A method and apparatus for correcting defective pixel signals, wherein pixel signals are corrected in accordance with correction information associated with operating conditions under which an image is acquired. A method for acquiring and storing correction information in an imager device is also provided.

Microelectronic imager devices are used in digital cameras, wireless devices with picture capabilities, and many other applications. Cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), computers, and stand alone cameras, for example, are incorporating microelectronic imager devices for capturing and sending pictures. The growth rate of microelectronic imager devices has been steadily increasing as they become smaller and produce better images having higher pixel counts.
Microelectronic imager devices include image sensors that use charged coupled device (CCD) systems, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) systems or other imager technology. CCD image sensors have been widely used in digital cameras and other applications. CMOS image sensors are also popular because they have low production costs, high yields, and small sizes.
In an imager device, a pixel array comprises a plurality of pixels, each containing a photosensitive element, arranged in a predetermined number of columns and rows. The pixels are used to receive and store light. Each pixel in the array typically has an individual assigned address. The pixels of a pixel array generate signals representing incident light, which are then digitized and processed to produce image data.
One or more pixels in a pixel array may be defective, generating an inaccurate pixel signal. This inaccurate pixel signal can cause distortion or other undesirable effects in the image generated from the pixel signal. Defective pixels can be identified and corrected dynamically by using an image processor that identifies whether a pixel signal indicates a defective pixel by comparing the pixel signal to those output by neighboring pixels or to some threshold value, and, if so, replacing the pixel signal with a new value computed by the processor.
While this dynamic method can alleviate the undesirable effect of single defective pixels in an imager array without noticeable degradation of the image, when multiple neighboring pixels are defective, the image processor may not be able to compare all of the neighboring pixels and accurately determine whether certain pixels are defective. Multiple neighboring defective pixels are commonly known as a defective "cluster." Algorithms exist which are designed to dynamically correct defective clusters; typically, however, image degradation is a very noticeable end result. Particularly, dynamic correction is not desirable when pixels in the cluster exhibit defects in the same color plane.
For this reason, pixel signals may also be corrected using a memory-based correction scheme. Defective pixels are identified during the-manufacturing of the imager device, and their addresses stored in programmable m emory of a correction circuit, such as, e.g., a fuse bank. Once the addresses of the defective pixels are stored, a correction scheme can be applied to the signals generated by these pixels. Examples of correction schemes may include interpolation of neighboring pixel signals, substituting the median value of neighboring pixel signals, or copying of a neighboring pixel's signal.
As pixel array designs become more complex, however, so do the effects of defective clusters. For example, defective clusters may form in groups which are difficult to correct, such as a group of four defective pixels with one pixel in each quadrant surrounding a non-defective pixel. Defective clusters are also becoming larger. Correction schemes applied to large defective clusters are more likely to cause visible distortion in an image.
With current memory-based correction schemes, all pixel signals from pixels identified as defective are corrected for every image capture, regardless of the exposure conditions of the particular image. Defective clusters, however, may be noticeable under certain exposure conditions but not noticeable under others. For example, under low-light exposure conditions, a plurality of pixels in an area may produce defective signals, forming a noticeable defective cluster; whereas under midlevel-light conditions, only a single defective pixel signal or no defective pixel signal at all may be produced. FIG. 1 shows an example of a pixel array 110 under both midlevel (e.g., 20 ms integration time) and dark (e.g., 200 ms integration time) exposure conditions. Under the midlevel exposure condition, only a single pixel 112 in the pixel array produces inaccurate output. Under the darker exposure condition, however, a defective cluster 114 is visible.
Currently, the same correction would be applied to the pixel signals in the array, regardless of the exposure conditions. When correction is not necessary, applying a correction scheme can unnecessarily cause the undesirable image degradation described above. Further, some correction schemes may be more appropriate for certain exposure conditions. Accordingly, there is a need and desire to determine whether or not to correct a pixel based upon existing operating or exposure conditions of an imager device, and to determine which correction scheme to apply.

Method and apparatus for correcting defective imager pixels


The present disclosure provides techniques for predicting failure of power switches and taking action based on the predictions. In an example, a method can include controlling the at least two parallel-connected power switches via a first driver and a second driver, the first a second driver responsive to a single command signal, measuring a failure characteristic of a first power switch, and disabling a first driver of the first power switch when the first failure characteristic exceeds a failure precursor threshold.

Electronic equipment has become very robust as new developments have come about and have evolved. However, electronic failure is inevitable. Because of the apparent unpredictability of electronic equipment failure, user can often be caught without the resources to quickly fix the problem. In some situations, the failure can lead to other issues because of the apparat and uncontrolled shutdown resulting from the failure.

Aging protection techniques for power switches

Analog Devices International Unlimited Company


The present invention is directed to the identification and use of agents, particularly peptides and monoclonal antibodies that disrupt the interaction between Collagen XIII and α1β1 integrin.

A specific integrin receptor, integrin α1β1, plays a role in the progression of interstitial disease associated with Alport syndrome. This effect was illustrated by crossing the Alport mouse with a knockout mouse for the integrin α1 gene (Cosgrove et al., Am. J. Path., 157, 1649-1659 (2000)). The integrin knockout mutation has no obvious effect on renal development or function in normal mice, even though it is widely expressed in the kidney (Gardner et al., Dev. Biol. 175, 301-313 (1996)). When the α1 integrin mutation was added to the genetic background of the Alport mouse, however, both glomerular and tubulointerstitial disease were markedly attenuated. Attenuation of the glomerular pathogenesis was linked to the effect on mesangial expansion and the deposition of mesangial laminins in the GBM (Cosgrove et al., Am. J. Path., 157, 1649-1659 (2000)). The effect of the α1 integrin null mutation on tubulointerstitial disease, however, was less clear.

Inducible ligand for α1β1 integrin and uses


A network manager for configuring and controlling a simulated telecommunications network having a plurality of nodes which communicate in a plurality of communications protocols. The network manager dynamically connects and disconnects each of the plurality of nodes to the network. The network manager also determines which of the plurality of communications protocols is utilized by each of the plurality of nodes, establishes connections between nodes which communicate in compatible communications protocols, and denies connections requested between nodes which communicate in incompatible communications protocols. The network manager includes a Design function and a Supervisory function. The Design function sets up the network, defines nodes, defines which nodes are to operate on which workstations, and establishes connections. The Supervisory function manages and operates the network. This includes launching the network, monitoring the nodes and links, and reconfiguring the network when requested. The Supervisory function initiates each node, dynamically takes nodes down and brings them back up again, severs links and reinstates them, and provides an operator with status information for each node and each link in the network. A Graphical User Interface is provided for operator interaction with the network manager.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunication systems and, more particularly, to a network manager providing advanced interconnection capability by dynamically allocating nodes in a simulated telecommunications network.
2. Description of Related Art
In the telecommunications industry, standard telecommunications networks are linked to each other using protocols based on the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The OSI model is an internationally accepted framework of standards for communication between different systems manufactured by different vendors. The OSI model creates an open systems networking environment where any vendor's computer system, connected to any network, freely shares data with any other computer system on that network or a linked network.
The OSI model organizes the communication process into seven different layers of interrelated protocols in a layered sequence based on their relation to the user. Layers 1 through 3 deal with network access and layers 4 through 7 deal with end-to-end communications between the message source and the message destination. Each layer includes at least one function that is contained between an upper and a lower logical boundary. The services of each layer are combined with the services of lower layers to create new services that are made available to the higher layers. The layers are as follows:
Layer 1 is a physical layer tlat provides transmission of signals and the activation and deactivation of physical connections; PA1 Layer 2 is a data link layer that includes signal synchronization, error correction, sequencing, and flow control. This layer also provides a data transmission link across one or several physical connections; PA1 Layer 3 is a network layer that provides routing and switching functions; PA1 Layer 4 is a transport layer utilizing layers 1 to 3 to provide an end-to-end service having required characteristics for the higher layer functions; PA1 Layer 5 is a session layer that provides the means to establish a session connection and to support an orderly exchange of data and related control functions for a particular communication service; PA1 Layer 6 is a presentation layer that provides means for data formatting and code conversion; and PA1 Layer 7 is an application layer, the protocols of which provide the actual service sought by an end user.
During development and testing of telecommunication systems and new service applications, it is common to develop a set of interrelated software programs which, when combined, model or simulate the system hardware. The effects of adding new service applications, or the effects of proposed hardware or software changes in the system, can be rapidly modeled and analyzed without undergoing the costly and time consuming process of actually modifying the system hardware or loading a new service application in an actual system. Problems arise, however, and the cost of testing increases substantially when the functions to be tested require communications between two or more telecommunication systems.
Existing communication links utilized for linking standard telecommunications systems generally comprise computing software that executes and assembles OSI layers 3-7 and transmission hardware that executes OSI layers 1-2. When a link between two telecommunication systems, or between a telecommunication system and a system simulator is required for testing purposes, the systems are normally connected directly to each other with the same transmission hardware that is utilized for physically connecting installed telecommunication systems in the field. Test equipment and test tools are then connected to the systems and the physical links between them for the purpose of monitoring the links and performing protocol analyses or other evaluation tests.
As utilized herein, the term "emulator" refers to a software program that emulates the hardware of a processing node and interprets the application software as if the application software was running on a target machine. System emulators are utilized to emulate a target telecommunication node. Emulators perform operations with blocks of application software utilized in the target telecommunication node. The operations validate the use of the network communications protocol with the target telecommunication node software. The term "simulator" refers to a processor that is preprogrammed with responses to anticipated messages. A protocol simulator and a telecommunication system emulator may be connected to the network to validate the use of several network communications protocols with the target telecommunication node software.
It is often desirable to configure the network to test a plurality of communications protocols with a plurality of telecommunication nodes and emulators. However, there does not currently exist a network management tool capable of managing, in real time, the interconnection of telecommunication node emulators, protocol simulators, and other test tools that transmit signaling information over the network.
Although there are no known prior art teachings of a solution to the aforementioned deficiency and shortcoming, U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,343 to Chan et al. (Chan) discusses subject matter that bears some relation to matters discussed herein. Chan discloses a test access system for remote testing of products in an integrated services digital network (ISDN) system. The protocols tested relate to OSI layers 1-3 which are concerned mainly with the establishment, holding, and release of a physical telecommunications path. Chan packetizes or encapsulates network messages, including layers 1-3, and utilizes a packet switching network to conmnunicate test procedures from the tester to the system under test. The system under test de-encapsulates the packets, removes the network messages, and sends them to be processed.
Chan is specifically designed to support remote testing of actual physical hardware. A local site which includes a tester is remotely linked to a system under test. Chan specifically states, however, that the patent is directed only to OSI layers 1-3, which are concerned with the physical transmission, routing, and switching of signals. Chan does not teach or suggest a network manager that dynamically allocates telecommunication nodes, emulators, protocol simulators, and other test tools within a network in real time.
Review of each of the foregoing references reveals no disclosure or suggestion of a system or method such as that described and claimed herein.
In order to overcome the disadvantage of existing solutions, it would be advantageous to have a network manager that provides better management of simulated networks. The manager would dynamically allocate telecommunication nodes, emulators, protocol simulators, and other test tools within a network upon request. Such a manager would effectively change the network configuration "on the fly" and provide the network with advanced interconnection capabilities. The present invention provides such a network manager.

Network manager providing advanced interconnection capability


Systems and methods for relating images to each other by determining transform functions between the images and the three-dimensional world coordinate system of the object depicted in the image, without using image acquisition metadata are disclosed. Points of interest are independently selected on each image. An initial transform function is applied to transform the points in the plane of one image to the plane of the other image. A Gaussian Mixture Model is then iteratively applied to the points to determine a best match, which then provides adjustments to the argument values of the transform function which is again applied to the points of interest on each image. This process repeats until the argument values converge to provide the resulting transform function. The resulting function can then be used to identify objects in the images in three dimensional space.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to automated systems and methods for relating to images of the same object together without using image acquisition metadata, and more particularly, to such systems and methods matching points between images to determine the transform between images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generation of three dimensional (3D) models of structures, such as a roof of a building, from orthogonal and oblique perspective imagery (such as aerial imagery) has many applications. One such application is for generating measurements to providing roof repair and estimation reports. However, the sources of the aerial images may be varied and the images are often not accompanied with accurate data, or any data at all, associated with how the image is acquired, such as data indicating the position and orientation of the camera relative to the object in the photograph or the ground, look angle of the camera, longitude and latitude of various points in the photograph, distance of objects in the photograph from the camera, and aircraft telemetry data. Such data associated with how the image is acquired is referred to herein as "image acquisition metadata". Without this image acquisition metadata, it is more difficult to efficiently define the roof form/structure to generate a three-dimensional model of the roof.
Thus, efficient systems and methods for relating images to each other by determining transforms without using image acquisition metadata, particularly with orthogonal and oblique perspective imagery, is desired.

Systems and methods for relating images to each other by determining transforms without using image acquisition metadata


A method includes defining areas of ownership for users of a computer system; receiving a proposed modification from a first user of the users, the first user being an owner of the proposed modification, wherein a set of the users are stakeholders in the proposed modification; and receiving decisions from a selected set of the stakeholders on approval of the proposed modification. Upon receiving the approvals from all of the selected stakeholders, the owner is granted permission to implement the proposed modification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the protection of computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a security management administration system and method.
2. Description of Related Art
A user's access rights are limited by defining security roles and responsibilities for the user. However, a user's organizational role often requires that the user take responsibility for and accomplish tasks that lie, at least partially, outside of the user's defined security roles and responsibilities.
To accomplice such a task, the user must determine which permissions are required to accomplish the task and the individuals that have been granted these permissions. The user communicates with each of the individuals as to the change that the individual needs to make, as well as the timing of the distribution of the changes.
As should be readily apparent, accomplishing such a task is logistically difficult. Specifically, identifying the individuals that can grant the permissions and reaching agreement among the group of individuals as to the changes that each will make as well as the timing of the changes can be extremely difficult. This is particularly true when the individuals are located at different geographical locations.

Security management administration system and method


A temporary bond method and apparatus for allowing wafers, chips or chiplets. To be tested, the temporary bond method and apparatus comprising: a temporary connection apparatus having one of more knife-edged microstructures, wherein the temporary connection apparatus serves, in use, as a probe device for probing the chiplets, each chiplet including a die having one or more flat contact pads which mate with the one of more knife-edged microstructures of the temporary connection apparatus; a press apparatus for applying pressure between the one or more flat contact pads on the chiplet with the one of more knife-edged microstructures of the temporary connection apparatus thereby forming a temporary bond between the temporary connection pad with the knife-edged microstructure in contact with the one or more flat wafer pads; the press being able to apply a pressure to maintain the temporary bond connection during or prior to testing of the chiplet.

Probe testing of IC chips is well known in the industry, but is limited to chips having rather large pitches (for example, ˜50 μm or more) of its interconnection pads. Temporary aligned "tack" bonding of microelectronic parts, as disclosed herein, is not known in the art. 'Tack' bonding is a temporary bond that has the potential to be detached or to be made permanent. While low temperature (friction bonding, seizing, cold welding) solid-state bonding of metal surfaces has been well established and has been reported in the literature for over 50 years (even at cryogenic temperatures), a microfabrication process with fine-alignment (micron scale) capability at room temperature that allows inspection and rework, if needed, is lacking. See, for example, A. Coucoulas and B. H. Cranston, "Compliant Bonding—A New Technique for Joining Microelectronic Components", IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 15, No. 9, September 1968 and O. L. Anderson, H. Christensen, and P. Andreatch, "Technique for Connecting Electrical Leads to Semiconductors" Journal of Applied Physics 28, 923 (1957).
Prior art technologies, which are referred to as Tech I, Tech II, Tech III and Tech IV herein, may relate to the following (and not necessarily in this order): Cascade Microtech (see www.cascademicrotech.com/files/PYRPROBE_APP.PDF); Technoprobe: (see www.technoprobe.com/soluzione/tpeg-mems-t4-power-your-device); FormFactor: (see www.formfactor.com/product/probe-cards/foundry-logic/vx-mp); and MJC Cantilever (see www.mjc.co.jp/en/products/semiconductor/probe_card.html).
In this document novel knife-edge microstructure contacts are disclosed that enable high local pressures to be applied that form weak temporary bonds to be established at room temperatures or stronger bonds to be formed (if higher pressures and temperatures are used). These microstructures, shown in the accompanying drawing figures, may be fabricated using standard microfabrication processes and are easily integrated into CMOS or other device technology layout formats.
As mentioned above, probe testing is well known in the industry, but the Small Pitch Integrated Knife Edge (SPIKE) approach presented here is significantly different from traditional needle probe or area array (e.g. pyramid probe) technology with respect to design and implementation. It is not an obvious extension of probe testing technology or thermocompression bonding technology.
There has been some debate among those in the technical community as to whether 2D and 3D integration manufacturing will require known-good-die testing prior to integration, or whether the yield of unscreened (untested) dies will be high enough and the drop-out associated with the integration process low enough that integrated multi-die-module yield will be sufficient. It is not surprising that some raise this question, as in many cases in commercial industry today, unscreened dies are packaged and only screened following packaging. However, we maintain that, with both conventional fabrication and advanced 2D and 3D integration manufacturing, yield and associated cost will drive the necessity of die/chiplet screening when the total integrated die/chiplet area exceeds ˜10 cm2 (indeed, the economic impact of poor yield is one reason why commercial companies such as Xilinx, Intel, and NVIDIA are producing multi-chip processors integrated using interposer technology today). This point is illustrated in FIG. 1 and discussed in detail below.
Although exceptionally complex and detailed integrated circuit yield models can be developed that incorporate details of the process and associated yield limiters at every mask step, a simple commonly used yield model for semiconductor processes is the Murphy model (see the equation on FIG. 1), which depends only on an aggregated defect density associated with all mask steps (D) and the total die area (A). The Murphy model accounts for some degree of spatial correlation between defects, hence predicting a somewhat higher yield than an independent defect (Poisson) model. Assuming defects from chiplet to chiplet are independent, the yield of a complete module assembly with unscreened chiplets is simply the product of the yields of all of the individual chiplets multiplied by the integration yield for all chiplets (here we assume the same probability for successfully integrating each single chiplet, shown in the legend of FIG. 1, such that the total integration yield is the single chiplet yield to the power of the total number of chiplets). The cost multiplier (i.e., cost of producing a single fully functional module divided by the cost of producing a single untested module, or equivalently, the total number of modules, one must assemble in order to produce one functioning module on average) is simply the reciprocal of this overall yield product. For the plot shown, we assume a maximum chiplet size of 1 cm2, but the curves are very weakly dependent on this choice (as a smaller chiplet size results in higher yield, but correspondingly more chiplets are needed to achieve the total desired chiplet area such that the total yield is roughly unchanged).

Small pitch integrated knife edge temporary bonding microstructures


A system and method for audibly displaying an audio signal at an in-vehicle infotainment system received through a mobile device to provide continual access to the content when the user enters a vehicle includes the mobile device comprising a first audio player and a second audio player. The mobile device receives an audio-video signal through a network. The first audio player playing a first audio signal. The mobile device receives a second signal. The second audio player receives a second audio signal based on the second signal and playing the second audio signal. The mobile device communicates the first audio signal and the second audio signal to the in-vehicle infotainment system. The in-vehicle infotainment system audibly displays the first audio signal and the second audio signal.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Television programming content providers are increasingly providing a wide variety of content to consumers. Available content is typically displayed to the user using a grid guide. The grid guide typically includes channels and timeslots as well as programming information for each information timeslot. The programming information may include the content title and other identifiers such as actor information and the like.
Providing convenient ways for users to select and find content is useful to content providers. Mobile phones are have been used to order content and watch content. However, the use of a mobile device within a vehicle by the vehicle operator has inherent safety risks. However, the use of certain content such as a sporting event is time sensitive and therefore access is desirable at any time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for providing audio signals to an in-vehicle infotainment system


An electronic circuit for starting a single phase induction motor, of the type containing a rotor and a stator with at least one running coil (B1) and one starting coil (B2), for operating jointly with an alternating current source (F), comprising: a trigger electronic switch; a trigger circuit (TR) of said trigger electronic switch; and a blocking circuit (BL) for controlling the trigger pulses of the trigger electronic switch, said blocking circuit (BL) sustaining its blocking state while there is voltage being induced to the coils of the motor (M) by rotation of the rotor, maintaining said blocking state for a certain time after said induced voltage has been substantially reduced.

Single phase induction motors are widely used, due to their simplicity, strength and high performance. They are used in household appliances, such as refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, hermetic compressors, washing machines, pumps, fans, as well as in some industrial applications.
These single phase induction motors are normally provided with a cage type rotor and a coiled stator having two windings, one being for the running coil and the other for the starting coil.
During normal operation, the running coil is supplied with an alternating voltage and the starting coil is temporarily supplied at the beginning of the operation, creating a turning magnetic field in the air gap of the stator, a necessary condition to accelerate the rotor and promote starting.
This turning magnetic field may be obtained by supplying the starting coil with a current that is time-displaced in relation to the current flowing in the running coil, preferably at an angle close to 90 degrees.
This time displacement between the currents flowing in both coils is achieved by constructive characteristics of the coils, or by installing an external impedance in series with one of the coils, but typically in series with the starting coil. Typically, the value of the current flowing in the starting coil during the starting operation of the motor is high, being necessary to use a switch to interrupt this current after the time required for promoting acceleration of the motor has elapsed.
In motors in which high efficiency is required, said starting coil is not completely disconnected upon completion of the starting period. A capacitor, namely a running capacitor, is kept in series with said starting coil, providing enough current to increase the maximum torque of the motor and the efficiency thereof.
For a motor having such configuration, employing a permanent impedance in series with the starting coil during the normal operation of the motor, some starting devices of the PTC or electronic types are known, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,681.
The known prior art starting circuits using a PTC as a starting device have some inconveniences, such as high energy consumption, as described in Brazilian document PI201210.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,681, the starting circuits having an electronic starting device usually employing a triac, although not having problems of energy consumption like the circuits using PTC, have the inconvenience of being susceptible to voltage variations and, with the occurrence of voltage transients or determined conditions in which power supply to the motor is cut off, conducting the circuit to restart the motor, regardless of the powering condition in which said motor is still found, allowing the occurrence of current overload in the starting circuit, resulting in burns of determined components thereof due to overheating.

Electronic circuit for starting a single phase induction motor

Empresa Brasileira De Compressores S.A. - Embraco


A customer premise equipment (CPE) with the ability to manage its own resources. When a communication device request establishment of a voice communication with an external terminal. A usage rate of a microprocessor of the CPE is detected, and the usage rate of the microprocessor is determined and classified as being between a number of usage levels. When the usage rate of the microprocessor is in a high level, two virtual channels are created, to divide a network bandwidth of the CPE. One of the virtual channels is used for packets of voice communication, and the other virtual channel is used for transmission of other kinds of data packages.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to processor resources management technologies, and particularly to a method for managing microprocessor resources of a customer premise equipment (CPE).
2. Description of Related Art
Customer premise equipment (CPE), such as gateways and routers, are used for interconnection between communication terminals (e.g., computers and smart phones) and a network. When a communication terminal is connected to the network via the CPE, it can establish voice communications with other communication terminals. In order to save hardware cost, a digital signal processing (DSP) chip for processing voice data streaming is replaced by DSP software. Since the DSP software shares microprocessor resources of the CPE with other applications of the CPE, the DSP software may not be allocated sufficient microprocessor resources to process voice data streaming of a voice communication when the CPE is executing other tasks (e.g., executing an FTP downloading task), which may decrease quality of the voice communication. Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

Customer premise equipment and microprocessor resource management method of customer premise equipment


Aspects of the present invention disclose a method for automatic delineation and extraction of tabular data in portable document format (PDF). The method includes one or more processors extracting metadata corresponding to tabular data in a text-based portable document format (PDF), wherein the metadata is associated with characters and border lines of the tabular data. The method further includes generating a graph structure corresponding to the tabular data in the text-based PDF based at least in part on the metadata. The method further includes generating a vector representation of the graph structure. The method further includes constructing a tree structure corresponding to the tabular data based at least in part on the vector representation.

The present invention relates generally to the field of machine learning, and more particularly to delineation and extraction of tabular data in portable document format.
Lots of learning tasks require dealing with graph data which contains rich relation information among elements. Graph neural networks (GNNs) are connectionist models that capture the dependence of graphs via message passing between the nodes of graphs. Unlike standard neural networks, graph neural networks retain a state that can represent information from its neighborhood with arbitrary depth. Although the primitive GNNs have been found difficult to train for a fixed point, recent advances in network architectures, optimization techniques, and parallel computation have enabled successful learning with them. In recent years, systems based on variants of graph neural networks such as graph convolutional network (GCN), graph attention network (GAT), gated graph neural network (GGNN) have demonstrated ground-breaking performance on many tasks mentioned above.
Graph attention networks (GATs), novel neural network architectures that operate on graph-structured data, leveraging masked self-attentional layers. Stacking layers in which nodes are able to attend over their neighborhoods' features, enables (e.g., implicitly) specifying different weights to different nodes in a neighborhood, without requiring any kind of costly matrix operation (e.g., inversion) or depending on knowing the graph structure upfront.
Delaunay triangulation (also known as a Delone triangulation) for a given set 'P' of discrete points in a plane is a triangulation DT(P) such that no point in 'P' is inside the circumcircle of any triangle in DT(P). The Delaunay triangulation of a discrete point set 'P' in general position corresponds to the dual graph of the Voronoi diagram for 'P'. The circumcenters of Delaunay triangles are the vertices of the Voronoi diagram. In the 2D case, the Voronoi vertices are connected via edges, that can be derived from adjacency-relationships of the Delaunay triangles.

Automatic delineation and extraction of tabular data in portable document format using graph neural networks

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus for producing a living body leading electrode includes a first substrate 10 to which first boards 1 are fixed in a plurality of rows. A plurality of skin adhering members 101 with openings 102 are bonded to the first boards. A second substrate 20 is provided to which second boards 2 are fixed in a plurality of rows corresponding to the first boards 1. A plurality of electrode elements 103 are placed on the second boards 2. A pouring means 30 is provided for pouring a solution of electrolyte 100 into the upper portions of the openings 102 formed on the skin adhering members 101. A hardening device 40 for hardening the poured solution of electrolyte 100, thereby fixing the side faces 100A of the electrolyte 100 to the side walls 102A of the openings 102, which first substrate 10 and second substrate 20 may be superposed on each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing an electrode for leading an electrocardiogram signal from the living body.
More particularly, it relates to an apparatus for producing a living body leading electrode which is mounted on the breast of a patient with heart disease in case of leading an electrocardiogram signal from the living body of the patient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an electrode as shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C has been taken as an example of a living body leading electrode mounted on the breast of a patient with heart disease.
In these drawings, reference numeral 1000 is an electrolyte, 1001 a member for adhering the electrode to the skin of the breast of the patient, 1002 an opening, 1003 an electrode element, 1004 a lead wire, and 1005 a member for supporting the electrode element.
The electrode element 1003 is mounted on the central portion of the electrode element supporting member 1005, and the skin adhering member 1001 stuck so as to surround it.
The opening 1002 is formed in the skin adhering member 1001 as shown in FIG. 1A, through which opening 1002 the electrolyte 1000 is placed on the electrode element 1003, and is connected with it electrically.
When the electrode as shown in FIG. 1A is used, the skin adhering member 1001 is contacted with the breast of the patient.
Accordingly, an electrocardiogram signal led through the electrolyte 1000 and the electrode element 1003 is transmitted in the lead wire 1004, inputted into an electrocardiograph where the electrocardiogram signal is analyzed in the required way.
However, the problems of the prior art as shown in FIG. 1A are as follows.
(1) When the electrode is mounted on the breast of the patient, the electrolyte 1000 comes off the electrode easily and remains on the skin.
In the prior art, as shown with an arrow a of FIG. 1A, the electrolyte 1000, in a solid state, is merely placed on the electrode element 1003 through the opening 1002.
Hence, since a gap S is formed between the electrolyte 1000 and the opening 1002 as shown in FIG. 1B, the two are not contacted with each other.
Accordingly, after an electrocardiogram signal is led by bonding the electrode on the breast of the patient, in case of removing it from the breast, the electrolyte 1000 is separated from the electrode, and consequently it remains on the breast.
(2) The efficiency of producing the electrode is low.
As aforementioned, in the prior art, the electrolyte 1000 in a solid state is placed on the electrode element 1003 through the opening 1002.
In this case, each electrolyte 1000 must be picked up one by one with a pincette, thereby it is placed on the electrode element 1003.
And, each electrolyte 1000 is formed by punching an electrolyte 2000 in a solid state as shown in FIG. 1C.
Hence, for this sake, a punching process is necessary.
Moreover, in the punching process, all of the electrolyte 2000 is not used, but the part remaining after the electrolytes 1000 have been punched is wasted as shown with an oblique line, which results in a great loss.
Consequently, the prior art has the problems as follows.
That is to say, a process for punching the electrolyte 1000 is necessary, in which process there is the wasted portion, and a great loss.
Moreover, it is necessary to add the step in that the electrolyte 1000 must be picked up one by one with a pincette, and thereafter it is placed on the electrode element 1003.
Accordingly, the efficiency of producing the electrode is extremely low.

Apparatus for producing living body leading electrode


An apparatus is provided for arranging for processing a semiconductor device having surface components on its surface. A device support comprising a set of protrusions for contacting a surface of the semiconductor device supports the semiconductor device on a plane. The protrusions are arranged and positioned such that they avoid contact with the surface components on the surface. In order to grip the semiconductor device supported on the plane, a clamping device having a first set of clamps is configured for gripping the semiconductor device along a first axis and a second set of clamps is configured for gripping the semiconductor device along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis.

Semiconductor devices such as Ball Grid Array ("BGA") packages are usually small in size and are transported and/or processed in batches so as to increase operation efficiency. Thus, they are often loaded on a carrier in array form for transportation and processing. Examples of processes carried out on BGA packages arranged in array form include solder paste printing, solder balls attaching and testing. Processing of several or all semiconductor devices in a carrier simultaneously results in high throughput, but that in turn requires precise alignment of the devices on the carrier prior to processing. Poor alignment of the devices will directly affect the yield of processes subsequent to alignment. Alignment capability and accuracy becomes even more critical for fine pitch devices.
Various approaches have been implemented in the prior art to align semiconductor devices on carriers. In a cavity approach, a guiding plate with a cavity opened for receiving a semiconductor device is used for aligning it with respect to edges of the device. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,127 entitled "Universal Contactor System for Testing Ball Grid Array (BGA) Devices on Multiple Handlers and Method Therefor", a cavity approach is described wherein a guide plate has a cavity that is adapted to receive a BGA package for alignment. The opening size of the cavity is reduced gradually from the device entrance point to the inner portion of the cavity. The BGA package is guided by the narrowing opening and is aligned with the interior walls of the cavity at the inner portion.
A problem with this approach is that a clearance must exist between the BGA package and interior walls of the cavity to avoid jamming of the device. Also, additional clearance should be added to accommodate any variation in sizes of different BGA packages resulting from a prior singulation process. The resultant clearance between the BGA package and cavity may result in poor alignment. Furthermore, the guiding interaction between the interior walls of the cavity and BGA packages may cause potential tilting or dislocation of packages especially if the initial misalignment is large.
Alternatively, in a pin approach, two or more pins are used to align semiconductor devices with respect to a carrier, with apertures formed in both the devices and the carrier for the pins to pass through for alignment. The pin approach to align semiconductor devices with respect to a carrier is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,297 entitled "Precise and Rapid Positioning Mechanism for Stencil Printing" and U.S. patent publication number 2003/042626A1 entitled "Method of Ball Grid Array (BGA) Alignment, Method of Testing, Alignment Apparatus and Semiconductor Device Assembly". According to the pin approach, two or more apertures are formed in each semiconductor device, with the carrier having the same pattern of apertures at each landing site for the semiconductor devices. Apertures in the semiconductor devices and carrier are pre-aligned, with pins passing through the apertures of both parts to assist alignment.
This approach has the shortcoming that holes have to be formed in the semiconductor devices, which reduces the area available for placing input/output connections. Also, the holes reduce the area available for a suction cup to pick up the devices during pick-and-place operations using vacuum suction. Another shortcoming is that unless the pins and apertures in both semiconductor devices and carriers have minimal clearance, precise alignment cannot be achieved. However, it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to align a plurality of semiconductor devices with the carrier by automated means if the pins and apertures are of similar size so that they fit tightly. This may require manual alignment that is not preferable for high volume production. Even if automated means can be applied, the striking of the pins into corresponding apertures of unaligned semiconductor devices may cause potential tilting or dislocation.
In the case of semiconductor devices that are densely populated with surface components such as Surface-Mount Technology ("SMT") type components on the surface to be supported, there is an additional problem of providing adequate support for the devices. If the fragile surface components are forcibly biased against a supporting structure, they may be damaged. Due to this need to avoid direct contact between the supporting structure and the surface components on the supported surface, the use of means such as vacuum suction for holding the semiconductor device would be problematic because there would be very little surface area on which to apply the vacuum pressure. Thus, the vacuum suction would be relatively weaker, which may result in unintended pick-up or dislodgement when a process head such as sticky flux transfer pins contact the surface of the device being processed.

Apparatus and method for arranging devices for processing


The invention relates to compositions comprising at least one protease and at least one biosurfactant, particularly selected from rhamnolipids and sophorolipids. In particular, the present invention is directed to a composition including A) at least one peptidase, B) at least one biosurfactant, and optionally C) at least one anionic surfactant. The peptidase may be selected from the group of the proteases, particularly from the group of the serine proteases of EC 3.4.21 and the metalloproteases of EC 3.4.24 and the biosurfactant may be selected from the group comprising rhamnolipids and sophorolipids.

Proteases are used in washing, cleaning and rinsing compositions and, by means of the biocatalytic degradation, contribute to the dissolution of the dirt and thus to the cleaning performance. The stability of the proteases in the mostly anionic surfactant systems is still a challenge for the formulator, especially if liquid formulations are to be produced which are storage-stable over a long period of time and should retain their enzymatic activity. In principle, surfactants contribute to the denaturation of proteins and thus of the enzyme structure and thereby cause inactivation of the enzyme activity.
Enzyme producers use protein engineering methods to develop enzymes having increased stability with respect to surfactants. However, this is complex, not successful for all enzymes and may lead to a decreased specific activity due to the altered protein structure.
Alternatively, enzymes may be stabilised by using milder surfactants. For instance, sodium lauryl ether sulphate and/or fatty alcohol ethoxylates are added to the linear alkylbenzene sulphonates used as main surfactant, cf. Kravetz et al. 1985, Lund et al. 2012.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,773, betaines may also be used to stabilise proteases with respect to anionic surfactants.
DE102007005419 discloses nitrogen-containing, non-ionic over a wide range amine oxides as enzyme-stabilising.
EP0499434, EP2787065 and EP2410039 disclose rhamnolipids and sophorolipids, alone or in combination with other anionic surfactants, and their good cleaning effect on laundry.
A good cleaning effect of rhamnolipids in combination with lipases is described in the examples of WO2012010406. In this case, no formulations are used comprising in addition a further anionic surfactant.
In the formulation of liquid surfactant systems with enzymes also comprising protease activity, it must also be ensured that the protease activity in the formulation is inhibited by suitable additives, since otherwise autodigestion of the proteases or even digestion of other enzymes in the formulation is possible. For this purpose, polyols (e.g. 1,2-propanediol), borates and other inhibitors are used. The borates, in particular, have fallen into disrepute in recent years due to toxicological concerns and there still exists a need for an inexpensive, toxicologically acceptable substitute.

Composition containing peptidase and biosurfactant


The automated filling station system of the present invention allows customers to obtain change in currency at the time of purchase, thereby accommodating cash customers as well as credit customers, and one-time customers as well as returning customers. In one embodiment, the system is implemented as a network (10) of filling stations (16) that report to a remote host computer (12). Each filling station (16) has a number of fuel pump systems (22) and a change dispenser system (24). Upon completion of a fueling transaction, a code is provided to a customer at a fuel pump system (22). The customer can enter the code to receive cash at the change dispenser (24) or can use the code for credit towards a subsequent fuel purchase within the network (10).

Increasing automation of filling stations offers a number of potential advantages including customer convenience, reduced labor and risk to personnel, and lower prices. Customer convenience may be enhanced due to longer hours of operation, more service sites and reduced transaction times. In addition to the advantages of reduced personnel and working hours, automation of filling stations improves personnel safety by reducing cash handling. Reduced operating costs also benefit consumers through lower prices. For all of these reasons, the industry has long sought ways to increase filling station automation.
One form of automation that has gained widespread acceptance is the ability to pay at the pump using credit or debit cards. Typically, a card reader and a monitor are provided at the pump. The monitor prompts the customer to initiate a transaction by inserting a card into the card reader. Upon reading the card, the pump system accesses a card approval service, e.g., the BUYPASS, Upon reading the card, the pump system accesses a card approval service, e.g., the BUYPASS authorization system, PAYPOINT authorization system or other credit card authorization network, in order to obtain card approval for a selected approval amount. The approval amount does not necessarily accurately reflect the subsequent fueling transaction amount. If approval is obtained, the pump system is enabled and the customer may proceed with fueling. Alternatively, where available, so-called smart card systems may allow for payment approval without accessing an external approval service.
Another type of system that is in limited use allows for cash payments. A difficulty associated with cash payments is that customers often desire to fill their tanks and therefore do not know the transaction amount ahead of time. Other customers may wish to receive change to have available for other reasons. One existing system addresses this problem by providing credit vouchers in the event that a balance remains upon completion of the fueling process. In this manner, the customer can pay in cash in an amount sufficient to cover a fill-up. When the fueling process is complete, the credit voucher system issues a voucher that is coded, e.g., with a six digit code, to indicate a balance owed to the customer as change. On a subsequent visit, the customer can enter the code into a keypad of the pump system to receive credit corresponding to the amount of the previously unused payment or balance.
Although existing systems have benefited the industry and some consumers and have achieved significant success with respect to certain segments of the market, the present invention addresses various needs that remain to be satisfied.

Automated filling station with change dispenser


A modified polyester resin is the reaction product of:. (A) an acid component mainly comprised of terephthalic acid, 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid or a lower alcohol ester thereof, PA0 (B) a diol component mainly comprising an alkylene glycol having 2 to 8 carbon atoms, and PA0 (C) an aromatic sulfonic acid compound of the following general formula (1): EQU HO(RO).sub.n --Ar--SO.sub.3 M (1) PA0 where Ar represents a benzene or naphthale ring, n represents an integer from 1 to 10, R represents a group selected from among alkylenes having 2 or 3 carbon atoms and when n is 2 or more, R may be the same as or different from one another, and M represents an alkali metal selected from lithium, sodium and potassium. The modified polyester resin also satisfies the following formulas (2) and (3): EQU 0.25.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.100 (meq/kg) (2) EQU 2.ltoreq.(x/CEG).times.100.ltoreq.150 (%) (3) PA0 where x represents the amount of the aromatic sulfonic acid compound represented by the above general formula (1) introduced thereinto and CEG represents the amount of the carboxy end groups, and x and CEG are each expressed in millequivalent per kilogram (meq/kg) of the polymer.

Polyalkylene terephthalate resins, such as polybutylene terephthalate (hereinafter sometimes referred to by the abbreviation "PBT"), are well known crystalline thermoplastic resins which exhibit excellent mechanical, electrical, chemical and physical properties. As a result, polyalkylene terephthalate resins have been widely used as an engineering plastic in a variety of end-use applications, including component parts for automobiles, electrical and electronic appliances, and the like. PBT is also known to exhibit excellent aroma retention and gas-barrier properties and thus has been used recently as a food and cosmetic packaging material.
However, there exist several problems when polyalkylene terephthalate resins are molded. Significantly, when polyalkylene terephthalate resins are melt-processed, they often decompose and thus generate decomposition gases and/or decomposition residues (sublimate) which adversely affects the surface quality of molded articles (e.g., by formation of voids on the surface) as well as staining/corroding the mold from which the article is made. Such decomposition of polyalkylene terephthalate or polyalkylene naphthalate resins is known to be exacerbated by intermittent (rather than continuous) molding operations which require that the resin be maintained in a molten state for a prolonged time period.
Furthermore, problems associated with polyalkylene terephthalate resins in terms of evolution of a decomposition gas (e.g., tetrahydrofuran) have been experienced when molded articles are used in an environment where the part is exposed to elevated temperatures for prolonged time periods. Accordingly, an electrical or electronic component (such as a relay, switch or connector) which is comprised of an article molded from a conventional polyalkylene resin is problematic in that the evolved decomposition gas will stain or corrode metallic parts of the component (e.g., electrical contacts) and thus reduce the component useful life.
What has been needed therefore is a polyalkylene terephthalate resin composition which is highly melt-stable to an extent whereby evolved decomposition products during melt-processing and/or during which temperature use is significantly minimized (if not eliminated entirely). It is towards fulfilling such a need that the present invention is directed.
According to the present invention, modified polyester resins are provided which emit a minimal amount of decomposition gas (such as tetrahydrofuran) when used at high temperatures for prolonged time periods, as well as a decreased amount of sublimate when in the melt-phase. More specifically, the present invention relates to modified polyester resins which are the reaction product of:
(A) an acid component mainly comprised of terephthalic acid, 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid or a lower alcohol ester thereof,
(B) a diol component mainly comprising an alkylene glycol having 2 to 8 carbon atoms, and
(C) an aromatic sulfonic acid compound of the following general formula (1): EQU HO(RO).sub.n --Ar--SO.sub.3 M (1)
wherein Ar represents a benzene or naphthale ring, n represents an integer from 1 to 10, R represents a group selected from among alkylenes having 2 or 3 carbon atoms and when n is 2 or more, R may be the same as or different from one another, and M represents an alkali metal selected from lithium, sodium and potassium.
Most preferably, the modified polyesters of this invention will also satisfy the following formulas (2) and (3): EQU 0.25.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.100(meq/kg) (2) EQU 2.ltoreq.(x/CEG).times.100.ltoreq.150 (%) (3)
where x represents the amount of the aromatic sulfonic acid compound represented by the above general formula (1) introduced thereinto and CEG represents the amount of the carboxy end groups, and x and CEG are each expressed in milliequivalent per kilogram (meq/kg) of the polymer.
Further aspects and advantages of this invention will become more clear after careful consideration is given to the detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof which follow.

Melt-stable copolyester resins and molded articles thereof


A dispersion and loss spectrum auto-correction distributed optical fiber Raman temperature sensor has a dual fiber pulsed laser module with dual Raman wavelength shifts. The laser module is composed of a power supply (11), an electronic switch (12), a primary laser (13) and a secondary laser (14), a first combiner (15), a bidirectional coupler (16), a multimode fiber (17), an integrated optical fiber wavelength division multiplexer (18), a second combiner (19), a direct detection system (20), a signal collection and processing system (21) and a display (22). The sensor uses two light sources that have two Raman wavelength shifts, wherein the central wavelength of backward anti-Stokes Raman scattering peak of the primary light source coincides with that of the backward Stokes scattering peak center wavelength of the secondary light source, and the time domain reflection signal of the one-way optical fiber Rayleigh scattering is deducted. Based on the optical fiber Raman scattering temperature measurement principle, the dispersion and loss spectrum auto-correction method and the optical time domain reflection principle, the optical fiber dispersion and the loss spectrum can be self-corrected, and the random power loss caused by bending and stretching in installation can also be auto-corrected.

In recent years, by means of the temperature modulation effect of optical fiber Raman scattering light intensities and the optical time domain reflection (OTDR) principle, distributed optical fiber Raman temperature sensors have been developed. They can be used to measure the on-site temperature in real time, predict the temperature change trend, monitor the on-site temperature change and provide on-line temperature alarming when the measured temperature is over a certain range. The distributed optical fiber Raman temperature sensor is a linear temperature response detector of safe type in nature and easy to build an optical fiber sensor network. It has been successfully applied in the fields of power industry, petrochemical enterprises, large scale civil engineering, on-line disaster monitoring, etc.
The optical fiber Raman scattering frequency shift is about 13.2 THz. So there is a relatively large wavelength difference between the anti-Stokes Raman scattering light and the Stokes Raman scattering light of the optical fiber. Due to the dispersion effect in optical fibers, the backward anti-Stokes Raman scattering light and the Stokes Raman scattering light have different transmission velocities in the optical fiber, thus leading to the "asynchronism" or "separation" phenomenon between the anti-Stokes Raman scattering light and the Stokes Raman scattering light in the time domain reflection curves. For distributed optical fiber Raman temperature sensors, the time domain reflection signal of the optical fiber backward Stokes Raman scattering light is used to demodulate the time domain reflection signal of the anti-Stokes Raman scattering light, in order to obtain temperature information of all segments of the optical fiber. However, the "asynchronism" or "separation" phenomenon happened in the two OTDR signals decreases the spatial resolution and temperature measurement precision of the sensor system, and even causes measurement errors. In a distributed optical fiber Raman temperature sensor, the anti-Stokes Raman scattering light is used as the temperature measurement signal channel, while the Stokes Raman scattering light is used as the temperature measurement reference channel. Since the two channels have quite different wavelength and the optical fiber attenuation losses are different for various wavelengths, they have different intensity losses. Therefore, when the Stokes Raman reference channel is used to demodulate the anti-Stokes Raman signal, the demodulated temperature curve presents a non-linear feature. This causes the temperature measurement errors and decreases the temperature measurement precision. Additionally, when optical fibers are installed on-site, they are very likely bent and stretched which leads to non-linear optical effects in optical fibers, and causes power losses at different wavelengths. Furthermore, since both the magnitude and the position of the bend and the stretch in pressing of the optical fiber and optical cable are random and unpredictable, it is difficult to correct the measurement manually. Thus, an auto-correction method is needed.
In 2007, Chung E. Lee et al proposed a solution: "Methods and Apparatus for Dual Source Calibration for Distributed Temperature Systems" which has been granted a U.S. patent right (No. US2007/0223556A1), wherein dual light sources are employed, and the optical fiber backward anti-Stokes Raman scattering wave of the primary laser and the optical fiber Stokes Raman scattering wave of the secondary laser within the same waveband are alternately controlled by an optical fiber switch in a manner of time-division. The optical fiber backward anti-Stokes Raman scattering wave of the primary laser is demodulated by the optical fiber Stokes Raman scattering wave of the secondary laser so as to obtain the temperature information of all segments of the optical fiber. In such round trip Raman scattering OTDR signals, though the return thereof fall within the same waveband, the wavelength of the incident waves lies in the primary laser wavelength and the secondary laser wavelength which differ from each other by a dual Raman shift, so that the influences of the optical fiber dispersion spectrum and the optical fiber loss spectrum cannot be eliminated completely.

Dispersion and loss spectrum auto-correction distributed optical fiber raman temperature sensor


The present invention handles fully-lined, semi-lined and line-less cell tables by identifying the cells and cell separators during page recomposition processes as part of optical character recognition processes. The invention accomplishes such by iteratively identifying cell separators and cells. The processes accomplishes this by iteratively merging word boxes into cells, iteratively finding separators, and iteratively merging cells bounded by the same separators, and repeating these steps until the correct cell structure is found. With this method, rows are estimated, close words are merged into cells, columns are then estimated, cells within columns are merged, columns re-estimated, cells in the same row and column are merged into bigger cells, and then rows and cells are merged according to the detection of various table styles. This invention handles large complex tables with multiple lines of symbols per cell. This method handles multiple line cells in lined, semi-lined and line-less tables.

Recomposition methods for optical character recognition (OCR) products, in the look and feel of the original document is preserved in a word processor file format, are increasingly popular features. Leading OCR technologies are highly regarded for recomposition facilities; however, the analysis and output of cell structures for semi-ruled (semi-lined) and un-ruled (line-less) tables with a cell or cells having multiple lines of text is lacking in the art.
Table analysis is the task of converting an image of a table in a document to a marked-up electronic version suitable for conversion to a word processor format such as Microsoft Word.RTM.. A table is either found automatically, or identified by a user with a graphical user interface by selecting a table from an image displayed on a computer monitor. In either case, the system is supplied with the word bounding boxes and horizontal and vertical rulings and must recompose the table cells using only this geometric information, i.e., no character information need be available.
A cell is a list of one or more words comprising a logical entity in a table. Cells are delimited by rulings, gutters or leading (the last two words meaning white space in typography jargon). The words in a cell are in close proximity relative to the words in another cell. Methods to extract all necessary geometric information about the table region as well as the page on which it occurs are known in the art. The analysis process yields information describing the cells and table which consists of a list of unique word identifiers, the coordinates of the cell bounding box on the page, and indicators for left, right, top and bottom borders as to whether there are rulings to be drawn in the output or are invisible.
There are three types of tables: line-less, semi-lined and lined. FIG. 1 shows a line-less table. Logical quantities are grouped into cells forming rows and columns. FIG. 2 shows a semi-lined table. These may be somewhat easier to detect automatically given the long horizontal rulings. FIG. 3 shows a lined table. These are reliably detected automatically in commercially available TextBridge.RTM. software from Xerox Corporation, and is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,107 to M. Tachikawa entitled "Table Region Identification Method." FIG. 4 shows word bounding box information used to recover the table cell structure in FIG. 1.
The table identification method of Tachikawa is essentially a means of extracting runlengths, combining them into connected components and extracting large connected components as table candidates. Among these candidate regions, horizontal rulings are extracted by combining runlengths longer than some specified threshold and collecting those with length approximately the width of the connected component. If the number of rulings is greater than some threshold, the region is deemed a table. This procedure find only ruled tables. The chief advantage of this method appears to be speed and the ability to work with runlength compressed data, but this method can only find fully-lined tables.
In a paper by Itonori entitled "Table Structure Recognition based on Textblock Arrangement and Ruled Line Position", presented at the IEEE Second International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, Tsukuka, Japan, October 1993, a method of recognizing table structures from document images is disclosed. In Itonori, each cell of a table is arranged regularly in two dimensions and is represented by a row, column pair. The Itonori process expands cell bounding boxes and assigns new rows and column numbers to each edge. Itonori finds columns and rows using projections of character bounding boxes.
The table identification method of Green and Krishnamoothy, disclosed in a paper entitled "Recognition of Tables Using Table Grammars", presented at the Forth Annual Symposium on Document Analysis and Information Retrieval, in Las Vegas, Nev., USA, April 1995, identifies runlengths and page margins via a lexical analyzer that quantizes the proportion of black pixels in a scantine observation window. The lexical analyzer produces eight different tokens than are passed to a parser. Scanning can be done horizontally or vertically. The outcome is a set of vertical and horizontal rulings that are then used for table analysis. This analysis extends all rulings to the edges of the table, partitioning the table into elementary cells. Further analysis joins those cells which were not originally separated by a ruling. The result is as set of image regions corresponding to cells plus rulings. The method uses a grammar-based approach to identify the rulings and cells of a fully-lined table image. Recognition depends on having an explicit table model expressed as a grammar. This method does not handle fully-lined, semi-lined or line-less tables without recourse to an explicit table model, which must be created by a user. This method accesses the image pixels. Moreover, exploring all the parsing possibilities requires several seconds on a parallel computer.
The method of Douglas et al., disclosed in a paper entitled "Using Natural Languages Processing for Identifying and Interpreting Tables in Plain Text," also presented at the Fourth Annual Symposium on Document Analysis and Information Retrieval, in Las Vegas, Nev., USA, Apr. 26, 1995, uses natural language processing notions to represent and analyze tables. This process attempts to characterize the information contained within a table, regardless of its form. Several table transformations are listed with respect to which table information is invariant. Douglas et al. posit a canonical representation for tabular information. Douglas et al. process a particular class of well-structured tables, and their application is the interpretation of tabular information in the construction industry. There is a list of domain labels that appears a column headings in the canonical representation and a list of n-tuples of values, where n is the number of columns. The left-most column plays a special role as a place for high-precedence domain labels and values. Finding cells proceeds as follows. The data at hand are lines consisting of character bounding boxes and spaces between characters. Characters may be alphanumeric or otherwise, but a tag is kept to identify alphanumeric characters. A sequence of characters is content-bearing if it contains at least one alphanumeric character. Column breaks are determined by intersecting vertically overlapping lines. The spaces that survive intersection of all such lines are deemed gaps between columns. Whether or not the columns of those of a table (rather than columns of text) is determined through a set of rules that use alphanumeric density and column with relative to the with of the text body being analyzed. Within a column, adjacent lines are merged into cells. Once the cells have been determined and labeled with their unique column/row coordinates, the table is analyzed semantically using recognized characters. Domain knowledge (e.g., construction materials) is used to establish whether a phase is a domain label or a domain value and whether, based upon the cell's horizontal coordinate, a cell's semantic type is consisted with others in its column. This method is only intended for a specialized fully-lined table style used in the construction industry. Character information is needed in this method. This process does not try to identify the table structure as cells and separators independent of content or style.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,777 to Ikemure, a means to determine whether a ruled area is a table or a figure is provided. The method compares the number of pixels comprising the horizontal and vertical rules in the region to the total number of black pixels in a binarized image. If the ratio is sufficiently large, a significant proportion of the pixels belong to rulings and thus the region is a table.
In a paper by Hori and Doermann entitled "Robust Table-form Structure Analysis based on Box-Driven Reasoning", prepared for the Document Processing Group, Center for Automation Research, University of Maryland, a method is disclosed for analyzing table-form documents which are full-lined. The task is to find all the cells, by which they mean the rectangles that are formed by the rulings and enclose strings of text. Their contribution is the ability to handle degraded documents where characters can overlap rulings. The algorithm operates on two versions of the binary image, one at the original scanned resolution and a reduced resolution obtained by summing over a small square moving window, thresholding and subsampling. In the reduced image, a pixel is black if any pixel in a square region about the corresponding pixel in the original is black. This has the effect of merging broken or dotted rulings; however, it introduces the problem of characters overlapping with lines of the form. Inner and outer boxes are obtained for the image. The boxes are then classified according to their size and aspect ratio into one of character, cell, table, bar, noise, character hole, and white character island. Some of these correspond to inner boxes (they bound white space) and outer boxes (bounding a connected component) or both. Inner boxes can be nested in out boxes and vice-versa. Box coordinates for the original and reduced resolution images are maintained. Cells are inner boxes and have outer boxes of strings nested inside. Boxes in the original are inspected for characters touching lines, and if so, they are separated. The boxes in the reduced image are more reliable in the sense that they are formed with broken and dotted lines rendered as solid lines. But they are also more likely to have touching characters. Boxes in the reduced and original images are compared and their differences reconciled. Strings are characters that are nested within the same cell. Character boxes are collected into lines of text. Since the cell coordinates do not match precisely the positions of the rulings, adjustments are made to line up the cells and their neighbors with rulings to avoid gaps and allow spaces for rulings to be drawn between the cells. The result is a collection of bounding boxes corresponding to an ideal version of the scanned table-form.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,695 to Ohta, a method is disclosed which allows a user to edit a table by entering new column and row sizes on a digital input pad on a copier. This process must recognize a table and perform the proper "corrections" for output. Table detection uses inner and outer contours of binary images to determine the location of tables and cells within them. Once the cells have been identified, new rows or columns can be added or deleted per the users instruction. The intent is to provide a table-editing mechanism through a photocopier. If the table is semi-lined, simple cells are identified through histogram techniques using vertical and horizontal projection profiles. This method of inner and outer contour manipulation bears a similarity to the method of Hori and Doermann.
In a paper by Hirayama entitled "A Method for Table Structure Analysis Using DP Matching", presented at the IEEE Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, Montreal, Canada, Vol. II, pages 583-586, Aug. 14-16, 1995, a method that detects and analyzes tables which have vertical and horizontal rulings is disclosed. The first task is to segment a binary document image into regions containing text, tables and figures. The first step in segmentation is to find the connected components of the runlength-smeared document image. Bounding boxes of the connected components are classified as vertical or horizontal lines, character strings or other objects according to their heights. Character strings are grouped together to form text regions. The remaining regions are non-text: tables or figures. Tables are required to have horizontal and vertical lines. Lines are grouped together when they intersect, are close and parallel, or their endpoints are close. The regions containing a group of linked lines are called table area candidates. A bounding box of rulings is added to the table region in case some cells are open. Within a table area candidate, all rulings are extended by virtual lines to terminate into the most extreme ruling. The table area is thus segmented into a "lattice" being composed of a grid of rectangles. Next, rectangles that are separated only by virtual lines are joined. The resultant polygons form cells if they are rectangular and enclose only character strings or are empty. Some polygons correspond to cells and others not, but the region as a whole is judged to be a table area if there is at least one non-empty cell and non-cell areas constitute a fraction of the total candidate area. Now in the lattice version of the table, there is a grid of m columns and n rows. The separators between these may be virtual. It is necessary to assign these virtual cells to proper table rows by aligning columns. Alignment is done pairwise from left to right using the well- known string-to-string correction dynamic programming algorithm where the weights for the substitution cost are distances in baselines between two text strings and there is a fixed insertion and deletion cost. For example, in FIG. 5 there are three columns and six virtual rows. With the deletion and insertion cost sufficiently low, the alignment algorithm matches string AAAA with DDDD and CCCC with FFFF in the first two columns. The string BBBB is "deleted" and string EEEE is "inserted." A new row is supplied to match BBBB. Continuing to columns two and three, the string HHHH doesn't have a match in the second column, so the algorithm searches the previous columns from right to left for a match. If none is found, a new row is supplied. The result in this example is that six rows are found.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,566 to Rahgozar discloses an algorithm for finding the columns of a tabular structure using only word bounding box information. The method uses intervals between word bounding boxes to estimate column breaks. Only the x coordinates are used. Starting with all the gaps in a tabular region of a document, all possible intersections are taken. This collection of intervals and their intersections (not including the null set) is called the closure. Each member of the closure has a rank, the number of original gaps it is a subset of. The members of the close which are small in some sense and have the highest rank form column breaks. Presumably, this method can be used for rows as well, but not for detecting the rows of a table with multiple line cells
In a paper by Rahgozar and Cooperman entitled "A graph-based table recognition system", SPIE Vol. 2660, pages 192-203, April 1996, it is disclosed that a graph rewriting techniques can be brought to bear on table identification and analysis. Graph grammars naturally describe notions of relative placement or alignment of cells. A table is a graph on cells and headings in a suitably chosen graph language. Table identification is the task of starting at a cell and choosing rewrite rules in advance until no more rules can be found. The result is a table since it is a sequence of productions from a start symbol. The sequence of productions produces information about the table structure, namely columns and rows. Rows can be found first by looking left and right for cells to merge.
Although prior art has progressed in the table recognition art, none of the prior art addresses the problem of identifying cells and cell separators in a manner that can handle multiple line cells and complex tables, such as tables containing substantial "white space". The art has not succeeded in accurately recognizing fully-lined, semi-lined and line-less cell tables. The art has can not handle multiple line cells in semi-lined and line-less table form. The prior art does not iteratively and carefully merge word boxes into cells, find separators, merge cells bounded by the same separators, update separators, and repeat these steps until the correct cell structure is found. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a method of identifying cells and cell separators accurately during page recomposition processes that will overcome the short comings of the prior art it.
All of the references cited herein are incorporated by reference for their teachings.


Highly porous, lightweight, and sustainable hybrid organic aerogels with ultra-low densities and excellent material properties and methods for preparing them are provided, including, e.g., PVA/CNF/GONS, RF/CNF/GONS, and PVA/CNF/MWCNT. The aerogels are modified to have a super-hydrophobic surface, thus leading to an extremely low swelling ratio and rate of moisture absorption.

The following description is provided to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided or references cited is admitted to be prior art to the present technology.
Aerogels are lightweight materials that have drawn significant attention due to their combination of unique properties including a high porosity (typically 95%-99%), low density (typically less than 400 kg/m3), high specific surface area, excellent thermal, acoustic, and electrical conductivities, and low dielectric constant. Over the past 70 years, researchers have mostly focused on developing inorganic aerogels such as silica, clay, and metal oxide aerogels. For instance, NASA has developed a series of silica-based inorganic aerogels for various space applications such as launch vehicles, space shuttle upgrades, interplanetary propulsion, space suits, and life support equipment. Various types of inorganic-based aerogels have also been developed and commercialized for applications in the structural insulation, clothing, aviation, automotive, and aerospace industries. However, inorganic (mainly silica) aerogels often suffer from intrinsic brittleness and a relatively high density (100-400 kg/m3), which consequently limits their use in applications where tough, strong, and low-density materials are required.

Sustainable hybrid organic aerogels and methods and uses thereof

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE


An air mass meter has a sensor element, across which an air mass flow to be measured moves. The sensor element is a micro-electro-mechanical system having a membrane, on which a heating element is formed. An electrical measuring resistor and at least two electrical comparison resistors are arranged upstream and downstream of the heating element. A first temperature sensor element is formed with a measuring resistor upstream of the heating element and two comparison resistors arranged downstream of the heating element. The second temperature sensor element is formed with a measuring resistor arranged downstream of the heating element and two comparison resistors arranged upstream of the heating element.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an air mass meter with a sensor element, wherein an air mass flow to be measured moves over the sensor element, and wherein the sensor element is embodied as a microelectromechanical system which has a diaphragm on which a heating element is embodied, wherein in each case one electrical measuring resistor and at least two electrical comparison resistors are arranged upstream and downstream of the heating element in the direction of the air mass flow, and wherein a first temperature sensor element and a second temperature sensor element are formed by the electrical connection of in each case one measuring resistor to at least two comparison resistors.
2. Related Art
Such air mass meters are used, for example, in motor vehicles for determining the air mass swept in by an internal combustion engine. Combustion can be optimized on the basis of the most reliable possible information about a sucked-in air mass by an electronic control of the internal combustion engine, to the effect that a quantity of fuel which is matched precisely to the air mass is fed to the respective combustion chamber. As a result, better utilization of energy with reduced emission of pollutants is achieved.
DE 44 07 209 A1 discloses an air mass meter plugged into an intake duct for determining an air mass, wherein a defined proportion of the total flow flows through the air mass sensor. For this purpose, the latter is embodied as a plug-in duct air mass meter. The air mass meter comprises a sensor element arranged in a measuring duct, electronics arranged in a housing for evaluating and/or for detecting the measured values of the sensor element, and an outlet duct on the other side of the sensor element. For a space-saving arrangement, the specified ducts or air-guiding paths are embodied in the form of a U, S or C, with the result that a device that is compact overall and is embodied as a plug-in element is formed.
US 2008/0282791 A1 discloses an air mass meter with a sensor element in which in each case temperature sensor elements are arranged upstream and downstream of a heating element embodied on a diaphragm. The temperature sensor elements are arranged in such a way that shifting of a characteristic curve owing to deposits of dirt is suppressed.
US 2003/0010110 A1 discloses a mass flow sensor that operates bidirectionally and has a bridge circuit connected to a voltage potential, wherein the bridge circuit contains a first and a second temperature-dependent sensor, which sensors are connected in series and are arranged on a thermally insulating substrate.
DE 42 08 135 A1 discloses a device for measuring a flow of gas or fluid. Here, two temperature-sensitive resistor devices form a first sensor, and two further temperature-sensitive resistor devices form a second sensor. The two sensors are arranged in such a way that they do not influence one another thermally.
An air mass meter embodied according to the teaching of WO 03/089884 A1 and embodied as a hot-film anemometer has in principle proven valuable.
During the development of modern air mass meters that operate on the basis of sensor elements embodied as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) it has become apparent that the measurement results of the sensor elements are influenced in a particularly disadvantageous way by contamination. Contamination, which can be caused, for example, by oil droplets in the air mass flow, results over time in the occurrence of signal drift in the sensor element, which sensor drift can lead to incorrect measured values for the air mass flow. However, sensor elements embodied as microelectromechanical systems have a multiplicity of advantages which should not be dispensed with.


A thin-wall PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) tube in the form of a tube of porous expanded PTFE film wherein the porous PTFE film has a microstructure containing a multiplicity of fibrils oriented substantially parallel to each other. The tube has a wall thickness of less than about 0.25 mm and is made from at least one first layer and at least one second layer of porous PTFE film, wherein the fibrils of the first and second layers are oriented substantially perpendicular to each other. Preferably the fibrils of the at least one first layer are oriented substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube and the fibrils of the at least one second layer of porous PTFE film are oriented substantially circumferential to the tube. The first and second layers may be inner and outer layers respectively, or alternatively their relationship may be reversed. Alternatively, either of the first and second film layers may be replaced with alternative reinforcing components such as a braid or at least one reinforcing rib.

Thin-wall polytetrafluoroethylene (hereinafter PTFE) tubes are useful for a variety of applications where the thinness of the tube wall and the lubricity of the PTFE are advantageous. The chemically inert character of the PTFE is also advantageous, particularly when the biocompatibility of the tubing is a concern.
Conventional thin-wall PTFE tubes suffer from poor flexibility and have relatively poor mechanical strength characteristics, specifically tensile strength and hoop strength. Their resistance to creep when subjected to mechanical loads for extended periods of time is also poor. These conventional tubes also possess significant memory in that if subjected to, for example, a crease or kink, the tube will remember the crease or kink and will want to assume the same crease or kink subsequently if exposed to the slightest causative force.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,710 to Buck et al., describes a thin-wall sintered fluoropolymer tube having a wall thickness of less than about 0.051 mm. The tube is made by extruding a non-porous fluoropolymer tube over a fluoropolymer core containing a filler and subsequently removing the core. U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,966 to Eilentropp describes a PTFE tube made by helically wrapping a PTFE tape around a mandrel, sintering the wrapped tape to fuse the overlapping tape edges and finally removing the mandrel from the resulting tube. The tape is relatively thin, from 30 to 300 micrometers in thickness, and is of trapezoidal cross section wherein the tape edges are thinner than the center of the tape width, so that the overlapping edges of the helically wrapped tape result in a tube of relatively uniform wall thickness. The tubes of Buck et al., and Eilentropp both suffer from the aforementioned disadvantages of poor mechanical strength characteristics, poor flexibility, and excessive memory.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,953,566, 3,962,153 and 4,197,390 to Gore describe making tubes and sheet films of porous expanded PTFE wherein the PTFE has a microstructure of nodes interconnected by fibrils. The tubes are made by extruding a paste of a mixture of PTFE fine powder and a liquid lubricant, removing the lubricant from the resulting tubular extrudate, expanding the extrudate by stretching at a suitable rate at a temperature less than the crystalline melt point of the PTFE, and preferably sintering the expanded PTFE tube while the tube is longitudinally restrained. These patents do not teach the construction of thin-wall tubes. Tubes made according to these patents are commercially available as vascular grafts (W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., Flagstaff Ariz.) and are provided with an exterior helical wrapping of porous expanded PTFE film which increases the hoop strength of the tube.


An arrester bypass device can include a switch having an normal state and an operated state. The arrester bypass device can also include a first electrode mechanically coupled to the switch, where the first electrode is held when the switch is in the normal state and released when the switch is in the operated state. The arrester bypass device can also include a second electrode positioned in line with the first electrode, wherein the first electrode contacts the second electrode when the switch is in the operated state. The arrester bypass device can further include a ground strap having a first end and a second end, where the first end is mechanically coupled to the plunger, and where the second end is mechanically coupled to an electrical ground.

An arrester (sometimes called a lightning arrester or a surge arrester) is a device used on electrical power systems and telecommunications systems to protect the insulation and conductors of the system from the damaging effects of lightning and other fault currents. A typical arrester has a high-voltage terminal and a secondary terminal. When a power surge (fault current) travels along the power line to the arrester, the current from the surge is diverted through the arrestor, in most cases to earth (ground, also called an electrical ground). If protection from the arrester fails or is absent, a power surge on the electrical system can introduce thousands of kilovolts that may damage transmission lines and/or cause severe damage to transformers and other electrical or electronic devices.
When a fault current flows through an arrester, damage can still occur. If too much fault current flows through an arrester, the arrester itself, electrical connections to the arrester, and/or devices proximate to the arrester can explode and/or catch fire. In some locations where arresters are used, one or more of a number of objects that are located proximate to an arrester can catch fire when a fault current flowing through an arrester causes a fire and/or explosion.


A single tool that provides multiple machining operations for forming a lug hole through a vehicle wheel hub includes an end portion having a first diameter and a mid-portion having a second diameter that is greater than the first diameter. A spade drill bit is mounted upon the end portion and a bore cutting tool is mounted upon the mid-portion.

This invention relates in general to the manufacture of vehicle wheels and in particular to a tool and method for forming lug holes through a vehicle wheel hub.
Vehicle wheels include an annular wheel rim that supports a pneumatic tire. A wheel disc typically extends across the outboard end of the wheel rim and is formed having a pleasing esthetic shape. The wheel disc usually includes a central wheel hub supported within the wheel rim by a plurality of radial spokes. Apertures formed through the wheel hub allow attachment to a vehicle axle.
Light weight vehicle wheels cast from alloys of aluminum, magnesium, and titanium have become increasingly popular. Such wheels may be cast as one piece and then finished with a number of machining operations or assembled from several components that also are machined to final dimensions. Regardless of the method used, the manufacture of vehicle wheels is highly automated.
One of the steps that are required to manufacture a vehicle wheel is the forming of a plurality of lug holes through the hub of the vehicle wheel. When a vehicle wheel is mounted upon an axle, a plurality of lug bolts extending from an axle hub are received by corresponding lug holes in the wheel hub. A chamfer formed at the inboard end each lug hole guides the end of each of the lug bolts into the respective lug hole. Each of the lug bolts cooperate with a corresponding lug nut, that is seated upon a conical seat formed at the outboard end of each lug hole, to secure the vehicle wheel to the wheel hub.
Referring now to the drawings, a typical lug hole 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1 that extends through a hub portion 12 of a vehicle wheel, as shown in section. The lug hole 10 extends from an outboard surface 16 through the wheel hub 12 and to an inboard surface 18. As also shown in FIG. 1, the lug hole 10 includes an outboard end counterbore 22 that receives the lug nut (not shown). A conical seat 26 is formed in the base of the counterbore 22. The lug hole 10 further includes a circular recess 20 formed at the inboard end of the lug hole 10 that receives a nut, such as a Tinnerman® nut (not shown). A chamfer portion 24 is formed in the base of the circular recess 20 of the lug hole 10. A lug hole land 28 extends between the chamfer portion 24 and the conical seat 26. A lug bolt 29 disposed in the lug hole 10 is outlined with dashed lines.
The lug hole 10 is formed with a highly automated process that is illustrated by the flow chart shown in FIG. 2. The various tools used to form the lug hole 10 are mounted upon a multiple tool drilling head in a wheel drilling machine. The process begins in functional block 30 with the wheel being clamped upon a wheel drilling machine jig with the outboard end facing the multiple tool drilling head. Typically, when the wheel is formed, the circular recess 20 is cast integrally to the wheel. Alternatively, the circular recess 20 may be machined before the wheel is clamped upon the wheel drilling machine jig for forming the lug hole 10. In functional block 31, a pilot hole for a lug hole is drilled through the wheel hub with a spiral twist drill. Drilling the pilot hole also forms the lug hole land 28. The wheel is then indexed and additional lug hole lands are drilled. In a similar manner, the wheel is indexed after each of the following operations to permit repeating the specific operation for each lug hole. Next, the outboard end of the lug hole 10 is counterbored with a counterbore tool in functional block 32. A countersink is used in functional block 34 to form the conical seat 26 in the base of the counterbore 22. Then a reamer is used in functional block 35 to polish the wall of the counterbore 22. The wheel is then rotated 180 degrees upon the wheel jig in functional block 36 to expose the inboard surface of the disc to the multiple tool drilling head. Finally, in functional block 38 the chamfer portion 24 is formed in the base of the circular recess 20 by using a chamfer tool.
As described above, the process for forming a lug hole requires numerous machining operations and a number of different tools. Because a vehicle wheel typically includes five lug holes, it is apparent that a great deal of time and effort is required to form the lug holes. Accordingly, it would be desirable to reduce the number of machining operations and the number of tools to reduce both the time required to finish a wheel and the number of different tools that must be carried in inventory at the manufacturing facility.