Apparatus for remote monitoring of partial discharge events in electrical apparatus 1 includes one or more sensors 5 for detecting partial discharge pulses in one or more conductors 2 conveying electrical power to the apparatus. A programmed computer 5 analyzes measured pulses and discriminates between those originating from the apparatus being monitored and elsewhere. Discrimination is achieved by analyzing pulse shape, and by comparing pulses to partial discharge events measured locally to the sensors. The apparatus enables partial discharge events in electrical apparatus to be monitored without having to install sensors at the equipment itself.

Partial discharge is caused by the localised electrical breakdown of electric insulation materials under high voltage stress. Detecting and measuring partial discharge events is a useful way of identifying underlying electrical breakdown and other incipient faults in electrical apparatus.
Existing methods of detecting partial discharge events involve the use of sensors on the apparatus being monitored to detect electrical pulses caused by a partial discharge event. Suitable sensors include coupling capacitors and inductive high frequency high current transformers. Transient earth voltage detectors have been employed to sense the electromagnetic field at gaps in the metal enclosures of switchgear so as to detect partial discharge events in the switchgear.
In each case the sensor must be placed near to the apparatus being monitored so as to detect discharge events originating from the apparatus.
Often electrical machines operate in remote and dangerous environments. An example is in oil and gas installations where electric motors used to drive pumps and compressors are located a considerable distance from switchgear that controls the motor, and may be located in an explosion risk environment. Monitoring electrical apparatus at multiple remote locations involves installing suitable sensors on each item of apparatus and arranging for the sensor outputs to be relayed to a convenient monitoring point. Where the apparatus is in an explosive risk environment it is subject to strict safety criteria and any associated monitoring equipment must also meet that criteria. These requirements are onerous and consequently monitoring of electrical apparatus located in explosive risk environments for partial discharge is often omitted.
It is an object of embodiments of the present invention to address these issues.

Apparatus and method for remote monitoring of partial discharge in electrical apparatus


The pickup roller is placed above a lifting plate made of a flexible material and feeds the sheet with abutting on an upper surface of the sheets loaded on the lifting plate. The sensor detects an arrival of the sheet fed by the pickup roller on a downstream side of the pickup roller. The abnormality detection unit detects the sheet feeding abnormality of the sheet fed by the pickup roller based on the drive start time of the pickup roller and the time sheet detection by the sensor. The abnormality detecting condition correction unit corrects the abnormality detecting condition of the abnormality detection unit depending on the amount of sheets on the lifting plate.

The present disclosure relates to a sheet supply device for supplying a sheet like a paper, and an image forming apparatus.
The sheet supply device is widely applied to the image forming apparatus like the copying machine, the facsimile machine, the scanner, and the multifunction apparatus. Using the sheet supply device, the sheets like papers to transfer an original image thereon are conveyed one by one to a position to form the image thereon, whereby the image forming apparatus can print each image successively.
The sheet supply device is configured so that a sheet bundle abuts on a pickup roller in order that a plurality of sheets stacked onto a tray is fed one by one. A thickness of sheet bundle depends on the number of sheets stacked on the tray. Accordingly, a distance between a sheet stacking surface and the pickup roller should be adjusted according to the thickness of sheet bundle, in order to allow the sheet bundle to abut on the pickup roller properly. A lifting plate liftably mounted on the sheet stacking surface can be used for such adjustment. In the sheet supply device, the sheet bundle on the lifting plate is pushed up by the lifting plate, and the sheet bundle abuts on the pickup roller. The pickup roller sends out the sheet abutting on the pickup roller.
There are various kinds of techniques for materializing a stable sheet feeding in such sheet supply device. For instance, one configuration is disclosed wherein a torsion spring is employed as a lifting member for lifting up the lifting plate, and the elastic deformation of the torsion spring is changed depending on the paper remaining amount so that the force pushing up the lifting plate can be varied. In this configuration, it is possible to generate an almost constant feeding pressure (the force pushing sheet bundle against the pickup roller) regardless of the change of the loading weight from the full loading to the last sheet.
In addition, another configuration is disclosed wherein a plurality of elastic members is employed as the lifting member for lifting up the lifting plate. In such configuration, the force for lifting up the lifting plate can be varied by using an elastic member for generating a linear elastic force and the other elastic member for generating a non-linear elastic force.
Moreover, there is another configuration to suppress the conveyance skid by increasing the feeding pressure when the time for the fed sheet to arrive at the position to detect the paper arrival is longer than the specific time.
The image forming apparatus such as the printers has been requested to improve the image forming speed (the printing speed). On that account, since the sheet supply device is also needed to improve the paper feeding speed, the rotating speed (peripheral speed) of the pickup roller is increased. Where the rotating speed of the pickup roller is increased, the frictional force, which is generated between the pickup roller and the uppermost paper at the start of the pickup roller rotation, also tends to increase.
Moreover, there is a request of price reduction of the image forming apparatus, and it is considered that the cost of members composing the image forming apparatus is cut down. As the measure to down the cost, it is considered that the member made of metal is replaced with the member made of resin such as plastic. For instance, regarding the sheet supply device, it is considered that the member made of resin is used as the lifting plate uses.
When the resin member is applied to the lifting plate of the sheet supply device wherein the peripheral speed of the pickup roller is large as described above, however, the lifting plate is warped by the frictional force. When the warp is generated on the lifting plate in such way, the force for pushing the sheet bundle to the pickup roller is reduced. As a result, the paper feeding pressure is reduced, and the sheet cannot be sent out appropriately. That is to say, an interval between the drive start time of the pickup roller and the finishing time of the sheet feeding gets long. When it is determined that the lifting plate is to be lifted up because the warp occurs on the lifting plate and the force for pushing the sheet bundle to the pickup roller is reduced, the time is required for lifting the lifting plate, too. In this case, the interval between the drive start time of the pickup roller and the finishing time of the sheet feeding become longer than ever.
In the sheet supply device, in order to determine whether or not the sheet is conveyed normally, a sensor is disposed on the downstream side of the pickup roller, and the interval between the drive start time of the pickup roller and the detection time that the sensor detects the sheet fed by the pickup roller is measured. When the measured time is longer than a predetermined maximum time, it is determined the abnormal of sheet feeding (JAM). In the above-mentioned high-speed sheet supply device, there is a tendency that the maximum time is set to be short. Therefore, when the sheet feeding time gets long due to the warp of the lifting plate, the abnormality of sheet feeding is detected frequently.
Since the above-mentioned sheet conveyance failure is caused by the warp of the lifting sheet, even if the method for keeping the feeding pressure constant and the method for increasing the feeding pressure, as disclosed in the foregoing conventional arts, are applied to the sheet supply device, it is not possible to eliminate the sheet failure.

Sheet supply device and image forming appartus


A motor controlling device includes a high-side first switching element corresponding to each phase of a three-phase brushless motor, a low-side second switching element corresponding to each phase, a shunt resistor disposed between and connected to the second switching element and a grounding line, and a power controlling section for controlling the first switching element and the second switching element. The device further includes a decision section configured to effect abnormality decision based on a sum of values of currents flowing in the shunt resistors of all the phases acquired by using the power controlling section to switch OFF the first switching element of any one phase whose duty ratio is found equal to or greater than a threshold value for a predetermined period and also to switch ON the second switching element of the same one phase for the predetermined period.

As such motor controlling device, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which an inverter device for controlling a multiple-phase AC generator comprises switching elements provided on its high side and its low side respectively and two current sensors are incorporated in three wires connecting the inverter device and a motor generator.
In this Patent Document 1, a failure in the current sensors is detected through comparison between measured current values acquired by the plurality of current sensors and also an arrangement is provided for enabling identification (specifying) of a failed current sensor at time of failure detection.
Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which switching elements are provided on the high side and the low side as an inverter for driving a brushless motor and a shunt resistor is incorporated in a current line through which a current from the low-side switching element flows.
The technique disclosed in this Patent Document 2 is arranged such that a current flowing through the low-side switching element is converted into a voltage signal via the shunt resistor and based on this voltage signal, a current flowing in each phase can be controlled.


Use of a polysaccharide selected from the group consisting of sulfated acid mucopolysaccharides and sulfated dextrans, and physiologically acceptable salts thereof for prophylaxis or treatment of inflammations, particularly an adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), ischemic heart diseases, ischemic cerebral diseases, chronic articular rheumatism, atopic dermatitis, and infiltration after organ implantation.

Nowadays, corticoids or various non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents are clinically widely used for the purpose of preventing complications due to inflammation. However, since although corticoids exhibit a strong anti-inflammatory action, grave side effects such as induction of infectious diseases accompany the action, they cannot serially be administered, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents have only weak efficacy in general. Therefore, it is still needed to develop anti-inflammatory agents exhibiting almost no side effect and yet having sufficient efficacy.
Incidentally, in the screening systems by which anti-inflammatory agents as mentioned above had been developed, anti-prostaglandin actions (e.g., phospholipase A2 inhibition, cyclooxygenase inhibition, lipoxygenase inhibition) had generally been used as a measure. On the other hand, in this invention, the present inventors intend to solve the above problems from the viewpoint that an utterly novel-type of anti-inflammatory agents may probably be developed by utilizing a screening system constructed based on the findings on induction of inflammation being clarified recently (i.e., a screening system using as a measure inhibition of influx of neutrophils, more specifically, selectin-mediated inhibition of adhesion of neutrophils to vascular endothelial cells).
In order to clarify the sense of the screening system used in the invention, the findings of its background are outlined below. For example, inflammation is speculated to be induced by molecules promoting adhesive interactions between leukocytes and vascular endothelial cells, and it has also come to be clarified that certain adhesion promoting molecules play an important role for promotion of the adhesive interaction. Further, it is also revealed that adhesion promoting molecules exist in both leukocytes and activated vascular endothelial cells (blood vessel at the inflammation site), and interactions between these adhesion promoting molecules are the first indispensable stage for influx of leukocytes to the inflammatory site. These adhesion promoting molecules are molecules found in both leukocytes and activated vascular endothelial cells, and selectin family and integrin family are the most important as the molecules.
On the other hand, it is also reported to use, for control of the above interactions, monoclonal antibodies (Eur. J. Immunol., 23, 2181-2188, 1993), peptides and further certain oligosaccharides (J. Cell Biol., 99, 1535, 1984; Tednok et al., J. Cell Biol., 104, 713, 1987; Blood, 70, 1842, 1987). Further, although leukocytes adhere to endothelial cells in the lymph node through the above action of selectin, it is clarified that this response is inhibited by certain sulfate radical-containing compounds (J. Cell Biol., 111, 1225, 1990). It is still further reported that inflammatory response can be inhibited in various laboratory animal model by inhibiting the above adhesive interactions (J. Immunol., 150, 2407; J. Immunol., 150, 1074 etc.).
However, it is not clarified whether or not these monoclonal antibodies, peptides, oligosaccharides and sulfate radical-containing compounds can actually be used as anti-inflammatory agents.
The present inventors found that the neutrophil-dependent, oxygen radical-mediated and P-, L- or E- selectin-dependent inflammation model obtained by intravenous administration to rats of cobra venom factor (hereafter, sometimes abbreviated as "CVF"), recently proposed in M. S. Mulligan et al., Nature, 364, 149-151, 1993, is an excellent screening method for anti-inflammatory agents. More specifically, they found that specific polysaccharides such as sulfated hyaluronic acid screened using the above laboratory animal model exhibit excellent anti-inflammatory actions, and can, particularly, be used for prophylaxis or treatment of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This syndrome is such a grave disease that 50 to 70% of patients suffering therefrom die (Igaku no Ayumi, 168 (no. 6), 626-631). It was further found that since substances screened using the above laboratory animal model inhibit the influx of neutrophils to the vascular endothelial adhesion tissue mediated by selectin, these substances show efficacy not only on ARDS but widely on general inflammations, and show efficacy further on ischemic heart diseases, ischemic cerebral diseases, chronic articular rheumatism, atopic dermatitis and infiltration after organ implantation.
In this connection, although it is suggested that sulfates of various saccharides including sulfated hyaluronic acid is usable for treatment of diseases caused by human immunodeficiency viruses (Japanese Patent Publication No. 7577/1990), it has not hitherto been disclosed in technical literatures that these saccharides can be used as anti-inflammatory agents.


Method and system of key distribution by trusted nodes for a vehicular ad hoc network, the nodes of said network having at least one pair of public-private keys and the corresponding certificates, issued by a CA, said method comprising each vehicle node, on entering said network region, requesting a set of keys from an RSU node that is within range and within that region, said RSU node sending said vehicle node a set of private keys, selected from a pool of private keys, and a list with the key identifiers of the private keys shared by said vehicle node and the other vehicle nodes that have most recently contacted said RSU for a predetermined period of time; such that two nodes are able to establish a secure connection without further interaction by deriving a shared secret which is a cryptographic hash function of the keys shared by said two nodes.

Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) are expected to enable increased safety, enhanced driving experience, and improved traffic efficiency. These networks are characterized by short-lived pairwise connections, which makes the network topology highly dynamic. Furthermore, single trip of a vehicle may involve communication with a large number of other vehicles. Dependence on such technology, however, may turn hazardous if not implemented securely, particularly due to the vulnerability of the wireless medium to passive and active attacks.
Messages exchanged in a VANET have different roles, thus requiring different security measures. For instance, securing safety messages requires the deployment of a scheme that would privilege authentication over confidentiality [1], since the information contained in the message is not particularly sensitive and may be of interest to multiple users, while the legitimacy of the source is important. These applications lie at the heart of vehicular networks, and perhaps for that reason it is generally considered that integrity and authentication are of greater concern than confidentiality. Therefore, most security schemes adopt vehicular public key infrastructures (PKI), e.g., [2], [3] that, in general, make use of public key cryptography (PKC) for authentication. A large number of applications and services that could be deployed in VANETs may depend on confidential data transmission. These applications range from driver assistance systems (e.g., [4]) to traffic information systems (e.g., [5]) and infotainment applications (e.g., [6). Although PKC could also be used for encryption, efficiency dictates that the best course of action to provide confidential transmission is to use symmetric encryption with a shared secret [7]. However, PKC solutions are not adequate for noisy environments since they generally employ several rounds of interaction between users. Furthermore, in dense networks, the overhead of message transmission and signature verification can be prohibitive [1].
Due to the vital role of authentication, proposed VANET security frameworks rely heavily on PKC. Consequently, most of the research focuses on the design of PKI-based key management systems for pairwise or group communication (e.g., [1], [9]). When symmetric encryption is required, it is expected that nodes perform some well-known key agreement schemes or use integrated encryption schemes. In particular, the IEEE 1609.2 standard specifies the Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme as the asymmetric encryption algorithm [3], which is based on Diffie-Hellman key agreement. In [9], an architecture was proposed for secure vehicular communications, which includes a key management scheme. Certification authorities (CAs) are responsible for managing the identity and credentials of vehicles registered within a given region. Each node is registered only in a given CA, which provides it with a unique ID, a long-term pair of private/public keys and a long-term certificate. To achieve secure communication, short-term private-public key pairs and certificates are used. These are internally generated by the node and signed by the CA. Raya and Hubaux [1] designed a security framework for VANETs based on PKI. A protocol is proposed which uses the geographic location of vehicles. In the protocol, a geographic group is formed, which elects a group leader, responsible for distributing a group key to its members, enabling secure communication within the group. In any scenario where the protocol cannot function properly, the fallback to a simple digital signature scheme is ensured.
In practice, VANETs are characterized by a dynamic topology and link disconnections are frequent. Moreover, sporadic and burst errors are common due to the presence of signal propagation obstacles that lead to shadowing [10]. Therefore, it is crucial that the key agreement protocol makes use of the least possible interaction between users in order to minimize the overall delay in the key establishment procedure as well as maximizing the probability of success. This can be achieved by means of probabilistic key distribution schemes. However, due to the size and dynamic nature of these networks, key pre-distribution is unfeasible.

Probabilistic key distribution in vehicular networks with infrastructure support


An apparatus (10) for preparing meals, which is suitable in particular for use on board a commercial aircraft, includes a meal preparation unit (12) and a supply unit (14). The supply unit (12) includes a fuel cell system (16) having a fuel cell (18) and is equipped to supply the meal preparation unit (12) with water produced by the fuel cell (18).

Currently it is conventional on board commercial aircraft to use a steam oven arranged in the galley of the aircraft for preparing hot meals for the passengers. In this case ready meals that are normally supplied by a catering service are put in the steam oven and are subjected therein to the action of hot steam. Consequently the ready meals are supplied with both the water and heat which are required to bring the set meals into a ready-to-serve state. The use of a conventional steam oven to prepare hot meals on board an aircraft has the drawback that a relatively large amount of water is required to operate the steam oven and this has to be stored in a tank in the heated region of the aircraft so it is prevented from freezing.
DE 196 26 955 A1 describes a convection oven provided for use in an aircraft galley and which comprises a water trough that can be heated and is connected to a water reservoir at the galley side.
From DE 103 09 506 A1 is known an apparatus for heating meals which is provided for use in an aircraft and comprises at least one induction coil for generating an electromagnetic alternating field.
DE 198 21 952 C2 discloses an energy supply unit on board an aircraft in which a main engine generator, an auxiliary power unit, a ram air turbine or a NiCd battery is replaced by a PEM fuel cell. Water obtained from the exhaust flow of the fuel cell can be used to supply the aircraft's own water system.
DE 103 56 012 A1 relates to an arrangement for generating water on board an aircraft which comprises a fuel cell supplied with air and water.
DE 103 60 303 A1 describes a heating system for use in a galley of an aircraft. The heating system comprises electrical heating elements and a control unit, wherein the control unit controls the supply of electrical energy to the heating elements from a d.c. power source or a fuel cell.


The invention relates to a continuous process for preparing aminoplastics and/or phenolics, in which a precondensate solution is prepared in a first extruder (14), the precondensate solution is continuously fed, with addition of additives, to a second extruder (20) with partial filling in the feed section (E) and devolatilization section (G), devolatilized in the second extruder (20) and then formed to give a molding composition or an end product. The process is particularly suitable for preparing melamine resins, in particular melamine-formaldehyde resins, as well as for preparing urea-formaldehyde resins.

The invention relates to a process for preparing aminoplastics and/or phenolics and to the use of the process for preparing melamine resins and/or phenolic resins, in particular melamine-formaldehyde resins, urea-formaldehyde resins, phenolic resins and blends.
Aminoplastics (injection- or compression-moldings cured either directly or during the further shaping of semifinished products) have good mechanical properties, high flame retardancy, heat resistance and solvent resistance, high scratch resistance and good appearance (surface). The starting materials for preparing aminoplastics are low in price, compared with those for polyamides or other engineering plastics.
A conventional process for preparing melamine resin semifinished or finished parts has a series of steps: the starting materials are firstly precondensed batchwise in a heatable mixing vessel to give an amine-formaldehyde resin solution of about 50% strength, the resultant solution is spray-dried to give melamine-formaldehyde resin powder, the resultant resin powder is dry-mixed with fillers in, for example, a plowshare mixer in a further step, then continuously plasticized via heatable calenders to give a compound, and, in further steps, firstly comminuted coarsely, then finely ground; batches are mixed to give uniformity of color and the material is recompacted to give a free-flowing molding composition and finally injection- or compression-molded to give finished parts.
A simplified process for preparing a melamine-formaldehyde resin in a xe2x80x9csingle passxe2x80x9d reactor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,062. It is significant here that the starting materials are crystalline melamine and solid formaldehyde and that operations are carried out in the absence of water or any other solvent. Solid formaldehyde, however, is more expensive than aqueous formaldehyde solutions. In addition, this process gives melamine-formaldehyde resins which have properties significantly different from those of resins prepared in the presence of solvents.
DE-A 24 51 874 describes an improved process for preparing aminoplastics, in which an aqueous solution of a precondensate, with addition of pigments if desired, is passed into a fluidized-bed dryer and there sprayed onto fillers, dried, and then pelletized and used directly as molding composition.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous process which permits simple and low-cost preparation of aminoplastics in a small number of steps. The novel process should moreover allow the processing and product properties of aminoplastics to be specifically adjusted within a wide range in a simple manner.
We have found that this object is achieved by means of a process in which a precondensate solution is prepared in a first extruder, the precondensate solution is continuously fed, with addition of additives, to a second extruder with partial filling in the feed section (E) and devolatilization section (G), devolatilized in the second extruder and then formed to give an end product.
It has been found that the addition of appropriately chosen additives in the second extruder makes it possible to adjust the reactivity of the resin or to make controlled improvements in product properties, such as in particular impact strength or other mechanical properties. The process moreover allows the residual moisture of the product to be adjusted in the second extruder via devolatilization systems.
In the novel process, a precondensate solution is firstly prepared in a manner known from EP-B 0 355 760, by mixing the starting materials, for example melamine and aqueous formaldehyde solution, and, if desired, paraformaldehyde, in a molar ratio melamine: formaldehyde of from 1:1.5 to 1:3, preferably from 1:2 to 1:3, if desired adding known modifiers and additives which do not disturb the condensation reaction, for example monoalcohols, diols, sulfonamides, sugars, basic catalysts, such as amines, aminoalcohols and hydroxyalkylmelamines, and precondensing them in a first extruder at from 120 to 140xc2x0 C. to a degree of condensation corresponding to a viscosity rise to at least 1 Pa. s. The precondensate solution has a solids content of from 60 to 90%, preferably from 75 to 80%.
Urea-formaldehyde precondensate solutions may be prepared correspondingly from urea solutions and formaldehyde solutions, if desired with suitable additives.
A vital element of the process is a second extruder, to which is fed the precondensate solution prepared in the first extruder in a known manner. While the first extruder must be 100% filled, so that the residence time can be precisely adjusted, giving a defined degree of condensation, the second extruder must, according to the invention, be partly filled in the feed section (E) and in the devolatilization section (G). This makes it possible firstly to add directly into the second extruder additives which can be used to adjust the processing and product properties of the aminoplastics and secondly to carry out, in the second extruder, a devolatilization of the melt, which would not be possible in a completely filled extruder because of the resultant discharge of solids.
The first extruder is preferably operated in a range of rotation rates of from about 12 to 20 rotations per minute, and the second extruder preferably at from 20 to 300 rotations per minute, particularly preferably from 80 to 150 rotations per minute.
The temperature of the second extruder can be controlled section by section via temperature sensors (TIC), the settings being advantageously from 30 to 170xc2x0 C., preferably from 80 to 120xc2x0 C.
At the end of the second extruder, acid catalysts are added which bring about the subsequent curing of the products.
Attached to the second extruder there is equipment which brings about the forming of the end product in a suitable manner:
In a first version, the fully formulated molding composition devolatilized in the second extruder may be extruded via a multi-strand die, pelletized, given a final drying and cooled. The pellets have properties similar to those of commercially available molding compositions and may be further processed, for example by injection molding.
In a second version, a sheet die may be used at the end of the extruder, and through this the raw molding composition may be shaped to give continuous sheet. The process parameters here are adjusted so that the sheet has sufficient dimensional stability but is not yet fully cured. The resultant sheet is then calibrated and cooled. This gives a salable product which is a semifinished product capable of further processing and which may be reshaped in heatable presses to give the desired cured finished part.
In a third version, the continuous sheet is calibrated and completely cured at from 130 to 190xc2x0 C., by attaching a heatable belt press downstream of the sheet die. The fully cured molding can be used in various application sectors, in particular in the electrical, building and motor vehicle sectors.

Continuous method for producing amino- and/or phenoplasts


The present invention relates to an optical scanning device that comprises a light source to emit a beam of light, and a beam splitter to split that beam into several beamlets, and further a first objective lens to direct said beamlets onto a focal plane wherein each of said beamlets impinges on the focal plane spacially separated from each other, wherein the beam splitter comprises several birefringent elements for splitting said beam, preferably a stack of Wollaston prisms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical scanning devices, and more particularly, to multi-photon fluorescence microscopes.
2. Related Art
Optical scanning devices, e.g. laser scanning microscopes are used to scan samples multi-dimensionally by directing a beam of light over the sample's surface to obtain a multi- (two- or three-) dimensional view.
If fast effects, e.g. structural re-arrangements or chemical reactions, are to be measured, the scanning must be correspondingly fast. A faster scanning can be achieved by moving the beam faster across the surface.
In most cases one cannot compensate for that by simply increasing the illumination intensity since this increasingly leads to saturation of the fluorescence dye, to stronger bleaching or even worse to damaging processes in the sample. This is also true for multi-photon fluorescence microscopes. Here the fluorescent molecules, e.g. GFP, of an object/sample are excited by the high intensity of a short pulse laser so that two photons (typically in the near infrared) are absorbed simultaneously to reach the excitation band of the fluorescence molecule in the green or blue range. A specific advantage of the multi-photon fluorescence excitation is that it is less photo-toxic and has larger penetration depth due to the longer wavelength of the red light, as opposed to short-wave/blue light. Unfortunately the so-called two-photon effect is a rather weak interaction that produces relatively few fluorescence photons compared to the single photon excitation. Thus, in order to get a reasonable signal-to-noise ratio, a longer measurement period or higher excitation intensity would be needed. One way to limit or shorten this measurement period without a damaging increase in the light intensity is to use multiple beams simultaneously with intensities below the detrimental thresholds. The generation of multiple secondary beams (beamlets) out of the primary beam can be done by arrays of micro-lenses. These beamlets then simultanously scan different parts of the object, thus reducing overall measurement time roughly by the number of beamlets. An array of micro-lenses is described in A. Egner, S. Jacobs, S. W. Hell: "Fast 100-nm resolution three-dimensional microscope reveals structural plasticity of mitochondria in live yeast" pp. 3370-3375, PNAS, 19 Mar. 2002, vol. 99 no. 6, or: A. Egner et al.: Time multiplexing and parallelization in multifical multiphoton microscopy", J. Opt. Soc. Am. A/Vol. 17, No. 7/July 2000.
Another way to split the primary beam into multiple beamlets is to use multiple beam splitters and mirrors, as e.g. described in DE 199 04 592 C2.
With both above mentioned beam splitting methods it is difficult to get beamlets of equal intensity and quality, particularly for several wave lengths. For example, the arrays of micro-lenses show significant aberration errors and production tolerances, esp. with respect to the focus lengths. Additionally, the motorisation required to move the lenses causes mechanical vibration effects in the instrument disturbing the microscopic imaging, especially at high resolutions.
FR 2 814 247 shows a confocal laser microscope that can be especially applied to fluorescent measurements in biological samples. To speed up the measurement process, the collimated laser-beam can by divided into multiple beams of different directions by means of birefringent prisms.
In a fundamentally different microscope technique a non focussed wide field beam is split up into two slightly inclined beams by a Wollaston prism in order to generate the so-called Nomarski Interference Contrast or Differential Interference Contrast (DIC). This technique allows to turn a microscopic phase object optically into an amplitude object, so that a visual contrast is generated. Here the two beams are displaced in the focus by a fraction of the optical resolution with respect to each other. With displacements larger than the optical resolution the interference and thus the contrast vanishes.
US 2001/0012151 A1 shows a microscope assemblage, in particular for confocal scanning microscopy, having a light source for illuminating a specimen to be examined and at least one fluorescent-light detector for the detection of fluorescent light generated in the specimen and at least one transmitted-light detector for the detection of transmitted light passing through the specimen. The microscope is configured such that the fluorescent-light and transmitted-light detected are arranged in such a way as to make possible simultaneous detection of fluorescent and transmitted light. This microscope can be used in particular for interference contrast microscope. For this purpose a first polarisation device could be arranged between the light source and the specimen, preferably before the objective, and a second polarisation device after the specimen, preferably after the condenser. The polarisation devices could be constituted by prisms, wherein in this context Wollaston prisms are particularly suitable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,392,752 B1 shows a device for phase-measuring microlens microscopy, wherein a scanning microlens array functions in a manner analogous to an array of interference microscopes to provide phase-sensitive, confocal micro-imaging capability. Moreover, the scanning mechanism can effectively perform a phase-modulation function. In this mode of operation, each image point is scanned by multiple microlenses that have fixed, but different, built-in phase offsets, and the combination of signal acquired from the multiple scans effectively simulate a phase-modulated interference signal. The scanning confocal microlens array can be adapted to provide phase-measuring capability by equipping each microlens with a beam-splitting mechanism that separates the illumination on the microlens into two beams, at least one of which is focused onto and reflect off an inspection sample. The two beams are coherently recombined by the beam-splitting mechanism and are projected onto an element of a detector array, wherein each detector element senses radiation from a particular corresponding microlens. The sample is scanned laterally across the focal point array to build up a synthesised, two-dimensional image of the sample surface.
Prisms, including the Wollaston prism are, e.g., described in Naumann/Schröder: "Bauelemente der optik", 6th ed., pp. 504-509.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical device and a respective method that show improved beamlet characteristics and thus fast imaging at high fidelity and easier interpretation of data.
The object is solved by an optical scanning device with the features of claim 1. Advantageous scanning devices are given in the subclaims.

Optical scanning device and method of deriving same

Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Stiftung des Offentlichen Rechts


When a speech signal that may include a sibilant consisting of one or more formants is received, frequencies and selectivity factors are determined for each sibilant formant in the speech signal. Then, the frequencies and selectivity factors are compared to a set of empirically derived criteria to classify the sibilant sound.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a method and apparatus for speech recognition, and in particular to a method and apparatus for sibilant classification of speech. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sibilant classification of speech in a speech recognition system that is speaker independent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Human speech sounds originate in two different ways. They originate as either sonorant sounds or fricatives. Sonorant or "voiced" sounds are generated by the vocal chords as harmonic-rich periodic pressure waves. These pressure waves are then filtered by a number of resonant cavities in the upper respiratory tract. A speaker uses muscles in the throat and mouth to alter the resonant frequencies of these cavities and thereby form various vowel sounds. Fricatives, also called, sibilants, are the brief hissing sounds associated with pronouncing "S", "SH", "F", and "H" sounds. Basically, sibilant sounds result from turbulent flow that occurs when the speaker's breath is passed through a constriction. For example, the "H" sound is caused by a constriction between the tongue and palate. These aperiodic noises are filtered by small resonant cavities formed by the tongue, palate, teeth and lips. The filtering by the small resonant cavities enhances certain bands of frequencies within the noise to impart a noticeable coloration. Variations on this effect allow for differentiation of sibilant sounds.
Distinguishing between these different sibilant sounds has been a challenge for electronic speech recognition systems. Distinguishing between these sounds is important not only for distinguishing "S", "SH", "F", "H", but also the more abrupt derivatives of these sounds, such as "CH", "K" and "T". Some existing speech recognition systems treat sibilants lumped together with the voiced aspects of the sound to derive a collective summary vector for further processing. Such systems may be considered to be spectrum aware. In contrast, other speech recognition systems employ a filter to extract the higher frequencies, which may haphazardly include harmonics of the voiced signal, and assess the short-term amplitude envelope of the high frequencies without much regard for the spectral content. In telephone applications, both of these types of systems suffer poor sibilant recognition hindered by the limited bandwidth of the telephone channel. But with full bandwidth applications as in direct microphone input, the latter technique that ignores high frequency formants is at a distinct disadvantage. Furthermore, systems of both types have had difficulty in classifying sibilant sounds in a speaker-independent manner. Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and system for sibilant sound classification in a speech recognition system that is speaker independent.

Method and apparatus for sibilant classification in a speech recognition system

International Business Machines Corporation


An illuminating system scatters light into the mucosal lining of the stomach adjacent to an ulcerated area, an area containing a lesion, or ather area of interest. A light detector positioned on the opposite side of the area of interest uses detected light patterns to identify the location of circulatory structures beneath the mucosal lining adjacent to the area of interest.

Peptic ulcers remain one of the commonest causes of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. In the past few years, significant progress has been made in the treatment of ulcer hemorrhage, particularly with the increasing development of endoscopic treatments. One method for treating ulcer hemorrhage is endoscopic haemostasis with a thermal probe. When an ulcerated area is observed in the stomach through an endoscope, for example, an RF or other type of thermal probe is applied against the ulcerated area through an endoscope. The thermal probe heats and coagulates the tissue to stop the actual or potential bleeding. To successfully perform a haemostasis, or to prevent future bleeding with a thermal probe, it frequently is necessary to coagulate tissue adjacent to the ulcerated areas visible through an endoscope.
The entire blood vessel needing to be coagulated for successful treatment of a bleeding, or potentially bleeding, ulcer generally is not fully visible through an endoscope. Part of the blood vessel needing to be coagulated generally is underneath the adjacent areas of stomach lining, and it coagulation of this portion of the blood vessel is performed by applying the thermal probe against the mucosal tissue in the stomach above the vessel, coagulating both the vessel and the mucosal tissue. For this reason, the physician applying the thermal probe is often forced to select the specific areas of the tissue to coagulate without full information about the circulatory and other structures underlying the stomach tissue surrounding the all selected areas. Even when the stomach ulcer is visibly actively bleeding at a specific location or when a portion of a blood vessel is visible through an endoscope at a specific location, the physician often lacks full information about the precise location of the remaining portions of the blood vessel needing to be coagulated, which remaining portions are located beneath the stomach lining in the vicinity of the bleeding. Due to these limitations, the physician cannot, as a practical matter, treat an ulcerated condition without also treating visually inaccessible portions of the blood vessel underlying the surrounding stomach tissue that are selection without adequate locating information. Hence, most successful haemostasis procedures with thermal probes heat and destroy not only the blood vessels requiring coagulation, but healthy surrounding tissue that do not need coagulation as well. Indeed, overtreating the area by coagulating portions of the adjacent area that do not need coagulating is the only practical way in the prior art in which the physician can be confident that the entire portion of the blood vessel needing coagulation is properly coagulated. The result of applying a thermal probe to areas not requiring coagulating is, of course, destroying healthy tissue and/or needlessly compromising circulation of blood to substantial areas of the stomach.
It is not uncommon for peptic ulcers to stop bleeding spontaneously, and it is often difficult to predict whether a clotted, non-active site that experienced recent stigmatic bleeding will rebleed, or whether visible blood vessel in a ulcer crater requires the intervention of a thermal probe to coagulate the tissue. For these reasons, decisions as to whether to treat such sites with an endoscopic thermal probe, or to treat the sites with proton pump inhibitors, are frequently controversial. One factor that greatly complicates that diagnostic and treatment decision is the inability of the physician to see or otherwise obtain information about circulatory structures beneath the stomach lining, particularly in those areas adjacent to ulcerated areas of the stomach. Hence, there is substantial need for information about the circulatory structures in these heretofore visually inaccessible areas beneath the stomach lining.

Mucosal tissue illuminator and method for use


The invention provides an angular-velocity detection apparatus, which includes a substrate (22) and a vibrating body (26) provided on the substrate (22), the vibrating body (26) being capable of displacing in a vibration axis direction and a detection axis direction which intersect at right angles to each other. A vibration generation section (33) is provided for vibrating the vibrating body (26) in the vibration axis direction by applying a driving signal, and a displacement detection section (34) is provided for detecting the amount of displacement of the vibrating body (26) when the vibrating body (26) is displaced in the detection axis direction on the basis of the angular velocity along a detected axis intersecting at right angles to the vibration axis and the detection axis in a state of the vibrating body (26) being vibrated in the vibration axis direction by the vibration generation direction (33). A corrective-vibration generation (35) is provided for causing the vibrating body (26) to vibrate for correction in the detection axis direction, thereby making it possible to reduce leakage vibration applied to the vibrating body (26) and to accurately detect the angular velocity .OMEGA..

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an angular-velocity detection apparatus which is suitably used to detect an angular velocity applied to, for example, a rotation member. More particularly, this invention provides an angular-velocity detection apparatus comprising a substrate, a vibrating body provided on the substrate, the vibrating body being capable of displacing in a vibration axis direction and a detection axis direction which intersect at right angles to each other, vibration generation means for vibrating the vibrating body in the vibration axis direction by applying a driving signal, and displacement detection means for detecting the amount of displacement of the vibrating body when the vibrating body is displaced in the detection axis direction on the basis of the angular velocity along a detected axis intersecting at right angles to the vibration axis and the detection axis in a state of the vibrating body being vibrated in the vibration axis direction by the vibration generation means.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in angular-velocity detection apparatus, when a rotational force is applied about a Z axis which serves as a detected axis in a state in which a vibrating body is vibrated in the direction of a vibration axis in the three axes of X, Y and Z axes, a Coriolis force (inertial force) acts on the vibrating body, causing the vibrating body to vibrate in the direction of the Y axis which serves as a detection axis. Angular velocity detection apparatus which detect the displacement of the vibrating body in the direction of the Y axis due to this Coriolis force as an electrical charge generated in a piezoelectric member or as a change in a voltage, electrostatic capacitance or the like. Such an angular-velocity detection apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (laid-open) No. 6-123632 (hereinafter referred to as "the prior art") is known.
An explanation of the prior art will now be given with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.
In FIGS. 7 and 8, reference numeral 1 denotes an angular-velocity detection element of the prior art. Reference numeral 2 denotes a substrate formed in a rectangular shape, which forms the main body of the angular-velocity detection element 1, with the substrate 2 being formed of, for example, a high-resistance silicon material.
Reference numeral 3 denotes a movable section formed of low-resistance polysilicon, single-crystal silicon or the like having doped P, B, Sb or the like onto the substrate 2. The movable section 3 is formed of four support sections 4, 4, . . . provided on the substrate 2 so as to be positioned at the four corners of the substrate 2, four support beams 5, 5, . . . which are formed bent in the shape of the letter L in such a manner as to have a portion parallel to the X axis and a portion parallel to the Y axis from each support section 4 toward the central portion, and a rectangular vibrating body 6 which is supported by each support beam 5 in such a manner as to be capable of displacing in the X-axis and Y-axis directions and which is supported spacedly apart from the surface of the substrate 2. Electrodes 7 and 7 for vibration on the movable side, having provided therein a plurality of electrode plates 7A, 7A, . . . (four) in the shape of a comb, are protrusively provided on both siles of the left and right of the vibrating body 6, which is in the X-axis direction, and electrodes 8 and 8 for detection on the movable side, having provided therein a plurality of electrode plates 8A, 8A, . . . (four) in the shape of a comb, are protrusively provided on both siles of the front and back thereof, which is in the Y-axis direction.
In the movable section 3, only each support section 4 is fixedly secured to the substrate 2, and each support beam 5 and the vibrating body 6 are supported at four point in a state spaced apart by a predetermined amount from the substrate 2. Further, since each support beam 5 is formed in the shape of the letter L, by flexing the portion parallel to the Y axis, the vibrating body 6 can be displaced in the X-axis direction, and by flexing the portion parallel to the X axis, the vibrating body 6 can be displaced in the Y-axis direction.
Reference numerals 9 and 9 denote a pair of electrodes for vibration on the fixation side, provided on the substrate 2 in such a manner as to sandwich the vibrating body 6 from both sides of the right and left thereof. Each electrode 9 for vibration on the fixation side is formed of fixation sections 9A and 9A provided on the substrate 2 in such a manner as to be positioned on the right and left of the vibrating body 6, and four electrode plates 9B, 9B, . . . protrusively provided in the shape of a comb from each fixation section 9A in such a manner as to face with a gap each electrode plate 7A of the electrode 7 for vibration on the movable side.
Reference numerals 10 and 10 denote a pair of electrodes for detection on the fixation side, which are provided on the substrate 2 in such a manner as to sandwich the vibrating body 6 from both sides of the front and back thereof. Each electrode 10 for detection on the fixation side is formed of fixation sections 10A and 10A provided on the substrate 2 in such a manner as to be positioned on the front and back of the vibrating body 6, and four electrode plates 10B, 10B, . . . protrusively provided in the shape of a comb from each fixation section 10A in such a manner as to face with a gap each electrode plate 8A of the electrode 8 for detection on the movable side.
Reference numerals 11 and 11 denote vibration generation sections which serve as vibration generation means. Each vibration generation section 11 is formed of the electrode 7 for vibration on the movable side and the electrode 9 for vibration on the fixation side, with an equal gap being formed between each electrode plate 7A of the electrode 7 for vibration on the movable side and each electrode plate 9B of the electrode 9 for vibration on the fixation side. Here, if a driving signal of a frequency f at an opposite phase is applied between each electrode 7 for vibration on the movable side and each electrode 9 for vibration on the fixation side, an electrostatic attraction force is generated alternately between each electrode plate 7A and each electrode plate 9B positioned at left and between each electrode plate 7A and each electrode plate 9B positioned at right, and they come close to each other or move away from each other in each vibration generation section 11. This causes the vibrating body 6 to vibrate in the direction of the arrow a which is the X axis.
Reference numerals 12 and 12 denote displacement detection sections which serve as displacement detection means. Each displacement detection section 12 is formed of an electrode 8 for detection on the movable side and an electrode 10 for detection on the fixation side, with a facing length L0 being formed between each electrode plate 8A of the electrode 8 for detection on the movable side and each electrode plate 10B of the electrode 10 for detection on the fixation side. The electrodes 8 and 10 for detection are structured as parallel-plate capacitors for detection, and each displacement detection section 12 detects a change in the effective area between each electrode plate 8A and each electrode plate 10B as a change in the electrostatic capacitance.
In the angular-velocity detection element 1 structured as described above, if a driving signal of a frequency f at an opposite phase is applied to each vibration generation section 11, an electrostatic-attraction force alternately acts on the right and left vibration generation sections 11 and 11 between each electrode plate 7A and each electrode plate 9B, causing the vibrating body 6 to come close or move away in the direction of the arrow a and to vibrate.
In this state, when an angular velocity .OMEGA. about the Z axis is applied to the angular-velocity detection element 1, a Coriolis force (inertial force) is generated in the Y-axis direction, causing the vibrating body 6 to vibrate in the Y-axis direction by a Coriolis force F shown below at equation (2).
Here, a displacement x at which the vibrating body 6 is moved in the X-axis direction by each vibration generation section 11 and its velocity V are as in equation (1) below: EQU x=A sin(.omega.t) EQU V=A.omega. cos(.omega.t) (1)
where A is the amplitude of the vibrating body 6, .omega. is 2.pi.f, and f is the frequency of the driving signal.
Further, the Coriolis force F in the Y-axis direction generated from the angular velocity .OMEGA. applied about the Z axis when the vibrating body 6 is vibrated in the X-axis direction at a displacement x and velocity V is as in equation (2) below: ##EQU1##
Then, the vibrating body 6 is vibrated in the direction of the Y axis by the Coriolis force F of equation (2), and the vibration displacement by this vibrating body 6 is detected by each displacement detection section 12 as the change of the electrostatic capacitance between the electrode 8 for detection on the movable side and the electrode 10 for detection on the fixation side, making it possible to detect the angular velocity .OMEGA. about the Z axis.
Since each vibration generation section 11 is formed of the electrode 7 for vibration on the movable side formed of each electrode plate 7A and the electrode 9 for vibration on the fixation side formed of each electrode plate 9B, it is possible to secure a large effective area where the electrodes 7 and 9 for vibration face each other. As a result, when a driving signal is applied to each vibration generation section 11, an electrostatic attraction force generated between each electrode plate 7A and each electrode plate 9B is increased to vibrate the vibrating body 6 in the direction of the arrow a.
Meanwhile, since each displacement detection section 12 is formed of the electrode 8 for detection on the movable side formed of each electrode plate 8A and the electrode 10 for detection on the fixation side formed of each electrode plate 10B, it is possible to increase the effective area where the electrodes 8 and 10 for detection face each other. As a result, it is possible to detect the amount of the displacement of the vibrating body 6 which is displaced in the Y-axis direction by each displacement detection section 12 as a change in the effective area between each electrode plate 8A and each electrode plate 10B, i.e., a change in the electrostatic capacitance.
In the above-described angular-velocity detection element 1 of the prior art, the Coriolis force generated by the angular velocity .OMEGA. about the Z axis is very small, and therefore, it is necessary to generate a large displacement by using the resonance in the Y-axis direction. Meanwhile, to increase the Coriolis force, as even can be understood from equation (2), since the velocity V during vibration must be increased, a frequency near the resonance frequency in the X-axis direction is used as the frequency of the driving signal. Therefore, reaching a state close to the resonance frequency even at the vibration conditions in the Y-axis direction which serves as a detection axis is required to increase sensitivity.
However, if the resonance frequency in the detection direction is made to come close to the resonance frequency in the driving direction as described above, a part of the driving signal leaks (what is commonly called crosstalk) in the detection direction via the parasitic capacitance of the substrate 2 or the like. Then, this driving signal which leaked is applied to each displacement detection section 12, an electrostatic attraction force is generated between the electrode 8 for detection on the movable side and the electrode 10 for detection on the fixation side, and even in a state in which the angular velocity .OMEGA. does not act, vibration (hereinafter referred to as leakage vibration) appears in the vibrating body 6, presenting a problem of causing noise.


A portable interprocess communication facility by which different processes running simultaneously on a network of computer systems can efficiently communicate variable sized data blocks between each other. This involves the elements and techniques necessary to achieve high speed communication, without requiring the processes to be located on the same physical system or to be completely dependant upon the particular design or revision of the operating system in which they run. In addition, the invention simplifies the task of porting a modular software system between different hardware devices and operating systems by allowing communicating processes to be only loosely connected to the operating system.

The present invention relates, in general, to communication of information between software processes, and more particularly to efficient interprocess communication which is largely independent of the operating system used.
The prior art includes a variety of interprocess communication methods. The most common method is to allow two or more processes to utilize the same physical area of a magnetic surface to store and retrieve information. Another common method requires communicating processes to send information grouped a few bytes at a time to an operating system controlled area of random access memory, typically called a pipe or stream. The receiving process then reads data from this area in the same groups of a few bytes of information at a time.
A method typical of the prior art is the "Method of Interprocess Communication in a Distributed Data Processing System" (U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,396 which issued to B. Weisshaar et al on Sep. 15, 1987). This method defines a proprietary operating system which allows processes running on a computer to efficiently pass variable sized messages between each other. Moreover, processes running on other computers using this same operating system may communicate messages, so long as the two computers are connected by some type of network. This method of achieving interprocess communication is designed to be part of an operating system which controls and allocates all system resources. As a result, this method relies heavily on a close interaction with the operating system for its basic functions such as queue management and hence is only useable in conjunction with that operating system. This greatly restricts the capability to integrate process communication between computers using different operating systems or to move an application program which uses communicating processes onto a different system. In applications such as electronic mail this restriction can be a major limitation to the usefulness of the application.
There is a considerable need to provide an efficient interprocess communication method for processes on a distributed computer system. The computer system may be a single piece of hardware with appropriate operating system software or may be made up from several different pieces of hardware using the same or different operating systems connected together by a network. The method must allow processes to quickly communicate variable sized messages between themselves and allow software systems using this method to be ported to other hardware devices and operating systems.

Portable interprocess communication facility


A radar system and method for operation of the same in a manner in which the false alarm rate is stabilized is provided. The system includes an automatic gain control (AGC) processing function which is utilized to control the pre-processed false alarm rate such that the displayed false alarm rate is substantially intolerant to temperature fluctuations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to radar systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatuses for stabilizing the automatic gain control (AGC) of a radar receiver and processing radar signals reflected from a target.
2. Description of the Related Art
In World War II, radar systems using centimeter wavelengths were discovered to detect reflections from precipitation, such as rain and hail. Since this discovery, radar systems have developed into extremely useful tools for identifying and classifying weather systems, particularly in the 3 cm to 10 cm wavelength range. For example, a weather radar system is typically installed on an aircraft to identify the conditions within a weather system, such as a cloud, that the aircraft is approaching. Radar waves emitted from the aircraft's radar system reflect from precipitation in the cloud and return to the aircraft. The radar system detects and analyzes the reflected waves to identify the range and characteristics of the cloud. In particular, the power of the reflected signal is proportional to the cloud's reflectivity, which is in turn related to the amount of rainfall within the cloud. Consequently, by timing the delay between the pulse emission and detection and comparing the power of the reflected signal to a series of power thresholds, the range to and characteristics of the cloud may be established.
As the range to the target increases, however, the signal-to-noise ratio drops dramatically. Like any light waves, the intensity of a radar pulse fades in a manner proportional to the square of the distance propagated. The waves are further attenuated due to atmospheric loss and the like. As a result, the signal from distant targets is relatively weak, so that background noise and receiver generated noise, which occurs in every environment, tend to obscure the reflected signal. To extract useful information from distant target reflections, amplification and processing of the detected reflections are consequently necessary to compensate for the lower signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, it is desirable to reduce the receiver generated noise as much as possible to ensure that the displayed signal is accurate and not unduly obscured by such noise (also referred to in this application as false alarms).
In a simple radar system configuration, for example, in commercial airborne weather radar receivers, the radar receiver amplifies both the reflected signal and the noise, but because the reflected signal amplitude is greater than the amplitude of the noise, the amplification magnifies the difference between the signal and the noise, facilitating differentiation between the noise and the reflected signal.
Signals received from the target are also filtered and analyzed for amplitude. The received signal is compared to detection thresholds. If the amplitude of the reflected signal exceeds the detection thresholds, the relevant portion of the signal is treated as potentially relating to a relevant target.
The effectiveness of this system is limited, however, by the characteristics of radar detectors and the signals they detect. In general, the signals received by the antenna and communicated to the receiver are subjected to display processing and automatic gain control (AGC) processing. Typically, the goal of the display processing is to improve the aforementioned signal-to-noise ratio by filtering noise, such as through use of any of a variety of processing techniques, for example an "M-out-of-N" processing scheme, where a display indication is made if M or more returns from N RF transmissions exceed the display threshold. On the other hand, typically, the goal of the AGC function is to control the number of false alarms displayed due to receiver noise. In this way, maximum receiver sensitivity can be ensured without the display of an excessive amount of false indications.
A typical prior art AGC system 100 is depicted in block diagram form as FIG. 1. As shown, an antenna 110 communicates signals received from the target (not shown) to a receiver 112. The output from receiver 112 is then compared to two different thresholds, namely a display threshold by a display comparator 114 and an AGC threshold by an AGC comparator 116. In this typical system, the result of the display threshold comparison is generally processed by a display processor 118, as previously noted, to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. The result of the AGC threshold comparison, also once processed by an AGC processor 120, is typically used to directly control the receiver gain.
In controlling the receiver gain, competing constraints have heretofore dictated the use of a separate threshold for the AGC function and the display function, such as is illustrated in FIG. 1. Specifically, given that the average data rate in commercial airborne weather radar receivers is low, for example, on the order of one sweep over four (4) seconds, direct control of the false alarm rate with the AGC loop/function creates statistical instabilities due to the low false alarm rate which is equivalent to a low data rate for the AGC function. Accordingly, and with continued reference to FIG. 1, typically the AGC threshold is set to a lower value than the display threshold so as to achieve a higher false alarm rate. In this regard, the false alarm rate can be defined as the percentage of time the receiver output is above the AGC threshold. The AGC threshold is then adjusted such that a 50% false alarm rate yields a desired and acceptable displayed false alarm rate.
This control of the displayed false alarm rate, as previously noted, gives rise to maximum receiver sensitivity. However, it also raises various potential problems. For example, due to the dependence of the required threshold values on receiver linearity and dc offsets, over various temperature ranges, there can be some drift of the displayed false alarm rate. In general, the primary contribution to the false alarm rate, assuming a properly designed receiver, is thermal noise internal to the receiver, thus accounting for the aforementioned temperature dependency. While theoretically the thresholds, i.e., AGC and display thresholds, can be configured to be, and are substantially constant, a dc offset on the output of the receiver may upset the balance. That is, temperature variances which may be encountered through use of the radar system, may result in imbalances.
To avoid such a scenario, i.e., where an unacceptable false alarm rate would be encountered, in general, the receiver sensitivity is simply set lower than ideal to allow for a margin of temperature drift. While limited sensitivity is in and of itself not favorable, other problems also arise. Specifically, often the receiver sensitivity is adjusted through use of an iterative process in which temperature cycles and adjustments are made over anticipated temperature ranges. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, such an iterative process is costly, both in manufacture and repair.
Thus, there exists a long-felt and unresolved need for a radar system which addresses the foregoing disadvantages.

Methods and apparatus for stabilizing radar false alarm rate


Disclosed is a method for easily producing a long porous thermosetting resin sheet which has no resin coating film on the surface. Also disclosed are a porous thermosetting resin sheet produced by the method, and a composite semipermeable membrane having excellent chemical resistance and practical water permeability and salt-blocking property. The porous thermosetting resin sheet can be produced by forming a cylindrical or columnar resin block which is composed of a cured product of a thermosetting resin composition containing a thermosetting resin, a curing agent and a porogen; then forming a long thermosetting resin sheet by cutting the surface of the resin block at a certain thickness; and then removing the porogen from the thermosetting resin sheet.

Recently, composite semipermeable membrane, in which a skin layer including polyamides obtained by interfacial polymerization of polyfunctional aromatic amines and polyfunctional aromatic acid halides is formed on a porous support, have been proposed (Patent document 1). A composite semipermeable membrane, in which a skin layer including a polyamide obtained by interfacial polymerization of a polyfunctional aromatic amine and a polyfunctional alicyclic acid halide is formed on a porous support, has also been proposed (Patent document 2).
The porous supports include, for example, those in which a microporous layer having a substantial separation function is formed on a surface of a substrate. The substrate includes, for example, a woven fabric, a nonwoven fabric, a mesh net and a foaming sintered sheet, made of materials such as polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyamide and the like. In addition, materials for forming the microporous layer include various materials, for example, such as polyaryl ether sulfones (e.g. polysulfones, polyether sulfones), polyimides and polyvinylidene fluorides, and particularly from the viewpoint of chemical, mechanical and thermal stability, polysulfones and polyaryl ether sulfones have been preferably used.
As for these composite semipermeable membranes, chemical resistance that can endure various oxidants, particularly chlorine washing, has been required as a result of pursuit of low cost due to more stable operability and simple usability as well as prolongation of membrane lifetime, in various water treatments including desalination plants.
The composite semipermeable membrane has a practical chemical resistance, but it may not be said that such a membrane has chemical resistance to endure against routine or intermittent chlorine sterilization. Therefore, development of a composite semipermeable membrane having higher chemical resistance as well as a practical level of water permeability and salt-blocking property, particularly development of a porous support exhibiting an excellent chemical resistance, has been desired.
On the other hand, a porous cured epoxy resin that is a separation medium capable of selectively distinguishing a substance having a plane molecular structure, such as dioxin or PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl), and capable of having a low back pressure, as well as able being processed on a large scale, has been developed (Patent document 3). The porous cured epoxy resin is a non-particle aggregation type porous object including a columnar three-dimensional branched structure, wherein the porous object has a porosity of 20 to 80% and an average pore diameter of 0.5 to 50 μm.
The above-mentioned porous cured epoxy resin can be produced by dissolving an epoxy resin and a curing agent in a porogen (a pore-forming agent) to prepare a mixed solution; applying the mixed solution onto a substrate, followed by heating to form a three-dimensional branched structure via a crosslinking reaction; and then removing the porogen. In the case of such a production method, a resin coating film without pores was easy to be formed on the surface of a porous body, and it was necessary to remove the resin coating film for use as a separation medium, thus causing a problem that the production process became complicated.
On the other hand, a method for producing a modified polytetrafluoroethylene film which includes modifying a lumpy molded product of polytetrafluoroethylene powders and cutting the modified product to form a long film has been proposed for the purpose of providing a method capable of producing a modified PTFE film without accompanying deterioration in mechanical physical properties thereof and requiring much capital investment (Patent Document 4).
In addition, a method of producing a chip seal for use in a scroll compressor has been proposed that includes the steps of molding a resin composition containing a fluorine resin as a main component into a columnar or cylindrical molded product, and molding the molded product into a sheet shape state by using a skiving process (Patent Document 5).
Moreover, a method for producing a sintered polytetrafluoroethylene porous sheet has been proposed that includes compression-molding polytetrafluoroethylene powders to form a cylindrical preliminary compression-molded product; hanging horizontally the preliminary compression-molded product by a mandrel; sintering the product to form a sintered porous molded product; and then subjecting the sintered porous molded product to a cutting process (Patent Document 6).

Method for producing porous thermosetting resin sheet, porous thermosetting resin sheet and composite semipermeable membrane using same


An ink fountain apparatus for a printing press includes an ink fountain roller, an ink fountain, follow-up bearings, and springs. The ink fountain roller supplies a printing ink to a plate cylinder. The ink fountain has an ink blade disposed to have a predetermined gap with the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller and movable forward and backward to approach to and separate from the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller. The follow-up bearings are fixed to the ink fountain and contact the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller to follow up a shape of the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller. The springs bias the ink fountain toward the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller.

The present invention relates to an ink fountain apparatus for a printing press which causes an ink in an ink fountain to flow out continuously by a predetermined amount.
An inking arrangement for supplying a printing ink to a plate mounted on the plate cylinder of an offset rotary press comprises an ink fountain apparatus for causing the ink stored in its ink fountain to flow out by a predetermined amount, and a large number of rollers for transferring the flowed ink while smoothing it in respective directions, thus supplying the ink to the plate surface. FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of the above conventional ink fountain apparatus. More specifically, referring to FIG. 3, an ink fountain roller 1 is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow. Stays 2 and 3 each having almost the same length as that of the ink fountain roller 1 are disposed obliquely below the ink fountain roller 1, and a blade table 4 having the same length as that of the ink fountain roller 1 is mounted on the stay 2 by bolts 5. An ink blade 6 constituted by a thin stainless steel plate and having the same length as that of the ink fountain roller 1 is mounted on the blade table 4 by screws such that its distal end is very close to the cylinder surface of the ink fountain roller 1. Triangular ink embankments 7 are provided at two end portions of the ink blade 6. An L-shaped adjustment piece 8 is pivotally mounted on the other stay 3, and an adjustment screw 9 is screwed in the adjustment piece 8. An ink 10 is stored in the ink fountain defined by the ink fountain roller 1, the ink blade 6, and the two ink embankments 7. As the ink fountain roller 1 is rotated, the ink 10 flows out through the gap between the ink fountain roller 1 and the ink blade 6 to form an ink film on the surface of the ink fountain roller 1. The ink film thickness, i.e., the amount of ink to be supplied to the plate is adjusted by manually rotating the adjustment screw 9 forward or backward to elastically deform the ink blade through the adjustment piece 8, thus adjusting the gap between the distal end of the ink blade 6 and the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller 1.
The printing speed of the offset printing press has been increased recently. Accordingly, a variation occurs in ink transfer due to the thermal deformation of a rubber roller that generates heat under a high-speed operation. Also, since an ink ductor generates heat as it performs reciprocal rotating movement with quick deceleration and quick acceleration, the ink fountain roller contacting the ink ductor is thermally deformed. As a result, the thickness of the ink film varies to decrease the printing density.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 59-41269 and 2-184439 propose a technique to set constant the thickness of the ink film.
Referring to FIG. 3, the ink fountain apparatus for a printing press proposed in these gazettes further comprises an adjustment roller or rod for contacting the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller or the bearing bush of the ink fountain roller. Thermal deformation of the ink fountain roller or the bearing bush of the ink fountain roller is extracted through the adjustment roller or rod, and the ink fountain is rotated about a support shaft 11 shown in FIG. 3 on the basis of the extracted change component corresponding to the deformation, thus maintaining the gap between the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller and the ink blade at a constant value.
In the conventional ink fountain apparatus for the printing press described above, however, as the deformation of the ink fountain roller is temporarily converted to a rotational moving amount of the ink fountain and then to the linear moving amount of the ink blade, the deformation amount of the ink fountain roller and the moving amount of the ink blade with respect to the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller do not precisely coincide with each other. Hence, it is difficult to maintain the gap between the circumferential surface of the ink fountain roller and the ink blade at a constant value.

Ink fountain apparatus for printing press


A recording sheet feeding apparatus comprises a tray frame with four vertical walls which surround an inner space, a stacking plate which is movable in the vertical direction within the inner space guided by the vertical walls, a winding roller for moving the stacking plate through a mechanical transmission which converts a rotation of the winding roller to the vertical movement of the stacking plate and a counterweight means for lifting up the stacking plate by applying a counterweight torque to the winding roller in accordance with the rotation angle thereof.

The present invention relates to an improvement of a sheet feeding apparatus in an image recording apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improvement, of a driving means for an elevation type sheet feed base plate.
In an image recording apparatus such as a copying apparatus, recording sheets of various types are respectively loaded in exclusive sheet feed cassettes, the cassettes are loaded into the image recording apparatus and recording sheets of a desired size can be fed one by one.
However, the amount of recording sheets which can be loaded in the above cassettes, is not so large, about 200 sheets at the most. Therefore, every time the sheets are used up, the cassette must be detached from the image recording apparatus so that the recording sheets can be loaded into the cassette, and loaded again into the image recording apparatus. Accordingly, when the foregoing detaching from and loading into the apparatus is frequently carried out, it is troublesome and the recording efficiency is lowered.
In order to avoid such problems, a sheet feeding apparatus provided with an elevation type sheet feed base plate is widely used in which a larger amount of recording sheets, which are frequently used as a main size, can be stored.
As the sheet feeding apparatus described above, the apparatus which has been disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Open to Public Inspection No. 180637/1988, is widely known.
In the sheet feeding apparatus provided with the elevation type sheet feed base plate in which a large amount of recording sheets can be stored, an apparatus having a storage capacity of more than 500 sheets has now been realized. However, a sheet feeding apparatus having a storage capacity in which 1000, or 1500 recording sheets can be stored, is required to be realized.
However, in order to load such a large amount of sheets onto the sheet feed base plate and to elevate it freely, large driving power is necessary. That is, large output power of a driving motor is necessary, which is beyond that used in an ordinary office. Further, the loading operation of the recording sheets onto the elevation base plate is inevitably troublesome.

Sheet feeding apparatus with an elevation type base plate


A processing method is performed for processing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer. The processing method utilizes an apparatus comprising a cover for covering a portion of a surface, to be processed, of a workpiece, a process chamber formed by the cover and the surface, to be processed, of the workpiece, and a sealing portion provided between the cover and the surface of the workpiece for sealing the process chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing apparatus and method for processing a workpiece, and more particularly to a processing apparatus and method for processing a workpiece such as a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate, and a crystal substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a processing apparatus for processing various workpieces, a workpiece to be processed is held in a process chamber and processed under predetermined conditions in the process chamber. FIG. 15 is a conceptional plan view showing a relationship between a workpiece to be processed and a process chamber in a conventional processing apparatus. In the conventional processing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 15, a workpiece 10 is disposed in a process chamber 100 kept under predetermined conditions, and is then processed therein. Thus, the conventional processing apparatus requires a process chamber larger than the workpiece 10 in order to contain the workpiece 10 therein.
Semiconductor wafers, liquid crystal panels, or the like tend to become larger in size in accordance with advance of generation of technology. Therefore, for processing workpieces in these fields, such as semiconductor wafers, glass substrates, and crystal substrates, the process chamber of the processing apparatus becomes larger in size because of larger workpieces, resulting in a larger installation space for the processing apparatus.

Processing method utilizing an apparatus to be sealed against workpiece


A semiconductor device contains a Zener-triggered transistor having a Zener diode vertically integrated in a first current node of the Zener-triggered transistor. The first current node includes an n-type semiconductor material contacting a p-type semiconductor material in a substrate. The Zener diode includes an n-type cathode contacting the first current node, and a p-type anode contacting the n-type cathode and contacting the p-type semiconductor material. The semiconductor device may be formed using an implant mask, with an opening for the Zener diode. Boron and arsenic are implanted into the substrate in an area exposed by the opening in the implant mask. The substrate is subsequently heated to diffuse and activate the implanted boron and arsenic. The Zener-triggered transistor may be used in an ESD circuit or a snubber circuit.

Semiconductor devices frequently include transistors to protect against electrostatic discharge (ESD) events. These transistors often rely on junction breakdown to turn on. In some cases the breakdown potential is too high to protect the internal circuit, which may result in device degradation or failure. External trigger circuits are sometimes added to reduce the breakdown potential, but the trigger circuit undesirably increases the area of the semiconductor device.

Zener-triggered transistor with vertically integrated Zener diode


A ball valve type injector and catcher apparatus is formed of a valve body with a generally spherical internal cavity and a diametrical bore defining an axial flow passage therethrough. A generally spherical valve member in the valve body rotates about an axis perpendicular to the axis of the flow passage. A diametrical bore of the valve member has an axis perpendicular to the pivot axis thereof. A ball entry and removal passage is perpendicular to the diametrical bore of the rotatable spherical valve member. A doll cap seals off the ball entry and removal passage. A retainer carried within the diametrical bore of the rotatable valve member captures a paraffin cutting ball. A bypass fluid passage within the valve body opens at opposite ends. A knockout rod projectable into the interior of the diametrical bore of the rotatable valve member mechanically drives the paraffin cutting ball through the ball entry and removal passage after removal of the doll cap. A drain passage to the valve cavity permits draining of accumulated liquid escaping through seals to the valve body cavity. An adjustable needle valve permits the bypass passage to be completely closed off.

Typically, oil well tubing has a build-up of paraffin or a like wax on the interior surface. Such buildup can interfere significantly in the flow of oil and other fluids within the tubing. It has been found useful to cause a rubber ball having an outer diameter slightly less than the internal diameter of the tubing to be driven by the oil or other fluid, such as water, through the pipelines, particularly between the well head and tank battery. The ball functions to in turn wipe the accumulated deposit of paraffin from the interior surface of the well tubing, pipeline or similar oil conduits.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,876,842 to Thomas W. McSpadden issued Mar. 10, 1959, and entitled "Method and Apparatus for Cleaning Wells," teaches the introduction of an oil soluble plug formed from a microcrystalline wax, such as a petroleum ceresin wax, of elongated cylindrical form sized slightly smaller than the diameter of an oil well tube at the well head, wiping an accumulated deposit of paraffin wax, scale or the like from the inside surface of the tubing.
The plug is introduced into the top of the well head tubing by removal of a bull plug, which is unscrewed from a cross attached to the well head and projecting upwardly of the same. The bull plug includes a perforated sleeve axially aligned with the tubing and having an internal diameter size thereto, which initially receives the plug.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,317,486 issued Mar. 2, 1982, to Monty E. Harris and entitled "Cementing Head Apparatus and Method of Operation," and 4,854,383 issued Aug. 8, 1989, to Ronald D. Arnold et al. and entitled "Manifold Arrangement for Use With a Top Drive Power Unit" teach the use of rotary ball valves having a diametrical cylindrical passage or bore through the center of the rotatable ball valve which is selectively aligned with the axis of the oil well tubing within which the valve structure is mounted for permitting the passage of a plug capable of being pushed by hydraulic pressure through the casing to clear the tubing, or rotated 90.degree. to the axis of the tubing to close off the fluid passage through the tubing and to prevent movement of the plug, which plug may be maintained within the portion of the tubing above the rotatable ball valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,640 issued May 22, 1962, to W. C. Gibson et al. and entitled "Kelly Cock" is directed to a cylindrical, rotary valve member within an enlarged casing portion of an oil pipeline in a oil well drilling apparatus for facilitating the insertion of a ball sized slightly smaller than the well tubing string, to seat the ball in the bore of a cement follower plug following the flow of cement downwardly into the string to shut off an opening therein and allowing pump pressure to move the cement follower plug down the casing until it seats into a float shoe. The body includes an axial flow chamber with an enlarged cylindrical portion carrying a transverse cylindrical bore whose axis intersects the axis of the through bore. Rotatably and sealably mounted within the transverse crossbar is a cylindrical plug having a diametrical flow passage therethrough at right angles through its axis having substantially the same diameter as the diameter of the through bore. Further, at one end of the plug, there is a reduced diameter axial bore which extends from that end to the diametrical flow passage which receives a threaded plug insert which is removable to permit the insertion of a ball which is permitted to fall downwardly within the axial bore of the enlarged casing and the axial bore of the pipeline string, upon 90.degree. rotation of the rotatable cylindrical plug from a position where it closes off the flow passage provided by the bore and the through bore of the enlarged casing to one where the diametric cylindrical flow passage within the rotatable cylindrical plug is aligned with that casing through bore.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,040 issued Dec. 13, 1983, to David P. Arbasak et al. and entitled "Ball Catcher" is directed to a ball catcher having a radially enlarged housing coupled to a casing of an oil well and functioning to catch a ball. A stinger, taking the form of an elongated annular cylindrical member whose sides are perforated, extends axially downwardly at the top of the radially enlarged casing, and stops the flow of balls moving upwardly with the liquid during well flow back operation after fracturing of the well formation. The balls are captured between the stinger and inwardly directed baffles fixed to the inner periphery of the radially enlarged casing at some distance below the lower end of the stinger.
While the apparatus of the various patents described above illustrate the use of balls or plugs or like elements which are fluid driven through a well tubing string, or similar piping, and elements for controlling the movement of such balls or plugs through the interior bore of the well tubing string, and for the introduction and catching of such balls, there is no simplified unitary valve structure capable of introduction of a paraffin cutting ball into a well tubing system, or capturing of such ball after travel a predetermined distance through the tubing for removing of the ball from the flow passage system, while ensuring that the paraffin removal ball does not harm the elements making up the string of casing or tubing and does not induce large hydraulic pressures within the elements of that apparatus, which permits the ball catcher to function as a valve for closing off the axial bore within the valve casing supporting the catcher, which readily permits bypass of the oil or other hydraulic fluid flowing through the interior of the tubing string, which permits the bypass passage itself to be closed off when needed to ensure the movement of a ball placed into the string through the string and which provides a ready arrangement for draining the valve cavity supporting the movable valve member having the dual function of closing off the string and the introduction of the paraffin removal ball, or removing of the same after catching of the ball during its movement through the tubing string from its point of insertion at some distance from the catcher.

Ball valve type injector and catcher apparatus with adjustable flow control for catching and retrieving paraffin cutting balls


The invention relates to compounds of formula ##STR1## having a double bond in one of the positions indicated by the dotted lines. Compounds (I) are useful as perfuming ingredients for the preparation of perfuming compositions and perfuming articles, to which they impart sandalwood-animal notes.

The compounds of formula (I) above are structural homologues of a sandalwood-type fragrant alcohol, i.e. POLYSANTOL.RTM. [3,3-dimethyl-5-(2,2,3-trimethyl-3-cyclopenten-1-yl)-4-penten-2-ol; origin: Firmenich SA, Geneva, Switzerland] which is well appreciated in perfumery. In spite of the abundance of fragrant compounds having a structure similar to that of POLYSANTOL.RTM., i.e. having an unsaturated cycle with 5 carbon atoms, known to this day (see for example European patent no. 155 591), we found no reference in the literature to any compounds having a homologous structure with 6 carbon atoms.
It is therefore in an expected way that we have now found that compounds (I) according to the invention possess useful odor properties which differ both qualitatively and quantitatively from those of POLYSANTOL.RTM. and other analogue compounds prized by the perfumers.

Cyclic alcohols and their use as perfuming ingredients


A new cultivar of Hypericum plant named ‘CROWTHYP’ that is characterized by a prostrate and spreading habit, variegated green and cream-yellow, with pink coloration to its new growth, single and bright flowers lemon-yellow in color with numerous lemon-yellow stamens bearing prominent mid-brown anthers, hardy to USDA Zone 5, is disclosed.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hypericum, which is grown as an ornamental plant for use in the garden and as a ground cover plant in the landscape. The new cultivar is known botanically as Hypericum calycinum, and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name 'CROWTHYP'. 'CROWTHYP' was discovered in 2008 as a naturally occurring branch mutation on a plant of the species Hypericum calycinum (unpatented) which was growing in a cultivated garden near Belves, Department 24 Dordogne, Region Aquitaine, France. The branch mutation exhibited green and gold variegation. The resulting plant is both attractive and striking in the landscape both in and out of flower.
'CROWTHYP' exhibits a prostrate, spreading growth habit and prominently variegated foliage that is multicolored green, lemon and line, with pink coloration to its new growth. 'CROWTHYP' grows to 20 cm in height and 30 cm in width during a one year growing season. 'CROWTHYP' exhibits its distinguishing characteristics to best effect when grown in full sun or light shade, with moderate water. There are no particular pests or diseases known to the inventor which affect 'CROWTHYP'. 'CROWTHYP' is hardy to USDA Zone 5.
'CROWTHYP' was first asexually propagated in 2008 in Arundel, West Sussex, United Kingdom. The branch mutation was excised from the parent plant and established as a plant on its own roots. Subsequently, in 2009 and 2010 additional plants were propagated by softwood stem cuttings. Since that time under careful observation, the distinguishing characteristics have been determined stable, uniform, and to be reproduced true to type in subsequent generations of asexual propagation.


A projectile cartridge that can be removably attached to a flying vehicle is disclosed. A system can include a first flying vehicle, a projectile attachment mechanism configured with the first flying vehicle, a projectile cartridge that contains a projectile, the projectile cartridge being removably attachable to the projectile attachment mechanism, a weight attached to the projectile, the weight being configured in a releasable configuration in the projectile cartridge and a drawstring configured with the projectile. After firing the projectile, when tension is applied to the drawstring as the projectile approaches or envelops a second flying vehicle, the tension can cause the drawstring to close the projectile down to secure the second flying vehicle.

Although drone technology has been around for half a century, high production costs and older technology limited owners of large and bulky drones to include mostly that of military or special interest groups. Advancements in drone technology reduced the price and size of drones, eventually making them more readily available to individual consumers. With an increase in consumer drones, problems began to surface regarding privacy, trespassing and security issues.
As drones are able to fly at high altitudes, it is extremely difficult to remove an unwanted drone from a designated property. Also, many drones are able to carry a payload, which raises security issues concerning hostile applications such as carrying and deploying an explosive or harmful chemical agent. Not being able to remove or eliminate potentially threatening drones can be a major problem for governments, event planners, or any land owner.

System and method of providing a projectile module having a net with a drawstring