A method and system to process and track mailpieces. A code is printed on the mailpiece that can include an identification of a metering device generating the code and a subscriber number of a subscriber generating the mailpiece. The code is scanned during a processing step in a mailpiece delivery system, wherein information associated with the scanned code is stored in a database accessible by the user and allowing the user to track a movement of the mailpiece in the mailpiece delivery system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processing mail pieces and in particular to utilizing a code on a mailpiece to identify and track individual mailpieces.
2. Brief Description of Related Developments
Present mailing applications that afford the customer generating mailpieces the ability to track the progress of the mailpieces through the postal mailing infrastructure and eventually to the recipient involve special material handling by the mailpiece generator. The USPS utilizes a destination functionality service referred to as "CONFIRM", which provides for a subscriber to its service to imprint upon media (typically envelopes or paper tape) a barcode, referred to as the "Planet Code". The "Planet Code" is described for example in the "Confirm using Plant Code USPS" Field Operations Guide, data February 2001, First Edition, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This code provides for a number of numeric digits that define the customer and a mailing identifier. Generally, the Planet Code comprises a 14-digit barcode where the first two digits can represent a type of service being used and the next 11 digits can be used to identify the subscriber and mailing. The 14th digit can be used as a check-sum that helps the USPS detect errors. Examples of the Planet Codes used in the USPS confirm service are illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The mailing identifier relates to the actual mailing (batch of mailpieces) adhering to postal batching requirements for approval mail types. Such handling would include the mechanics of documentation to be attached to, or related to, a mailpiece, typified by the certification mail process of the USPS, and relate to extra handling. Such extra handling will be obviated by this invention.


A system and method of producing a frame of a video image from an interlaced field. In one embodiment, the method includes: (1) creating an equal-intensity trace from present samples in the field, (2) recognizing an equal-intensity path in the equal-intensity trace, (3) at least partially straightening the equal-intensity path and (4) using the equal-intensity path to determine an intensity value for a missing sample in the frame.

As those skilled in the pertinent art are familiar, interlaced video fields have half the lines of a full video frame. A field containing odd horizontal lines or rows is followed by another one containing even horizontal lines or rows, thereby reducing bandwidth requirements but maintaining an acceptable perceived resolution. As bandwidth has increased and video compression has become more powerful, video frames are more often being transmitted without interlacing. This is called "progressive" video.
Sometimes, however, it is necessary or desirable to convert interlaced video to progressive video. This conversion, called deinterlacing, amounts to a 2× upsampling. The frame rate of the video image doubles as a result. The field contains intensity values for pixels on every other line or row, referred to herein as "present samples." Deinterlacing involves obtaining intensity values for the pixels in the missing interstitial lines or rows, referred to herein as "missing samples." A typical deinterlacing engine implements a pipeline having a spatial deinterlacing stage that deinterlaces based on the spatial features of a given field, and temporal deinterlacing stages that deinterlace based on multiple fields in time. A deinterlacing engine may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), an application-specific IC (ASIC) for video processing, a graphics processing unit (GPU), or other system-on-a-chip (SOC).
In spatial deinterlacing, assuming the lines are horizontal, a vertical linear interpolation may be used to obtain the intensity value for a missing sample located between two present samples. An alternative method involves identifying edges in the image described by the field data, and interpolating along the direction of the edges. The edge direction is usually identified by either identifying the local intensity gradient and assuming the edge is perpendicular to it, or feature matching between horizontal rows of pixels to determine the horizontal shift from one row to the next.

System and method for creating a video frame from a single video field


An opto-mechanical anemometer is particularly adapted to measure fluctuations in the flow of a turbulent fluid such as can be applied in the measurement of wind turbulence for meteorological purposes, the turbulent flow of fluid through a pipe or conduit, or the flow of air through a tube from the breath of a patient for medical diagnostics. An optical fiber is positioned in the flow path of the fluid and fixed motionless at one end. The free end is caused to bend in response to fluctuations in the flow. A beam of light is projected out the free end of the optical fiber toward a stationary optical detector placed in the path of the beam, which is sensitive to the point of maximum intensity of the beam of light. Deflection of the optical fiber translates into movement of the light beam over the detector, allowing measurement of the speed and direction of the fluid flow in two orthogonal planes.

Accurate measurement of wind turbulence is important in any meteorological study where the stability of the atmosphere must be determined. Atmospheric turbulence is the irregular fluctuation of horizontal and vertical wind currents, and is primarily the result of thermal and mechanical forces on the air parcels, thereby producing turbulent motions or eddies of varying sizes. A few areas where the measurement of turbulence has become critically important include pollutant dispersion studies, long-range weather forecasting, wind energy siting, wind shear warning, emergency response wind monitoring, sound transmission analyses, microwave communications assessments and aircraft vortex monitoring.
Several classes of instruments exist which can measure wind speed and direction, but unfortunately, also incorporate inherent limitations which have led to a plateau in the breadth and resolution of wind turbulence data available to scientists and meteorologists. The most common instrument for measuring wind speed and direction is also the oldest: the cup and vane anemometer. Originally invented over a hundred years ago, this inexpensive device can be mounted at stationary locations or on slow-moving vehicles and ships, but is only capable of measuring the mean wind speed and direction; meanwhile, small-scale wind gusts remain undetected. As a result, the cup and vane anemometer has proven inadequate for wind turbulence monitoring.
A more recent advancement is the sonic anemometer, which determines the mean wind speed and direction at a location immediately adjacent the instrument. The instrument can also measure atmospheric turbulence, but only with a limited frequency response typically below 20 Hz. The sonic anemometer operates on the principle that the motion of air affects the propagation of ultrasonic sound waves. The instrument uses a proscribed sonic pathway through a test region, typically between 10 and 20 centimeters in length, with a transmitter on one end and a receiver on the other. Several commercial designs employ three pathways orientated at various angles through the same test region to provide real-time three-dimensional measurement of the air velocity. However, the instrument has several drawbacks. The instrument is bulky and heavy, both because of the size of the test region and because the transmitters and receivers are commonly positioned on the tips of long arms in order to be as aerodynamically unobtrusive as possible to avoid inducing turbulence within the measurement region. Because of it's bulk and weight, the application of the sonic anemometer is limited to ground or ship-based operations. As the tallest practical weather tower may be approximately 150 m (500 ft), accurate measurement of air turbulence with a sonic anemometer is limited to the first few hundred feet above ground level, but are typically only used below 30 m.
Three other technologies which can remotely monitor atmospheric turbulence have also appeared over the past few decades, but are considerably more expensive and complicated than cup and vane or sonic anemometers. Doppler LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) shoots a narrow beam of light, such as that coming from a laser, into the upper atmosphere, where the light is reflected back by airborne particles or moisture droplets and observed by specialized optics. LIDAR is able to detect fluctuations in wind velocity and direction from miles away, but the cost of the laser, optics, and associated electronics make this system far too expensive for any but the most well-funded scientific installations. Doppler SODAR (Sonic Detection and Ranging) works on similar principles, except that sound is employed instead of light, and the physical process being measured is backscattered sound energy caused by atmospheric turbulence rather than direct reflection. The instrument measures turbulence up to several thousand feet above ground, but can require a reflective parabolic antenna up to four feet in diameter. Doppler wind profiler RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) works on a similar principles of the LIDAR and SODAR, although using radio waves. An additional limitation of the RADAR is due to the bandwidth requirements to operate the RADAR and the potential for interference with television and other radio signals. The bulk and fragility of the equipment dictates that LIDAR, SODAR, and RADAR systems are normally installed at permanent ground-based installations.
In summary, the present state of the art in atmospheric turbulence measurement is generally limited to either low-cost systems that determine only the mean wind speed and direction, or to higher-end instruments that measure also turbulence, but are either limited by their size, complexity, or cost to lower altitudes and localized installations.


Methods and systems for providing input to an augmented reality system or an extended reality system based, at least in part, on neuromuscular signals. The methods and systems comprise detecting, using one or more neuromuscular sensors arranged on one or more wearable devices, neuromuscular signals from a user; determining that a computerized system is in a mode configured to provide input including text to the augmented reality system; identifying based, at least in part, on the neuromuscular signals and/or information based on the neuromuscular signals, the input, wherein the input is further identified based, at least in part, on the mode; and providing the identified input to the augmented reality system.

Augmented reality (AR) systems provide users with an interactive experience of a real-world environment supplemented with virtual information by overlaying computer-generated perceptual or virtual information on aspects of the real-world environment. Various techniques exist for controlling operations of an AR system. Typically, one or more input devices, such as a controller, a keyboard, a mouse, a camera, a microphone, and the like, may be used to control operations of the AR system. For example, a user may manipulate a number of buttons on an input device, such as a controller or a keyboard, to effectuate control of the AR system. In another example, a user may use voice commands to control operations of the AR system. The current techniques for controlling operations of an AR system have many flaws, so improved techniques are needed.

Neuromuscular text entry, writing and drawing in augmented reality systems


A mask layer is formed over a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes: a gate structure, a first layer disposed over the gate structure, and an interlayer dielectric (ILD) disposed on sidewalls of the first layer. The mask layer includes an opening that exposes a portion of the first layer and a portion of the ILD. A first etching process is performed to etch the opening partially into the first layer and partially into the ILD. A liner layer is formed in the opening after the first etching process has been performed. A second etching process is performed after the liner layer has been formed. The second etching process extends the opening downwardly through the first layer and through the gate structure. The opening is filled with a second layer after the second etching process has been performed.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. However, these advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased.
The decreased geometry sizes lead to challenges in semiconductor fabrication. For example, as geometry sizes continue to decrease, the smaller critical dimensions (CD) and higher aspect ratios may cause difficulties in performing etching processes. In some situations, the etching process may inadvertently or unintentional etch away an excessive amount of a layer that should not be etched. When this occurs, the result is degraded device performance or even device failures.
Therefore, while existing semiconductor devices and the fabrication thereof have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in every aspect.

Method and device for forming cut-metal-gate feature

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


Material is represented by transform coefficients represented by digital numbers. A method of perceptibly watermarking the material comprises the steps of: changing representations of the said numbers according to an invertible algorithm without changing the number of bits in the said numbers; and encoding the changed n bit numbers to effect compression encoding of the material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to modifying material. Preferred embodiments of the invention relate to perceptible modification.
"Material" as used herein means information material which includes at least one or more of image material, audio material and data material. Image material is generic to still and moving images and includes video and other forms of information signals representing images.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to watermark material. A watermark may be data embedded in material as a watermark. A watermark may be perceptible or hidden. Preferred embodiments of the present invention use perceptible watermarks.
It is also known to watermark an image by transforming the image from the spatial domain to a transform domain, e.g. to the wavelet domain and embed a watermark by changing the wavelet coefficients. The transform domain image with the watermark is then inverse transformed to the spatial domain. See for example "An image watermarking method based on the wavelet transform" by Hisashi Inoue, et al, IEEE, 0-7803-5467-2/99.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,139 (Girod et al) discloses the invisible watermarking of video material which is already compressed. Video which has been compressed by MPEG2 is entropy decoded and dequantised to obtain the DCT coefficients. A spread spectrum spatial domain watermark is transformed to the DCT domain and the transformed watermark added to the DCT coefficients of the transformed video. To maintain the bit rate of the compressed video even with the addition of the watermark, various steps are taken. Only non-zero coefficients are modified. Also the number of bits of an encoded watermarked coefficient is compared against the number of bits of the coefficient prior to watermarking (plus any extra number of spare bits saved in previous coding operations). A control controls selection of the output between the watermarked bitstream and the original unwatermarked bitstream. If an entropy encoded unwatermarked coefficient uses no bits and the watermarked entropy encoded coefficient uses n1 bits then a watermarked coefficient is output if n1<=n0+n3, where n3 is the number of spare bits available for use. The watermark can be detected in a video decoder but it is not possible to restore the watermarked video to the original video by reversing the watermarking algorithm.
WO 99/10837 (Digimarc) discloses a method of watermarking a video image in which the image is compressed using for example MPEG2 and the DCT coefficients are modified to embed a watermark. The bit rate is preserved by maintaining a count that represents the amount the bit rate has been increased by the modifications to the coefficients less the amount the bit rate has been decreased by the modifications. If the cumulative change exceeds a positive or negative limit, then no further changes are made. The watermark can be detected in a video decoder but it is not possible to restore the watermarked video to the original video by reversing the watermarking algorithm.
Both U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,139 and WO 99/10837 require means which monitor the bit rate and which stops embedding of a watermark if a specified limit is reached. For U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,139 and WO 99/10837 that results in a random distribution of the watermark in an image. These proposals are aimed at irreversible imperceptible watermarks which embed data representing a message in the image.
It is known to compression encode material especially images. Also, if a modification is made to the material which adds data to the material, then the compression is usually less efficient. It is desirable to process compressed material, so as to produce modification of the material which is perceptible in the decompressed material, e.g. a visible modification in an image, with a minimal change to the number of bits representing the compressed material. Preferably it is desirable to modify material in a way which is easily applicable to both material which is already compressed and material which is to be compressed.


Crosslinked gelling agents employed during subterranean operations use electronically-modified boronic acids to enable higher operating temperatures while allowing reduced gelling agent loadings; the boronic acids having Formula I:

The present invention relates to crosslinked gelling agents employed in treatment fluids during subterranean operations, and more particularly, to the use of oligomeric and polymeric electronically-modified boronic acids to provide crosslinked gelling agents that are stable at high operating temperatures while allowing reduced gelling agent loadings.
In treatment fluids that use boron-based reagents to produce crosslinked gelling agents, such as crosslinked guar, there is typically interplay between the nature of boron crosslinking, the pH, and temperature. This relationship is indicated, for example, in FIG. 1, for the prototypical boron crosslinker boric acid. The chemical reaction between crosslinked boron and non-crosslinked boron is considered to be reversible with a fairly low barrier to crosslinking and de-crosslinking. At room temperature and at reasonably high pH (around 8.5) crosslinking is favored. As temperature increases, the barrier of activation energy between the crosslinked and non-crosslinked material becomes insignificant relative to the energy of the system, and the gel de-crosslinks to form linear polymers that may or may not have boron bound intramolecularly. This can be demonstrated experimentally, as shown in FIG. 2, by plotting viscosity as a function of temperature. Notably, when this exemplary boronic acid-acrylamide-based gel de-crosslinks in run 1 the temperature of de-crosslinking is 180° F. Subjecting the same material to the same temperature ramp a second time (run 2) causes the gel to de-crosslink at a lower temperature 160° F., indicating possible irreversible chemical alteration of the polymer system during run 1.
These linear polymers are not desirable in fracturing operations where the use of such crosslinked gels in treatment fluids is common. Hydraulic fracturing techniques are widely used to enhance oil and gas production from subterranean formations. During hydraulic fracturing, a fluid is injected into a well bore under high pressure. Once the natural reservoir fracture gradient is exceeded, the fracturing fluid initiates a fracture in the formation that generally continues to grow during pumping. The operation generally requires the fluid to reach a maximum viscosity as it enters the fracture affecting both the fracture length and width. Among the issues that arise with linear polymers is that they do not have the necessary viscosity for proper proppant transport at elevated temperature.
While boron-based crosslinking agents may be effective for many types of fracturing fluids, a certain amount of the gelling agent is needed to achieve the viscosity necessary to fracture the formation and support transport of the proppant. However, it is generally desirable to use as little gelling agent as possible in a fracturing fluid so that the overall cost of the fracturing job is lower and less polymer residue remains in the fracture and the proppant pack after breaking down the crosslinked gel. In this regard, use of less gelling agent can help minimize formation damage.
Recent advances in reducing the amounts of gelling agents include the use of boronate-functionalized polymers that may exhibit similar energies of activation (Ea) as the boric acid prototype. However, boronate-functionalized polymers typically dissociate into independent linear polymers at lower temperatures. For example, a typical borate gel may be held stable for several hours at 250° F. and a pH of about 11, while boronate-functionalized polymers may dissociate into linear polymers at temperatures of only about 180° F., well below a desirable operational temperature for certain applications.
Other issues that may arise with boron-based crosslinking systems relates to compatibility with calcium ion. There has been an increasing demand to use CaCl2 brines in offshore operations. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that CaCl2 brines are less expensive than other brines. However, current boron crosslinking processes are not compatible with such brines. In particular, the elevated pH employed in boron crosslinking can cause calcium precipitation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Oligomeric and polymeric electronically-modified boronic acids and methods of using the same

Abstract: wherein X1 and X2 are independently selected from the group consisting of O, CH2, CH2O, OCH2, bond, and null and wherein either X1 or X2 is null, Y1 and Y2 are independently N or C, Ar is phenyl; m is 1 or 2, n is 0, 1, 2, or 3, and each Z is independently an electron withdrawing group selected from nitro, ester, carboxylic acids, carboxylates, halogen, cyano, amide, acyl, alkylsulfonyl, arylsulfonyl, heteroarylsulfonyl, CF3, a quaternary ammonium salt, polyhaloalkyl, and carbamate, with the proviso that when n is 0, the link L between M1 and Ar includes an electron withdrawing group attached to Ar, and introducing the treatment fluids into subterranean formations.


A device that delivers a powdery medicine for a nasal cavity includes positioning guides that cause a capsule to slide as far as a predetermined position and are provided on the side of cutters to make holes on both ends of the capsule provided between the connection port on the side of a nozzle that sprays the powdery medicine into the nasal cavity. The device further includes a connection port on the side of a pump that supplies spray air to the nozzle in order to make the size of the holes made on both ends of the capsule constant, wherein a distance between the connection ports is made shorter than a distance between blade tips of the cutters.

An existent device to deliver a powdery medicine into a nasal cavity of a patient suffering from asthma or nasal allergy (refer, for example, to JP-A No. 46-4094) is adapted for detaching a cap-type nozzle fitted detachably to the top end of a cylindrical member formed with an air discharge port of a pump that discharges air by squeezing a rubber ball with a hand, attaching a capsule filled with a powdery medicine to the inside of the cylindrical member, fitting the nozzle again to the top end of the cylindrical member, then pressing the pump formed as the rubber ball so as to squeeze in the direction of the nozzle, protruding the pointed top end of a needle contained in the pump passing through the capsule loaded in the cylindrical member from the air discharge port of the pump to a position reaching the nozzle, thereby making holes on both ends of the capsule and supplying air driven out of the air discharge port of the pump flowing through the inside of the capsule to the nozzle and spraying the powdery medicine in the capsule from the nozzle.
However, in the device described above, the operation is extremely troublesome since this requires to detach or attach the cap-type nozzle from or to the top end of the cylindrical member upon loading the capsule in the cylindrical body or take-out a used capsule from the inside of the cylindrical member, or press the pump so as to squeeze in the direction of the nozzle to protrude the needle contained in the pump after loading the capsule in the cylindrical member in order to make the holes on both ends of the capsule.
Further, after pressing the pump so as to be squeezed in the direction of the nozzle to make the holes on both ends of the capsule loaded in the cylindrical member by the needle protruded from the inside of the pump, when the pressed state of the pump is released for retracting the protruded needle into the pump, the powdery medicine in the capsule is sucked from the holes made to the end of the capsule on the side of the pump by the suction force generated upon recovery of the pump into an original shape and may possibly be sucked from the air discharge port of the pump into the inside of the pump.
Further, upon making the holes on both ends of the capsule, holes are not sometimes made at the ends of the capsule on the side of the nozzle depending on the case since the pump is not pressed to a position where the pointed top of the needle contained in the pump penetrates the capsule and, when the pump is actuated in this state, it may possibly cause a worry not only that the powdery medicine in the capsule is not sprayed from the nozzle, but also a portion of the powdery medicine may possibly be sucked into the pump.
Further, upon sticking the needle for making holes from one to the other side of the capsule loaded in the cylindrical member so as to be sandwiched between the air discharge port of the pump and the nozzle to make holes, since the end of the capsule is concaved inward by the pressing force of the needle to form a gap between the hole made at the end and the air discharge port of the pump or between the hole and the nozzle, the powdery medicine in the capsule can not be sprayed efficiently from the nozzle but a portion of the powdery medicine scatters into the cylindrical member to possibly cause a worry that the powdery medicine can not be sprayed by a necessary amount into the nasal cavity.
Further, when the needle is stuck to make holes on both ends of the capsule, since residues of the capsule broken through by the needle protrude at the periphery of the hole to hinder the flow of air for supplying the powdery medicine in the capsule to the nozzle, it may possibly cause a disadvantage that the entire amount of the powdery medicine in the capsule can not be discharged but remains in the capsule.
Then, the present applicant has developed a device capable of simply loading a capsule by one-touch operation and, at the same time, making holes on both ends of the capsule upon loading automatically, as well as with no worry of concaving the both ends of the capsule inward or scattering the powdery medicine in the capsule upon making the holes and also with no worry that residues of the capsule protrude to the periphery of the hole which may possibly hinder the air flow (refer, for example, to JP-A No. 2003-154006).
In the device, a capsule having holes formed on both ends in communication with a connection port on the side of the nozzle for spraying a powdery medicine into a nasal cavity and a connection port on the side of a pump for supplying atomized air to the nozzle is loaded between both of the connection ports and sprayed air is supplied from the pump through the inside of the capsule to the nozzle, thereby spraying the powdery medicine filled in the capsule, in which a capsule holder for loading the capsule between the connection port on the side of the nozzle and the connection port on the side of the pump is placed moveably forward and backward relative to a capsule mounting position, and both ends of the capsules held to the capsule holder and moving forward to a loading position between the connection port on the side of the pump and the connection port on the side of the nozzle are automatically cut off partially by a cutter thereby making holes on both ends thereof. Accordingly, it is possible to rapidly conduct the loading operation of capsule, the hole making operation of capsule, and the ejecting operation of the spent capsule in one-touch procedure.
Further, when both ends of the capsule are cut off by a cutter to make the holes, since residues that hinder the air flow are not formed at the periphery of the holes, the powdery medicine in the capsule can be sprayed thoroughly. Further, since both ends of the capsule are not concaved inward, there is less worry that gaps are formed between both ends thereof, and the connection port on the side of the nozzle and the connection port on the side of the pump to scatter the powdery medicine in the capsule through the gaps.
However, in a test for practical use of the device described above, it has been found that the diameter of the holes opened on both ends of the capsule varies and, in a case where the hole diameter is smaller than the open diameter of the connection port on the side of the nozzle or the connection port on the side of the pump, it is difficult to thoroughly discharge the powdery medicine in the capsule by the operation of the pump only for once. Further, in a case where the diameter of the holes made on both ends of the capsule is made substantially identical with or larger than the open diameter of the connection port on the side of the nozzle and the connection port on the side of the pump, while the powdery medicine in the capsule can be discharged most effectively, it has been found, in this case, that when a great amount of spray air is supplied instantaneously into the capsule by strongly gripping and squeezing the entire pump, the spray air leaks partially from the both ends of the capsule that abuts against the connection port on the side of the nozzle and the connection port on the side of the pump to scatter the powdery medicine in the capsule.

Device to deliver a powdery medicine into nasal cavity

Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories, Ltd.


A carrier for a front end module of a vehicle includes two side panels; a lower panel arranged across lower ends of the two side panels; two head lamp mounting parts formed outwardly at both sides of an upper end portion of the side panels; and an upper panel formed in a structure of downwardly opened channel type so that both ends thereof are inserted in and removably coupled to a coupling part formed on an upper end of the side panels. A cooling module mounting part is formed together with the side panels and the lower panel. Further, a reinforcing panel is installed along a lower end portion of a downwardly opened portion of the upper panel to reinforce rigidity of the upper panel.

Generally, in a vehicle having an engine loaded in a front area thereof, a cooling module such as a radiator or a condenser for heat exchanging cooling water or coolant of an air conditioner is installed in a front area of a vehicle body; a front end module is employed to parts such as cooling modules, head lamps, a bumper and so on to reduce man hour and number of parts. The carrier for a front end module includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a carrier 10, a condenser 42 mounted on the center of the carrier, radiator 44 and a cooling module 40, having a fan shroud assembly 46, head lamps 50 installed at both sides of an upper portion of the carrier 10, and a bumper (not shown) installed by a bumper beam 60 at a front side of a lower end portion of the carrier 10.
The carrier 10, as shown in FIG. 2, is provided with an upper panel 20, a lower panel 22 arranged parallel to the upper panel 20 and two side panels 24 for connecting both sides of central portions of the upper and lower panels respectively so as to form a generally rectangular part for mounting the cooling module at a central portion of the carrier 10. Further, a pair of head lamp mounting part 32 is formed for mounting the head lamps 50 respectively across from both end portions of the upper panel 20 to the both side panels 24 and bumper mounting parts 34 are formed for mounting the bumper beam 60 at a portion of each side panel 24 which is located at a lower side of the head lamp mounting part 32, respectively.
In addition, a center stay 26 for connecting central portions of the upper and lower panels 20 and 22 may be applied for the purpose of reinforcing the carrier 10 constructed as above mentioned while installing a hood latch assembly 70.
Recently used is a hybrid carrier constructed with metal and synthetic resins together, which can be relatively easily manufactured in an integral structure as shown in FIG. 2 by arranging into a mold an upper metal member 20a for reinforcing an upper end of the hybrid carrier, a lower metal member 22a for reinforcing a lower end of the hybrid carrier and two side metal members 34a for reinforcing both sides of the hybrid carrier, each shown in. FIG. 3, and performing insert injection molding with synthetic resins.
There are, however, following problems in the above mentioned conventional carrier.
Since the upper metal member 20a, as shown in FIG. 4, generally has a structure of a rearwardly opened channel type, there is a problem that rigidity is insufficient for supporting the cooling module 40.
In addition, poor appearance may be generated as appearance or size of the molded product does not fit due to a complicated shape and the mold should be modified if the appearance or the size of the molded product does not fit.
In addition, if the center stay 26 for assembling the hood latch assembly 70 is applied, there is a problem that the center stay 26 blocks a central portion of the cooling module mounting part 30 and thus it leads to a poor breathablity of the cooling module 40.
There is another problem that the hybrid carrier is formed in an integral structure by the insert injection molding and thus it is inconvenient to construct or maintain the cooling module 40 mounted in the cooling module mounting part 30 since space of an engine room is small.


Various methods for providing data entry content to a remote environment are provided. One example method includes receiving, at a device, a data entry field selection message notifying that a selection of a data entry field has occurred at a remote device, modifying a focus of a user interface of the device to the data entry field, retrieving current data content of the data entry field, and causing an indication to be provided to the remote device informing the remote device of the current data content of the data entry field to enable the remote device to display the current data content of the data entry field in a data entry input interface. Similar and related example methods and example apparatuses are also provided.

Mobile computing devices continue to evolve such that the mobile devices are capable of supporting new and powerful applications. In some instances a handheld mobile device may include sufficient processing power, network connectivity, and memory storage perform a given application, but the small form factor of a handheld mobile device may limit the usability of the application, for example, due to a small user interface and screen.
As such, in situations where the user may be stationary, relative to a remote device having a larger user interface (e.g., a computer terminal, an in-vehicle head unit, a table or pad device), the user may wish to use the user interface of the remote device, rather than the user interface of the handheld device. For example, considering a global positioning application, a user may wish to have a handheld mobile computing device connect with a device having a larger display in a vehicle for displaying maps and other location information on the remote device. Similarly, a mobile computing device operating as a media player may also connect with another device to provide the user with an interface to the mobile computing device via display located in the traditional location for a radio in a vehicle.
To interface with and support a remote user interface environment, the handheld device may provide video and audio information to permit the reproduction of the user interface of the handheld device on the remote device. The remote device should be capable of fully interfacing with the handheld device to receive user input and provide output to the user, and the handheld device should support the remote device's ability to do so.

Method and apparatus for providing data entry content to a remote environment


A rotary plate is provided for fiber sliver depositing devices, in particular for draw frames and carding machines. The plate includes a spatially curved sliver channel made of a pipe element with two arcs of circles verging directly into each other. The sliver channel of the rotary plate is preferably made of special friction reducing steel. The plate may also include a cover attached to the bottom thereof also formed of the friction reducing material.

The instant invention relates to a rotary plate for fiber sliver depositing devices with a sliver channel.
DE-PS 15 10 310 describes a rotary plate for depositing fiber slivers in spinning cans with a channel guiding the fiber sliver from an inlet element letting out at the top and in the rotational axis of the rotary plate via a curve in the form of an arc to an outlet element which is tangential to the rotary plate and letting out approximately at its circumference. Between its inlet element and its outlet element, the channel is provided with a straight and radially extending intermediate piece. It has been shown that such channels lead to poor and uneven fiber sliver deposit, especially in modern, very rapidly running machines equipped with such rotary plates.
DE-PS 11 15 623 further discloses that the channel is made up telescopically of at least two pipe bends in the form of arcs of circle. The course of the channel can be adapted to the different can diameters by means of the telescope-like construction of the pipe bends. The two pipe bends are provided with straight ends at their connection point. Aside from the disadvantage of a channel element extending in a straight line as in the above-mentioned DE PS 15 10 310, this device has the additional disadvantage that the fiber sliver must be led over the edge of a pipe bend and goes through a changed channel profile. Especially with rapid machines, such a design is not very conducive to great precision in the deposit of the fiber sliver and for careful handling of the fiber sliver. Deposits may form at the edge of the device and become detached from time to time so that they lead to irregularities in the fiber sliver.

Rotary plate with continuously curved sliver depositing channel

Rieter Ingolstadt Spinnereimaschinenbau AG


A retainer (10) for use with a card (200), comprises an elongated housing (12) defining a pair of towers (16) at two opposite ends. A rotatable member (22) positioned on the top portion (15) of the tower (16), includes a horizontal locking section (24) which can be horizontally engaged within a notch (202) of the card for latching the card (200) in position, and a vertical pivotal section (26) which can be rotated within the top portion (15) of the tower (16) and retain the rotatable member (22) in position with regard to the housing (12).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to retaining means for holding a card in position thereof, and particularly to a retainer with horizontally rotative locking device for latching or unlatching the card therein.
2. The Related Art
The locking device for use with a card-like board in a card edge connector is generally of an ejector which is rotatably moved with regard to the housing of the connector wherein the ejector includes a locking protrusion at the top for latching the card-like board in the connector housing when such ejector is in a vertical locking position or for unlatching the card-like board from the connector housing when such ejector is in an slanted open position. This conventional card edge connectors and their retaining devices can be referred to U.S. Pat Nos. 5,429,523, 5,443,394, 5,445,531, 5,470,242, and 5,558,528. One disadvantage of this type retention mechanism of the card edge connector has been found that the rotation direction of the retainer/ejector is actuated generally in the same direction of the withdrawal direction of the card, i.e., the upward direction with regard to the centrally lengthwise axis of the housing. From another viewpoint, the insertion/withdrawal path of the card and the latching/unlatching rotation path of ejector are substantially on the same plane which is a vertical plane along the lengthwise axis of the housing. Thus, under a great vibration or an unintentional impact, the retainer/ejector may be pushed from its original vertical locking position to its slanted open position by the card, and loses its originally designed locking function.
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a retainer which may cooperate with a card edge connector for holding therein a card wherein the retention device can reliably and efficiently retain the card without the possibility of inadvertent disengagement of the card from the retainer.


Apparatus, methods, and other embodiments associated with evaluating global deformations and local deformations in a prostate are described. One example apparatus includes logics that evaluate global and local deformations in a prostate and register a pre-External Beam Radiation Treatment (EBRT) three dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance (MR) image with a post-EBRT 3D MR image. An image acquisition logic acquires a pre-EBRT image and a post EBRT image of an organ, item, or volume. An image texture information logic extracts image texture information from the pre-EBRT and post-EBRT images. A finite element model (FEM) transformation logic constructs a FEM of the volume imaged in the pre-EBRT image, deforms the FEM, deforms the pre-EBRT image as a function of the deformed FEM, and maximizes the image texture similarity between the deformed pre-EBRT image and the post-EBRT image. A registration logic registers the pre-EBRT image with the post-EBRT image based on the transformation.

External Beam Radiation Treatment (EBRT) for cancer involves irradiating an organ, tissue, or other region with ionizing radiation. EBRT changes the organ, tissue, or region and these changes may appear in magnetic resonance (MR) imagery of the treated organ, tissue, or region. Cancer treatment may be evaluated by detecting changes at the voxel-level in MR images of the treated organ, tissue, or region. Changes in pre-EBRT and post-EBRT images may be correlated with recurrence and complete or partial response to the EBRT. Quantifying the changes on a voxel-level involves spatially aligning, or registering, the pre-EBRT and post-EBRT MR images. However, little is known about specific changes to treated material as a function of EBRT. In one example, following EBRT, there is significant shrinkage and compression, as well as non-linear deformation, of the prostrate. Other treated regions may show other deformations. Registering pre-EBRT and post-EBRT MR images may be challenging due to the non-linear deformation, shrinkage or other changes, which may require using an elastic registration technique to achieve desired registration. Conventional registration methods employ simple linear registrations, including rigid registration, which may produce sub-optimal results. For example, inaccuracies in conventional registration of pre-EBRT and post-EBRT images may result in sub-optimal assessment of the changes to the treated area caused by the EBRT.
A Finite Element Model (FEM) in the context of EBRT and MR is a model that describes tissue properties including compressibility and elasticity. FEMs have traditionally been parameterized by a collection of finite elements such as tetrahedrons or hexahedrons connected at nodes. The material properties of elements define how a force at one node affects other nodes. FEMs have been employed to determine how a set of external forces displace tissue. Conventionally, FEMs have been employed to capture the motion of the various tissues on computed tomography (CT) imagery of cancer patients. Capturing this motion facilitates exploring different material properties for benign tissue, tumors, and benign afflictions such as prostatic hyperplasia. Chi et al., A material sensitivity study on the accuracy of deformable organ registration using linear biomechanical models, Med. Phys., vol. 33, no. 2, pp 421-433, February 2006. Similarly, FEMs model bladder, prostate, and rectum movement on CT imagery, with the results compared to a cadaver. Boubaker et al., Finite element simulation of interactions between pelvic organs: Predictive model of the prostate motion in the context of radiotherapy, J. Biomech., vol. 42, pp. 1862-1868, 2009. Other conventional registration methods calculate a medial axis between the fixed and moving images, and displace the FEM nodes based on an alignment of the medial axes. Crouch et al., Automated finite-element analysis for deformable registration of prostate images, IEEE TMI, vol. 26, no. 10, pp. 1379-1391, October 2007. The displacements are used as boundary conditions, and the FEM is used to calculate the displacement of the entire gland.
Conventional methods employ the alignment of the femoral heads for an initial rigid registration, after which the displacements between nodes on the organ surface are used as boundary conditions. For example, Hensel et al. used a FEM to register MR imagery acquired with an endorectal coil to MR imagery acquired without the endorectal coil. Hensel et al., Development of multiorgan finite element-based prostate deformation model enabling registration of endorectal coil magnetic resonance imaging for radiotherapy planning, Int. J. of Rad. Onc. Bio. Phys., vol. 68, no. 5, pp. 1522-1528, 2007. Conventionally, MR image to MR image registration involved calculating nodes on the surface of the prostate. The nodes are used as boundary conditions for an FEM that calculates deformations and forces. Brock et al., Accuracy and sensitivity of finite element model-based deformable registration of the prostate, Med. Phys., vol. 35, no. 9, pp. 4019-4025, September 2008.
Conventional FEM-based registration frameworks align nodes of one surface onto the nodes of another surface, typically using the Iterative Closest Points (ICP) algorithm. However, conventional methods assume that the node correspondences can be accurately determined. Furthermore, conventional FEM-based registration methods require the surfaces to be aligned, with no consideration of the imaging information. Conventional FEMs tend to focus on how external forces affect the surfaces and assume that the gland is a volume-preserving entity. Conventional methods therefore have sub-optimal accuracy when assessing early EBRT effectiveness, and when determining if early intervention in case of incomplete disease response to the EBRT is required.

Image similarity-based finite element model registration


In coupling a control station transmitting a radio signal to a plurality of base stations each transmitting the radio signal to a terminal station by an optical fiber, and dependently connecting the plurality of base stations to the optical fiber, the control station includes a radio signal transmitter and an electrical-to-optical converter. Each of the base stations including an SOA-EAM comprises a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and an electro-absorption modulator (EAM), a down link radio signal amplifier, and a down link antenna, the SOA-EAM receiving an optical signal from the control station. The optical transmission system can prevent optical power from lowering even if the number of base stations increases and can facilitate adding a base station since an optical coupler is not used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical transmission system with a radio technique merged with an optical communication technique, using an optical fiber line between a control station which transmits a radio signal to a plurality of base stations and the base stations which transmit the radio signal to terminal stations. This application is a counterpart application of Japanese application Serial Number 186518/2002, filed Jun. 26, 2002, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the optical transmission system with the radio technique merged with the optical transmission technique, the following are well known:
Tsukamoto et al., "Current Activities and Future Trends in Radio-over-Fiber Network", Journal of IEICE (Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers), Vol. 80, No. 8, pp. 859–868, August 1997; and
Tarusawa et al., "Single Fiber Multi Terminal Optic Links for Mobile Radio Communication using Automatic Wavelength-Offset Control", Shingakugiho, RCS94-70, pp. 7–12, September 1994.
Nowadays, following the rapid spread of mobile communications, the introduction of a micro-cell system has progressed with a view of securing frequency band and making portable equipment small in size. According to the micro-cell system, a micro-cell zone having a small zone radius is provided so as to improve the utilization efficiency of radio frequency. To provide wideband service, many radio base stations are required. On the other hand, the radio frequency is moving to millimeter wave band so as to secure wideband frequency. However, it is difficult to realize long-distance signal transmission because of the high attenuation of signals in space. In these circumstances, a communication technique with radio waves merged with light, or photonics which exhibits advantages of both optical communication and radio communication has been considered.
As for the mobile communication system into which the micro-cell method has been gradually introduced, a method for transmitting signals using the optical fiber communication technique which is characterized by wide area coverage and wideband has been considered. An optical fiber connects a base station to a control station. A radio signal received by the base station is transmitted to the control station while the radio form of the signal is maintained. Control functions are collectively provided at the control station, whereas it suffices that the base station has only a function of converting a radio signal to an optical signal and a function of converting an optical signal to a radio signal. Therefore, a small-sized system can be provided at low cost.
Further, in order to improve optical fiber utilization efficiency while making use of the low transmission loss of the optical fiber, an optical fiber link method using one optical fiber for each of an up link and a down link and dependently connecting many base stations has been considered.
The configuration of the optical transmission system which employs a method for dependently connecting many base stations to an optical fiber connected to a control station will be described. In the optical transmission system for a down link, the control station consists of a radio signal transmitter and an electrical-to-optical converter (E/O converter). The E/O converter converts a radio signal with a frequency fd to an optical signal, and transmits the converted optical signal to the optical fiber. A plurality of (n) radio base stations are dependently connected to the optical fiber. Each radio base station consists of a photodiode (PD), a radio signal amplifier (RF-AMP), and an antenna.
The optical signal transmitted by the optical fiber is distributed by an optical coupler and input into the PD. The PD, which acts as an optical-to-electrical converter (O/E converter), converts the optical signal to a radio signal. The radio signal is amplified by the RF-AMP to have desired power and the resultant radio signal is output from the antenna to the air. The mobile terminal receives the radio signal thus output.
The optical coupler used herein is to distribute optical power to a plurality of base stations. If the coupling factor of the optical coupler is, for example, 0.1, the optical power distributed to branched base stations is 10% and the remaining 90% is output to the transmission optical fiber as it is. To make the optical power distributed to the respective base stations equal, the optical power distributed to each base station is set at (output from the control station×1/the number of base stations). As the number of base stations increases, the coupling factor lowers.
In addition, regardless of the number of base stations, the optical power distributed to the first base station is set at (output from the control statio×1/the number of base stations). The coupling factor of the optical coupler which distributes the optical power to the terminal base station and the base station just before the terminal base station is 0.5. Thus, the number of the necessary coupling factors of the optical couplers is (the number of base stations—1) between (1/the number of base stations) and 0.5. If the number of base stations increases, it is necessary to provide optical couplers having coupling factors fragmented according to the increased number of base stations.
It is assumed herein that, for example, ten base stations are dependent on the down link of the optical transmission system. If so, to deliver equal optical power to the respective base stations, the optical power delivered to each base station is set at one-tenth of the optical power output from the control station. Further, the PD-side coupling factor of each optical coupler is required to have coupling factor accuracy as shown in Table 1 below. To simplify calculation, it is assumed herein that there is no transmission fiber loss and no optical coupler coupling loss.
TABLE 1No.123456789Coup-0.1000.1110.1250.1430.1670.2010.2510.3350.500lingfactor
A plurality of base stations are thus dependently connected to one optical fiber using optical couplers. In this case, if the number of base stations increases, the optical power which can be delivered to each base station disadvantageously lowers and the coupling factor of each optical coupler is disadvantageously required to have higher accuracy. Further, if a base station connected to this down link optical fiber is added, all the base stations should change their optical couplers to those having newly designed coupling factors. Therefore, it is disadvantageously impossible to easily increase the number of base stations.

Optical transmission system of radio signal over optical fiber link


Four lever units are linked to the arrangement of connecting rods via a common bolt. Each lever unit drives one ram of the punch press. The rams are arranged in configuration of a square. This allows a much higher loading by off-center forces and the punch press can be designed for a given punch press output with considerably smaller dimensions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a single shaft punch press, including a machine frame, an eccentric shaft supported for rotation in the machine frame, a tool carrier guided for a rectilinear reciprocating movement in the machine frame, an arrangement of connecting rods having a plurality of connecting rod members drivingly mounted on the eccentric shaft, a lever means having a plurality of lever units, every lever unit having a first end and a second, opposite end, at which first end every lever unit is pivotally mounted to connecting rod members of the arrangement of connecting rods and at which second end every lever unit is pivotally supported at the machine frame, and every lever unit having a pivot member intermediate its first and second ends forming a further pivotal point, an arrangement of rams having a plurality of rams each having a first and a second, opposite end, which rams are pivotally mounted at their first end to a respective pivot member forming a further pivotal point of a respective lever unit, and at their second end to the tool carrier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The off-center loading of the tools and tool carriers at single shaft punch presses, specifically the loading of the upper tool in such punch presses, causes a variety of difficulties and drawbacks. In a given frame size or machine size, respectively, the allowable loading of the tools decreases considerably towards the edge areas of the tools and reaches in certain cases even the value zero. Off-center loadings of the tools in punch presses cause a high wear and an increased friction specifically at bearings, e.g. between rams and tool carrier and also between rams and driving linkage members pivotally mounted thereto. An increased wear occurs also at the guiding structures of the rams and of the tools and also in tools themselves. Furthermore, off-center loadings cause also cogging or canting, respectively, and also elastic deformations such as, for instance, a deflecting of elongated structural members of the punch press and accordingly inaccurate products are produced.


An organic light emitting diode (OLED) is capable of improving light efficiency per pixel unit by forming a cathode electrode to cover an anode electrode, thereby focusing light emitted from a luminescent layer per pixel unit. The OLED comprises: a second insulating film formed on a substrate including a TFT with source/drain electrodes formed on a first insulating film; a lower electrode formed on the second insulating film and connected to one of the source/drain electrodes; a third insulating film having an opening for exposing a portion of the lower electrode; a luminescent layer formed on the lower electrode inside the opening; a groove formed to surround the luminescent layer; and an upper electrode formed on the substrate including the groove so that the upper electrode surrounds the luminescent layer. The upper electrode functions as a reflection layer for reflecting total light while light emitted from the luminescent layer is being pulled out through the substrate.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an active matrix flat panel display and, more particularly, to an organic light emitting diode capable of improving luminance per pixel unit by forming a cathode electrode which surrounds an organic luminescent layer, thereby focusing light per pixel unit.
2. Related Art
Generally, light efficiency of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) is largely divided into internal light efficiency and external light efficiency. The internal light efficiency out of the light efficiency depends on the photoelectric conversion efficiency of an organic luminescent layer, while the external light efficiency is characterized as light coupling efficiency and depends on the index of refraction of each layer making up the OLED. An OLED needs to improve the characteristics of a display device, including luminance, life cycle, etc. as it has a lower external light efficiency compared with a flat panel display, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display panel (PDP), or a field emission display (FED).
Certain problems exist in the currently used OLED. Most importantly, light emission is not satisfactory due to the escape of reflected light from the structure of the OLED. As a result, the overall luminance of the OLED is reduced, and this provides a less efficient device. Another problem with current OLED device is that its life is shortened due to the necessity to increase the driving voltage applied to it in order to compensate for the aforementioned reduced luminance.

Luminance improved organic electroluminescent device


A system, apparatus, and method are disclosed to provide an enhanced search index for searchable content by limited capability devices, such as mobile phones. A URL analyzer determines clusters of mobile web page URLs and corresponding tokens. A landing page identifier evaluates cluster URLs and the tokens to identify landing page URLs for mobile web pages likely to be relevant to an associated search term. A mapper associates the landing page URLs with related domain hosts that include conventional web pages generally not accessible to limited capability devices. A category tagger associates the landing page URLs with categories of conventional web pages that share a content topic. The landing page URLs, and corresponding tokens, domain host information, and categories are added to the search index. A submitted search term is evaluated relative to the tokens, domain host information, and categories to determine relevant mobile web landing pages as search results.

This invention relates generally to network communications, and more particularly but not exclusively, to determining search results of web sites relevant to use by limited capability mobile devices.
Many mobile computing devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular phones, and the like, may be employed to communicate voice messages, emails, text messages, and so forth. These limited capability mobile computing devices are becoming increasingly common, and many people are also using these mobile devices to search for information over the Internet. It is not uncommon to see a person on a bus, train, or even a boat, using their mobile device to search for merchants, restaurants, music, or the like. However, accessing such information typically requires conventional web pages and/or conventional web services to be reduced, reformatted, or otherwise specially configured for display or other use by limited capability mobile devices. This mobile web data may be stored separately from, or dynamically generated from, conventional web pages and/or web services.
Conventional web pages, services and other data are generally designed to be accessed through a larger viewing area with a conventional browser application running on a general purpose computing device. For example, a hypertext markup language (HTML) web page can be displayed with a Mozilla® Firefox® browser running on a personal computer. There is often extensive anchor text and metadata associated with conventional web data, which has been developed over the years to help identify and organize conventional web data. Web crawlers and other analysis tools have also been used to determine links and other relationships between web pages, web sites, web service, and other conventional web data. An individual web site may further organize conventional web data into numerous hosts, each of which is associated with a particular topic, such news, sports, travel, entertainment, and the like. Host trust information and other meta information is typically available for various conventional web hosts. This information provides some rating of a given domain and has been collected over a period of time, and from a vast source of conventional web data, and is hence considered to be reliable information.
However, mobile web pages and other mobile web data typically have less metadata, less content, less overall quantity, and less accessibility. A consequence is that mobile web data is generally not as well interrelated and not as well organized. For example, mobile web data may be organized with simple paths of a single domain rather than being organized with hosts. In addition, the formatting and structure of mobile web data is generally incompatible with general purpose browsers, and conventional web data is generally incompatible with mobile device browsers. For example, many mobile devices use a wireless application protocol (WAP) and display wireless markup language (WML) web pages that are not compatible with conventional browsers that operate on a PC. Worse yet, naming conventions may be inconsistent between mobile web sites, mobile web pages, mobile web services, and other mobile web data. With these limitations, a mobile device user may be unable to readily search for and locate information that is accessible with only a limited capability mobile device. Accordingly, there is a need in the industry to provide mobile device users with an improved mechanism for searching and locating web content with their mobile device.
However, simply duplicating the data structures, organizations, and tools used for conventional web data will not necessarily work for mobile web data configured for limited capability mobile devices. Moreover, duplicating a conventional web data system is inefficient, since the host trust information and other aspects of the conventional web data system already exist, but are not necessarily associated with mobile web data. Even if a conventional web data system were duplicated for mobile web data, it would not operate efficiently, since the mobile web data is generally not interlinked well. Therefore, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.

Landing page identification, tagging and host matching for a mobile application


A preassembled, collapsible tree stand hunting blind which folds into a compact package, utilizing coilable steel frame members which may be collapsed. The enclosure is adapted to be attached to the trunk of the tree and to an associated platform, such as a hunter's tree stand. The enclosure is provided with camouflage elements to render the user relatively invisible to game in the surrounding environment.

Hunters frequently utilize elevated seats or platforms, known as tree stands, as a vantage point from which to observe and to hunt wild game. Such platforms provide a suitable temporary observation station in which the hunter may be comfortably concealed from his surrounding environment. Because a hunter may occupy a tree stand for a long period of time in hard-to-access locations, and because of the patience required for a successful hunt of many species of game, it is preferable that tree stands be comfortable, roomy, well camouflaged and portable.
Tree stands have traditionally incorporated a number of collapsible features enabling them to be carried in a relatively compact package, yet quickly and easily erected to form a suitable enclosure and blind. A typical early effort found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,696, issued to Jones, features a pair of foldable grid work elements supported by a frame to which a camouflage material may be attached. This device, however, required a substantial number of assembly and disassembly steps, and even when folded, the Jones hunting stand is only as small as the smallest of the platform elements from which the unit was comprised. Similar limitations are present in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,982, issued to Kenji. This tent-like tree-mounted hunting blind requires a complex collection of articulated components, and though collapsible, presents a collapsed volume at least as large as one of the several seating plates which form the base of the unit.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,512, Bean discloses a foldable hunting blind for tree-mounted use incorporating, like the prior art, a complex collection of frame elements which accordingly dictates equally complex assembly.
A better effort at solving the problem of the volume of the folded tree stand was made by Plinta, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,849, which utilizes a plurality of hoops to provide shape and rigidity to what is essentially a cylindrical blind, which may be collapsed, but only into a package as small as the circumference of the hoop-like frame elements.
These and other structures all suffer from the limitations that assembly and disassembly is either too complex or the resulting folded blind occupies too large a volume to be conveniently packed into the hunting area from a remote location. Likewise, most of the prior art structures are excessively heavy and expensive.


The invention relates to a method and apparatus for imaging and documenting fingerprints. A fluorescent dye brought in intimate proximity with the lipid residues of a latent fingerprint is caused to fluoresce on exposure to light energy. The resulting fluorescing image may be recorded photographically.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the detection and documentation of latent fingerprints. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for chemically imaging latent fingerprints and documenting the disclosed fingerprint images using conventional or electronic photographic techniques.
2. Background of the Invention
A fingerprint is perhaps the most powerful and valuable evidence capable of linking a suspect to the crime scene. Fingerprints which are found on surfaces can be generally classified into three types: visible, impression and latent fingerprints. Of these, visible fingerprints can be analyzed and documented by photographing them directly, while impression fingerprints can usually be photographed using special lighting techniques. Latent fingerprints, however, are difficult to detect and prior to documentation and analysis must first be made visible, that is, they must be xe2x80x9cimagedxe2x80x9d.
There are three general classes of techniques for making latent fingerprints visible: physical, chemical and instrumental techniques. This application is concerned primarily with chemical techniques for imaging and documenting fingerprints from the residues which form the latent fingerprint itself. These residues comprise a variety of substances from the body which are exuded through the skin of the fingertips or which are produced in other locations on the body and transferred to the fingers through contact with those areas.
The primary component of a fingerprint is ordinary perspiration. This mostly contains water which evaporates readily from a fingerprint and leaves a residue of various chemicals. The residue contains both inorganic and organic materials some of which can remain detectable on a surface long after the water component of the perspiration has evaporated. These chemicals include water soluble amino acids, peptides, salts, glucose, lactic acid, ammonia, riboflavin, and water insoluble oils and other sebaceous secretions (generally referred to as lipids). For the purposes of this application, the term xe2x80x9cfingerprintxe2x80x9d is used to describe both the chemical residue left when a person touches an object, or the image formed by the residue.
From the time the detection and use of fingerprints as a forensic tool began in the nineteenth century a variety of chemical methods have been developed which utilize the various substances contained in the residues of a latent fingerprint for creating an observable image. For example, silver nitrate was found to react with the salt in a latent print which, through exposure to an actinating light source, forms a visible fingerprint image. However, exposure to moisture can readily remove salts from a latent fingerprint making the print undetectable by this method.
In the ninhydrin technique the amino acids present in a latent fingerprint are reacted with triketohydrinden hydrate to create a visible purple-blue fingerprint image. The ninhydrin technique takes advantage of the reaction of the long-lasting and environmentally durable amino acids which may be present in a fingerprint. However, it is well known that not all fingerprints contain amino acids and consequently, this technique will not disclose all latent prints which may be present on a surface.
The lipids in a fingerprint are relatively durable and long-lasting when exposed to the environment. Lipids do not deteriorate as readily as salts through exposure to moisture and, unlike amino acids, lipids are always present in a fingerprint. Advantages to using lipids in the fingerprint as a basis for detection are well recognized and several methods have been developed as a result.
The method widely known as xe2x80x9cdusting for printsxe2x80x9d involves depositing a colored powder on a surface suspected of bearing latent prints. The powder adheres to lipid residue on a surface and the loose excess powder is delicately brushed off in a tedious and labor intensive process, thereby disclosing any latent fingerprints. The disclosed prints may then be physically xe2x80x9cliftedxe2x80x9d from the surface with adhesive tape and preserved on a piece of card stock.
In another method iodine crystals are warmed causing the sublimation of the crystals and the gas thus produced is blown or wafted over the surface being examined for latent prints. Iodine gas reacts with the lipids, causing the latent print to become visible. The fingerprint image produced by this method is evanescent and will fade, eventually vanishing over time. Photographic records of the freshly disclosed prints may be made, or chemical fixatives can be applied to halt the deterioration of the disclosed print. Iodine is a strong oxidizing agent and some forensic investigators may avoid its use as it causes rapid destructive rusting of metal.
Recent developmental work in the field of fingerprint detection has yielded new detection methods including various fluorogenic visualization and cyanoacrylate (C/A) fuming techniques.
In the fluorogenic visualization of amino acids, the latent image is treated with one or more chemical reagents which react with and covalently bond with compounds in the print to form a fluorescent chemical product. The image of the latent print is then viewed or photographed with the aid of an optical filter and under illumination of light of appropriate wavelength to cause excitation and fluorescence of the image. The enhanced detectability of latent images by application of fluorogenic rather than color-development techniques has stimulated research resulting in the development of a number of useful reagents for amino-acid fingerprint detection. Among these are ninhydryn, 5-methoxyninhydryn, 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan (NBD)-chloride, 1-8 diazafluorene-9-one (DFO), aminoninhydryns and 5-thioninhydryns.
Luminescent dyes are also used to enhance fingerprints developed for use in conjunction with C/A fuming techniques. Many dyes, such as Rhodamine 6G, Ardrox or Basic Yellow 40 are readily available and routinely used either to introduce contrast or to increase detection sensitivity in these techniques. Europium chelates have also been explored for this purpose.
Recently, a lipid-specific lanthanide-based method for latent fingerprint detection has been proposed. Although this method offers some promise for the detection of latent lipid images, its practical implementation is subject to a number of problems and drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that the multi-step multi-reaction lanthanide chemistry used in the technique is complex. Lanthanide ions have very poor energy absorption and hence are not efficiently excited by energy sources. In order to enhance fluorescence the lanthanide ions are chelated with organic ligands which exhibit good energy absorption properties and are able to transfer their excitation energy to the lanthanide via resonant energy transfer. The application of this technique to the detection of latent lipid images is even further complicated in that it requires the lanthanide ion to be reacted with a conjugating ligand (non-luminescent) to provide some specificity toward lipids and further reaction with a sensitizing ligand to generate lanthanide luminescence through energy transfer.
Another drawback of the lanthanide-based method is that it is subject to high background fluorescence which reduces contrast and detection sensitivity of the process. The source of the high fluorescence background in the lanthanide-based method is two-fold. First, the method requires excitation via ultraviolet (UV) illumination and many surfaces on which fingerprints are located, for example, on biological surfaces (leaves, wood, etc.), plastic, paper, glass, and a host of other materials exhibit some degree of background fluorescence when excited by energy in the UV and short-wavelength visible spectrum range. Second, the sensitizing ligand required to generate lanthanide luminescence itself causes non-specific background fluorescence. The long luminescence lifetime of lanthanide chelates (hundreds of microseconds to milliseconds in duration) permits, in principle, the reduction of background luminescence through time-resolved detection techniques. The time-resolved techniques require pulsed illumination (e.g., a pulsed argon ion laser) with a delay-gated detection device. It will be well understood that these detection techniques introduce additional complexity and expense to forensic work.
The lanthanide-based method is even further restricted in its use according to the age of the print being detected. It appears that the lanthanide method is only suitable for use on prints which are quite fresh and works poorly, if at all, on older fingerprints.
The limitations and shortcomings of the various known techniques coupled with the great potential in using the lipid residues present in a latent fingerprint for forensic analysis have created a pressing need for development of better detection methods. Ideally, a detection method should be capable of generating a lipid-specific fluorescent image with low background fluorescence and a high contrast image. The technique should provide a high detection sensitivity, use a simple one-step chemical process, and create images amenable to recording with inexpensive, largely conventional cameras and optical equipment and simple, low-power illumination sources. Furthermore, it is advantageous for the method to generate and capture images in the presence of full ambient illumination on site whether the light is natural sunlight, incandescent, fluorescent, or from another light source.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for the detection of latent lipid images such as those formed by fingerprints.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for the detection of latent lipid images using a dye which fluoresces on exposure to an appropriate light source when the dye is in contact with a lipid, but in the absence of contact with a lipid the dye fluoresces little or not at all.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method for the detection of latent lipid images using a dye which does not require chemical reaction with, or covalent bonding with the lipid in order for detection of the lipid to occur.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for detection of latent lipid images.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of taking and recording distinctive patterns and markings of the skin, including fingerprints, footprints and handprints for identification purposes.
Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved through the method of applying a dye to a surface having a latent pattern formed of lipid material. The dye is characterized as having an affinity for lipids and for fluorescing when in contact with a lipid and exposed to an appropriate energy source, thereby forming a fluorescing image of the latent lipid pattern. Viewing of the fluorescing image may be accomplished using an optical filter appropriate for detecting the wavelength of the fluoresced light. The revealed image may also be observed, recorded and preserved by any conventional film or digital camera or other imaging means with the use of film, filters or conventional optical equipment appropriate for recording the particular wavelength light which is fluoresced by the image.
The dyes having utility in the invention are dyes which exhibit sensitivity to the environment in which they are present, that is, the dyes are capable of fluorescence when in contact with lipids, but possess little or no ability to fluoresce when in a non-lipid environment such as water or polar solvents. The dyes having particular utility in the invention are dyes in the styryl family of dyes.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more steps to the others, and the apparatus possessing the features, properties, and relation of elements as set forth in the following disclosure.

Method and apparatus for imaging and documenting fingerprints


A method of producing a chimera animal, characterized by transplanting, into a host animal, an aggregate of a first pluripotent stem cell that is of interest to strain establishment, a second pluripotent stem cell in which the ability to form germ cells is absent or decreased, and embryo.

In general, in order to produce a chimeric mouse from ES cells, two types of cells, namely, an ES cell of interest and a normal mouse embryo, can be mixed to allow ontogenesis. Furthermore, ES cells are used in an attempt to produce various chimeric animals (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Depending on the properties of the ES cells, however, ontogenesis may not proceed normally in a chimeric embryo having a high rate (chimerism rate) of mixed ES cells, in which case the embryo may die before birth. On the other hand, there are also ES cells which may result in the birth of chimeras having a high chimerism rate but those chimeras have abnormal spermatogenetic ability and thus are unable to establish a mouse strain.

National University Corporation Kumamoto University


A device for acoustic rodent control, comprising a diffuser constituted by a contoured solid of revolution that is provided, in a downward region, with a cavity in which a piezoelectric element is applied, the piezoelectric element being controlled by an electronic board contained in a box body that supports the diffuser; the electronic board supports an electronic circuit that comprises means for detecting the vibratory state of the piezoelectric element.

The present invention relates to a device for acoustic rodent control.
It is known that currently commercially available rodent control methods include some that use sound vibrations emitted by particular devices; these vibrations are perceived by rodents, which move away from the covered area because they are stressed by such vibrations.
Italian patent No. 1288012 by the same Applicant discloses a diffuser for acoustic rodent control devices that is substantially constituted by a solid of revolution shaped so as to form three annular peripheral rings which are mutually axially spaced, with an upper concave surface and a lower recess.
A piezoelectric device, controlled by an electronic circuit, is applied inside the lower recess.
The recess is then closed by a cover that is provided with a central hole having a threaded axial shank, for fixing the body to a support.
The diffuser allows to convert the structural noise generated internally by the piezoelectric element into airborne noise without openings or auxiliary devices such as loudspeakers, with a great benefit in terms of mechanical safety and reliability, for use in the most challenging operating conditions required by the various applications.
Although considerable advantages are obtainable by the use of a diffuser as described above, said diffuser entails drawbacks.
There is in fact absolutely no centralized control over a set of transducers.
Moreover, the cavity of the diffuser that contains the piezoelectric element is too small.
The dynamic system of the piezoelectric element is in fact very critical, since the vibratory state of the ceramic wafer generates a beam of vibrations which, reflected by the metallic cover, return toward the wafer, applying a contrast force to the piezoelectric element, which thus abandons the base frequency and eliminates the efficiency of the system.
In this manner, the piezoelectric element has a very short life.
Further, the cavity of the diffuser is too small even for the space occupied by an electronic board.
In order to eliminate the acoustic pressure that is generated in the cavity, a hole is provided in the cover.
However, this remedy caused loss of watertightness of the cavity, with a consequent rapid oxidation of the ceramics of the piezoelectric element, further reducing its life.


A computer implemented method including determining whether a predetermined condition is satisfied with respect to a case-based dataset stored within memory accessible by at least one processor; generating, for each of a plurality of rule-based classifiers, rule-based classification data identifying class boundaries between the records upon determining that the predetermined condition has been satisfied; computing a structural risk of the rule-based classification data for each of the rule-based classifiers with respect to the records identified within the record data; selecting rule-based classifiers having generated rule-based classification data identifying class boundaries between the records with a structural risk below a predetermined threshold; identifying selected rule-based classifiers having rule-based classification data that is within a predetermined degree of similarity with the case-based classification data; and replacing the case-based dataset stored within the memory with rule-based classification data of at least one of the identified rule-based classifiers, wherein determining whether the predetermined condition is satisfied comprises determining whether the number of records identified within the record data exceeds a predetermined record threshold.

1. Field of Invention
Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to a method and system for transitioning from a case-based classifier system to a rule-based classifier system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many classification algorithms operate based on the assumption that a particular record contains one or more record and that each record belongs to one or more distinct and exclusive/overlapping classes defined within a multi-dimensional feature space. The classes may be specified a priori by an analyst (as in supervised classification) or automatically discovered (as in unsupervised classification) into sets of classes using one or more classification models. Procedurally, there are two general types of classification algorithms/models: case-based and rule-based classification.
According to the case-based classification model (e.g., a nearest neighbor classification model), a new record is classified by computing either (a) the average distance between new record and each record within each class or (b) the distance between the new record and the centroid of each class. According to the case-based classification model, the "distance" between two records indicates how similar (or dissimilar) the two records are. The new record is classified into the class associated with either (a) the smallest computed average distance or (b) the smallest centroid distance. Unlike case-based classification models, rule-based classification models induce a generalized set of rules of classification from a plurality of records. The induced rules attempt to rationally explain the distribution of in the feature space and the relationships between the records and classes.
When the number of records populated within each class is small, it is difficult to induce a generalized rule of classification. In such circumstances, one of the most reasonable courses of action is to use the minimally populated set of classes as a case-based classification model. However, as the number of records populated within each class grows, algorithms adapted to implement case-based classification models slow to an unacceptable degree. Moreover, because case-based classification models essentially compare each new record with existing records, all records must be indefinitely stored within the main memory of a classifier system. Accordingly, as the number of records populated within each class grows, limits to the amount of storage space available within the main memory of the classifier system are quickly reached. Rule-based classification models, however, do not require that records be stored in main memory after one or more rules have been induced though, for reference purposes, records may be stored in a database.
In view of the above, it would be beneficial if there were a method and system of efficiently transitioning from a case-based classification model to a rule-based classification model.

Method and system for transitioning from a case-based classifier system to a rule-based classifier system


It is made possible to prevent “spoofing” and incur no additional management cost as effectively as possible. An authenticated device includes: at least one authenticated element that generates an output signal with characteristics spontaneously varying, at the time of manufacturing, with respect to a continuous input signal. The characteristics of the authenticated element are used as information unique to an individual.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an authenticated device and an individual authentication system.
2. Related Art
As this information-oriented society has rapidly become sophisticated and an increasing amount of information is being digitized, there is a strong demand for reliable individual authentication systems. An "individual authentication system" is a mechanism that includes an authenticated device that stores at least information unique to an individual (such as an ID number), and an authenticating device that reads the information and authenticates the individual. In the case of a credit card or a mobile phone handset, for example, it is necessary to authenticate the credit card or the mobile phone handset based on ID information, before a service is provided. The ID information cannot be kept secret, as it needs to be read out. However, if the ID information can be easily replicated, it becomes difficult to guarantee the credibility of the authenticated device. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an individual authentication system with which the credibility is guaranteed and the information as to the individual cannot be replicated.
In view of this background, individual authentication systems that use the spontaneous variations in characteristics of transistors integrated on LSIs as random-number ID information have been disclosed in "IC Identification Circuit using Device Mismatch, K. Lofstrom, et al., Tech. Dig. ISSCC 2000, WP 22.6, p 372 (2000)", "An Artificial Fingerprint Device (AFD) Module using Poly-Si Thin Film Transistors with Logic LSI Compatible Process for Built-in Security, S. Maeda, et al., Tech. Dig. IEDM 2001, 34.5.1, p 759 (2001)", and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-7290, for example.
In the above three references, the spontaneous variations in threshold values of transistors at the time of manufacturing are used. Digital information of "1" and "0" is allotted to the threshold value information, so as to randomly set a numeric value to each device. More specifically, whether the current value obtained in an operation of the transistor under desired operating conditions is larger than a certain value is indicated by the information of "1" and "0".
Since the characteristics of each transistor element are represented by "1" or "0" in the references, the information can be easily replicated in practice. If the internal information of "1" and "0" is output directly or the characteristics of each transistor can be read out by some means, the digital information is replicated so as to produce a "spoofing" device that can be recognized as the same individual as the original when seen from the outside. Replication of digital information is not very difficult in technical terms, as a general-purpose ROM such as a flash memory can be used in doing so.
Moreover, the information in the individual is used for identification in the references. When authentication is to be performed via a network such as the Internet, data might be stolen along the way. So as to prevent "spoofing", the number of bits in the data needs to be increased to a very large number. This leads to a huge increase in information management cost on the authentication side.

Authenticated device and individual authentication system


An improvement on simplified fully automatic umbrella is disclosed. This umbrella comprises a shank consisting of an inner tube and an outer tube, the inner tube has at upper section a middle ring and an extension while the outer tube has at upper end a lower ring with an upper pawl; an umbrella opening spring received within the extension; a cylinder mounted around the extension and provided at lower end with an upper ring; an umbrella closing spring mounted around the inner tube; an actuating mechanism consisting of a push button, an upper insert containing a compression spring, a lower insert containing a lower pawl, an actuator and a detent, and a wire interconnected between the two inserts; a canopy structure connected to the upper, middle and lower rings; and a handle provided at bottom of the outer tube.

U.S.A. patent application Ser. No. 07/977,568 filed by this same inventor disclosed a simplified fully automatic umbrella. Upon exploitation the present inventor found that the actuating mechanism and its operation can be further simplified and improved to reduce the probablities of malfunction. Thus, this invention is accomplished for this purposes.