According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an aerosol generating apparatus having a feedback control function includes a heater configured to heat an aerosol generating substrate to generate an aerosol; a controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling power supplied to the heater; a switch configured to perform a switching operation based on the control signal to supply the power to the heater; and a comparison signal calculator configured to receive a signal by the switching operation to calculate a comparison target signal, wherein the controller is further configured to generate a cut-off signal for stopping the switching operation of the switch based on a comparison value calculated by comparing the comparison target signal with a reference signal exceeding a preset range.

Recently, there has been a growing demand for alternative methods for resolving problems of common cigarettes. For example, instead of a method of generating an aerosol by burning a cigarette, there has been a growing demand for a method of generating an aerosol by heating an aerosol generating material of a cigarette. Therefore, research into heating-type cigarettes or heating-type aerosol generating apparatuses is being actively conducted.
The aerosol generating apparatus may include a heater for generating an aerosol by generally heating an aerosol generating substrate and a separate main controller unit (MCU) to control power supplied to the heater. Although the MCU performs a function of controlling the overall operation of the aerosol generating apparatus according to an internally predefined logic, a logic lexically defined in the MCU tends to assume that the operation of the aerosol generating apparatus is performed without any defects or malfunctions, which causes a problem in that, when any defects or malfunctions occur a specific component constituting the aerosol generating apparatus or complicatedly occur with other components, it is too late or impossible for the MCU to cope with defects or malfunctions of the specific component constituting the aerosol generating apparatus.
For example, in commercially available aerosol generating apparatuses, even if the user lowers the temperature of the heater through a thermostat, the current supplied through a heating wire may not correctly flow according to a temperature setting state and may gradually increase, and when the user does not recognize this and leaves the aerosol generating apparatus without shutting off the power, the aerosol generating apparatus may be damaged by the heat emitted from the heating wire or furthermore a fire may occur.
In addition, the heater of the aerosol generating apparatus includes a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the heater. The temperature sensor may periodically or aperiodically transmit the temperature value of the heater to the MCU such that the MCU determines whether the heater is heated. However, when the temperature of the heater does not rise even though the user applies an input to a heating switch to heat the heater of the aerosol generating apparatus, there may be a problem in that the MCU has difficulty in determining whether the temperature of the heater does not rise due to the disconnection of the heater or, despite the rise in the temperature of the heater, whether the rise in the temperature is not detected due to a defect that has occurred in the temperature sensor.

Method for implementing feedback control function of aerosol generating apparatus, and aerosol generating apparatus


A battery capable of improving battery characteristics such as cycle characteristics is provided. An electrolytic solution is impregnated in a separator. The electrolytic solution contains 4-fluoro-1,3-dioxolane-2-one. Fluorine ion content in the electrolytic solution is preferably from 10 weight ppm to 3200 weight ppm. Thereby, chemical stability of the electrolytic solution is improved, and cycle characteristics are improved. The present invention is effective for the case using an anode active material containing Sn or Si as an element for an anode.

The present invention relates to an electrolytic solution and a battery using it, and more particularly to an electrolytic solution effective for the case using an anode active material containing at least one of tin (Sn) and silicon (Si) as an element and a battery using it.
As electronic devices have been downsized, development of batteries having a high energy density has been demanded. As a battery meeting such a demand, there is a lithium metal secondary battery utilizing precipitation and dissolution reaction of lithium (Li). However, since in the lithium metal secondary battery, lithium is dendrite-precipitated on the anode and inactivated upon charging, there is a disadvantage that the cycle life thereof is short.
As a battery with the improved cycle life, lithium ion secondary batteries have been commercialized. For the anode of the lithium ion secondary batteries, an anode active material such as a graphite material utilizing intercalation reaction of lithium to the graphite intercalations and a carbonaceous material applying lithium insertion and extraction action to and from the fine pores is used. Therefore, in the lithium ion secondary battery, lithium is not dendrite-precipitated and the cycle life is long. Further, since the graphite material or the carbonaceous material is stable in the air, large merit can be obtained in view of industrial production.
However, for the anode capacity by intercalation, there is the upper limit as defined by composition, C6Li of the first stage graphite intercalation compound. Further, controlling fine pore structure of the carbonaceous material is industrially difficult, and results in decreased specific gravity of the carbonaceous material, and therefore does not act as an effective means for improving anode capacity per unit volume, furthermore improving battery capacity per unit volume. It is known that certain low-temperature fired carbonaceous materials show the anode discharge capacity beyond 1000 mAh/g. However, since such materials have a large capacity at a noble potential of 0.8 V or more in the counter lithium metal, there is a shortcoming that the discharge voltage is decreased when the battery is formed by using a metal oxide or the like for the cathode.
From the foregoing reasons, it is difficult to address the progressive tendency of long time usage of electronic devices and high energy density of the power source with the current carbonaceous materials, and anode active materials with larger lithium insertion and extraction ability is aspired.
Meanwhile, as an anode active material capable of attaining higher capacity, materials obtained by applying the fact that certain lithium alloys are electrochemically and reversibly generated and decomposed have been widely researched. For example, lithium-aluminum alloy has been widely researched, and silicon alloy has been reported in U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,566. However, there is a disadvantage that when such alloys are used for anodes of batteries, cycle characteristics are deteriorated. One of the causes is that such alloys are expanded and shrunk associated with charge and discharge, and pulverized as charge and discharge are repeated.
Therefore, in order to inhibit pulverization of such alloys, for example, it has been considered that substitution is partly made with an element not involved in expansion and shrinkage associated with insertion and extraction of lithium. For example, LiSiaOb (0≦a, 0<b<2) (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H06-325765), LicSi1-dMdOe (M represents a metal element except for alkali metals or a metalloid element except for silicon, 0≦c, 0<d<1, and 0<e<2) (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H07-230800), lithium-silver-tellurium alloy (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H07-288130), and the like have been suggested. Further, a compound containing one or more nonmetallic elements and a metal element or a metalloid element of Group 14 in the long period periodic table (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-102705) has been suggested.
However, even in the case using such anode active materials, there is a disadvantage that deterioration of cycle characteristics due to expansion and shrinkage is large, and therefore the batteries with such anode active materials are not sufficient for being used for the mobile devices attaching importance to cycle characteristics.


A damage predicting device of a power semiconductor switching element includes a resistor connected to a gate of the power semiconductor switching element, and control circuitry. The control circuitry compares a detection voltage matching a voltage generated between two ends of the resistor and a reference voltage, and predicts that predetermined damage has been accumulated in a gate insulating layer in the power semiconductor switching element when the detection voltage exceeds the reference voltage.

Electric power conversion devices, such as an AC-DC converter that, when an alternating-current voltage is converted to a direct-current voltage, outputs a direct-current voltage with a predetermined value by periodically turning on/off a power semiconductor switching element and a DC-DC converter that, when a direct-current voltage is converted to another direct-current voltage having a different value from the direct-current voltage, outputs a direct-current voltage with a predetermined value by periodically turning on/off a power semiconductor switching element, are known.
For the electric power conversion devices described above, there is a case in which, for example, a power semiconductor switching element, such as a FET (Field Effect Transistor) formed from GaN (Gallium Nitride) (referred to below as the GaN-FET), a FET formed from SiC (Silicon Carbide) (referred to below as the SiC-FET), and an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor), are used.
If these power semiconductor switching elements are used for the electric power conversion devices described above, however, there is the risk that the following problem occurs due to a large current driving capacity (di/dt) of the power semiconductor switching element. For example, when a power semiconductor switching element is periodically turned on/off, if a gate voltage to be applied to the gate of the power semiconductor switching element is changed from one of a high level and a low level to the other level, ringing having a frequency higher than the frequency of the gate voltage is superimposed on the gate voltage along with the resonance of an inductance component, a capacitance component, and the like parasitic to a circuit wire in an AC-DC converter or a DC-DC converter. That is, an overshoot or an undershoot appears for the gate voltage. If the gate voltage exceeds a rated voltage in this way, damage is gradually accumulated in a gate insulating layer in the power semiconductor switching element, and this may lead to the destruction of the power semiconductor switching element before long.
In the case of Japanese Patent No. 5186095, for example, the gate voltage of the power semiconductor switching element is detected. However, this is to reduce a switching loss and noise in the power semiconductor switching element and is not predictive of the extent of damage accumulated in the gate insulating layer in the power semiconductor switching element.

Damage predicting device and damage predicting method for power semiconductor switching element, AC-DC converter, and DC-DC converter


An image display method includes a display step of synthesizing and displaying a predetermined image and a moving image, a detecting step of detecting a specific target in the moving image, and a decision step of deciding whether the specific target detected in the moving image is positioned to be overlapping with the predetermined image. In addition, a signal processing step displays a predetermined mark at a position of the detected specific target, if it is decided that the specific target detected in the moving image is positioned to be overlapping with the predetermined image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display method, a program, an image display apparatus and an image display system.
2. Related Background Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-139994 discloses the technique of synthesizing a portrait picture and an image generated by a computer, displaying a synthesis image, moving the image generated by the computer and changing the size thereof, in accordance with a specific object such as the hand of a user.
With this technique, however, although a conversation is possible while a desired image is pointed with a finger, a conversation is impossible while a portion of an image is pointed with a finger.
In order to realize pleasant conversation with families or friends while looking at a photograph, it is desired to make conversations such as "This person is . . . " and "A building in this picture is . . . " while a portion of a person or a thing in the photograph is pointed with a finger.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H06-301476 discloses the other well-know technique of fetching a real image and detecting a particular shape of the real image to display a synthesis image having a virtual image in front of the real image.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-125369 discloses the technique of calculating a probability that each pixel in a frame of an input image is positioned within an object, and synthesizing the input image and a background image by using as a transparency the value of each pixel based on the probability.

Image display method, program, image display apparatus and image display system


Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a subscription-based travel service that includes one or more processors that perform operations comprising: receiving, by a subscription-based travel service, search criteria comprising a travel period for a user; determining that a subscription of the user with the subscription-based travel service corresponds to a first travel service rate category; identifying, based on the search criteria, a list of travel services associated with the first travel service rate category that are available for consumption during the travel period; presenting the identified list of travel services to the user; and reserving a given travel service of the travel services on the list in response to receiving a selection of the given travel service.

Web-based travel services systems allow a user to search through various travel services available by multiple providers. A user can specify a destination and travel time frame to find matching hotels, rental cars, and airfares along with their corresponding costs. The user can sort the results by price, type, and availability of the travel service. After the user finds a suitable hotel, rental car, or airfare, the user can utilize the web-based travel services to reserve the hotel, rental car, or airfare.

Travel services with different rate categories


A variable illuminating angle mechanism which can vary the illuminating angle of a flash unit. The variable illuminating angle mechanism includes a device which prevents a light emitting body or an illuminating lens from being moved in excess of a range of normal movement. The variable illuminating angle mechanism includes a drive shaft having a screw thread formed on a circumferential surface of the drive shaft and a drive device to rotationally drive the drive shaft. A transmission member in threaded connection to the drive shaft is moved by rotation of the drive shaft, and a transmission device moves the light emitting unit or the illuminating lens via movement of the transmission member. An escape device is positioned at at least one end of the drive shaft to disconnect the transmission member from the drive shaft when the transmission member is moved beyond a normal operating range of the light emitting unit or illuminating lens. When the escape device disconnects the drive shaft from the transmission member, the drive shaft rotates without driving the transmission member to prevent the variable illuminating angle mechanism from locking and causing damage to the variable illuminating angle mechanism components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flash unit having a variable illuminating angle mechanism which changes the illuminating angle of a flash unit, and, more particularly, the present invention relates to a variable illuminating angle mechanism for a flash unit which stops the movement of a light emitting body or an illuminating lens within the flash unit from exceeding a normal operating range.
2. Description of the Related Art
When flash photography is performed with a camera, it is necessary for the field angle of the photographic lens and the illuminating angle of the flash unit to overlap. In a conventional camera, to control the overlap of the field angle and the illuminating angle, the camera transmits data representing the focal length of the photographic lens to the flash unit, and the flash unit uses the focal length data to adjust the illuminating angle by causing a light emitting body or an illuminating lens to move. This type of camera is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. JP-A-2-207139, and in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. JP-A-57-120922.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional diagram of a conventional flash unit 71 of the type described above. As shown in FIG. 7, the flash unit 71 includes a motor 73 which rotationally drives a freely rotatable drive shaft 72. A transmission member 74 is in threaded connection to the drive shaft 72, and is also connected to a light emitting body 75. As the motor 73 rotationally drives the drive shaft 72, the transmission member 74 is moved which in turn moves the light emitting body 75. Further, an illuminating window 76 consisting of a Fresnel lens is positioned in the illuminating direction of the light emitting body 75.
A contact 77 is fixed to the lower surface of the transmission member 74, and a contact point 78 located along the drive shaft 72 makes sliding contact with the contact 77. The contact point 78 is connected to a control unit 79, and an output of the control unit 79 is connected to the motor 73. An input terminal of the control unit 79 is connected to components in the camera.
In operation of the flash unit shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 79 calculates a target position of the light emitting body 75 according to focal length information provided from the camera to provide an appropriate illumination angle. Next, the control unit 79 measures the actual position of the light emitting body 75 according to the state of the contact point 78, and the control unit 79 provides a drive output to the motor 73 corresponding to the positional deviation of the target position and the actual position. The motor 73 then rotationally drives the drive shaft 72 according to the output from the control unit 79. The control unit 79 successively detects the position of the transmission member 74 as the light emitting body 75 is driven to the target position, and stops the motor 73 after it has driven the transmission member 74 and the light emitting body 75 to the target position. In the above-described manner, the illuminating angle of the flash unit 71 is adjusted by changing the position of the light emitting body 75 within the flash unit 71.
When, for example, a zoom lens is used, the focal length of the photographic lens frequently changes according to the photographic circumstances. Because of the frequent changes of the focal length when using a zoom lens, a mechanism as shown in FIG. 7 which adapts the illuminating angle to the focal length is advantageous to increase the mobility of photography.
However, when an input of data representing the position of the transmission member 74 is absent due to electrical open circuit or poor connection, the control unit 79 becomes unable to detect the position of the light emitting body 75. In such a state, the control unit 79 drives the motor 73 continuously. Further, because the flash unit 71 impresses a high voltage trigger on the light emitting body 75 at this instant, electrical noise acts on the control unit 79. Since the control unit 79 consists of a microcomputer or the like, the electrical noise causes operations other than the programmed operations to arise (hereinafter referred to as "runaway"), and there is a risk of the motor 73 continuing to rotate.
In the case that the control unit 79 is unable to detect position data of the transmission member 74, it is possible to stop the motor 73 if the motor 73 is caused to rotate for more than a predetermined time. Such a system is disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication JP-B-7-27150.
However, in the case that runaway of the control unit 79 occurs, a stop command by the control unit 79 is not generated, and no stop operation is performed. If no stop operation is performed, the motor 73 continues to rotate, and there is a risk of failure of the variable illuminating angle mechanism. Moreover, when the transmission member 74 reaches the end of the drive shaft 72, and the rotation of the motor 73 is forced to stop (hereinafter referred to as "lock"), a risk of failure of the motor 73 arises.
Generally, as a countermeasure against the kinds of problems described above, a slipping clutch is disposed between the motor 73 and the drive shaft 72 so that the motor 73 does not lock. However, when a slipping clutch is used between the motor 73 and the drive shaft 72, it is necessary to provide a sliding surface with a predetermined static frictional force in order to transmit the drive force to the drive shaft 72 during normal operation. A problem occurs in that a comparatively large sliding frictional force occurs during an abnormality, causing the sliding surface to wear and its durability to become low.
Furthermore, a problem occurs in that the large sliding frictional force acts on both the motor 73 and the drive shaft 72, becoming a new origin of failure in the variable illuminating angle mechanism.
Moreover, a problem occurs in that the necessity of using a slipping clutch between the motor 73 and the drive shaft 72 causes the transmission mechanism to become complicated. As a result, the ease of assembly of the flash unit becomes poor and the size of the flash unit is increased.

Variable illuminating angle mechanism for a flash unit


An entity summarization system is described herein that mines the Internet and other data source to provide answers to questions such as the relative sentiment of users towards various brands. The system uses a controlled vocabulary list describing a specific aspect of entities of interest. Given an entity name, the system scans the whole content corpus to collect statistics on the words that occur most frequently in the context of the entity name, taking into account proximity information, to produce a weighted list of vocabulary terms describing the entity. Two entities can be compared by normalizing and comparing their weighted term lists. In some embodiments, the system performs these procedures efficiently by leveraging an N-gram web model. Thus, the system provides an automated way to compare two entities to derive information about how users feel about the entities at any given time.

The Internet provides access to a vast amount of information. A major challenge given the quantity of information is how to find and discover information to provide a user with the most relevant information for a particular circumstance. The most common tool for doing this today is a keyword based search query provided to a search engine. The search engine matches received keywords to one or more words or phrases in a search index to identify documents, web pages, or other content that is potentially relevant to the user's query. For example, if a user searches for "dinosaurs" then the search engine provides the user a list of search results that are links to web pages that contain that term.
User queries often contain one or more entities (e.g., a person, location, or organization name) identified by name or properties associated with the entity. For example, one query might search for "Barack Obama", while another might search for "President of the United States". Both of these queries are looking for information related to a specific entity. Users may also search for locations, such as restaurants, banks, shopping centers, and so forth. Entities may include any type of nameable thing whether it is a business, person, consumer good, service, and so forth.
Understanding how people feel about an entity (brand, product, person, business, etc.), finding out what are the most distinctive characteristics of this entity, and comparing two entities to understand the main differences are among the most common tasks people do on the Web. These tasks are very common for individuals, but they are also extremely important for businesses. Businesses spend a lot of effort and money trying to understand how people feel about their brands and products relative to their competitors. The World Wide Web contains lots of data with answers to these questions, but finding, filtering, and summarizing the web data to obtain these answers is challenging. Web data is often noisy and customer opinions about products may be distributed all over the Internet in a format and language that is difficult for automated tools to consume. There are web sites that ask users to provide reviews on entities and then display the reviews users entered (e.g., yelp.com, epinions.com), but these do not provide any reliable way to summarize and use this information in an automated fashion. Opinion mining is an active research area in Natural Language Processing (NLP). The goal there is to perform linguistic analysis of a piece of content (e.g., a product review) to understand the opinion of the author about it. However, this type of research is in its infancy and there is still far to go to get these processes to produce automatable results.


A hydraulic air compressor and generator system may comprise: a hydraulic air compressor comprising a compressed air pipe for conveying the compressed air from the separator chamber; and an electrical power generator positioned in line with the compressed air pipe so that compressed air will directly power the generator. A method for operating an electrical power generator may comprise: positioning the electrical power generator in line with a compressed air pipe of a hydraulic air compressor; and using compressed air output from the HAC to directly power the electrical power generator.

A. Technical Field
This document relates to a hydraulic air compressor and generator system.
B. Background Art
Conventional hydraulic air compressors are known. They have an entrainment head above the compressor head of the hydraulic air compressor. As such, conventional hydraulic air compressors are only able to be located in limited use environments. Many conventional hydraulic air compressors do not provide a closed cycle system, and those that appear or profess to, if any, do not provide a true closed cycle system in all use environments (e.g., when placed in a lake or ocean for example). Additionally, the compressed air output of conventional hydraulic air compressors are used to directly power gas turbines and other fossil fuel requiring equipment which produce pollution.

Hydraulic air compressor and generator system


A method for treating the primary coolant of a pressure water reactor by controlling its efficiency through the H.sub.3 BO.sub.3 content in the coolant is described. Hydrazine hydrate is continuously added to the coolant cycle of a nuclear reactor which is charged for energy generation in such amounts that its content is 5.multidot.10.sup.-6 to 5.multidot.10.sup.-2 g/kg coolant. Excess hydrogen is removed from the coolant leaving a content of no more than 100 n.ml/kg.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to controlling reactor efficiency of a pressurized water nuclear reactor by boric acid content in the coolant.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
It is known that boric acid in the cooling medium of a nuclear reactor, used for control of the fuel reactivity, causes an increased material corrosion. Moreover, during the decomposition of the nuclear fuel strong flows of neutrons, gamma-radiation and .alpha. or .beta. particles act on the water and decompose the same into oxygen, hydrogen and a plurality of oxide radicals which increase material corrosion (Report of IAEA "Coolant Technology of Water Reactors", Doc. 0846j, Mar. 11, 1981 S. 27-29).
The corrosion products get into the radiation core in the form of insoluble oxides through neutron flow (fuel elements). They become radioactive, settle on the inner face of the reactor during feeding through the coolant cycle and form a radioactive contamination causing considerable technical difficulties during the operating, repairing and inspection of the reactor (Report of IAEA "Coolant Technology of Water Reactors", Doc. 0846j, Mar. 11, 1991, S. 54-55).
For reducing the corrosivity of the boric acid in the pressurized water reactors, 1 to 2 ppm LiOH (Report of IAEA "Coolant Technology of Water Reactors", Doc. 0846j, Mar. 11, 1991, S. 27-29) are added. Alternatively, taking into consideration the presence of ions like Li.sup.+ and NA.sup.+, 0.05-0.45 mM/kg KOH may be added.
For reducing the radiolysis of the water, hydrogen is added in pressurized water reactors and in water-water-reactors. Ammonia from which hydrogen is then released (Report of IAEA "Coolant Technology of Water Reactors", Doc. 0846j, Mar. 11, 1991, S. 27) may be added.
These methods permit the operation of nuclear reactors, however, do not assure any considerable lowering of the contamination of the reactor, i.e., the gamma-dosage efficiency of the individual parts of the steam generator is in a range of between 3 to 30 R/h (see Report of IAEA "Coolant Technology of Water Reactors", Doc. 08461, Mar. 11, 1991, S. 27-28).
The nuclear reactor operates in a known method in accordance with FIG. 1 as follows:
The primary cycle includes a reactor 1, a main circulating pump 2, ion exchange filter 3 for cleaning the coolant, a steam generator 4, a steamline 5 of the secondary cycle, a pump 6 for discharging the coolant, a feeding ventilator 7, cycle pipe lines 8 having a large diameter, a feeding pump 9, a pressure holder 10, a pressure reduction device 11 for ventilator and fuel elements 12 and a coolant A.
A dosage of 12 to 15 g/l boric acid solution is added to the primary cycle of reactor 1 which is fed with fresh fuel material. The ion exchange filter 3 for cleaning the coolant A is saturated with H.sub.3 BO.sub.3 and KOH in a mixture with NH.sub.3 up to a balanced concentration. Before operating the reactor 1 at a temperature of no more than 80.degree. C. a hydrazine hydrate solution is added to the coolant A in a concentration which is above a three fold excess of the measured O.sub.2 content for a chemical binding of the oxygen.
After executing the above mentioned operating steps the reactor is then physically accelerated until reaching a controlled minimum efficiency (W-10.sup.-6 %).
After the required measuring of the physical parameter of the reactor plant, the reactor efficiency is then further accelerated up to the level of energy generation. At this point KOH is added to the coolant in an amount corresponding to the measured H.sub.3 BO.sub.3 amount, however, no more than 0.45 mMol/kg and 5 to 10 mg/kg NH.sub.3, with respect to the coolant. Thereafter, H.sub.2 is released from NH.sub.3 in view of the radioalysis 30 to 60 n.ml/kg, with respect to the coolant. With these chemical parameters the commercial operation of water-water-reactors is started. Since the radiolysis of the water occurs with a high speed due to the radiation effect and in that the reunification of the oxide radicals does not occur immediately during its reaction with H.sub.2, the oxide radicals of the water result in material corrosion, whereby insoluble Co, Mn, Ni, Cr, Fe and other elements containing oxide compounds are generated.
Due to the coolant cycle the corrosion products are fed to the effective range of the nuclear fuel and are attracted by the wall of the fuel elements due to the released thermoelectric forces, whereby they are subjected to a tremendous neutron flow and convert into isotopes .sup.58 Co, .sup.60 CO, .sup.54 Mn, .sup.51 Cr, .sup.59 Fe etc.
Under a constant reactor load the activated corrosion products slowly change over into the coolant water. However, during severe load fluctuations these products are violently washed off the walls of the fuel elements. However, in both cases metal oxide particles are distributed through the coolant cycle and deposit on the reactor walls due to isotope exchange or merely by sorption on the inner faces of the reactor (sorption coefficient K.sup.+ 1.multidot.10.sup.-4 sec. .sup.-1) and therefore result in contamination. Equipment for cleaning the cooling medium reduces the content of activated products in the coolant with a coefficient K.sup.+ 1.multidot.10.sup.-5 sec. .sup.-1 by removing a certain portion of the coolant. However, a complete cleaning of the coolant is not obtained with this measure. Finally a slow enrichment of radioactive isotopes builds up on the inner reactor face and results in contamination of the same. The known techniques enable the operation of nuclear reactors, however do not assure a considerable lowering of the contamination of the reactor, i.e., the Y-dosaging efficiency of the individual parts of the steam generator is in a range of between 3 and 30 R/H. The lowest Y-radiation dosage is obtained by adding KOH and NH.sub.3 into the primary cycle of water-water-reactors. However, in this case the gamma-radiation dosage is still very high (at an average of 3 to 7 R/h), as is the case in the power plant in Lovisa (Finland), for example. The gamma-dosage efficiency ranges in pressurized water reactors of the type "Westinghouse" and "Siemens" (KWU) at 3 to 40 R/h or 3 to 45 R/h (see report of IAEA "Coolant Technology of Water Reactors", Doc. 0845j, Nov. 03, 1991, S 54-55).
Hence, nuclear plants which are presently in operation show the following disadvantages with respect to the water chemical operation:
1. Insufficient speed of the reunification of the oxide radicals under H.sub.2 effect, whereby a corrosion of the reactor material occurs.
2. the combustion element wall, which results in its activation and subsequent migration through the coolant cycle.
3. The sorption coefficient of the activated corrosion products exceeds the cleaning coefficient with respect to the settling speed, so that in spite of the efficiency increase of the cleaning means a contamination of the reactor cannot be prevented.
It is an object of the invention to decrease the speed of material corrosion as well as to reduce the activation of the corrosion products and its depositing on the reactor walls, and in this manner to reduce the reactor contamination by a corresponding reduction of the gamma dosage efficiency to <3 R/h.

Method for treatment of primary coolant medium of a pressurized water nuclear reactor


A grease composition containing a polymer with (a) monomers (i) at least one unsaturated α,β-carboxylic acid ester containing an alkyl group with about 10 to about 20 carbon atoms; and (ii) at least one unsaturated α,β-carboxylic acid ester containing an alkyl group with about 4 to about 11 carbon atoms different from monomer (i); and (iii) at least one unsaturated dicarboxylic acid anhydride or derivatives thereof; and (iv) optionally at least one unsaturated α,β-carboxylic acid ester containing an alkyl group with about 1 to about 3 carbon atoms; and optionally (b) at least one non-monomeric amine with primary functionality, secondary functionality or mixtures thereof; and optionally (c) other performance additives; and (d) at least one thickening agent, and (e) an oil of lubricating viscosity. The invention further relates to the process to make the composition and its use in greases.

It is known to prepare greases from base oil, a thickener and optionally other performance additives for example antioxidants or antiwear agents. Polymers have also been added to greases in an attempt to improve the performance characteristics of the grease, for example, polymers have been employed to decrease water wash-off, to increase water repellency, to decrease oil separation, to increase dropping points or cone penetration and as thickeners. Often the polymers of polymethacrylates or polyolefins are added to grease. Typically these polymers are incorporated in the base oil and act as a viscosity modifier. However, the polymers have limited interaction with the thickener. This results in the grease being more susceptible to the effects of water, for example, water wash-off or decreased water repellency. Producing greases with poor water wash-off or water repellency decreases the longevity of grease and increases wear on the surface being lubricated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,862 discloses a process for lubricating and protecting bearings in a steel process mill. The process caster rollers have improved longevity, rust and corrosion by using grease containing a polymethacrylate additive. The polymethacrylate additive, imparts improved water resistance and reduced water wash-off. The polymethacrylate is not functionalised and does not interact with the base oil and thickener used to form the greases.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,371 discloses the use of polymers additives in greases selected from polyurethanes, polyoxides, polyamines, polyacrylamides, polyvinyl alcohols, ethylene vinyl acetates, polyvinyl acetates, polyvinyl pyrrolidones, polyolefins, polyolefin arylenes, polyarylenes and polymethacrylates. The polymers are thermally stable and minimise high temperature oxidation, corrosion, thermal breakdown, detrimental polymerisation of the grease and lacquering. The polymers are hydrophobic and extend the useful life of the greases. The polymers are unfunctionalised except when the polymers can be reacted with boric acid or boron containing compounds resulting in a borated polymer.
Chinese Patent Application 87105053A discloses lithium greases prepared by saponification of C12-C24 fatty acid and lithium hydroxide, a synthetic or mineral oil and an additive package containing polymethacrylate at 1 wt % of the grease composition. The polymethacrylate is not functionalised and does not interact with the base oil and thickener used to form greases.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,668,412 discloses polymers which have been functionalised and are capable of use in lubricating oils containing at least one (meth) acrylate monomer, a dicarboxylic acid anhydride, an amine and a functionalising Mannich base. The first and second (meth) acrylate esters are derived from alcohols with 10 to 16 carbon atoms, and 12 to 18 carbon atoms respectively. The dicarboxylic acid anhydride is maleic anhydride or derivatives thereof. The amine can be primary or secondary functionalised. The Mannich base is formed from the reaction of phenols, aldehydes and polyamines through the nitrogen of the polymer amine group.
It would be desirable to have an oil of lubricating viscosity containing polymers suitable for greases that are capable of imparting improved thickening, decreased water wash-off, increased water repellence, prolonged longevity and decreased wear.
The present invention provides a grease composition containing polymers capable of improving greases by imparting improved water wash-off and water repellence. The invention further provides a grease composition containing polymers capable of improving thickening. The invention further provides a grease composition containing polymers capable of decreasing wear and increasing longevity.

Functionalized polymer composition for grease


A water-soluble container containing a composition, the container comprising a member having at least two openings positioned on different sides of the member, each opening being closed by a film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water-soluble container and to a process for preparing such container.
2. The Related Art
It is known to package chemical compositions, particularly those which may be of a hazardous or irritant nature, in films, particularly water soluble films. Such containers can simply be added to water in order to dissolve or disperse the contents of the container into the water.
For example, WO 89/12587 discloses a package which comprises an envelope of a water soluble material which comprises a flexible wall and a water-soluble heat seal. The package may contain an organic liquid comprising, for example, a pesticide, fungicide, insecticide or herbicide.
WO 92/17382 discloses a package containing an agrochemical comprising a first sheet of non-planar water-soluble or water-dispersible material and a second sheet of water-soluble or water-dispersible material superposed on the first sheet and sealed to it.
Such packages, however, can only be of a fairly simple shape. They may also give an impression of a lack of rigidity. Thus they may be considered unattractive by a consumer. The packages disclosed in WO 89/12587 are produced by the vertical form-fill-seal method, which can only produce packages having a flat or rounded envelope-like shape. The packages produced in WO 92/17382 can have more complex shapes since they are produced by thermoforming.
However, the range of shapes is still limited and it is difficult to provide the package with a degree of rigidity if this is desired.

Water-soluble container having at least two openings


A method, apparatus, and system are provided for k-means clustering using t-test computation. According to one embodiment, k-means clustering is performed on a dataset. In performing k-means clustering, the dataset having various points is partitioned into several clusters. The closeness of a given point to a given cluster is determined. Then, t-test computation is performed to determine statistical linear relationship between the point and the cluster. If the point is found to be close to the cluster and a statistical linear relationship is found between the point and the cluster, the current position of the point is maintained.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiment of this invention relate generally to clustering. More particularly, an embodiment of the present invention relates to k-means clustering using t-test computation.
2. Description of Related Art
Clustering is mathematical formulation-based measure of similarity between various objects. Clustering is used to obtain a collection of objects which are similar between them and are dissimilar to the objects belonging to other clusters. This multivariate statistical analysis-type clustering is also known as unsupervised clustering analysis, numerical taxonomy, and classification analysis. For example, in molecular biology, clustering is used to group or sort biological genes or samples into separate clusters based on their statistical behavior so that the degree of association is strong between members of the same cluster and weak between members of different clusters. Examples of clustering techniques include Jarvis-Patrick, Agglomerative Hierarchical, Self Organizing Map (SOM), and K-means.
K-means clustering is a simple unsupervised learning algorithm that is used to solve some well-known clustering problems. The K-means algorithm is used to generate fixed-sized, flat classifications and clusters based on distance metrics for similarity. The conventional K-means clustering algorithm follows a simplistic way to classify a given data set through a given number of clusters (e.g., k clusters) fixed at a pirori. Stated differently, the k-means algorithm starts with an initial partition of the cases into k clusters (e.g., assign a value of k at initialization). The process then continues with modification of the partition to reduce the sum of the distances for each case from the mean of the cluster to which the case belongs. One problem with the conventional k-means is that a certain initial value of k has to be assigned based only on estimations. Such value of k is often incorrect and negatively impacts the final result.
One way to reduce the impact of the k value is to rerun the algorithm with different randomly generated starting partitions or initial k values. Because the number of true clusters in the data is not known, the algorithm is run with different values for k that are closer to the number of clusters expected from the data to determine how the sum of distances reduces with increasing values of k. However, this conventional approach of rerunning the k-means algorithm is time consuming, inefficient, cumbersome, and still does not eliminate or significantly reduce the negative impact of k on the final solution.

K-means clustering using t-test computation


Various aspects of a method and a system for displaying a plurality of auxiliary images with different compositions together with a predetermined image acquired through an imaging unit are disclosed herein. The plurality of auxiliary images are generated based on the predetermined image. Information indicating a movement direction of the imaging unit is displayed in correspondence with each of the plurality of auxiliary images.

The present disclosure relates to a display control device, a display control method, a program, and a recording medium.
One of methods of imaging a photograph giving a good impression to viewers is setting of a composition. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-231992 discloses a technology for automatically determining a composition determined to be the best composition in an imaging device and presenting an image based on the composition.

Display control device, display control method, program, and recording medium


The present invention discloses a process for the therapeutic management of diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome in humans comprising the oral administration of Bacillus coagulans SBC37-01, MTCC 5856 (containing not less than 2 billion spores) along with standard treatment of care in a specific manner.

Field of the Invention
The present invention in general relates to probiotic formulations and their therapeutic effects. In specific, the present invention discloses a process for the therapeutic management of diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome in humans comprising the oral administration of Bacillus Coagulans SBC37-01, MTCC 5856 (containing not less than 2 billion spores) along with standard treatment of care in a specific manner.
Description of Prior Art
The World Health Organization's 2001 definition of probiotics is "live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host" and are able to prevent or improve some diseases (Eric P (2007) Probiotics and prebiotics renaissance of a therapeutic principle. Cent Eur J Med 2: 237-270). Consumption of probiotics is associated with a range of health benefits including stimulation of the immune system, protection against diarrheal diseases and nosocomial and respiratory tract infections, lowering of cholesterol, attenuation of overt immunoinflammatory disorders and anticancer effects (Britton R, Versalovic J (2008) Probiotics and Gastrointestinal Infections. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infect Dis 2008: 1-10, and Gill H, Prasad J (2008) Bioactive Components of milk: Probiotics, immunomodulation, and health benefits, in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, ed by Bösze Z. Springer, New York USA, pp 423-454). Most probiotic microorganisms belong to the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium; however, other bacteria and some yeast may also have probiotic properties. Lactobacilli are usually described as Gram-positive, non-spore-forming and non-flagelated rods or cocobacilli, aerotolerant, fastidious, acid-tolerant, and strictly fermentative. The commercial interest in functional foods containing probiotics matches with the increasing study of their role in the digestive tract (Figueroa-González I, Quijano G, Ramirez G, Cruz-Guerrero A (2011) Probiotics and Prebiotics—perspectives and challenges. J Sci Food Agric 91: 1341-1348). Some probiotics have been shown in preliminary research to possibly treat various forms of gastroenteritis (Longstreth G F, Thompson W G, Chey W D, Houghton L A, Mearin F, Spiller R C: Functional bowel disorders. Gastroenterology 2006, 130(5):1480-1491). Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a common functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder, is characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal bloating and flatulence, which are associated with changes in the frequency and form of stool and may markedly lower the quality of life (King C K, Glass R, Bresee J S, Duggan C (November 2003). Managing acute gastroenteritis among children: oral rehydration, maintenance, and nutritional therapy. MMWR Recomm Rep 52 (RR-16): 1-16, Vasiljevic T, Shah N P (2008) Probiotics—From Metchnikoff to bioactives. Int Dairy J 18: 714-728 and Tuohy K M, Probert H M, Smejkal C W, Gibson G R (2003) Using probiotics and prebiotics to improve gut health. Drug Discov Today 8: 692-699). Probiotic administration, prevent the invasion of tight junctions or modulation of gut microbiota composition and/or activity might bring about relief in IBD symptoms or maintain remission from clinical symptoms (Santosa S, Farnworth E, Jones P (2006) Probiotics and Their Potential Health Claims. Nutr Rev 64: 265-274). It is important to note that health benefits provided by probiotics are strain specific, and not species- or genus-specific. Therefore, no probiotic strain will provide all proposed benefits, not even strains of the same species, and not all strains of the same species will be effective against defined healthy conditions Figueroa-González I, Quijano G, Ramírez G, Cruz-Guerrero A (2011) Probiotics and Prebiotics—perspectives and challenges. J Sci Food Agric 91: 1341-1348.
It is the principle objective of the present invention to disclose a process for the therapeutic management of diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome in humans comprising the oral administration of Bacillus Coagulans SBC37-01, MTCC 5856 along with standard treatment of care. The present invention fulfills stated objective and provided further related advantages of enhancing therapeutic efficacy for irritable bowel syndrome by using/incorporating Bacillus coagulans SBC37-01 in the standard therapeutic regimen in a specific manner. Bacillus coagulans SBC37-01 is a proprietary strain of Sami Labs Limited, Bangalore, India and Sabinsa Corporation, NJ, USA that has been deposited in the Microbial Type Culture Collection and Gene Bank (MTCC), a national facility established and funded jointly by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India. Bacillus coagulans SBC37-01 has been assigned the strain number MTCC 5856 and exhibits 99% genetic homology with the known bacterial strains Bacillus coagulans ATCC 31284, Bacillus coagulans NBRC 3887 and Bacillus coagulans ATCC 7050.

Process for the therapeutic management of diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome using


A compact zoom lens optical system that includes: a first lens group having positive refractive power; a second lens group having negative refractive power; a third lens group having positive refractive power; and a fourth lens group having positive refractive power, wherein the first through fourth lens groups are arranged sequentially from an object, zooming is performed from a wide angle position to a telephoto position so that the distance between the first lens group and the second lens group increases, the distance between the second lens group and the third lens group decreases, and the distance between the third lens group and the fourth lens group increases, and the first through fourth lens groups satisfy:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens optical system suitable for a camera using a solid state imaging device, and more particularly, to a zoom lens optical system which can be made compact, correct color aberration, ensure a high zooming ratio, and have low manufacturing costs.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic still cameras and video cameras using a solid state imaging device, such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), are rapidly becoming more prevalent. Such cameras are being developed cheaper, lighter, and more compact. Accordingly, a zoom lens optical system used in these cameras is also required to be less expensive, lighter, and more compact.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-109653 (Apr. 8, 2004) discloses a 4-group zoom lens optical system. The zoom lens optical system includes a first lens group having positive refractive power, a second lens group having negative refractive power, a third lens group having positive refractive power, and a fourth lens group having positive refractive power, arranged sequentially from an object. The zoom lens optical system performs zooming by moving the first through fourth lens groups. The first lens group and the third lens group when at a telephoto position of their ranges are closer to the object than when at a wide angle position of their ranges. Since the first lens group has a single lens, color aberration compensation by the first lens group is difficult. Since the zoom lens optical system is long, product value decreases.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-356269 (Dec. 26, 2001) discloses a 4-group zoom lens optical system. The zoom lens optical system includes a first lens group having a single positive lens, a second lens group having at least one negative lens and one positive lens, a third lens group having one negative lens and two positive lenses, and a fourth lens group having at least one positive lens, arranged sequentially from an object. The zoom lens optical system performs zooming by moving the first through third lens groups. The zoom lens optical system has the drawback in that color aberration compensation is difficult since the first lens group has the single lens. Also, since the fourth lens group has two or more lenses, the number of lenses increase, thereby increasing production costs and requiring a large receiving space.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0002171 A1 (Jan. 2, 2003) discloses a 4-group zoom lens optical system. The zoom lens optical system includes first through fourth lens groups sequentially arranged from an object. The zoom lens optical system performs zooming by operating the first through fourth lens groups and causing a change in space between the first lens group and the second lens group. The zoom lens optical system has an advantage in that color aberration can be easily corrected since the first lens group has three lenses. However, the third lens group has four or more lenses, and thus production costs increase. Also, aspherical materials of the third lens group and the fourth lens group are incompatible, and thus the system is expensive and difficult to manufacture.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-177317 (Jun. 27, 2003) discloses a 4-group zoom lens optical system which performs zooming by operating first, third, and fourth lens groups. The first lens group has three lenses, the second lens group has four lenses, the third lens group has two positive lenses and a negative lens, and the fourth lens group has three lenses. Since each of the first lens group and the fourth lens group has three lenses, aberration is reduced, but it is difficult to make the zoom lens optical system inexpensive and compact due to the increase in the number of lenses.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-107629 (Apr. 10, 2002) discloses a 4-group zoom lens optical system which operates all of first through fourth lens groups. The first lens group has three lenses, the second lens group has four lenses, the third lens group has two positive lenses and a negative lens, and the fourth lens group has five lenses. In this case, color aberration and astigmatic field curvature can be corrected since the first lens group has three lenses. However, since the number of lenses increases, automatic focusing is difficult and the size and costs of the zoom lens optical system increase.

Abstract: 6  ≤                    L        W                    F        W              +                  L        t                    F        t              ≤  8where Lw denotes a distance between a first surface of an object-side lens of the first lens group and an image surface when in the wide angle position, Lt denotes a distance between the first surface of the object-side lens of the first lens group and the image surface when in the telephoto position, Fw denotes an overall focal length when in the wide angle position, and the Ft denotes an overall focal length when in the telephoto position.


A method for testing an LCD panel is proposed. The method includes: dividing a scanning period into a first sub-period and a second sub-period; in the first sub-period, inputting a first scanning signal to a first set of scan lines, inputting a first testing signal to a first set of data lines, and inputting a second testing signal to a second set of data lines; and in the second sub-period, inputting a second scanning signal to a second set of scan lines, inputting a first scanning signal to a first set of scan lines, inputting a second testing signal to a first set of data lines, and inputting a first testing signal to a second set of data lines. By using the procedure, the present invention uses the testing method in the cell process to test the image blur phenomenon. This can improve the testing ability and raise the yield.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a display, and more particularly, to a method of testing an LCD panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the conventional art, the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel after the cell manufacturing process will be later into a module manufacturing process in order to assemble the driver IC and LCD panel into an LCD display module. In the above-mentioned module manufacturing process, the IC and the LCD panel are firstly bonded and then a lighting testing method is performed to test the image blur phenomenon of the LCD module. The image blur phenomenon is that an image shown on the LCD display disappears gradually instead of disappearing immediately when the supplied voltage is cut off. The image blur phenomenon ruins the display quality.
But the program is: when the image blur phenomenon is identified in the lighting testing procedure, the driver IC and LCD panel have been assembled together and its hard to fix the LCD panel.
Moreover, the conventional 1D1G (1 data 1 gate) lighting testing procedure, currently used in the cell process, can be only utilized to light mono-color display, which can only display black, white, grey image. It means that conventional 1D1G (1 data 1 gate) lighting testing procedure cannot be used to test the image blur phenomenon.

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


Systems and methods of detecting when an automatic swimming pool cleaner (APC) has contacted a main drain cover or other object protruding from a surface of a swimming pool are described. An APC may include equipment for detecting a change in its pitch or yaw (or both its pitch and yaw). Changes in pitch and yaw may be determined as a function of time, identifying encounters of the APC with certain protruding objects.

Many swimming pools include main drains typically positioned in floors or bottom surfaces of the pools. Anti-vortex covers often shield swimmers from the main drains. These covers protrude upward from the bottom surfaces and thus tend to create obstacles for passage of APCs travelling along the surfaces.
Indeed, at least some APCs are susceptible to becoming lodged atop the covers or to having their movement impeded thereby. Consequently, certain conventional robotic APCs may include programmed "time out" routines in which movement of an APC is altered if, for example, the APC does not detect contact with a vertical wall within a pre-determined period of time. These "time out" routines do not indicate that an APC has become lodged atop a main drain cover; rather, they activate based solely on how much time has elapsed since the APC has contacted a wall. Moreover, because an APC may become lodged prior to elapse of the requisite time period, thereafter activating a "time out" routine might not dislodge the APC.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,141,191 to Hui describes an APC whose ballast is centrally offset "to the right and to the rear" of the cleaner. See Hui, col. 1, ll. 59-62. This offset provides "increased . . . traction in order to run over or climb over . . . various obstacles, including vertical obstacles." See id., ll. 66-67. Also mentioned in the Hui patent is use of an inclination sensor, which activates a motor when an angle of 10-15° off vertical is sensed. See id., col. 6, ll. 47-52. Such activation causes the APC to reverse its motion and thereafter, if necessary, to disable its drive mechanism and pump so that the cleaner "twists and jumps" off the obstacle. See id., col. 6, l. 53 to col. 7, l. 6.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0225718 of Albaugh, II discloses kits and methods seeking to prevent an APC from becoming caught on a main drain cover. The kits include a "clip-on protective device" comprising "an arch shaped flexible member having two resting portions and two mounting hooks" configured to engage apertures of the cover. See Albaugh, II at p. 3, ¶ 0060 (numerals omitted). According to the Albaugh, II application, the shape of the protective device causes an APC contacting it "to tilt to one side regardless of direction of approach or speed and does not allow the suction forces of the [APC] and the main drain to interact to an extent that would cause the [APC] to hang-up over the main drain cover." See id. at pp. 3-4, ¶ 0072.

Drain cover detection systems and methods


An apparatus for guiding the pilot of an aircraft approaching its stipulated parking position in a straight line with a distance measuring device, which looks at the aircraft from the front in the direction of movement and which determines the actual position of the aircraft, and with an indicating device, which tells the pilot the distance remaining between the actual and parking positions, is characterised in that at least a 2D laser sensor is provided as the distance measuring device which surveys the front of an aircraft point by point in a (not horizontal) plane within a predetermined viewing angle and in successive measuring sweeps and which resolves each measuring point into its horizontal and vertical coordinates and from the horizontal coordinates, determined in a measuring sweep, of such measuring points, the vertical coordinates of which fall within at least one height range which is separately definable between the threshold values for each aircraft type, forms the average value as the actual position of the aircraft and compares it with the parking position which is also defined as a horizontal coordinate and produces a signal for the indicating device in dependence on the distance between the actual position and the parking position.

A landed aircraft is in most cases guided firstly into the runway region, in which its parking position is situated, by a vehicle driving in front of it. Painted onto the runway region are so-called center-lines which the aircraft must follow. The center-lines terminate in straight stand-center lines which lead to the parking location.
In appropriately equipped airports, the aircraft dock in the parking position with at least one of their exits at e.g. a gangway bridge. Since such gangway bridges are only movable to a limited extent, it is necessary that the parking position, which is differently determined for each type of aircraft, is adopted exactly. For this purpose, the pilot must stop the aircraft, which is guided on the stand line, at a defined point.
The problem associated with this is that the pilot is located at least 4-6 m above the earth, at least with current aircraft types, and has no direct view downwards.
A range of current accessory equipment (e.g. Moiree indicators) exists which makes it possible for the pilot to guide his aircraft on the stand line without direct visual contact.
The situation is different in connection with systems which are able to give the pilot information relating to the remaining taxiing distance to the parking position. No optimal device has been known up to now in this connection.
It is known e.g. to install induction loops in the ground of the runway which, e.g. as soon as the front wheel of the aircraft rolls over them, produce a signal which can be converted into a corresponding indication of distance. It is disadvantageous that the induction loops can easily suffer damage as a consequence of the large loading by the aircraft which taxi over them or caused by storms, e.g. by lightning strikes, and must be frequently replaced and furthermore also do not function precisely.
A system is also known from WO 90/13104 in which an aircraft approaching its parking position is surveyed by means of radar. This generally occurs with a radar beam based on microwaves which is directed towards the nose of the aircraft. The pilot can find out his actual position or the distance remaining to the parking position by means of an indicator board. It is disadvantageous that the radar beam must be guided to follow the aircraft as it approaches which requires either an optical or some other form of control.

Apparatus for guiding the pilot of an aircraft approaching its parking position


A dummy cell includes two series-connected OFF-state transistors, one end of the series circuit which is formed by these two transistors is connected with a constant voltage source, and the other end of the series circuit is connected with a replica bit line. This suppresses a leak current flowing from the replica bit line to the dummy cell and therefore gives optimal start-up timing to a sense amplifier circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device which generates, by means of a replica circuit comprising a replica cell whose structure is identical to that of a memory cell which is contained in a memory array, a start-up timing signal for a sense amplifier circuit, and relates to the circuit layout of a dummy cell.
2. Background Art
There are a number of methods for a conventional semiconductor memory device to generate a timing signal for a sense amplifier which amplifies data read from a memory cell and ensures that the timing of reading from a memory cell follows changes attributable to a process, a voltage, etc. Among these is a method of generating a timing signal using a replica circuit (See Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 for instance.) This method will now be described.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram which shows one example of the structure of a semiconductor memory device which uses a replica circuit. In FIG. 1, the semiconductor memory device comprises a memory control circuit 100, SRAM memory cells 101, a memory array 102 formed by the plural SRAM memory cells, a sense amplifier circuit 103 which amplifies and outputs signals transmitted on bit lines BL and NBL which are connected with the memory cells 101, a row decoder 104 which is connected with the memory array 102, replica cells 105, a replica circuit 106 comprising the replica cells 105, a replica word line 107 which sends a signal to the replica circuit 106, a replica bit line 108 which is connected with the replica cells 105, dummy cells 109 which are connected with the replica bit line 108, and a sense amplifier control circuit 110 which is connected with the replica bit line 108 and sends a sense amplifier control signal SAE to the sense amplifier circuit 103.
As shown in FIG. 1, the memory cells 101 are connected in the row direction respectively with word lines WL0 through WLx which are output signal lines from the row decoder 104, and connected in the column direction with common bit lines BL and NBL.
FIG. 2 is a circuitry diagram of the internal structure of the memory cell 101 which is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the memory cell 101 is formed by an N-type transistor NA1 whose gate is connected with the word line WLx and whose source is connected with the bit line BL, an N-type transistor NA2 whose gate is connected with the word line WLx and whose source is connected with the bit line NBL, a P-type transistor PL1 whose source receives a power source voltage VDD and whose drain is connected with the drain of the N-type transistor NA1, an N-type transistor ND1 whose gate is connected with the gate of the P-type transistor PL1, whose drain is connected with the drain of the P-type transistor PL1 and whose source is connected with a ground potential VSS, a P-type transistor PL2 whose gate is connected with the drain of the N-type transistor NA1, whose source receives the power source voltage VDD and whose drain is connected with the drain of the N-type transistor NA2 and the gate of the P-type transistor PL1, and an N-type transistor ND2 whose gate is connected with the gate of the P-type transistor PL2, whose drain is connected with the drain of the P-type transistor PL2 and whose source is connected with the ground potential VSS.
The P-type transistor PL1 and the N-type transistor ND1 form a first inverter, the P-type transistor PL2 and the N-type transistor ND2 form a second inverter, and an input terminal and an output terminal of the first inverter are connected respectively with an output terminal and an input terminal of the second inverter, thereby forming a latch circuit.
FIG. 3 is a circuitry diagram which shows the internal structure of the replica cell 105 which is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 3, transistors forming the replica cell 105 have the same sizes as the transistors forming the memory cell 101 which is shown in FIG. 2. In the latch circuit included in the replica cell 105, the drain and the source of the P-type transistor PL2 are short-circuited, and the output level of the second inverter formed by the P-type transistor PL2 and the N-type transistor ND2 is fixed at the High level. Meanwhile, the gate of the N-type transistor NA1 is connected with the replica word line REPWL 107.
FIG. 4 is a circuitry diagram of the internal structure of the dummy cell 109A which is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 4, transistors forming the dummy cell 109A have the same sizes as the transistors forming the memory cell 11 which is shown in FIG. 2. In addition, the gate of the N-type transistor NA1 is fixed at the Low level.
An operation of the conventional semiconductor memory device having the structure above will now be described. First, one of the word lines WL0 through WLx which are the output signal lines from the row decoder 104 is selected, data in the memory cell 101 are read to the bit lines BL and NBL. The bit lines BL and NBL and the replica bit line REPBL 108 are pre-charged to the High level and become floating upon selection from among the word lines WL0 through WLx. The multiple bit lines BL and the multiple bit lines NBL are provided, and plural pieces of data are read to the associated bit lines BL and NBL.
At about the same timing as the timing of selecting from among the word lines WL0 through WLx, the replica word line REPWL 107 which is an output signal line from the control circuit 100 is driven. This makes the transistors of the n replica cells 105 transit the signal level on the replica bit line REPBL 108 from the High level to the Low level at a speed which is n times as fast as that of the memory cells 101. The sense amplifier control circuit 110 then detects the signal level on the replica bit line REPBL 108 and generates the sense amplifier control signal SAE. As the sense amplifier circuit 103 receives the sense amplifier control signal SAE, and therefore amplifies the data on the bit lines BL and NBL.
Where the power source voltage VDD is 1.2 V for example, if one wishes to start up the sense amplifier circuit 103 while reading of data from each memory cell 101 to the associated bit lines BL and NBL accompanies a potential difference of 100 mV, one may decide that the number n of the replica cells 105 to choose is 6, thereby ensuring that the signal level on the replica bit line REPBL 108 would have transmitted 600 mV, that is, down to half the power source voltage VDD at any desired timing that the sense amplifier is supposed to start up, and thereby achieving a benefit that it is possible to generate the sense amplifier control signal SAE at simple CMOS gates without using a complicated potential detection circuit.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Gazette No. H9-259589 (page 4, FIG. 7)
Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Gazette No. 2003-36678 (pages 5–6, FIGS. 5–6)
However, in the structure above of this semiconductor memory device, internal nodes of the dummy cell 109 are not fixed. The potential at the drain of the N-type transistor NA1 shown in FIG. 4 could therefore change to the Low level. When this occurs, due to a leak current, the N-type transistor NA1 makes the replica bit line REPBL 108 more quickly transit from the High level to the Low level. This shortens the time given to the sense amplifier control circuit 110 to detect the transition of the replica bit line REPBL 108, making it impossible to obtain the desired timing. In some situations, the sense amplifier control signal SAE could come too early and cause the sense amplifier circuit 103 to malfunction.
Meanwhile, in the semiconductor memory device according to Patent Literature 2, the statuses of the dummy cells are fixed such that of paired nodes of the dummy cells, the ones closer to the replica bit line which is driven to the Low level will remain at the High level, for the purpose of preventing a leak current from the dummy cells from quickening the timing at which the replica bit line is driven to the Low level.
However, upon leakage at the access transistors between the dummy cells which are fixed to the High level and the replica bit line which is driven to the Low level, namely, the N-type transistors NA1 shown in FIG. 4, the structure above could block the replica bit line from switching to the Low level, thereby giving rise to an unnecessary current or resulting in failure to achieve the desired timing.

Semiconductor memory device and circuit layout of dummy cell

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A safety lock device for a toggle switch has a cylindrical head with slotted opening in its perimeter, a threaded outer surface, flared skirt and an open base. Vice arms are attached within the device with its arms protruding through its slotted perimeter. The vice arms have opposed, grooved heads spaced within the open base. A lock ring with teeth on its inner surface and a plurality of screw holes through its upper surface, slides over the cylindrical head with the teeth in the slotted outer perimeter of the cylindrical head. The lock ring forces the grooved heads into a clamping position of the toggle switch. A flanged lock nut with a hole in its flange is threaded to mate with the cylindrical head and lock ring. The hole in the flange is aligned with one of the screw holes of the lock ring and a screw is inserted into the aligned holes to lock the device in locking position.

In circumstances where it becomes necessary to insure that a toggle switch is to be maintained in its OFF position, it is advantageous to provide means to lock the switch in such position rather than disconnecting a main breaker or feeder circuit. Locking devices for toggle switches are known in the prior art. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,795,663 and 5,147,991. Such devices use a clamp that fits over the toggle switch and may be secured in position, generally by a padlock, or a screw bolt. Other prior art devices use side windows, latches and color codes to indicate that the switch is to be maintained in a fixed position.


A golf club head with improved sole portions. Specifically, golf club head (10) having a sole (20) comprised of a leading portion (28) and a trailing portion (30), both portions defining surfaces with positive bounce angles.

In the game of golf, club design has evolved such that specialized clubs are used to play the ball under a variety of different conditions. Specifically, woods are used off the tee and for long fairway shots with clean lies. Irons are used for intermediate range shots with a variety of trajectories. Wedges are used in close around the green and for playing out of sand and "problem" lies. Putters are typically used on the green.
Wedges are designed to play a ball from a variety of different types of lies in close to the green. Typically, they have club face loft angles of between 48.degree. and 65.degree. to provide a high, arcing trajectory to the ball--the higher the loft angle, the higher the trajectory of the ball. The wedge market is characterized, in general, by much more subtle differences between the products than is generally found in comparisons between various putters and irons. Typically, the sole portion of a wedge is designed with bounce--that is, a downward or descending angle between the leading edge where the face meets the sole and the lowest point on the sole. For example, typical prior art sand wedges as set forth in FIGS. 1 and 2 feature either a straight sole (FIG. 1) or a sole with a radius portion (FIG. 2). Here, bounce will be defined as the angle the sole or any portion thereof makes between a plane thereof and a line perpendicular to the vertical axis of the club as defined by the shaft of the club. This is more clearly set forth in FIG. 3a. The prior art has heretofore disclosed wedges with sole configurations that comprise a single beveled surface between the leading edge and the trailing edge, which surface has a positive bounce angle (see FIG. 1). Occasionally, all or a portion of this beveled surface may be radiused (see FIG. 2). Still, however, the positive bounce angle remains. Additional sole configurations include that found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,065 (Karsten Solheim, 1975). The Solheim sole configuration provides for two beveled surfaces defining an intermediate ridge therebetween. However, while the leading edge portion defines a positive bounce angle, the trailing edge portion provides a negative bounce angle. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,580 (Kobayashi, 1989) discloses a sole configuration with two beveled surfaces--again with a leading edge portion having a positive bounce angle and the trailing edge portion having a negative bounce angle.
The function of bounce is to help the club rebound off the surface on which the golf ball lies. To look at it another way, bounce is to help prevent the leading edge of the club face from digging into the surface on which the golf ball lies, with the resultant loss of force and control. The manner in which this is effected can be seen by reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 which represent prior art. As Applicant defines bounce, it can be seen that both figures illustrate club heads that have positive bounce angles. As the golf club passes through the arc of its swing and the leading edge undercuts the ball, the sole will strike the ground. With a positive bounce angle, the resultant force will urge the club head upward to create a "bounce" off the surface. This action helps prevent the face of the club head digging into the turf with the resulting muffed shot and huge divot torn asunder. However, a paradox exists with sand wedges and the like, in that while bounce helps prevent the wedge from digging in the sand, thereby making it easier to play these shots, it also raises the leading edge of the wedge with respect to the centerline of the ball thus making it more difficult to play tight or close lies from outside of sand traps.
Thus, Applicant's design criteria is to provide for a sole design which places the leading edge as low as possible to the horizontal (and thus provide for easier play from tight lies) but which offers plenty of bounce when playing from sand or lush turf, where maximum bounce is desired.
In addition to providing a sole configuration with plenty of bounce but a low leading edge, Applicant's dual bounce sole configuration allows for a narrow sole. This allows for redistribution of weight so as to raise the center of gravity of the club head.


An ice maker for freezing water into ice pieces, the ice maker including an elongated cage having a central revolving axis about which the elongated cage revolves. The elongated cage having a first end, a second end and at least one elongated slot extending between the first end and the second end. An ice tray is configured to be received in the at least one elongated slot. The ice tray includes a plurality of cavities for receiving water to be frozen into ice pieces. A motor is coupled to the elongated cage for revolving the elongated cage about the central revolving axis. A controller is connected to the motor for controlling the revolving of the elongated cage about the central revolving axis.

Conventional refrigeration appliances, such as domestic refrigerators, typically have both a fresh food compartment and a freezer compartment or section. The fresh food compartment is where food items such as fruits, vegetables, and beverages are stored and the freezer compartment is where food items that are to be kept in a frozen condition are stored. The refrigerators are provided with a refrigeration system that maintains the fresh food compartment at temperatures above 0° C., such as between 0.25° C. and 4.5° C. and the freezer compartments at temperatures below 0° C., such as between 0° C. and −20° C.
Such conventional refrigerators are often provided with a unit for making ice pieces, commonly referred to as "ice cubes" despite the non-cubical shape of many such ice pieces. These ice making units normally are located in the freezer compartments of the refrigerators and manufacture ice by convection, i.e., by circulating cold air over water in an ice tray to freeze the water into ice cubes. Storage bins for storing the frozen ice pieces are also often provided adjacent to the ice making units. The ice pieces can be dispensed from the storage bins through a dispensing port in the door that closes the freezer to the ambient air. The dispensing of the ice usually occurs by means of an ice delivery mechanism that extends between the storage bin and the dispensing port in the freezer compartment door.
The ice makers conventionally include an ice tray with a plurality of cavities for forming the ice cubes. Water is injected into the cavities and then frozen to form the ice cubes. Thereafter, the ice cubes are either pushed out of the ice tray or the ice tray is inverted and the ice cubes are allowed to fall out of the ice tray. The conventional ice trays usually have lots of moving parts and can produce ice cubes at a limited rate and shape.
To address the foregoing issues, the present application provides an ice maker having a revolving ice tray assembly for quickly and efficiently making ice pieces.


An n-filter according to the present invention includes a nonlinear filter, a pattern detector, and a switch. The nonlinear filter maintains a steep edge whose size is larger than a predetermined threshold in fluctuations of pixels constituting an input image signal and, at the same time, smoothes a non-edge portion that does not include the edge. The pattern detector detects a fine edge in the fluctuations of the pixels constituting the input image signal and notifies the switch that the fine edge exists. The switch outputs the input image signal or an image signal output from the nonlinear filter to the subsequent stage in accordance with the notification from the pattern detector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal processing apparatuses and methods, recording media, and programs, and more particularly, to a signal processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a program, for example, suitable for maintaining a steep edge of pixels constituting an image and, at the same time, smoothing a non-edge portion that does not include the edge.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to increase the contrast, that is, the brightness contrast, and the definition, that is, the clarity of outline, of images captured by image capturing devices, such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOSs), in video cameras, contrast enhancement methods by gray scale conversion and high-frequency component enhancement methods for enhancing the contrast of high-frequency components in images have been available.
Contrast enhancement methods called tone curve adjustment for converting the levels of pixels of an image using functions having predetermined input-output relationships (hereinafter, referred to as level conversion functions) and histogram equalization for accommodatively converting the level conversion functions in accordance with frequency distribution of the pixel levels have been suggested.
A high-frequency component enhancement method called unsharp masking for extracting an edge in an image and enhancing the extracted edge, that is, so-called outline enhancement, has been suggested.
In contrast enhancement methods, however, the contrast of only a part of a brightness area of the whole dynamic range (a difference between the maximum level and the minimum level) of an image can be increased. Moreover, in the tone curve adjustment, the contrast is reduced in the brightest part and the darkest part of an image and, in the histogram equalization, the contrast is reduced in a brightness area with less frequency distribution. Furthermore, in the high-frequency component enhancement method, since only the contrast of high-frequency components of an image is enhanced and an area near an edge in the image is thus unnaturally enhanced, the quality of the image is inevitably reduced.
A method for maintaining a steep edge in which a pixel value changes steeply and, at the same time, for amplifying a non-edge portion that does not include the edge in input image data so as to enhance the non-edge portion by an image signal processing apparatus arranged, as shown in FIG. 1, is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-298621.
In the image signal processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, an input image signal composed of pixels (pixel values) is input to an ε-filter 1 and a subtracter 2. If, for example, an image signal that slightly fluctuates before and after a steep edge whose size is larger than a predetermined threshold ε1, as shown in FIG. 2A, is input to the ε-filter 1, the image signal is converted into an image signal in which only the edge is extracted, as shown in FIG. 2B. Then, the converted image signal is output to the subtracter 2 and an adder 4.
Specific processing performed by the ε-filter 1 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The ε-filter 1 sequentially designates each pixel of an input image as a target pixel C. As shown in FIG. 3, the ε-filter 1 sets taps including a plurality of neighboring pixels (in this case, pixels L2, L1, R1, and R2) arranged consecutively in the horizontal direction around the target pixel C, and a weighted average of the pixel values of the target pixel C and the plurality of neighboring pixels is obtained using tap coefficients (for example {1, 2, 3, 2, 1}), as shown by Equation (1), to be output as a converted result C′ corresponding to the target pixel C.C′=(1·L2+2·L1+3·C+2·R1+1·R2)/9  (1)
However, if a difference between the target pixel C and a neighboring pixel is larger than the predetermined threshold ε1 (in FIG. 4, a difference between the target pixel C and the neighboring pixel R2 is larger than the threshold ε1), calculation is performed using the pixel value of the target pixel C, instead of the pixel value of the neighboring pixel. In other words, in the case shown in FIG. 4, a calculation shown by Equation (2) is performed.C′=(1·L2+2·L1+3·C+2·R1+1·C)/9  (2)
Referring back to FIG. 1, the subtracter 2 subtracts the image signal input from the εfilter 1 from the image signal input from the previous stage (this signal is equal to the signal that is input to the ε-filter 1), so that an image signal that does not include an edge and that slightly fluctuates is extracted. Then, the subtracter 2 outputs the extracted image signal to an amplifier 3. The amplifier 3 amplifies the image signal output from the subtracter 2 and outputs the amplified image signal to the adder 4. The adder 4 adds the image signal, which is output from the amplifier 3, in which a non-edge portion that does not include the edge is amplified and the image signal, which is input from the ε-filter 1, in which only the edge is extracted. The result of the addition is an image signal whose steep edge is maintained and whose non-edge portion is amplified.
According to the ε-filter 1 of the image signal processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, if the size of an edge in which a pixel level changes steeply is smaller than the predetermined threshold ε1, as shown in FIG. 5, a converted image signal output from the ε-filter 1 is smoothed, as shown in FIG. 6, and does not have a steep edge. Thus, the quality of simple pattern images or the like, in particular, including fine edges is significantly reduced.

Signal processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program


Embodiments determine communication delay along a network path between a source and a destination in a network. A target injection rate is calculated based on the determined delay and a predetermined maximum queuing delay threshold. Data packets are transmitted along the network path using an inter-packet delay that is based on the target injection rate.

Computer systems may be networked, such that software executing on one computing device may access hardware and/or software resources provided by another computing device. Further, software entities, such as virtual machines (VMs), may be executed by a group, or "cluster," of networked host computing devices. Each VM creates an abstraction of physical computing resources, such as a processor and memory, of the host executing the VM and executes a "guest" operating system, which, in turn, executes one or more applications. The abstracted resources may be functionally indistinguishable from the underlying physical resources to the guest operating system and software applications.
The overall performance of such a cluster may be constrained by congestion in the network interconnecting the hosts. Congestion may be addressed at the level of a communication protocol, whether as an inherent feature of the protocol or as an extension to the protocol. For example, a host may execute a congestion management scheme and reduce its packet injection rate or "throttle down" when congestion is indicated by the communication protocol. However, such an approach may result in inconsistent throttling if any hosts use a different communication protocol and/or if not all hosts honor the congestion management scheme. Further, congestion may be addressed at least in part by collecting network performance data (e.g., round trip time) from network hardware, such as switches. Such network performance data may not accurately represent congestion between two endpoints, however, because performance measurements determined by network hardware may exclude at least the link between the network hardware and one of the endpoints.

Network congestion management based on communication delay


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor substrate, an n-type fin field effect transistor. The n-type fin field effect transistor includes a fin structure, a gate stack, and a source/drain region. The gate stack includes a gate dielectric and a gate electrode. The gate dielectric is disposed in between the fin structure and the gate electrode. The source/drain region includes an epitaxial structure and an epitaxy coat covering the epitaxial structure. The epitaxial structure is made of a material having a lattice constant larger than a channel region. The epitaxy coat is made of a material having a lattice constant lower than the channel region.

The source/drain regions of a fin-field effect transistor (finFET) are commonly formed by epitaxy growing. Different materials are used for n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) and p-type MOS. For example, the nMOS transistor source/drain regions are formed with silicon phosphate (SiP), and the pMOS transistor source/drain regions are formed with silicon germanium (SiGe).
Source/drain regions grown with silicon phosphate, however, suffer from drawbacks. Silicon phosphate grows in an isotropic manner. It means the silicon phosphate very often expands in lateral direction. If the silicon phosphate cannot be contained in its predetermined region, the lateral expansion can lead to serious problems. For example, when the silicon phosphate source/drain regions are formed first and followed by the formation of the silicon germanium source/drain regions. The recessing of the pMOS fin structure may cause damage to the laterally expanding nMOS source/drain regions (i.e., the silicon phosphate structure).

Elongated source/drain region structure in finFET device

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


Undesirable transistor leakage in transistor structures becomes greatly reduced in substrates having a doped implant region formed via pulling back first and second layers of a process stack. A portion of the substrate, which also has first and second layers deposited thereon, defines the process stack. The dopant is selected having the same n- or p-typing as the substrate. Through etching, the first and second layers of the process stack become pulled back from a trench wall of the substrate to form the implant region. Occupation of the implant region by the dopant prevents undesirable transistor leakage because the electrical characteristics of the implant region are so significantly changed, in comparison to central areas of the substrate underneath the first layer, that the threshold voltage of the implant region is raised to be about equivalent to or greater than the substantially uniform threshold voltage in the central area.

In modern semiconductor applications, populously packed transistors occupy a single wafer. To operate, the individual transistor components require electrical isolation. As such, many individuals, corporations and businesses have developed and continually strive for new techniques to achieve isolation. One popular recent technique, known as trench isolation, forms trenches or openings between adjacent components.
Commonly, depending upon application, trench isolation falls into one of three processing categories: shallow (or shallow trench isolation, STI), with trenches less than about one micron deep; moderate, with trenches from about one to about three microns; and deep, with trenches greater than about three microns.
In a typical trench isolation process to form a standard isolation structure, a wafer is provided with successively deposited dielectric layers thereon, usually a pad oxide and a nitride layer. The dielectrics are etched first and then the wafer. This results in a trench. A liner oxide for the trench is grown and the trench is oxide filled, usually by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The oxide may be annealed and the entire structure is planarized, usually by chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). Then, the dielectric layers are removed by wet etch and a thin, sacrificial layer of oxide is grown to anneal wafer surface damage. This is followed by another wet etch. The gate oxide is grown, poly deposited and gate patterned.
Until recently, however, the foregoing techniques were sufficient for many applications. But with a device such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) array with sub-quarter micron dimensions requiring multitudes of highly-densely integrated, extremely low power transistors, even the slightest amount of transistor leakage may cause retention time failures in memory cells. As such, the state of the art, especially DRAM's, demand more robust isolation structures that completely prevent or greatly reduce undesirable transistor leakage.

Transistor structure having reduced transistor leakage attributes


A conveying unit has a nipping hook to nip a sheet bundle and conveys the sheet bundle while nipping the sheet bundle with the nipping hook. A discharge roller sequentially discharges the sheet bundle conveyed by the conveying unit. A stack unit stacks the sheet bundle conveyed by the conveying unit. A shutter is provided between the discharge roller and the stack unit. A push-out lever is fixed to the discharge roller. An opening is provided on one side of the shutter, and a push-out part which causes the push-out lever to protrude to the stack unit from the opening of the shutter with a rotation of the nipping pawl is provided on the nipping hook. The push-out lever caused to protrude to the stack unit by the push-out part pushes out the sheet bundle to the stack unit in accordance with the rotation of the nipping hook.

Recently, an electrographic image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, digital copy machine or laser facsimile is provided with a post-processing device (finisher) that staples a sheet bundle. The conventional finisher discharges a sheet bundle by using a roller and a bundle hook.
However, if the finisher discharges a sheet bundle by using the bundle hook, the rear end of the sheet bundle may not properly fall into a paper discharge tray because of the influence of the coefficient of friction of the sheets, of elasticity (strength) of the sheet bundle, and of the quantity of electricity with which the sheet bundle is charged. The insufficiently falling sheet bundle may be hooked by the bundle hook. This causes a problem of sheet jam.

Finisher, sheet discharging method and image forming apparatus