An improved plasma display panel (PDP) having decreased background brightness, decreased power consumption, and improved contrast includes an address electrode, and a scan electrode and a sustain electrode are arranged in pairs with the address electrode. The PDP driver includes a subfield data generator that generates subfield data from input image data. An address data driver is provided for applying to the address electrode a voltage that corresponds to the subfield data. An address data determiner included in the PDP driver detects a subfield which has no address data from among the subfield data, and outputs a control signal that controls a reset operation of the detected subfield. In response, a scan/sustain pulse driver applies to the scan electrode and the sustain electrode a voltage that corresponds to the control signal provided by the address data determiner.

1. Field of the Invention
The claimed invention relates to plasma display panels (PDPs) generally. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of driving a PDP and to a device for reducing the power consumption of a PDP and improving its contrast.
2. Description of the Related Art
A PDP is a display device that utilizes a plasma phenomenon to create and display color images. Each PDP includes millions of discharge cells. Each discharge cell is defined by barrier ribs formed between an upper substrate and a lower substrate. A dielectric layer is formed on each of the upper substrate and the lower substrate, and crossed electrodes intersect each discharge cell.
The interior of each discharge cell contains a gas in a vacuum state and is lined with a substance that emits visible colors of light when stimulated by ultraviolet radiation. Sustain electrodes (or X electrodes) and scan electrodes (or Y electrodes) are mounted on the upper substrate, and address electrodes are mounted on the lower substrate. In use, a voltage difference applied to the intersecting electrodes excites the gas atoms to release photons which impinge a colored phosphor that lines the interior of the discharge cell. The phosphor absorbs the incident photon and emits visible colored light. By selectively activating various combinations of electrodes, color images may be created.
In the conventional PDP described above, a drive voltage is supplied to the address electrodes and the scan electrodes to thereby affect an address discharge between the same. Wall charges are formed on the dielectric layers of the upper substrate and the lower substrate as a result. Also, in the cells selected by the address discharge, an alternating signal applied to the scan electrodes and the sustain electrodes creates a sustain discharge.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a conventional AC PDP.
As described above, the PDP includes a scan electrode 4 and a sustain electrode 5. Disposed over a dielectric layer 2 and a protection film 3, the electrodes 4 and 5 are provided in parallel and form pairs with each other under a first glass substrate 1. A plurality of address electrodes 8 covered with an insulation layer 7 are installed on a second glass substrate 6. Barrier ribs 9 are formed in parallel with the address electrodes 8, on the insulation layer 7 between the address electrodes 8. Additionally, a phosphor 10 is formed on the surface of the insulation layer 7 between the barrier ribs 9. The first and second glass substrates 1 and 6, having a discharge space 11 between them, are provided facing each other so that the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 may respectively cross the address electrode 8. The address electrode 8 and a discharge space 11 formed at an intersection of the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 form a discharge cell 12.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of electrodes in a conventional PDP. The discharge cell 12 shown in FIG. 2 corresponds to the discharge cell 12 shown in FIG. 1.
As shown, a conventional PDP electrode has an m×n matrix configuration, in which address electrodes A1 to Am are arranged in the column direction. Scan electrodes Y1 to Yn and sustain electrodes X1 to Xn are alternately arranged in the row direction. The scan electrodes will be noted as "Y electrodes" and the sustain electrodes as "X electrodes."
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a driving waveform used in a conventional PDP. As the diagram illustrates, the conventional PDP driving method requires that each subfield have a reset interval, an address interval, and a sustain interval.
In the reset interval, wall charges that were formed by a previous sustain discharge are erased, and the states of the cells are reset in order to fluently perform a next address operation. A conventional reset interval includes an erase interval, a Y ramp rising interval, and a Y ramp falling interval.
In the erase interval, an erase ramp voltage that gradually rises from 0V to +Ve(V) is applied to the X electrode. This erases the wall charges between the X electrode and the Y electrode.
In the Y ramp rising interval, the address electrode and the X electrode are maintained at 0V, and a ramp voltage that gradually rises from a voltage of V1 to a voltage of V2 is applied to the Y electrode. V2 is greater than a discharge firing voltage with respect to the X electrode at 0V, and V1 is less than the discharge firing voltage with respect to the X electrode at 0V. While the ramp voltage rises, a first weak reset discharge occurs in all the discharge cells from the Y electrode to the address electrode and the X electrode.
In the Y ramp falling interval, a ramp voltage that gradually falls from a voltage of V1 to a voltage of V3 is applied to the Y electrode while the X electrode is maintained at a constant voltage of Ve. V3 is greater than a discharge firing voltage with respect to the X electrode at Ve, and V1 is less than the discharge firing voltage with respect to the X electrode at Ve. While this ramp voltage is falling, a second weak reset discharge occurs in all the discharge cells.
When the reset operations are finished, scan pulses are sequentially applied to the Y electrode, and the wall charges are accumulated on the cells to which address data is applied.
The sustain interval is a period for performing a discharge that displays images on the addressed cells. When the sustain interval starts, sustain pulses are alternately applied to the X and Y electrodes, a sustain discharge is performed, and images are displayed.
The conventional PDP driving method noted above performs the reset operation and the address operation irrespective of whether address data is provided in each subfield. Significant disadvantages associated with this approach are increased background brightness, degraded contrast, and increased power consumption. For example, a high-resolution PDP needs a plurality of scan electrodes and subfields. Consequently a PDP with a large display area increases the line capacitance for each line and also increases a scan bias voltage; both of which increase power consumption. The increase of power consumption causes other problems such as raising the temperature of a scan IC (integrated circuit) above normal operating limits. This also degrades picture quality.
A solution is needed that provides a PDP having decreased background brightness, decreased power consumption, and improved contrast.

Plasma display panel driving method and device


Multidimensional similarity join finds pairs of multi-dimensional points that are within some small distance of each other. Databases in domains such as multimedia and time-series can require a high number of dimensions. The .epsilon.-k-d-B tree has been proposed as a data structure that scales better as number of dimensions increases compared to previous data structures such as the R-tree (and variations), grid-file, and k-d-B tree. We present a cost model of the .epsilon.-k-d-B tree and use it to optimize the leaf size. This new leaf size is shown to be better in most situations compared to previous work that used a constant leaf size. We present novel parallel procedures for the .epsilon.-k-d-B tree. A load-balancing strategy based on equi-depth histograms is shown to work well for uniform or low-skew situations, whereas another based on weighted, equi-depth histograms works far better for high-skew datasets. The latter strategy is only slightly slower than the former strategy for low skew datasets. The weights for the latter strategy are based on the same cost model that is used to determine optimal leaf sizes.

Multidimensional similarity join finds pairs of multi-dimensional points that are within some predetermined and typically small distance of each other. The "dimensions" may be any quantifiable property or characteristic and need not be limited to spatial dimensions as the term is routinely used. While some traditional applications, such as 2-D or 3-D mapping applications only require two or three dimensions, many important emerging applications require the number of dimensions to be quite large--possibly in the tens or hundreds, even thousands. Application domains include multimedia databases [See Relevant Literature description section following for references 11, 16, 17], medical databases [5, 21], scientific databases [22], and time-series databases [9, 1, 14]. Such databases may be constructed from collection and monitoring of physical systems such as medical instrumentation, including for example, thermometers, blood pressure sensors, blood pressure monitors and sensors, brain wave sensors and sampling systems, blood chemistry, diagnostic histories, and all other manner of medical, chemical, biological, physiological or other data. Data collected from remote sensing apparatus including photographic imagery data collected from hand-held, orbital, or other sensors, radars, and the like, cultural and other Geographical Information System (GIS) type parameters, data, and other information. Other physical systems may likewise be monitored, and the collected data signals may be categorized, stored in databases, and used for example for controlling other processes or as a decision metric when used in comparison to historical databases. These characteristics form one or more values of a multi-valued multi-dimensional data point.
Typical examples of similarity join applications include: finding all pairs of U.S. mutual funds with similar price histories; discovering images that are similar to each other; and identifying patients with similar symptoms over time; to mention only a few. Similarity join operations may also be used for "data mining" operations.
A pair of points is considered "similar" if the distance between them is less than epsilon (.epsilon.) for some distance metric, where E is a user-defined parameter. In this description, we use L.sub.p -norm as the distance metric and it is defined as: ##EQU1## where p identifies the particular distance metric, d is the dimensionality of points x and y, each of which is d-dimensional. L.sub..infin., is defined as the distance metric: EQU L.sub..infin. =max.sub.i=1.sup.d .vertline.x.sub.i -y.sub.i .vertline..
Note that if the number of dimensions (d) is 3 or less, the similarity join can be thought of as being of a spatial nature and the join can be called a "spatial similarity join". Note that L.sub.p is a class of distance metrics, where p identifies the particular metric. L.sub.1 is conventionally referred to as the Manhattan distance and is derived from the distances along two orthogonal directions; L.sub.2 is the Euclidian distance computed on the basis of a direct line between the two points of interest; and L.sub..infin. is another distance computed as the maximum distance along one of a plurality of dimensions. The distance metrics are conventionally known and not described further. Several data structures have been proposed for multidimensional similarity join including the R-tree family (R-tree, R*-tree, R.sup.+ tree) [8, 20, 10, 6], grid-file [18], k-d-b tree [19, 7], SS-tree [23] and SR-tree [12] indices. However, generally these and other known data structures are not efficient for performing similarity joins on high-dimensional points because their time and space complexity increase rapidly with increasing dimensionality. For example, a data structure that may be usable for two- or three-dimensional points might typically be unusable for ten- or hundred-dimensional points.
An earlier database procedure involved the K-d (or Kd) tree which was a memory resident procedure; while later extensions or improvements resulted in the K-d-B (or KdB) versions for disk resident implementations, that is for implementations when the database was too large to be entirely memory resident simultaneously. These earlier structures and implementations are known and not described further.
The .epsilon.-k-d-B tree has been proposed by Agrawal et al. [2] as a multidimensional index structure for performing similarity join on high-dimensional points [2], and is purported to be better than other conventional data structures for performing the similarity join on high-dimensional points. In particular, it is purportedly faster than the R.sup.+ tree on some synthetic and real-life datasets. The .epsilon.-k-d-B tree index structure of Agrawal et al. [2] uses a static constant threshold for the leaf size. When the number of points in a node falls below the fixed leaf size threshold, then further tree construction is stopped for that node and the node is declared to be a leaf node. Reference [2] is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Therefore, while procedures for performing multi-dimensional similarity joins have evolved somewhat, there remains a need for efficient procedures, method and structure for performing similarity joins on high-dimensional data sets. There also remains a need for methods and structures that are scalable so as to provide efficient joins for large data sets and a large number of processors. Furthermore, there remains a need for a better load balancing load metric that can partition the data set among a plurality of processors based on the characteristics of the data set itself and not limited by a prior statically determined tree characteristic, or solely on equal point distribution of points among processors. These and other problems with conventional structures and methods are solved and will be apparent in light of the detailed description of the invention and accompanying drawings.

Structure and method for efficient parallel high-dimensional similarity join


The present invention provides a composite film having a linearly-scratched, thin metal film and a plastic film, which has good absorbability to electromagnetic waves in various frequencies, as well as reduced anisotropy in electromagnetic wave absorbability, suitable for electromagnetic wave absorbers, and its production apparatus. The composite film having a linearly-scratched, thin metal film and a plastic film according to the present invention comprises a plastic film, and a single- or multi-layer, thin metal film formed on at least one surface of the plastic film, the thin metal film being provided with large numbers of substantially parallel, intermittent, linear scratches with irregular widths and intervals in plural directions. Its production apparatus comprises pluralities of pattern rolls each having large numbers of fine, high-hardness particles on the surface, which are arranged to form linear scratches on the thin metal film side of a thin metal film-plastic composite film, and means each pressing the pattern roll to the composite film, and pluralities of the pattern rolls being oriented in different directions in a plane in which they are in sliding contact with the thin metal film of the composite film.

Electromagnetic wave absorbers for preventing the leak and intrusion of electromagnetic waves are used in electronic and communications apparatuses and systems such as personal computers, cell phones, automatic toll-collecting systems (ETC) on toll roads, wireless LAN, etc. Electromagnetic wave absorbers are required to efficiently absorb electromagnetic waves in a wide frequency range, with little difference in electromagnetic wave absorbability depending on incident directions (anisotropy of electromagnetic wave absorbability). Further, in systems using circularly polarized electromagnetic waves such as ETC, etc., electromagnetic wave absorbers are required to efficiently absorb both of TE waves (electromagnetic waves whose electric field components are perpendicular to an incident surface) and TM waves (electromagnetic waves whose magnetic field components are perpendicular to an incident surface).
Though electromagnetic wave absorbers formed by metal sheets or nets are widely used at present, electromagnetic wave-absorbing sheets having vapor-deposited metal layers formed on plastic sheets were recently proposed. For instance, JP 9-148782 A proposes an electromagnetic wave-absorbing sheet comprising a plastic film, and first and second vapor-deposited aluminum layers formed on both surfaces thereof, the first vapor-deposited aluminum layer being etched to a non-conductive linear pattern, and the second vapor-deposited aluminum layer being etched to a network conductive pattern. However, this electromagnetic wave-absorbing sheet has a periodic linear pattern and a periodic network pattern, it cannot efficiently absorb electromagnetic waves in a wide frequency range, and its electromagnetic wave absorbability has large anisotropy.
JP 11-40980 A proposes a electromagnetic wave shield having a vapor-deposited copper layer and a vapor-deposited nickel layer formed in this order on one surface of a plastic film. However, this electromagnetic wave shield has insufficient electromagnetic wave absorbability with large anisotropy.

Composite film of linearly-scratched, thin metal film and plastic film, and its production apparatus


Implementations and techniques are generally disclosed for an actuator comprising: a first element, a second element, a third element, a first joint provided between the first element and the second element, a second joint provided between the second element and the third element, and a motor operably coupled to the first joint and configured such that the second element rotates with respect to the first element about a first rotational axis when the motor rotates, wherein the first joint is operably coupled to the second joint and configured such that the third element can rotate with respect to the second element about a second rotational axis when the motor rotates.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
An actuator can be widely used in various applications. The present disclosure contemplates an actuator with reduced weight.


A fuel reservoir having a reticulated material, generally a felt or a foam, disposed therein is provided. The addition of this reticulated material, either alone or in combination with a viscous fuel, assists the prevention of undesired flow of the fuel, the minimization of undesired leakages, and assists in orientation independence and uniform distribution of the fuel in the reservoir. The reticulated material enables the use of a viscous liquid fuel that has fuel diffusion rates and fuel utilization characteristics that approach those of neat liquid methanol. The material also helps create a greater surface area for evaporation, thus allowing a highly concentrated, vaporous fuel substance to be delivered to an associated fuel cell.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to direct oxidation fuel cells, and more particularly, to fuel storage for such fuel cells.
2. Background Information
Fuel cells are devices in which electrochemical reactions are used to generate electricity. A variety of materials may be suited for use as a fuel depending upon the materials chosen for the components of the cell. Organic materials, such as methanol or natural gas, are attractive fuel choices due to the their high specific energy.
Fuel cell systems may be divided into "reformer-based" systems (i.e., those in which the fuel is processed in some fashion to extract hydrogen from the fuel before it is introduced into the fuel cell system) or "direct oxidation" systems in which the fuel is fed directly into the cell without the need for separate internal or external processing. Most currently available fuel cells are reformer-based fuel cell systems. However, because fuel processing is expensive and generally requires expensive components, which occupy significant volume, reformer-based systems are presently limited to comparatively large, high power applications.
Direct oxidation fuel cell systems may be better suited for a number of applications in smaller mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, handheld and laptop computers), as well as in some larger applications. In direct oxidation fuel cells of interest here, a carbonaceous fuel (including, but not limited to, liquid methanol or an aqueous methanol solution) is introduced to the anode face of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA).
One example of a direct oxidation fuel cell system is a direct methanol fuel cell system or DMFC system. In a DMFC system, a mixture comprised of predominantly methanol or methanol and water is used as fuel (the "fuel mixture"), and oxygen, preferably from ambient air, is used as the oxidizing agent. The fundamental reactions are the anodic oxidation of the fuel mixture into CO2, protons, and electrons; and the cathodic combination of protons, electrons and oxygen into water. The overall reaction may be limited by the failure of either of these reactions to proceed to completion at an acceptable rate, as is discussed further hereinafter.
Typical DMFC systems include a fuel source, fluid and effluent management systems, and air management systems, as well as a direct methanol fuel cell ("fuel cell"). The fuel cell typically consists of a housing, hardware for current collection, fuel and air distribution, and a membrane electrode assembly ("MEA") disposed within the housing.
The electricity generating reactions and the current collection in a direct oxidation fuel cell system generally take place within the MEA. In the fuel oxidation process at the anode, the products are protons, electrons and carbon dioxide. Protons (from hydrogen found in the fuel and water molecules involved in the anodic reaction) are separated from the electrons. The protons migrate through the membrane electrolyte, which is non-conductive to the electrons. The electrons travel through an external circuit, which connects the load, and are united with the protons and oxygen molecules in the cathodic reaction, thus providing electrical power from the fuel cell.
A typical MEA includes an anode catalyst layer and a cathode catalyst layer sandwiching a centrally disposed protonically-conductive, electronically non-conductive membrane ("PCM", sometimes also referred to herein as "the catalyzed membrane"). One example of a commercially available PCM is NAFION® (NAFION® a registered trademark of E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Company), a cation exchange membrane based on polyperflourosulfonic acid, in a variety of thicknesses and equivalent weights. The PCM is typically coated on each face with an electrocatalyst such as platinum, or platinum/ruthenium mixtures or alloy particles. A PCM that is optimal for fuel cell applications possesses a good protonic conductivity and is well-hydrated. On either face of the catalyst coated PCM, the MEA typically includes a diffusion layer. The diffusion layer on the anode side is employed to evenly distribute the liquid or gaseous fuel over the catalyzed anode face of the PCM, while allowing the reaction products, typically gaseous carbon dioxide, to move away from the anode face of the PCM. In the case of the cathode side, a diffusion layer is used to allow a sufficient supply of and a more uniform distribution of gaseous oxygen to the cathode face of the PCM, while minimizing or eliminating the collection of liquid, typically water, on the cathode aspect of the PCM. Each of the anode and cathode diffusion layers also assist in the collection and conduction of electric current from the catalyzed PCM through the load.
Direct oxidation fuel cell systems for portable electronic devices ideally are as small as possible for a given electrical power and energy requirement. The power output is governed by the reaction rates that occur at the anode and the cathode of the fuel cell operated at a given cell voltage. More specifically, the anode process in direct methanol fuel cells, which use acid electrolyte membranes including polyperflourosulfonic acid and other polymeric electrolytes, involves a reaction of one molecule of methanol with one molecule of water. In this process, water molecules are consumed to complete the oxidation of methanol to a final CO2 product in a six-electron process, according to the following electrochemical equation:CH3OH+H2OCO2+6H++6e−  (1)
Since water is a reactant in this anodic process at a molecular ratio of 1:1 (water:methanol), the supply of water, together with methanol to the anode at an appropriate weight (or volume) ratio is critical for sustaining this process in the cell. In fact, in typical DMFC systems the water:methanol molecular ratio in the anode of the DMFC has to significantly exceed the stoichiometric 1:1 ratio suggested by process (1), based on the prior art of direct methanol fuel cell technology. This excess is required to guarantee complete anodic oxidation to CO2, rather than partial oxidation to either formic acid, or formaldehyde, 4e− and 2e− processes, respectively, described by equations (2) and (3) below:CH3OH+H2OHCOOH+4H++4e−  (2)CH3OHH2CO+2H++2e−  (3)
In other words, equations (2) and (3) are partial processes that are not desirable and which might occur if the balance of water and methanol is not maintained correctly during a steady state operation of the cell. Particularly, as is indicated in process (3), which involves the partial oxidation of methanol, water is not required for this anode process and thus, this process may dominate when the water level in the anode drops below a certain point. The consequence of process (3) domination, is an effective drop in methanol energy content by about 66% compared with consumption of methanol by process (1), which indicates a lower cell electrical energy output. In addition, it could lead to the generation of undesirable anode products such as formaldehyde.
Several techniques have been described for providing an effective methanol/water mixture at the anode catalyst in a DMFC. Some systems include feeding the anode with a very dilute methanol solution and actively circulating water found at the cathode back to the cell anode and dousing recirculated liquid with neat methanol stored in a reservoir. Other systems are passive systems that require no pumping and which can carry a high concentration of fuel. Some of these include recirculation of water; however, other systems have been described in which water does not need to be recirculated from the cathode because water is pushed back from the cathode through the membrane to the anode aspect.
One example of a non-recirculating system is described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/413,983, filed on Apr. 15, 2003, by Ren et al. for a DIRECT OXIDATION FUEL CELL OPERATING WITH DIRECT FEED OF CONCENTRATED FUEL UNDER PASSIVE WATER MANAGEMENT, which is incorporated herein by reference, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/454,211, which was filed on Jun. 4, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,282,293 by Ren et al. for PASSIVE WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELLS, which is also incorporated herein by reference.
Some of these techniques may incorporate a vaporous fuel being delivered to the anode aspect for the reactions. In the case of delivering a vaporous fuel, the above-cited patent applications describe providing a pervaporation membrane that effects a phase change from a liquid feed fuel to a vaporous fuel, which is then delivered to the anode aspect, as a vapor.
As noted, the fuel cells operating with vaporous fuels typically include the above-mentioned pervaporation membrane, which effects the phase change from liquid to vapor prior to the fuel being delivered to the anode aspect of the fuel cell. However, such pervaporation membranes may need to be specially engineered, which can be costly. In addition, some such membranes, though useful for delivering the vaporous fuel, can, degrade in the presence of the methanol fuel, compromising the delivery of fuel.
Some systems that use a liquid fuel require additional circulation systems, including, pumps, valves and other fluid management components and control systems to deliver the fuel at a controlled rate and in the desired manner. This typically requires additional components that consume power, increasing the parasitic losses within the system, and adding additional complexity, expense, and volume. In handheld electronic devices and other portable electronic devices, form factors are critical and a premium is placed on the ability of a power source to fit within the designated form factors. Additional recirculation subsystems, including pumps, valves and other fluid management equipment and components may increase the size of the overall fuel cell system, and in some cases may increase it significantly. A liquid fuel can also require a more complex fuel delivery system that may include an expansion bladder, which, when compressed, expresses the fuel in a controlled manner. One example of such a system is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/041,301, filed on Jan. 8, 2002now U.S. Pat. No. 7,074,511 , by Becerra et al. for a Fuel Container and Delivery Apparatus for a Liquid Feed Fuel Cell System, which is incorporated herein by reference. However, even though such expansion bladders and optional force-applying elements may be desirable in some instances, in other instances they can increase the volume, complexity and weight of the fuel delivery cartridge.
Some of the disadvantages with certain presently existing liquid fuel storage and delivery subsystems can be addressed using a vapor fed system. For example, the systems such as that described in the above-cited commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/413,983, which has been incorporated herein by reference, use a liquid fuel which then undergoes a phase change when passing through a pervaporation membrane, and thus such systems still may need to carry liquid fuel in a storage tank or other container. Also, this liquid fuel may have a tendency to flow within the container undesirably as the orientation of the container changes during use, which may tend to reduce the fuel efficiency to the anode.
Another issue that arises with respect to usage of carbonaceous fuel, such as methanol, in a consumer electronic device, is that of maintaining the integrity of the cartridge so that there is no leakage of the fuel. For example, when using a liquid fuel, a crack in the fuel cartridge may result in the fuel leaking out of the cartridge. Sometimes additives are employed within a container to cause the fuel to be more recognizable. Safe disposal of fuel cartridges after the fuel supply is exhausted is also a consideration with respect to consumer use of direct oxidation fuel cells.
Some of the disadvantages with certain liquid fuel and vapor fed system can be addressed using a gel-based fuel substance and related system, such as that described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/688,433, filed on Oct. 17, 2003now U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,947 , by Becerra et al. for a FUEL SUBSTANCE AND ASSOCIATED CARTRIDGE FOR FUEL CELL, which is incorporated herein by reference. In such systems, however, depending on the operating conditions there may be lower feed rates and fuel extraction efficiencies than desired, in some cases, especially in low temperature environments or where the fuel is exposed to significant vibration or shock.
Therefore, there remains a need for a fuel container, and an associated fuel formulation in which the fuel is a freely flowing liquid, yet controlled against substantial undesirable flow within the container, has orientation independence, and maintains a high feed rate and high fuel extraction efficiency with less crusting and less affectivity to vibration and shock. It is also an object of the invention to provide a safe, easy to handle and low-cost fuel container and associated fuel formulation for use with direct oxidation fuel cells that may be readily employed in consumer electronic devices.

Fuel container with reticulated material


Lower limb force sensing system includes a sensory insole formed of a plurality of thin film material layers arranged in a stack to form a plurality of sensor cells in a pattern that defines a sensor array. A plurality of perforations defined in the thin film material layers extend substantially around a perimeter of each sensor cell to substantially separate each sensor cell from a remainder of the thin film material layers and form a hinge member which extends from each sensor cell to an interstitial portion of the thin film layers extending between adjacent ones of the sensor cells. The hinge member defines an axis of rotation about which the sensor cell can pivot independently relative to adjacent interstitial portions of the thin film material layers.

Statement of the Technical Field
The inventive arrangements relate to force monitoring systems and more particularly to devices which are used to monitor forces applied through a lower limb of a person.
Description of the Related Art
Lower limb force measuring systems can measure a load or force which is applied to a lower limb through a foot. These systems are used in a wide variety of situations where a medical condition necessitates that a force or load applied to a lower body extremity (or prosthetic) is to be limited to some predetermined level. Such situations may arise, for example, during rehabilitation therapy after surgery or injury to the hips, knees, ankles or other portions of the lower body. Lower limb force measuring systems as described herein can also be used in other health and fitness monitoring situations involving walking, running, or jumping activities. In each of these scenarios, it may be necessary to carefully measure the force exerted upon a lower limb.
Lower limb force monitoring systems can include a sensor portion and a monitoring portion. The sensor portion usually comprises a force sensitive means that is positioned beneath the sole of the foot. The force sensitive means can be comprised of an insole for a shoe. Accordingly, an insole as described herein may have the shape of a conventional shoe insole. The actual force sensing is performed by one or more force sensors which are incorporated into the insole. The sensor portion of a force measuring system as described herein can be connected to an electronic control system. The control system receives electrical signals from the force sensitive means and can include a battery to power the system. The control system can also include an alarm circuit. The alarm circuit can include an audio transducer (e.g. a buzzer) that is triggered when the force level measured by the sensor exceeds a predetermined limit. In some such systems, the predetermined limit can be adjusted by a user to accommodate the needs of different individuals.


When creating SBR data in a the low-resolution mode, an encoding device divides a high-frequency component of input audio data being encoded by SBR method into a high-frequency band and a low-frequency band, and calculates an average high-frequency power value that indicates the average value of the power in the high-frequency band of the audio data, as well as an average low-frequency power value that indicates the average value of the power in the low-frequency band of the audio data. The encoding device then compares the average high-frequency power value and the average low-frequency power value, selecting the smaller of the two. The encoding device then corrects the power of the high-frequency component of the signal being encoded by the SBR method so that it equals the selected average power value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an encoding device and an encoding method that output an audio signal by multiplexing a first encoded data obtained by encoding a low-frequency component of the audio signal by a first encoding method and a second encoded data obtained by encoding a high-frequency component of the audio signal by a second encoding method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an encoding device and an encoding method that enable the high-frequency component of an audio signal to be appropriately encoded even when it is encoded in a low-resolution mode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Moving Picture Experts Group Phase 2 (MPEG-2) High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding (hereinafter, "HE-AAC") method is a widely used method for encoding audio data such as voice and music. In the HE-AAC method, a low-frequency component of audio signals is encoded by AAC and a high-frequency component is encoded by Spectral Band Replication (SBR).
FIG. 8 is a schematic for explaining the HE-AAC method. Data encoded by the SBR method includes position data indicating the position where the high-frequency component is to be replicated from the low-frequency component (which is encoded by the AAC method), parameters representing correction of power of the high-frequency component, and data pertaining to components that cannot be replicated from the low-frequency component. As compared to other encoding methods, the data volume can be compressed to a much greater extent by encoding using the HE-AAC method, which combines the low-frequency component and the high-frequency component when encoding is performed by the AAC method. The data encoded by the AAC method shall hereafter be referred to as AAC data, and the data encoded by the SBR method shall be referred to as SBR data.
A conventional encoding device that encodes input audio data by the HE-AAC method is described below. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of the conventional encoding device. An encoding device 10 includes an SBR encoder 11, a down-sampling unit 12, an AAC encoder 13, and a multiplexing unit 14.
The SBR encoder 11 encodes input audio data by the SBR method, and outputs the encoded SBR data to the multiplexing unit 14. Prior to encoding the audio data, the SBR encoder 11 determines, based on criteria laid down beforehand by an administrator, whether the audio data is to be encoded in a high-resolution mode or a low-resolution mode and encodes the audio data according to the result of the determination.
FIG. 10 is a schematic for explaining the high-resolution mode and the low-resolution mode. The upper part of FIG. 10 is a schematic for explaining the high-resolution mode. In the high-resolution mode, the frequency bands of the input audio data being encoded by the SBR method (hereinafter, "SBR encoding band") are divided into a plurality of blocks (for example, two blocks), and the power of each block is averaged out before the blocks are quantized and the SBR data created.
The lower part of FIG. 10 is a schematic for explaining the low-resolution mode. In the low-resolution mode, the power of the entire range of SBR encoded bands is averaged out and the block is quantized before SBR data is created. By encoding in the high-resolution mode, the high-frequency component of the audio data can be encoded accurately, and by encoding in the low-resolution mode, the data volume of high-frequency component can be reduced.
Returning to FIG. 9, the down-sampling unit 12 extracts the low-frequency component of the input audio data, and outputs the extracted low-frequency component to the AAC encoder 13. The AAC encoder 13 creates AAC data based on the low-frequency component received from the down-sampling unit 12, and outputs the AAC data to the multiplexing unit 14.
The multiplexing unit 14 multiplexes (combines) the SBR data output by the SBR encoder 11 and the AAC data output by the AAC encoder 13 and outputs the multiplexed data (HE-AAC bit stream). Thus, the conventional encoding device 10 encodes input audio data by the SBR encoder 11, the down-sampling unit 12, the AAC encoder 13, and the multiplexing unit 14.
A method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-338637 whereby the average power of every sub-band is compared before and after quantization, and if they are different, the scale factor (exponent) is adjusted so that the normalized power after quantization approximates the normalized power before quantization.
However, in the existing technologies, appropriate encoding of the high-frequency component is not realized when the high-frequency component of the input audio data is encoded in the low-resolution mode in order to reduce the data volume of the high-frequency components (the components of the input audio data in the SBR encoded bands).
The reason why the high-frequency component is not appropriately encoded is because, as shown in FIG. 10, if the entire high-frequency range is encoded in the low-resolution mode when the power at the high frequency end of the high-frequency component drops suddenly, the entire high-frequency component range is averaged, and the power at the high frequency end exceeds the power of the original audio data.
In other words, it is imperative to be able to appropriately encode the high-frequency component of the input audio data even when the high-frequency component is encoded in the low-resolution mode.


A process for preparing 2-pyrimidinecarboxylates of the general formula: ##STR1## wherein R is C.sub.1-6 -alkyl, C.sub.3-6 -cycloalkyl, aryl or arylalkyl, and R.sup.1 to R.sup.3 are, independently of one another, hydrogen, C.sub.1-6 -alkyl, fluorinated C.sub.1-6 -alkyl, C.sub.1-6 -alkoxy, (C.sub.1-6 -alkoxy)-C.sub.1-6 -alkyl or (C.sub.1-6 -alkoxy)carbonyl. These are obtained from the corresponding 2-halopyrimidine, the corresponding alcohol ROH and carbon monoxide in the presence of a palladium/phosphine complex and a base. 2-pyrimidinecarboxylates are intermediates for preparing herbicides.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for preparing substituted 2-pyrimidinecarboxylates by reacting 2-halopyrimidines with carbon monoxide and an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst and a base. The esters which can be prepared according to the invention have the general formula: ##STR2## wherein: R is C.sub.1-6 -alkyl, C.sub.3-6 -cycloalkyl, aryl or arylalkyl, and
R.sup.1 to R.sup.3 are, independently of one another, hydrogen, C.sub.1-6 -alkyl, fluorinated C.sub.1-6 -alkyl, C.sub.1-6 -alkoxy, (C.sub.1-6 -alkoxy)-C.sub.1-6 -alkyl or (C.sub.1-6 -alkoxy)carbonyl.
2. Background Art
Compounds having the structure of formula I are intermediates for the preparation of herbicides (European Published Patent Application No. 0152286 and German Published Patent Document No. 3,836,230) or pharmaceutically active ingredients (German Published Patent Document No. 2,341,925). Known syntheses of these compounds proceed, for example, from the corresponding 2-methylpyrimidines, whose methyl group is oxidized to form the carboxyl group with potassium permanganate and is then esterified see, for example, H. Neunhoeffer and G. Werner, Liebigs Ann. Chem., (1974), 1190-1194!. The synthesis of the compounds in which R.sup.1 .dbd.R.sup.3 =alkoxy normally proceeds from the propanediimidates obtainable from malonic dinitrile and alcohols and the monoxalate chlorides H. Eilingsfeld et al., Chem. Ber., (1968), 101, 2426-2434!.

Process for preparing 2- pyrimidinecarboxylates


Bondage of an ink supply needle and a holder base is appropriately performed by ultrasonic welding. A filter is housed in a filter storing part from the upper side of the holder base, and a needle-side fitting part is fitted into a base-side fitting part from the upper side of the holder base. Then, when the ink supply needle and the holder base are welded by ultrasonic waves, the energy of ultrasonic oscillation is concentrated on a contact portion of a protruded part of a needle-side bondage part and a base-side bondage part, and the contact portion of the protruded part is melted out so as to weld the ink supply needle and the holder base. Thereby, the contact portion of the ink supply needle and the holder base is appropriately bonded by ultrasonic welding as a whole without any gap.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an attachment structure of an ink supply needle in which the ink supply needle is attached to a holder base by ultrasonic welding.
2. Related Art
As a structure body that is used in a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a liquid such as ink of a printer, a color liquid material of a color filter, an electrode liquid material, or a bioorganic liquid material, a structure body formed by an ink supply needle and a holder base has been known.
The ink supply needle is formed by performing an injection molding process for synthetic resin that is to be inserted into a liquid container such as an ink cartridge.
The holder base is formed by performing an injection molding process for synthetic resin used for supporting an ejection head such as a record head.
FIG. 7 shows an attachment structure of an ink supply needle for a holder base which has been disclosed in paragraph No. 0003 to 0005 and FIG. 14 of Patent Document 1.
In FIG. 7, a filter 2 is interposed between an ink supply needle 1 and a holder base 3 so as to cover a base passage 12. In a state in which a bondage part 31 of the ink supply needle 1 and a base-side bondage part 32 of the holder base 3 are brought into contact with each other, a contact portion 33 of the needle-side bondage part 31 and the base-side bondage part 32 that has a flat shape are welded by performing an ultrasonic welding process.
However, since the contact portion 33 is configured only as a flat surface, the energy in the ultrasonic welding process may be easily distributed to both sides of the needle-side bondage part 31 and the base-side bondage part 32, and there is a case where the contact portion 33 is not bonded without any gap as a whole.
When the structure body in which the contact portion 33 of the ink supply needle 1 and the holder base 3 is not bonded without any gap as a whole is used in a liquid ejecting apparatus, the ink supply needle 1 is inserted into a needle connection opening part of a liquid container 34, an ejection head 35 is supported by the holder base 3, and liquid is supplied from the liquid container 34 to the ejection opening part of the ejection head 35, then there is a defect that the liquid flowing from the ink supply needle 1 to the holder base 3 side may leak from the gap of the contact portion 33 to the outside due to an elapse of a long time period.
In particular, since the contact portion 33 is formed by performing an injection molding process, microscopically, the front and rear surfaces are formed of convex surfaces, and the front and rear surfaces become convex-concave surfaces due to attachment of dust or the like. Accordingly, the ultrasonic waves are concentrated on the contact portion of the concave part, and the local end of the contact portion may be easily melted. Therefore, welding is not sufficient in spots of the concave parts, and accordingly, a defection may easily occur.
First of all, in order to perform the ultrasonic welding process assuredly, lengthening a time for supplying the ultrasonic waves may be considered. However, in such a case, a time needed for the manufacturing process is lengthened, and accordingly, it is not appropriate for mass production.

Attachment structures, liquid ejection head unit and method for manufacturing a liquid ejection head unit


Improved water monitoring systems comprise a test unit having an analytical device and a control system in communication with the test unit such that water supply data generated at the test unit can be communicated to the control system. In some embodiments, the analytical device can be a fluorometer that can monitor the fluorescence induction pattern of algae located in the water, which can indicate, when the induction pattern is compared against known baseline induction patterns, the potential presence of toxic chemicals located in the water supply. In other embodiments, the analytical device can comprise, for example, a pH meter, an infrared spectroscopy (IR) device or the like. In some embodiments, the test unit can provide continuous intake, analysis, and can communicate water supply data to the control system via a wireless communication device, fiber optic cable or the like.

Supplies of drinking water for domestic civilian consumption, as well as those for deployed military forces, are vulnerable to being contaminated with potentially toxic chemicals, such as nerve agents, blood agents, and concentrations of herbicides and/or pesticides. All of these chemicals when present in sufficient amounts can be detrimental to the health of anyone who drinks the contaminated water. In order to reduce the chances that the population, whether civilian or military, will consume contaminated water, it is important to quickly detect toxic chemicals and other dangerous impurities at the primary source of the water, i.e., the reservoir, river or lake, before substantial amounts of the contaminated water can be distributed to the ultimate consumers.
It has been discovered that naturally occurring biosensors such as, for example, algae and cyanobacteria, which are present in all surface water exposed to sufficient sunlight, can be potentially useful biosensors. In general, algae is ubiquitous and can grow year round in most climactic conditions. In addition, algae can survive on low concentrations of nutrients and/or on nutrients that are in forms unsuitable for large multi-cellular organisms. Thus, algae can be an ideal biosensor since it's found in virtually all surface water sources and can survive and reproduce without significant human maintenance.
In general, it is known that there is a correlation between the photosynthetic activity of plants and measurable fluorescence induction spectrums of plants. Additionally, it is also known that a change in the fluorescence induction spectrum or pattern of a plant can represent a change in photosynthetic capability, which can be caused by the presence of toxic chemicals. Furthermore, as described above, all natural sources of water exposed to sufficient sunlight contain algae, which produce characteristic fluorescence induction patterns during normal photosynthetic activity.
Recently, there has been an increased awareness that surface water, such as rivers, lakes and the like, could potentially be the target of terrorist attacks. More specifically, the public accessibility of most surface water sources increases the possibility that a chemical and/or biochemical toxin could be released into the water supply without being immediately detected. Additionally, with the large quantity of pesticides and herbicides employed by modern society, it is possible that an unknown, accidental leak of a toxin could occur that could pose significant health risks. The large number of water sources, along with the relative size of the water sources, also makes continuous human monitoring and testing of surface water sources a cumbersome, expensive and potentially impossible task. The water monitoring industry, as well as the federal government, has searched for a simple biosensor that can be used to detect toxins present in water sources. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a water source monitoring system that could continuously monitor water sources and reduce the need for humans to travel to a particular water source site for testing and analysis of the water.


Provided is a method for room-pressure and low-temperature preparation of graphene, comprising: heat treating a compound of graphite oxide and sulfuric acid in either room pressure or negative pressure at a temperature between 50 and 400° C., thus converting graphite oxide into graphene. Also provided is a method for low-temperature preparation of a graphene composite material. The acquired graphene and graphene composite material are applicable in optical materials, electrically-conductive materials, sensor materials, catalytic materials, battery materials, and supercapacitor materials.

As a kind of novel carbon material of a two-dimensional plane structure, graphene, due to its excellent electron transmission performance, high specific surface area and ultrahigh thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity, has many potential applications in the fields such as super capacitor materials, liquid crystal devices, electro-catalysts and sensors.
The common preparation methods of graphene include: mechanical exfoliation, vapor deposition, exfoliation of graphite oxide by (electrical) chemical reduction, exfoliation of graphite oxide by high-temperature expansion, etc. The exfoliation of graphite oxide by high-temperature expansion is mostly likely to be used in the mass production of graphene. However, the exfoliation of oxide graphite by expansion has a starting temperature over 550° C. and is generally performed in an inert atmosphere or in vacuum at 900-1100° C., resulting in severe conditions and high energy consumption. Recently, some researchers have realized the low-temperature exfoliation of graphite oxide in high vacuum. However, as the exfoliation of oxide graphite by expansion is a process in which a large amount of gas will be generated, realizing a high degree of vacuum becomes more difficult. Hence, this method is unsuitable for the mass production of graphene. In addition, with regard to the preparation of graphene by using graphite oxide as raw material, it is still difficult to prepare the graphite oxide itself.
It can be seen that the existing graphene preparation technologies or processes are complicated, or require expensive reductants or too high temperature, or has high energy consumption or even explosion risks, or the like. The preparation methods of graphene-based composite material developed on the basis of the existing graphene preparation technologies has the similar difficulties. Therefore, it is necessary to further develop preparation technologies of graphene and graphene-based composite material, which are low in cost and suitable for mass production.

Method for low-temperature preparation of graphene and of graphene-based composite material


A housing-free hatrack for a passenger cabin of an aircraft includes a hatrack body, at least one fixing brace and a support which is arranged between the hatrack body and one end of the fixing brace in such a way that the hatrack body is pivotable about a pivot axis. The other end of the fixing brace may be connected to a frame of an aircraft structure of the aircraft. This hatrack dispenses with the double-walled construction of conventional hatracks and the hatrack is therefore directly fixed to the structure of the aircraft.

There are currently two different luggage compartment systems for aircraft cabins. There are non-movable luggage compartments (fixed bins) which take the form of a hatrack provided with a shutter facing the passengers. Alternatively, there are pivotable luggage compartments (movable bins) which take the form of a hatrack without a shutter which can be pivoted to face the passengers. All luggage compartments with a loading edge which can be moved in some way are known as "movable bins". A fundamental aspect of a movable hatrack is that the open loading position differs from the closed position.
The component that is fixed to the fuselage in a movable hatrack is the housing which acts, inter alia, to receive the bin/storage container body itself. In this case, it is possible to dispense with a shutter because the hatrack becomes a closed box when it is pushed into the housing. The main advantage of movable hatracks is the changeable position thereof—in the closed state they offer a greater sense of space and the lowered, open position makes it possible to load and empty them comfortably.
The fuselage and the housing are connected by connecting rods which are fixed between aircraft-side and housing-side fittings. The housing and the hatrack are directly connected by rotary supports or roller-guided rail systems, it being possible for the housing and the hatrack to be connected to form a pre-installed module.
An example of a movable bin which is pre-installed in a housing box as a hatrack module is disclosed in DE 10 2007 030331 A1 and WO 2009/003945 A1.


An ultra-wideband (UWB) radar system for non-invasive, real-time tumor tracking includes an UWB transmitter arranged to transmit radar pulses to penetrate a region of interest of a patient; an UWB receiver arranged to receive radar return pulses after being reflected by tumor tissue in the region of interest of the patient; and an UWB signal processor constructed to communicate with the UWB receiver, wherein the UWB transmitter and the UWB receiver are constructed to be arranged sufficiently far away from the patient so as to avoid interfering with radiation treatment of the tumor.

Lung cancer is the second leading cause of new cancer cases in North America, accounting for 14% of all cancer cases in both men and women. The current five-year survival rate for lung cancer is only 16%. Radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer makes use of preoperative data such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), x-ray computed tomography (CT), or positron emission tomography (PET) data to determine the location of tumors to be irradiated. However, many cancerous tumors move during radiation therapy. For example, lung cancer tumors can be particularly problematic due to the type of tissue as well as the fact that the patient is breathing, thus resulting in motion of the patient's lungs. Thus, a major challenge in radiotherapy of lung cancer is to account for tumor motion associated with respiration. A treatment margin must be added to accommodate the range of tumor motion. As a result, radiation damage to normal tissues within the margin is inevitable and limits the tumorcidal dose that can be delivered. The above-noted imaging modalities are not practical to be used in real time during radiation therapy so errors in the actual location of tumors can be quite large.
A solution to the problem has sought to deliver radiation dose to the tumor when it is at a particular anatomic location so that a smaller beam aperture can be used. Currently, two clinical techniques of motion management are employed: (1) In respiratory gating, the beam is turned on only when the tumor is at a certain position during the respiratory cycle, typically at the quiescence period near the end of exhalation; and (2) In active breathing control, breath-hold is applied with a valve to immobilize the tumor for irradiation at a pre-determined lung volume during deep inspiration. Both approaches would require some form of imaging to monitor the tumor position. Unfortunately, all current monitoring methods are sub-optimal, most of them employ x-ray imaging of implanted markers which impart undesirable additional dose and involve an invasive procedure. Other methods employ external surrogates with some degree of uncertain validity. Furthermore, ultrasound imaging, although it can provide real time imaging of some tumors, generally requires direct contact with the patient and usually by an operator with a hand-held ultrasound probe. In addition, ultrasound is not useful for lung cancer since the chest and particularly the lungs are not good media for ultrasound wave propagation. Thus, ultrasound cannot penetrate through lung tissues. Therefore, treatment of lung tumor patients is difficult as the imaging is equivalent to "shooting" in the dark. In addition to the disadvantages discussed above, MRI and CT are difficult to operate simultaneously with medical linear accelerators. Consequently, it also is not practical for providing real-time tumor locations during radiation therapy. Furthermore, imaging modalities such as CT and PET, for example, use ionizing radiation which imposes its own health concerns.
Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) radar transmits and receives a radio-frequency pulse of ultra-wideband frequencies encompassing from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. UWB technology is relatively new in medical physics but is very well known in the radar world as a "through-the-wall" technology. There have been many publications on detecting humans and vehicles through walls of concrete and ground penetrating radar being used to find hidden features. See e.g., Nguyen et al., "Computerized tomographic radar target imaging behind opaque walls," Optical Engineering 46(7), 076201 (2007); Dogaru et al., "SAR images of rooms and buildings based on FDTD computer models," IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing 47(5), 1388-1401 (2009); Schechter et al., "High-resolution 3-D imaging of objects through walls," Optical Engineering 49(11), 113204 (2010); and Sukhvinder S et al., "Sense through wall human detection using UWB radar," EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking 20(1), (2011). Historically, the UWB was restricted to military use until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released these bandwidths for commercial usage in 2002. Since then UWB technology has been rapidly developing in government and commercial applications for imaging and communications. Examples of applications are "through-the-wall" imaging to detect the location of static or moving objects behind the wall, ground-penetrating radar to find objects buried under ground (Park et al., "Development of a UWB GPR system for detecting small objects buried under ground," IEEE Conference proceedings of Ultra WideBand Systems and Technologies 384-388 (2003)), surveillance (see Immoreev et al., "Ultra-wideband radar for remote detection and measurement of parameters of the moving objects on small range," Conference proceedings of Ultra Wideband and Ultra Short Impulse Signals pp 1-3 (2004)), and search and rescue of people trapped under collapsed buildings. Medical applications include remotely monitoring patient's vital signs (see Immoreev et al., "UWB radar for patient monitoring," IEEE A&E Systems Magazine pp 11-18 (2008); Staderini et al., "UWB Radars in Medicine," IEEE AESS Systems Magazine pp 13-18 (2002); Paulson et al., "Ultra-wideband radar methods and techniques of medical sensing and imaging," Conference proceedings of SPIE International Symposium on Optics East, Boston, Mass., UCRL-CONF-216016 (2005); and Thiel et al., "Ultra-wideband sensors for improved magnetic resonance imaging, cardiovascular monitoring, and tumor diagnostics," Sensors 10(12), 10778-10802 (2010)), obstetrics imaging, hemorrhage detection in the brain, involuntary head-motion sensors for MRI, and breast tumor detection (Li et al., "Microwave imaging via space-time beamforming: Experimental investigation of tumor detection in multilayer breast phantoms," IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., 52(8), 1856-1865 (2004); Winters et al., "Three-dimensional microwave breast imaging: Dispersive dielectric properties estimation using patient-specific basis functions," IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 28(7), 969-981 (2009); and Klemm et al., "Towards contrast enhanced breast imaging using ultra-wide band microwave radar system," IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium, pp 516-519 (2010)). UWB nano-pulse radar has multiple advantages over many existing technologies currently used in the medical industry. It is non-ionizing, non-invasive, non-contact, low cost, and can produce results in real-time. It is also capable of penetration through lung tissue to directly detect tumors while treatment is being applied and it does not interfere with existing radiotherapy systems. UWB radar has been employed to monitor vital cardiac and respiratory vital signs. Since UWB is non-ionizing and non-invasive, it can be used for long-term and frequent imaging for cancer patients. However, a UWB radar system for real-time monitoring of 3D lung-tumor position during radiotherapy has not been developed. Thus, the need for non-invasive, non-ionizing, non-contact, and real-time technique to detect lung-tumor position during radiotherapy has been an elusive feat.
Therefore, there remains a need for improved systems and methods for non-invasive, real-time detection and tracking of tumors.

Systems and methods for ultra-wideband (UWB) radar detection and tracking of tumors in real-time

U.S. Government in the Name of the Secretary of the Navy


The communication device which includes a voice communicating implementer, an automobile controlling implementer, a caller ID implementer, an auto time adjusting implementer, a calculating implementer, a word processing implementer, a startup software implementer, a stereo audio data output implementer, a digital camera implementer, a multiple language displaying implementer, a caller's information displaying implementer, a communication device remote controlling implementer, a shortcut icon displaying implementer, an audio playback implementer, and a multiple channel processing implementer.

Paragraph [0004]—The invention relates to communication device and more particularly to the communication device which is capable to communicate with another communication device in a wireless fashion.
Paragraph [0005]—U.S. Patent Publication No. 20030013483 is introduced as prior art of the present invention of which the summary is the following: "A user interface includes a main screen segregated into various screen areas. At least one of the screen areas is devoted to a system application for displaying status icons, and another of the screen areas is devoted to an interface page which may or may not link to other interface pages which are used for displaying current or recent application information for respective user applications, which user applications may be accessed through interaction with the interface page. The application information may be application status information, recent communication messages (such as e-mail messages, SMS messages, or instant messaging messages) and/or one or more upcoming events or to do items for a user. The user interaction may occur through selection with a pointing device such as a stylus, a fingertip stylus, a finger, or one or more buttons, or even through voice commands. The user interface may also include an area reserved for displaying advertisements." However, this prior art does not disclose the communication device which includes a voice communicating implementer, an automobile controlling implementer, a caller ID implementer, an auto time adjusting implementer, a calculating implementer, a word processing implementer, a startup software implementer, a stereo audio data output implementer, a digital camera implementer, a multiple language displaying implementer, a caller's information displaying implementer, a communication device remote controlling implementer, a shortcut icon displaying implementer, an audio playback implementer, and a multiple channel processing implementer.
Paragraph [0006]—For the avoidance of doubt, the number of the prior arts introduced herein (and/or in IDS) may be of a large one, however, applicant has no intent to hide the more relevant prior art(s) in the less relevant ones.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The invention relates to a method and a system for determining hysteresis of a process device in a process environment. The process comprises collecting (50) second-level sample data ys and us from control and measurement signals u and y of a control circuit. Minute mean values y(min) and u(min), which are stored in a database (52), are calculated from these second-level measurement values. The pairs suitable for hysteresis calculation are selected from the minute-level sample pairs um and ym according to a certain procedure. The pairs are also divided into two groups. Unsuitable pairs are rejected (57). Two characteristic curves (54) are calculated from the selected pairs (um, ym) for hysteresis calculation (55). The calculation (55) also includes a routine which evaluates the reliability of the identified hysteresis.

In a process automation system, a control loop typically consists of a process, a measurement, a controller and an actual control element, such as a valve, and a related device, such as a valve controller (positioner) and an actuator. An optimal process control depends on how appropriately all these components function.
In the processing industry, such as the pulp and paper industry, and petroleum refining, petrochemical and chemical industries, various control valves mounted in the plant pipe system control material flows in the process. A material flow may contain any fluid material, such as flowing subs stances, liquors, fluids, gases or vapours. At its simplest, the control valve may be a manually-controlled mechanical valve. Usually, the valve is provided with a valve controller and an actuator. The valve controller and actuator adjust the position of a control valve according to the control input (e.g. pneumatic or electric control input) received from the process control system.
FIG. 1 exemplifies a functional block diagram of a control valve. A valve controller (i.e. positioner) 10 controls the travel/position (h) of the valve by means of the torque generated by an actuator 11. Position information (h) is provided as feedback from the actuator 11 or valve 12 to an adder arranged at the input of the valve controller. The function of the valve controller is mainly based on an error (e) between an input signal u (control signal from the process) and a feedback position (h). The valve controller 10 minimizes this error by a control algorithm, such as a state or PID algorithm. This control algorithm is tailored for each valve and, if necessary, it can be tuned during the installation or operation. The tuning may include changing gain parameters. It is also feasible to use one or more additional feedbacks in the valve controller 10, such as speed or pressure feedback from the actuators cylinder, to obtain a more balanced and accurate control function of the valve position.
FIG. 2 illustrates a typical model of a process control loop which controls one control valve 22 and therethrough one material flow in a process. The control valve 22 may be similar to the one shown in FIG. 1, for instance. The process control loop includes a process controller 21, which is provided with a control algorithm, which produces a control signal u for controlling the control valve 22 according to a set point r (which is obtained from a control room computer, for example) and a feedback process variable y. The control algorithm may be any algorithm that is used in control systems, such as PID, PI or P control. The control signal u fed to the control valve 22 controls the valve position and travel and thus the material flow in the process. A desired process variable y is measured by a measurement transmitter 24 and it is compared (block 20) to the set point r of the same process variable to produce an error signal e2, which is fed into the process controller 21. The process controller 21 changes the control signal to minimize the control error 2e. The process control error typically results from changes in a positioning error and process interference.
The valve and its auxiliary devices often constitute the weak link in the control loop since they are the only moving parts. This movement causes problems, which decrease the capacity of the control loop. To avoid a backlash resulting from mechanical adjustments, the valve, actuator and valve controller/positioner have to be provided with mechanical tolerances that are sufficiently tight. As a result of the backlash, the valve movement does not follow the control signal accurately but deviates from it. The influence of the backlash becomes apparent in particular when the valve control direction and thus the valve's direction of movement are reversed. In that case, the control signal value keeps changing for a while until the measured output signal starts to change noticeably. This is also known as the dead band of control. In addition to the backlash in an actuator or positioner, this phenomenon may result from sticking of the valve or other mechanical factors, such as initial friction. The backlash between mechanical parts naturally increases as the parts wear.
The backlash and other error factors cause hysteresis between the control of the process device, such as a valve and/or its auxiliary devices, and the measured response. This is illustrated in FIG. 3. Straight line 31 illustrates an ideal relation, i.e. characteristic curve, between the control u and the measurement (output) y, such as valve position. The real dependency between the measurement and the control is illustrated by characteristic curve 32. As appears from FIG. 3, due to the backlash and any other factors, the upward control (increasing u) has a characteristic curve 32A different from that of the downward control (decreasing u), which has characteristic curve 32B. The difference between the curves represents hysteresis in the control of the process device.
In some cases, the controllers are provided with automatic backlash compensation, which attempts to take the mechanical non-ideality of the device into account always when the control direction is reversed. This approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,144, for example. Approach of this kind is good in theory but limited in practice since the backlash and hysteresis vary due to different factors.
The information on hysteresis and backlash is, however, important to the tuning of the control circuit. It also gives useful information on the condition of the process device, such as a valve and/or its actuator or valve positioner. If hysteresis or backlash increases significantly, service measures can be taken to fix the matter.
A typical way of detecting the hysteresis or backlash of an actuator is to switch the controller to a manual controlling mode and perform a sequence of step tests. In that case, the actuator is driven to the same position from different directions, in which case any differences between the control and the response due to backlash or hysteresis are found out by means of measurements. Another typical way is to drive the actuator back and forth over the whole control area and to estimate backlash and hysteresis from the measurement results. In the case of a valve actuator, for example, the valve is driven from the closed position to the open position and back to the closed position. A problem associated with these solutions is, however, that they are separate tests that need to be carried out when the process is interrupted or the process device to be examined is bypassed or detached from the process. Similar tests that are performed on the valve positioner are described in IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standard 61514, Industrial process control systems: Methods of evaluating the performance of valve positioners with pneumatic outputs, first edition, 2000-04.
WO 01/11436 discloses a method and an apparatus which statistically determine estimates for one or more process control loop parameters for the device or the control loop that is active in the process control environment. Such parameters include friction, dead band, dead time, vibration or backlash. In the method, one or more signals are always measured in the process control loop when the process control loop is connected to the on-line process control environment. The measured signal is stored as signal data, after which a number of statistical analyses are carried out on the stored data to determine the desired parameter estimate. An advantage of this solution is that the process device does not need to be removed from process or the control loop bypassed for the test.
In practice, the on-line determination of hysteresis or backlash is sensitive to process interference as well as inaccurate. Furthermore, it usually requires statistical calculation methods, matrix calculation, mathematical functions, etc.

Method and apparatus for determining hysteresis


A verification system has an operational component registry 10 that includes an interface 20, a memory device 30, and a processor 40. Preferably, the interface 20 in the operational component registry 10 communicates the installed identification data 50 from the gaming units 60 to the operational component registry. The memory device 30 preferably stores registered identification data 70 for the gaming units 60. Preferably, the processor 40 in the operational component registry 10 then analyzes the registered identification data 70 and the installed identification data 50 from the gaming units 60, after which enablement of the gaming units is determined based upon the examination of the registered identification data and the installed identification data. An operational component registry 10 may also monitor changes, services, requirements, enablement, and productivity of the gaming units or components of the gaming units.

There are a wide variety of software, hardware and other types of verification systems that attempt to monitor additions, deletions, changes, and updates, which are routinely performed on gaming machines. Typically, in the gaming field, verification of software or hardware installed on a gaming machine may occur by reviewing the contents of a read-only memory. To ensure that tampering, such as with software codes or hardware devices has not occurred, a simple review of the memory contents and visual inspection of hardware is conducted to verify the gaming application. Such a memory check is performed before start-up of the gaming machine or during game play after a win occurs and by a regulatory field agent's inspection.
This type of verification system is typically adequate only if the gaming application is stored in a read-only memory (e.g., the memory is difficult to alter and the standard software verification systems prevent unauthorized access), and if there is little danger that the hardware of the gaming machine will be compromised. For instance, in a casino with 24-hour surveillance, it is likely that any hardware tampering would quickly be noticed.
Today, it is becoming more common to connect multiple gaming machines and/or multiple gaming locations to provide many different gaming options. Moreover, there is a desire to operate these multiple gaming machines and/or casinos using a centralized system or network. Accordingly, when multiple gaming machines or multiple casinos are connected over a local area network or a wide area network, it is difficult to quickly and efficiently run the above-described software verifications or to engage in constant surveillance in each location to assure that no hardware tampering is occurring.
Additionally, gaming services are evolving to include virtual and networked platforms that permit use of gaming systems and services through non-dedicated, web-based, or remote access points. These virtual and networked games increase the difficulty of monitoring the use of unauthorized software and/or hardware in these remote locations.
Still further, the assortment of gaming options and services that are available on a gaming machine and/or a gaming network may vary over time. As the variety of gaming options and services that are available continues to increase, it becomes more difficult to accurately monitor and regulate the software and hardware that are used to implement the different games and gaming applications.
Additionally, the registry and tracking systems that are currently in place merely indicate whether or not a component is contained within a registry. Known registry systems do not use the registry to track the requirements for operation and to determine whether or not a gaming unit or a particular component may be enabled. Additionally, known registry systems do not track changes and servicing of the components, and thus, do not allow the registry to be automatically updated with new, authorized component information. Finally, the current systems do not track the productivity of the gaming units.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art have long recognized the need for enhanced verification of components and improved security measures that prevent enablement of gaming units and components or unauthorized installation changes. There is also a continuing need for a system that provides additional security from tampering by tracking the installations and changes to software or hardware on a gaming unit, thereby preventing unauthorized enablement of a gaming unit. Further, there is a continuing need for a system that is useful in monitoring and tracking gaming operations and services performed on a gaming machine or its components. The claimed invention clearly addresses these and other needs.


Network elements and resources associated with the network elements are manageable by multiple management systems. A request for network element resource management information is transmitted to at least two network management systems, and a reply identifying the network elements that are managed by the respective network management systems from the at least two network management systems is received.

1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments relate generally to telecommunications data network resource management, and more particularly, to management of network elements and resources by multiple management systems.
2. Description of the Background
Within a system-based management environment, typically a single management system manages one or more designated resources. Generally, a resource can be described in terms of its attributes. While some resources express a form of state, other resources may not.
With the arrival of Policy-based Management systems comes the possibility of managed resources with state that may need to be managed by two systems, the original system (generally an operations support system/network management system (OSS/NMS)) and a policy-based control system. This concept can be extended to the instance where generally two or more systems actively manage the same resource. A possible reason for this is that the systems work in differing time scales on the same managed resource and one such system can have differing functional capabilities, generally introduced as incremental functionality. Systems have a data model representation of the resource, including for example, rules on how to change the resource (e.g., possessing a state model of the resource) and a way to communicate with the resource. Thus, in the event that one system makes changes to a managed resource, then it is very likely that the other managing systems need to be updated about the change in the resource. For example, network elements generally consist of one or more physical and logical resources. Further, each management system may have its own rules about how to manage the resource, and such rules may need to be consulted by a system that desires to change a managed resource. There are challenges associated with this scenario. Some form of communication is needed and some form of resolution to cope with the different implementations is also needed.

Apparatus, methods, and computer program products for managing network elements and associated network element resources by multiple management systems


A method and system of inverting DC energy stored within a vehicle to AC energy sufficient for supplying appliances or other devices that traditionally receive AC energy from a wall outlet. The inverting may be executed without feedback control in that switching operations used to controller boosting and inverting the DC energy are controller solely from inputs and without regard to the actual output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle inverters of the type that facilitate inverting vehicle provided DC energy to AC energy.
2. Background Art
Non-electric vehicles, such as but not limited to those driven solely by internal combustion engines, typically include a DC battery to support storage of a supply of DC energy. Vehicle operating conditions, however, can cause energy supplied from the battery to vary. When DC energy is inverted to AC energy for powering sensitive appliances, even relatively minor variation in the DC energy can lead to unstablized output when an inverter continuously adapts its operation according to output variations since there may be some lag in how quickly adjustments can be made. In some scenarios, by the time the adjustment has been made, the input may have varied such that a recently corrected variation is no longer sufficient. Inverters that rely on output feedback to control switching operations, therefore, are particularly difficult to control, and can be unstable, when the input DC energy tends to vary, even it the variance is slight.
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and other electric vehicle (EVs) that support regenerative braking, automatic engine stop/start operation, and the like, tend to introduce even more voltage variations into vehicle electrical systems. FIG. 1 illustrates a graph 10 of electrical variations commonly associated with HEV and EV technology and its result on battery voltage. The graph generally illustrates electrical variations influencing capabilities of a vehicle battery to provide a constant 12.8V. One variation may result from battery discharge during acceleration, another variation may result from battery charging during deceleration (regeneration), another variation may result from automatic engine shut-down after vehicle stop, another variation may result from battery discharge during a vehicle stop phase, another variation may result from hot engine restart or engine start/stop during engine standstill, and yet another variation may results from controlled battery charging.
The voltage variations in non-electric and electric vehicles can be problematic and disruptive to the inversion process used to invert DC energy to AC energy.


An ultrasonic transducer drive circuit for driving an ultrasonic transducer by outputting pulses including a positive pulse and a negative pulse to an output line is provided. The ultrasonic transducer includes a positive voltage supply circuit, a negative voltage supply circuit, a current-inflow-type ground clamp circuit configured to operate when voltage in the output line is positive voltage, and a current-outflow-type ground clamp circuit configured to operate when voltage in the output line is negative voltage, wherein the current-inflow-type ground clamp circuit is configured to enter an operation state at a time of generating the negative pulse in a state where the voltage in the output line is positive voltage, and the current-outflow-type ground clamp circuit is configured to enter an operation state at a time of generating the positive pulse in a state where the voltage in the output line is negative voltage.

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transducer drive circuit and an ultrasonic image display apparatus.
An ultrasonic transducer drive circuit is a circuit for driving an ultrasonic transducer by outputting pulses made by a positive voltage pulse and a negative voltage pulse to an output line of the ultrasonic transducer. As such an ultrasonic transducer drive circuit, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-101072 discloses a circuit having a positive voltage supply circuit for supplying positive voltage to the output line and a negative voltage supply circuit for supplying negative voltage to the output line. In the ultrasonic transducer drive circuit, when a negative voltage pulse is generated in a state where the voltage in the output line is positive voltage, the negative voltage supply circuit is operated and, to generate a positive voltage pulse in a state where the voltage in the output line is negative voltage, the positive voltage supply circuit is operated.
When the negative voltage supply circuit is operated at the time of generating the negative voltage pulse in a state where the voltage in the output line is positive voltage, current flows in the negative voltage supply circuit for predetermined time and power is consumed. When the positive voltage supply circuit is operated at the time of generating the positive voltage pulse in a state where the voltage in the output line is negative voltage, current flows in the positive voltage supply circuit for predetermined time and power is consumed. Therefore, suppression of power consumption in the positive voltage supply circuit and the negative voltage supply circuit is an issue.

Ultrasonic transducer drive circuit and ultrasonic image display apparatus

GE MEDICAL SYSTEMS GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY, LLC


The invention provides intimate physical mixtures of macrocyclic polyester oligomer (MPO) and filler, as well as methods for their preparation and use. Improved dispersion of filler in a polymer matrix is achieved upon polymerization, and larger amounts of filler with high aspect ratio can be used. In one aspect, the invention provides mixtures of MPO with magnesium silicate. In another aspect, the invention provides a mixture of MPO, filler, and polymerization catalyst as a one-part, ready-to-polymerize material with a long shelf life. The one-part material can be used, for example, in the manufacture of parts without modification of existing processing equipment.

Semi-crystalline polymers are useful as engineering thermoplastics because they possess advantageous chemical, physical, and electrical properties, and because they can be readily processed by thermal means. For example, linear semi-crystalline polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) are processed by injection molding and extrusion in the manufacture of plastic components.
It is important that semi-crystalline polymers be heat resistant, because they are typically processed at high temperature. Heat deflection temperature (HDT) is a measure of the short-term heat resistance of a material. The heat deflection temperature distinguishes between materials that are able to sustain light loads at high temperatures and those that lose their rigidity over a narrow temperature range. Thus, a high heat deflection temperature is indicative of a material whose modulus (i.e. Young's modulus) is high over a wide temperature range.
It is of interest, therefore, to increase the heat deflection temperature of polymeric materials without substantially affecting other desired properties of the material. Similarly, it is desired to increase the modulus of a material over a wide temperature range without substantially affecting other desired properties of the material.
Certain fillers have been added to polymer compositions in an attempt to increase heat deflection temperature. Fillers that have been added to polymer compositions include fibrous fillers with high modulus, such as fiberglass and carbon fiber, as well as non-fibrous fillers such as calcium carbonate, wollastonite, and mica. However, the addition of filler to a polymer will generally have a negative impact on other properties of the resulting polymer composition, such as ductility, impact strength, and toughness. Furthermore, it is a general rule that the more filler that is added, the greater its impact on the properties of the polymer composition.
Fillers with high aspect ratio have been investigated, because lesser amounts of these fillers are generally needed to produce a desired modulus-increasing effect for a given polymer composition. However, there are a number of problems resulting from the use of high-aspect-ratio fillers. It is typically more difficult to incorporate fillers with high aspect ratio into polymer. Often, the filler is not compatible with the polymer, and stable, highly-disperse mixtures of the filler in the polymer are difficult or impossible to achieve.
Macrocyclic polyester oligomer (macrocyclic oligoester, MPO) has unique properties that make it attractive as a matrix-forming resin for engineering thermoplastic composites. For example, MPO generally exhibits low melt viscosity and can polymerize at temperatures well below the melting point of the resulting polymer. An MPO of particular interest is macrocyclic poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate) oligomer.
It has been shown that mixtures of macrocyclic poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate) oligomer and organically-modified montmorillonite (a form of aluminosilicate) can be polymerized to produce a polymeric composition with high modulus (see, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,439, by Takekoshi et al.). However, montmorillonite must be modified by cation exchange prior to incorporation with the MPO.

Intimate physical mixtures containing macrocyclic polyester oligomer and filler