A resin composition comprising a polymeleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule, a phenol novolac resin of which phenolic hydroxyl groups are epoxidized and allyl-etherified and, as an optional ingredient, a curing agent, or a resin composition comprising a polymaleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule, a phenol novolac resin of which phenolic hydroxyl groups are allyl-etherified and an epoxy resin; and a heat resistant composite material comprising cured product of said resin composition as its matrix phase and containing a fiber as its reinforcing material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermosetting resin composition, and more particularly to a thermosetting resin composition excellent in processability, heat resistance and adhesive property.
Further, the present invention relates also to a composite material excellent in mechanical strength at high temperature and in hot water resistance which comprises cured product of said thermosetting resin composition as its matrix.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Thermosetting resins are used as materials for castings impregnation, lamination and molding in the fields of electrical insulation, construction, etc. In these fields, there is a current tendency that the conditions under which these materials are used become more and more severe. Particularly? an increasing importance is being attached to heat resistance of material.
Hitherto, thermosetting polyimide resin and heat resistant epoxy resin have been used for such purposes.
However, polyimide resin is disadvantageous in that its processing requires a longterm heating at a high temperature. Although epoxy resin having an improved heat resistance is excellent in processability, it is also disadvantageous in that it is insufficient in the high-class heat resistances, i.e. mechanical and electrical properties at high temperatures.
As a material capable of replacing them, there was proposed in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open) No. 154,897/77 a thermosetting mixture comprising a polyimide, an allyl group-containing epoxy compound having a special structure and a curing agent. However, the allyl group-containing epoxy compound used therein was a compound prepared by subjecting an allyl ether compound to Claisen rearrangement and then epoxidizing the rearranged product, from which a uniform cured product is difficult to prepare probably because the nucleus-substituting allyl group and epoxy group are located on the ortho positions of one aromatic ring. Particularly in the case of novolac type, this type of compositions were inferior in physical properties and heat resistance of cured product probably because some of these groups are apt to remain unreacted.
Further, in Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 134,099/78, there was proposed a heat resistant resin composition comprising a specified maleimide compound, a polyallyl phenolic compound, an epoxy resin and a curing agent, However, this composition was inferior in electrical properties at high temperatures and resistance to thermal deterioration because the polyallyl phenolic compound used therein had a phenolic hydroxyl group or had a structure capable of forming a phenolic hydroxyl group by Claisen rearrangement when the composition was heated and cured. Thus, in order to overcome such a fault, the composition had to contain an epoxy resin and a curing agent capable of reacting with phenolic hydroxyl group, due to which the composition decreased its heat resistance.
On the other hand, composite materials containing a fiber as a reinforcing material have a high tensile strength and a high elastic modulus, owing to which its use is expanding in various fields such as structural materials of aircrafts and automobiles, constituent parts of engines, etc.
As the matrix phase material of these composite materials, thermosetting resins, particularly epoxy resins, have been used mainly for the reason of their good moldability and physical properties.
However, since composite materials have become applicable to more and more extensive fields in the recent time, it is desired today to develop a new material capable of retaining the high chemical stability and the good mechanical properties even at a temperature exceeding the temperature range in which the conventional composite materials containing an epoxy resin as their matrix are put to use. Thus, the use of various resins including polyimide resin as the matrix has been studied. However, all the resins hitherto studied are disadvantageous in that they are difficult to mold, and molded products prepared therefrom tend to contain vacancies and some of them are inferior in adhesive strength between matrix and reinforcing material and therefore cannot give a product of high strength.
Considering the above-mentioned background, the present inventors conducted earnest studies to find that a resin composition comprising a specified resin and a polymaleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule is excellent in heat resistance and processability and can satisfy the above-mentioned requirements.
Further, the present inventors also found a fiber reinforced composite material excellent in moldability and strength, capable of retaining its high strength even at high temperatures and having an excellent hot water resistance can be obtained by using, as the matrix phase, cured product of a resin composition comprising a polymaleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule and a phenol novolac resin of which phenolic hydroxyl groups are epoxidized and allyl-etherified (optionally containing a curing agent, too) or cured product of a resin composition comprising a polymaleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule, a phenol novolac resin of which phenolic hydroxyl groups are allyl-etherified and an epoxy resin and using a fiber as a reinforcing material.
Based on the above-mentioned findings, the present invention was accomplished.
According to the present invention, there is provided a thermosetting resin composition comprising a polymaleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule and a phenol novolac resin of which phenolic hydroxyl groups are epoxidized and allyl-etherified, and optionally a curing agent.
Further, according to the present invention, there is also provided a thermosetting resin composition comprising a polymaleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule, a phenol novolac resin of which phenolic hydroxyl groups are allyl-etherified and an epoxy resin.
Further, according to the invention, there is also provided a heat resistant composite material containing, as its matrix, cured product of a resin composition comprising a polymaleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule and a phenol novolac resin of which phenolic hydroxyl groups are epoxidized and allyl-etherified and optionally a curing agent, and containing a fiber as the reinforcing material.
Further, according to the present invention, there is also provided a heat resistant composite material containing, as its matrix, cured product of a resin composition comprising a polymaleimide compound having two or more maleimide groups in one molecule, a phenol novolac resin of which phenolic hydroxyl groups are allyl-etherified and an epoxy resin and containing a fiber as its reinforcing material.

Thermosetting resin composition and a composite material comprising cured product and said resin composition and its matrix


Liquid is sprayed in two partial streams into a tank filled with a gas atmosphere and collects at the bottom of the tank. One partial stream sprayed into the atmosphere prevalent collects at the bottom of the tank. At least one other partial stream is fed into the liquid collected at the bottom of the tank. The partial streams are withdrawn from a shared liquid supply.

The present invention relates to a process to enrich a gas in a liquid as well as to a device suitable for carrying out this process.
According to the state of the art, gases which are to be dissolved in liquids are fed by means of injection nozzles into a liquid volume or into the stream of a liquid. It is also a known procedure to feed gases via perforated hoses which are arranged under the water, applying a defined pressure of the gas to the hoses.
According to another method, a spraying head is employed to spray the water into a volume of a gas atmosphere that is sealed off from the environment, a process in which the drops of water are in a dissolution equilibrium with the gas phase prevalent around them. The water absorbs the gas and collects at the bottom of the tank from where it can be withdrawn for further utilization.
Such processes are employed, for example, to enrich water with oxygen when the water enriched with oxygen is to be used for on-site clean-up of soil contaminated with remnant pollutants. With these types of on-site clean-up operations, the enriched water is injected into the soil. The injection into the soil, however, is preceded by other water preparation processes. Thus, for instance, the water employed for on-site clean-up passes through biological filters and chemical treatment stages which serve to optimize the composition of the water utilized for the on-site clean-up. The water that is thus incorporated into the soil is removed again at another site and then fed to a circulation process for renewed enrichment with oxygen and of chemical-biological treatment.
In order to achieve optimum functioning of an on-site clean-up system as well as to achieve optimum clean-up results, it is necessary to ensure an oxygen concentration in the water which can fulfill the technical requirements. In this manner, downstream stages of a water-treatment installation, for instance, operate with fewer malfunctions if an oxygen concentration is maintained which lies below the saturation value at an operating pressure that is above atmospheric pressure.
The pressure or throughput volume with which the cartridges and filters are operated must also be adapted to the requirements at hand. Since the oxygen atmosphere of the tank through which the water to be enriched trickles is constantly losing oxygen during the enrichment process, the tank must be charged with an overpressure in order to ensure a continuous feed of oxygen into the water as well as to prevent a backflow of the water.
If oxygen is fed by means of injection nozzles into the water to be used for on-site clean-up, excess oxygen escapes into the environment and must then be returned to the oxygen tank via circulation systems, or else it must be disposed of as waste gas since it is loaded with pollutants as the result of its flowing through the circulation system. The use of perforated hoses is not very suitable because they have to be laid flat for purposes of gassing in order to prevent a fusing of the individual gas bubbles. For this reason, this method requires a great deal of space.
The use of tanks charged with an oxygen atmosphere and fitted with a spraying head which atomizes the water to be enriched with oxygen in the tank regularly leads to saturation of the water with oxygen. Thus, it is not possible to regulate the oxygen concentration in the water to concentrations below the saturation value at atmospheric pressure.
In order to achieve the water pressure needed for the operation of the installation, the oxygen pressure above the water level must be kept at such a value that there is an over-saturation--relative to the atmospheric pressure--of the water with oxygen which exceeds the concentration that is acceptable for the overall process.


A process for reducing sulfur emissions and increasing particulate removal in the combustion of pulverized coal is presented. Pulverized sulfur-containing coal is injected along with combustion air into a combustion chamber and fired to create a combustion zone within the chamber, thereby creating gaseous sulfur and particulate emission products. The emission products are directed to an exhaust means where the particulate emission products are removed. A fuel having negligible sulfur content and a heating value higher than coal is injected in substantially the same direction as the coal and combustion air stream into a region of the combustion zone through which a majority of the of the gaseous sulfur emissions must pass to reach the exhaust means, thus increasing the temperature of the region in an amount sufficient to increase the sulfur content of the particulate emission products.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to emission control for combustion processes, and more particularly, to reducing the gaseous sulfur-containing compounds and particulate matter which result from firing pulverized coal in a combustion device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of sulfur-bearing coals containing mineral matter in various combustion installations (steam boilers, furnaces, and the like) results in the production of sulfur-containing compounds, such as sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, and fly ash particulates. These are pollutants and must be removed to a certain extent from the exhaust gases prior to release into the atmosphere. Various methods are known to attempt to deal with this problem.
The sulfur-containing compounds are usually absorbed by different sorbents injected either into the firebox or into a scrubber installed downstream of the combustion device. This causes increased mineral matter in the flue gas discharged by the system, and thus requires additional use of energy (heat and electrical power) for the particulate removal process.
The fly ash particulates are removed from the exhaust gases by various means, such as filtration of the flue gas, or use of an electrostatic precipitator. The efficiency of an electrostatic precipitator depends on many factors, including the electrical conductivity of the particulate matter. Increased conductivity results in improved precipitation performance. The electrical conductivity in turn depends in part on the sulfur concentration in the particulate matter. In general, conductivity increases with increasing sulfur concentration in the particulate matter. Because of this, in order to improve the electrostatic precipitator performance when low sulfur coal is burned, sulfur is often introduced with the coal, or sulfur trioxide is injected into the flue gas.
The problem of achieving a reduction in sulfur-containing compounds and an increase in efficiency of particulate removal, while eliminating the use of additives and additional scrubbing processes or gas particulate cleaning processes, has not been adequately resolved.
The concept of cofiring natural gas with coal to improve emission performance is not new. Compared to coal, natural gas contains negligible sulfur and no mineral matter. It is known that partial replacement of coal with natural gas will result in a reduction in sulfur compounds and particulates proportional to the reduction in sulfur and mineral matter input. It is also known that cofiring of natural gas and oil yields a plume which is almost invisible.
The most significant development work on cofiring technology was conducted as a result of the Gas Research Institute's Cheswick Station project. It was discovered that cofiring natural gas with coal could result in a percentage reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions which was greater than the percentage reduction in sulfur and mineral matter input. Further, if a small amount of gas is fired simultaneously with coal, carbon burnout is improved, resulting in improved electrostatic precipitator performance and reduced plume opacity.

Method for reduction of sulfur oxides and particulates in coal combustion exhaust gases


Echo residue is detected using speech application data. The echo residue is detected using a method that includes correlating audio data from an input channel with audio data from an output channel to obtain a correlation result. A determined value of the correlation result is compared with a predetermined threshold. The audio data for the input channel is categorized in a first category when the determined value of the correlation result is greater than the predetermined threshold. The audio data for the input channel is categorized in a second category when the determined value of the correlation result is less than the predetermined threshold. The first category includes audio data that is determined to include an acceptable level of residual echo. The second category includes audio data that is determined to include an unacceptable level of residual echo.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to speech recognition. More particularly, the present invention relates to detection of echo residue in speech recognition systems.
2. Background Information
Speech recognition systems may include a speech recognition engine that recognizes speech received from a user over an incoming channel. In a speech recognition system that interacts with a user, the recording from the incoming channel should not contain data from the outgoing channel. For example, in a system that uses system prompts to prompt a user to speak, system prompt signals should reside on the out going channel but should not carry over to the incoming channel. Echo residue occurs when signals on one channel (e.g., incoming) result from signals on another (e.g., outgoing) channel. Echo residue is responsible for users having poor experiences with new speech recognition systems. In particular, the echo residue on an incoming channel distorts the speech signals from the user that are to be recognized by a speech recognition system.
Moderate echo residue can mask a user's speech as noise, and render the system non-responsive to any user input. Loud echo residue may be improperly recognized as user input, in which case a condition known as "self barge-in" occurs. There are many causes of echo residue, including loud prompts, a poor terminating device at the switch, wrong echo-cancellation settings in the telephony board, electromagnetic (EM) interference from other equipment, bad channels, bad line cards and poor speech recognition engine parameter settings. Based on the cause, the problem may be experienced consistently by all users, selectively by users on certain channels, or temporarily by users during a particular dialog state/prompt in an application.
Numerous articles on the subject of echo residue address a severe and widespread echo residue problem. However, the intermittent types of echo residue are often not addressed. The result is that many mature speech systems are still plagued with periodic complaints from users in terms of responsiveness, but a technical team has no good way of tracking down the problem.
In many cases, the speech engine vendor is ultimately contacted to manually analyze volumes of data. The data is sometimes compiled by technical teams who manually listen to numerous user input wave files. Even for a 240 channel/3000 daily call system, weeks of man hours are dedicated for this troubleshooting, and the results are still often unsatisfactory. Although some platforms promise echo-free environments, there are no dedicated commercial products or tools that are designed to efficiently detect echo residue when it does occur. Echo residue detection is the first step to eliminating echo residue itself, particularly in situations where the echo residue is caused by factors outside of the control of the platform provider.
Unlike generic echo problems in other types of audio systems, echo residue in speech applications such as interactive voice response (IVR) applications may have very particular domain-specific causes. Thus, detection techniques may be used to isolate the causes of echo residue, and each identified cause can be individually addressed.
Commercial speech recognition engines are capable of recording the speech received over the incoming channel. FIG. 6 shows an exemplary plot portraying a recording of a conventional speech interaction on an incoming channel as amplitude versus time. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the amplitude of the recorded signal on the plot is flat when a system prompt is playing, as the user is quietly listening and providing no input. The spike shown in FIG. 6 occurs when the user speaks.
FIG. 7 shows an exemplary recording in a wave (.wav) file that contains echo residue in an incoming channel. When a user is listening to the incoming audio data shown in FIG. 7 (i.e., in the initial flat portion of the plot), significant echo residue is present. If a speech recognition system were capable of distinguishing when speech starts by the significantly higher amplitudes in the latter portion of the plot, it might seem that a speech recognition system could identify the echo residue by the low amplitude signals before the start of speech. However, as shown in FIG. 8, an exemplary recording that contains only normal environmental noise (e.g., cell phone static, background noise) in an incoming channel is very similar to the recording that contains echo residue as shown in FIG. 7. Accordingly, the environmental noise has characteristics essentially identical to echo residue, and cannot be identified by signal processing techniques such as low pass filtering. As a result, a tremendous commitment of time is required for a human to manually review audio files in order to distinguish between environmental noise and echo residue.
Accordingly, a need exists for multi-pass echo residue detection with speech application intelligence. To solve the above-described problems, multi-pass echo residue detection with speech application intelligence is provided.

Multi-pass echo residue detection with speech application intelligence


An object of the present invention is to provide a map display device and a map display method that facilitate comprehension of relevance between drawing objects in a plurality of map drawing pictures and improve user operability. The map display device according to the present invention includes: a controller that controls an overlapping state between the first and second drawing pictures in accordance with the input of user operation and outputting, to a display unit, a picture in which one of the first and second drawing objects masks the other in a portion in which the first and second drawing pictures overlap each other. The controller controls the overlapping state to prevent the priority drawing object in the first drawing picture from becoming invisible in the drawing picture display.

In an exemplary map display method of displaying a plurality of map pictures on a display screen, the display screen is divided into two regions and a map drawing picture around a current position of a vehicle or the like is displayed in each of the regions (see Patent Document 1). In the map drawing picture, a displayed map includes a drawing object such as a road line, a character, topography, a building, an icon, a background color (possibly a transparent or translucent color), or associated information. The display screen is a display for actually displaying such map drawing pictures. The map drawing picture is displayed in a predetermined display region in the display screen.
According to this map display method, one of the display regions displays a map drawing picture related to route guide and the other one of the display regions displays a map drawing picture related to similar route guide on a different scale. The map display method is thus useful for a user.
In the map display method according to Patent Document 1, a boundary between right and left display regions can be varied to further enhance the convenience.

Map display device and map display method


A pole caddy (10) has a planar table portion (12), a shaft-engaging portion in the form of a tubular projection (32) and a lateral surround (14) orthogonal to the planar portion (12), the lateral surround (14) including an indicia display area (15) and including a rim (14a) that extends above the planar table portion (12.

Various tables supported on shafts, such as the support pole of a beach umbrella, are known and are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,920,897 and 6,889,618 and published U.S. Patent Application No. 2004/0129184. Such tables are often called pole caddies, by which term they will be referred to herein. While these tables provided a surface, which may or may not include pockets of various sizes or depths, they lacked sufficient strength for long-term use and further, did not provide a means for users to display their pride in, or allegiance, to a sports team, or other unique organization. Further, the tables of the prior art were singularly absent in any capability for handling vessels with laterally projecting handles or for reducing the tendency of articles thereon to slide off or blow off in windy conditions.

Pole caddy for display of indicia and method of displaying said indicia


An LCD substrate including multiple LCD panels may be cut along a scribing boundary. All or part of one or more test pads or test signal lines may extend in whole or in part across the scribing boundary. When the LCD substrate is cut along the scribing boundary, the test pads or test signal lines are cut or removed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and more particularly, to an LCD substrate structure and fabrication method.
2. Related Art
As modern societies are changing into information societies, LCDs are emerging as an important replacement display technology for cathode ray tube (CRT) technology. While a CRT has performance and price benefits, the CRT also has significant drawbacks with regard to miniaturization and mobility. On the other hand, the LCD module provides size, weight, and power consumption advantages over the CRT.
An LCD panel includes an array substrate, a color filter substrate coupled with the array substrate and liquid crystal interposed between the array and color filter substrates. The array substrate may include an array of thin film transistors. The color filter substrate may include red (R), green (G), and blue (B) (RGB) color filter layers.
LCD panels may be fabricated by forming multiple separate transistor arrays on a first substrate, and by forming multiple corresponding color filter areas on a second glass substrate. The glass substrates are coupled together. The glass substrates are then cut into individual LCD panels.
When the pair of glass substrates are cut into the LCD panels, the glass substrates are cut in a first direction to form bar-shaped liquid crystal cells spanning multiple LCD panels. Then, liquid crystals are injected between upper and lower substrates of each bar-shaped liquid crystal cell. The cells are sealed to prevent leakage of the liquid crystals. After sealing, the bar-shaped liquid crystal cells are inspected and tested, and cut in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction to form separate individual LCD panels.
A scribing process cuts the cells into individual LCD panels. The edges of the LCD panels are then ground. The grinding process removes shorting bars provided in the liquid crystal cell that prevent static electricity discharges. The grinding process also removes portions of signal lines that were used for inspection and testing of the LCD panels while in the form of the bar-shaped liquid crystal cells.
FIG. 1 shows a portion of a cell 10. The first scribe line shows the direction that the substrates are cut to form the cell 10. The second scribe line shows the direction that the cell 10 is cut to separate the cell into individual LCD panels. The transistor array for a given LCD is shown by the active area 12a. The inactive area outside of the active area is labeled 12b.
The active area 12a of each LCD in the cell 10 may be tested prior to separating the cell into individual panels. During testing, drive signals and RGB data signals are applied via signal lines 15 and inspection pads 11. The signal lines 15 and inspection pads 11 are formed in the inactive area 12b.
The signal lines 15 are electrically connected with data pads, gate pads, and control pads. Alternatively, some LCD cells may provide a connection terminal 18 through which test data and control signals may be applied. Through the signal lines 15, test data signals and gate signals are applied to the thin film transistors in the active area 12a. The test data signals and gate signals activate or deactivate pixels in the LCD to determine whether any pixels are defective.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the area A shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows the grinding region 202 that is removed in the grinding process. FIG. 2 also shows that the inspection pads include multiple individual test pads 11a. The test pads 11a are electrically connected with the signal lines 15. The test pads 11a may provide an injection point for pixel data signals, transistor gate signals, control signals, or other types of test signals.
If the active area 12a passes inspection, grinding is performed to break the signal lines 15. As noted above, the signal lines provide the test signals for the active area 12a. The signal lines 15 are not necessary for normal operation of the LCD panel.
A portion 204 of each of each signal line 15 is formed adjacent to the first scribe line and inside the grinding region 202. The grinding process breaks the portions 204 of the signal lines 15 inside the grinding region 202. The LCD panels are complete after grinding and after scribing along the second scribe line.
Prior processes for producing LCD panels performed a large number of process steps. The process steps included scribing to form the cells, scribing to form the individual panels, and grinding. As the number of process steps increases, yield and throughput may drop. The large number of process steps is particularly disadvantageous in fabricating smaller LCD panels because many smaller panels may need to be cut and ground when starting with large substrates.

Liquid crystal display substrate and its manufacturing method


A method for erecting a platform is presented. The method includes providing a selectively liftable platform mechanism wherein the platform mechanism generally includes a platform, a trailer, at least one support bar, and a ladder. The at least one support bar and the ladder provide structural support for the platform when the platform is raised above the trailer. The at least one support bar has a proximal end pivotally connected to a first end of the trailer, and a distal end pivotally connected to the platform. The ladder has a distal end pivotally connected to the platform, and a proximal end pivotally and slidably connected to the trailer. The proximal end of the ladder is movable along a longitudinal axis of the trailer in order to level the platform in its raised position. The platform mechanism also includes a cable operatively connected to the platform. The method includes turning a winch in order to apply tension to the cable; further turning the winch so as to raise the support bar to an angle of approximately 45° relative to the trailer, and thereby elevating the platform; and still further turning the winch so as to raise the support bar and the ladder to an angle greater than 45° relative to the trailer and producing a tilt to the elevated platform. The method then includes sliding the proximal end of the ladder along the trailer so as to level the platform into a horizontal orientation in its raised position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to elevated platforms such as a hunting stand, a tree trimmer's platform or a band director's stand. Further, the invention relates to a shooting house that may be selectively raised to aid in viewing wildlife. The invention further relates to a method for erecting a shooting house so that the shooting house may be transported and selectively raised.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many individuals desire to observe wildlife or game in their natural habitat. Individuals may desire to observe wildlife either for photography, for hunting or for other means of recreation.
In order to observe wildlife, it is advantageous for one to elevate themselves so as to be removed from the immediate line of sight and scent of animals on the ground. One elevation mechanism that has been employed is a tree stand. Tree stands come in a variety of sizes and designs. The most common type of tree stand is one that is temporarily affixed to a single tree. Such tree stands have the advantage of being light weight, portable and relatively inexpensive. However, they are also confining, requiring the individual to either sit or stand in a single position and orientation for an extended period of time.
A more comfortable and practical elevation mechanism is the hunting stand. The hunting stand defines a small, free-standing, substantially enclosed house having one or more windows for viewing wildlife. The house is supported off of the ground by a support structure that may be eight or more feet tall. The house is accessed by scaling a ladder that extends up from the ground. While such hunting stands are more comfortable, they have the disadvantage of being large, heavy, fixed structures. This means that the hunter or photographer who wishes to view wildlife from more than one location must erect more than one stand or go to the considerable trouble of relocating the house and supporting structure.
Recently, various hunting stands have been disclosed that are portable. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,641 provides a hunting stand that is transported by a trailer. The hunting stand defines a platform that is raised at the end of a pivoting shaft. The shaft pivots from a lower horizontal position to an erected position on the trailer. The shaft is raised by actuating a telescoping base that extends in response to rotational movement of a lead screw. Lateral stabilizer arms are provided for the erected platform.
Various other portable hunting stands have been disclosed with different lifting mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,555 teaches a stand supported on a wheeled trailer. The shooting stand may be raised by actuating a pair of hydraulic cylinders. The cylinders cause a lift boom and supported shooting stand to be erected. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,653 provides a "hunting box" that is supported by a scissor support structure. The scissor support structure is raised by actuating an electric winch that acts on a plurality of pulleys. U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,428 provides a shooting stand that comprises a chair on a platform. The platform is rotated into its elevated position by actuating a winch to rotate a support structure into an upright position. The stand is transported by and actually positioned on an all-terrain vehicle.
The above disclosures generally require a number of expensive mechanical parts. For example, the stand of the '641 patent requires a lead screw for raising a telescoping shaft. U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,716 does provide a simpler model for raising a deer stand. The stand is raised by use of a cable and pulley that pivots support members from a lower horizontal position into a vertical position. However, a separate ladder must be provided to access the house.
Accordingly, a need remains for a liftable shooting house that employs a sturdy and mechanically straight-forward design for raising the house. Further, a need remains for an improved platform such as for a hunting stand that integrates the ladder into the support structure. A need also remains for a selectively liftable platform actuated by applying tension to a cable, and wherein the ladder is pulled into position so as to level the platform after it is raised.

Selectively liftable platform mechanism, and method for erecting a shooting house


There is provided a process for preparing 21-acetyloxy-6-alpha-fluoro-pregna-1,4,9(11),16-tetraene-3,20-dione compound of Formula I, which comprises reacting 21-acetyloxy-pregna-1,3,5,9(11),16-pentaene-3-oxo acetate with a fluorinating agent.

Fluorotetraene is chemically described as 21-acetyloxy-6-alpha-fluoro-pregna-1,4,9(11),16-tetraene-3,20-dione (hereinafter referred as "fluorotetraene") and can be represented by the structural Formula I.

Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex. Corticosteroids are involved in a wide range of physiological processes such as stress response, immune response and regulation of inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism, protein catabolism, blood electrolyte levels, and behavior.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,210,341 describe 6α-fluoro steroids, process for their preparation and their use in treatment of various inflammatory conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,134 describe preparation of 1,2-dehydro steroids from their corresponding 1,2-staturated derivatives.
International Application Publication No. WO 03/082896 A2 describe preparation of several 6α-fluoro steroids and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts.
It would be a contribution to the art to provide a process for the preparation of fluorotetraene compound of the Formula I, which is used as an intermediate for synthesis of several corticosteroids.

Process for the preparation of fluorotetraene


A composition comprising leukotoxin proteins isolated from a bacterium is provided. In this composition, greater than 85% of the leukotoxin proteins are chemically modified at a basic amino acid residue, and the proteins induce cell death in myeloid leukocytes, while remaining substantially non-toxic to lymphoid leukocytes, lymphocytes, and red blood cells. Also provided is a method of selectively inducing cell death in myeloid leukocytes. The method comprises contacting the myeloid leukocytes with a composition comprising leukotoxin proteins. These leukotoxin proteins may be isolated from the NJ4500 strain of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans. A method of purifying leukotoxin protein from the NJ4500 strain of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is also provided, as well as an assay that allows for the rapid determination of the activity of a given drug against leukemic cells either taken from a patient or derived from a cell line. The assay is performed in the presence of whole blood or serum.

Bacteria and their toxins have been investigated for their anticancer activities. In the 1970s, bacteria (such as non-pathogenic Clostridium) were used for the treatment of malignant brain tumors, but the tumors recurred in these brain tumor patients. More than 100 microorganisms have been studied for their potential anticancer activities, and many bacteria have growth specificity for tumors that is 1000 times greater than for other tissue.
While their anti-tumor activities make many bacteria attractive therapeutic agents, there are inherent risks to administering live bacteria to humans. A safer and more effective strategy has been to use biological toxins, specifically from bacteria, as therapeutic agents. Bacterial toxins are not only toxic, but are also highly specific for certain cell types, or can be engineered to be specific by fusing the toxin to other molecules. Many bacterial toxins are able to enter mammalian cells where they exert their toxic effects. Because of extensive evolutionary adaptation between bacteria and their hosts, bacteria have become very good at "developing" highly effective toxins.
Each year, more than 60,500 people die of hematologic malignancies (leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma) with more than 110,000 new annual diagnoses in the US alone. Current treatment for these cancers includes the use of synthetic compounds that target the cell division process of nearly all cells of the body, not just the cancerous ones. As a result, devastating side effects are all too common. Furthermore, a significant percentage of patients eventually show resistance to many of the drugs, thus rendering treatment largely ineffective. Indeed, there is an effort to identify agents that induce cancer cell death by methods other than damage to DNA or cell division.
While the drugs currently in use are toxic for cells, they are not highly specific. A new class of therapeutic agents for the treatment of hematologic malignancies, and cancer in general, includes drugs that exhibit specificity for predominantly the cancerous cell type. Examples of targeted therapeutics include Rituximab, which is a monoclonal antibody against B-lymphocytes, and Mylotarg, an antibody-anti-tumor antibiotic fusion directed against cells of myelomonocytic lineage.
Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a Gram negative pathogen that inhabits the oral cavities of humans. A. actinomycetemcomitans is the etiologic agent of localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP), a rapidly progressing and destructive disease of the gingiva and periodontal ligaments. Among its many virulence factors, A. actinomycetemcomitans produces an RTX (repeats in toxin) leukotoxin. A. actinomycetemcomitans leukotoxin is an approximately 115 kDa protein that kills specifically leukocytes of humans and Old World Primates. Leukotoxin is part of the RTX family that includes E. Coli α-hemolysin (HlyA) and Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase (CyaA). Leukotoxin may play an important role in A. actinomycetemcomitans pathogenesis by helping the bacterium destroy gingival crevice polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) and monocytes, resulting in the suppression of local immune defenses.
The initial identification and testing of novel anti-cancer agents relies on in vitro killing assays using relevant cancer cell lines. While in vitro assays performed under cell culture conditions prove useful and necessary for preclinical testing of new therapeutics, extrapolation to the physiological conditions of a living organism is often difficult or impossible (27). Because of the high cost of drug development ($800 million), new drug screens are constantly being sought to more efficiently eliminate or identify candidate therapeutic agents (27). Indeed, increasing the clinical success rate from ⅕ to ⅓ because of more effective preclinical drug screens would reduce drug development costs by more than $200 million (27).
The activity, specificity, or toxicity of a compound in the physiological environment can vary significantly from cell culture conditions. While no in vitro assay or screen can represent the complexity of the human body, several assays have been developed to more closely mimic in vivo conditions. Several of these assays include the colony forming cell assay using bone marrow cells (27,29), hepatic drug biotransformation assays (3), and assays in whole blood (4,45). Because most chemotherapeutic agents are administered intravenously and are therefore immediately affected by blood cell components, screening for potential drugs in the presence of whole blood would be expected to yield more meaningful results. Blood contains biological components, such as proteases, antibody, and blood cells, which can affect the nature of a compound. For example, red blood cells and plasma proteins are known to affect the pharmacokinetics of drugs such as the anti-cancer agents docetaxel and gemcitabine (8,9). Vaidyanathan et al. (43) also reported that the cardioprotective drug, dexrazoxane, inhibits binding of the anti-cancer agent, doxorubicin, to red blood cells and that this interaction alters the pharmacokinetics of doxorubicin, and Clarke et al. (4) used an in vitro whole blood assay to study the binding affinity of a surrogate anti-CD11a monoclonal antibody to blood components. In addition, leukocytes produce a cytochrome P450 isoform (CYP2E1) that is involved in drug biotransformation (3). Thus, identifying and studying drugs in the presence of whole blood or blood components can offer a unique advantage over assays using cells in monoculture.
For studies on leukemia therapeutics, the cell line HL-60 is used as a standard target cell line. HL-60 cells were originally isolated from a 36-year-old female patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (13). Testing the efficacy of anti-leukemia therapeutics against HL-60 cells in whole blood or other biological material is currently a challenge due to the inefficiency in differentiating the viability of HL-60 cells from other cells.
Thus, there remains a need for the identification and development of therapeutic agents and strategies, for the treatment of cancers such as leukemia, and for the development of effective testing methodology, such as efficient screens for therapeutics such as anti-leukemia agents, and particularly, for the facilitation of preclinical studies on a highly specific bacterial leukotoxin as a novel anti-leukemia therapeutic agent.

Compositions for the treatment of cancer, and methods for testing and using the same

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey


Disclosed are channel management methods in a multicarrier structure in a mobile communication system. Uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) channel management methods in a carrier aggregation environment are used as the channel management methods. Using the channel management methods in the mobile communication system employing the multicarrier structure, an increase in the number of unnecessary retransmissions is prevented, so that unnecessary retransmission and power consumption of the terminal can be reduced and the waste of radio resources and the degradation of base station performance due to unnecessary retransmission can be prevented.

1. Technical Field
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a Long Term Evolution (LTE)-Advanced system, which is next-generation mobile communication being standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and more particularly, to a channel management method according to a radio channel state and a channel management method of efficiently performing retransmission (hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)) and discontinuous reception (DRX) control of a terminal in a structure in which communication between a base station and the terminal is performed using a plurality of carriers.
2. Related Art
3GPP, which is a mobile communication standardization organization, has developed an LTE system standard as a next-generation mobile communication standard. Also, the development of the LTE-Advanced system standard as an extension of an LTE standard is under way to satisfy International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT)-Advanced system requirements proposed by International Telecommunication Union-Radio communication Sector (ITU-R).
While the LTE standard supports a maximum radio bandwidth of 20 MHz for mobile communication, the LTE-Advanced standard uses bandwidth aggregation (carrier aggregation) technology to support a maximum bandwidth of 100 MHz. Thus, in the LTE-Advanced standard, the bandwidth of 100 MHz is divided into component carriers (CCs), each of which has a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz, and a base station may communicate with a terminal by simultaneously using a plurality of carriers.
The terminal, which supports multicarrier communication, uses a plurality of radio channels in a broadband. The wider a frequency bandwidth for use in communication, the higher power consumption. Therefore, the terminal of the LTE-Advanced system activates and uses multiple carriers only when traffic is large, and performs communication using only a single carrier when traffic is small.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a general procedure in which a base station configures and activates carriers for a terminal in a multicarrier environment.
Referring to FIG. 1, the LTE-Advanced system controls a configuration procedure 110, an activation procedure 120, and a deactivation procedure 130 into which a multicarrier management step is divided. Although a maximum of five CCs may currently exist in the LTE-Advanced standard, an example in which three CCs (downlink (DL) CC #1 141, DL CC #2 142, and DL CC #3 143) are used as DL CCs is shown in FIG. 1.
When the terminal is connected to the base station that provides multicarrier communication, a multicarrier communication environment is constructed using the configuration procedure. The base station transmits a configuration message to cause the terminal to store configuration information regarding multicarrier communication and prepare carrier communication.
When traffic is low, the terminal communicates with the base station by use of only single carriers (DL CC #1 of FIG. 1 and uplink (UL) CC #1 (not shown)). In a state in which the single carrier is used, the used carrier is referred to as a primary carrier or a primary cell. A radio channel state of the primary carrier is measured in a short cycle and managed as a state in which stable communication is possible.
When traffic of the terminal increases, the base station uses the activation procedure to cause the terminal to actually use a plurality of CCs. A carrier to be activated for the multicarrier environment is referred to as a secondary carrier or a secondary cell of which a radio channel state is managed at a lower level than that of the primary carrier.
The term "carrier" used in the LTE-Advanced system refers to a medium for transmitting a radio channel in a specific frequency band for wireless communication by the base station, and hence has the same meaning as a mobile communication cell. In other words, the terminal of the present invention may perform communication by simultaneously receiving radio channels transmitted in a plurality of cells.
In order to activate the secondary carrier, the base station transmits an activation message to the terminal. Upon receipt of the message, the terminal activates the secondary carrier and uses the activated secondary carrier in communication.
Accordingly, a large volume of data is transmitted and received by multiple carriers, and a data transmission rate is increased. If traffic with the terminal is decreased, the base station transmits a deactivation message to cause the terminal to use only a single carrier. DL and UL CCs may be independently configured/released and activated/deactivated. Also, the DL and UL CCs may be simultaneously activated/deactivated by one message.
When multicarrier communication is performed, data is mapped and transmitted according to each CC. A scheduler of the base station divides data to be transmitted in units of CCs, and the divided data is allocated and transmitted according to each CC. Transmitted data is retransmitted using the same CC.
Under an assumption of FIG. 1, one data block is assigned to DL CC #1. If a data reception error occurs after initial transmission, retransmission (or HARQ) should be performed using DL CC #1. When DL data is transmitted, the data is allocated to a data channel (that is, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)), and demodulation information about the data channel is indicated and transmitted on a control channel (that is, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)).
The control channel may be transmitted by the same CC as the data channel or a different CC. If CC positions are different from each other, a position of the data channel is indicated using a carrier indicator (or a carrier indicator field (CIF)) within the control channel.
If traffic between the base station and the terminal increases and a radio channel state of some CCs becomes bad in a state in which multiple carriers are used, the number of data reception errors of a receiver increases and the number of retransmissions increases. In particular, if a radio channel state of a CC becomes bad in a structure in which retransmission is performed by only the CC used during initial transmission as in the LTE-Advanced system, there is a problem in that the number of reception errors rapidly increases.
Also, there is a problem in that data transmitted once is retransmitted until reception succeeds during a maximum number of retransmissions, regardless of a radio channel state. This procedure leads to unnecessary retransmission operations and power consumption of the terminal. Further, there is a problem in that the waste of radio resources and the degradation of base station performance occur because other terminals may not use resources due to unnecessary retransmission.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a power consumption reduction (DRX) operation of the terminal in a mobile communication system.
Referring to FIG. 2, the terminal is controlled in a period divided into an on-duration period 201 in which an operation of receiving a DL control channel transmitted from the base station is performed and a sleep period 202 in which an operation of stopping a reception operation and reducing power consumption is performed.
If the base station does not transmit a control channel to the terminal in an on-duration mode, the terminal is switched to a sleep mode by determining that it is not necessary to receive data. If the control channel is received in the on-duration mode, a wakeup state is maintained for a predetermined time by use of an inactivity timer. A cycle in which the terminal performs an on-duration operation is indicated as a DRX cycle 203. The DRX cycle is divided into long DRX and short DRX. In the long DRX, it is possible to minimize power consumption because a data reception cycle of the terminal is long.
In the mobile communication system of the multicarrier structure, all carriers use the same DRX operation procedure. All activated carriers perform the on-duration operation when one carrier is in the on-duration mode, and also the sleep state is equally applied to all carriers.
In order to maintain the DRX operation of each carrier, a DRX-related timer is managed according to each carrier. If one carrier performs a DL control channel reception operation by the timer, all carriers are put in a wakeup mode, thereby performing the same wakeup operation.
On the other hand, a secondary-carrier deactivation procedure and a DRX procedure should be stably controlled so that states managed by the base station and the terminal are consistent with each other if the secondary carrier is configured and operated in the multicarrier environment. When the deactivation procedure is performed, a HARQ retransmission procedure to be performed by the terminal should be managed according to a deactivation state.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method of channel management for multiple component carrier in mobile communication system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A system for defacing compact discs so as destroy information stored thereon includes a defacer unit and a feed unit for feeding discs one at a time, with vertical orientation, to the defacer unit. A falling vertically-oriented disc is caught and held between two sets of driven endless rubber belts which transport the disc between opposed knurling wheels which embed grooves in opposite sides of the disc substrate without, however, cracking the substrate. The knurling wheels are designed to give the grooves an identifiable pattern.

This invention relates to apparatus for destroying information recorded on a compact disc so as to prevent its reproduction. More particularly, the invention is concerned with apparatus for defacing compact discs to render them unplayable, without cracking or destroying the disc substrate.
As is well known, the compact disc is an increasingly popular medium for the replication of audio programs. As currently manufactured, the compact disc comprises a thin circular polycarbonate substrate approximately 43/4inches in diameter having a central aperture adapted to be received on the centering mechanism of a disc player. Usually, the disc has digitally encoded information on one surface thereof which is adapted to be laser-read by the disc player. The information-bearing surface of the substrate is coated with a thin film of aluminum which, in turn, is covered with a protective lacquer coating, of which two types are currently in common use. One is a cellulose nitrate based material in a suitable solvent such as toluene, and the other is an ultraviolet cured acrylic based material. Information regarding the programs recorded on the disc is printed in ink on the lacquer coating.
In the course of manufacture and distribution of such compact discs, many may be scrapped as production rejects, or may be returned to the manufacturer as a consequence of inventory obsolescence or other reasons. This presents a serious problem of disposal, as well as a problem of insuring that such discs, particularly the returns, are not re-introduced into the channels of commerce through theft, for example, while awaiting disposal. The illicit distribution of recorded information is widespread in the entertainment industry, and very large revenues would be lost by a record company through the unauthorized distribution of such returned discs, to say nothing of the damage to its reputation should production rejects find their way into distribution channels.
While these problems could be solved by cracking, crushing or otherwise destroying the mechanical integrity of returned or rejected discs and discarding the resulting waste product in a landfill, the polycarbonate discs, provided the coatings are removed, have sufficiently high scrap value as to justify removal of the coatings to reclaim the polycarbonate, which is best done if the disc is unbroken. However, removal of the coatings is preferably done by a batch process, which may result in temporary accumulation of discs in sufficient numbers to be attractive to a thief.
A primary object of the present is to provide a means for defacing at least the information-bearing surface of a compact disc to render it unplayable.
Another object of the invention is to provide means for rendering a compact disc unplayable without cracking or destroying the polycarbonate substrate.
Still another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for defacing compact discs with identifiable markings for facilitating determination of the source of defaced discs that may illicitly find their way into distribution channels.


A data management system and method enables the storage of long records in a set of keyed physical records of restricted length while minimising movement of data. The logical record to be stored is logically divided into a number of physical record portions to each of which is prepended a key with a unique sequence number. By starting from one end of the record with the key of highest sequence number and copying the physical record consisting of key plus data into the data set, successive physical records can be assembled in situ by overwriting the previous record's data portion with the current record's key. This ensures that the split logical record data need only be moved once as it is transferred to non-volatile storage as physical records of the data set. The original logical record can be reassembled by reversing the above procedure. Thus, the last written (lowest sequence number) physical record is written into main memory first and subsequent physical records are written into main memory so that their data portions overwrite the previously written record's key.

Databases and file management programs are well known facilities by means of which data generated by or requested by an application program for a computer can be stored in a predefined reliable manner in non-volatile storage, such as disk storage. Such data management facilities spare the application programmer from having to write his own data management code and offer reliable storage of data through defined access methods.
One of the best known file management programs is the Virtual Storage Access Method (VSAM) developed by IBM. VSAM is available as part of several IBM Operating Systems, such as MVS. ("IBM" AND "MVS" are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.) The most common way of managing files in VSAM is by the use of Key Sequential Data Sets (KSDS) in which records may be accessed by means of a key (such as an employee name) and an index which contains pointers to the physical record location.
In order to store data in a VSAM KSDS, the program must define the average and maximum lengths of the records in the data set. This is in order to optimize data I/O performance having regard to the likely size of records and frequency of access.
The data portion of a record is first preassembled in the main memory of the computer with a unique key and then stored with the key, in an area of non-volatile memory such as disk storage, allocated to the particular data set. The appropriate index is updated so that the particular data record can be retrieved.
Further detail about VSAM can be found in the book "Getting into VSAM--An Introduction and Technical Reference" by Michael P Bouros (2nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1987).
It can happen that, in other aspects of its operation, an application program may create very long records in main memory (for example, graphic image data) which it then wishes to store in a data set or data base. Aspects of handling long fields in a recoverable data base are discussed in EPA 0336548-A2. One problem that is not discussed is that such long records may exceed the permitted record length for the data set or data base and thus can only be stored if they are split into a sequence of physical records, each of which has a key consisting of a common portion and a unique differentiating portion.
A naive approach to splitting a long record would be to copy a chunk of the long record into an intermediate buffer, to generate and add the appropriate key and then to store the preassembled key and data in non-volatile storage. The process would then be repeated for successive chunks of the long record, each time assembling the KSDS record in an intermediate buffer in main memory. This is wasteful and inefficient in that two moves of each chunk of data are necessary before it is stored in non-volatile storage.

Data management system and method for storing a long record in a set of shorter keyed records


Generalized state-dependent learning framework in artificial neuron networks may be implemented. A framework may be used to describe plasticity updates of neuron connections based on connection state term and neuron state term. The state connections within the network may be updated based on inputs and outputs to/from neurons. The input connections of a neuron may be updated using connection traces comprising a time-history of inputs provided via the connections. Weights of the connections may be updated and connection state may be time varying. The updated weights may be determined using a rate of change of the trace and a term comprising a product of a per-neuron contribution and a per-connection contribution configured to account for the state time-dependency. Using event-dependent connection change components, connection updates may be executed on per neuron basis, as opposed to per-connection basis.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to implementing learning in spiking neuron networks.
2. Description of Related Art
Spiking Neural Networks
Artificial spiking neural networks are frequently used to gain an understanding of biological neural networks, and for solving artificial intelligence problems. These networks typically employ a pulse-coded mechanism, which encodes information using timing of the pulses. Such pulses (also referred to as "spikes" or 'impulses') are short-lasting (typically on the order of 1-2 ms) discrete temporal events. Several exemplary embodiments of such encoding are described in a commonly owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/152,084 entitled APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR PULSE-CODE INVARIANT OBJECT RECOGNITION", filed Jun. 2, 2011, [client reference BRAIN.001A] and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/152,119, Jun. 2, 2011, entitled "SENSORY INPUT PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHODS", [client reference BRAIN.003A] each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
A typical artificial spiking neural network, such as the network 100 shown for example in FIG. 1, may comprise a plurality of units (or nodes) 102, which correspond to neurons in a biological neural network. Any given unit 102 may receive input via connections 104, also referred to as communications channels, or synaptic connections. Any given unit 102 may be connected to other units via connections 112, also referred to as communications channels, or synaptic connections. The units (e.g., the units 106 in FIG. 1) providing inputs to any given unit via for example connections 104, are commonly referred to as the pre-synaptic units, while the unit receiving the inputs (e.g., the units 102 in FIG. 1) is referred to as the post-synaptic unit. Furthermore, the post-synaptic unit of one unit layer (e.g. the units 102 in FIG. 1) can act as the pre-synaptic unit for the subsequent upper layer of units (not shown).
Individual ones of the connections (104, 112 in FIG. 1) may be assigned, inter alia, a connection efficacy (which in general refers to a magnitude and/or probability of influence of pre-synaptic spike to firing of post-synaptic neuron, and may comprise, for example a parameter: synaptic weight, by which one or more state variables of post synaptic unit are changed). During operation of the pulse-code network (e.g., the network 100), synaptic weights may be typically adjusted using what is referred to as the spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) in order to implement, among other things, network learning.
One such adaptation mechanism is illustrated with respect to FIGS. 2-3. Traces 200, 210 in FIG. 2 depict pre-synaptic input spike train (delivered for example via connection 104_1 in FIG. 1) and post synaptic output spike train (generated, for example, by the neuron 102_1 in FIG. 1), respectively.
Properties of the connections 104 (such as weights w) may be adjusted based on relative timing between the pre-synaptic input (e.g., the pulses 202, 204, 206, 208 in FIG. 2) and post-synaptic output pulses (e.g., the pulses 214, 216, 218 in FIG. 2). One typical STDP weight adaptation rule is illustrated in FIG. 3, where rule 300 depicts synaptic weight change Δw as a function of time difference between the time of post-synaptic output generation and arrival of pre-synaptic input Δt=tpost−tpre. In some implementations, synaptic connections (e.g., the connections 104 in FIG. 1) delivering pre-synaptic input prior to the generation of post-synaptic response are potentiated (as indicated by Δw>0 associated with the curve 302), while synaptic connections (e.g., the connections 104 in FIG. 1) delivering pre-synaptic input subsequent to the generation of post-synaptic response are depressed (as indicated by Δw<0 associated with the curve 304 in FIG. 3). By way of illustration, when the post-synaptic pulse 208 in FIG. 2 is generated: (i) connection associated with the pre-synaptic input 214 may precede the output pulse (indicated by the line denoted 224) and it may be potentiated (Δw>0 in FIG. 3 and the weight is increased); and (ii) connections associated with the pre-synaptic input 216, 218 that follow may be depressed (Δw<0 in FIG. 3 and the weights are decreased).
Spiking Neuron Models
Generalized dynamics equations for spiking neurons models may be expressed as a superposition of input, interaction between the input current and the neuronal state variables, and neuron reset after the spike as follows:
                                          ⅆ                          q              →                                            ⅆ            t                          =                              V                                      (                              q                →                            )                                +                                    ∑                              t                out                                                                                R                                                  (                                      q                    →                                    )                                                                          δ                                                  (                                      t                    -                                          t                      out                                                        )                                                              +                                    G                                            (                                  q                  →                                )                                                                I              ext                                                          (                  Eqn          .                                                    1                )            where:                {right arrow over (q)} is a vector of internal state variables (e.g., comprising membrane voltage);        Iest is external input into neuron;        V is the function that defines evolution of the state variables;        G describes the interaction between the input current and the state variables (for example, to model postsynaptic potentials); and        R describes resetting the state variables after the output spikes at tout.
For example, for IF model the state vector and the state model may be expressed as:{right arrow over (q)}(t)≡u(t);V({right arrow over (q)})=−Cu;R({right arrow over (q)})=ures;G({right arrow over (q)})=1,  (Eqn. 2)where C is a membrane constant, ures is a value to which voltage is set after output spike (reset value). Accordingly, Eqn. 1 may become:
                                          ⅆ            u                                ⅆ            t                          =                              -            Cu                    +                                    ∑                              t                out                                                                                (                                                      u                    refr                                    -                  u                                )                                                          δ                                                  (                                      t                    -                                          t                      out                                                        )                                                              +                      I            ext                                              (                  Eqn          .                                                    3                )
For a simple neuron model, Eqn. 1 may be expressed as:
                                                        ⅆ              v                                      ⅆ              t                                =                                    0.04                                                                                v                2                                      +                          5                            v                        +            140            -            u            +                                          ∑                                  t                  out                                                                                (                                      c                    -                    v                                    )                                                                  δ                                                        (                                          t                      -                                              t                        out                                                              )                                                                        +                          I              ext                                                                                ⅆ              u                                      ⅆ              t                                =                                    -                              a                                                  (                                      bv                    -                    u                                    )                                                      +                          d                                                              ∑                                      t                    out                                                                                δ                                                        (                                          t                      -                                              t                        out                                                              )                                                                                where                                :                                              (                  Eqn          .                                                    4                )                                                                                q                  →                                                                  (                  t                  )                                            ≡                              (                                                                                v                                                                          (                          t                          )                                                                                u                                                                          (                          t                          )                                                                                )                                      ;                                                                                V                                                  (                                      q                    →                                    )                                            =                              (                                                                                0.04                                                                                v                              2                                                                                (                              t                              )                                                                                +                                                  5                                                                                v                                                                                (                              t                              )                                                                                +                        140                        -                                                  u                                                                                (                            t                            )                                                                                a                                                                                (                                                                                bv                                                                                (                                t                                )                                                                                -                                                          u                                                                                (                                t                                )                                                                                )                                                                                )                                      ;                                                                                R                                                  (                                      q                    →                                    )                                            =                              (                                                                                c                        -                                                  v                                                                                (                            t                            )                                                                                d                                                                      )                                      ;                                                                                G                                            (                                  q                  →                                )                                      =                          (                                                                    1                                                                                0                                                              )                                                          (                  Eqn          .                                                    5                )            and a,b,c,d are parameters of the model.
Some algorithms for spike-time learning (especially, reinforcement learning) in spiking neural networks may be represented using the following general equation described, for example, in co-pending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/487,499 entitled "STOCHASTIC APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING GENERALIZED LEARNING RULES", incorporated supra:
                                          ⅆ                                          θ                i                                                          (                t                )                                                          ⅆ            t                          =                  η                                                                          F                                      (              t              )                                                                    e              i                                                  (              t              )                                                          (                  Eqn          .                                                    6                )            where:                θi(t) is an adaptation (learning) parameter of a synaptic connection between the pre-synaptic neuron i and the post-synaptic neuron j;        η is a parameter referred to as the learning rate, η can be a constant parameter or it can be a function of some other system parameters;        F(t) is a performance function; and        ei(t) is eligibility trace, configured to characterize relations between pre-synaptic and post-synaptic activity.
An exemplary eligibility trace may comprise a temporary record of the occurrence of an event, such as visiting of a state or the taking of an action, or a receipt of pre-synaptic input. The trace marks the parameters associated with the event (e.g., the synaptic connection, pre- and post-synaptic neuron IDs) as eligible for undergoing learning changes. In one approach, when a reward signal occurs, only eligible states or actions may be 'assigned credit' or 'blamed' for the error. Thus, the eligibility traces aid in bridging the gap between the events and the training information.
Various implementations of eligibility traces exist for different types of learning (e.g., supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement) for deterministic and stochastic neurons. However, existing implementations do not appear to provide a common framework thereby requiring reformulating, learning rules (e.g., for determining the eligibility traces) for each implementation.
Accordingly, there is a salient need for a more efficient method and apparatus for implementing state-dependent learning comprising in spiking neural network comprising a generalized (canonic) form of eligibility traces that may allow common implementation of the updates.

Apparatus and methods for generalized state-dependent learning in spiking neuron networks


This invention relates to an improvement in a process for forming a carton from paperboard stock comprising the steps:                applying an aqueous based adhesive to select parts of a paperboard carton blank obtained from a paperboard feedstock;        drying the aqueous based adhesive;        folding the select parts of the adhesive coated carton blank onto cooperating parts of the paperboard blank; and,        heat sealing the select and cooperating parts thereby forming the carton;wherein the aqueous based adhesive is comprised of a vinyl acetate/ethylene polymer formed by emulsion polymerization and having        (a) a crystalline melting point (Tm) ranging from 35 to 110° C., preferably 50 to 90° C.; measured at a heat rate of 20° C./minute and,        (b) a tensile storage modulus of at least 1×104 dynes/cm2 at 115° C. measured at 6.28 rad/sec.

Corrugated cases and cartons have been used in a wide variety of applications such as the packaging of food products and consumer goods, e.g., cereal boxes, precooked and frozen foods. Typically, corrugated cases and cartons are constructed of corrugated or boxboard in which a flat blank is folded and glued to the cooperating parts of the corrugated or carton blank to form a container. Pressure is maintained on the preselected and cooperating parts of the formed carton for a time sufficient for the adhesive to dry or set. Typically, the top and bottom of the erected case or carton also requires to be glued according to the above conditions.
To facilitate the sealing process, thermoplastic and hot melt adhesives have been applied to the cases and cartons by means such as a spray jet, print roller or wheel. In many situations the adhesive is pre-heated by hot air jets to soften and render the adhesive tacky to assist the sealing. Thermosetting adhesives have also been used to facilitate sealing with curing effected by application of heat.
The onsite application of adhesives to the case or carton blank or erected container has created numerous processing issues which often result in run delays and maintenance problems. Hot melt adhesives, which are applied in molten form to the preselected parts of the carton blank, have drawbacks for many reasons. Hot melts, typically are 100 percent solid thermoplastic adhesives, often based on ethylene-vinyl acetate polymers, and need to be heated to between 250–350° F. before being applied to a carton's surface. Because of the high temperatures for application of hot melt adhesives, there are customary health issues resulting from burns and odors. In addition, there are significant issues with respect to the storage, and delivery systems for hot melt adhesives and the maintenance thereof.
Cold set adhesives have been employed in carton formation and sealing but these too present problems. These are slow setting and often incompatible with the high production rate required in the packaging of food products. Water and 100 percent solid based heat sealable polymer systems often do not activate well and many require too high of an activation temperature. Also, the rolled sheets of paperboard stock coated with these adhesives tend to block (stick) together before they can be formed in the carton assembly process and heat sealed.
The following articles and patents are representative of methods for forming cartons:
EP 0017678 A1 discloses the formation of a heat-resistant carton by coating at least one of the carton surfaces with a heat-activated thermosetting adhesive, and then, spraying a water-based adhesive emulsion, e.g., an aqueous emulsion of polyvinyl acetate on the coated surfaces. The carton having the water-based adhesive coated surface is heated by a stream of heated air to at least partially dry the water-based adhesive. The carton surfaces then are placed in contact with each other, and pressure applied for a time sufficient to seal the contacting surfaces together. It is reported that the combination of thermosetting adhesive and water-based adhesive enables the mating surfaces of the carton to be rapidly sealed by automatic carton sealing apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,129 discloses the formation of cartons wherein a water-based adhesive, e.g., polyvinyl acetate is applied in the form of an atomized spray onto selected parts of the carton and then partially dried. Then, the panel to be sealed is pressed together by the punch and die arrangement in carton fabrication.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,272 discloses the fabrication of folded paperboard food cartons having a polymer coating on the interior surface and sales graphics on a substantially unplasticized clay coated exterior surface. A water based polymer emulsion such as ethylene/vinyl acetate emulsion is applied by means of a printing press to select areas of the carton blank. Reported in the patent is the use of a full coating of a continuous film of a polymer such as polyethylene, polypropylene and the like to protect against moisture penetration. A water based adhesive (Adcote) is solubilized by acidic modification and adjusted for viscosity by water emulsion is applied by a printing press on select portions and then contacted with a hot air stream and pressed together to fuse the surfaces.
US 2004/0155238 discloses a converting machine comprising a means for depositing a reactivatable adhesive onto a predetermined location of a stock material.

Process for the manufacture of paperboard cartons


Aspects of the disclosure can provide a circuit to be used in a device. The circuit includes a first receiver circuit, a second receiver circuit and a processing circuit. The first receiver circuit is configured to receive a first signal from an antenna that captures a combination of a target signal transmitted from another device to the device and an output signal driven by a transmitter in the device. The second receiver circuit is configured to receive a second signal generated based on to the output signal. The processing circuit is configured to cancel from the first signal noise due to the output signal based on the second signal.

An electronic device can include multiple wireless communication systems. In an example, a mobile phone can include a cellular transceiver and a Bluetooth transceiver coexistent in the mobile phone. The cellular transceiver communicates wirelessly with a base station. The Bluetooth transceiver communicates with another Bluetooth device wirelessly. The cellular transceiver and the Bluetooth transceiver can operate at the same time.

Method and apparatus for noise canceling


A membrane-based assay device for detecting the presence or quantity of an analyte residing in a test sample is provided. The device utilizes a chromatographic zone on which is disposed a plurality of microporous particles. The chromatographic zone can effectively reduce the “hook effect” in a simple, efficient, and relatively inexpensive manner. In particular, the plurality of microporous particles allows larger-sized analyte/probe complexes to reach the detection zone before the uncomplexed analyte. Because the uncomplexed analyte is substantially inhibited from competing with the complexes for the binding sites at the detection zone, the incidence of “false negatives” may be limited, even at relatively high analyte concentrations.

Various analytical procedures and devices are commonly employed in flow-through assays to determine the presence and/or concentration of analytes that may be present in a test sample. For instance, immunoassays utilize mechanisms of the immune systems, wherein antibodies are produced in response to the presence of antigens that are pathogenic or foreign to the organisms. These antibodies and antigens, i.e., immunoreactants, are capable of binding with one another, thereby causing a highly specific reaction mechanism that can be used to determine the presence or concentration of that particular antigen in a biological sample.
There are several well-known immunoassay methods that use immunoreactants labeled with a detectable component so that the analyte can be detected analytically. For example, "sandwich-type" assays typically involve mixing the test sample with detectable probes, such as dyed latex or a radioisotope, which are conjugated with a specific binding member for the analyte. The conjugated probes form complexes with the analyte. These complexes then reach a zone of immobilized antibodies where binding occurs between the antibodies and the analyte to form ternary "sandwich complexes." The sandwich complexes are localized at the zone for detection of the analyte. This technique can be used to obtain quantitative or semi-quantitative results. Some examples of such sandwich-type assays are described in. by U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,146 to Grubb, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,241 to Tom, et al.
However, many conventional "sandwich-type" assay formats encounter significant inaccuracies when exposed to relatively high analyte concentrations. Specifically, when the analyte is present at high concentrations, a substantial portion of the analyte in the test sample may not form complexes with the conjugated probes. Thus, upon reaching the detection zone, the uncomplexed analyte competes with the complexed analyte for binding sites. Because the uncomplexed analyte is not labeled with a probe, it cannot be detected. Consequently, if a significant number of the binding sites become occupied by the uncomplexed analyte, the assay may exhibit a "false negative." This problem is commonly referred to as the "hook effect."
Various techniques for reducing the "hook effect" in immunoassays have been proposed. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,042 to Neumann, et al. describes one technique for reducing the hook effect in a sandwich assay. The technique involves incubating the sample in the presence of a solid phase with at least two receptors capable of binding to the analyte. The first receptor is an oligomer of a binding molecule selected from antibodies, antibody fragments and mixtures thereof. The second receptor is bound to or capable of being bound to a solid phase. The use of a soluble oligomeric antibody is said to reduce the "hook effect."
A need still exists, however, for an improved technique of reducing the "hook effect" in a simple, efficient, and relatively inexpensive manner.

Reduction of the hook effect in membrane-based assay devices


A petabyte diffractive storage system stores information on a diffractive storage tape. A light component generates a large reference beam to cover the plurality of points of the diffractive storage tape so as to simultaneously interfere with the plurality of object beams creating a plurality of packets of information at the plurality of points. Also disclosed is a terabyte diffractive storage that system reads information from a diffractice storage disk having a plurality of tracks. A plurality of micro-mirrors directs the read beam to one of said plurality of tracks.

The large storage capacities and relative low costs of CD-ROMS and DVDs have created an even greater demand for still larger and cheaper optical storage media. Holographic memories have been proposed to supersede the optical disc as a high-capacity digital storage medium. The high density and speed of the holographic memory comes from three-dimensional recording and from the simultaneous readout of an entire packet of data at one time. The principal advantages of holographic memory are a higher information density (1011 bits or more per square centimeter), a short random access time (˜100 microseconds and less), and a high information transmission rate (109 bit/sec).
In holographic recording, a light beam from a coherent monochromatic or multispectral source (e.g., a laser) is split into a reference beam and an object beam. The object beam is passed through a spatial light modulator (SLM) and then into a storage medium. The SLM forms a matrix of shutter (in the binary case) or, more generally, a matrix of photocells modulating the light intensity that represents a packet of data. The object beam passes through the SLM which acts to modulate the object beam with the binary information being displayed on the SLM. The modulated object beam is then directed to one point on the storage medium by a beam processor where it intersects with the reference beam to create a hologram representing the packet of data.
An optical system consisting of lenses and mirrors is used to precisely direct the optical beam encoded with the packet of data to the particular spatially addressed area of the storage medium. Optimum use of the capacity of a thick storage medium is realized by spatial and angular multiplexing. In spatial multiplexing, a set of packets is stored in the storage medium shaped into a plane as an array of spatially separated and regularly arranged subholograms by varying the beam target in the x-axis and y-axis of the plane. Each subhologram is formed at a point in the storage medium with the rectangular coordinates representing the respective packet address as recorded in the storage medium. In angular multiplexing, recording is carried out by keeping the x- and y-coordinates the same while changing the irradiation angle of the reference beam in the storage medium. By repeatedly incrementing the irradiation angle, a plurality of packets of information is recorded as a set of subholograms at the same x- and y-spatial location.
Previous techniques for recording information in a highly multiplexed volume holographic memory, and for reading the information out are limited in memory capacity. In particular, data storage using magnetic, magneto optic, and optic technology is limited to a capacity that most likely will not go beyond 1 terabyte per unit. Most of the current advanced commercial products are in the range of 100 gigabytes. The need for terabyte and petabyte mass storage is becoming evident for hospital applications, for picture storage, mapping (the whole word map on a tape), defense, Internet, database, meteorology, and so forth.
It is therefore an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for reading a diffractive memory capable of a storage capacity ranging from terabyte to petabyte mass tape and disk storage.
It is a further object of the present invention is to provide a massive petabyte tape storage system. It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a massive terabyte disk storage system.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

Method and apparatus for diffractive information storage


A golf club comprising a hollow shaft having a top end in the vicinity of which a golfer grips the golf club, a bottom end within the vicinity of which a club head is attached, and an opening in the vicinity of the top end of the hollow shaft. The opening allows the golfer to look into the hollow shaft. A reflecting assembly located within the hollow shaft includes a reflective surface for reflecting through the hollow shaft an image of a target area where a golfer desires to hit a golf ball, thereby allowing the golfer to view simultaneously the target area while looking at the golf club. The shaft includes a first passage formed substantially opposite the reflecting surface. The first passage permits the image to impact on the reflecting surface and be reflected through the hollow shaft toward the top end of the shaft.

Golf is an old sport, having originated in Scotland and then introduced to America some time later. Although the overall design of golf clubs has remained some what similar throughout the history of golf, some modifications have occurred. Such modifications have included, among others, designs formed on the faces of the club head to influence the trajectory of the ball upon impact with the club head face and altered shapes of club heads. Many of the modifications to golf clubs have come in the area of the materials used to construct the clubs. In an effort to make golf clubs lighter and/or more durable, materials such as carbon fiber and light weight metallic alloys have been used to construct various parts of golf clubs. For instance, many "woods" sold today are made of metal.
In spite of the modifications to golf clubs which enhance performance, golf remains a difficult game to learn and play with skill. Minor variations in a golf swing or club position in any type of golf shot can result in the golf ball missing its target by a wide margin. Such problems include, among other things, the rotation or angling of the head of the golf club upon impact with the golf ball in the event that the ball is not struck exactly on the optimal spot on the club head. Additionally, problems also arise when the golfer attempts to look up to see the target of a golf shot and then down to align the club face, often resulting in the movement of the club as the golfer moves his or her body. In an effort to address problems involved in aiming and swinging a golf club, certain modifications were made to the basic club and/or shaft design.
For instance, it has been suggested to attach mirrors to the shaft or the head of golf clubs as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,160 to Salata and U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,866 to Bang. Additionally, modifications to the heads of golf clubs to achieve various effects have been suggested. Such modifications include, among others, U.S. Pat. No. 3,966,210 to Rozmus, which suggests a club head including concentrated masses of weight at certain points in the club head.

Golf club with target viewing reflector in shaft