A composition nutritional containing dietary fibers is useful for the treatment of muscle wasting, if the dietary fiber comprise at least 30 wt. % of galacto-oligosaccharides or other oligosaccharides having mainly anhydropyranose units, and having a chain length of 3-10 units. The composition may further contain other oligo- or polysaccharides, especially polysaccharides having a majority of anhydrofuranose units.

Severe weight loss and in particular muscle wasting is a serious phenomenon that occurs on a broad scale in patients suffering from diseases, disorders and trauma. Muscle wasting (abbreviated as MW) in chronic disease is defined as an involuntary loss of body weight of more than 5% within one month. If loss of lean body mass (abbreviated as LBM) occurs at a more gradual rate but during a longer period, the inventors refer to chronic muscle wasting (abbreviated as CMW), in particular if more than 10% of body weight is lost in a period of 6 months. MW is typically observed during recovery of trauma or surgery. CMW is typically observed in severe diseases such as cancer, AIDS, COPD, diabetes mellitus and heart failure. The rate of muscle wasting is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The cause of muscle wasting as a result of a disease is thought to be multifactorial. Muscle wasting can also be caused by malnourishment, in particular protein-energy malnourishment. In particular the latter type of malnourishment can be treated or prevented by providing extra protein or energy as proposed in EP 0721742.
Sarcopenia (abbreviated as SP) is the involuntary decline in lean muscle mass, strength and function, which occurs with ageing. SP increases the risk of loss of functional capacity in the elderly, which is not necessarily related to disease.
Dietary fibres are frequently used to initiate weight loss. Dietary fibre lowers postprandial glucose levels in blood and has a satiating effect. Therefore, administration of substantial amounts of dietary fibre is not normally recommended in cases of malnutrition, weight loss and muscle wasting. Dietary fibre has also been included in clinical nutrition for influencing colonic flora and specific fibres or mixtures thereof have been claimed to decrease rate of systemic infections, e.g. in WO 02/26242, increase specific immune-related parameters, e.g. in EP-B 1105002, or decrease growth rate of selected tumours in animals, e.g. in Taper H., J Nutr., 129 (1999), 1488-1491.
Many types of dietary fibre have been used in the manufacture of nutritional products. Several of them strongly increase viscosity, others have a bad solubility or produce a sand-like feeling when present in the mouth. Thus, there is a need for nutritional products, which can be readily consumed by persons suffering from muscle wasting or chronic muscle wasting, and which combat or prevent muscle wasting without having the disadvantages of prior art products, such as a high viscosity of liquid drinks
WO 2004/026294 discloses the use of a mixture of free essential amino acids including leucine for improving the effects of tumour-induced weight loss. The mixture can be combined with further components such as intact protein, ω-3 fatty acids and soluble fibre such as hydrolysed guar gum.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,883 teaches treatment of cachexia and anorexia by administration of ω-3 fatty acids, branched-chain amino acids, and further components possibly including dietary fibre.
US 2005/153019 is concerned with stimulating body protein synthesis by providing a composition containing whey protein, ω-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, etc. The composition may further contain prebiotic fibre, such as fructo-oligosaccharides, for promoting growth of bifidobacteria, but such compositions are not further illustrated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,054 teaches a method of improving nutritional status in case of ulcerative colitis or colic inflammation, using a combination of the ω-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, and indigestible carbohydrates, such as gum Arabic and fructo- and xylo-oligosaccharides.

Use of dietary fibres against muscle wasting


An automated analyzer for analyzing patient samples. The analyzer includes a plurality of cuvettes, which allow the samples to be mixed with various reagents. The analyzer includes one or more detectors, including a detector adapted to detect luminescence of the reaction mixture in the cuvettes. The analyzer allows for various diagnostic assays to be performed on a single system, and provides for high-sensitivity analysis at faster speeds.

Various types of tests related to patient diagnosis and therapy can be performed by analysis of a sample taken from a patient's infections, bodily fluids or abscesses. These assays typically involve automated analyzers onto which vials containing patient samples have been loaded. The analyzer extracts the samples from the vials and combines the samples with various reagents in special reaction cuvettes or tubes. Frequently, the samples are incubated or otherwise processed before being analyzed. Analytical measurements are often performed using a beam of interrogating radiation interacting with the sample-reagent combination, for example turbidimetric, fluorometric, absorption readings or the like. The measurements allow determination of end-point or rate values from which an amount of analyte may be determined using well-known calibration techniques.
Although various known clinical analyzers for chemical, immunochemical and biological testing of samples are available, analytical clinical technology is challenged by increasing needs for improved levels of analysis. The improvement of analytical sensitivity continues to be a challenge. Furthermore, due to increasing pressures on clinical laboratories to reduce cost-per-reportable result, there continues to be a need for improvements in the overall cost performance of automated clinical analyzers. Often a sample to be analyzed must be split into a number of sample aliquots in order to be processed by several different analytical techniques using different analyzers. Sample analysis continuously needs to be more effective in terms of increasing assay throughput and increasing speed, as well as providing an increased number of advanced analytical options so as to enhance a laboratory's efficiency in evaluating patient samples. In particular, the results of a first battery of assays on a sample often dictate that a second battery of different assays be performed in order to complete or confirm a diagnosis, called reflux or add-on testing. In such an instance, the second battery of assays is often performed with a more sophisticated analytical technique than the first battery so that sample must be shuffled between different analytical laboratories. In addition to increased inefficiency, extra sample handlings increase the possibility of errors.
Automated clinical analyzers are typically controlled by software executed by a computer using software programs written in a machine language like on the Dimension®) clinical chemistry analyzer sold by Dade Behring Inc, of Deerfield, Ill., and widely used by those skilled in the art of computer-based electromechanical control programming. Such a computer executes application software programs for performing assays conducted by the analyzer but it is also required to be programmed to control and track, among other items:    various analytical devices for performing 100+ different assays on different samples like blood, serum, urine and the like;    re-testing and add-on testing of samples when required by prior results;    the patient's identity, the tests to be performed, if a sample aliquot is to be retained within the analyzer;    calibration and quality control procedures;    an incoming and outgoing sample tube transport system;    inventory and accessibility of sample aliquots within an environmental chamber;    washing and cleaning reusable cuvettes;    reagent and assay chemical solution consumption along with time, and date of consumption of all reagents consumed out of each reagent container and assay chemical solutions consumed out of each vial container on a per reagent container, per calibration vial container, per Quality Control container, per assay, and per calibration basis, for specifically defined time periods; and,    scheduling at least 1000 assays per hour.
From the above descriptions of the complex multiple operations conducted within a clinical analyzer, it is apparent that increasing the ability of a single analyzer to perform analytical tests using a relatively large number of different assay formats in a "user-friendly" manner presents much greater challenges than are encountered when an analyzer conducts, for example, only two different assay formats. However, within the clinical diagnostic field there is a continuing need for new and accurate analytical techniques that can be adapted for a wide spectrum of different analytes or be used in specific cases where other methods may not be readily adaptable. Convenient, reliable and non-hazardous means for detecting the presence of low concentrations of materials in liquids is desired. In clinical chemistry these materials may be present in body fluids in concentrations below 10.sup.-12 molar. The difficulty of detecting low concentrations of these materials is enhanced by the relatively small sample sizes that can be utilized. In developing an assay there are many considerations. One consideration is the signal response to changes in the concentration of analyte. A second consideration is the ease with which the protocol for the assay may be carried out. A third consideration is the variation in interference from sample to sample. Ease of preparation and purification of the reagents, availability of equipment, ease of automation and interaction with material of interest are some of the additional considerations in developing a useful assay.
Luminescent compounds, such as fluorescent compounds and chemiluminescent compounds, find wide application in the assay field because of their ability to emit light. For this reason, luminescers have been utilized as labels in assays such as nucleic acid assays and immunoassays. For example, a member of a specific binding pair is conjugated to a luminescer and various protocols are employed. The luminescer conjugate can be partitioned between a solid phase and a liquid phase in relation to the amount of analyte in a sample suspected of containing the analyte. By measuring the luminescence of either of the phases, one can relate the level of luminescence observed to a concentration of the analyte in the sample.
Particles, such as latex beads and liposomes, have also been utilized in assays. For example, in homogeneous assays an enzyme may be entrapped in the aqueous phase of a liposome labeled with an antibody or antigen. The liposomes are caused to release the enzyme in the presence of a sample and complement. Antibody or antigen-labeled liposomes, having water soluble fluorescent or non-fluorescent dyes encapsulated within an aqueous phase vesicle or lipid soluble dyes dissolved in the lipid bilayer of a lipid, have also been utilized to assay for analytes capable of entering into an immunochemical reaction with the surface bound antibody or antigen. Detergents have been used to release the dyes from the aqueous phase of the liposomes. Chemiluminescent labels offer exceptional sensitivity in ligand binding assays, but one or more chemical activation steps are usually needed. Fluorescent labels do not have this deficiency but are less sensitive.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,340,716 and 5,709,994 discloses a method for determining an analyte in a highly sensitive assay format known as a Luminescent Oxygen Channeled Immunoassay (LOCI) using a label reagent comprising a first specific binding pair member associated with a particle having a photosensitizer capable upon activation of generating singlet oxygen and a chemiluminescent compound capable of being activated by singlet oxygen such that upon activation of the photosensitizer, singlet oxygen is generated and activates the chemiluminescent compound, wherein the first specific binding pair member is capable of binding to the analyte or to a second specific binding pair member to form a complex related to the presence of the analyte; the photosensitizer is activated and the amount of luminescence generated by the chemiluminescent compound is detected and related to the amount of analyte in the sample.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,675 discloses a method for determining an analyte in a less sensitive assay format known as a Fluorescent Oxygen Channeled Immunoassay (FOCI) using a photosensitizer capable in its excited state of generating singlet oxygen, wherein the photosensitizer is associated with a first specific binding pair member in combination with a photoactive indicator precursor capable of forming a photoactive indicator upon reaction with singlet oxygen, wherein the photoactive indicator precursor is associated with a second specific binding pair member. The combination is irradiated with light to excite the photosensitizer, and in a final step, the fluorescence is measured and related to the amount of the analyte in the sample.
Homogeneous immunoassays in which it is unnecessary to separate the bound and unbound label have previously been described for small molecules. These assays include SYVA's FRAT assay, EMIT® assay, enzyme channeling immunoassay, and fluorescence energy transfer immunoassay (FETI); enzyme inhibitor immunoassays (Hoffman LaRoche and Abbott Laboratories): fluorescence polarization immunoassay (Dandlicker), among others. All of these methods have limited sensitivity, and only a few including FETI and enzyme channeling, are suitable for large multiepitopic analytes. Heterogenous immunoassays in which a separation step is required are generally useful for both small and large molecules. Various labels have been used including enzymes (ELISA), fluorescent labels (FIA), radiolabels (RIA), chemiluminescent labels (CLA), etc. Clinical analyzers in which such homogeneous and heterogenous immunoassays are commercially available and these are generally quite complex. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,074,615 and 5,717,148 and 5,985,672 and 5,635,364. From a consideration of patents such as these, it becomes obvious that many challenges are created when clinical analyzers having automated immunoassay systems are to be enhanced in capability with the additional automated ability to perform sensitive Luminescent Oxygen Channeled Immunoassays.


Apparatus and methods are provided for establishing the nature and level of radioactive sources within waste, particularly of a compactable nature. Detectors sensitive to low energy level radiation are provided with protection against dust contamination. Further detector configurations are provided to establish the presence of metallic material and/or higher energy level gamma emissions and/or detectors with a lower sensitivity to the emissions and/or detector configurations sensitive to neutrons are further provided.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with improvements in and relating to investigations of materials, particularly of materials which may include radioactive sources within them.
2. The Relevant Technology
In a wide variety of circumstances it is desirable to be able to determine the nature and amount of radioactive sources within a material. One such circumstance is the determination of which category of waste the contents of a container should be put in. The more hazardous the category of waste the contents of a container are put in, the higher the cost of the safe storage or disposal route to be used. Accurate classification of material into the lowest level category applying is desirable.
Some instruments exist which use an array of gamma detectors to provide a radioactive source present/no radioactive source present indication for a volume of waste. To do so, the instrument requires that the volume of waste be spread thinly on a conveyor to ensure exposure of sources to the detectors or be presented in a relatively small container. Even then, the instrument also requires that the nature of the waste is well known so as to be sure that no "problem" waste materials are present. Such "problem" materials include shielding materials such as metals, etc. Such instruments are thus limited in terms of the range of materials they can handle, throughput of materials they can handle and rely upon assumptions about the material introduced. They are also limited to a present/absent style determination, rather than any quantification.


A measuring apparatus to measure adhesion of a tape includes a supporting plate slanting related to horizon, and a ball. The tape is attached to the supporting plate with an adhesive surface opposite to the supporting plate. The ball rolls on the tape along the supporting plate. The ball would be held by the tape according to the weight of the ball and the adhesion of the tape, thereby assessing the adhesion. The measuring apparatus further includes a base, a positioning mechanism mounted to the supporting plate, and an angle-adjusting mechanism engaging with the base and the supporting plate and capable of rotating related to the base to adjust a slanting angle of the supporting plate. The positioning mechanism includes a frame to releasably hold and position the ball.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a measuring apparatus to measure adhesion of a tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
In manufacturing, a tape is often used to adhere to a surface of a product to protect the surface from being scratched. If adhesion of the tape is too weak, the tape cannot be attached firmly to the product and tends be accidently detached from the product. If the adhesion of the tape is too strong, coating on the surface of the product may be damaged in detaching of the tape from the product. Therefore, measuring the adhesion of the tape is necessary for choosing a tape with proper adhesion.
In a conventional measuring method, a tape is fixedly spread on a plate slantingly placed related to horizon, with an adhesive surface of the tape opposite to the plate. Balls with different weights roll along the plate from a beginning point, the adhesion of the tape is assessed according to the weightiest ball able to be held by the adhesive surface of the tap, for example, the ball is stopped by the tape or the ball rolls down along the tape slowly enough.
One disadvantage of the conventional measuring method described above is that an slanting angle of the plate has to be calibrated with gauge. Another disadvantage of the conventional method is that operators need to hold the balls at the beginning point before the test starts. Therefore, the conventional measuring method is inefficient and laborious.

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A method of processing image data includes generating image data including luminance and chrominance data representing a selected object, separating the luminance and chrominance data, storing the separated luminance and chrominance data in corresponding separate spaces in memory, and separately compressing the stored luminance and chrominance data.

High Dynamic Range Imagery (HDRI) refers to processes, techniques, and digital image systems capable of reproducing real-world lighting and color data with high accuracy. HDRI initially was introduced to overcome dynamic range limitations in digital images, such as described in the scientific publication "Overcoming Gamut and Dynamic Range Limitations in Digital Images" (hereinafter "Ward98_2"), Proceedings of the Sixth Color Imaging Conference, November 1998, as well as in the scientific publication "High Dynamic Range Imagery" (hereinafter "Ward01"), Proceedings of the Ninth Color Imaging Conference, November 2001
HDR pixel data commonly is represented using 96 bit data; 32 bits single precision IEEE floating point data for each RGB component. Standard digital images usually employ 24 bits per pixel; 8 bits for each RGB component. Thus, an HDR image has four times as much data as an LDR image. Therefore, due to relatively large amount of data for an HDR image, there is a need to substantially compress HDR image data.
The publication G. Ward, "Reel Pixels," Graphics Gems II, Ed. by J. Arvo, Academic Press, 1992 (hereinafter "Ward92"), describes the RGBE image format as representing the required dynamic range using 32 bits/pixel instead of 96 bits/pixel, providing a compression ratio of 3:1. Typical image and video compression algorithms, such as JPEG and MPEG, achieve much higher compression ratios, thus producing files hundreds of times smaller than the original source data. The RGBE format explicates a relevant compression problem by introducing the Exponent on a per-pixel basis, since even small errors that may be introduced by common compression methods, such as but not limited to JPEG and MPEG, generate exponentially higher levels of artifacts in the recovered image.
European Patent EP 0991020, owned by the Eastman Kodak Company, (hereinafter, "Kodak Patent") describes a method to encode the extended color gamut of sRGB images by using residual images obtained by computing
The scientific publication "Perception-motivated High Dynamic Range Video Encoding", Proc. of SIGGRAPH '04 (Special issue of ACM Transactions on Graphics), 2004 (hereinafter "Mantiuk04") describes a method to encode HDR video into the MPEG4 standard. As described, the chrominance part of the image is expressed using a u′v′ color space similar to the color space used in the LogLuv image format discussed in Larson, G. W., "LogLuv encoding for full-gamut, high-dynamic range images," Journal of Graphics Tools, 3(1):15-31 1998 (hereinafter "Ward98"), and also describes using 11 bits to store luminance data directly into the DCT coefficients. To overcome visible artifacts due to the augmented DCT range, a hybrid block coding system using additional data also is introduced
The scientific publication "High Dynamic Range Image and Video Data Compression", IEEE CG&A, 2005 (hereinafter "Xu05") describes a method to encode HDR image/video data, where, considering the RGBE image format, the RGB part of the image and the "E" (Exponent) part are separated and sent to different compression schemes. As described, the compression scheme for RGB is lossy while the scheme for "E" is lossless.
The publications "Subband Encoding of High Dynamic Range Imagery", First Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization (APGV), August 2004, (hereinafter "Ward04") and "JPEG-HDR: A Backwards-Compatible, High Dynamic Range Extension to JPEG", Proceedings of the Thirteenth Color Imaging Conference, November 2005, (hereinafter "Ward05") describe methods/systems for encoding HDR images and video in which a tone mapping operator is applied to the HDR source so that the HDR input is mapped smoothly into a 24 bit output domain with no components being clamped at 0 or 255. The original luminance of the HDR image is divided by the luminance of the tone-mapped LDR version, generating an HDR grayscale residual image which is log-encoded and used to restore the original frame.
The scientific publication "Backward Compatible High Dynamic Range MPEG Video Compression", Proc. of SIGGRAPH '06 (Special issue of ACM Transactions on Graphics), 25 (3), pp. 713-723, 2006, (hereinafter "Mantiuk06") discloses a method for compressing HDR video similar to that disclosed in Ward04 and Ward05.
The processes and techniques disclosed in each of the publications identified above disadvantageously call for additional coding and additional per-pixel operations, as well as additional pre- and/or post-correction processing, to achieve satisfactory results. Moreover, currently available MPEG and/or MPEG4 features and filters cannot be fully and/or easily exploited or employed by, or are incompatible with, many of the processes/systems mentioned above.
Consumer digital displays today are only capable of displaying 8 bits for each RGB color component (i.e. 24-bit image data) and, considering luma/chroma separation, are only capable of displaying 8 bits for luma data that contain the high-frequency details of an image. With the introduction of high definition (HD) resolutions and bigger display screens—up to 100 inches—the limited precision of standard 24-bit digital images reveals several artifacts on such displays, even when uncompressed. By employing common compression solutions, like the JPEG or MPEG plethora of algorithms, these artifacts become even more visible to the human eye, due to the reduced precision, in number of bits, of the resulting decompressed output image.
In order to fully exploit the potential of HD resolutions, a display should be capable of showing 1920 shades, i.e. the maximum number of pixels in the longest pixel row at the highest HD resolution (1080p). With 8-bit data it is only possible to display 256 shades and moreover with MPEG compression this figure is usually greatly reduced, producing visible banding artifacts when using HD resolutions even on a 26 inches display. MPEG—and the latest H.264 standard—also introduces block-artifacts due to the nature of the algorithms which encode and store image data in blocks of 4×4 pixels up to 16×16 pixels, which are independent from each other, i.e. the output pixel luma value of a block has no correlation with an adjacent pixel of a different block. This usually leads to a high luminance contrast between edges of the surrounding blocks.
In order to avoid block-artifacts a number of algorithms commonly known as "deblocking filters" have been introduced. Such algorithms though are by nature very expensive in terms of the computing power required, which is linearly related to the dimensions of the image to be filtered. With HD resolutions, the number of pixels to be processed with a deblocking filter is up to 4.6 times the number of pixels being processed in a standard PAL or NTSC frame, thus a deblocking algorithm requires much more computing power in order to be applied to HD resolutions.
Hence, there is also a need to provide an effective method that enables encoding and decoding of higher precision image data (>24 bits/pixel) that is compatible with standard compression methods, such as JPEG and MPEG, and for a method that is able to remove typical image compression artifacts using the lowest possible computing power.

Multi-compatible low and high dynamic range and high bit-depth texture and video encoding system


A method, client computing device, and computer-readable medium for virtual conferencing with embedded collaboration tools, including receiving data corresponding to a virtual conference room hosted on a collaboration server and accessible to a plurality of participants on a plurality of client computing devices, the virtual conference room including a communication wall comprising an embedded audiovisual conference window, a collaboration wall comprising an embedded collaborative whiteboard, and an application wall comprising a plurality of embedded application widgets and rendering a three-dimensional representation of at least a portion of the virtual conference room that is customized for a user of the client computing device based at least in part on one or more user parameters associated with the client computing device.

Existing collaboration software solutions typically fall into a number of different categories. One of these categories is video conferencing and teleconferencing software, which allows participants to communicate with one another over an audiovisual stream. Despite the name, these video conferencing solutions do not resemble a physical conference room environment, in which users can exchange notes, edit documents, and share information with others on their laptops or other electronic devices. To the contrary, most videoconferencing and teleconferencing software acts as an extension of a phone call or voice call, permitting participants to speak to one another and see one another, but not much else. While videoconferencing software may include a "presenter" functionality, this accomplishes little outside of allowing other users to view the screen of the presenter.
Another category of collaboration software is collaborative editing software. This software typically uses a whiteboard or other interface which participants can edit concurrently in order to exchange information and conduct brainstorming sessions. While this software enables the exchange of information between users, it is limited to the dimensions and functionality of the whiteboard or other interface, and users cannot collaborate across applications and files in the same way that they would be able to in a real-life setting. Due to the technological difficulty of integrating different applications into the collaboration session, users are typically limited to editing information on a whiteboard interface, rather than across all of the applications that they may ordinarily utilize in the course of their work. Another drawback of collaborative editing software is that this type of software typically relies on chat functionality for communication between users, and is missing the real-time audiovisual communication necessary for effective collaboration.
There are currently no collaboration software solutions which allow users to replicate the experience of a real-life conference room environment, in which users can not only communicate with one another in real time, but also collaborate on documents, applications, and other files, as well as collaborate on a white board. Accordingly, improvements are needed in networked collaboration systems.

Method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for virtual conferencing with embedded collaboration tools


Encrypted music data and additional information necessary for accessing a server (30) are copied from a CD-ROM (200) onto a memory card (110). The memory card (110) receives via a digital portable phone network the distribution of a contents decoding key (Kc) necessary for decoding encrypted music data and control information data (AC1) for limiting the number of accesses to the memory card from the server (30).

By virtue of the progress in the Internet, information communication networks and the like, each of users can now easily access network information through a personal terminal employing a cellular phone or the like.
In such information communication, information is transmitted through digital signals. Therefore, each user can copy, e.g., music and video information transmitted via the aforementioned information communication network without degradation in the audio quality and picture quality. When any content data subject to copyright protection such as music data and image data is to be transmitted on the information communication network, copyrights of the copyright owner may be significantly infringed unless some appropriate measures to protect the copyrights are taken.
However, if copyright protection is given top priority so that distribution of content data over the disseminating digital information communication network is suppressed, the copyright owner who can essentially collect a predetermined copyright royalty for copies of a copyrighted work will also incur some disadvantages.
Instead of the distribution over the digital information communication network described above, distribution may be performed via record mediums storing digital data in a reproducible manner. In connection with the latter case, music data stored in CDs (Compact Disks) on the market can be freely copied in principle onto magneto-optical disks (e.g., MDs) as long as the duplication is only for the personal use. However, a personal user performing digital recording or the like indirectly pays predetermined amounts in prices of the digital recording device itself and the medium as guaranty moneys to a copyright owner.
Further, the user can copy the music data from a CD to an MD, but cannot copy it from an MD to another MD.
In view of the above, sufficient measures must be taken for the copyright protection when distributing the content data such as music data and image data taking the form of digital information to the public.
For example, a copyright owner or the like may wish to distribute music data in an appropriate distribution manner to an indefinite number of users, e.g., for sales promotion of new songs or tunes. However, if reproducible music data were simply distributed without reservations or restrictions over the digital information communication network, the copyright owner would be unable to collect charges from users without difficulty.
After a user receives the above music data, it is necessary to prevent unrestricted production of duplications in a reproducible form.
For another distribution system of music data, experiments are being conducted on operation of automatic dispensers or vending machines of music data to be located in railway stations, convenience stores and others. In this system, the music data is distributed to the automatic dispensers over a digital information communication network, and users can purchase the music content information from the automatic dispenser.
For selling the music data in the above automatic dispensers, the music data is recorded on a writable record medium such as a MD. Assuming that tens of seconds are required for recording one tune or song, a user who is purchasing about ten tunes at a time must wait several minutes for the purchase.

Data distributing system and recording medium used for it


A method for manufacturing a thin film transistor according to the present disclosure may include the following steps of: performing a two-step etching on an active layer such that part of the active layer is consistent with a source-drain electrode layer, and etching the active layer within a photoresist-removed-area to form an active layer tail; ashing a photoresist layer such that a contour of the photoresist layer is consistent with that of the source-drain electrode layer; further etching the source-drain electrode layer to form a source-drain electrode layer pattern including a source electrode and a drain electrode, and etching off a doped semiconductor layer between the source electrode and the drain electrode, and meanwhile etching off the active layer tail.

High-pixel high-definition Pixels Per Inch (PPI) products have become the mainstream for display currently in order to adapt to a higher integration level. Currently, a six-mask solution has been proposed in order to achieve the purpose of increasing throughput during the process of manufacturing thin film transistors. The core technology characteristic of Advanced Super Dimension Switch (ADS) is described as: a multi-dimensional electric field is formed from an electric field generated by an edge of a slot electrode and an electric field generated between a slot electrode layer and a plate-shaped electrode layer in a same plane, such that all oriented liquid crystal molecules between and right above slot electrodes in a liquid crystal cell are rotatable, thereby improving liquid crystal working efficiency and increasing light transmission. Advanced Super Dimension Switch can improve the image quality of TFT-LCD products, and have advantages such as high resolution, high transmittance, low power consumption, wide visual angle, high aperture ratio, low chromatic aberration, push Mura free, etc.
In an ADS mode, i.e., Fringe Field Switching (FFS) mode, an edge electric field is generated through the electrodes between pixels in a same plane such that all oriented liquid crystal molecules between and right above electrodes can be switched by rotation in a direction parallel to the plane of the substrate, thereby improving the light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer. The primary creative scheme in the 6-mask thin film transistor manufacturing process in the ADS liquid crystal display technology is that a gate insulating layer and an active layer are formed in one patterning process. For example, "a pattern comprising an active layer and a gate electrode insulating layer is formed by a third patterning process" as mentioned in the publication text of PCT patent application WO 2013143294 A1.
However, there are problems in the implementation process. As shown in FIG. 1, a gate electrode 2, a gate electrode insulating layer 3, an active layer 4, and a source-drain electrode layer 5 are formed on a substrate 1. In the wet etching step of the source-drain electrode layer 5 by a semi-transparent mask technology, since the metal material of the source-drain electrode layer 5 is indented by about 1-2 μm as compared with the photoresist, and the subsequent dry etching on the active layer 4 tends to etch in a vertical direction, the active layer 4 is almost not indented as compared with the source electrode to be formed and the upper photoresist layer covering the drain electrode. Because wet etching has the characteristic of isotropy, a width of horizontal etching is close to a depth of vertical etching. Thus, there will be a certain difference (discrepancy) between the pattern of the upper photoresist and the pattern etched on a lower material. Referring to FIG. 1, the pattern in the lower layer is the source electrode and drain electrode formed by performing wet etching on the source-drain electrode layer 5, the pattern of the upper photoresist is substantially consistent with the active layer 4, the source-drain electrode layer 5 is etched horizontally to certain extent to result in indent. Part of the active layer 4 will be etched off in a subsequent photoresist ashing, the second etching process of the source-drain electrode layer 5 and the etching process of the doped semiconductor layer on the active layer 4, thereby inevitably producing an active layer tail (a-Si tail), as shown in the area a in FIG. 1. In the trend of wiring refinement, the active layer tail will exert big load on the thin film transistor and will even affect the performance of the thin film transistor.

Thin film transistor and method for manufacturing the same, and display device

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A cellular phone comprises a cellular phone control module that controls the cellular phone, a global positioning system (GPS) selectively generates vector and location data, and a transmitter. The cellular phone control module selectively wirelessly transmits the vector and location data using the transmitter when at least one of the cellular phone is traveling on a first set of predetermined roads and does not transmit the vector and location data when the cellular phone is traveling on a second set of roads, and the cellular phone is traveling at a first speed that is greater than a predetermined speed.

Global positioning systems (GPS) for vehicles typically include a receiver that triangulates vehicle position using beacons generated by GPS satellites. These systems also typically include a map database that is used to provide the location of the vehicle on a map, driving directions, the location of restaurants and other businesses, and/or other information. As cities become more populated, it has become more difficult to travel without incurring delays due to traffic congestion, accidents, construction and/or other problems. Finding parking in congested cities can also be difficult.


A connector assembly includes a housing, a contact and a compressive coupling member. The housing has a mating interface and a mounting interface on opposing sides of the housing. The mounting interface is configured to engage a first substrate when the housing is mounted to the first substrate. The mating interface is configured to mate with a mating connector that is mounted to a second substrate. The housing is configured to engage and interconnect the substrates in a parallel arrangement. The contact extends between and protrudes from the interfaces of the housing and is configured to provide an electrical connection between the substrates. The compressive coupling member is configured to extend through the substrates and the housing in a direction transverse to the interfaces. The coupling member is configured to apply a compressive force to the housing to secure the housing with the mating connector to electrically and mechanically interconnect the substrates.

The invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to a connector assembly that mechanically and electrically connects substrates.
Known mezzanine connectors mechanically and electrically connect circuit boards. A header assembly is mounted to one circuit board and a mating connector is mounted to another circuit board. The header assembly and the mating connector mate with one another to mechanically and electrically interconnect the circuit boards. The circuit boards are separated from one another by a stack height when interconnected by the header assembly and the mating connector. Contacts in the header assembly and the mating connector mate with the circuit boards and provide the electrical connections between the circuit boards. In order to secure the header assembly and the mating connector together, the header assembly and the mating connector are manually pushed toward one another. The manual pushing on the header assembly and the mating connector can be an unreliable manner for securing the header assembly and the mating connector together. The manual pushing on the header assembly and the mating connector may be insufficient to mechanically and electrically connect the header assembly and the mating connector. The header assembly and the mating connector may require a significant amount of mating force to mate the header assembly and the mating connector. Manually applying the mating force on the circuit boards to which the header assembly and the mating connector are mounted may overly stress the circuit boards or prohibit contacts in the header assembly or mating connector from reliable electrical engagement with the circuit boards. Additionally, the circuit boards may plastically deform or break due to the manual application of the mating force.
Thus, a need exists for a more reliable and controllable manner for mechanically and electrically mating a header assembly and a mating connector to mechanically and electrically interconnect circuit boards with one another.

Connector assembly having a compressive coupling member


A method and system of transmitting data frames from a sending unit (10) to a receiving unit (12) in a data transmission network comprising at least a backbone (14) wherein the data are transmitted over high speed links enabling long Maximum Transmission Units (MTU) between an ingress node (18) connected to the sending unit by a first access link (16) and an egress node (22) connected to the receiving node by a second access link (20), with at least one of the first and second access links being a low speed access link requiring the data frames to be segmented into short MTUs between the sending unit and the ingress node and between the egress node and the receiving unit. A plurality of consecutive segmented data frames (28) belonging to the same flow of data transmitted from the sending unit to the ingress node are assembled by the ingress node into an assembled data frame (30) corresponding to the long MTU, the assembled data frame is transmitted over the backbone from the ingress node to the egress node at a high speed authorized by the backbone links, and the assembled data frame is de-assembled into consecutive segmented data frames (32) corresponding to the short MTUs by the egress node before being transmitted to the receiving unit.

The use of data transmission networks based upon packet switching becomes more and more important today for transmitting data within a delimited area such as a firm, a plant, a building, etc. through Local Area Networks (LANs) as for transmitting data over long distances by using Wide Area Networks (WANs).
In such a network, when one host has a large amount of data to send to another host, the data are transmitted as a series of datagrams or packets. It is usually preferable that these datagrams be of the largest size that can successfully traverse the path from the source node to the destination node without requiring being fragmented anywhere along the path. This datagram size is referred to as the path Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) and is equal to the minimum link MTU of all the links in the path. Although there are several techniques for dynamically discovering this path MTU, the current practice is to use the first hop MTU when the first hop is a low speed link like a remote access where generally a MTU value of 576 bytes is used.
The fragmentation of the frames meeting the MTU, required by the low transmission speed on some links of the path, presents some advantages. Thus, in the data transmission systems with acknowledgments, such as TCP/IP systems, the transmission of short frames enables them to be presented (generally displayed) early in time to the user. Furthermore, long frames are not well or not all supported by some switching or routing equipment, or even certain applications, when a low speed link in the remote access results in long transmission delays.
When there are both data and voice transmission on the same path, the voice frames are generally short and do not enable a too important jitter which is produced for example when a long data frame is transmitted between two voice frames. Therefore, the frame size must be reduced to obtain an acceptable jitter to avoid using a too important destination jitter buffer leading to a too long transmission delay incompatible with the requirements of the voice transmission.
But the transmission of short frames also presents a number of drawbacks. Thus, the data processing in a node becomes more complex insofar as for a given quantity of transmitted data, the number of frames which are stored and processed is increased. Furthermore, the number of frames that a node can process in a given time is limited insofar as there is an incompressible processing time and a buffer is required for each frame. For example, with an usual MTU of 576 bytes, buffers of 1 Kbytes are necessary since buffers of 512 bytes are not sufficient, and buffering is not optimized. Another drawback which is not the least is that the use of short frames requires important headers with respect to the data which results in an overhead that can represent 10% of the data.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for assembling segmented frames of data transmitted over a backbone network

International Business Machines Corporation


A hybrid vehicle comprises an engine 2, a motor generator 4, a torque converter 6 with a lock-up clutch 5, and a ratio-change mechanism 7. A control system for the hybrid vehicle comprises a rotational sensor 22, which detects the slip ratio of the torque converter, and a hydraulic control valve 12, which controls the engagement of the lock-up clutch. While the vehicle is moving along with the accelerator pedal being released from its stepped down condition, a driving force from the wheels is transmitted to the motor generator 4 for energy regeneration. If the slip ratio of the torque converter is equal to or smaller than a first threshold value, then only the lock-up clutch is controlled into engagement. However, if the slip ratio is between the first threshold value and a second threshold value, then additionally the motor generator is controlled in cooperative operation.

Such hybrid vehicles are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. H6(1994)-319210, H9(1997)-322307, H10(1998)-73161, 2003-205767, 2004-84679 and 2004-210123. As described in these disclosures, various types of hybrid vehicle have been proposed. For example, the following ideas are incorporated in a system where the vehicle is driven by the driving force being transmitted to drive wheels from both the engine and the motor generator or selectively from one or the other, i.e., a system where the engine and the motor generator are arranged in series. When the vehicle is started from standstill or accelerated, the driving force is supplied from both the engine and the motor generator for ensuring an accelerating power. On the other hand, when the vehicle is decelerated (with the accelerator being released), the operation of the engine is controlled to terminate (in idling-elimination control), or the suction and exhaust valves of some or all of the cylinders are controlled to close in partial or all cylinder-off control for improving fuel efficiency and for reducing emission. In addition, the force from the side of the drive wheels is transmitted to the motor generator for energy regeneration and for braking action, which assists the engine brake.
Generally, the driving force from the engine and the motor generator is transmitted not directly to the drive wheels but through a transmission that varies the gear ratio or speed change ratio, and an automatic transmission that comprises a torque converter and a ratio-change mechanism is often used as such a transmission. In a hybrid vehicle equipped with such an automatic transmission, while the vehicle is being decelerated (with the accelerator being released) with the force from the drive wheels being transmitted to the motor generator, slips are likely to occur in the torque converter, resulting in a low transmission efficiency. This condition leads to problems of low efficiency in energy regeneration, low effectiveness in engine brake assistance and the like.
In the case where the engine is stopped for energy regeneration while the vehicle is being decelerated, the lock-up clutch of the torque converter is engaged in the automatic transmission not to allow slippage in the torque converter, for improving the energy regeneration efficiency.
Furthermore, for example, the above mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-210123 discloses a hybrid vehicle, which solves the above mentioned problems. In this hybrid vehicle, when the vehicle is being decelerated (with the accelerator being released), the operation of the motor generator is controlled to reduce the slippage of the torque converter (in cooperative control of the motor generator) for bring the lock-up clutch quickly into engagement. Additionally, the control system disclosed in the above mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-210123 starts the operation of the engine with its cylinders turned off. In this case, the quick engagement of the lock-up clutch enables a prompt transition to the operation of the engine with its cylinders off, effecting an improvement in fuel efficiency.
On the other hand, while the vehicle is being decelerated, generally the speed of the vehicle decreases, and in response to this slowdown, the automatic transmission is controlled to downshift. However, if a shifting is executed while the lock-up clutch is engaged for improving the energy regeneration efficiency, then there can be a sudden change in the braking force (so-called engine brake force), which may give a sense of incongruity to the driver. For this problem, Patent Reference 3 discloses a system that allows no shifting while energy regeneration is performed during deceleration of the vehicle.
By the way, if the operation of the motor generator is controlled cooperatively, then the lock-up clutch can be engaged promptly. However, at the time of the start of the deceleration, when the accelerator pedal is released from its held down position, the slip ratio of the lock-up clutch is often relatively small. Therefore, in many cases, the lock-up clutch can be engaged quickly and smoothly without cooperative operation of the motor generator. In such cases, if the motor generator is operated in cooperation, then the driving torque of the motor generator in cooperation can be transmitted to the drive wheels, causing a fluctuation in the driving torque (accelerating torque). This fluctuation is a problem that may give the driver a sense of incongruity in the operation of the vehicle.
Moreover, there is a case where it is difficult to reduce the slip ratio of the torque converter by the cooperative operation control of the motor generator. There is also a case where the slip ratio of the torque converter does not decrease even though the cooperative operation control is executed, or even a case where the slip ratio of the torque converter increases contrary to what is expected from the execution of the cooperative operation control. In such cases, the continuation of the cooperative operation of the motor generator results only in a waste of electrical power, which leads to a problem of depletion of the battery charge.
Further, in a case where no shifting is allowed while the vehicle is in deceleration and where, for example, the deceleration of the vehicle is effected by the termination of the engine operation caused by a fuel cutoff while the transmission is set at a high speed ratio, the rotational speed of the engine can become lower than an idling rotational speed. In such a case, it is necessary to cancel the fuel cutoff and to restart the operation of the engine for accelerating the vehicle again. This situation results in a problem that lowers the fuel efficiency. In addition, it is necessary for the vehicle to downshift for the re-acceleration because the vehicle coasting at a relatively low speed with its transmission set at a high speed ratio cannot gain a drive power necessary for acceleration. This presents a problem of reduced drivability.
While it is desirable to shift the speed ratio in response to changes in the operating condition of the vehicle, it is necessary to prevent shift shock that may occur from the shifting and give a sense of incongruity. Therefore, it is proposed that the motor generator be driven during the shifting to bring the rotational speed on the side of the engine (i.e., the rotational speed of the input shaft of the transmission) closer to that expected for the speed change ratio after the shifting (refer to, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H6(1994)-319210). This control is hereinafter referred to as cooperative operation control of the motor generator for the shifting.
However, if the torque of the motor generator is controlled during the shifting mainly for bringing the rotational speed on the side of the engine to a rotational speed expected for the ratio after the shifting, for example, if the motor generator is controlled to increase the rotational speed of the engine during a downshifting, then it can generate a torque that accelerates the vehicle, resulting in a feel of acceleration even during a downshifting. This can be a problem that gives also a sense of incongruity.


An ink storage container having a simply configured ink exchange function is provided, whereby the amount of stored ink is increased. An air flow control unit for controlling the flow of air between the inside and outside is disposed in an ink storage unit for storing ink. The air flow control unit includes: a valve element that is formed of an interconnected porous material and allows air to be exchanged between the inside and outside of the ink storage unit according to positive and negative changes in the internal pressure of the ink storage unit; and a liquid repellent membrane that has air permeability and liquid repellency and is disposed on an ink side of the valve element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink storage container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of the ink storage container include ink tanks for writing instruments and ink cartridges (tanks) for ink-jet printers. Such ink tanks have a mechanism for introducing outside air to the tanks according to the amount of ink consumed for writing and printing characters and images so that the consumption of the ink is not adversely affected by a change in pressure inside the tanks. Examples of such a mechanism include a mechanism including a simple hole formed as an inlet of outside air and a mechanism including a ventilation passage with a valve mechanism for providing ventilation as necessary.
However, with the mechanism including a simple hole formed as an inlet of outside air, the ink may leak through the hole. Moreover, in writing instruments and also in ink-jet printers, their ink-ejecting means such as nibs or printer heads receive water head pressure caused by the weight of ink (the pressure corresponds to force per horizontal unit area that is exerted on the bottom surface of a liquid column extending from the bottom surface to the liquid level). Therefore, with the mechanism including a simple hole formed as an inlet of outside air and with a mechanism including a membrane that allows gas to pass therethrough but does not allow liquid to pass therethrough, the water head-pressure can cause the ink to flow out from the ejection hole since the pressure inside the ink tanks or the ink cartridges is the same as the atmospheric pressure. Hence, an ink absorbing body such as sponge must be disposed in at least a part of an ink storage unit above the ink ejection hole to retain the ink.
However, when the ink absorbing body such as sponge is used to retain the ink, the amount of ink stored in the ink storage unit is less than the amount of ink stored in an ink storage unit that has the same volume as the above ink storage unit and does not include the ink absorbing body, and the number of printable characters is reduced accordingly.
Therefore, users need to replace the ink storage container frequently. In commercial products, the ink capacity of a black ink storage container is generally greater than those for other colors, and the large ink capacity is achieved by simply increasing the size of the storage container. However, this results in an increase in the size of printers. As described above, the conventional ink storage containers cause various inefficiencies. In view of this, various improvement techniques have been proposed based on the idea of using a small valve element.
For example, an ink storage container has been proposed in which a ventilation passage with a valve mechanism for providing ventilation as necessary is formed in an upper lid portion of the storage container so as to be substantially embedded therein. In this ink storage container, the reduction in the amount of stored ink, which occurs in the ink storage container having the ink absorbing body disposed thereinside, can be prevented, and the outflow of the ink can also be prevented.
A conventional technique for providing the ventilation passage with a valve mechanism for providing ventilation is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-277777. The technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-277777 is related to an ink cartridge. Specifically, an interconnected porous body serving as a valve element is disposed in a concave-shaped valve-attaching portion formed in a lid-attaching portion, and a lid having a ventilation hole is placed on the porous body. A protruding portion having a slit-like opening is provided below a hole portion. The lid is welded and secured to the lid-attaching portion by ultrasonic welding, whereby the valve element is enclosed in the valve-attaching portion.
In the structure described above, an elastic material is basically used to form an interconnected porous body, and the interconnected porous body is compressed to substantially close the interconnected pores, whereby the valve element including a plurality of ventilation pores with valve covers is formed. In this manner, the ejection of the ink can be appropriately controlled, irrespective of whether the change in pressure is small or large.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-187874 discloses an ink tank including a one-way valve and a ventilation membrane disposed below the one-way valve. The ventilation membrane is air-permeable, and the surface thereof facing the ink has been subjected to liquid repellent treatment to inhibit or prevent the ink from passing therethrough. With such a ventilation membrane, the ink is prevented from flowing upward therethrough and adhering to the one-way valve.
In the valve element used in the ink storage container disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-277777, the slit-like opening is formed in the side wall of the protruding portion. In this manner, the ink is prevented from adhering to the valve element. However, the valve element is always in communication with the ink side. Therefore, although the protruding portion is provided, the ink can come in contact with or adhere to the valve element when the ink storage container is reciprocally moved during printing or is tilted at a certain angle when carried. When the ink comes into contact with or adheres to the valve element, the interconnected ventilation pores are clogged with the ink, and therefore the ventilation properties deteriorate. As described above, the ink can come into contact with the valve element, and this causes a difficulty in appropriately controlling the ejection of the ink over a range of from a small pressure change to a large pressure change. In such a case, the ventilation cannot be appropriately controlled. For example, when the ink storage container is used as a cartridge of an ink-jet printer, the above difficulty can cause faint printing due to ink depletion or ink shortage or can cause ink leakage from the head or excessive ejection of the ink.
Moreover, when the lid is ultrasonically welded to the lid-attaching portion, the valve element is adversely affected by the heat and is thereby hardened. Therefore, the valve element itself undergoes thermal stress caused by the thermal deformation and can be deformed. The valve element must have an air flow control function that is provided by elastic deformation of the very fine interconnected pores caused by the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the ink storage container. However, in the above case, the air flow control function intrinsic to the valve element can deteriorate. Moreover, although the valve element itself does not allow the ink to pass therethrough, the ink may leak from the circumference of the valve element when the valve element is not properly held.
The valve element disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-277777 is basically a very good valve element. Specifically, the valve element is small in size and can control pressure bidirectionally. In addition, unlike plate-like valves and rubber-made bell-like valves, the valve element does not suffer deterioration in its function due to adhesion of dust. However, the only drawback is that the effective area varies due to adhesion of liquid. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-277777 provides some measures. For example, when a valve element is used which is formed of a liquid repellent material, or when a valve element is used which is not formed of a liquid repellent material but has been subjected to liquid repellent treatment to impart liquid repellency thereto, the ventilation interconnected pores of the valve element can be prevented from being clogged with the ink. However, this is difficult to achieve for the following reasons. Specifically, when a liquid repellent material such as a fluorine-based material is used to produce the valve element, it is difficult to produce an interconnected porous body and a compressed porous body having good elasticity. Moreover, when a liquid repellent valve element is produced from a non-liquid repellent material by subjecting a preformed valve element to liquid repellent treatment, it is difficult to form a liquid repellent film that exhibits good adherence even when environmental conditions such as temperature and pressure are changed, when shocks and vibrations are applied, and as the film ages. Specifically, it is difficult to produce an interconnected porous body and a compressed porous body with a liquid repellent film that resists peeling.
The present inventors have conducted tests on ink storage containers including: a valve element subjected to liquid repellent treatment; and a protruding portion having a slit-like opening formed in the side wall thereof. Specifically, the ink storage containers have been produced according to the description in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-277777. The test results (not being publicly known at the time of filing the subject application) have shown that a small amount of liquid first adheres to a very shallow part of the valve element, the adhering liquid infiltrates into the valve element as the valve element is repeatedly opened and closed, and finally the liquid disturbs the opening and closing operations of the valve element to cause a reduction and instability in performance. In the state in which a small amount of liquid adheres to a very shallow part of the valve element, if the temperature inside the ink storage container increases, the internal pressure increases. The increased internal pressure also causes the liquid to infiltrate into the valve element. Moreover, during intermittent use at long intervals, the degree of infiltration of the liquid into the valve element increases, and finally the opening and closing operations of the valve element is disturbed. The liquid repellent treatment applied to the valve element and the infiltration prevention mechanism such as the protruding portion have conventionally been considered to be adequate measures and can actually suppress the infiltration of liquid into the valve element to some extent. However, the test results have shown that these measures are insufficient to completely prevent the infiltration of liquid into the valve element that undergoes long-term changes in environmental conditions such as temperature and pressure changes and to maintain the function of the valve element for a long period of time. According to the tests, the inventors have recognized that it is not sufficient to employ the idea of "suppressing the infiltration of liquid into the valve element" as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-277777 and that it is required to employ a novel idea of "completely preventing the infiltration of liquid into the valve element."


An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprises a unit for generating image data, an image reconstructing unit and an image synthesizing unit. The unit for generating image data generates image data for displaying a tomogram of a subject by luminance according to signal intensities of echo signals obtained through ultrasonic waves transmitted to the subject. The image reconstructing unit generates reconstructed images by alternating at least one of a luminance and a color of an area of a predetermined luminance so that the area of the predetermined luminance is emphasized in the image data while the predetermined luminance is altered in turn. The image synthesizing unit supplies the reconstructed images to a display unit so that the reconstructed images are displayed on the display unit in turn.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an image processing apparatus and an image processing method which image a tomogram of a subject according to echo signals of an ultrasonic wave irradiated to the subject, and more particularly, to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an image processing apparatus and an image processing method, which have a function for image processing to improve contrast visibility of tomograms.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic diagnosis is a diagnosis in which heart beat or motions of a fetus can be obtained as a real-time display through a manipulation as simple as placing an ultrasonic probe to the body surface. Furthermore, an ultrasonic diagnosis has no exposure risk different from X-ray imaging or the like. Therefore, in an ultrasonic diagnosis, an examination can be performed repetitively due to its high safety. The foregoing advantages enable the use of an ultrasonic diagnosis in the obstetrics department, home medical care, etc.
Moreover, an ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus can be moved to a bedside, so that an examination can be readily performed at the bedside, owing to its small system size in comparison with other image diagnosis apparatus for X-ray CT (computed tomography) apparatus, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) apparatus, etc. Although the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus varies with kinds of functions furnished therewith, the one small enough for an individual to carry around with one hand has been developed.
An intravenous ultrasound contrast medium has been commercialized, and the contrast echo method is thus being performed in recent years. This method aims to evaluate a blood perfusion when examining, for example, the heart or liver by enhancing blood flow signals with the aid of an ultrasound contrast medium injected intravenously. In most of the contrast media, micro bubbles function as the reflection source.
In an above mentioned examination using an ultrasound contrast medium, a very detailed blood vessel structure can be imaged, compared with the ultrasonic Doppler method used as conventional technology. It is expected that blood flow information at the level obtained by this contrast echo method is to be information of great importance for a differential diagnosis such as the degree of progress of the shunt of vessels or regenerative nodules and the differential diagnosis of a diffuse liver disease or a liver cancer.
The basic use of the ultrasonic diagnosis is to observe the morphology and movement of an internal organ from acquired tomographic images. Another important use thereof is to mutually compare the degrees of luminance (contrast ratios of luminance) expressed in the tomographic image, and acquire diagnostic information therefrom. These methods for ultrasonic diagnosis are used not only in ordinary diagnosis in the B mode but also in the recent contrast echo methods, and the observation of tomographic images and the comparison between contrast ratios of luminance are becoming increasingly important elements of diagnosis.
For example, when a tomographic image is diagnosed by the comparison between contrast ratios of luminance, if the intensity of echo signals enhanced by a contrast medium is compared between a disease region such as tumor and a normal parenchyma region, the magnitude relationship between the blood volumes supplied to the respective regions can be known, so that the degree of malignancy of the target area can be diagnosed from the magnitude relationship between these blood volumes.
In another example, in a moving image varying with time, by grasping the temporal variation in the luminance of the tumor region, it is possible to know the characteristics of blood flows flowing into or out of the tumor region, and identify the disease based on a pattern of temporal variation of the luminance.
Regarding above-mentioned ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus, as well as an image diagnostic apparatus such as an X-ray CT apparatus, MRI, and the like, the visibility of a tomographic image during diagnosis constitutes an important element common thereto, and hence, a technique for improving the visibility of tomographic image has been proposed (see, for example, JP-A-H8-7074). This technique divides a tomographic image of X-ray CT image or the like into a background section and a region of interest based on the difference in the pixel value, and allocates luminance gradation of a low luminance to the background section while allocating luminance gradation of a high luminance to the region of interest, whereby the region of interest and the background section can be definitely distinguished from each other. Furthermore, this technique is devised so that a pixel value that is referred to as a threshold value when the region of interest and the background section are divided from each other, can be altered.
In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, as described above, the improvement in the contrast ratio of luminance is an important challenge. To improve the contrast ratio of luminance, it is necessary to enhance basic performance such as an S/N ratio of the apparatus. However, besides such basic performance of the apparatus, illusion (so-called "optical illusion") brought about by human feeling may constitute a problem with respect to the contrast ratio of luminance.
FIG. 18 is a real image which explains an example case optical illusion is to be a problem on diagnosis of a luminance contrast ratio. FIG. 19 is an illustration image which explains an example case optical illusion is to be a problem on diagnosis of a luminance contrast ratio.
FIGS. 18 and 19 are schematic views each showing a diagnostic image with the region R of interest vertically oriented in the center of the screen. In FIGS. 18 and 19, the region R of interest has a single luminance, but the background B is varied in the luminance depending on a location. As a result, under the influence of the luminance of the background B, the luminance level of the region R of interest is felt as being different at different locations, and in this case of FIGS. 18 and 19, it is felt as being different along the vertical direction. Such a phenomenon that a luminance level is felt to be one different from the actual luminance level thereof is attributable to human optical illusion.
Moving images are also subjected to influence of the optical illusion as in the case of static images. For example, provided the luminance level of the region of interest is constant in time, when the luminance of the background around the region of interest gradually changes toward the higher luminance side, the luminance of the region of interest looks as if it were changing toward the lower luminance side.
The occurrence of such an illusion may cause a risk that diagnostic information is not properly recognized, which can result in a misdiagnosis. The optical illusion, therefore, must be avoided to prevent a misdiagnosis.
However, the conventional visibility improving techniques have been directed to merely altering luminances of the region of interest and background, and no consideration has been given to optical illusion. Therefore, no countermeasures to avoid the optical illusion have been taken. As a result, as described above, in the case where the luminance of the background varies with time, or varies depending on a location, the optical illusion may still occur and incur a misdiagnosis.
On the other hand, as a conventional solution to the optical illusion, a method has been contemplated in which the luminance level of the region of interest is digitalized, histogram-displayed, or graph-displayed, and in which the luminance level subjected to the digitalization, histogram-displaying, or graph-displaying is referred to during diagnosis.
However, this method for digitalizing or graphing the luminance level makes it difficult to observe the overall diagnostic images. Also, because the histograms use values such as the averaged values and the like with respect to the region of interest, they do not suit to the case where minute changes closely associated with the diagnostic images are observed.

Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, image processing apparatus and image processing method


Programmer input in a programming language in received, where the programmer input defines a behavior of an executable electronic object. One or more computers generate the executable electronic object according to the programmer input. An electronic message corresponding to invoking the executable electronic object is received, and in response to receiving the electronic message, the executable electronic object is invoked by one or more computers.

As email communications have rapidly increased in use, efficiently dealing with large quantities of received email messages has become a problem. Often, email inboxes can have thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands or more unread email messages collected over time because the email messages are received more rapidly than a person or even a group of people can read and process them.
Existing mechanisms to deal with this problem include creating rules to place email messages into folders according to the email addresses from which the messages originated, keywords contained within the messages or subject fields, or specific email addresses to which the email messages were addressed or from which the email messages originated. However, these mechanisms do not effectively process the email messages, but rather simply categorize the email messages for later handling and processing.

Methods and systems for processing electronic messages


An exemplary technique is provided for use in a decentralized electronic transfer system. A first digital code that represents a first transaction is generated from a first user's secure repository to the first user's unsecure repository. The first digital code is sent to a secure storage memory related to the unsecure repository to be stored in an area of the memory. A processor related to the unsecure repository generates a second digital code that represents a second transaction from the unsecure repository to the second user's repository. The processor retrieves the first digital code stored in the secure storage memory and publishes the retrieved digital code to validate the first transaction. In addition, the processor publishes the second digital code to validate the second transaction.

Decentralized electronic transfer systems are created to circumvent the necessity and avoid the costs of having a central organism checking and validating each transfer. Central electronic transfer systems rely on the combination of identification and authentication to the central organism of a user to validate a transfer request made by the user. Decentralized electronic transfer systems rely on the combination of identification and publication to validate a transfer request. Thereby the public will be able to see all transfers, they are published, and check the correctness of thereof. This form of social control, combined with mechanisms to reject incorrect published transfers, form the backbone of the decentralized electronic transfer system.
A drawback of the decentralized electronic transfer system is the risk of losing an unsecure repository, and consequently losing all transfers made to this unsecure repository. Solutions have been provided in securing repositories thereby keeping them safe from theft and loss. This however is a drawback for the usability of decentralized electronic transfer systems as the bar to use the secure repository is significantly raised.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for use in a decentralized electronic transfer system that solves at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks.


A window roller blind for motor vehicles having a guide rail arrangement that also forms an interior panel of the vehicle. The interior panel has a gap that forms a guide groove for guiding movement of the window blind between open and closed positions of the vehicle. The guide groove is undercut by being formed with a slot and a larger sized chamber behind interior panel parts. The chamber is defined either partly or completely within a rail fixed to rear sides of the interior panel parts.

DE 100 57 759 A1 describes a rear roller blind for motor vehicles. This rear roller blind comprises a winding shaft that is rotatably supported underneath a rear window shelf, with one edge of a sheet-like shade being fixed on the winding shaft. The sheet-like shade is cut to an approximately trapezoidal shape at one edge and fixed to a pull-out rod at its other edge distant to the winding shaft. The pull-out rod is laterally guided in two guide rails that are either adhered to the inner side of the rear window or concealed in the car body behind the C-column panel. Elastically flexible thrust elements are guided in the guide rails in buckle-proof fashion.
The guide rails consist of an extruded aluminum profile with a continuous undercut groove. The groove is composed of a chamber of circular cross section and a groove slot that is narrower than the diameter of the chamber.
Sliding or guiding elements move in the guide rails, the sliding or guiding elements include a head, the cross section of which is adapted to the cross section of the circular chamber of the guide rail profile. This head has the shape of a ball or a short cylindrical section, dimensioned so that it cannot become jammed in the curved sections of the guide rails. The diameter of the neck also prevents the sliding elements from getting stuck in the slot of the guide groove.
The head of the guide element usually is an injection-molded plastic material.
Over time, the mating plastic guide element and aluminum rail is not rattle-free under all conditions. The friction contact between the plastic guide elements and the aluminum rail also is not optimal. In addition, certain difficulties must be overcome when installing the guide rails in the motor vehicle since the guide rails and the corresponding parts of the interior panel comprise separate components.

Side panel with integrated window shade guide rail


An inverting and reversing prism system for a stereo microscope having an optical longitudinal axis and left and right eye viewing systems having left and right longitudinal axes, respectively, along which left and right beam paths are transmitted, respectively, comprising: at least four reflecting surfaces (13, 15, 16, 13A and 13A, 15A, 16A, 13) in each beam path (14, 14A), two of the reflecting surfaces (13, 13A and 13A, 13) in each beam path comprising inlet and outlet surfaces, respectively, for deflecting the beam path by 90.degree., the inlet and outlet surfaces in each beam path being oriented 45.degree. relative to the optical longitudinal axis of the microscope and 90.degree. relative to each other, with a line of intersection (26) of planes containing the inlet and outlet surfaces in each beam path defining an angle of 45.degree. with respect to a plane through the left and right longitudinal axes of the left and right eye viewing systems, with at least two other of the reflecting surfaces (15, 16 and 15A, 16A) in each beam path comprising intermediate reflecting surfaces disposed for deflecting the respective beam path from the inlet surface to the outlet surface.

The present invention relates to an image erecting and beam path interchanging optical system for use with a stereo microscope, such as a slit-lamp biomicroscope or operating microscope, for use during diagnostic observation, laser treatment or vitreoretinal surgery. More particularly the invention relates to a reflection based image erecting system, utilizing mirrors, prisms, or a combination of both to achieve both the vertical and horizontal inversion required in producing an upright and correctly oriented image, which can be retrofitted to an existing microscope, either as an external attachment to the end of the microscope containing the main collection lens or as a removable component positioned within the stereo microscope, between the end of the microscope containing the main collection lens and the opposite end of the microscope containing the left and right ocular tubes.
With the advent of modern vitreoretinal surgical procedures, including vitrectomy, retinal membrane removal and subretinal blood and membrane removal, the need to visualize a wide field section of the fundus, including the far peripheral retina, has become increasingly important. To this end, a variety of indirect ophthalmoscopy lens systems, both contact and non-contact, have been utilized or specially developed by researchers and manufacturers to assist the physician and to advance the state of the art.
Although providing a wide field of view required for present day vitreoretinal surgical procedures, an inherent disadvantage of these indirect ophthalmoscopy systems lies in the fact that the produced aerial image, of both the retina, and as importantly, the surgical instrumentation introduced into the eye, is reversed and inverted. Without an image inverting and reversing system, the physician may find it difficult, if not impossible, to perform a surgical procedure while viewing the surgical instrumentation and their movements within the eye in a vertically and horizontally reversed orientation.


A variety of agricultural spacer fabrics/textiles are provided that protect plants from insect penetration while allowing for light and air penetration, and methods of use. The textiles can be used alone or in conjunction with agents such as insecticides, insect repellants, and fungicides. The agricultural textile can have an outermost fabric layer, an innermost fabric layer, and a plurality of filaments connecting the outermost fabric layer and the innermost fabric layer.

There is a wide variety of new insecticide classes, e.g., the neonicotinoids, natural spinosyns and their derivatives, indoxacarb, emamectin benzoate, the JH and ecdysteroid agonists, and others. In addition, we have the older pesticides like the organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Furthermore, there are multiple Bt toxins and other proteins that are now genetically engineered into crops, initially into cotton and now expanded into corn and other commodities. These stacked Bt genes and others are being promoted as a method to prevent the evolution of target site insect resistance. New bacterial insecticides such as lipopeptides, which have similar effects on the insect digestive system to that of the Bts, have also recently been discovered. By the end of this decade, plants genetically engineered to produce dsRNA or siRNA and which use a RNAi approach for insect control are expected. Even microbial and yeast expression systems have been designed for the mass production of dsRNA for insecticidal sprays or in some plant species, for introduction as a systemic insecticide. The combined power of old and new pesticide technology is used as a part of integrated pest management (IPM) to minimize insecticide use by rotating modes of action and chemistry. However, all of these strategies may have unintended environmental, ecological and human/animal health consequences.
There remains a need for improved agricultural textiles that overcome the aforementioned deficiencies.

3D spacer textiles for crop protection and insect control


An extrusion die is provided with a male die through which a billet is extruded from an upstream side to a downstream side and, the male die adapted for forming an inside shape of a hollow material; and a female die for holding the male die and forming an outside shape of the hollow material. The male die is formed of a spider and a holder for holding the spider. The spider is formed of a mandrel and a plurality of bridge parts for supporting the mandrel, and enabling a distal-end outer peripheral surface to engage with a bridge-holding surface. The distal-end outer peripheral surface of each of the bridge parts and the bridge-holding surface of the holder are joined by shrink-fitting.

In general, extrusion processing of aluminum alloy and the like is high in the versatility in terms of the sectional shapes and is excellent for acquiring a hollow material formed by extrusion. Thus, it is being widely employed in these days. Recently in particular, products manufactured by extrusion processing have come to be used broadly as strong members of structural materials, mechanical components, and the like. Thus, there are increasing demands for extruded members constituted with high-strength alloys, particularly with maximum strength aluminum alloys such as the so-called 7000-system, e.g., 7075, 7N01, and 7003.
As an example of a conventional extrusion die for forming a hollow material, there is known a hollow-material extrusion die constituted with the so-called a spider die in which a male die and a female die are mounted inside a die ring (see Patent Document 1, for example).
As shown in FIG. 20, a spider die 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1 is constituted by including: a male die 101 having a core (mandrel) 110 for forming an inside shape of a hollow material; and a female die 102 for forming an outside shape of the hollow material. The male die 101 is constituted by including the mandrel 110 and a male ring 112 that holds the mandrel 110. Further, the mandrel 110 is formed with a forming projected part 113 and bridge legs 111 for holding the forming projected part 113.
Further, a distal-end peripheral side surface 115b of a distal-end 115 of the bridge leg 111 forms a slope surface that expands towards the tip side of the extrusion direction. The distal-end peripheral side surface 115b is fitted with an inner peripheral surface 112a of the male ring 112.
The mandrel 110 includes, on the bottom side thereof, a part that forms the inside shape of the hollow material. In the outer periphery of the mandrel 110, the bridge legs 111 in an X-letter shape, for example, i.e., extended in four directions, towards an inner periphery slope surface 112a of the male ring 112 are provided. Further, a space surrounded by the four bridge legs 111 and the inner peripheral surface 112a of the male ring 112 is a space S for introducing a billet formed with an aluminum alloy as a material.
The male die 101 is held by the female die 102 at the extrusion direction tip side shown with an arrow A. A forming hole part 106 to which the bottom part of the mandrel 110 is inserted and which is used for forming the outside shape of the hollow material is formed in the female die 102. Further, a holding surface 116 for holding the bottom surfaces of the bridge legs 111 of the male die 101 is formed on the outer periphery side top surface of the female die 102.
As described above, each of the bridge legs 111 in the spider die 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1 is formed as the slope surface in which the distal-end periphery side surface 115b of the distal-end 115 becomes expanded towards the tip side of the extrusion direction. Thus, during the extrusion of the billet, the axial force works on each of the bridge legs 111 and the bending stress working on each of the bridge legs 111 is decreased. Thus, the flexure of each of the bridge legs 111 is suppressed, thereby providing a structure with which the holding state of the mandrel 110 during the extrusion becomes stable.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Hei 7-124633
In a case where a high-strength alloy, particularly the so-called 7000-system maximum strength aluminum alloy, is used as a material for forming a hollow material and an extruded material having a plurality of hollow parts such as a material in a sectional shape having a rectangle with two vertically parallel lines or the like is formed as a member for automobile dampers, for example, to be formed with the alloy, it is difficult to increase the speed of extrusion and to improve the life of the die since the deformation resistance thereof is higher than those of other alloy types so that the extrusion processing force becomes greater and the load for the die tools becomes greater as well.
For example, the hollow material extrusion die 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above is so structured that the inner periphery slope surface 112a of the male ring 112 and the distal-end periphery side surfaces 115b of the bridge legs 111 are press-fitted to generate a compression stress to the bridge legs 111 in the direction orthogonal to the extrusion direction. The pressure stress and the extrusion force applied to the top surfaces of each of the bridge legs 111 when extrusion processing is executed, i.e., the tensile force for pulling towards the extrusion direction tip side generated in the shaping extrusion part 113, are set off thereby to prevent damages of the bridge legs 111 and to prevent damages of the mandrel 110 as a result.
However, in the extrusion die 100, the distal-end parts 115 of the bridge legs 111 are sloped in the direction spreading towards the tip side of the extrusion direction. Thus, the distance L between a base end part P1 held on the holding surface 116 of the female die 102 in the distal-end part 115 of the bridge leg 111 and the intersection point between the bridge leg 111 and the shaping extrusion part 113, i.e., a working point P2 that may be broken by the tensile force, becomes larger, so that the moment is increased.
Therefore, when an extrusion force is applied to the mandrel 100, a large weight is applied to the working point P2 so that the bridge legs 111 may be broken.
In order to overcome this issue, it is considered to increase the strength of the bridge legs 111 by increasing the size of the bridge legs 111 or to reduce the moment by shortening the distance L between the base end part P1 and the working point P2.
However, when the size of the bridge 111 is increased, the introduction space S of the billet to which the billet is guided and housed becomes smaller. Thus, the set amount of the billet cannot be secured. In order to secure the set amount of the billet, it is necessary to increase the inside diameter of the male ring 112. To do so, the die becomes large-sized and the distance L is extended, so that the moment cannot be reduced as a result.
Further, when the distance L between the base end part P1 and the working point P2 is shortened, the space between the male ring 112 and each of the bridge legs 111, i.e., the introduction space of the billet S, becomes small. This causes such issues that the extrusion amount of the billet is reduced, etc., so that there is naturally a limit in shortening the distance L.
As described above, with the spider die 100 designed to overcome the issues by offsetting the compression stress and the tensile stress, there is a possibility of breaking the bridge legs 111 as well as the mandrel 110 as a result. Thus, there is also a limit in extending the life of the die.
In order to overcome the issues, it is an object of the present invention to provide an extrusion die for forming a hollow material, which is capable of performing high-speed extrusion and preventing breakage of the mandrel at the same time so as to extend the life even when extrusion-forming a billet (an extruded material) constituted with a high-strength alloy with a high extrusion processing force, particularly constituted with the so-called 7000-system maximum strength aluminum alloy.

Extrusion die for forming hollow material

Nikkeikin Aluminium Core Technology Co., Ltd.