BIST operates by writing and reading various patterns to/from the memory to determine various kinds of memory faults. In particular, in a data retention test, a BIST unit writes a data value to a memory cell, waits for a pause interval, and subsequently reads the memory cell. By comparing the data written and subsequently returned from the memory cell, the BIST unit is able to determine whether the memory cell is faulty. If failing cells are present, the BISR circuitry reassigns the row or column containing the failing cell to a spare row or column in the memory array. Generally, BIST and BISR are performed each time power is applied to the system, and thus, latent failures that occur between subsequent system power-ups may be detected in the field.
At present, BIST and BISR are employed with static memories. Due to the higher storage capacity of dynamic memories, it would be desirable to apply BIST and BISR methods to dynamic memories. However, for dynamic memories, the inherent sensitivity of refresh time to temperature severely complicates the data retention test. Since, the refresh time of a dynamic memory cell decreases strongly with increasing temperature, it may not be possible to choose a fixed BIST pause time which will suffice to detect faulty memory cells at all temperatures. In other words, a pause time which is chosen to optimally detect faulty memory cells at a nominal powering-up temperature may result in one of the following: (a) missing faulty cells at power-up temperatures lower than the nominal temperature, or (b) false alarms, i.e. declaring normal cells to be faulty, at temperature higher than the nominal temperature. The power-up temperature is defined to be the temperature of the memory chip at the time power it applied.
Furthermore, since BIST and BISR are conducted at the conditions that prevail at the time the memory device is powered on, they may not identify temperature sensitive failures. While BIST and BISR may perform a data retention test at power-up, the temperature of the system at that time may not be sufficient to induce cell failures. Subsequently, however, the temperature of the system may increase to a point that one or more memory cells will fail. Since BIST and BISR have already been performed at system power-on, BISR does not redirect accesses to these cells, which may result in a catastrophic system error.
Another problem arises in connection with the fact that it is generally desirable for dynamic memories to have a large refresh interval to minimize memory bus bandwidth required for the refresh function during normal operation. However, this implies that the BIST may take an inordinately long time to perform a data retention test on a dynamic memory device.

Refresh sampling built-in self test and repair circuit


Provided are digital processing apparatuses and techniques for estimating the fractional exponentiation of the base number 2, i.e., 2f where f is a fractional value. In one representative embodiment, a calculation is made of a folded quantity, which is equal to 1−f if f is greater than a specified threshold and is equal to f otherwise; then, a function of the folded quantity is calculated; and finally, the function of the folded quantity is subtracted from the fraction f and 1 is added. In another embodiment, 2f is approximated by calculating 1+f′ in the binary numbering system.

Exponentiation is a mathematical operation that involves taking a power of a base number to a specified argument. For example, if the base number is represented by B, then performing an exponentiation operation on it with an argument X would involve computing the number Y such that Y=BX. Both the base number B, and the argument Y, can take on values with integer and fractional parts. For a digital implementation, a binary base typically is used (i.e., B=2). Also, a given argument X for any other non-binary base can be transformed into an equivalent binary-base argument by multiplying X with the pre-computed constant log2(B), i.e.,Y=BX=2Z, where Z=X·log2(B).
If Z consists of an integer and fractional part, it can be written as Z=I.F, where I represents the integer part and F represents the fractional part. In a binary-base fixed-point notation, the fractional part (.F) equivalently can be written as f=(F/2N), where N is the number of significant bits used to represent the fractional portion of the number Z. Using this representation:Y=BX=2Xlog2(B)=2I.F=2I·2f,where f is the fractional part of the number Z in binary format, and is always 0≦f<1.0.
The exponentiation of the integer portion of the argument I to the binary base can be digitally implemented by simply shifting the binary base left (for positive I) or right (for negative I) by I number of bit positions. The digital implementation for the exponentiation of the fractional portion of the argument, f, is not trivial.
In a traditional digital implementation of the exponentiation of a binary base by a fractional argument, f, a look-up table is used to map the corresponding number F (the bit-string representation of f) into the correct value of 2f, in the binary representation format being used. Typically, a look-up table with 2N entries is used, where N is the number of bits used to represent the fractional part of the argument in binary format. For example, if the fractional part of the argument were represented using 16 bits, the total number of entries in the look-up table would be 216=65,536 words (64 KWords). Alternatively, another common method to implement 2f is to digitally compute (1+f), which is a first-order approximation to the correct value, having an irreducible maximum approximation error of approximately 0.5 dB.
Clearly, both solutions are deficient, albeit for different reasons. Therefore, there exists a need for new digital implementations of fractional exponentiation, e.g., which do not require the use of a look-up table and/or results in a more precise approximation value.

Digital implementation of fractional exponentiation


A two-stage method is proposed for producing a highly transparent anode emitter (2) in a GTO (1). In a first step, an anode emitter (2) is indiffused whose thickness is greater than 0.5 .mu.m and whose doping concentration is greater than 10.sup.17 cm.sup.-3. In a second step, the emitter efficiency of the anode emitter (2) is subsequently reduced to a desired degree by local carrier life setting.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is concerned with the field of semiconductor electronics. It is based on a method for the production of a gate turn-off thyristor having an anode-side stop layer and a transparent anode emitter in accordance with the preamble of the first claim.
2. Discussion of Background
EP 0 621 640 A1 has already described such a method and a gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) produced thereby. A transparent anode emitter is understood to mean an anode-side emitter layer which is configured in such a way that a significant proportion of the total current leaves the anode metallization layer of the component as an electron current. This electron current, which is specified in % of the total current, is referred to as the emitter transparency. Anode emitters having a transparency of 50% or more are technologically important. A transparent emitter of the generic type is obtained, for example, by selecting a layer depth of 1.2 .mu.m and indiffusing a doping concentration of 10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3. Further transparent anode emitters are disclosed in the documents EP 0 651 445 A2 and EP 0 700 095 A2.
On account of the good properties of GTOs having a stop layer and a transparent anode emitter, ever more transparent, i.e. thinner and less heavily doped, anode emitters are desired. However, an ever thinner and more weakly doped anode emitter leads to considerable technological difficulties in the production of the metallic contact of the anode electrode with the anode emitter. When the aluminum is deposited on the semiconductor, the silicon is dissolved and condenses out again on cooling down. This means that the anode emitter is greatly influenced by the metallization process. Subsequent sintering, as is customary in other GTOs for the purpose of reducing the contact resistance, is virtually impossible.

Method for the production of a gate turn-off thyristor having an anode-side stop layer and a transparent anode emitter


Methods of detecting interactions of a putative ligand with a selectively labeled target molecule, methods of screening for compounds which bind to a selectively labeled target molecule, methods for calculating the dissociation constant of a ligand that binds to a selectively labeled target molecule, and methods to determine the specific amino acids of a target molecule affected by the binding of a ligand, as well as compounds identified by these screening methods, are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to selectively labeled molecules and the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to detect and characterize molecular interactions between the selectively labeled molecules and putative ligands.
2. Background of the Invention
Random screening of synthetic and natural product libraries to discover compounds that bind to a particular target molecule is a common method for obtaining new pharmaceutical entities. A target molecule is typically exposed to one or more compounds and assays are performed to determine if complexes between the target molecule and one or more of the compounds are formed. Once random screening has identified a potential candidate, or lead compound, analogs of the lead compound are synthesized in an effort to improve binding and selectivity. The analogs are then screened, usually by the same assays used to identify the lead compound.
A common problem associated with current screening methods involves non-specific ligand binding; that is, the ligand attaches to the target molecule but in a non-specific manner. Such non-specific binding often occurs and is difficult to detect. In such cases, optimization of ligand binding is greatly complicated. The full potential for developing pharmaceutical-based therapies depends not only on screening vast numbers of compounds against a target, but also on determining specific details concerning interactions between the ligand and the target molecule.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is known for its ability to characterize macromolecular structures, and is a technique for investigating both static and transient features of ligand binding to a target molecule (Pellecchia, et al., Nature Rev Drug Disc 2002, 1:211). NMR spectroscopy is a useful tool for determining the binding of ligands to target molecules, and has the advantage of being able to detect and quantify interactions with high sensitivity without requiring prior knowledge of protein function. Furthermore, NMR spectroscopy can provide structural information on both the target and the ligand to aid subsequent optimization of weak-binding hits into high-affinity leads.
Methods of detecting binding of a ligand compound to a target biomolecule by generating first and second nuclear magnetic resonance correlation spectra from target biomolecules which have been uniformly labeled are reported in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,698,401 and 5,804,390. The first spectrum is generated from data collected on the target substance in the absence of ligands, and the second in the presence of one or more ligands. A comparison of the two spectra permits determination of which compounds in the mixture of putative ligands bind(s) to the target biomolecule.
Despite the broad applicability of using NMR spectroscopy to determine molecular interactions, its use with macromolecules is complicated by the extremely complex spectra associated with macromolecules. Although, isotope labeling in macromolecular NMR spectroscopy can result in increased sensitivity and resolution and in reduced complexity of the NMR spectra, attempts to improve NMR analysis of macromolecules by labeling target molecules with NMR active isotopes has been only marginally successful. Isotope labeling would promote the efficient use of heteronuclear multi-dimensional NMR experiments and provided alternative approaches to the spectral assignment process and additional structural constraints from spin-spin coupling.
Current methods of assessing molecular interaction that utilize NMR spectroscopy typically rely on uniform labeling of the target molecule. When using uniform labeled target molecules, a complete 1H and 15N resonance assignment of at least the backbone nuclei of the target molecule must be completed before any ligand-protein interactions can be assessed by NMR spectroscopy. The assignments are then used to map the interactions of a ligand by following chemical shift changes upon complexation. This process can be quite lengthy and is generally limited to small-to-medium-sized proteins due to line broadening and spectral overlap with larger proteins. Even with the advent of TROSY (Transverse Relaxation Optimized SpectroscopY) (Pervushin, et al., Proc Natl Aca. Sci USA 1997, 94:12366; Wüthrich, Nat Struct Biol 1998, 5:492) and perdeuteration, the problem of complete resonance assignments in target molecules remains a major stumbling block for NMR ligand-binding studies.
There have been attempts to overcome the problems associated with uniform labeling of target molecules by attempting to selectively label the methyl groups of the amino acids isoleucine, methionine, threonine, alanine, leucine, and valine. However, these amino acids often are present in the interior of the protein and are not involved in ligand or protein binding.
Thus, there is a need for methods for determining molecular interactions by NMR spectroscopy that result in a simplification of the spectrum and enable the study of significantly larger macromolecules. Also needed are improved methods for high-throughput screening using NMR spectroscopy.

Use of selective labeling to detect and characterize molecular interactions by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy


Disclosed are nanoparticles, such as carbon nanotubes or other graphitic sheet materials having extended aromatic surfaces, which are used to deliver active agents such as drugs, labels or dyes (termed for convenience a “drug”) to the interior of cells. The nanoparticles are functionalized by a hydrophilic polymer or adsorption of an amphiphilic molecule to render them stable in suspension. The drug is therefore capable of release in the cell exterior. The drug is more rapidly released at lower pH, as found e.g., in tumor cells. The drug may also be linked to a branched chain hydrophilic polymer, so that each polymer molecule carries more than one drug bound by a cleavable linker.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes and to the field of delivery of drugs to cells.
2. Related Art
Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are novel polyaromatic molecules with ultra-high surface areas of ˜2600 m2/g. While sidewall functionalization has been actively pursued,1 little has been done to partition nanotube surfaces chemically and facilitate basic and practical applications for chemistry, biology and medicine.2-6 Accordingly, there is a need in the art for methods to partition nanotube surfaces.
Zheng, et al., "DNA-assisted dispersion and separation of carbon nanotubes" (2003) Nature Mater. 2: 338-342 describe the solubilization of carbon nanotubes by single stranded DNA molecules, wherein the DNA molecule wraps helically around the carbon nanotube through π-stacking interactions to form a soluble complex. See also, Zheng, et al., "Structure-Based Carbon Nanotube Sorting by Sequence-Dependent DNA Assembly," Science 29:1545-1548 (November 2003).
Dai, et al., WO 02/095099, entitled "Noncovalent sidewall functionalization of carbon nanotubes" (published Nov. 28, 2002 and related to PNAS 100:4984 cited below, as well as US PGPUB 2005/0100960) relates to complexes formed from the irreversible adsorption of molecules to the sidewalls of carbon nanotubes through π-stacking, van der Waals and hydrophobic interactions. As shown in the US PGPUB 2005/0100960, a plurality of noncovalently-bonded molecules, having a highly aromatic group such as a pyrenyl group, are configured and arranged for bonding to additional molecules, e.g., biomolecules such as antibodies, antigens and DNA. These complexes are intended for in vitro use, e.g., as biosensors, where the attached molecules do not dissociate from the nanotubes.
Chen et al., "Noncovalent functionalization of nanotubes for highly specific electronic biosensors", PNAS, 100:4984-4989 (2003) shows the binding of various proteins (Steptavidin, avidin, BSA, staphylococcal protein A and α-glucosidase) to as-grown nanotubes, and nanotubes treated with surfactants such as Tween, Pluronic P103 and Triton-X. It was reported that a monolayer of Tween 20 anchored on a nanotube would repel non-specific binding of proteins in solution. Ten different polypropylene oxide molecules were investigated for their ability to adsorb onto nanotube walls.
Hannah, US PGPUB 2004/0110128, published Jun. 10, 2004, entitled "Carbon Nanotube Molecular Labels," discloses that carbon nanotubes may be derivatized with reactive groups to facilitate attachment to analytes or probes. Nanotubes may be derivatized to contain carboxylic acid groups (U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,823). Carboxylate derivatized nanotubes may be attached to nucleic acid probes or other analytes by standard chemistries, for example by carbodiimide mediated formation of an amide linkage with a primary or secondary amine group located on a probe or analyte. The methods of derivatization and cross-linking are not limiting and any reactive group or cross-linking methods known in the art may be used.
US PGPUB 20040038251 to Smalley, et al., published Feb. 26, 2004, entitled "Single-wall carbon nanotubes of precisely defined type and use thereof," discloses that surfactants can also be used as non-perturbing coatings for suspending individual single-wall carbon nanotubes. The surfactant may be BRIJ® surfactants (polyethylene glycol dodecyl ether, polyethylene glycol lauryl ether, polyethylene glycol hexadecyl ether, polyethylene glycol stearyl ether, and polyethylene glycol oleyl ether), and other surfactants.
US PGPUB 20060014375 to Ford et al., published Jan. 19, 2006, entitled "Soluble carbon nanotubes," discloses a method of solubilizing carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes and urea are mixed together and then heated.
Dwyer, et al., "DNA functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes," Nanotechnology, 13:601-604 (2002) discloses linking DNA to nanotubes through amino-terminated DNA strands. A lambda DNA cluster is shown attached to a defect site and ends of an SWNT bundle.
Felekis, et al., "Single-walled carbon nanotube-based hybrid materials for managing charge transfer processes," Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci., 10:272-276 (2005) discloses formation of nanohybrids consisting of SWNT units and electron donor moieties such as porpyrinic and ferrocenyl units.
Menna et al., in a conference paper dated Oct. 1, 2003, "Shortened single-walled nanotubes functionalized with poly(ethylene glycol): preparation and properties," disclose the grafting of PEG onto SWNTs after acid oxidative cutting, treatment with SOCl2 to yield SWNT-COCL, and amidation with PEG-monoamine.
Kam et al. "Nanotube Molecular Transporters: Internalization of Carbon Nanotube-Protein Conjugates into Mammalian Cells," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 126 (22), 6850-6851, (2004) discloses SWNT-protein conjugates delivered to cells. The authors used an oxidation/sonication procedure, which introduced surface carboxylates on the nanotubes for chemical derivatization. The carboxylic acid was treated with amino-biotin or a fluorescent label.
Zhang Liu, Weibo Cai, Lina He, Nozomi Nakayama, Kai Chen, Xiaoming Sun, Xiayuan Chen, Hongjie Dai. "In vivo biodistribution and highly efficient tumour targeting of carbon nanotubes in mice," Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 2, 47-52, January 2007 disclose the preparation of SWNTs, which were functionalized by the strong adsorption of phospholipids grafted onto amine-terminated polyethylene glycol. Thiol-modified siRNA cargo molecules were linked to the amine groups on the sidewalls of SWNTs through cleavable disulfide bonds.
Won Seok Seo, Jin Hyung Lee, Xiaoming Sun, Yoriyasu Suzuki, David Mann, Zhuang Liu, Masahiro Terashima, Philip C. Yang, Michael V. McConnell, Dwight G. Nishimura, and Hongjie Dai. "FeCo/graphitic-shell nanocrystals as advanced magnetic-resonance-imaging and near-infrared agents," Nature Materials, VOL 5, 971, 2006 discloses the preparation of pure FeCo/graphitic carbon nanocrystals. These were PL-PEG functionalized for MRI imaging.
Nadine Wong Shi Kam, Zhuang Liu, and Hongjie Dai "Carbon Nanotubes as Intracellular Transporters for Proteins and DNA: An Investigation of the Uptake Mechanism and Pathway," Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 44, 1-6, 2005, discloses acid oxidized SWNTs, which were used for conjugation with proteins, and non-oxidized SWNTs, which were used to complex with DNA molecules.
Nadine Wong Shi Kam and Hongjie Dai "Carbon Nanotubes as Intracellular Protein Transporters: Generality and Biological Functionality," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127, 6021-6026, 2005, discloses that SWNTs are generic intracellular transporters for various types of proteins (less than or equal to 80 kD) noncovalently and non-specifically bound to nanotube sidewalls.
Nadine Wong Shi Kam, Theodore C. Jessop, Paul A. Wender, and Hongjie Dai, "Nanotube Molecular Transporters: Internalization of Carbon Nanotube-Protein Conjugates into Mammalian Cells," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 126, 6850-6851 2004, discloses the preparation of SWNTs refluxed in HNO3 followed by sonication, resulting in negatively charged acidic groups on the surface, which were used to couple various molecules such as biotin.

Supramolecular functionalization of graphitic nanoparticles for drug delivery

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University


The present disclosure pertains to a dielectric fitting for use in a fluid piping system to provide electrical insulation between metal components while fluid is transferred through a sealed connection. The dielectric fitting includes a metallic body including a distal end and a proximal end and a flange extending radially from the body and having a first end surface and an opposite second end surface. An electrical insulation over-mold adheres to the distal end of metallic body, the second end surface of the flange and at least a portion of the first end surface. The insulation over-mold is secured by a plurality of recesses or by an annular member positioned along the distal end. The over-mold includes an annular portion that extends axially away from the distal end of the metallic body.

The present exemplary embodiment relates to gas line piping systems and more particularly to an electrically insulated system which includes a dielectric fitting as part of the system. It finds particular application in conjunction with a dielectric fitting for a fuel conduit system so that the conduits are electrically insulated at a joint for preventing or retarding the flow of electricity over the dielectric fitting, and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the present exemplary embodiment is also amenable to other like applications.
The connection between metal piping components such as pipes, conduits, unions or valves are prone to fluid or gas leaks due to the failure of a gasket or from corrosion caused by galvanic electric currents flowing across the connection. Further, corrosion is known to occur where the connection includes contact between two different types of metals while being exposed to an acidic solution. This combination effectively forms a battery which causes an electrical current to flow between the two metals such that molecules from one of the metals is deposited on the other, thereby resulting in galvanic electrolysis. To solve this problem, it is known in the art to use an electrically insulating member at the connection between the dissimilar metals to reduce or prevent electric current from flowing across the connection.
The 2011 edition of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Code, Section 58, titled: Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code, requires a dielectric fitting at a building to electrically isolate the piping leading from a fuel tank from the piping in the building. Code section 22.214.171.124 states that underground metallic piping, tubing, or both that convey liquid petroleum (LP) gas from a gas storage container shall be provided with dielectric fittings at the building to electrically isolate it from the aboveground portion of the fixed piping system that enters a building. Such dielectric fittings are installed aboveground and outdoors. Compliance with this regulation is currently accomplished by installing a separate dielectric union at an inlet of a second stage regulator of a multi-stage regulator system. Notably, a multi-stage regulator system includes a first stage regulator to reduce gas pressure from a storage tank as it enters the gas lines and a second stage regulator to further decrease the pressure of the gas to a usable level for appliance demand. Second stage regulators are positioned by or in a building and work with the lower pressures delivered by first stage regulators to lower the pressure even more so that the LP gas will safely and adequately supply the demand of the appliances in the building or structure.
There are some types of dielectric fittings currently available. However, many of these fittings have insulation that is not optimally positioned between the metals due to the geometric orientation of the insulation. The insulation may be prone to shifting relative to the metal pipe joint, causing the pipes to contact each other thereby risking galvanic reaction. Further, the addition of a dielectric union to the second stage regulator in compliance with NFPA 58 adds cost to the overall system including the price for the additional materials as well as labor costs for installation. These additional connection points or joints also increase the risk of leakage in the system.
Therefore, there remains a need for minimizing the cost of labor and materials while maintaining compliance with NFPA code and reducing the risk of leaks within a fluid piping system.


An organic electroluminescent display includes a pair of substrates; an organic electroluminescent device between the pair of substrates, including: a pair of electrodes of an anode and a cathode, and a light-emitting layer between the pair of electrodes; and a light scattering film on a substrate on the viewing side of the pair of substrates, including: a transparent substrate film, and a light scattering layer which contains a light transmitting resin and a light scattering particle having a particle size of from 0.3 μm to 1.2 μm, wherein a ratio of (np/nb) is from 0.80 to 0.95 or from 1.05 to 1.35, taking a refractive index of the light scattering particle and the light transmitting resin as np and nb, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic electroluminescent (organic EL) displays are self-emitting type thin displays, and have advantages of display performance such that high in visibility, and small in viewing angle dependency, as compared with liquid crystal displays. Further, in addition to the advantages of capable of making weight light and thinning, they have the possibility of realizing new shapes of displays that have been unrealized hitherto by using flexible substrates.
Organic EL displays have excellent characteristics as described above. However, although organic EL displays are excellent in viewing angle dependency as compared with liquid crystal displays, the refractive index of each layer including a light-emitting layer constituting the displays is generally higher than the refractive index of air, and since the refractive indexes are different, emission spectrums are different due to the angles to the displays by a light interference effect. This causes a tin variation depending on the viewing angle of the viewer, and may influence viewing angle characteristics.
Further, for the purpose of the improvement of frontal luminance, the use of a photo-resonance effect by the reflection on the surface between the electrodes positioned on both sides of the light-emitting layer, or the use of a prism sheet or the like is exemplified. In that case, the influence of viewing angle dependency is conspicuous.
As a means for improving viewing angle dependency, a method of using light scattering means is disclosed. For examples an organic EL display whose viewing angle characteristic is improved by providing a color filter and a light scattering means on the side for collecting light of the organic EL device is disclosed (e.g., refer to JP-A-11-329742 (The term "JP-A" as used herein refers to an "unexamined published Japanese patent application".)). Specifically, as the scattering means, dispersing inorganic fine particles in the color filter, or providing a light scattering layer wherein inorganic fine particles are dispersed in contiguous to the color filter is disclosed.
Further, an organic EL display provided with a light scattering layer containing light scattering particles on the side to collect lights from the light-emitting layer to improve a viewing angle dependency is disclosed (e.g., refer to JP-A-2002-270365).
Further, for the improvement of viewing angle characteristics, it is proposed to provide a diffusing layer having haze of 80% or more (e.g., refer to JP-A-2003-173877). Specifically, a method of forming a scattering layer on a fluorescent layer by spin coating is shown. However, a light scattering property of the light scattering layer that is preferred for the improvement of viewing angle characteristics is not always sufficient by merely controlling haze.

Organic electroluminescent display having light scattering film


A method and system may provide a new prescription order interface which allows a customer to order one or more new prescription medications in a quick and easy manner from a remote location using a computer or mobile device. The customer provides a new paper prescription image that includes the prescription data for a pharmacy to fill the new prescription order. The new paper prescription image is received by a server and a default pickup store and a default pickup time are determined. The server also determines whether there is a high risk that the new prescription order is fraudulent by comparing a signature in the new paper prescription image to stored signatures associated with the prescriber, and comparing distances between the locations of the customer's web-enabled device, the pharmacy, and the prescriber. The system may be accessed through a series of web pages and/or via an application.

In the past, a patient (or customer) wishing to order a new prescription medication visited a pharmacy to drop off the paper prescription in person. In some instances, a patient could request a new prescription medication by mail, by phone or by facsimile, which would require the pharmacy staff to call the prescriber to confirm or initiate a legal prescription.
In any event, the systems currently in place require a patient who wishes to order a new paper prescription to call, visit, mail or send a facsimile to the pharmacy, all of which can be very time consuming processes. In many instances, a customer must drop the new paper prescription off at the pharmacy and wait 20-30 minutes before the corresponding prescription medication is ready. In addition, many pharmacists are required to examine a new paper prescription to determine whether the new paper prescription is fraudulent because, for example, the prescribing physician's signature was forged, the prescriber is not a licensed physician, etc. Besides for the additional amount of time this takes, pharmacists also may make errors in judgment and fill some fraudulent prescriptions while refusing to fill other legitimate prescriptions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for a new prescription scan


Compositions and methods are provided for modulating the expression of integrin .alpha.4. Antisense compounds, particularly antisense oligonucleotides, targeted to nucleic acids encoding integrin .alpha.4 are preferred. Methods of using these compounds for modulating integrin .alpha.4 expression and for treatment of diseases associated with expression of integrin .alpha.4 are also provided.

Inflammation is a localized protective response elicited by tissues in response to injury, infection, or tissue destruction resulting in the destruction of the infectious or injurious agent and isolation of the injured tissue. A typical inflammatory response proceeds as follows: recognition of an antigen as foreign or recognition of tissue damage, synthesis and release of soluble inflammatory mediators, recruitment of inflammatory cells to the site of infection or tissue damage, destruction and removal of the invading organism or damaged tissue, and deactivation of the system once the invading organism or damage has been resolved. In many human diseases with an inflammatory component, the normal, homeostatic mechanisms which attenuate the inflammatory responses are defective, resulting in damage and destruction of normal tissue.
Cell-cell interactions are involved in the activation of the immune response at each of the stages described above. One of the earliest detectable events in a normal inflammatory response is adhesion of leukocytes to the vascular endothelium, followed by migration of leukocytes out of the vasculature to the site of infection or injury. The adhesion of these leukocytes, or white blood cells, to vascular endothelium is an obligate step in the migration out of the vasculature (Harlan, J. M., Blood 1985, 65, 513-525). This response is mediated by the interaction of adhesion molecules expressed on the cell surface of leukocytes and vascular endothelial cells. Very late antigen-4 (also called VLA-4, .alpha.4.beta.1 or CD49d/CD29) is a homodimeric adhesion receptor which is composed of noncovalently linked .alpha. and .beta. subunits and serves to mediate leukocyte adhesion to vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) which is expressed on cytokine-stimulated endothelial cells. This interaction between VCAM-1 and VLA-4 contributes to leukocyte extravasation in acute and chronic inflammatory conditions including multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, psoriasis and allergy.
Fibronectin is also a ligand for VLA-4. Fibronectin plays an important role in many processes including embryonic development, wound healing and tumor cell metastasis (Guan, J.-L. and Hynes, R. O., Cell 1990, 60, 53-61).
VLA-4 is a heterodimer of an .alpha.4 integrin and .beta.1 integrin. The .alpha.4 integrin can also heterodimerize with a .beta.7 integrin chain to form integrin .alpha.4.beta.7 which is known as a mucosal homing receptor because its primary ligand is the mucosal vascular addressing MadCAM-1. Integrin .alpha.4.beta.7 identifies a subset of memory T cells with a tropism for the intestinal tract, whereas integrin .alpha.4.beta.1 (VLA-4) is constitutively expressed on most mononuclear leukocytes, but not on circulating neutrophils. The interaction of VCAM-1 with VLA-4 suggests that VLA-4 is a potential therapeutic target for inflammatory diseases, including atherosclerosis, allergy and asthma, arthritis, and tumor cell metastasis (Kassner, P. D., et al, Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 1992, 323, 163-170). VLA-4 has also been found to play a role in promoting adhesion (i.e., retention) of hemopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow (Papayannopoulou and Nakamoto, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1993, 90, 9374-9378).
Asthma is an inflammatory disease associated with eosinophil infiltration into the lung. VLA-4 is expressed on eosinophils. Metzger, W. J. (Springer Semin. Immunopathol. 1995, 16, 467-478) used a rabbit model of asthma to demonstrate that both an anti-VLA-4 antibody and a CS-1 peptide could reduce eosinophil infiltration into the lung and reduce the development of asthma.
Rheumatoid arthritis is another disease associated with inflammation. Muller-Ladner, U., et al., (J. Rheumatology 1997, 24, 1873-1880) found that the alternatively spliced form of fibronectin containing CS-1 was expressed in the rheumatoid synovium. Additionally, they found that not only did expression of fibronectin result in recruitment of VLA-4 expressing cells, but fibroblasts in the rheumatoid synovium expressed VLA-4. Seiffge, D. (J. Rheumotology 1996, 23, 2086-2091) used a rat model for arthritis to show that a monoclonal antibody to the .alpha.4 chain of VLA-4 resulted in an improvement of symptoms.
VLA-4 also plays a role in a number of autoimmune diseases. Marazuela, M., et al., (Eur. J. Immunol. 1994, 24, 2483-2490) found elevated expression of both the VLA-4/VCAM-1 and LFA-1/ICAM-1,3 pathways in Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, suggesting that both play a role in these diseases. VLA-4 may also play a role in multiple sclerosis. Antibodies to VLA-4 have been found to prevent experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an experimentally induced disease with similarities to multiple sclerosis (Yednock, T. A., et al., Nature 1992, 356, 63-66). Elevated expression levels of VLA-4 were detected in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (Takeuchi, T., et al., Clin. Rheumatology 1995, 14, 370-374). VLA-4 is involved in cellular responses to two surgical procedures, transplantation and vascular reconstructive procedures. Allograft rejection is a common response to transplantation of a foreign tissue. CS-1 peptides have been found to prevent both acute rejection (Coito, A. J., et al., Transplantation 1998, 65, 699-706) and chronic rejection (Korom, S., et al., Transplantation 1998, 65, 854-859) by blocking VLA-4 binding to fibronectin. During vascular reconstructive surgery, a common cause of failure is intimal hyperplasia which results from the accumulation of monocytes and lymphocytes. In a baboon model, Lumsden, A. B., et al.,(J. Vasc. Surg. 1997, 26, 87-93) demonstrated that an anti-VLA-4 antibody reduced intimal hyperplasia.
VLA-4 also plays a role in tumor cell metastasis. In metastasis, tumor cells must cross the extracellular matrix, enter the circulatory system and invade into new tissue. Bao, L. et al., (Differentiation 1993, 52, 239-246) detected VLA-4 expression of many human tumor cell lines, including a breast carcinoma, melanoma, and renal carcinoma, and found that the presence of VLA-4 correlated well with metastatic potential. Kawaguchi, S. et al., (Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 1992, 83, 1304-1316) transfected a cDNA encoding the .alpha.4 subunit of VLA-4 into a human fibrosarcoma cell line. These cells overexpressed VLA-4 and showed increased in vitro invasive ability. Augmentation of metastasis by IL-1 (Garofalo, A.,et al., Cancer Res. 1995, 55, 414-419) or TNF-.alpha. (Okahara, H., et al., Cancer Res. 1994, 54, 3233-3236) has been shown to involve the interaction between VLA-4 and VCAM-1. These authors suggest that a therapy directed towards inhibiting this interaction would be useful in reducing the risk of metastasis with conditions associated with high serum concentrations of TNF-.alpha., including cachexia, sepsis, surgical stress, or TNF-.alpha. therapeutic applications. Because tumor cells often secrete IL-1 and TNF-.alpha., such a therapy may be useful in reducing the risk of metastasis associated with such tumor cells.
VLA-4 is involved in promoting retention of hemopoietic progenitor cells in the bone marrow. Antibodies to integrin .alpha.4 (but not integrin .beta.2) have been found to selectively mobilize progenitor/stem cells into the bloodstream (Papayannopoulou and Nakamoto, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1993, 90, 9374-9378). This mobilization is of clinical relevance in the field of bone marrow transplantation as it obviates the need for marrow harvesting by making hemopoietic progenitor cells available in the circulating blood.
While steroids and other antiinflammatory drugs are effective in treating inflammatory diseases and conditions, long-term usage often leads to side effects such as increased risk of infection caused by impairment of phagocytic leukocyte migration and function. There is some concern that inhibition of the function of the .beta.1 integrin chain may be associated with increased susceptibility to infections, as demonstrated by a .beta.1 (also called CD18) monoclonal antibody in rabbits (Foster, C. A., 1996, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol., 98, 270-277). It is believed that selective inhibition of the .alpha.4 chain may be a more desirable approach. Inhibition of the .alpha.4 chain is believed likely to reduce levels of the VLA-4 heterodimer as well as the .alpha.4.beta.7 heterodimer.
Potential therapeutic interventions targeting VLA-4 include monoclonal antibodies, and peptide antagonists. Leger, O. J. P., et al. (Human Antibodies 1997, 8, 3-16) describe a monoclonal antibody against VLA-4 that is in phase II clinical trials for multiple sclerosis. CS-1 peptide antagonists have been described by Jackson, D. Y., et al. (J. Med. Chem. 1997, 40, 3359-3369).
Hayashi et al. (Cell Struct. Funct. 1991, 16, 241-249) have used a vector expressing RNA complementary to chicken integrin .beta.1 to reduce integrin .beta.1 expression, resulting in altered cell attachment and shape.
Antisense oligonucleotides targeted to various integrins have been used as tools to dissect the functional interactions of integrins in complex settings. Lallier and Bronner-Fraser (Science, 1993, 259, 692-695) have used phosphorothioate oligonucleotides targeted to conserved and nonconserved regions of chick .beta.1, human .alpha.4, rat .alpha.1 and human .alpha.5 integrins to determine the effects of these integrins on cell attachment. These same oligonucleotides were also injected into cranial neural crest migratory pathways in avian embryos, and it was demonstrated that those oligonucleotides that inhibited cell attachment in vitro also caused neural crest and/or neural tube abnormalities in vivo (Kil et al., Devel. Biol. 1996, 179,91-101).
EP patent application 688 784 (Carolus et al.) discloses 3' derivatized oligonucleotide analogs, including one sequence targeted to the .beta.1 subunit of VLA-4.
Antisense oligonucleotides are believed to represent a useful means of modulating the expression of integrin .alpha.4 and of treating diseases associated with its expression.

Antisense inhibition of integrin .alpha.4 expression


A torque applying device for use with a steering mechanism for a riding power trowel, wherein the torque applying device is pivotally attached to a steering lever at the first end, and to the frame of the power trowel at a second end and in longitudinal alignment with the steering lever when the steering lever is in its at-rest position, and capable of arcuate rotation about its second end from a position where its longitudinal axis is in alignment with the steering lever to a position for imparting a torque force to the lever to assist rotation of the lever when the lever is rotated from its at-rest position for purposes of tilting a power trowel gear box.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to improved steering linkage for riding power trowels, and more particularly to devices for applying a torque force to a steering linkage lever or a tilting gear box.
2. Background
Riding power trowels have been known in the prior art for many years. The principals upon which they rely to provide directional control are also well known and set forth with particular clarity in the Holtz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,484, the teachings of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Basically stated, riding power trowels require at least two tiltable gear boxes which are operatively connected to a plurality of troweling paddles arranged in a radial array to form tiltable troweling assemblies. These tiltable troweling assemblies are counter-rotated, and when they are both tilted inwardly or outwardly, depending upon the direction of the counter rotation, the power trowel will move either forward or backward across the concrete surface being troweled. When they are tilted in the opposite direction, the riding power trowel will move in the opposite direction.
Also typical in the prior art at least one of the tiltable power trowel assemblies is tiltable forward and backwards, and depending upon the direction of rotation, if the trowel assembly is tilted forward, it will impart a sideways motion to the trowel in one direction, and if the trowel assembly is tilted backward, it will impart a motion in the opposite direction.
All of this is well known and fully explained in Holtz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,484.
In the prior art, the operator typically is seated atop of the power trowel and has available to him two steering handles, to which steering linkage is attached, in various configurations, for the ultimate purpose of providing mechanical force to tilt the gear boxes of the trowel assemblies. There are numerous varied configurations of steering linkage with most configured to provide some intuitive control for the operator, such as pushing the steering handles forward moves the power trowel in a forward direction, pulling back on the steering handles moves the trowel in a rearward direction, and tilting at least one steering handle tiltable to either the left or right to move the power trowel in the selected direction. A typical configuration for steering linkage is described in detail in the Best Mode section of this specification.
Whatever the configuration of the steering linkage, there must be at least one lever interconnecting the steering handles and the tiltable gear boxes for purposes of tilting them. This lever must pivot about one fixed point connected to the frame of the power trowel.
The problem is that riding power trowels are heavy, with most weighing between 500 lbs. to 1200 lbs. As a result, many attempts have been made to improve the mechanical advantage available to the operator through the steering handles, to assist the operator in tilting the gear boxes and the attached trowel assemblies from a flat at-rest position to a tilted position to control steering. One such example is found in the Allen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,220, wherein the tilting levers are attached at a pivot point at the rear of the machine, and extend substantially most of the way toward the front of the machine to provide a greater mechanical advantage to the operator. However, such extended leverage increases the weight of the machine, and the cost of fabrication of the riding power trowel. Also, the mechanical advantage gained from such devices is limited, and the operator is still required to apply considerable force to the steering handles in order to maintain control of the machine. Over several hours of operation, the operator can become fatigued and thus pose a threat to the safety of himself and others.
Accordingly, what is needed is a simple, lightweight assisted steering device which is capable of exerting considerable force to provide the mechanical advantage to the operator and thus to reduce the amount of force required to be expended by the operator to move the steering handles and thereby tilt the gear boxes of the trowel assemblies.

Assisted steering linkage for a riding power trowel


The present invention relates to the treatment of prostate cancer. Methods and compositions comprising recombinant BCG are provided for eliciting potent immune responses against prostate specific antigens that are effective for treatment of prostate cancer and metastatic disease.

Prostate cancer (CaP) is now the most common cancer in American men, with approximately 180,400 new cases estimated for the year 2000. In 1990, CaP surpassed lung cancer as the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American men. Approximately 189,000 cases, or thirty percent of all newly diagnosed cancers in American men in 2002 will be CaP. One in six American men will be diagnosed with CaP in his lifetime, and this cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American men with approximately 30,200 deaths estimated for the year 2002.
Ninety percent of CaP cases where the cancer is confined to the prostate (i.e., "organ-confined") can be cured with surgery if discovered early, but because there is no effective systemic therapy for this disease, the prognosis is poor once the tumor has spread beyond the gland itself and about half of the patients with CaP have clinically advanced (i.e., extraprostatic/extracapsular) disease at the time of initial diagnosis. Even in those patients initially determined to have organ-confined disease, one-third actually have undetected micrometastatic disease, as determined by subsequent pathological staging or disease progression. In all, more than 65% of patients with CaP develop metastatic disease.
Immunotherapy for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer is based on the activation of the host's immune response against tumor-associated antigens (TAA) present on tumor cells that distinguish them from normal cells. TAA may be normal, tissue-specific cellular proteins that are upregulated on cancer cells, mutated proteins, oncofetal antigens, growth factor receptors, oncogene and tumor-suppressor gene products, among others.
Prostate cancer is an ideal candidate for immunotherapy for many reasons. There is a substantial failure rate of current therapies for the primary tumor and a lack of effective chemotherapy for metastatic disease. The prostate contains organ-specific TAA that can serve as targets of an immune response. Because the prostate is not essential, its removal or destruction in many patients with CaP eliminates the concern for potential autoimmune disease. Moreover, immunotherapies can be directed at metastases without concern regarding the tissue of origin.
One immunotherapeutic approach for cancer involves the use of a patient's tumor cells mixed with various adjuvants, including cytokines, or genetically modified autologous cells that secrete cytokines. Hwang et al., Semin Oncol. 26:192-201 (1999). Among the drawbacks of whole cell vaccines is that it is labor-intensive and time consuming, especially if the cells are to be genetically modified. The success, or the lack of success, in the expansion of primary cultures for autologous vaccines can limit the courses of vaccinations and, further, an autologous vaccine needs to be specifically made for each patien. Simons et al., Semin. Oncol. 25:661-76 (1998). Another strategy for generating antigen-specific immunity is the ex vivo administration of specific antigen or peptides to antigen-presenting cells (APC). Again, this type of therapy is limited by the need to culture cells from each patient and success in the expansion of primary cultures for autologous vaccines can limit the number of courses of vaccination. Furthermore, the use of peptides to "load" APCs faces the obstacle of finding HLA-restricted peptides for all the different polymorphic HLA molecules. (Hwang et al., 1999).
The emergence of prostate cancer (CaP) as a major health issue and the absence of curative treatment for metastatic disease necessitate the development of new treatment modalities.

Immunotherapy for prostate cancer using recombinant bacille Calmette-Guerin expressing prostate specific antigens


A steerable antenna system for transmitting and/or receiving an electromagnetic signal to a relatively moving target includes a hyperbolic subreflector secured to a frame rotatably mounted on a support structure via a first motor and a feed source located at a first focus of the subreflector for illuminating the same. The source, fixed to the structure, has a source axis pointing at the subreflector. A parabolic reflector having a focus in common with the second focus of the subreflector to transfer the signal between the same and a planar reflector is secured to the frame and has a beam axis. The planar reflector having a normal axis intersecting the beam axis with an angle is rotatably mounted on the frame via a second motor to transfer the signal between the parabolic reflector and the target. The system may include a controller connected to the motors to control the system to steer at the target anywhere within a full spherical angular range.

The present invention relates to the field of antennas and is more particularly concerned with steerable antenna systems for transmitting and/or receiving electromagnetic signals.
It is well known in the art to use steerable (or tracking) antenna systems to communicate with a relatively moving target. Especially in the aerospace industry, such steerable antennas preferably need to have a high gain, low mass, and a high reliability. One way to achieve such an antenna system is to provide a fixed feed source, thereby eliminating performance degradations otherwise associated with a moving feed source. These degradations include losses due to mechanical rotary joints, RF cable connectors; flexible waveguides, long-length RF cables associated with cable wrap units mounted on rotary actuators or the like.
Also, such steerable/tracking antennas should be designed such as to avoid a so-called keyhole effect, which is a physical limitation due to the orientation of the antenna rotation axis and caused by a limited motion range of an actuator or the like. This effect forces the antenna to momentarily disrupt communication when reaching the physical limitation to allow for the actuators to reposition before resuming the steering, thereby seriously affecting the communication capabilities of the entire antenna system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,788 granted on Mar. 28, 2000 to Seavey discloses tracking antenna system that is substantially robust and includes a large quantity of moving components that reduce the overall reliability of the system. Also, the steering angle range of the system is limited by the fixed angle between the boresite of the offset paraboloidal reflector and the kappa axis determined by the distance between the offset ellipsoidal subreflector and the offset paraboloidal reflector; a wide range requiring a large distance there between, resulting in a large antenna system that would not be practical especially for spaceborne applications.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a steerable antenna system with a fixed feed source that obviates the above-noted disadvantages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a steerable antenna system with a fixed feed source that enables beam steering over a full spherical (4xcfx80 steradians) angular range with minimum blockage from its own structure, whenever allowed by the supporting platform.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a steerable antenna system with a fixed feed source that enables tracking of a remote station without any keyhole effect over any hemispherical coverage (2xcfx80 steradians).
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a steerable antenna system with a fixed feed source having a high gain, an excellent polarization purity and/or low sidelobes.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a steerable antenna system with fixed feed source having simple actuation devices as well as locations of the same.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fixed-feed source steerable antenna system that can be so positioned with a first actuator as to enable tracking of a same orbiting remote station using only a second actuator when the orbit passes in proximity to the zenith of the system location.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a fixed-feed source steerable antenna system that can be mounted on either an orbiting spacecraft or a fixed station and track a ground station or an orbiting spacecraft respectively, or be mounted on a spacecraft and track another spacecraft.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided herein, within appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
According to the present invention, there is provided a steerable antenna system for transmitting and/or receiving an electromagnetic signal to/from a target relatively moving therearound, said system comprises:
a hyperbolic subreflector secured to a frame rotatably mounted on a support structure;
a feed source located at a first focus of the subreflector for transmitting and receiving the signal to and from the same respectively, the feed source being secured to the support structure and having a source axis pointing at the subreflector;
a parabolic reflector having a focus in common with a second focus of the subreflector for transferring the signal from and to the same respectively; the parabolic reflector being secured to the frame and having a beam axis;
a planar reflector having a normal axis intersecting the beam axis with a predetermined angle for transferring the signal from and to the parabolic reflector respectively, the planar reflector being rotatably mounted on the frame for transferring the signal to and from the target;
a first rotating member rotating the frame about the source axis; and
a second rotating member rotating the planar reflector about the beam axis, thereby having the system to steer at the target.
Preferably, the system includes a controller controlling rotation of the first and the second rotating members; thereby controlling the system to steer at the target.
Preferably, the first and the second rotating members allow for the antenna system to steer at the target anywhere within a full spherical angular range.
Preferably, the source axis and the beam axis are co-planar, thereby defining an antenna plane rotating about the source axis.
Preferably, the beam axis is perpendicular to the source axis.
Preferably, the planar reflector is of a generally elliptical shape to provide circular projections along the beam axis and a direction of the target.
Preferably, the predetermined angle is a 45-degree angle, thereby reflecting the signal from the parabolic reflector within a signal plane perpendicular to the beam axis.
Preferably, the feed source including a horn and the support structure are mounted on a generally planar platform substantially parallel to the source axis.
Alternatively, the feed source including a horn and the support structure are mounted on a generally planar platform substantially perpendicular to the source axis.
Preferably, the controller includes a first and a second encoders mounted on the first and the second rotating members respectively for providing feedback of a position of the respective rotating member to the controller.
Preferably, the feed source is a dual frequency dual circular polarization feed source.
Preferably, the controller simultaneously drives the first and the second rotating members to have the antenna system steering in a desired direction.
Preferably, the controller provides commands to the first and the second rotating members that automatically steer at the moving target.
Preferably, the first and the second rotating members are a first and a second stepper motors respectively.
Preferably, the frame minimizes blockage and interference of the signal.
Preferably, the support structure is mounted on a spacecraft planet facing panel and the target is a ground station, the spacecraft orbiting around a planet.
Alternatively, the support structure and the target are mounted on a first and a second spacecraft respectively, the first and the second spacecraft orbiting around a same planet.
Alternatively, the support structure is mounted on a ground station and the target is an orbiting spacecraft.

Steerable antenna system with fixed feed source


Methods and apparatus for analysis of nano-objects using wide-field bright field transmission techniques are described. Such methods may comprise acquiring a plurality of images of a sample comprising a plurality of nano-objects using bright field illumination via a continuously variable spectral filter, and identifying a nano-object within the sample in the plurality of images, wherein the position of the nano-object changes between images. Using data extracted from the plurality of images, an extinction cross-section of the identified nano-object may be quantitatively determined.

In some examples, a nano-object may be an object with at least one dimension smaller than the wavelength of interrogating light, which may be around 1 micron. In some examples, the method of analysis of nano-objects is a method of analysis of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are objects with all dimensions of about 100 nm or less. The term nano-object may be used to refer to objects with at least one dimension of about 100 nm or less, and can include, for example, lithographic structures or carbon nanotubes, and nano-particles.
In wide-field microscopy, a sample may be illuminated with light having a relatively broad spectrum and the transmission of the light through the sample is observed. However, for some types of samples, such techniques may suffer from low contrast.
The interaction of light with different classes of nano-objects is an active area of research. Nanoplasmonics is a discipline studying the optical properties of metallic nano-objects, in which the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), corresponding to an enhanced coupling between the light field and the nano-object resulting in a strong field localization close to the nano-object surface may be considered. Nano-objects are currently the subject of research for numerous applications, including local dielectric sensing, labelling for microscopy, drug delivery, and in-vitro diagnostics. In the case of metallic nano-objects, they are also being used as surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates, and for photothermal therapy.
Such applications may rely on properties linked to the size and shape of the nano-objects. For example, the strong field enhancement in the metallic particle nearfield which occurs at the localised surface plasmon resonance frequency is related to the resonance frequency, amplitude and linewidth which in turn depend with high sensitivity on the particle size, shape and local environment.
Therefore, determining particle size and shape is an important field of research. However, current techniques for particle characterisation may be inaccurate, time consuming and/or expensive.
Particular efforts have been made in developing techniques to determine cross-sections of nano-objects (where cross sections can include scattering, absorption and/or extinction cross sections) as a function of frequency, which together describe the interaction of a particle with electromagnetic radiation. However, cross-section values—especially for scattering—can be difficult to quantify experimentally. Currently available approaches tend to be complex and are generally suited to academic, rather than commercial, environments (an example may include laser-based techniques such as spatial modulation spectroscopy). Some techniques, such as dark-field micro-spectroscopy, do not provide quantitative results and as such scattering cross-sections of nano-objects are rarely measured quantitatively and results are typically presented in arbitrary units.
In general, the measured cross-section of a nano-object depends on the size, shape and environment. This dependence is particularly sensitive in the case of metallic nano-objects, whose different LSPR modes result in large and spectrally and polarization dependent cross-sections. Thus fitting theory and numerical results to the measured cross-section can provide an estimate of the geometric parameters of the nano-objects.

University College Cardiff Consultants Limited


A porous polymer blend, and a method of producing a porous polymer blend from at least two immiscible polymers. The at least two immiscible polymer being blended together and exhibiting the absence of complete phase separation. The method of producing a porous polymer blend comprising: forming a liquid composition comprising at least two immiscible polymers dissolved in a common solvent; subjecting the liquid composition to a reduction in temperature to cause at least two immiscible polymers to phase separate into a common polymer rich phase and a common polymer poor phase; solidifying the at least two immiscible polymers in the common polymer rich phase so as to avoid complete phase separation of the at least two immiscible polymers; and removing the common polymer pore phase to provide a blend of the at least two immiscible polymers having a porous morphology.

As a result of their high surface area, large pore volume and/or pore size selectivity, porous polymer structures have found wide application in many technological fields. For example, porous polymers may be used as separation or filtration materials, as absorbent materials and as scaffolds for catalysis, immobilisation of pharmaceutical compounds or biological molecules and tissue engineering.
The wide applicability of porous polymer structures is also very much reliant upon the different physical and chemical properties of the polymer materials from which they can be derived. For example, to enable porous polymer structures to function effectively in liquid separation and filtration applications it will be important that they are formed from polymer materials that are not chemically degraded or dissolved by the contacting liquid(s). The polymer material should also maintain adequate mechanical properties upon being exposed to the contacting liquid(s). In the case of tissue engineering applications, it will generally be important that polymer materials are biocompatible, and it may also be desirable that the polymer materials maintain good mechanical properties in vivo for a considerable period of time but subsequently biodegrade.
Despite there being a diverse array of polymers with different physical and chemical properties that may be used to form porous polymer structures, there are invariably applications that would best be served using a porous polymer structure having properties characteristic of two or more different polymer materials. For example, it may be desirable that a porous polymer structure has the rigidity of polystyrene and the hydrophilicity of polyacrylic acid. An idealistic approach to solving this problem might be to prepare porous polymer structures from a blend of two or more different polymers, for example a blend of polystyrene and polyacrylic acid. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that most polymers do not often form a compatible polymer blend. In other words, blending different polymer materials generally results in the formation of an immiscible polymer blend.
Immiscible polymer blends are typically characterised by a phase separated morphology. The nature of the phase separated morphology is primarily dictated by the relative proportions of the polymers present. For example, a phase separated polymer blend of approximately equal proportions of polymers A and B will generally provide a bi-continuous morphology. Where the proportion of polymer A in the immiscible polymer blend is higher than polymer B, the polymer blend will generally have a discontinuous morphology with polymer A being the continuous phase and polymer B being the discontinuous phase. Conversely, where the proportion of polymer B in the immiscible polymer blend is greater than polymer A, the polymer blend will generally have a discontinuous morphology with polymer B being the continuous phase and polymer A being the discontinuous phase.
Despite comprising polymers that may individually have desirable properties, immiscible polymer blends often exhibit inferior properties relative to the individual polymer components alone. Such inferior properties are believed to stem primarily from minimisation of the interfacial surface area between the immiscible polymers during phase separation which affords relatively coarse phase separated domains. The coarse phase separated domains of the blend in turn result in interphase interfaces that are compositionally sharp and mechanically weak. The inferior properties of such immiscible polymer blends are often exacerbated when they are formed into high surface area products such as porous polymer structures.
Numerous techniques for improving the properties of immiscible polymer blends have been developed. Perhaps the most effective and widely studied of these techniques has been the use of compatibilisers to modify the phase separate morphology of the polymer blends. Compatibilisers are generally polymeric materials that have a degree of miscibility in each of the phase separated domains and can therefore function as a bridge between them. This bridging function reduces the interfacial energy between the domains and enables them to be more finely dispersed or intermixed. This in turn improves the properties of the resulting blend.
Although the use of compatibilisers can promote better intermixing between immiscible polymers to afford blends that exhibit improved properties, each compatibiliser is typically blend specific and not suitable for use with other polymer blends. Furthermore, the process of developing an effective compatibiliser for a particular polymer blend can be quite difficult.
It would therefore be desirable to develop a method for preparing porous polymer structures from immiscible polymer blends that was not reliant upon the need to use compatibilisers, and yet could promote intimate mixing between the immiscible polymers to impart improved properties to the porous structure.


A communication system and method for communicating information in one or more time slots a predetermined bandwidth is disclosed. The system and method comprise communicating information, by at least one communication unit, in selected one or more random access subslots. The one or more times slots are divided into multiple subchannels, wherein each subchannel of the multiple subchannels is non-overlapping in frequency and divided into the one or more random access subslots that is non-overlapping in time.

Communication systems, such as land mobile radio and cellular communications systems, are well known. Such systems typically include a plurality of radio communication units (e.g., vehicle-mounted mobiles or portable radios in a land mobile system and radio/telephones in a cellular system), one or more repeaters (usually located at a fixed repeater site) and other equipment used in the processing and monitoring of communications. The repeaters are typically connected to other fixed portions of the system (i.e., the infrastructure) via wire connections, whereas the repeaters communicate with communication units and/or other repeaters within the coverage area of their respective sites via wireless link(s).
As is well known, such communication systems often employ a combination of frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division multiple access (TDMA). In FDD, different frequencies are used for communication from the repeaters to the communication units (called the downlink) and from the communication units to the repeaters (called the uplink). In TDMA, the uplink and downlink frequencies are divided into blocks of time called time slots. Generally, in most TDMA systems, the time slots are of fixed length. On the downlink, the repeaters transmit continuously with different time slots destined for different communication units. On the uplink, the communication units take turns transmitting in different time slots.
Generally, in most TDMA systems, the majority of slots on the uplink are assigned to the different communication units by the repeater. This is done so that two or more communication units do not transmit at the same time. The remaining uplink slots are designated as random access slots by the repeater. During random access slots any of the communication units may transmit. Because the random access slots are not assigned to a particular communication unit, multiple communication units may transmit at the same time resulting in a collision and causing the repeater not to receive either transmission. One of the uses for the random access slots is for the communication units to request assignment of uplink slots. In such case, the request for slot assignments usually requires only a small amount of data to be transferred. Using a full slot for assignment request will therefore result in wasted bandwidth. Because of this some existing TDMA systems divide the random access slots in time to form multiple subslots from each random access time slots. A communication unit requesting uplink slot assignment transmits the request in only one of the subslots. This increases the number of opportunities for communication units to send request and thereby reduces the chance of collisions with transmissions from other communication units.
There is shown in FIG. 1 an example of a TDMA uplink slot 100 that has been divided into two subslots 102, 104 for use as a random access slot. Each of the subslots 102, 104 comprises a synchronization section 110, a data section 112, and a guard band 116. The synchronization section 110 is used by the repeater receiving the transmission to time synchronize with the transmitting communication unit. The data section 112 contains the information for requesting assignment of the downlink slot or other data. The guard band 116 is necessary to account for the propagation time between the communication unit transmitting a subslot and the repeater. The guard band 116 is used to keep the transmissions of communication units in adjacent subslots 102, 104 from overlapping.
Wireless links with wider bandwidths are being used in today's TDMA communication systems. Because of the wider signal bandwidths, these communication systems are able to send more information per unit of time than the smaller bandwidth signals used in previous communication systems. This allows the data section 112 of the TDMA subslots to be shortened since it takes less time to send the same amount of information. However, the guard band 116 can not be shortened since it is dependent on the propagation time between the communication units and the repeater and is therefore not effected by the signal bandwidth. The synchronization section can also not be significantly shortened beyond a certain point without negatively effecting time synchronization performance. Hence, as the signal bandwidth is increased, there is a limit to how short the subslots can be made in time. Since wider bandwidth TDMA communication systems often have shorter length time slots than smaller bandwidth TDMA communication systems, having increased signal bandwidth can actually result in having fewer subslots in TDMA random access time slots. It would therefore be desirable to find another method for dividing a TDMA time slot into subslots so as to increase the number of subslots.
As mentioned previously, if more than one communication unit attempts to transmit in a random access subslot at the same time, a collision will result and the repeater may not receive either transmission. In such case, the communication units may retransmit in a future random access time slot. Commonly, when doing such retransmissions each communication unit waits a random length of time before retransmission so that their retransmissions do not collide a second time.
In communication systems with wider bandwidth signals, each of the random access time slots will be able to contain a larger number of subslots. Because of this, the number of TDMA time slots allocated for random access is likely to be reduced. Hence, the amount of time that the communication unit is required to wait after a collision to do retransmissions is increased resulting in a longer delay to obtain permission to transmit on uplink reserved slots. It would be desirable to find a method to decrease the number of collisions that occur in random access slots so as to reduce the frequency of these delays.
Therefore there is a need for a new method of dividing a random access time slot into subslots in wider bandwidth TDMA systems. Advantageously, the method should more efficiently use the TDMA time slot than simply dividing the time slot in time into subslots. Additionally, there is a need for a method of transmitting in random access subslots that reduces the need for doing retransmissions in future random access time slots. This invention is directed to addressing these needs.

Slot format and method for increasing random access opportunities in a wireless communication system


A wiring substrate includes: an insulating substrate comprising a corner constituted by two adjacent surfaces; wiring located continuously across the corner; wherein on at least one of the two adjacent surfaces, a part of the wiring disposed at an edge located at the corner has a thickness larger than a part of the wiring disposed away from the edge.

A wiring substrate (sub-mount) for a semiconductor element or the like to be mounted has been utilized and various manufacturing methods thereof have been proposed.
As such a wiring substrate for an element to be mounted, there is a wiring substrate in which wiring is formed so as to be continuous from a main surface on which an element is to be mounted to a side-end surface (JP 2001-102722 A, etc.).


In a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal demodulator in a communication system (50), samples of a CDMA signal are stored in a sample buffer (52). A plurality of the samples that represent a plurality of chips of a symbol are then recalled from the sample buffer (52). Thereafter, the plurality of samples are demodulated in parallel (56) using a selected user code (68) to produce at least a portion of a user's symbol in the code division multiple access signal. Signals from multiple users (22, 24) having multiple fingers are demodulated by sharing the resources of a parallel demodulator (56). Signal searching may use the same parallel demodulator (56). Fingers for multiple users may be dynamically allocated and reallocated according to the needs of each user's signal and the total demodulation resources available.

Spread spectrum modulation refers to any modulation scheme that produces a spectrum for the transmitted signal much wider than the bandwidth of the information being transmitted independently of the information-bearing signal. Spread spectrum modulation has recently been used in digital cellular communication systems, such as the digital cellular communications systems that comply with Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Interim Standard (IS) 95.
The IS-95 system has been designed to replace a number of existing analog cellular radio channels with a single direct sequence CDMA carrier. Asymmetric modulation methods have been employed in the forward link (base-to-mobile) and the reverse link (mobile-to-base), although both links are spread at a 1.2288-Mchips/s rate, thereby permitting both links to occupy the same bandwidth. The forward link employs coherent modulation/demodulation. The reverse link employs non-coherent modulation/demodulation.
In the mobile transmitter of the reverse link, the speech coder output is supplied to a rate-1/3 constraint-length-9 convolutional encoder. The output of the convolutional encoder is then applied to a 32.times.18 block interleaver of length 576 symbols. The coded, interleaved symbols are then block coded using a 64-ary orthogonal modulator.
At the output of the 64-ary modulation process, the symbol rate is 28.8 ksym/s.times.64/6=307.2 k-Walsh Chips/s. The coded symbol stream is then spread and scrambled by mixing a masked 1.2288-Mchips/s long code (period 2.sup.42 -1) from a long-code generator. This masked long code may also be referred to as a user code or subscriber code because it differentiates the signal of one from another. This data stream is spread further by simultaneously spreading the data stream in quadature with two short-length (period 2.sup.15) sequences. The resulting quadature channels are then applied to an offset-QPSK modulator for I/Q filtering and for mixing up to the output carrier frequency.
At the base station, the received signal is initially despread with the quadature length 2.sup.15 PN sequences. The resulting signal is then further despread/descrambled with the long user code before being applied to a 64-ary correlator. In the prior art, traditional IS-95 Rake demodulators despread signal data serially, as each signal sample is received. Therefore, prior art Rake demodulators require at least one complete demodulator circuit for each user, and preferably additional demodulators for demodulating fingers, or multipath signals, from each user. A finger may be referred to as a copy of the CDMA signal, which is usually received later in time because of the propagation delay traveling over a longer path.
In addition to duplicating demodulator circuitry, the throughput of the serial despreading architecture is limited by the incoming data rate, which is typically fixed and cannot be increased in order to increase throughput. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a new demodulation architecture that allowed the despread circuitry to operate at a rate faster than the incoming data rate, which increases data throughput.
As shown in FIG. 1 and mentioned above, this serial CDMA demodulation architecture requires many copies of the demodulator and decoder circuits in order to demodulate signals from multiple system users. As depicted, digital wireless communications system 20 receives CDMA signals from subscribers 22 and 24. Subscriber 22 transmits signal A and subscriber 24 transmits signal B, both of which are received by antenna 26. Subscriber 22 is depicted closer to antenna 26 than subscriber 24. This means that a frame, or group of symbols, in signal A arrives at antenna 26 sooner than a frame transmitted from subscriber 24. Moreover, signal A and signal B may overlap in time.
From antenna 26, the radio frequency signals are coupled to receiver 28, which removes the radio frequency carrier from signals A and B.
The output of receiver 28 is then converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by A/D converter 30. The digital data stream output from A/D converter 30 includes the information contained in both signal A and signal B, which are separated from one another by different user codes.
In a typical IS-95 system, A/D converter 30 uses a 4-bit output to represent a range of values in offset 2's compliment form. Also, typical IS-95 systems use dual A/D converters 30--one for an I channel and one for a Q channel. Demodulators 32 use selected user codes to separate the CDMA signals from each other, and decoders 38 decode the encoded symbols to recover subscriber data.
In the prior art, demodulators 32 multiply the output samples of A/D converter 30 by a precisely synchronized replica of the user code 34 which was originally used to spread the subscriber's data. This multiplication of the incoming samples by a user code is done serially, signal sample-by-signal sample, to produce despread samples which represent a despread signal.
To support diversity reception, or reception of multipath signals, each user may be allocated several demodulators 32 in order to recover all received signal energy from a particular subscriber. In the prior art, four demodulator circuits are allocated to each subscriber to form a 4-branch, or 4-finger, Rake receiver at the base station of the digital cellular system. In FIG. 1, multiple demodulator circuits are shown, each receiving a user code or a delayed copy of the user code, and each having an output coupled to a summer 36 which adds together the energy demodulated in each finger of the Rake receiver. The outputs of the summers 36 are coupled to decoders 38 which decode encoded symbols from summers 36 to produce user voice samples or user data. Decoder 38 may be implemented by a convolutional decoder, such as a Viterbi decoder.
Thus, one disadvantage in the prior art is the large number of duplicated circuitry required to provide the multi-finger Rake receiver for each subscriber. Another disadvantage in the prior art is that fingers of the Rake receiver are permanently allocated to a particular subscriber. Therefore, if one subscriber requires more than the fixed number of fingers and another subscriber does not need all of its allocated fingers, surplus fingers from one subscriber may not be allocated to another subscriber needing additional fingers.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved method and system for demodulating a code division multiple access signal which permits reallocation of demodulation resources and reduces the circuitry required to demodulate CDMA from one or more subscribers.

Method and system for parallel demodulation of multiple chips of a CDMA signal


A computer or other electronic device uses a cryptographic capability and hardware identifier to verify a provisioning packet for changing the mode of operation of the device or a licensed component. A secure memory stores the provisioning packet for future reference. A sequence number may be used to limit replay attacks. An exemplary use is conversion of a computer from metered use during a subscription period to unlimited use when the subscription terms have been satisfied.

Computers and other electronic devices typically are not governed by an overall product license. Components of the computer, such as the operating system or individual application programs are generally licensed for unlimited use after installation. Some specialized applications, particularly engineering tools, may have licenses that govern individual applications on a permanent basis or only allow a certain number of concurrent instances of the application to be present on a given network. However, a business model that puts computers or other electronic devices in the hands of the user for less than a full retail price in exchange for regular subscription payments or pay-per-use credits may have a license that governs the overall system including hardware and software. In some cases, it may be necessary to change the behavior of the system as different licenses or license terms become applicable to both the overall device and/or individual components.

Changing product behavior in accordance with license


Low spatial frequencies of an original image and an upscaled filtered image are analyzed. Differences will be observed in the low frequency components of the two images in the general case since the pixel art upscaler filter as a side effect introduces low frequency changes. A modification to images produced by the PAU is applied to attempt to match the brightness of the original images in the low frequency spectrum. From a viewer perspective (e.g., based on typical blurring visual effects), the original image and the modified filtered image will look the same—demonstrating that there is no low frequency brightness creep or resulting increased photosensitivity concerns.

Just as the ancients constructed mosaics from squares of colored glass or stone, a pixel art graphics artist selects the color of each pixel in a pixel art image from a color palette. The video game and computer hardware of the 1980's and 1990's imposed limitations that channeled graphics designers toward pixel art. Some of the best loved video game characters and graphics of all time were created using pixel art. While modern graphics artists generally have more flexibility, some have chosen to use pixel art for aesthetic or other reasons.
Display resolution has increased dramatically over the last twenty years. Early home video game systems had display resolutions on the order of about 250×250 pixels or less. Currently, high definition televisions have display resolutions of 1920×1080 pixels, and some modern computer displays have even higher display resolution. When one attempts to use higher resolution displays to display lower resolution pixel art, the result can be unsatisfactory. Whereas early lower resolution displays might have tended to blur pixels together to create an aesthetically pleasing effect, higher resolution displays tend to bring out the blocky (pixelated) constitution of pixel art. The resulting images are not aesthetically pleasing.
A common solution is to "upscale" the pixel art images for rendering on modern displays. This often means replacing each pixel in the original image with a block of higher resolution pixels, and performing some type of filtering to smooth the resulting image. Various techniques are known for performing such upscaling. See for example Kopf et al, "Depixelizing Pixel Art" (Microsoft Research 2011).
One example non-limiting Pixel Art Upscaler ("PAU") is a process that creates, from an input picture, a picture with a 2×2 resolution increase. This algorithm works well on images that contain pixel art, namely hand-made low resolution images using palletized colors, that are characterized by flat colors and outlines. The purpose of such a PAU algorithm is to upscale the original picture, while trying to keep the flat colors and the intended hard edges and reducing or removing the staircase effect of the original picture. In particular, the goal of the PAU is to modify high frequencies in the image to make edges sharper.
This process is successful but has been identified to have a side effect of potentially modifying the brightness of certain areas compared to the original image—for example, to modify low frequency spatial components in a way that causes the upscaled image to exhibit local brightness changes. Such modified brightness can cause concerns regarding photosensitivity. Work has been done in the past to analyze video for photosensitivity (see for example HardingFPA software available from Cambridge Research Systems, Ltd.) but further improvements are possible and desirable.
The example non-limiting technology herein provides a filtering algorithm that compensates for brightness modification so that moving images including but not limited to video games that are already compliant with photosensitivity guidelines can benefit from PAU without losing their compliance. One advantage provided by the example non-limiting technology herein is that in the context of a brightness-compensated real time pixel upscaler, image streams tested for photosensitivity before upscaling do not need to be retested after upscaling. Meanwhile, the example non-limiting technology herein can be used in any context where real time or other flash or brightness compensation is desired irrespective of previous testing and/or image source.
In one example non-limiting implementation, the system analyzes the low spatial frequencies of the original image and of the upscaled filtered image. Differences will be observed in the low frequency components of the two images in the general case since the PAU filter as a side effect introduces low frequency changes. The example non-limiting implementation applies a modification to images produced by the PAU to attempt to match the brightness of the original images in the low frequency spectrum. Such matching can be accomplished for example by simple brightness subtraction on a pixel by pixel or other localized basis. From a viewer perspective (e.g., based on typical blurring visual effects), the original image and the modified filtered image will look the same—demonstrating that there is no low frequency brightness creep.
The example non-limiting technology herein uses a concept that could be called filter band limiting. It modifies any filter into a filter that will correctly preserve low spatial frequencies (i.e., the source and destination images will appear identical or nearly identical when blurred). This process can effectively be used to improve, or make photosensitive-safe, any image filter such as denoising filters, deblocking filters, deblurring filters or other filters.
The example non-limiting technology herein thus provides systems and methods that guarantee that, whatever artifacts are introduced by pixel art or other upscaling, they do not incur any global brightness modifications. The resulting images are very close to being as safe as the original images in terms of photosensitivity.
Furthermore, the example non-limiting safe filter can be implemented on a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, using embedded logic, or using any other specific, specialized or general purpose hardware. Additionally, television sets or any other display devices could benefit from the example non-limiting safe filter after applying their own filters, such as for example upscaling, deinterlacing, and/or noise reduction. Such a filter can also be inserted in broadcast TV company production systems, or movie post production systems. Many other applications are possible.

Brightness-compensating safe pixel art upscaler


The present disclosure provides an article picking method, server and system, and relates to the field of smart storage technology. The article picking method according to the present disclosure includes: determining an order picking position for an order to be picked for according to one or more articles required in the order to be picked for; selecting one or more shelves carrying one or more of the articles required in the order to be picked for according to information of one or more articles on candidate shelves and distances from the shelves to the order picking position; and driving one or more selected shelves to the order picking position to perform article picking.

In traditional warehousing technology, when an article in an order is being picked, an operator needs to look for shelves and find the article according to a system prompt, and then pick a corresponding article off from a shelf and put into a corresponding container in a manual handling manner. Since a mass of products are stored in an e-commerce warehouse, and orders at a million-level are processed daily, it results in a long walking path and a high labor intensity and a low operation efficiency of an operator.
In addition, since orders are mostly picked in a manual method in traditional warehouses, the orders will be uniformly processed when accumulated to a certain amount. Thus, it leads to a certain delay in order processing, and the picking efficiency is reduced. Moreover, mistakes are likely to be made when manual operation is affected by a degree of fatigue, and moreover, the checking process further wastes the labor and reduces the efficiency.

Article picking method, server and system

BEIJING JINGDONG ZHENSHI INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.