Methods and image forming systems for approximating the value of a function given specified values of input data using a sparse lookup table. Individual samples are quantized and rounded up or down to an adjacent lattice point of the lookup table. Rather than performing multiple lookup table accesses, which are required using conventional linear interpolation, the disclosed data processing techniques require as few as one lookup table access per sample. The quantized samples are obtained by truncating one or more least significant bits, designated as masked bits, such that the most significant, or index bits, remain. For each sample, the value of an individual one of the masked bits is examined by comparing it with a corresponding entry in a mask array to determine whether the index bits are to be incremented prior to being used as an index to the lookup table. The mask array defines a dithering process whereby different masked bits are examined for different samples, resulting in dithered quantized index bits for the samples, that when used to access the lookup table, yield an average result over a neighborhood of samples that approximates the result that could be obtained using linear interpolation.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data mapping using a sparse lookup table in a manner that approximates linear interpolation. More specifically, the present invention relates to mapping of data by quantizing data samples and accessing a lookup table such that the average of the output data for a neighborhood of samples converges to a result that is comparable with or approximates the result that would have been obtained using linear interpolation.
2. The Prior State of the Art
Printing an image using a computer printer or another image forming system often involves processing color image data by converting the image data from a first color space to a second color space. For example, image data is often stored or received by a computer in a red, green, blue ("RGB") format, while many computer printers utilize a cyan, magenta, yellow ("CMY") or cyan, magenta, yellow, black ("CMYK") format. Such formats are examples of image data that can exist in any number of color spaces. The process of converting color image data from a first color space to a second color space represents but one example of a general mathematical problem of evaluating a multivariable function given specific values of the input variables.
There exist several techniques for converting image data from a first color space to a second color space. In practice, image data typically includes a plurality of samples, each being represented by multiple values associated with the different color components in a color space. For example, each sample of RGB data includes a red component, a green component, and a blue component. One approach for converting such RGB image data to CMY data uses a set of three equations defining C, M and Y as linear functions of R, G, and B. Assuming the R, G, and B components of the image data are represented by eight bits of data, in which case the intensity of each of the three components has a value between 0 and 255, the linear approach for converting RGB to CMY can be defined as C=255−R; M=255−G; Y=255−B. This approach is relatively computationally efficient, since each sample can be converted by performing only three calculations, none of which is a division operation. However, in practice, this direct approach introduces unacceptable errors because the available colorants used in image forming systems do not behave in the linear fashion described in the foregoing equations.
A second technique is to obtain a set of higher order polynomials that define CMY(K) as functions of RGB. This analytic method can reduce errors, since it can more closely approximate the actual behavior of specific colorants that are used in image forming systems. However, as the analytic polynomials are taken to higher orders, the number of calculations per sample increases. Moreover, any set of higher order polynomials are adapted only to a specific set of colorants, and any change in the colorants and the associated color conversion functions would require a new set of polynomials.
FIG. 1 graphically illustrates the technique for directly calculating the value of a function, f(x), based on the known value of x. Conceptually, FIG. 1 represents the conversion method that uses a set of higher order polynomials to convert image data from a first color space to a second color space, although FIG. 1 illustrates the problem in only one dimension, whereas RGB to CMY(K) conversion requires a three-dimensional solution. In FIG. 1, the known value of x can be used to directly calculate the value of f(x) (shown at 10) to any desired degree of accuracy that is limited only by the degree of the polynomial function and by the computing resources dedicated to the process.
The two foregoing techniques for converting image data from a first color space to a second color space involve direct calculation of values in the second color space using functions that are defined with any desire degree of accuracy. Other methods for converting image data from first color space to a second color space involve lookup tables in which the values of CMY(K) as a function of RGB are pre-calculated and stored for use during the conversion process. The lookup table eliminates direct calculation of the color values at runtime, but requires memory to be accessed for each sample. A lookup table used for converting RGB to CMY(K) can be described as having three dimensions, that when fully populated, has 16,777,216 entries (e.g., 256×256×256), assuming eight bit values for each of the RGB components of the image data, which also corresponds to the number of colors that can be defined by such image data. As can be readily understood, a fully populated lookup table can require a prohibitive amount of memory. Although a fully populated lookup table can yield results having any desired degree of accuracy, the memory and computational requirements make them impractical in most image forming systems.
These memory and computational requirements can be reduced using a sparsely populated lookup table that includes entries for fewer than all of the possible combinations of RGB values. Empirically, it has been found that the curvature of the color conversion functions can be adequately approximated by using a lookup table having 17 lattice points for each color dimension. This technique requires a lookup table having fewer than 5,000 entries.
FIG. 2A illustrates the conversion function of FIG. 1 having been defined by a series of discrete points 12 that can be used in a lookup table, as opposed to being defined by a continuous curve. FIG. 2B conceptually illustrates a sparsely populated lookup table 20 having three dimensions that can be used to convert image data from a first color space (e.g., RGB) to a second color space (e.g., CMY(K)). Only some of the data points 22 defined in lookup table 20 are illustrated in FIG. 2B for purposes of clarity. In a fully populated lookup table, each possible sample, represented by eight bit values of R, G, and B would map to a single point in a lookup table, which in turn would correspond to a set of CMY(K) values. In the sparse lookup table 20, only a relatively small number of values of R, G and B map directly to a lattice points 22. Those samples that map directly to a lattice point 22 yield the corresponding CMY(K) values associated with the lattice point. The vast majority of RGB values, however, map to a position in the sparsely populated lookup table that does not coincide with a lattice point. In order to evaluate the conversion functions for such samples of image data, a method of approximating the value of the conversion functions is used.
One conventional way of approximating the value of the conversion functions involves truncating specified numbers of bits from the RGB values to obtain index values that map directly to lattice points in the sparsely populated lookup table. For purposes of illustration, the analogous one dimensional truncation technique is illustrated in FIG. 3, in which the value of f(x) is to be approximated based on the known value of x. In FIG. 3 it is assumed that the input data defines x with eight bits of accuracy, while f(x) has been defined at 17 discrete points, each of which corresponds to an entry in a lookup table. Truncation of the eight bit input data by four bits results in quantized input data including the four most significant bits, which can be mapped to one of the lookup table entries as shown by the stairstep pattern 30a. Truncation in this matter effectively results in the values of the input data being rounded down to the next entry of the lookup table. For example, input data having a value of 127 (0111 1111) when truncated indexes the same lookup table entry and yields the same output data as an input value of 96 (0111 0000). Accordingly, the samples are quantized, meaning that the same output value is generated for a range of input values.
In an image forming system, such as a computer printer, the result can be a color artifact known as contour bands, which are same-colored stripes or regions on the rendered image. contour banding can be observed when the number of discrete output values is sufficiently small that the difference between successive values can be perceived by the human eye, which is typically the case for RGB lookup tables having only 17 lattice points in each dimension. Moreover, the maximum error at an individual sample (e.g. one at an edge of a contour band, or 127 in the example of FIG. 3) using this truncation technique is almost as great as the difference in the value of the function at adjacent lattice points. There is also generally an overall error, as can be seen in FIG. 3, in which the average evaluation of f(x) is too low due to the positive slope of f(x).
The maximum error for any sample and the overall error can be reduced by combining the truncation operation with a rounding operation, whereby the truncated values are rounded to the nearest lookup table entry rather than being always rounded down. As a result, the stairstep pattern 30b is shifted to the left as shown in FIG. 3 and the maximum error for any given sample is reduced by approximately a factor of 2, although any contour banding artifacts remain. Either of the foregoing approximation techniques are relatively computationally efficient, in that they involve only truncation and, optionally, rounding, operations and a single lookup table access per sample. The significant drawbacks of this method, however, include noticeable contour bands that can be introduced into the rendered image, errors at individual samples and overall errors.
Linear interpolation rather than truncation or rounding can be used to significantly reduce the local and overall errors that otherwise are associated with the use of sparsely populated lookup tables. FIG. 4 graphically represents conventional one-dimensional linear interpolation, which will be well understood by those skilled in the art. Points A and B represent lattice points or entries in a lookup table and f(A) and f(B) represent the known values of the conversion function at A and B. Linear interpolation assumes that f(x) is linear in the region between points A and B, which assumption enables the approximation of f(x) to be readily calculated. Linear interpolation in one dimension as illustrated in FIG. 4 is relatively straightforward and computationally efficient. However, as the number of dimensions of the conversion function increases to two and particularly three or more variables or dimensions, the complexity of the linear interpolation problem increases exponentially.
Three dimensional linear interpolation, such as that which has been used in association with sparsely populated lookup tables to convert RGB image data to CYM(K) data, involves a significant number of lookup table accesses and calculations per sample. In general, linear interpolation requires the sample to be bounded by a sufficient number of points that allows interpolation to be conducted. In the three dimensional problem, trilinear interpolation can be performed by selecting the eight lattice points that define a cube or a rectangular region that contains the sample. Other three dimensional linear interpolation techniques have been developed, including tetrahedral trilinear interpolation that selects only four points defining a tetrahedron that encloses the sample. However, the tradeoffs for tetrahedral interpolation include identifying which of the multiple available lattice points should be selected as vertices of the tetrahedron that bounds the sample. In any case, trilinear interpolation requires multiple accesses of the lookup table (as many as eight) for each sample and also requires a number of calculations per sample to complete the interpolation process.
In addition to these interpolation techniques, there have been developed other approaches for identifying the converted image data values to be applied to samples using sparsely populated lookup tables. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,041 to Spaulding, et al. discloses a process of applying a spatial modulation to input color values prior to quantizing the color values. The spatial modulation is disclosed by Spaulding as being local mean-preserving and it introduces variation into the input color values such that successive instances of a specific color value can result in different quantized values.
The foregoing methods for calculating or approximating the value of a function either suffer from computational complexity, frequent access of lookup tables, prohibitive memory requirements, or local or overall errors and associated color artifacts. In view of the foregoing, there is a need for methods and systems for evaluating or approximating the value of a function using a sparsely populated lookup table while avoiding the problems associated with prior art methods.

Dithered quantization using neighborhood mask array to approximate interpolate


A disc cartridge includes a cartridge main body composed of a lower shell, in which a first opening that enables disc access for a disc-like recording medium in a housed state is formed, and an upper shell, a disc tray that is rotatably provided inside the cartridge main body and formed so that the recording medium can be mounted thereon, and a single shutter member disposed between the lower shell and the disc tray. A second opening, which enables disc access for the recording medium when the second opening overlaps the first opening in a thickness direction of the disc cartridge, is formed in the disc tray. The disc tray closes part of the first opening in a restricted state where the disc access is restricted, and is capable of opening the part of the first opening in a disc access state by being rotated inside the cartridge main body and causing the shutter member to slide. The shutter member closes another part of the first opening in the restricted state so as to close the first opening in concert with the disc tray, and in the disc access state the shutter member is caused to slide by the disc tray so as to be capable of opening the other part of the first opening.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc cartridge where a disc-like recording medium is housed in a cartridge main body constructed of an upper shell and a lower shell.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one example of this type of disc cartridge, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-50147 discloses a disc cartridge in which an optical disc is housed in a cartridge case composed of an upper shell, a middle shell, and a lower shell. In this case, the middle shell is formed with a disc-like overall shape and an operated part, which is composed of a gear or the like that can be engaged by a shutter opening/closing means of a recording/reproducing apparatus, is formed in a circumferential surface thereof (a ring part). The middle shell is housed so as to be able to rotate within the casing formed by the upper shell and the lower shell. Openings that enable the recording and reproduction of recording data (i.e., disc access) for an optical disc in a housed state are formed in the middle shell and lower shell, with these openings being opened and closed by a pair of shutter members. In this case, the shutter members are formed with overall plate-like shapes and are formed with shaft parts, which are inserted through a support hole of the middle shell, and opening/closing channels into which operating projecting parts of the lower shell are inserted so as to pass through. By rotating the middle shell with respect to the lower shell, the shutter members are caused to slide by the middle shell to open and close the openings in the lower shell and the middle shell.
With this disc cartridge, in a normal state the opening in the lower shell is closed by the pair of shutter members and the middle shell. When the disc cartridge has been loaded into a recording/reproduction apparatus, the middle shell is rotated by the shutter opening/closing means of the recording/reproducing apparatus. At this time, the opening in the lower shell and the opening in the middle shell overlap in the thickness direction and the shutter members are caused to slide as the middle shell rotates so as to move away from each another. As a result, the opening in the lower shell is opened and disc access for the optical disc inside the disc cartridge becomes possible. On the other hand, when the disc cartridge is ejected from the recording/reproduction apparatus, the middle shell is rotated in the opposite direction to during loading by the shutter opening/closing means of the recording/reproducing apparatus. At this time, the openings in the lower shell and the middle shell cease to overlap, and the shutter members are caused to slide so as to move closer to each other as the middle shell rotates, thereby closing the opening. By doing so, the opening is opened or closed according to whether disc access is required for the optical disc.
However, by investigating the above conventional disc cartridge, the present inventors discovered the following problem. That is, with the above disc cartridge, the opening is opened or closed by the shutter opening/closing means of the recording/reproducing apparatus rotating the middle shell of the above disc cartridge so that the middle shell causes the pair of shutter members to slide with respect to the lower shell. In this case, when the middle shell is being rotated, the shaft parts of both shutter members are rotated in the support hole of the middle shell and the operating projecting parts of the lower shell are caused to relatively slide within the opening/closing channels of both shutter members. Accordingly, when opening and closing both shutter members, a large amount of force is required to rotate the middle shell (i.e., to open and close the shutter members) due to factors such as the sliding resistance between an edge of the support hole in the middle shell and circumferential surfaces of the shaft parts of the shutter members and the sliding resistance between edges of the opening/closing channels of the shutter members and the operating projecting parts of the lower shell. This means that with a conventional disc cartridge, there is the problem that it is difficult to smoothly open and close the shutter members. Since two shutter members are provided inside the cartridge casing, the conventional disc cartridge also has a problem in that the assembly process for the disc cartridge is complex, resulting in a high manufacturing cost.


The present disclosure concerns anti-theft devices which inhibit rotation of vehicle steering wheels. According to the present invention, an anti-theft device includes a plurality of generally parallel projections which are asymmetrically laterally spaced with respect to one another. Selecting one of the asymmetrical spacing patterns allows the anti-theft device to be optimally fitted to a given steering wheel.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention concerns anti-theft devices which inhibit rotation of vehicle steering wheels. In particular, the present invention concerns the attachment of anti-theft devices to steering wheels of various configurations.
b) Description of Related Art
A variety of anti-theft devices for attachment to vehicle steering wheels are known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,738,127 to Johnson, 4,304,110 to Fain, 4,103,524 to Mitchell et al., 3,807,779 to Enders, 3,742,743 to Stoyanovitch, 3,664,164 to Zaidener, and 3,462,982 to Moore use a pair of U-shaped hooks to engage diametrically opposite points of a steering wheel. The U-shaped hooks are telescopically related and include a lock for securing the relative telescopic position. In each instance, the lateral spacing between the arms of the U-shaped hooks is arbitrarily selected large enough to universally accommodate most grip diameters of a plurality of vehicle steering wheels. In this disclosure, grip diameter refers to the diameter, measured parallel to the axis of the steering column, of an annular steering wheel as gripped in the vehicle operator's hand. Consequently, the known anti-theft devices generally fit the steering wheel so loosely as to enable the U-shaped portion at an end of the anti-theft device to be manipulated (e.g. oscillated such that the arms of the U-shaped hooks contact the axially facing, relative to the steering column axis, surfaces of the steering wheel). It has been observed that this disadvantage in the prior art provides fulcrum points for prying the anti-theft device off the steering wheel, and/or breaking the steering wheel so as to remove the anti-theft device.

Anti-theft device for a plurality of vehicle steering wheel configurations


A rotary cutting tool, having a longitudinal axis, includes cutting and mounting portions. The cutting portion includes an end face surface and a peripheral surface extending therefrom. The peripheral surface includes respective pluralities of main and auxiliary flutes that extend helically with opposite hand about the longitudinal axis. The cutting portion includes a plurality of evenly circumferentially distributed end gashes and a plurality of end face cutting teeth. The number of main flutes and auxiliary flutes are different, each being wholly divisible by, and greater than, the number of end face cutting teeth. In each cross sectional view of the cutting portion an imaginary contour line defined by a peripheral contour of the peripheral surface of one of the end face cutting teeth is in rotationally aligned relationship, about the longitudinal axis, with the peripheral contour of the peripheral surfaces of all other end face cutting teeth.

A rotary cutting tool can be provided with left and right handed helical flutes recessed in a peripheral surface of the rotary cutting tool. An example of such a rotary cutting tool is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,725, where the left and right handed helical flutes intersect to form intersecting cutters (i.e. discrete peripheral cutting teeth).
In some other rotary cutting tools, the number of left handed helical flutes is different to the number of right handed helical flutes in order to avoid axial gaps in the cutting zone, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,035.
A rotary cutting tool can also be provided with end face cutting edges at a top portion thereof. An example of such rotary cutting tools is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,277,152.

Rotary cutting tool having a predetermined number of left and right handed helical flutes and end face cutting teeth


A touch panel includes a substrate, a touch device layer, a sensing circuit structure, and a planarization layer. The substrate includes a sensing region and a peripheral region that surrounds the sensing region. The touch device layer is disposed on the sensing region of the substrate. The sensing circuit structure is disposed on the peripheral region of the substrate, and the sensing circuit structure includes a plurality of sensing lines. The sensing lines are electrically connected to the touch device layer. The planarization layer is located on the substrate. Here, the planarization layer includes a color-resist material that has a dielectric coefficient ranging from about 3 to about 5, and the planarization layer covers the sensing lines located in the peripheral region.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a panel, more particularly, relates to a touch panel and a touch display panel.
2. Description of Related Art
Based on different ways of sensing, touch panels are generally categorized into resistant touch panels, capacitive touch panels, optical touch panels, sonic wave touch panels, and electromagnetic touch panels. The configurations of touch panels and display panels may further classify the touch panels into an add-on type and an in-cell type. Touch devices are often formed on a substrate to make the touch panel, and the touch panel is then attached to an outer surface of a display panel. This is the so-called add-on type touch panel. By contrast, the in-cell touch panel is formed by directly integrating the touch devices into the display panel.
In the existing in-cell touch panel structure, fan-out lines extending from a sensing region to a peripheral region may result in the peripheral region with an uneven surface. To solve this problem, an overcoat layer is often formed on the color filter side, such that sealant may be distributed on a relatively even surface. Thereby, if a pixel array substrate and a color filter substrate are assembled, an around-gap-mura problem caused by the uneven surface of a visible region may not occur.
Nonetheless, the overcoat layer is usually made of an organic material that is apt to absorb moisture; therefore, in an assembly process or the like manufacturing process, moisture may be released due to heat. As such, the moisture-containing liquid crystal layer may result in the around-gap-mura problem in the panel.


Systems and techniques to simply, easily and quickly attache and detach a speaker to a mounting location. A speaker bracket can provide a pivot point for the speaker that also serves as an audio signal connection point. The speaker bracket can be built in a robust fashion and can include a receptacle that is mounted on a surface, such as an indoor or outdoor wall, on the side of a pool or spa, or in any other suitable location. The speaker bracket can also include a support that can be attached and detached from the receptacle. When attached, the support rotates about the receptacle via a pivot point. A positioning mechanism can be included that allows the support to be removably fixed or locked into a desired position relative to the receptacle.

The present application relates to brackets for supporting audio speakers.
Audio speakers may be used in indoor and outdoor applications, and speakers may be mounted on brackets. Traditional speaker brackets allow speakers to be moved into various positions and to be locked in place. In addition, audio speakers have been included in spas. Such conventional spa speakers are typically embedded in an interior surface wall of a spa and/or nestled into spa cabinetry.


There are described a data recording system, a data recording method, and a recording medium, all of which are directed to enabling easy editing of AV data without involvement of duplication of the AV data, as well as to eliminating a necessity for an additional data recording region. In the recording system, at the time of recording of primary data, there is prepared an original file which stores link data formed by arranging in sequence address data for reproduction purposes stored in a recording region on a recording medium. Further, through editing of the original file, there is prepared a virtual file which stores link data formed by arranging in sequence address data for reproduction purposes stored in the recording region on the recording medium. The data are reproduced according to these files.

In a conventional video system, recorded audio-visual (AV) data are edited through the following processes. The video system employs a reproduction system for reproducing the recorded AV data and a recording system for recording the AV data reproduced by the reproduction system. Desired portions of the AV data are recorded on the recording system while the AV data are reproduced by the reproduction system. For example, when an attempt is made to create a digest of certain AV data, the AV data are edited through the processes mentioned above. For example, as shown in FIG. 21, when an attempt is made to create a new video file from a portion of a first video file including first video data and a portion of a second video file including second video data, there is a necessity for producing a duplicate of the corresponding portion of the first video file and a duplicate of the corresponding portion of the second video file.
According to the standards for an existing mini disk (MD), audio data are not recorded on a track in adjacent locations but are discretely recorded on the track in recording units, each comprising a predetermined amount of data. In order to reproduce a string of data from the discrete data sets, there is provided a management table for use in linking the discrete data sets together. The reproduction system accesses the discrete data in the sequence written in the management table, to thereby enable reproduction of sequential sound.
In the above-described conventional video system, editing of recorded AV data involves use of two VCRs. Further, since AV data must be duplicated while editing, an additional recording area for recording the duplicate of the AV data is required.
According to the existing MD standards, each of the linked data sets assumes a predetermined amount of recorded data, and only a single management table is assigned to a mini disk. If other data are overwritten on a disk on which data have already been recorded, the existing management table must be rewritten. Thus, only single link data are available. For these reasons, in order to edit data, the data must be duplicated as in the conventional video system. A significant problem is not encountered in a case where there is little necessity for editing data, such as the case of an MD. In contrast, in the case of AV data, it is expected that there is an increasing user demand for creating a digest of certain AV data.
Further, the conventional file system can share a file but cannot share a portion of a file.
The present invention is directed to an system and method for enabling easy editing of AV data. Particularly, the object of the present invention is to provide a data recording system, a data recording method, and a recording medium, wherein AV data can be readily edited without involvement of duplication of the AV data and without a necessity for an addition data recording area.

Information recorder, recording method, and recording media


An apparatus and method for projecting a concentrated beam of germicidal ultraviolet radiation onto a preselected target area on the body of a patient undergoing surgery, without substantial emanation of ultraviolet radiation outside the target. A reflector defines a reflective surface and has an axis of reflection, a lamp produces radiation which has a wave length in the ultraviolet C range, and produces substantially no radiation in the ultraviolet A and B ranges, and the lamp is positioned so that a beam of concentrated indirect radiation is reflected from the reflector and extends outwardly along the axis of reflection, a collimator has a casing, closed side walls and opposed open ends, a plurality of plates in the casing are in spaced substantially parallel relation extending between the open ends substantially parallel to and coincident with the axis of reflection with the side walls positioned to cover entirely the side edges of the plates to cause the condensed beam to pass outwardly only through one of the open ends, a housing supports the collimator in alignment with the axis of reflection, and a positioning arrangement positions the housing so as to align the axis of reflection with the target area.

The present invention relates generally to devices for projecting germicidal ultraviolet radiation and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for projecting a concentrated beam of germicidal ultraviolet radiation onto a preselected target area on the body of a patient undergoing surgery, without substantial emanation of ultraviolet radiation outside the target area.
The need for effective germicidal measures in the medical field is always present, in particular for orthopedic surgical procedures which expose vulnerable bone tissue to the air. The rate of infection of bone tissue in such procedures has long been an area of concern. Recent developments have made the need for effective germicidal measures even more pronounced, as a result of the increasing incidence of infection by virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. As a consequence of the dangers presented by such antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it has also become necessary to reduce the general use of antibiotics, so as to minimize the opportunity for bacteria to mutate into resistant forms. Thus, efficient germicidal measures are highly desirable, both to reduce the present rate of infection in surgery and to allow the use of antibiotics to be scaled back.
Ultraviolet radiation has long been known to have a number of positive medical benefits, including highly effective germicidal properties, but is also known to have significant harmful effects including acting as a carcinogen, causing skin irritation and damaging of eye tissue. Thus, while ultraviolet radiation has a great potential for medical usefulness as a germicidal agent, its use has previously been limited by the inherent drawbacks and hazards involved.
Ultraviolet radiation can be generally divided into three components, each characterized by different wave lengths: ultraviolet A, ultraviolet B, and ultraviolet C. The germicidal effect is caused by ultraviolet C radiation, and specifically, radiation having a wave length of 253.7 nanometers. This component of ultraviolet radiation also is hazardous, and is known to cause skin inflammation which manifests itself as reddening of the skin surface without tanning. Additionally, and perhaps more significantly, overexposure to germicidal ultraviolet radiation results in eye inflammation and conjunctivitis, since the cornea of the eye is particularly vulnerable to ultraviolet C radiation. This inflammatory condition is known as photokeratitis, and while it ordinarily has no permanent effects, it can cause severe pain and discomfort to those affected.
Previous devices and methods have been developed in an attempt to provide for effective use of germicidal ultraviolet radiation while reducing the associated hazards, but none of these attempts have been entirely satisfactory. A number of previous germicidal ultraviolet radiation lamp designs make no provision for significantly controlling the radiation produced, but merely require that medical personnel either avoid any exposure to the radiation beam, or that they wear special protective gear including eye shields, hoods, and protective creams. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,274,298 to Koch discloses a portable sterilizing unit for generating germicidal ultraviolet radiation around a 360 degree expanse of the wall surfaces of a room. This device involves no radiation shielding of any kind, and personnel apparently must vacate the area of use to avoid exposure to the germicidal ultraviolet radiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,254 to Wilkinson discloses a method and apparatus for ultraviolet radiation phototherapy of skin wounds which includes directing ultraviolet A and ultraviolet C radiation at the wound area. The Wilkinson device and method involves filtering out the ultraviolet B component from ultraviolet radiation produced by the device, leaving both the ultraviolet A and ultraviolet C components in the radiation. The Wilkinson device also includes a provision for focusing the resulting ultraviolet A and ultraviolet C radiation beam on the wound, but makes no provision for significant control of the beam so as to prevent ultraviolet radiation from emanating outside the wound area, thereby potentially exposing attending personnel to ultraviolet radiation with all of its harmful effects.
A medical study presented in the paper "Ultraviolet Radiation: Its Beneficial Effect on the Operating Environment in the Incident of a Deep Wound Infection Following Total Hip and Total Knee Arthroplasty," by Doctors Lowell and Kundsin, was conducted using ultraviolet radiation lamps to irradiate a large operating room area, with a protocol requiring all personnel in the operating room to wear eye shields, hoods, and protective cream. While the use of germicidal ultraviolet radiation in the study significantly decreased post-operative infections, the use of these lamps necessitated significant protective measures, and despite these measures three cases of conjunctivitis were caused in members of the operating team by lack of proper eye shielding.
A different approach is illustrated by the Lumalier products of Commercial Lighting Design, Inc., which provide supplemental air disinfection by germicidal ultraviolet radiation in the upper reaches of a room. These devices project ultraviolet radiation into the upper portion of a room, while shielding the lower portion where personnel would ordinarily be located. This shielding is accomplished through a collimator having essentially open side walls to widely disperse the ultraviolet radiation horizontally while generally preventing it from reaching the lower part of the room. The Lumalier devices are designed with essentially open side walls so that they produce a fan-shaped radiation pattern, as opposed to a limited , defined beam. These fixtures must generally be located at least seven feet above the floor in order to effectively shield occupants of the room. The Lumalier devices are apparently capable of reducing the number of germs in the upper portion of a room, but can only act on germs which reach the upper part of the room. Infectious material on lower surfaces is entirely unaffected by the devices unless carried upward into the irradiated area.
None of the above-described devices and methods can be safely used in an operating room to reduce or eliminate germs within a specific target area on a patient during surgery without requiring extensive and inconvenient protective measures for the operating room personnel and the patient. The germicidal effects of ultraviolet radiation are, however, highly beneficial, as demonstrated in the paper by Lowell and Kundsin, and a need therefore exists for a safe and convenient device and method for the use of germicidal ultraviolet radiation during surgery.

Apparatus and method for projecting germicidal ultraviolet radiation


There is provided a radiographic imaging device including: a radiographic imaging device main body; and a protective cover that is removably applied to a surface of the radiographic imaging device main body, a thickness including the radiographic imaging device main body in the state in which the protective cover is applied being at most 16 mm.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a radiographic imaging device that forms a radiographic image.
2. Related Art
Radiographic imaging devices, which are widely used in medical facilities, use radiation to form radiographic images of subjects. A radiographic imaging device may be installed at an imaging stand when being used and form a radiographic image, and when imaging is complete, may be removed and stored in a storage location. For imaging of a subject in a standing position or a reclining position, the radiographic imaging device is mounted, deployed and unmounted at a standing position imaging stand or a reclining position imaging stand. Surfaces of the radiographic imaging device are prone to becoming damaged or soiled during transport and during mounting and unmounting and the like. The radiographic imaging device is an expensive piece of equipment, so it is desirable for it to have a structure that may be used in a state that is free of damage and soiling over long periods.
Accordingly, protective covers have been proposed for preventing damage and soiling of radiographic imaging devices (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2006-293368).
However, the protective cover according to JP-A No. 2006-293368 is formed a size larger than the radiographic imaging device, and encloses the accommodated radiographic imaging device from outer sides thereof. Therefore, external dimensions in a state in which the protective cover is applied are large, and the radiographic imaging device in the protective cover may not be installed at imaging stands that have been used hitherto. As a result, when the radiographic imaging device is to be used, it must be removed from the protective cover to be installed at the imaging stand, which is a burden on medical staff.


A method is provided to image an organ of the human or animal body using and acquisition device rotating over an angle, in that the rotation speed of the rotating acquisition device is modulated dependent on a reference signal that represents a current movement state of the organ to be imaged. Additionally or alternatively, the measurement interval in which the acquisition of the organ ensures during the rotation can respectively be adapted using the reference signal to a cycle duration of the movement of the organ to be imaged. Moreover, a corresponding apparatus to implement such a method is provided.

The invention concerns a method and an apparatus to image an organ of the human or animal body, particularly for imaging a beating heart via a rotating acquisition device.
In modem medicine, manifold minimally-invasive methods to image an organ are known, such as x-ray methods. It is the goal of these methods to obtain a comprehensive knowledge of the respective organ and its state primarily without opening the body. In a known application, for example, a C-arm of an x-ray apparatus with an x-ray tube and an x-ray detector is rotated around a patent, normally around the patient longitudinal axis, with a constant rotation speed or angular velocity w over an angle of, for example, 300 degrees. Instead of an only platform view through a catheter with camera, etc., with such imaging methods and a corresponding apparatus, a number of individual exposures of the appertaining organs can be acquired from various spatial directions, on whose basis three-dimensional images or other representations (such as, in particular, arbitrary cross-sections) can ultimately be produced. With these methods, for example, the heart muscle and the coronary artery can be examined without a catheter.
However, for a 3D reconstruction, only those images can be used that show the organ in a respectively constant state. In a preferred and most important application case, the exposure of the heart, the filling phase or diastole, as a relative rest phase of the heart, is selected as a representation state. In a living human and in a rest position given relaxation, this rest phase lasts less than 200 milliseconds. During the acquisition, however, only a few projections for the 3D reconstruction and modeling can be collected by the moving acquisition device in a time window Δt in the rest phase of the heart cited above.
The respective data collected outside of the acquisition time window Δt cannot be used for imaging due to the heart movement. These data losses lead to large gaps in the space of the projection angle α, and therewith to an incomplete representation basis of the entire organ. At best, interpolations with relatively uncertain assumptions can be effected within these representation gaps. A similar problem also occurs with other organs whose shape and/or positions change over time. However, for reasons of keeping low a total radiation exposure with an x-ray tube continuously located in operation, the acquisition device may not exhibit an arbitrarily slow rotation speed in order to acquire optimally many exposures from different spatial directions at advantageous acquisition moments. For the same reasons, a measurement can also not be repeated arbitrarily often.
For this reason, U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,254 discloses the acquisition of a rhythmically moving vessel to in fact move the C-arm with an optimally slow rotation speed, preferably >2° per second to thereby implement individual image acquisitions triggered by the vessel movement or an organ movement causing the movement of the vessel. This means radiation is only respectively emitted by the x-ray tube and an exposure made at specific times while the C-arm moves around the patent with an optimally slow, constant speed.
The constant rotation speed is hereby preferably established before the measurement dependent on the frequency of the rhythmic vessel or organ movement in order to ensure that a minimum number of exposures can be generated during a measurement. However, this procedure has the disadvantage that the measurement lasts a relatively long time. In this time, the patent must lie absolutely still. Even minimal position changes can lead to impaired measurement.
A similar method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,217 for measuring a periodically moving subject with a computer tomograph. Given a measurement with such a computer tomography system, the x-ray tube rotates multiple times around the patient with a very high speed, for example, with a speed in the range of approximately 1 s/rotation. In order to thereby always acquire the cyclically changing subject in the same state, here as well when the x-ray tube momentarily emits x-ray radiation, the imaging is controlled to be triggered by the movement cycle in order to thus make individual exposures.
Likewise, a constant rotation speed is hereby preferably determined before the measurement dependent on the frequency of the rhythmic vessel or organ movement. The rotation speed is thereby adjusted such that exposures are optimally generated from all spatial directions during a measurement This method Is, however, not usable for a measurement with a C-arm or similar acquisition device, since in such a relatively simple acquisition device, the x-ray tube and the detector can not be moved arbitrarily fast and often around the patient (this is different than in a significantly more elaborately constructed computer tomography apparatus). Typically, only a rotation angle of maximally 300° is available.


The invention relates to a buck converter comprising: a pair P—0 of switches SB, SH in series and connected to an input terminal B of the converter by the switch SB, K other additional pairs P—1, P—2, . . . , P_i, . . . P_K−1, P_K of switches in series between another input terminal A and the switch SH of the pair P—0, with i=1, 2, . . . K−1, K, the two switches of the same additional pair P_i are connected in series via an energy recovery inductor Lr_i; K input groups, Gin—1, Gin—2, . . . Gin_i, . . . Gin_K−1, Gin_K, of Ni capacitors C each in series; K output groups, Gout—1, Gout—2, . . . Gout_i, . . . Gout_K−1, Gout_K, of Mi capacitors C each in series. The switches P—0 and the K additional pairs are simultaneously controlled by first and second complementary control signals.

New electronic components are being powered with lower and lower voltages (currently 2.5 V and 1.8 V, and soon probably 1.2 V and 0.8 V) and the power requirements, at very low voltages, are increasing and becoming more important with respect to the conventional voltages +/−15 V and +5 V.
The currents drawn are becoming increasingly large since the power consumed by users is still the same or is increasing (capability for larger number of functions).
Voltages below 3.3 V are not distributed and are installed directly on the user boards. The power supply is being displaced as close as possible to the users.
This tendency obliges power supply manufacturers to produce converters generating ever greater ratios between input voltage and output voltage.
The structures used are generally pulse-mode converters that are not isolated in order to maintain high efficiencies and converters with low dimensions. It is difficult for these converters, with a structure of the step-down type, to achieve a transformation ratio greater than 10 with efficiencies greater than 90%.
In order to satisfy the demands of the market for higher levels of integration, these new converters must be deliverable within smaller and smaller surface areas and hence with increasingly higher efficiencies so as not to increase the size of the power dissipators.
The buck converter is one of the various converter structures.
FIG. 1a shows a functional circuit diagram of a buck converter.
The circuit in FIG. 1a is supplied by an input DC voltage Vin and delivers an output voltage Vout onto a load Rout in parallel with a capacitor Cout. A switch 10 allows either the positive potential of the input voltage Vin or the negative potential to be applied, for respective times Ton and Toff, to a terminal of an output inductor Lout that is connected by its other terminal to one of the load resistance terminals Rout. FIG. 1b shows the closed time Ton and the open time Toff of the switch 10. The other terminal of the load resistance Rout is connected to the negative potential of the input voltage Vin. It will be assumed in the following that the negative potential of Vin is 0 volts.
The diagrams in FIGS. 1c, 1d and 1e show the operational principle of the buck converter.
It is assumed that the switch 10 is switched with a frequency of period T, with T=Ton+Toff (see FIG. 1C). The period T can be a constant or variable value.
The voltage VI across the terminals of the inductor Lout is:
VI=Vin−Vout, during the time Ton and
VI=−Vout, during the time Toff.
The mean voltage Vm of the output voltage Vout across the terminals of the resistance Rout will therefore be in the range between Vin and 0 volts depending on the duty cycle Toff/T and will be given by Vm=(Ton/T).Vin.
The mean value Vm of the voltage Vout is constant. The current Ilout in the inductor Lout takes the form of ramps during the times Ton and Toff. A diode D ensures the continuity of the current in the inductor during the switching operations.
In the diagram in FIG. 1c the case of Ton=T/2 and hence Vout=Vin/2 is shown.
The diagrams in FIGS. 1d and 1e respectively show two values of mean voltage Vm1 and Vm2 across the terminals of the load resistance Rout for two values of the time Ton:                in the diagram in FIG. 1d: Ton/T=0.9 and,        in the diagram in FIG. 1e: Ton/T=0.1.
In other words, when Ton/T is small, the energy supplied by the power source, during the short time Ton, is small, producing a low mean voltage across the terminals of the load. On the other hand, when Ton is close to the period T, the load is virtually continuously connected to the power source, the mean output voltage is close to the DC input voltage.
In another type of operation of the buck converter, the time Ton is kept constant and the switching frequency, in other words the switching period T, is changed so that the ratio Ton/T is made to vary.
In practice, the switches are formed by two semiconductors in series, for example two MOS switches controlled by complementary signals at the frequency 1/T.
The buck converters of the prior art nevertheless have limitations. Indeed, a duty cycle Ton/T of 0.1 is the minimum that can currently be obtained with an acceptable performance in terms of efficiency and reliability. However, when it is desired to obtain an output voltage lower than one tenth of the input voltage, the conduction time Ton of the semiconductor supplying the energy to the load becomes very short and the switches become very difficult to control. In addition, if the output voltage decreases, for a given power delivered to the load, the currents in the semiconductors become large, at the limits of their capabilities, with a loss of efficiency of the converter.
Another means for obtaining a ratio between the input voltage and the output voltage that is much higher than 10 consists in forming a voltage step-down device comprising two cascaded converters. In this device, the output voltage of a first converter is applied to the input of a second converter. Thus, much higher ratios between the input voltage and the output voltage of the device can be obtained than those obtained by a single converter. Nevertheless, such a step-down device comprising two cascaded converters exhibits a globally lower efficiency than that of a single converter and a higher cost of production.

Serial connected low-loss synchronously switchable voltage chopper


There is provided a technology that can be applied as a substrate material to ordinary resin substrate materials and allows the adhesive strength between this substrate material and a plating metal layer to be increased; more specifically, there is provided an ordinary resin substrate material with an increased adhesive strength between the substrate material and a plating metal layer. The present invention relates to a resin substrate material such as an epoxy resin whose surface is swellable in a solution containing imidazolesilane and a palladium or other noble metal compound having a catalytic action in electroless plating and which has been surface-treated with the solution, and to an electronic component substrate material manufactured by performing electroless plating on this resin substrate material.

The wiring density of printed boards has been steadily rising in recent years because of the need for devices to be smaller and offer a higher performance. This has resulted in the wiring on boards being made finer, so the surfaces thereof have been made lower in profile. However, this trend toward lower surface roughness has made it difficult to achieve satisfactory adhesion between substrates and the metal plating films that are formed over the substrates. However, to meet the above-mentioned needs, a further increase in this adhesive strength will be also required.
Various proposals have already been made for how to handle this need. Of these, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose that a polyimide resin substrate material is coated with a polyimide resin precursor solution containing a palladium compound, this coating is dried to form a polyimide resin precursor layer, and then this product is irradiated with UV rays in the presence of a hydrogen donor to form nuclei for a primer plating layer, after which a primer plating metal layer is formed by an electroless plating treatment, then a surface plating layer is formed, before or after which the polyimide resin precursor layer is heated and imidized to create a polyimide resin layer. Forming the nuclei for the primer plating layer within the polyimide resin layer here provides an anchor effect that improves the adhesive strength between the polyimide resin layer and the plating substrate metal layer.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication 2002-30216A    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Publication 2002-374055A

Resin substrate material, electronic component substrate material manufactured by electroless plating on the same, and method for manufacturing electronic component substrate material


Peptide-drug conjugates comprising p-aminobenzyl carbamoyl or p-aminobenzolyl carbonate self-immolating linkers are disclosed. The peptide-drug conjugates comprise a peptide moiety that can be cleaved by cellular proteases, bound to the self-immolating linker, which linker is bound to a cytotoxic drug moiety. Upon cleavage of the peptide moiety, the linker self-immolates, releasing the cytotoxic drug in active form. Dimeric structures of the peptide drug conjugates comprising two molecules of cytotoxic drug per conjugate are also disclosed.

Cancerous cells often over-express certain proteases compared to normal cells. This has prompted efforts to target cancerous cells by linking a cytotoxic therapeutic agent to a peptide that a tumor protease cleaves, to release the cytotoxic drug proximate to or within cancerous cells while sparing or less substantially impacting normal cells.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,345 discloses tumor-specific peptide-drug conjugates that include a self-immolating linker and are selectively activated at the site of a tumor, wherein the drug may be mitomycin or doxorubicin, and the self-immolating linker is p-aminobenzyl alcohol.
Cells which express asparaginases make attractive targets for the peptide-drug conjugate approach, because many tumors over-express these proteases. One such asparaginase, legumain, has attracted particular attention in this connection (Wu et al., Cancer Research 2006; 66: 970-980; Liu et al., Cancer Research 2003; 63: 2957-2964; Bajjuri et al., ChemMedChem. 2011; 6:.doi: 10.1002/cmdc.201000478; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3549592/pdf/ni hm 54-59 s-340268.pdf.).
Mitomycin, doxorubicin and camptothecin have attracted attention as drugs employed in peptide-drug conjugate therapies. U.S. Pat. No. 7,608,591; US Published Application 20110300147; US Published Application 20090175873; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,314,060 disclose examples of peptide-drug conjugates that target legumain with drugs that include doxorubicin.
Each of the above references is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
These previous approaches have generally involved chemical modification of the drug moiety, which can adversely affect the drug's efficacy. Coupling of peptides directly (through the C-terminal carboxyl group) to the aziridine N atom of mitomycin yields a secondary amide, a functional group that typically is not subject to attack by proteases. Moreover, studies on mitomycin indicate the role of an NH group in the aziridine ring for biological activity. Thus there is a need for improved conjugates which target anti-tumor drugs such as mitomycin to tumor cells which express legumain and other asparaginases.


An LED street lamp assembly includes a central member having a first LED module fixed to a top surface thereof, a plurality of lamps attached to circumference of the central member and each having a second LED module therein, a plurality of sensors each mounted in one of the lamps and a controlling and driving circuit board received in the central member for receiving signal sent out by the sensors. If there is a goer approaches the LED street lamp assembly, the sensors are activated to send out signal to the controlling and driving circuit board to turn on the second LED modules of the lamps one by one as the goer comes closer and closer. If the goer passes by and is going away from the LED street lamp assembly, the sensors stop sending out signal to the control and driving circuit board to switch off the second LED module of the lamps one by one as the goer goes away farther and farther.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED lamp assembly for a lighting purpose, and more particularly relates to an improved LED lamp assembly having an intelligent controlling function, good heat dissipation capability and large illumination area.
2. Description of Related Art
An LED lamp is a type of solid-state lighting that utilizes light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a source of illumination. An LED is a device for transferring electricity to light by using a theory that, if a current is made to flow in a forward direction through a junction region comprising two different semiconductors, electrons and holes are coupled at the junction region to generate a light beam. The LED has an advantage that it is resistant to shock, and has an almost eternal lifetime under a specific condition; thus, the LED lamp is intended to be a cost-effective yet high quality replacement for incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
Since LED lamps have many advantages, the LED lamps often act as street lamps for lighting purpose. Generally, the LED street lamps have two using states, for example, they either completely turn on or turn off. Once turning on, the LED street lamps will continuously provide constant illuminant intensity even if there are no any goers or vehicles under the LED street lamps, which leads to waste of electrical energy.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved LED street lamp assembly which can overcome the above problems.

Fu Zhun Precision Industry (Shen Zhen) Co., Ltd.


The present disclosure provides a linear vibration motor, including: a base having an accommodating space, a vibration system accommodated in the accommodating space, an elastic member configured to fix and suspend the vibration system in the accommodating space, and a drive system fixed on the base. The vibration system includes an annular magnetic steel unit fixed on the elastic member. The drive system includes a first coil and a second coil that are fixed on the base and stacked together. The magnetic steel unit surrounds both the first coil and the second coil and is disposed separately from the first coil and second coil. An orthogonal projection of the magnetic steel unit in a direction towards the drive system at least partially falls in the first coil and the second coil, respectively. Compared with related technologies, the linear vibration motor of the present disclosure has better vibration performance.

With the development of electronic technology, portable consumer electronic products such as mobile phones, handheld game consoles, navigation apparatuses or handheld multimedia entertainment devices become increasingly popular among people. Linear vibration motors are usually used in these electronic products to provide system feedbacks such as call alerts, message alerts, and navigation alerts of mobile phones and vibration feedbacks of game consoles. Such wide application causes vibration motors to have high performance and long service life.
A linear vibration motor in related technologies includes a base having an accommodating space, a vibration system located in the accommodating space, an elastic member configured to fix and suspend the vibration system in the accommodating space, and a coil fixed on the base. Electromagnetic fields generated by the coil and the vibration system interact to drive the vibration system to make a reciprocal linear movement to generate vibration.
However, in a structure in which the linear vibration motor in related technologies vibrates in a Z-axis direction, a plane in which the coil is located is set to be perpendicular to a vibration direction, and the coil is disposed around a magnetic steel of the vibration system. Because there is one coil, a magnetic field that emanates from a bottom portion of the magnetic steel is generally used to cut the coil to generate a Lorentz force to perform driving, and a magnetic field from a top portion of the magnetic steel is not used. As a result, a drive system generates a limited driving force. That is, a force factor BL is small, and the vibration performance of the linear vibration motor is affected.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new linear vibration motor to resolve the foregoing problem.

AAC ACOUSTIC TECHNOLOGIES (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.


A process and apparatus for visualization of internal stresses in solid materials by an acoustic microscope (10) connected to an acoustic lens (5) having a circular or spherical transmitting and receiving surface (8) for transmitting ultrasonic waves to and receiving reflected waves from a sample (3) to be examined in a body of liquid (2), such as water, a motor drive unit (7) having a movable arm thereon (6) connected to the acoustic lens (5) for supporting and moving the lens for scanning the sample, the motor drive (7) being connected to the acoustic microscope (10) for being operated thereby to perform the scanning, a computer (16) having a visual display unit (18), and an oscilloscope (20) for indicating the reflected waves.

This invention relates to the detection and mapping of internal stresses in the interior of bulk materials by scanning acoustic technique.
It is known to utilize an ultrasonic microscope to compare a plurality of images detected by the ultrasonic waves reflected on or passing through a sample under different conditions by displaying the images on a cathode ray tube, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,333. It is also known to use a scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) for inspection and quality control in manufacturing and other industrial applications wherein the object under investigation is insonified by ultrasonic acoustic pulses, and ultrasonic reflections from the object are received and utilized to generate electrical signals which are used to develop an image of the object, the device being capable of focusing on varying transition levels within the object, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,986. It is known from this latter patent that when an acoustic pulse encounters any discontinuity (change of the acoustic impedance of the medium through which it is traveling), part of its energy is reflected and it is these echoes that a reflection mode acoustic microscope receives and eventually employs to display an image of internal features of the target object. Various types of information are present in the returned or echo pulses. For example, the time delay between radiation and reception provides an accurate index of the depth, or distance in the direction of travel, of a discontinuity.
The use of acoustic microscopy for nondestructive examination of materials is also shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,531,410; 4,702,112; and 4,788,866. These are incorporated herein by reference.
The use of acoustic microscopy for nondestructive testing of internal physical characteristics of bodies of metal and ceramic materials is also described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/922,845, filed Jul. 31, 1992, in which the applicant is a joint inventor.
Characteristic features of acoustic microscopes are also described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,503,708; 4,459,852; and 5,079,952, for example. All of the above prior patents are incorporated herein by reference as showing known structural and functional features of acoustic microscopes used in nondestructive examination of bodies of materials.
None of the above prior art, however, teaches a method and apparatus for visualizing by acoustic microscope imaging the internal stresses in the volume of solid transparent and non-transparent to light materials.
Although acoustic birefringence is well known in the literature, the attention of researchers has been attracted to the techniques of measuring the effect of stresses on acoustic velocity. The acoustic elastic effect, or the sensitivity of velocity of particular modes to applied stresses, has been used by investigators for imaging the stress field in metals. Benson and Raelsen proposed this method and reported the experimental data of the effects of stress on acoustic velocity in simple compression (R. W. Benson and V. J. Raelson, Product. Eng. 30. Acousto-elasticity, 1959). In analogy to photoelasticity, they found birefringence to be proportional to the difference of two principal stresses in a plane specimen. Toupin and Bernstein (R. A. Toupin and B. Bernstein, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 33, 216, 1961) derived the relations for acoustoelastic effects and determined the third order elastic constants of an isotropic material. Thurston and Brugger (R. N. Thurston and K. Brugger, Phys. Rev., Vol. A133, (1604-1610) 1964) discussed, in general, the wave propagation in a strained material. Hughes and Kelly (D. S. Hughes and J. L. Kelly, Phys. Rev. 92, 5, 1953) derived expressions for elastic wave velocities in terms of the Murnagham third order elastic constants l, m,, n, for the case of a normally isotropic body, taking the Lame constants .mu. and .lambda., as the second order coefficients. Crecraft (D. I. Crecraft, J. Sound Vib. 5, (I),(173-192), 1967) compared photoelasticity and "sonoelasticity" and presented the results of measurements of stress-induced velocity variations of both longitudinal and shear ultrasonic waves to megacycle frequencies. Data are provided for Polystyrene, Armco-Iron, Pyrex, Nickel-Steel, Copper (99.9%) and Aluminum (99%). Hsu (N. N. Hsu, Experimental Mech. Vol. 14, No. 5, (169-176), 1974) applied the pulse overlap technique for velocity measurements increasing the accuracy compared to "singaround" technique used by Crecraft. However difficulties were encountered when an attempt was made to apply acoustoelastic theory with ultrasonic measurements of residual stresses. The most recent theories (Yih-Hsing Pao, Tsung-Tsong Wu and U. Gamer, J. App. Mech. Vol. 58/11 1991) take into account the effects of plastic deformation, texture and other sources of anisotropy in materials. Recently, velocity changes were monitored by many investigators for stress imaging in metals (J. H. Cantrell and K. Salama, Intern. Mat. Rev., Vol. 36, No. 4, 1991; G. S. Kino et al., J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 50, (2607-2613), 1979; G. C. Johnson, J. Appl. Mech. Vol. 48/791, 1981; M. Hirao and Yih-Hsing Pao, J. Acoust. Soc. Am, Vol. 77 No. 5, 1985; S. W. Meeks et al. , Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 55, (18) 1989; J. H. Cantrell and M. Qian, Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 57, No. 18, 1990) and ceramics (K. F. Young, IBM J. Res. Develop. Vol. 34, No. 5, 1990).
Although the effect is small (less than 1%), many very elaborate and precise efforts were made to image velocity change on both macroscopic and microscopic scale in order to obtain the information on distribution of stresses mostly in the areas close to the surface of the sample.

Method and apparatus for visualization of internal stresses in solid non-transparent materials by elastoacoustic technique

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Commerce


The present invention relates to a method of adjusting the sound levels originating from several audio sources, within a television receiver. The audio components originating from at least two audiovisual or audio sources are received in an audiovisual receiver and mixed so as to generate a single audio signal. The levels assigned to each source can be adjusted by the user with the aid of an icon displayed on a screen. The icon comprises at least two points representing the two sources and a cursor which moves along two dimensions, the distance between this cursor and the point representing a source being proportional to the sound level assigned to this source. The present invention also relates to the audiovisual terminal for the implementation of the method.

The context of the present invention is that of receivers of audiovisual transmissions, for example digital television receivers. In this context, a broadcaster transmits audiovisual signals corresponding to audiovisual transmissions that users can see and listen to on their receivers. Within the field of digital television, the network broadcasts audiovisual transmissions more commonly referred to as "events", as well as data intended to reference them. These data are defined in the DVB-SI specifications ("Digital Video Broadcast-specification for Service Information") EN 300 468 V1.3.1 (published by the ETSI). They take the form of tables and descriptors which describe the objects transmitted on the broadcasting network. A service is an uninterrupted string of events broadcast on a specified stream.
The DVB-SI standard defines in particular the format of tables such as: NIT, SDT, EIT and possibly BAT. The NIT table gives the general structure of the network and indicates the list of transport streams and of services broadcast. The SDT table gives additional information relating to the services, for example the plaintext name of a service. The EIT table indicates a list of events for each service, and in particular the events currently being broadcast. The BAT table contains information about several services grouped together into a package, these services may arise from several broadcasting networks.
With the aid of the data contained in these tables, the receiver knows the general content of the audiovisual events broadcast by the network. The data transmitted on a service can be of audiovisual or just audio nature.
The existing systems do not make it possible to hear several audio sources at one and the same time. Thus, it is not possible during the showing of an event to simultaneously hear the sound belonging to this service and background music broadcast by another service, these two audio contents being chosen independently of one another by the user. The present invention aims to solve this problem and affords the user high listening comfort during the showing of events originating from a broadcasting network.

Method for sound adjustment of a plurality of audio sources and adjusting device


An apparatus and method for selectively stimulating a plurality of producing zones of an openhole wellbore in oil and gas wells in one trip. The assembly includes a plurality of modules connected in a tailpipe wherein the modules can be selectively actuated to conduct a matrix acidizing job and near wellbore erosion job on producing zones of interest in the wellbore. Each module includes a sleeve shiftable between a closed position and a treating position where a plurality of jet passageways are exposed to the central passageway of the assembly.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for stimulating producing zones of an openhole wellbore in oil and gas wells. More particularly, the invention relates to an assembly for selectively stimulating a wellbore without the use of openhole inflatable packers. The assembly is especially suited to perform a combination of matrix acidizing jobs and near wellbore erosion jobs at a number of producing zones in the wellbore in a single trip.
Previously, operators who were interested in stimulating multiple producing zones in an openhole wellbore could stimulate the zones one zone at a time by using a workstring and an openhole inflatable packer. Such a method and assembly required the operator to set an inflatable packer (or other similar apparatus) above each zone of interest to be stimulated and then, following the stimulation job, to release the packer (or packers) and trip the packer assembly to a new location where it would be reset for the next stimulation job. This procedure would be repeated for each desired zone of interest. However, because of the tripping time and the difficulty in setting and maintaining the seal in inflatable packers in openhole wellbores, such a method was both time consuming and relatively unreliable. Furthermore, openhole inflatable packers (or other similar devices) are expensive to rent or to purchase. As a result of the relative unreliability and cost of using openhole inflatable packers, such assemblies prove to be uneconomical in marginal fields such as fields in the Permian Basin region of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.
The assembly of the present invention does not require an inflatable packer and is very economical to build and maintain. Thus, an operator can use the present invention for a small incremental cost over what it costs to perform an acid job and receives the benefits of not only a matrix acidizing treatment, but can also enhance the flow in the near wellbore region by eroding away near wellbore skin damage. In addition, the present invention allows an operator to accurately position an assembly in a wellbore to ensure that the producing zones of interest are stimulated.

Apparatus and method for stimulating multiple production zones in a wellbore


A computationally efficient modeling system for imagery scales both the original image and corresponding principal component tiles in the same proportion to be able to extract scaled principal components. The system includes recovery of feature weights for the image model by extracting the weights from the reduced size principal component tiles. The use of the reduced size tiles to derive weights dramatically reduces computer overhead both in the generation of the files and in the generation of the weights, and is made possible by the fact that the weights from the scaled down tiles are nearly equal to the weights of the tiles associated with the full size image. The subject system thus reduces computation and the number of bits required to represent features by first scaling the image and then tiling the image in the same proportion. In one embodiment, the scaled down tiles are used as training exemplars used to generate the principal components.

The extraction of principal components from images is well known, with one extraction technique using neural networks as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,305. Principal components are those which have self-same characteristics or features from one section of an image to another. This self-same characteristic or feature is encoded in principal component tiles in which the image is first subdivided into rectilinear subsections or tiles. A transform is then applied to the tiles which results in a small number of principal component tiles. The dot product of the principal component tiles with the original image results in a set of weights which when transmitted with the principal component tile permits reconstruction of the image. Mathematically speaking the principal components are the basis of a matrix analysis where one is looking for orthogonal tiles ordered by energy.
Thus the original image is modeled through extraction of principal components. The modeling at least in one instance permits compression so that the transmission of the image can be accomplished on a reduced time scale.
By way of background, as to standard compression methods, first, there is the process of compaction. This is done for conventional applications by some suitable transformation which provides an initial compact representation. In the case of JPEG, for example, the discrete cosine transformation (DCT) provides compaction. Associated with each transformation is a basis. The bases may be of fixed scale as with the JPEG-DCT, or may vary in scale motivated by the prospect for very low bit rate transmission as with current wavelet techniques.
Up until recently, standard compression has not been thought suitable for principal component image modeling and compression, which can involve temporal and characteristics other than spatial characteristics. Standard compression methods such as JPEG or wavelet transforms focus only on the spatial characteristics of the image, with JPEG and wavelet transforms being described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,347,157; 6,343,155; 6,343,154; 6,229,926; 6,157,414; 6,249,614; 6,137,914; 6,292,591, and 6,298,162.
Standard image compression uses fixed bases. The results are good for standard imagery and are oriented to same. However, for more exotic imagery, e.g., hyperspectral imagery, there is a need for new modeling and compression techniques.
More specifically, in hyperspectral imagery the number of features used to characterized an image is multiplied. For instance, non-spatial features such as heat, hardness, texture, and color are often times used in image presentation. The fixed basis of JPEG and others cannot handle the expanded feature set associated with hyperspectral imagery. Nor can these techniques handle voxels which are used to encode numbers of additional features of an image. Transmission of voxel images is computationally intense and less computationally intense compression techniques are required for their transmission.
In the past, principal component analysis has been used to indicate what features or characteristics of an image are to be utilized in a compression process. Such characteristics can be spatial or temporal or indeed any of a wide variety of characteristics such as for instance color, heat, or other hyperspectral components. In order to achieve modeling or indeed compression, it is important to identify correlations in an image. How to do this in a computationally efficient manner and one which is universal across all platforms is a challenge.
By way of further background, there are currently two main compression techniques and both are dependent on fixed bases. One, the JPEG standard, is based on the DCT transform to provide compaction. The essence of this technique is based on two factors: the approximation of the Karhunen-Loeve (KL) transform by the DCT and the extent of the autocorrelation function which seems to optimize for most images to 8×8 tiles. Using these factors, the JPEG compression standard made a compromise decision omitting the use of scale. The initial DCT transform on 8×8 tiles provides compaction which is then further compressed using zigzag scanning followed by run length and Huffman coders. JPEG produces good images at moderate compression.
The other relevant technique is wavelet compression. Wavelet technology has challenged assumptions in the JPEG standard on several fronts. Most important, scale is implicit to wavelet techniques. Scale allows ordered extraction of fine and coarse features. Use of scale, from fine to coarse, means that subsequent decomposition will be on decimated image. As a result, wavelet decomposition which provides control over computation is limited by decimation. Each level has ¼ the points of the previous level so computation is about 1.33 N2k where k is the size of the wavelet filter and N is image size in one dimension. Second, wavelets are usually applied to images on a separable though fixed basis. Thus, wavelet decomposition is applied in the x and y dimensions separately. This seems to fit well with human visual perception which is oriented to horizontal and vertical detail. Two dimensional bases are implicit in this decomposition. Third, a particularly good scheme for quantizing wavelet coefficients, Zero Tree Encoding2, has significantly advanced the state of the art in wavelet image compression. The combination of scale, compaction and quantization made wavelets the likely candidate for future generation JPEG compression standards.

Computationally efficient modeling of imagery using scaled, extracted principal components

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


Flexible honeycomb panels are vented by providing vent openings at specific locations within the honeycomb core. The invention is applicable to flexible honeycomb panels which are made from bonded corrugated sheets wherein each of the corrugated sheets has upper and lower node ridges and wherein the lower surfaces of lower node ridges are bonded to the upper surface of lower node ridges located on underlying sheets. The corrugated sheets are stacked so that the adhesive or bond lines between the lower nodes are displaced from each other within the stack. Vent openings are located in the upper node ridges to provide venting of the honeycomb structure. Location of vent openings in the upper node ridges can be controlled to provide selective transport of media through the honeycomb.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to honeycomb structures. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing ventilation of honeycomb structures which are flexible.
2. Description of Related Art
Honeycomb structures have found wide use in many settings where high strength and light weight are required. Many honeycomb structures are in the form of panels which are made up of honeycomb that is sandwiched between two side surface sheets. A common honeycomb configuration is the one in which honeycomb walls are interconnected to form hexagonal cells. Hexagonal honeycomb sandwich panels are strong and rigid structures. Panels utilizing hexagonal honeycomb cores have been used extensively in aircraft and spacecraft where relatively planar structural elements are needed which are lightweight and strong.
In many situations, it is desirable to provide honeycomb sandwich panels which have the strength associated with conventional hexagonal honeycomb, but which also are sufficiently flexible to be formed into nonplanar shapes. Exemplary flexible and formable honeycombs are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,227,600 and 3,342,666. These types of flexible honeycombs can be formed into structures having compound curves. Circular structures with relatively tight radii may also be formed. Common types of flexible honeycombs are available from Hexcel Corporation under the trademark FLEX-CORE.RTM. and DOUBLE-FLEX.TM..
Honeycomb structures become closed cellular systems when solid side surface sheets are added to form the final honeycomb panel. These closed systems are made up of a multitude of interconnected closed cells. It is essential in certain circumstances that the cells of the honeycomb panel be vented amongst themselves and also vented to the panel exterior. For example, aircraft and space vehicles are subjected to large changes in air pressure. Honeycomb panels must be vented in order to avoid the build-up of damaging pressures within the honeycomb. In addition, there are certain situations where the honeycomb panel is designed to include discreet passageways or conduits through which various gas or vapors are transported. The selective venting of honeycomb structural panels to form such conduits passing through the panels is especially useful on spacecraft where multipurpose elements are desirable.
Some honeycomb manufacturing processes involve the heating and/or generation of gases during final formation of the honeycomb panel. In these situations, the honeycomb core must also be vented or made "breathable" in order to avoid excessive build-up of pressure within the individual cells.
Conventional honeycomb has been vented in a variety of ways. Venting configurations depend in large part upon the final intended use for the sandwich panel assembly. In those situations where structural strength is a prime consideration, venting configurations typically involve providing one or more small vent holes in each cell wall. Alternatively, when strength could be sacrificed in favor of lower densities and high vent rates, honeycomb cores have been made utilizing perforated materials which provide numerous permeations in the honeycomb through which venting can occur.
There are significant structural differences between conventional non-flexible honeycomb and flexible honeycomb. In addition, there are significant differences in the processes by which these different types of honeycombs are manufactured. As a result, the venting procedures and configurations which typically have been utilized for the more conventional honeycomb cores are not applicable to flexible honeycomb core such as FLEX-CORE.RTM. and DOUBLE-FLEX.TM.. Although perforated material may be utilized to provide venting of flexible honeycomb core material, such perforated materials are not well-suited for those situations where high strength or selective passage of certain media through the honeycomb is desired. Accordingly, there is a present need to provide a simple, effective and economically efficient process for making vented flexible honeycomb sandwich panels.


The invention relates to a clustered substrate processing system comprising a plurality of lithography elements. Each lithography element is arranged for independent exposure of substrates according to pattern data, and comprises a plurality of lithography subsystems, a control network arranged for communication of control information between the lithography subsystems and at least one element control unit, the element control unit arranged to transmit commands to the lithography subsystems and the lithography subsystems arranged to transmit responses to the element control unit, and a data network arranged for communication of data logging information from the lithography subsystems to at least one data network hub, the lithography subsystems arranged to transmit data logging information to the data network hub and the data hub arranged for receiving and storing the data logging information. The system further comprises a cluster front-end for interface to an operator or host system.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a clustered substrate processing system comprising a plurality of lithography elements each arranged for independent exposure of substrates according to pattern data, and more particularly to network architecture for such a clustered substrate processing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the semiconductor industry, an ever increasing desire exists to manufacture structures with high accuracy and reliability. In lithography systems this desire results in extremely high demands with respect to the amount and the speed of production of wafers. Lithography machines have become more complex with numerous subsystems for performing various functions within the machine, and complex software to control the operation of the subsystems. Modern lithography machines typically generate large amounts of data operation and managing the data has become increasingly difficult. Lithography machines may be grouped together in a cluster of lithography elements to provide higher volume production. Transmission of information within such a cluster of lithography elements for control and data collection has become a problem as the amount of information to transmit increases and the complexity of the systems creases.
Network architectures exist which combine control and data services into a single network and use quality of service techniques to prioritize delivery of certain data to provide timely delivery of critical control data, but have proven to be insufficient in this environment. The present invention provides an alternative solution for a network architecture to provide timely delivery of critical control data and collection of large amounts of data for a cluster of lithography elements.

Network architecture for lithography machine cluster


Embodiments described relate to techniques for identifying and characterizing biological structures using machine learning techniques. These techniques may be employed to enable a device to identify the particular type of tissue and/or cells (e.g., platelets, smooth muscle cells, or endothelial cells) in, for example, a biological structure, which may be a tissue or a lesion of a duct (e.g., vasculature) in an animal (e.g., a human or non-human animal), among other structures. The machine learning techniques may use raw impedance spectroscopy measurement data in addition to values derived from that raw data. In addition, the machine learning techniques may be used to select frequencies at which to measure impedance and select features to extract from the measured impedance at the selected frequencies to arrive at a small set of frequencies that allow for reliable differentiation.

Blockages of blood vessels (including veins or arteries) may occur in various parts of an animal (e.g., a human or a non-human animal) and may have significant repercussions. In an ischemic stroke, for example, a blood clot fully or partially blocks blood flow in a cerebral artery. If the clot is not treated quickly, insufficient blood flow may cause irreparable damage to the brain.
Blockages may be caused by blood clots, which may be caused by coagulation of red and/or white blood cells and/or platelets within a blood vessel. The coagulation may be triggered by a variety of factors, including an injury, abnormal blood flow at the site of the blockage, a disease/condition predisposing an animal to coagulation, and/or other factors.
A common treatment of a clot is chemical dissolution of the clot, which is feasible within the first 4.5 hours following blockage of a blood vessel. Another common option is mechanical thrombectomy, in which an aspiration catheter or a stent-retriever is used to remove the blood clot from the blood vessel.
Stent-retrievers include a stent attached at the end of a wire. The stent is deployed into the vasculature and into the clot, expanded into the clot, and, after a typical waiting time of 0.5 to 10 minutes, extracted to pull the clot out of the blood vessel. Due to non-optimal grabbing of the clot by the stent-retriever, some parts of the clot may be left by or be lost from the retriever, such that several succession treatments (an average 3 times) may be necessary to treat the blockage and restore circulation in the vessel. Each repetition increases injury to the vessel wall and increases both the intervention duration and the duration of impeded blood flow due to the blockage, potentially leading to irreparable damage of the animal. The physio-mechanical process of clot grabbing is currently poorly understood, but the two most common explanations for non-optimal grabbing of a clot are (1) the stent-retriever never deploys into the blood clot and only friction induced by the stent-retriever pushing the blood clot against the wall is responsible for the retrieval of the clot, and (2) the stent deploys into the blood clot but an insufficient amount of time was provided for the stent to coalesce with the blood clot.
If an aspiration catheter is used to remove the blood clot, a clinician inserts the catheter into the vasculature and operates the catheter to aspirate the clot into the catheter. Depending on the diameter of the catheter, it may be placed in direct contact with the clot or placed in a proximal region of the vessel. Depending on the composition and viscosity of the clot, the aspiration method may differ. Some difficulties may arise with aspiration catheters. For example once the clot is aspirated into the catheter, it can block the flow inside the catheter. In such situations, a clinician may not be aware without extraction of the catheter whether the clot is blocking a tip of the catheter or is inside the catheter and blocking a tube. If the clot is blocking the tip of the catheter, there is a risk the clot may be inadvertently released during removal of the catheter, such that the clot may become an embolism that travels through the blood stream and blocks a vessel in another part of the animal.

Characterizing and identifying biological structure


An aircraft logging system is disclosed. The aircraft logging system may be mounted on an aircraft and may be configured to generate a log of aircraft landing, takeoff or both. The aircraft logging system may have an independent power supply and may be electrically decoupled from the aircraft on which it is mounted. The aircraft logging system may include a sensor, such as an altimeter, that enables identifying the occurrence of a landing using emitted signals. The aircraft logging system includes a positioning device configured to provide a position measurement.

Helicopters and other types of aircraft are often used to transport technicians and scientists visiting worksites located in remote or relatively uninhabited geographic areas. Many of these areas may be protected, whereby local, state or federal rules or regulations may require submission of an accounting or log of the locations of aircraft landing. Further, aircraft operators or other parties find that keeping such a log is beneficial. Requiring a pilot to keep a written record of the aircraft landing locations based on reading on-board aircraft instruments may prove to be burdensome as that would distract the pilot from performing flight checklist, among other responsibilities. Further, a manually-kept record is prone to errors and omissions.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a system for recording the landing and takeoff locations of an aircraft. It is further desirable for the system to generate an electronic log of the geographic locations of aircraft landing and takeoff.

Aircraft landing and takeoff logging system