What is disclosed herein is an artificial eye blank comprised of a transparent artificial eyepiece segment and a moveable artificial nictitating membrane which is slidably mounted on the bottom outside circumferential edge of the artificial eyepiece segment.

This invention deals with artificial eyes and blanks from which such eyes are manufactured. Artificial eyes are used in manufacturing toys, taxidermy work, and other varied uses, the most prevalent use of artificial eyes being for stuffed toy animals, baby dolls, and for taxidermy work.
Taxidermists mount animal head skins over molded animal head manikins, such as deer head manikins. The manikins are usually manufactured from dense foamed materials and are configured for the particular animal being mounted by the taxidermist. Thus, the manikins have nose openings, eye sockets, and the like and the taxidermist must: supply the materials and means by which these openings are rendered realistic.
For eye sockets, the taxidermist uses artificial eyes and mounts the eyes using modeling clay or other anatomy contouring materials. The taxidermist must be skilled in that, the eyes must be mounted with regard to natural appearance, which means that with deer eyes there must be a nictitating membrane present on the eye, and the nictitating membrane must be in the proper orientation.
A nictitating membrane is the thin membrane found in many animals at the inner angle or beneath the lower lid of the eye and capable of extending across the eyeball. To enhance the realism of a mounted animal head, it is preferable that the artificial eye, such as the artificial deer eye, include a feature corresponding to the nictitating membrane found in the live animal. Nictitating membrane features for artificial deer eyes have previously been implemented using thin black strips, usually formed from plastic in the crescent shape of a natural nictitating membrane. The nictitating membrane piece is mounted by the taxidermist, along with the artificial deer eye itself, into the animal head manikin. The positioning and securing of the artificial eye and the nictitating membrane piece in the correct anatomical position in the animal head manikin demands considerable time and skill of the taxidermist.
In one prior art approach to supplying nictitating membranes for artificial eyes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,895, issued on Apr. 7, 1998 to John Rinehart, discloses that such nictitating membranes can be colored into the artificial eye blank, by using glass glazes and the like.
Yet another approach to providing nictitating membranes for artificial eyes is to mold the nictitating membrane into the artificial eye blank when the blank itself is molded.
Thus, the processes set forth in the prior art result in artificial eyes having nictitating membranes that are permanently affixed to the artificial eye blank. Taxidermists using such artificial eyes still have to deal with the problem of the proper orientation of the artificial eye during the taxidermy of the animal head.
The present invention overcomes such problems, along with other related problems in the use of artificial eyes that include nictitating membranes.


An apparatus for analyzing a subject's cornea includes a frame having first and second ends, a single curvature (i.e. non-planar and non-axisymmetrical) screen associated with the first end of the frame, the non-planar and non-axisymmetrical screen having an opaque covering which is interrupted along its surface to form a pattern. A light source is disposed to cast the pattern placed on the screen onto the subject's cornea, thus causing a pattern to reflect therefrom. A light detector (e.g. a camera, CCD, or human eye) is disposed to sense the pattern reflected from the subject's cornea. The improved Placido plate is easier to manufacture. The design allows for incorporation of extremely complex pattern shapes, while its shape helps to maintain focus of the image.

The use of reflected Placido rings to analyze a subject's eye is known. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,162 (Apr. 26, 1966) to Knoll et al., various methods of positioning and illuminating a plurality of reflecting rings in front of a subject's cornea are identified. Such methods include photokeratoscopes wherein the rings are disposed on a plane surface which is held in front of the subject's cornea and illuminated by a light source and to one side of the cornea, reflecting rings formed on the interior surface of a sphere with the light source outside of the sphere, reflecting rings formed on the inner surface of a cylinder with the light source disposed outside of the cylinder, or reflecting rings disposed on the interior surface of a cylindrical cage with the light source disposed within the cage itself.
Illuminating the rings causes reflections of the rings to appear on the cornea, and these reflections are then depicted (e.g. either optically or by photography) and then analyzed by an eye specialist. The reflecting rings are circular, and deviations of the cornea from sphericity cause bumps or indentations indicative of irregularities in the cornea to be present in the reflections of the rings. Unequally spaced rings can be indicative of regular deviations from sphericity, and elliptical reflections may indicate a toric cornea.
Other devices which use reflecting patterns to analyze a subject's eye are described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,750,931 to Kellner et al. (Mar. 18, 1930), U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,850 to Gersten et al. (May 28, 1991), U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,115 to Gersten et al. (Sep. 20, 1988), U.S. Pat. No. 3,932,030 to Hasegawa et al. (Jan. 13, 1976), U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,882 to Penney (Mar. 16, 1993); U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,140 to Mount, II (Aug. 4, 1987); U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,818 to El Hage (Jul. 13, 1993); U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,539 to Gersten et al. (May 16, 1995); U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,582 to van Saarloos (May 23, 1995); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,072 to El Hage (Jun. 11, 1996).
Exemplary of these devices is U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,921 to Kilmer et al. (Mar. 19, 1974), the contents of which are incorporated by this reference. Kilmer et al. discloses a photographic apparatus for determining the corneal radius. The apparatus uses a transparent, concave screen having one or more opaque, concentric rings placed thereon. Light passes through the screen to the subject's eye, causing the concentric ring pattern to be reflected on the subject's eye. A photograph is taken and analyzed, and the corneal radius determined.
Although the aforementioned devices are usually adequate for most purposes, sometimes it is desirable to change the image or pattern illuminated by the apparatus (e.g. from a Placido ring pattern to a checkerboard pattern). Unfortunately, with the axisymmetrical shape of the Placido screens to date (e.g., on cylindrical and dish-shaped screens), changing the pattern has proven difficult. Planar screens, although potentially easier to change the pattern thereon, suffer from an inadequate reflective pattern for the amount of space used. It would thus be an improvement in the art to have an easy to manufacture non-planar screen which could be readily associated and disassociated with chosen patterns.


The present invention combines a conventional audio microphone with an additional speech sensor that provides a speech sensor signal based on an input. The speech sensor signal is generated based on an action undertaken by a speaker during speech, such as facial movement, bone vibration, throat vibration, throat impedance changes, etc. A speech detector component receives an input from the speech sensor and outputs a speech detection signal indicative of whether a user is speaking. The speech detector generates the speech detection signal based on the microphone signal and the speech sensor signal.

The present invention relates to speech detection. More specifically, the present invention relates to detecting the presence of speech of a desired speaker based on a multi-sensory transducer input system.
In many different speech recognition applications, it is very important, and can be critical, to have a clear and consistent audio input representing the speech to be recognized provided to the automatic speech recognition system. Two categories of noise which tend to corrupt the audio input to the speech recognition system are ambient noise and noise generated from background speech. There has been extensive work done in developing noise cancellation techniques in order to cancel ambient noise from the audio input. Some techniques are already commercially available in audio processing software, or integrated in digital microphones, such as universal serial bus (USB) microphones.
Dealing with noise related to background speech has been more problematic. This can arise in a variety of different, noisy environments. For example, where the speaker of interest in talking in a crowd, or among other people, a conventional microphone often picks up the speech of speakers other than the speaker of interest. Basically, in any environment in which other persons are talking, the audio signal generated from the speaker of interest can be compromised.
One prior solution for dealing with background speech is to provide an on/off switch on the cord of a headset or on a handset. The on/off switch has been referred to as a "push-to-talk" button and the user is required to push the button prior to speaking. When the user pushes the button, it generates a button signal. The button signal indicates to the speech recognition system that the speaker of interest is speaking, or is about to speak. However, some usability studies have shown that this type of system is not satisfactory or desired by users.
In addition, there has been work done in attempting to separate background speakers picked up by microphones from the speaker of interest (or foreground speaker). This has worked reasonably well in clean office environments, but has proven insufficient in highly noisy environments.
In yet another prior technique, a signal from a standard microphone has been combined with a signal from a throat microphone. The throat microphone registers laryngeal behavior indirectly by measuring the change in electrical impedance across the throat during speaking. The signal generated by the throat microphone was combined with the conventional microphone and models were generated that modeled the spectral content of the combined signals.
An algorithm was used to map the noisy, combined standard and throat microphone signal features to a clean standard microphone feature. This was estimated using probabilistic optimum filtering. However, while the throat microphone is quite immune to background noise, the spectral content of the throat microphone signal is quite limited. Therefore, using it to map to a clean estimated feature vector was not highly accurate. This technique is described in greater detail in Frankco et al., COMBINING HETEROGENEOUS SENSORS WITH STANDARD MICROPHONES FOR NOISY ROBUST RECOGNITION, Presentation at the DARPA ROAR Workshop, Orlando, Fl. (2001). In addition, wearing a throat microphone is an added inconvenience to the user.


A constant on time mode power supplier uses longer constant on time when the output voltage of the constant on time mode power supplier is drooped due to load variation, to increase energy provided to the output of the constant on time mode power supplier for preventing the output voltage from undershooting and shortening the time for the output voltage to recover stable.

There are various types of circuits for implementing constant on time (COT) for power supplies. For example, FIG. 1 shows a popular implementation of a COT mode power supply, in which a feedback circuit 18 detects the output voltage Vo of the COT mode power supply to generate a feedback signal Vfb, a compensator 12 generates an error signal Vcomp responsive to the difference between the feedback signal Vfb and a reference value Vref1, where the compensator 12 shown in FIG. 1 uses a transconductance amplifier (GM), while an operational amplifier may be used instead in other applications, a resistor Rc and a capacitor Cc connected in series at the output of the compensator 12 are compensator components for stabilizing the error signal Vcomp, a ramp generator 10 provides a ramp signal Vramp which is designed based on the input voltage Vin or the output voltage Vo of the COT mode power supply, or is established based on the on and off of the switch M1 to have a waveform similar to that of the inductor current IL, a comparator 14 compares the error signal Vcomp with the ramp signal Vramp to assert a comparison signal Scmp1, and an on time generator 16 triggers a constant on time Ton1 responsive to the comparison signal Scmp1 for a gate driver 20 to control switches M1 and M2 for regulating the output voltage Vo. There are a variety of designs for the on time generator 16, and one of the most popular approaches is to use the input voltage Vin and the output voltage Vo of the COT mode power supply to determine the pulse width of the on time to achieve a constant frequency (CF) or constant current ripple (CCR) COT scheme.
In the COT mode power supply shown in FIG. 1, when the error signal Vcomp becomes equal to the ramp signal Vramp, the comparison signal Scmp1 is asserted to trigger the constant on time Ton1. Use of the ramp signal Vramp not only increases noise immunity of the COT mode power supply but also avoids uttering of the error signal Vcomp. However, the compensator 12 will directly affect the transient response of the COT mode power supply due to its design. For example, if the compensator 12 is designed to have a lower direct-current (DC) gain, then the COT mode power supply has a slower transient response and thus, when the load Ro is changed from light to heavy, the output voltage Vo often occurs undershooting and thus fails to conform with electronic specifications. In order to prevent the output voltage Vo from undershooting, a traditional solution is to increase the capacitance of the capacitor Co at the output terminal of the COT mode power supply; however, such solution increases the costs.
Therefore, it is desired a low cost COT mode power supply capable of preventing its output voltage from undershooting regardless of the design of the compensator used in the COT mode power supply.

Load transient of a cot mode power supply


A wearable device for healthcare and a method thereof, wherein the device is worn on a finger for measuring the health data of the user, including but not limited to, the heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, etc. The wearing size of the device is adjustable for different sizes of fingers. In one embodiment, the device includes a main body at least partially worn on a digit of a user; at least one physiological sensor attached to the main body for detecting physiological information; and at least two branches coupled to the main body for holding the digit while reducing the movement of the device. At least a part of at least one branch is changeable such that the wearing size of the device is adjustable for different sizes of digits. In another embodiment, at least a part of at least one branch is movable such that the wearing size of the device is adjustable for different sizes of digits.

Nowadays, wearable device for health data measurement is becoming a very popular trend within the healthcare industry and is increasingly being used on a more regular basis. In one main application field, many wearable/portable devices are designed to measure the health data of the user, e.g., blood oxygen saturation, during the sleep to monitor any sleep disorder exists for diagnosis and treatment in advance. Generally, the wearable device is designed to be worn by the user during the whole night for long time monitor. In order to relieve the long-term wearing load, increase the user's comfortability during the long-term wearing and improve the user's sleep quality, one solution is to wear a sensor device on the user's finger for detecting physiological information during sleep.
However, since different users have different finger sizes, the diameter of which normally varies from 15.7 mm to 21.2 mm, the wearable device should be prepared with many sizes to fit for different finger sizes. For those wearable devices which are commonly used in the hospital for monitoring the patients' physiological information, it's inconvenient to reserve many sizes of the wearable devices for different patients.
Under such condition, the wearable device, especially worn on the fingers, with adjustable sizes is demanded for mass application. In one existing solution, the wearing size of the wearable device could be adjusted by extending the wearing body with embedded screws, as disclosed by the prior art references CN105942680 and CN107969771. In another existing solution, the wearing size of the wearable device could be adjusted by adding an extending portion between two parts of the wearing body, as disclosed by the prior art references US20170006978 and JP03214654U. In still another existing solution, the wearing size of the wearable device could be adjusted by adding one or more flexible parts, e.g., springs, between the wearing body, as disclosed by the prior art references U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,882 and DE202006000690. In still another existing solution, the wearing size of the wearable device could be adjusted by inserting one or more shims between the wearing body and the user for reducing the ring size, as disclosed by the prior art references U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,354,106, 7,735,337, and 9,743,726B1. In still another existing solution, the wearing size of the wearable device could be adjusted by replacing the internal wearing body in different sizes, as disclosed by the prior art references U.S. Pat. No. 8,448,464 and US20180020980. In still another existing solution, the wearing size of the wearable device could be adjusted by mechanical process, e.g., to configure two ratchet elements at the connecting ends of the two arms of the wearing body so as to adjusting the size of the wearing body by adjusting the overlap ratio of the two ratchets, as disclosed by the prior art US20180338587A1.
However, for most of the above solutions the cost is relatively high, and the structure is not compact for long term wear. Some other solutions are not proper for long-term wear especially during the night. Due to the requirement from the doctor or nurse in the hospital to apply the wearable device on the different patients for detecting their physiological information during the whole night, it is necessary to develop an adjustable wearable device of which the wearing size could be easily changed and the whole structure is compact and comfortable for long-term wear.

Wearable device for healthcare and method thereof


Disclosed herein are PACE4 inhibitors, compositions comprising PACE4 inhibitors and their uses thereof for lowering PACE4 activity, reducing cell proliferation, reducing tumor growth, reducing metastasis formation, preventing and/or treating cancer. Also provided are methods for lowering PACE4 activity, reducing the proliferation of a cell, reducing tumor growth and/or treating and preventing cancer. Methods for screening PACE4 inhibitors and cell proliferation inhibitors are further provided.

Cancer cells are characterized by multiple genetic alterations that confer physiological changes, leading to uncontrolled division and ability to invade other tissues. These acquired capabilities, namely self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to growth-inhibitory signals, evasion of programmed cell death, limitless replicative potential, sustained angiogenesis, tissue invasion and metastasis are essential for malignant growth. Recent studies have associated the family of enzymes known as the proprotein convertases (PCs) to cancer (Bassi et al., 2005, Mol. Carcinog., 44: 151-161; Khatib et al., 2002, Am. J. Pathol., 160: 1921-1935). PCs are serine proteases that optimally cleave substrates at R-X-K/R-R motif. These processing events, resulting in the activation of protein precursors, occur at multiple levels of cell secretory pathways, and even at the cell surface.
In mammalian cells, seven members of this family have been identified: furin, PACE4, PC1/3, PC2, PC4, PC5/6 and PC7, with differential expression in tissues, ranging from ubiquitous (eg. furin) to an endocrine restricted expression (PC1/3 and PC2).
The association of PCs with cancer was firstly done by comparative studies of normal and cancerous cells showing higher expression of PCs in small cell lung cancer (Clark et al., 1993, Peptides, 14: 1021-1028), non-small cell lung carcinoma (Mbikay et al., 1997, Cancer, 75: 1509-1514), breast (Cheng et al., 1997, Int. J. Cancer, 71: 966-971), colon (Tzimas et al., 2005, BMC Cancer, 5: 149), and head and neck (Bassi et al., Mol. Carcinog., 31: 224-232) tumors cells. A correlation between expression of some PCs, namely furin and PACE4, and tumor cell aggressiveness has been established for different cell types. It as been demonstrated that the overexpression of PACE4 in non-malignant keratinocyte cell lines renders these cells malignant. Non-selective inhibitors that target several PCs together (such as furin, PACE4 and PC5/6 together) have been described (Bassi et al., 2005, Cancer Res., 65: 7310-7319; Mahloogi et al., 2002, Carcinogenesis, 23: 565-572; Bassi et al., 2000, Mol. Carcinog., 28: 63-69; Hubbard et al., 1997, Cancer Res., 57: 5226-5231).
Moreover, it has been proposed that PC activity regulates epithelial cell differentiation in a prostate cancer cell line. One possible mechanism underlying these observations could be on the basis of the precursors activation by overexpressed PCs. Thus, it is hypothesized that aberrant processing events provide cancer cells a higher capacity to (i) remodel the extracellular; (ii) to interact with their host micro-environment to favor tumor cell adhesion and; (iii) to modulate their proliferation and differentiation. Alternatively, PC's overexpression is required to sustain these pathophysiological functions to maintain cancer cells immortality
The situation becomes more complex as the expression/activity of PCs are modulated differently in various cancer cells or cancer models. If one wishes to understand the specific contribution of each PC in tumorigenesis, the necessity for potent, specific and cell effective inhibitors, either pharmacologic or molecular, for each member of this enzyme family is crucial. Until now, these pharmacological tools are limited and lack specificity for single PCs.
It would be highly desirable to be provided with selective PCs inhibitors. It would also be highly desirable to be provided with selective PCs inhibitors that are effective in treating cancer. More specifically, it would be highly desirable to be provided with selective PCs inhibitors that have antiproliferative effects.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multi-leu peptides and analogues thereof as selective PACE4 inhibitors and effective antiproliferative agents

LA SOCIETE DE COMMERCIALISATION DES PRODUITS DE LA RECHERCHE APPLIQUEE SOCPRA-SCIENCES SANTE ET HUMAINES S.E.C.


A cycle setting unit of a signal generating circuit varies a set cycle value. A first determining unit determines a first ON time on the basis of: a first duty ratio obtained by correcting, with a correction value, a ratio between a target ON time and a reference cycle; and a set cycle value. A second determining unit determines, as a second ON time, a setting candidate value that is close to the first ON time. A generating unit generates a PWM signal reflecting the set cycle value and the second ON time. A third determining unit determines the correction value that is to be used next time by the first determining unit, on the basis of the target ON time, the reference cycle, the correction value of the previous time, the set cycle value, and the second ON time.

Voltage converting devices that convert voltage by driving switching elements with PWM (pulse width modulation) signals are conventionally widely used. For example, such a PWM-controlled voltage converting device calculates a voltage command value on the basis of a target voltage value and then sets the value corresponding to the calculated command value in a PWM signal generating unit. With this, the PWM-controlled voltage converting device generates a PWM signal having a duty ratio corresponding to the set value. Varying the duty ratio of the PWM signal used for driving the switching element according to the target voltage value in this way can provide an output voltage corresponding to the target voltage value.
Here, when a minimum unit of a value settable in the PWM signal generating unit (that is, a minimum increment) is relatively large, the duty ratio of the PWM signal cannot vary smoothly with respect to variations in the target voltage value. More specifically, the output voltage varies stepwise. For example, suppose that a target value to be set in the PWM signal generating unit is calculated as the amount of PWM control. In this case, when a minimum unit of the target value is larger than the settable minimum unit, the duty ratio of the PWM signal cannot vary smoothly with respect to the variations in the target voltage value and to load fluctuation. This causes an error to the output voltage.
To address these circumstances, Japanese Unexamined Application Publication No. 3-98470 discloses a PWM inverter that, when an on-off time of a PWM signal is calculated for each cycle of PWM control, calculates the on-off time by dropping a remainder of division in which the voltage command value is a dividend and outputs a PWM pulse based on the calculation result. The remainder from the above calculation corresponds to the voltage command value that is dropped instead of being reflected on the on-off time.
This PWM inverter adds the dropped remainder to the voltage command value calculated in the next cycle so that the remainder that is not reflected on the on-off time in the previous operation is reflected in a new on-off time in the next operation. Then again, a remainder at this time is to be reflected in the next operation. The process is repeated in this way. As a result, an average value of the on-off time set in the PWM signal generating unit can get close to the target on-off time that should have been set. To be more specific, the minimum unit of the value to be set in the generating unit can be made smaller than the actual minimum unit on average.
On the other hand, another problem related to the PWM control is noise resulting from the fixed PWM cycle. To reduce such noise, PWM control by frequency diffusion has been proposed. This frequency-diffusion PWM control reduces the occurrence of noise by randomly varying the PWM cycle. For example, Japanese Unexamined Application Publication No. 2010-130850 discloses a technology related to the frequency-diffusion PWM control.
However, a technology achieved by combining the time-sharing control method as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Application Publication No. 3-98470 by which the minimum unit of the value set in the generating unit is made substantially smaller than the actual minimum unit with the method for reducing noise by frequency diffusion as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Application Publication No. 2010-130850 has not been proposed. For this reason, the conventional technology cannot benefit from the advantages of these two methods at the same time. Even if the time-sharing control technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Application Publication No. 3-98470 is combined with the frequency diffusion technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Application Publication No. 2010-130850, the respective effects may not be fully achieved if the methods are combined with no consideration for influences the methods have on each other. For example, suppose that a duty ratio is adjusted by the time-sharing control as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Application Publication No. 3-98470. In this case, if this method is simply combined with the frequency-diffusion technology, the attempt to finely adjust the duty ratio through the time-sharing control results in random variations in the cycle. Thus, a desired duty ratio cannot be set as intended, and the effects of the time-sharing control cannot be fully achieved.
The present disclosure is conceived in view of the circumstances described above, and it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a technology that allows the PWM signal cycle to vary and also fully achieves the effect of making a minimum unit of an ON time set in a PWM signal generating unit substantially smaller than an actual minimum unit.

Signal generating circuit and power supply device


An image reading device includes a conveyor which conveys a sheet from an upper path to a lower path through a curved path. The conveyance section includes a feed roller which is disposed at the upper path and feeds the sheet, a separation roller which is disposed at the upper path and separates the sheet in conjunction with a separator, and a conveying roller which conveys the sheet along the curved path. The lower path includes a horizontal path extending in a substantially horizontal direction. The separator includes a flat plate portion having a flat plate shape, and the flat plate portion is disposed above the horizontal path and is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction. The separation roller is disposed above the separator.

There has been known an image reading device which includes an automatic document feeder (ADF) and can convey a sheet along a conveyance path from an upper path to a lower path through a curved path.
In an image reading device, a lower path extends obliquely in an upper direction toward a downstream side in a sheet conveyance direction. On an upper side of the lower path, a separation piece and a separation roller are disposed to be in contact with each other with an upper path interposed therebetween. In the separation piece, a portion formed in a flat plate shape is inclined obliquely along the upper path, thereby extending obliquely in the upper direction toward the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction.
That is, in this image reading device, the lower path is inclined in the upper direction toward the downstream side, and the separation piece is inclined in the upper direction toward the downstream side. That is, the lower path and the separation piece are inclined in opposite directions with respect to a horizontal plane. Further, since the separation piece is disposed on an upper side of the lower path, the downstream end side of the separation piece is farther away from the lower path than the upstream end side, and the separation roller is disposed on the upper side of the separation piece. Therefore, in this configuration, a vertical dimension of an area where the lower path, the separation piece, and the separation roller are disposed increases, which would prevent a thickness-reduction of the device.
Incidentally, if it is desired to improve a separating performance of the separation roller, it is effective to increase a diameter of the separation roller. However, in view of the above circumstances, the vicinity of the separation roller is likely to have a large dimension in a vertical direction, which would prevent an increase of the diameter of the separation roller.


A protector device is provided which includes a projecting system, a photographing system, and a control section. The projecting system includes a light source lamp, a micromirror element, and a projecting lens, and each image for each of a plurality of color components is time-divided by use of a color wheel, projected, and displayed with respect to an input color image signal. The photographing system includes a photographing lens, a CCD, and a processing circuit in which the projected and displayed image is photographed in accordance with an instruction, when the photographing of the projected and displayed image is instructed. And the control section detects a rotation position of the color wheel with a marker sensor and controls the photographing system to execute the photographing in synchronization with a time division period for each color component in the projecting system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projector device, having a photographing function capable of photographing and recording projected contents, a method of photographing a projected image, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with spread of personal computers, portable projector devices have been more familiar which can perform various types of presentations, demonstrations and the like, when connected to notebook or handheld types of personal computers.
As this type of projector device, there are: a device in which a transmission type of color liquid crystal panel is used as an element to form an optical image; and a device of a digital light processing (DLP) (registered trademark) system in which an optical semiconductor device referred to as a micromirror element is used.
In the projector device of the DLP (registered trademark) system, a disc-shaped member referred to as a color wheel in which color filters (segments) of red, green, blue, and white are dividedly arranged on the same circumference is driven and rotated to color high-luminance white light from a light source lamp in time division (precisely, the only light of a corresponding color component is selectively transmitted). Thereafter, the light is reflected by a micromirror element driven and displayed to form the optical image corresponding to the color component, and the reflected light is projected on a screen or the like which is a projection object via a lens of an optical projection system.
Moreover, especially even in a projector device using a liquid crystal display panel referred to as a field sequential system, a basic concept closely resembles that of the projector device of the above-described DLP (registered trademark) system in that a light source lamp of three colors R, G, B is driven and lit in time division, and the image corresponding to the color component is displayed in a monochromatic liquid crystal display panel in each lighting period.
Therefore, there is also a need to record the image projected as described above in a digital camera separately prepared, for example, in making minutes. However, in the above-described projector device which is driven in time division for each color component constituting the image, there is a high possibility that an image having a large color unbalance is recorded depending on a photographing timing.
FIG. 6 shows a rotated state of the color wheel and the photographing timing in the general projector device of the DLP (registered trademark) system. In the figure, a frame frequency of an input image signal is 60 Hz, and the frequency is further divided into two in order to suppress flickering of the image so that the same image is projected and displayed twice at 120 Hz.
FIG. 6(1) shows a vertically synchronous signal synchronized with the input image signal, and FIG. 6(2) shows the segments of the color wheel which is driven and rotated in synchronization with the signal and which is inserted into an optical projection axis from the light source lamp.
It is now assumed that a shutter button of a digital camera is operated to photograph the projected image at a timing shown in FIG. 6(3), and thereafter the photographing is executed with a time lag as much as a time for each processing of autofocusing (AF) and automatic exposure (AE).
FIG. 6(4) shows a photographing timing (=exposure timing in which a mechanical shutter of the digital camera is actually opened) in a case where the image is photographed at a shutter speed which is sufficiently higher than one frame period of 1/120 second. Naturally, the timing is not synchronized with the rotated state of the color wheel. This timing centers on the green (G) segment of the color wheel which is disposed in the optical projection axis, and the photographing is executed ranging from a part of the previous red (R) segment to a part of the subsequent blue (B) segment.
In this case, the image obtained by the photographing is an entirely greenish image, because an exposure time of the image of a green (G) component is longer than that of the image of each of red (R) and blue (B) components.
FIG. 6(5) shows a photographing timing in a case where a focal number (F) is set to be large, and the shutter speed is set to be low in order to avoid the above-described situation. In this case, when the shutter speed is set to a low speed, for example, of 1/15 or 1/30 second, the exposure time is sufficiently long as compared with a rotation period of the color wheel. Therefore, the photographed image does not have unbalanced color components and is not unnatural. However, the image is easily influenced by hands movement. Moreover, there is a high possibility of an overexposure depending on brightness of the projected and displayed image.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above-described situations, and an object is to provide a projector device which is of such a system as to perform time-division projecting and driving for each of a plurality of color components of a color image and which can securely photograph a projected image having a satisfactory color balance, and a method and a program for photographing a projected image.

Projector device, and photographing method and program of projected image


A multi-ply fibrous product includes at least two fibrous plies, such as a multi-ply nonwoven product, a tissue paper product or a hybrid thereof including at least two tissue paper plies and/or nonwoven plies including cellulosic fibers. At least two fibrous plies are bonded to each other by an aqueous adhesive composition including an adhesive component and a dermatologically acceptable acid, and optionally a salt thereof. A process for the manufacture of this multi-ply fibrous product includes (a) providing at least two fibrous webs, (c) applying an aqueous adhesive composition including an adhesive component and a water-soluble, dermatologically acceptable acid, and optionally the corresponding salt thereof, to at least one side of at least one fibrous web, d) superimposing at least two webs such that the aqueous adhesive composition is located between at least two superimposed webs, and e) bonding at least two webs together.

Nonwoven- and tissue paper-based materials find extensive use in modern society. Toilet paper, paper towels such as hand towels or household (kitchen) towels, facial tissues, napkins and tissue handkerchiefs are staple items of commerce. These products typically contain cellulosic fibres (papermaking pulp fibers) selected from hardwood types, softwood types and non-wood types like bamboo or Miscanthus. These products can also contain a blend of cellulosic and non-cellulosic fibres.
Among the most important physical properties of tissue paper products are their strength, their softness, their absorbency, primarily for aqueous systems, and their lint and dust resistance. These physical properties are generally tuned for addressing common consumer demand.
Tissue paper products typically come in contact with the human skin when being used. For this reason, it has been considered in the art to treat certain tissue paper products such as toilet paper or handkerchiefs with lotions containing various types of skin-care components but also frequently pH-regulating substances. However, facial tissues, napkins or household (kitchen) towels are typically provided without lotion and also in respect of toilet papers or handkerchiefs there is currently a greater demand for lotion-free grades.
In respect of lotion-free products the present inventors have noted that there is a discrepancy between the pH of conventional tissue paper products and the pH of healthy skin. Depending on the origin of the papermaking fibres, the pH of raw tissue paper webs which have not been further processed is either very close to the neutral point (pH of about 6.5), if mainly virgin papermaking fibres have been used, or slightly basic (pH of about 8.5) if a greater proportion of recycled fibres is included. The current pH level of tissue paper products is hence between 6.5 and 8.5 whereas the pH of healthy skin lies in the range between 4.5 and 6.0. This slightly acidic pH is caused by the acid mantle of the human skin. The acid mantle of the human skin is a very fine, slightly acidic film on the surface of the skin acting as a barrier to bacteria, viruses and other potential contaminants that might penetrate the skin. Accordingly, it is important to minimize the impact of external factors on skin pH.
The present inventors noted that it cannot be excluded that, especially during longer or repeated contact with the human skin, conventional lotion-free tissue paper products have a negative impact on the pH of healthy skin. The same applies to nonwoven products including cellulosic fibers.
Accordingly it is desired to provide a multi-ply fibrous product, in particular nonwoven product, tissue paper product or a hybrid thereof, that reduces the likelihood that conventional multi-ply fibrous products change the pH of healthy skin.
It is also desired to provide a multi-ply fibrous product, in particular nonwoven product, tissue paper product or a hybrid thereof, with particularly efficient means to prevent a negative impact of the pH of conventional multi-ply fibrous products on skin pH.
Moreover, it is also desired to provide such a multi-ply fibrous product without adversely affecting other properties related to the use thereof such as delamination strength and/or softness and/or absorbency and/or further properties known in the art.

Multi-ply fibrous product comprising a laminating adhesive with a dermatologically acceptable acid


A harness for holding two tub-like containers together is disclosed.

The use of carrier straps for bottles or jugs is known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,306,060 and 6,394,517. Similarly, the use of resilient webs for harnessing together six-packs of beverages and tub-like containers is known. The use of shrink-wrap or paper trays to band together multiple tub-type containers is also known. However, all such devices have inherent drawbacks with respect to holding tub containers together in that the tub containers are difficult to extract from them and often loosen during shipment or with changes in temperature.
A tandem harness for tub-like containers is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,070, comprising two discontinuous circular resilient bands joined together, with the discontinuities being provided with catch assemblies. The impetus for the present invention is the discovery that tub-like containers attached by resilient bands having no discontinuities therein provide a more secure and stable attachment relative to bands with discontinuities.


A water cooled steam jet for transferring fluid and preventing vapor lock, or vaporization of the fluid being transferred, has a venturi nozzle and a cooling jacket. The venturi nozzle produces a high velocity flow which creates a vacuum to draw fluid from a source of fluid. The venturi nozzle has a converging section connected to a source of steam, a diffuser section attached to an outlet and a throat portion disposed therebetween. The cooling jacket surrounds the venturi nozzle and a suction tube through which the fluid is being drawn into the venturi nozzle. Coolant flows through the cooling jacket. The cooling jacket dissipates heat generated by the venturi nozzle to prevent vapor lock.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a steam jet for fluid transfer applications, and more particularly to a steam jet that is cooled to prevent vaporization of the fluid being transferred as it is drawn into the steam jet.
2. Relevant Technology
There is an important need for moving contaminated fluids in nuclear reactors and other hazardous waste locations. One well known and acceptable mechanism for moving such fluid is what is commonly called a "steam jet." In a steam jet, steam passes through a venturi nozzle and discharges out one end. As the steam passes through the venturi nozzle, a vacuum is created which is communicated to the fluid that is to be displaced. The vacuum draws the fluid that is to be moved into the venturi nozzle.
Steam jets are particularly useful in the instances where the fluid is destructive to moving parts, corrosive, or is a hazardous/toxic material that presents a danger should it be sprayed or be dispersed. For example, steam jets are often used in applications where the fluid to be transferred may be a contaminated fluid in a nuclear reactor or may be a fluid filled with corrosive materials and/or hazardous components. In addition to the problems created by moving parts, traditional pumps that spray or otherwise disperse toxic materials are undesirable. An example of where steam jets are commonly used is in a chemical plant. Among the advantages of the steam jet are that it can be used to move very hazardous fluids, does not substantially dilute the hazardous fluid or contaminated material, and does not involve moving parts. An example of a particularly hazardous application is the ability of the steam jet to be utilized in nuclear reactors and nuclear processes facilities to move solutions of recovered fissile materials and radioactive waste. An additional and often key benefit of the steam jet that is specifically a result of the elimination of any moving parts is that a steam jet requires little maintenance. The reduced maintenance minimizes the potential contact with the hazardous or contaminated fluid.
Transporting fluids utilizing a steam jet, however, does have a serious drawback when the fluid that is to be transferred vaporizes at or below the temperature of steam. In these circumstances, the heat in the steam jet vaporizes the contaminated or hazardous fluid that is being drawn into the steam jet by the vacuum and creates what is called "vapor lock." Once a vapor lock occurs, a long delay is experienced until the heat in the steam jet dissipates sufficiently, and the steam jet is cool enough to attempt another transfer. A delay may cause an entire system to shut down. Any time the system is slowed down or shut down, it is costly as well as presenting a serious potential hazard. In addition, high temperatures are hard on equipment and can cause premature fatigue of the steam jet and pipes attached thereto.

Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company


Systems and methods for training a machine learning (ML) ranking model to rank genealogy hints are described herein. One method includes retrieving a plurality of genealogy hints for a target person, where each of the plurality of genealogy hints corresponds to a genealogy item and has a hint type of a plurality of hint types. The method includes generating, for each of the plurality of genealogy hints, a feature vector having a plurality of feature values, the feature vector being included in a plurality of feature vectors. The method includes extending each of the plurality of feature vectors by at least one additional feature value based on the number of features of one or more other hint types of the plurality of hint types. The method includes training the ML ranking model using the extended plurality of feature vectors and user-provided labels.

In certain genealogical or family history databases, ancestor data is stored in trees which contain one or more persons or individuals. Trees may also include intra-tree relationships which indicate the relationships between the various individuals within a certain tree. In many cases, persons in one tree may correspond to persons in other trees, as users have common ancestors with other users. One challenge in maintaining genealogical databases has been entity resolution, which refers to the problem of identifying and linking different manifestations of the same real-world entity. For example, many manifestations of the same person may appear across multiple trees. This problem arises due to discrepancies between different historical records, discrepancies between historical records and human accounts, and discrepancies between different human accounts. For example, different users having a common ancestor may have different opinions as to the name, date of birth, and place of birth of that ancestor. The problem becomes particularly prevalent when large amounts of historical documents are difficult to read, causing a wide range of possible ancestor data.
Another challenge in maintaining genealogical databases relates to providing a robust recommender system with an efficient ranking algorithm to help genealogy enthusiasts find relevant information of their ancestors so as to better discover their family history. While ranking strategies have been applied to recommend and rank items in many applications, no efficient methodology to rank ancestry items currently exists. Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques in the area.

Genealogy item ranking and recommendation


Effectiveness of video content is predicted using an automated or semi-automated analysis process operating on a computer. Video content is analyzed using image and audio data processing to assign a collection of attributes to a video ad. The collection of attributes is correlated to a historical effectiveness (e.g., click-thru rate) of past video ads in the same or similar attribute space to obtain predicted ad effectiveness. Differences between the collection of attributes and historical attribute spaces of greater effectiveness may also be determined and reported in the form of suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the ad.

Since the advent of the television, video advertising has become widespread to the point of becoming an almost ubiquitous way to communicate with consumers and influence consumer behavior. The importance of video advertising has continued and grown considerably with the growth of alternative platforms for consuming video content available through wide area networks, such as the Internet, and broadband wireless communications networks. Alternative platforms may include, for example, online video streaming sites and online video downloading sites. Such platforms may provide greater convenience, choice, and flexible scheduling of video content without requiring the use of additional appliances such as digital video recorders by the consumer. Both traditional and alternative platforms for video content are commonly funded, at least in part, by selling video advertising to various advertisers.
The production of video advertising may be relatively time-consuming and expensive compared to other advertising forms. In addition, effective distribution and targeting of video advertising may add considerable costs to an advertising budget. Advertisers naturally want to obtain the best possible results for the considerable investment in video advertising campaigns, and the development of effective video advertising is of great and increasing importance to advertisers. At the same time, factors such as increasing diversity and competition, cultural changes, faster advertising cycles, and technological innovation may make it difficult to predict the effectiveness of a particular video advertisement or campaign. Therefore, some video advertising or campaigns may not be as effective as possible for a given advertised product or service.

Predictive video advertising effectiveness analysis


A memory cache method and apparatus with two memory execution pipelines, each having a translation lookaside buffer (TLB). Memory instructions are executed in the first pipeline (324) by searching a data cache (310) and a prefetch cache (320). A large data TLB (330) provides memory for storing address translations for the first pipeline (324) A second pipeline (328) executes memory instructions by accessing the prefetch cache (320). A second micro-TLB (340) is associated with the second pipeline (328). It is loaded in anticipation of data that will be referenced by the second pipeline (328). A history file (360) is also provided to retain information on previous instructions to aid in deciding when to prefetch data. Prefetch logic (370) determines when to prefetch data, and steering logic (380) routes certain instructions to the second pipeline (328) to increase system performance.

The present invention relates generally to the field of data cache memories, and more specifically to an apparatus and method for prefetching data into a cache memory.
The recent trend in computer systems has been toward faster and more efficient microprocessors. However, the speed with which the processors are able to access their related memory devices has not increased at the same rate as the processors"" execution speed. Consequently, memory access delays have become a bottleneck to increasing overall system performance.
Generally, the faster data can be retrieved from a memory device, the more expensive the device is per unit of storage. Due to this cost, it is not feasible to have enough register (i.e., fast memory device) capacity in the microprocessor""s on-chip main memory to hold all of the program instructions and data needed for many applications. Consequently, most of the data and instructions are kept on large, relatively slow storage devices. Only the instructions and data that are currently needed are brought into registers.
To reduce the time it takes to retrieve data from the slower bulk storage memories, specialized memories are placed between the registers and the bulk storage devices. These memories are known as cache memories in the industry. Cache memories exploit the xe2x80x9cprinciple of locality,xe2x80x9d which holds that all programs favor a particular segment of their address space at any instant in time. This hypothesis has two dimensions. First, locality can be viewed in time (temporal locality,) meaning that if an item is referenced, it will tend to be referenced again soon. Second, locality can be viewed as locality in space (spatial locality,) meaning that if an item is referenced, nearby items will also tend to be referenced. By bringing a block or subblock of data into the cache when it is referenced, the system can take advantage of both of these principles to reduce the time it takes to access the data the next time it is referenced.
Data may be brought into the cache as it is requested, or sometimes before it is requested. If data is brought into the cache memory before it is requested, it is said to be xe2x80x9cprefetched.xe2x80x9d Prefetching may be initiated by software or hardware. In software prefetching, the compiler inserts specific prefetch instructions at compile time. The memory system retrieves the requested data into the cache memory when it receives a software prefetch instruction, just as it would for a normal memory request. However, nothing is done with the data beyond that point until another software instruction references the data.
Hardware prefetching dynamically decides during operation of the software which data will most likely be needed in the future, and prefetches it without software intervention. If it makes the correct decision on what data to prefetch, the data is ready when the software requests it. Decisions on when to prefetch are often made with the assistance of a history buffer. A history buffer retains information related to individual software instructions. It maintains a set of entries cataloguing what has taken place in previous iterations of the instructions.
Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Software is often more efficient in deciding when to prefetch data. However, extra instruction cycles are required to execute the prefetch instructions. On the other hand, hardware may make more mistakes in deciding when to prefetch, but does not require the extra instruction cycles. Hardware prefetching is also often advantageous to speed up old codes/binaries that were not compiled with software prefetching.
Another architectural feature implemented in some of today""s microprocessor architectures is the use of multiple caches. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing some previously known uses of multiple caches in a memory system 105. A processor 110 is connected to registers within a main memory 120. Processor 110 has direct access to the registers. If an instruction or data is needed by processor 110, it is loaded into the registers from a storage device 125.
Multiple caches may be placed between storage device 125 and main memory 120 in a variety of ways. For example, two caches may be placed hierarchically. In modern processors, it is common to have a first level of cache, L1 cache 140, on the same integrated circuit as the processor and main memory 120. A second level of cache, L2 cache 150, is commonly located between L1 cache 140 and storage device 125. Generally, L1 cache 140 is more quickly accessible than L2 cache 150 because they reside on the same integrated circuit.
Another way that multiple cache systems are implemented is with parallel caches. This allows multiple memory operations to be done simultaneously. A second cache, L1 cache 142, is located in parallel with L1 cache 140 at the first level. In some applications, L1 cache 142 is a specialized cache for fetching a certain type of data. For example, first L1 cache 140 may be used to fetch data, and second L1 cache 142 may be used to fetch instructions. Alternatively, second L1 cache 142 may be used for data that is referenced by certain instruction that commonly reuse the same data repeatedly throughout a calculation. This often occurs with floating point or graphics operations.
Another approach for using parallel caches is taught in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,852, issued Apr. 27, 1999 entitled xe2x80x9cLoad Steering for Dual Data Cachexe2x80x9d, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. It teaches the use of first L1 cache 140 as a standard data cache and second L1 cache 142 as a prefetch cache for prefetching data as described above.
Additional hardware features may also be included in a cache system to increase the performance of the system. A translation lookaside buffer (TLB) 160 may be added to speed up the access to storage device 125 in the case of a cache miss. Generally, processor 110 references an item of data by a virtual address. A line of data in the cache may be referenced by a tag that is related to the virtual address. However, the data is stored on storage device 125 according to a physical address. If a cache miss occurs, a translation must be done by cache miss handling logic (not shown) to calculate the physical address from the virtual address. This translation may take several clock cycles and cause a performance penalty. TLB 160 is used to hold a list of virtual to physical translations, and if the translation is found in the TLB, time is saved in subsequent accesses to the same data.
A limitation of currently available devices is that an instruction directed toward a parallel cache, such as L1 cache 142, that causes a cache miss causes significant delays. These delays occur because the instruction must be recycled to the main cache system for determining the physical address.
Consequently, it is desirable to provide an improved apparatus and method for implementing parallel caches that reduces the instances that instruction recycling must occur, and for deciding when and what type of instructions to send to the parallel cache. Further, it is desirable to provide an improved architecture and method for prefetching data into a cache memory.
An improved data cache system for retrieving data requested by a processor from a memory system is disclosed. The data cache system includes a prefetch cache for storing data before it is referenced by a memory instruction, a prefetch pipeline for selectively executing the memory instruction by accessing the prefetch cache, a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) for storing a translation from a virtual addresses to a physical address for data referenced by the memory instruction before the memory instruction is executed, and a prefetch logic block for selectively determining when and what type of data to store in the prefetch cache. A history file maintains a record of historical information regarding a particular memory instruction. Also, a steering logic block is included for determining when and what type of data to direct to the prefetch pipeline.
The steering logic block steers instructions to the prefetch pipeline based on information in the history file. Translations are loaded into the TLB in anticipation of instructions being steered to the prefetch pipeline. The prefetch logic block can operate in various modes that determine when and what type of data to prefetch based on whether a hit is found to the prefetch cache, the TLB, or the history file. Prefetching may also be instigated by software command.
Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the specific embodiments.

Data prefetch technique using prefetch cache, micro-TLB, and history file


Techniques for performing interference and power control in a wireless communication system are described. An asymmetric power control scheme adjusts the transmit power of a user equipment (UE) in an asymmetric manner, e.g., with different up and down step sizes. In one design, a parameter value may be determined based on received SINR of at least one Node B. Up and down steps may be determined based on the parameter value and may have different sizes. At least one overloading indicator from at least one neighbor Node B may be obtained. The transmit power of the UE may be adjusted based on the up and down steps and the at least one overloading indicator. For example, the transmit power may be increased by the up step if an overloading indicator from the strongest neighbor Node B is not received and may be decreased by the down step otherwise.

I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication, and more specifically to techniques for controlling the transmit power of a user equipment (UE).
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. These wireless systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems.
A wireless multiple-access communication system can communicate with multiple UEs on the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the Node Bs to the UEs, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the Node Bs. Multiple UEs may simultaneously receive data on the downlink and/or transmit data on the uplink. This may be achieved by multiplexing the transmissions on each link to be orthogonal to one another in time, frequency and/or code domain. On the uplink, complete orthogonality, if achieved, results in the transmission from each UE not interfering with the transmissions from other UEs at a receiving Node B. However, complete orthogonality among the transmissions from different UEs is often not realized due to channel conditions, receiver imperfections, etc. The loss of orthogonality results in each UE causing some amount of interference to other UEs communicating with the same Node B. Furthermore, the transmissions from UEs communicating with different Node Bs are typically not orthogonal to one another. Thus, each UE may also cause interference to other UEs communicating with nearby Node Bs. The performance of each UE is degraded by the interference from other UEs in the system.
There is therefore a need in the art for techniques to control the transmit power of a UE to achieve good performance for that UE while reducing interference to other UEs.

Interference and power control for wireless communication


A vibration isolation device designed to be positioned between a structure (10) and an equipment anchor plate (11), includes a lattice made of bars, with each bar including at least one axial actuator (25), the lattice being an active hexapod including six identical isolation bars (12) positioned according to a regular geometry, the six bars (12) being arranged such that the control of the tension-compression forces in each of the six bars (12) makes possible the force and torque control of six separate degrees of freedom at the interface between the structure and the equipment, so as to produce effective isolation along all the system's degrees of freedom. At least one end-fitting of each bar consists of an element (16) made of elastomeric material (called “elastomeric element”).

Some satellites comprise equipment that generates vibratory disruptions, which can be transmitted by the structure to payload elements sensitive to these disturbances. This is about isolating disruptive equipment by adequate devices that attenuate the vibrations they transmit to the load-bearing structure and/or isolating sensitive elements from the disturbances generated by using the same type of devices.
In the field of isolating equipment that generates disruptions or sensitive elements from vibrations, several types of solution are currently known.
A first family of solutions utilizes passive, i.e. inert, isolators usually taking the form of elastomer blocks, strips, springs, etc. Such devices are efficient in regards to high-frequency disturbances, but are inoperative on low-frequency disruptions, which may even be amplified in certain circumstances (in particular in frequency bands close to the resonance frequencies of the suspension).
Alternatively, it is known, in particular for expensive equipment that is highly sensitive to vibration, to implement active systems, i.e. devices comprising firstly a means of measuring the disruptions (forces or accelerations) induced by the vibrations within a target frequency bandand, secondly, means of generating corrective actions to defeat the induced disruptive effects. In this way, the transmitted vibrations are attenuated. However, these systems are only effective within a small frequency domain, characterized by the bandwidth of the active control.
In the case of an application more specific to equipment installed in a satellite, the state of the art as regards isolating disruptive equipment utilizes passive elements, active elements and systems combining an active element and a passive element mounted in parallel or in series.
For example, suspension devices are known in this field, which combine a low-stiffness passive element (spring, flexible strips) and an active element mounted in parallel, with the latter providing some damping thanks to a contactless actuator (e.g. "voice-coil" type).
Entirely passive isolation devices are also known, made of, for example, elastomer blocks (patents FR 2895052 and FR 2924191) and entirely active isolation devices made, for example, of a hexapod of active bars fitted with piezoelectric sensors and actuators mounted in series (publication: "Technology Predevelopment for active control of vibration and very high accuracy pointing systems", A. Defendini and al, ESA's 4th Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation and Control Systems Conference, 1999).
According to the state of the art, these two isolator types may be combined by mounting in series a hexapod of active bars on a passive elastomer-based isolator. In such an assembly, the isolation functions are physically separated:                passive isolation is performed by elastomer blocks,        active control in series is realized by the active hexapod.
At the hexapod, flexible mechanical hinge joints are positioned according to the state of the art at the extremity of each bar to provide the isostatic conditions required to eliminate all unwanted mechanical paths allowing vibrations to be transmitted in parallel.
One of the major difficulties inherent to this design comes from this requirement for isostatic conditions within the active lattice. The solutions retained conventionally utilize mechanical elements (strips, micromachined hinge joints, metal membranes, etc.); each one requires an antagonism to be resolved between the two following contradictory requirements:                realizing the lowest possible bending stiffness so as get close to isostatic conditions,        the resilience to tension-compression mechanical stresses so as to withstand the launch phase, which produces high stresses.
It is well known that it is very difficult to realize flexible hinge joints designed to withstand the mechanical loads at launch.
This type of isolation device, which is both passive and active by superimposition of known elements, has certain limitations. Firstly, the device does not allow the different elements required for isolation to be incorporated optimally, because the isolation functions are physically separated. Secondly, it does not allow flexible hinge joints providing the required isostatic conditions to be manufactured easily.


An improved fiber optic cable connector is provided that exhibits a consistent return loss rating of 60 dB or better. The connector comprises matable connector housings that terminate the ends of respective optical cables to be joined. Within each housing, the optical fiber of the respective cable is secured within a ceramic ferrule that extends axially of the connector. The endface of each optical fiber is exposed at the end of its respective ferrule. The ends of the ferrules are ground and polished in such a way that the endfaces of the optical fibers exhibit a planar undercut with respect to the lip of the axial passageway in which the fibers are secured. When the ferrules are brought and pressed together end-to-end as the connectors are mated, the material of each ferrule compresses until the endfaces of the optical fibers engage each other with near null pressure. The result is the near elimination of pressure on the optical fiber itself, which avoids a density and index of refraction change at the junction and thus improves return loss performance.

Fiber optic cables are increasingly used in modem data and voice communications networks because of their small size and their ability to transmit a large volume of data and/or voice messages simultaneously. In any such network, a transmitted message may need to travel over a number of different connected fiber optic cables between the sender and the receiver of the message.
To accommodate the joining together of two fiber optic cables end to end in a communications network, a variety of cable connectors have been developed. One such connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,630 of P. K. Runge. In the Runge device, each of the optical cables to be joined is terminated in a plug having a truncated conical shape with a small diameter endface. The optical fiber of each of the cables is exposed on the endface of its respective plug. The cables are operatively joined together by being disposed in a bi-conical sleeve that holds the endfaces of the plugs together with the optical fibers aligned with each other.
Another fiber optic cable connector is AT&T's ST connector in which the end of each cable to be joined is terminated by a cylindrically shaped ceramic plug or ferrule having an axial passageway and a dome-shaped end. The optical fiber of each cable is secured within the passageway and extends along the axis of its respective ferrule and the endface of the fiber is exposed on the end of the ferrule. Traditionally, the ends of the ferrules are ground and polished until the endfaces of their respective optical fibers are smoothly polished and coplanar with or protrude slightly beyond the end of the ferrule. This configuration insures that, when the ends of two ferrules are brought together in the connector, the optical fibers align and contact each other so that light borne transmissions can cross from one fiber to the other.
Each ferrule in the ST connector is disposed in a respective cap and is yieldably biased to an outwardly protruding position by a compression spring in the cap. To connect the ends of two cables together, the caps are coupled to the opposite ends of a sleeve, which functions to align the ferrules axially and thus align the optical fibers exposed on the ends of the ferrules. As the caps are locked into the sleeve, the ferrule end and optical fiber endfaces engage and are depressed against the forces of their respective compression springs. The springs function to push and hold the ends of the ferrules, and thus the endfaces of the optical fibers, together with a predetermined force, which typically is the industry standard two (2) pounds for each compression spring, providing a total compressive force of four (4) pounds. The ends of the optical fibers are thus aligned and held together face-to-face to facilitate the transfer of a light borne message from one of the cables to the cable joined thereto.
While the specific connectors described above are commonly used in the industry and are used as examples in the present disclosure, it will be understood that a variety of connectors and connector mechanisms are commercially available. Such connectors take various physical forms, are made of various materials, and operate mechanically in various ways. However, such connectors all perform the basic function of aligning and holding together the polished endfaces of two fiber optic cables so that light borne data can be transmitted from one cable to the other. In some instances, attenuators or other devices are disposed between the ends of the cables within a connector depending upon the purpose of the connection.
The transmission of a message across the junction between two joined fiber optic cables is not a perfectly efficient process. In each case, a small amount of the light that carries the message is reflected back from the junction so that the transferred signal is weakened slightly. This phenomenon is known as "return loss" and can result in a variety of problems that range from a reduction in transmitted signal integrity to destabilizing effects on the back detectors that monitor and control the solid state lasers that create and insert the laser signals into the network.
Return Loss is specified and measured in decibels (dB) and is calculated as follows: ##EQU1## Where P.sub.reflected is the optical power reflected at the junction between two mated connectors and P.sub.incident is the optical power that enters the junction between the two connectors. For example, if the incident power is 1.times.10.sup.-3 watt and the flected power is 1.times.10.sup.-8 watt, then the return loss is computed as follows: ##EQU2## A return loss of 50 dB, for example, means that the portion of the light reflected back from a junction of two fiber optic cables is attenuated 50 dB relative to the portion that is transferred across the junction. Thus, a connector with a greater dB return loss rating transfers more signal from one cable to another and reflects less back as return loss.
While fiber optic cable connectors have steadily been improved over the years to provide greater return loss ratings, commercially available connectors seem to have reached a practical limit of between 55 and 57 dB. Connectors with greater dB loss ratings have been produced in the laboratory under carefully controlled conditions. However, such conditions have not lent themselves to commercial production techniques. Thus, manufacturers have been unable to produce, with commercial consistency, fiber optic cable connectors with return loss ratings better than about 57 dB, even though a rating of at least 60 dB would be highly superior and even though return losses as high as about 75 dB are theoretically possible.
The causes of return loss at the junction between two joined fiber optic cables are many. Among the causes are microscopic imperfections on and just below the surfaces of the polished ends of the optical fibers. These imperfections can range from surface scratches to subsurface fractures caused by the grinding and polishing process itself. Another cause of return loss arises from the fact that the ends of the joined optical fibers are pressed and held together within their connectors with a specified force, usually four (4) pounds. This force acts to compress the glass material of the fibers at their ends, creating an increasing molecular density gradient and thus an increasing optical index of refraction as light approaches the junction. The increased index of refraction in the region of the junction causes some of the light to be reflected back from the junction, resulting in return loss. Even though polishing techniques have improved, manufacturers have been unable to overcome these and other inherent causes of return loss and have thus been unable to produce fiber optic cable connectors with return loss ratings of 60 dB or greater in commercial quantities.
It should be noted that one type of known optical fiber connector, particularly, an angled physical contact (APC) connector, does routinely exhibit a return loss of greater than 60 dB. The APC connector has a beveled ferrule that is engaged and mated with a corresponding beveled ferrule of another APC connector. How ever, this type of connector is very difficult to produce and requires specialized manufacturing equipment, including specialized polishing equipment. Hence, for commercial mass production, the APC connector is not suitable.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved, commercially producible fiber optic cable connector that operatively joins the ends of two fiber optic cables together with a consistent causes loss of at least 60 dB. Such a connector should be compatible with existing connectors and should be producible with little or no increased production costs as compared to current connectors. The 60 dB return loss rating should be stable over time and should not be affected by temperature cycles to which such connectors are sometimes subjected. It is to the provision of such a fiber optic connector that the present invention is primarily direct.

Fiber optic connector with improved return loss performance


This invention discloses an apparatus for providing optical information regarding spectacles in which are mounted first and second lenses, the apparatus includes a spectacles mapper operative to compute a map, within a single coordinate system, of at least one optical characteristic over both of the two lenses, and a spectacles analyzer operative to provide an output indication of optical information related to the map.. A method for providing optical information regarding spectacles is also disclosed.

A number of prior art measuring systems exist in which the power, axis, prism and other characteristics of ophthalmic lenses are measured at local points on the lens. Commercial instruments for performing this are available from Humphrey Instruments Corporation of San Leandro, Calif., who produce an automatic lensmeter based on the four beam Hartmann method, from the Nidek Company, of Gamagori, Japan, who use dynamic positioning of the detector to locate the focal position of the probe beam, and the Topcon Company of Tokyo, Japan whose instrument also uses dynamic positioning.
The prior art Hartmann measurement of spectacle lens power at a localized area on the lens uses four measurement beams. The four beam technique is used in all of the previously available commercial instruments for measuring ophthalmic lens power, such as those mentioned above. The technique is described in an article by D. and Z. Malacara entitled "Testing and centering of lenses by means of a Hartmann test with four holes" published in Optical Engineering, Vol. 31, No. 7, pp. 1551-1555 (July 1992). Since it is difficult to discriminate between the separate spots resulting from the four beams if detection is made at the focal plane of the lens under test, one technique used is to detect the position of the beams at a defocused position. Since this introduces inaccuracies into the measurement, it is preferable to measure the four beams at the focal plane, but these measurements must then be performed separately and sequentially.
This can be achieved by a number of methods, four of which are described by the Malacara's. They propose using either (i) a rotating chopper which exposes only one beam at a time, or (ii) a laser beam scanner which projects beams sequentially, or (iii) four separate light sources (such as LEDs), with a small circular diaphragm at the focus of the lens, the separate sources being lit and extinguished sequentially, or (iv) separate light sources as in method (iii) but with small lenses in front of each of them.
The four-beam technique enables the determination of two radii of curvature, and of one angle of reference in the lens. This is sufficient for measuring the power of spherical lenses anywhere on their surface, and to determine lens decentering or coma. It is also useful for measuring the power of aspheric lenses near their optical center. However, it cannot detect spherical aberrations of second order or higher, since there are more parameters to be measured than beams. Therefore, off-axis measurements such as the high order spherical aberration, or the coma of complex lens forms, which require higher order Zernicke polynomial analysis, cannot be performed using the prior art four-beam Hartmann methods.
Such measurements can be performed by instruments developed for mapping the optical characteristics of the whole surface of ophthalmic lenses, which also thereby enable such characteristics as toric axis and corridor direction to be determined on more complex lenses. Commercial instruments for performing this are available from Rotlex 1994 Ltd., of Dimona, Israel, whose instrument is based on the Moire effect, and enables mapping of optical elements by means of measurement of the Moire Deflectometry effect of the grating, from Automation and Robotics S. A. of Brussels, Belgium, who measure the deformation of a grid, and from the assignees of the current invention, Visionix Limited of Jerusalem, Israel, whose instrument is based on a computerized Hartmann measurement using a large number of beams, as described in the copending published PCT Application No. PCT/EP95/02283 (Publication No. WO95/34800) mentioned above.
Prior art methods for measuring the optical characteristics of complete pairs of spectacles are limited to measurement of the distance between the optical centers of the two lenses within their frames, known as the inter-pupil distance of the lenses, or the distance from the optical center of each lens to the bridge center line. These measurements can be performed using a number of prior art instruments, such as that offered by Humphrey Instruments Incorporated of San Leandro, Calif., which is based on U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,002, by Campbell et al., and that offered by the Nidek Company Limited of Gamagori, Japan, which is based on U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,067, by Kurachi et al.
On the other hand, the full optical characteristics of each lens are only measured separately and independently of their mounting position in the spectacle frames, by one of the above mentioned mapping instruments. This is a serious limitation of the prior art methods, since even though each individual lens may be correctly manufactured, and the lenses mounted with the correct inter-pupil distance, they may be incorrectly cut, asymmetrically mounted or incorrectly orientated within the frame. none of which faults are detectable by the prior art systems. Such errors are a serious cause of user fatigue and non-tolerance. This phenomenon is especially prevalent with progressive lenses, which have to be aligned very accurately to be comfortable and useable. Inter-pupil distance measurement, as performed by any of the presently available instruments, does not detect any of these faults.
Furthermore, none of the available prior art inter-pupil measurement instruments mentioned above are able to measure the height of the optical center, or in the case of a progressive lens, optical centers, with respect to the spectacle frames. This distance is also important to ensure comfort in the use of the spectacles. For progressive lenses, accurate measurements of these distances are very critical for correct use of the spectacles.
The alignment of progressive lenses, and to a lesser extent, that of toric lenses too, is so critical that during all stages of their manufacture, marks are made on their surface to define the correct alignment of the optical axes, corridor and center. Since these marks are virtually or completely obliterated during various stages of the manufacturing process, they have to be remade several times during manufacture. The result of these repeated remarkings can manifest itself as a cumulative position and alignment error of the markings with respect to the true optical characteristics of the lens. As a result, when the final lens is cut and mounted into the spectacle frames according to the markings on it, even though it has been manufactured accurately, incorrect marking can be the cause of serious misalignments, both lateral and angular, with respect to the prescribed requirements.
A research program into the accuracy with which spectacles with progressive lenses fulfill the prescribed requirements has been undertaken by the Ophthalmic Appliances Testing Service of the Department of Optometry and Visual Science, City University, London. A preliminary report published in Optical World, May 1997, pp 26-27, has shown, for instance, very large deviations of up to 5 dioptres in the base down prismatic power of the lenses of identically prescribed spectacles. Since, as mentioned previously, errors such as these in fulfilling prescription requirements cause fatigue and non-tolerance for the user, this problem is of a serious nature, and has not been solved by previously available lens measurement and marking systems.
Other conventional ophthalmic measurement systems are described in the following publications:
Published European Patent Application No. 95104527.7 (Publication No. 0 676 629 A2) to Zeiss describes apparatus for measuring the index of refraction of spectacle lenses without measuring the surface geometry of the glass.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,594 to Campbell describes a lensmeter with correction for refractive index and spherical aberration.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,141 to Fujieda describes apparatus for measuring the refractive characteristics of a spectacle lens.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,151 to Shinn describes a spectrometer incorporated to a conventional lensometer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,261 to Hellmuth et al describes a method and apparatus for measuring curvature of lens surfaces, physical thickness of lens, and the index of refraction of the lens.
Copending Published PCT Application No. PCT/EP95/02283 (Publication No. WO 95/34800) describes apparatus for mapping an optical element, the apparatus including a light source arranged to transmit a light beam toward the optical element, a beam separator including a plurality of beam separating elements operative to separate the light beam into a corresponding plurality of light beam portions, an optical sensing device operative to generate a light spot map including a plurality of light spots corresponding to the plurality of beam separating elements and an optical element characteristic computation device operative to derive at least one characteristic of the optical element from the light spot map and including apparatus for identifying the beam separating element corresponding to an individual spot based at least partly on information other than the location of the spot.
The focimeter is a conventional device for measuring optical characteristics of spectacle lenses. The focimeter measures the focal length at any point on each of the spectacles' lenses.
The disclosures of all publications mentioned in this section and in the other sections of the specification, and the disclosures of all documents cited in the above publications, are hereby incorporated by reference.

Methods and apparatus for measuring and mapping opthalmic elements


A dispensing apparatus includes a dispensing arm, a driving motor, and a transmitting/buffering unit. The dispensing arm is rotatable and conveys a fluid drawn at a predetermined drawing position to a predetermined discharge position. The driving motor rotates the dispensing arm. The transmitting/buffering unit includes a crank shaft that rotates through a driving force of the driving motor and a crank rod that is coupled with the crank shaft and rotates with a rotation of the crank shaft thereby rotating the dispensing arm.

In an auto analyzer used in, for example, clinical tests, a dispensing apparatus that can dispense a reagent with respect to a specimen to generate a chemical-reaction fluid of the specimen and the reagent is conventionally used. For example, in a multi-allergen test used to identify an allergy of a patient, when the dispensing apparatus dispenses a reagent (a biotinylated allergen) with respect to a specimen (blood) from a patient, a chemical-reaction fluid including a material (a specific IgE antibody conjugate) used for auto analysis can be generated.
Among such dispensing apparatuses, as shown in later-explained FIG. 18, is a dispensing apparatus that draws, by a dispensing nozzle provided at a distal end of a dispensing arm capable of rotating, a reagent from a reagent container held on a reagent table, rotates the dispensing arm driven by a stepping motor to move the dispensing nozzle onto a carriage table, and discharges the reagent into a specimen container held on the carriage table, thereby dispensing the reagent with respect to the specimen (see, e.g., Patent Document 1).
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an appearance of a conventional dispensing apparatus 1800 utilizing the conventional technology. The conventional dispensing apparatus 1800 is an apparatus that discharges a reagent 1852 drawn from a reagent container 1851 arranged in a reagent table 1850 into a specimen container 1861 that is arranged in a specimen table 1860 and holds a specimen 1862. This dispensing apparatus 1800 includes a case 1801, a dispensing arm 1810, a driving motor 1820, a driving transmission unit 1830, and a drawing/discharging unit 1840.
The dispensing arm 1810 and the driving transmission unit 1830 are provided on an upper portion of the case 1801, and the driving motor 1820 is enclosed in the case. The dispensing arm 1810 includes a dispensing arm shaft 1811 and an arm 1812 and rotates driven by the driving motor 1820.
The dispensing arm shaft 1811 has a rotatable, rod-like shape and is assembled on an upper portion of the case 1801. The dispensing arm shaft 1811 axially supports the arm 1812 and rotates together with the arm 1812 driven by the driving motor 1820. The dispensing arm shaft 1811 moves up and down by a driving mechanism (e.g., a motor or a hydraulic cylinder) controlled by a non-depicted computer.
The arm 1812 has a rod-like shape that is pivotally supported by the dispensing arm shaft 1811 and rotates together with the dispensing arm shaft 1811, and a dispensing nozzle 1843 is held at a distal end of the arm 1812. When the arm 1812 rotates together with the dispensing arm shaft 1811 driven by the driving motor 1820, the dispensing nozzle 1843 held at the distal end of the arm 1812 can be reciprocated between a predetermined drawing position and a predetermined discharge position.
When the arm 1812 moves up and down together with the dispensing arm shaft 1811 by a driving mechanism controlled by the non-depicted computer, the dispensing nozzle 1843 held at the distal end of the arm 1812 can be moved up and down. For example, when the dispensing nozzle 1843 is positioned at the predetermined drawing position (immediately above the reagent container 1851) to draw the reagent 1852 from the reagent container 1851 arranged in the reagent table 1850, moving the arm 1812 down together with the dispensing arm shaft 1811 enables insertion of a distal end of the dispensing nozzle 1843 into the reagent 1852 in the reagent container 1851.
The driving motor 1820 is a stepping motor driven under the control of the non-depicted computer to rotate the dispensing arm 1810 through the driving transmission unit 1830. The driving transmission unit 1830 includes a drive shaft, a driving pulley, and a driving belt, and transmits driving force of the driving motor 1820 to the dispensing arm 1810.
The drawing/discharging unit 1840 includes a syringe pump unit 1841, a syringe pump pipe 1842, and a dispensing nozzle 1843. The syringe pump unit 1841 generates a pressure (a negative pressure) that is used to draw the reagent 1852 and a pressure (a positive pressure) that is used to discharge the reagent 1852 under the control of the non-depicted computer.
The pressures (the negative pressure and the positive pressure) generated by the syringe pump unit 1841 are transmitted to the dispensing nozzle 1843 through the syringe pump pipe 1842, and for example, the generation of a pressure (the negative pressure) by the syringe pump unit 1841 when the distal end of the dispensing nozzle 1843 is inserted in the reagent 1852 in the reagent container 1851 enables drawing the reagent 1852 in the reagent container 1851 from the distal end of the dispensing nozzle 1843.
On the contrary, the generation of a pressure (a positive pressure) by the syringe pump unit 1841 when the distal end of the dispensing nozzle 1843 having the reagent 1852 sucked therein is inserted in the specimen container 1861 enables discharge of the reagent 1852 with respect to the specimen container 1861 from the distal end of the dispensing nozzle 1843.    Patent Document 1: Japanese patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-311036


A system for controlling an electrostatically induced liquid spray includes an electrostatic spray device for generating a liquid spray from a liquid sample; a spray current sensing means placed in relation to the spray device and configured to generate a current output signal that represents a current of the liquid spray; and a mechanism that receives the current output signal and compares it to a pre-selected current value, with a difference between the two representing a control signal that is sent to one of (1) a pump that regulates the flow rate of the liquid sample and (2) a power supply to regulate an electric field associated with the spray device that generates the liquid spray according to a set level of current.

One type of liquid spraying is known as Nan-electro spray or nanospray when used as a sample introduction method in mass spectrometry. The sources of generating such a spray may be quartz or glass capillaries tapered to a tip having a predetermined diameter, or they can be microfabricated nozzles made of silicon or other semiconductor or glass, etc. A liquid spraying apparatus can include the spray nozzle and a mechanism for pumping liquid through the nozzle, as well as a high voltage power supply for supplying the electric field for generating the spray.

Apparatus and method for controlling an electrostatically induced liquid spray


A distillation column suitable for the separation of a three component feed mixture is provided wherein the fractional distillation column utilizes a vertical partition and a baffle to prevent feed mixture from taking a direct flow path from the feed inlet to the sidedraw exit. The use of the vertical partition increases the separation purity of the middle boiling fraction and lower boiling fraction.

Distillation remains the most widely used method for separating a mixture into its components or separating a few valuable products from a mixture. Distillation involves stripping and rectifying, both typically conducted in the same tower at different heights along the tower. In the lower portion of the tower, below the feed tray, a mixture is heated causing it to boil. The generated vapors pass upwardly through the column. At the feed tray, a feed mixture in liquid form is injected into the column. This liquid flows downwardly, contacting the rising vapors. The vapors preferentially strip the more volatile components of the mixture from the downwardly flowing liquid. Vapors continue to rise upwardly into the upper rectifying portion of the tower and pass completely out of the column. A portion of these vapors are condensed and re-injected at the top into the column near its highest point. This condensed liquid contacts the upwardly flowing vapors causing the less volatile material to condense. The separation occurring in the stripping section is affected by the vaporization of the more volatile components. The separation in the rectifying section is caused by the condensation of less volatile material.
Often it is desired to separate several components from a multi-component mixture feed. To accomplish this, several columns can be aligned in series to remove one pure component or one boiling range from each column. When a feed mixture is to be separated into three components, an alternative to a series of continuously fed distillation units is fractionating one pure cut either in the kettle or overhead and taking a third cut from a side takeoff location. However, with such a multi-component mixture, a column with a side takeoff generally produces only one pure product. Therefore, when it is desired to have two or more high purity products from a fractional distillation system, typically, a series of columns has been used. It would be highly desirable to have a single distillation column capable of producing two or more high purity products.

Multi-stage fractional distillation process and apparatus