Provided is a self-sealing unit which has two films in a facing state, two end surfaces intersecting with the films, and a plurality of self-sealing valves. The self-sealing valves have diaphragm chambers which are formed by the films and valve bodies which move in accordance with displacement of the films and open/close flow paths. When viewed from a direction perpendicular to a plane to which the self-sealing unit is fixed, the length of a diagonal line connecting intersection points on sides of the diaphragm chambers is set to be longer than that of a diagonal line connecting intersection points on sides of the valve bodies.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus, a self-sealing unit, and a liquid ejecting head. Particularly, the invention is useful to be applied to, for example, an ink jet type recording apparatus having a self-sealing unit which ejects ink as liquid.
2. Related Art
An ink jet type recording apparatus (hereinafter, also referred to as a recording apparatus) having, for example, an ink jet type recording head (hereinafter, also referred to as a recording head), in which recording is performed in such a manner that ink in a liquid state is ejected, as ink droplets, through nozzles of the recording head has been known as a representative example of a liquid ejecting apparatus.
In some of the recording apparatuses of such a type, an ink jet type recording head unit (hereinafter, referred to as a head unit) is constituted by a plurality of recording heads which have nozzle rows constituted by a plurality of rows of nozzles and are aligned and fixed to a sub-carriage and the head unit is mounted on a main carriage. In the recording head constituting the head unit, a type which has a liquid flow path through which liquid is supplied to a pressure generation chamber communicating with nozzles and causes ink droplets to be ejected through the nozzles, using the pressure acting on ink in the pressure generation chamber in accordance with displacement of, for example, a piezoelectric element has been known.
In some of the recording heads of such a type, a self-sealing unit and a head main body are integrally constituted (see JP-A-2012-166420, for example). In this case, the head main body means a member which includes both a flow path unit that forms a liquid flow path including a plurality of pressure generation chambers communicating with respective nozzles and a pressure generation unit that is constituted by, for example, a piezoelectric element generating change in the pressure of ink in the pressure generation chamber. In the self-sealing unit, a part of the liquid flow path is formed, for example, in such a manner that an opening of a concave portion formed in a lateral surface intersecting with a nozzle forming surface of the recording head is sealed by a film. Furthermore, a valve body is disposed in the middle of the liquid flow path. In a normal state, the valve body is biased to close the liquid flow path. When the inside of the liquid flow path sealed by the film is in the negative pressure state in accordance with ejection of ink, the valve body is pressed by the film displaced by the negative pressure and opens the liquid flow path.
Accordingly, when the negative pressure is generated, in accordance with ejection of the ink, in the liquid flow path sealed by the film, the film presses the valve body. Then, the valve body is opened by the pressing force and thus, the ink flows through the liquid flow path and is supplied to the pressure generation chamber.
In the recording apparatus of the related art, which includes the self-sealing unit as described above, a head unit is formed by making, into a unit, a plurality of recording heads in a state in which the recording heads are aligned in a direction perpendicular to a transporting direction of a printing medium. When the recording heads are made into a unit, the respective recording heads are arranged in a state where the central lines of upper surfaces of the respective self-sealing units, relative to the transporting direction, are set to be parallel to the transporting direction.
Meanwhile, in some case, the inclined arrangement of the self-sealing unit, relative to the transporting direction, is intended from, for example, the relationship in the layout in a substrate, relative to a flow path substrate connected to the self-sealing unit or a circuit substrate laminated on the flow path substrate. In this case, when the self-sealing unit of the related art is arranged to be simply inclined without any change, the size of the installation area of the self-sealing unit increases in the transporting direction. As a result, there is a problem in that an increase in the size of the recording apparatus is caused.
Such a problem is not limited to an ink jet type recording apparatus in which ink droplets are ejected but is shared by a liquid ejecting apparatus in which other liquid droplets are ejected.

Liquid ejecting apparatus, self-sealing unit, and liquid ejecting head


This present invention is directed to polypeptide and polynucleotide molecules that encode a four-helical bundle cytokine. The cytokine has been designated zsig81, and has restricted expression in primarily heart, lung and liver. zsig81 has been shown to stimulate proliferation of hematopoietic cells and will be useful expansion of these cells, as well as conditions associated with hematopoietic cells. The invention is directed to antibodies and methods of making zsig81 polypeptides, as well.

Cellular differentiation of multicellular organisms is controlled by hormones and polypeptide growth factors. These diffusable molecules allow cells to communicate with each other and act in concert to form tissues and organs, and to repair and regenerate damaged tissue. Examples of hormones and growth factors include the steroid hormones, parathyroid hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, the interferons, the interleukins, platelet derived growth factor, epidermal growth factor, and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, among others.
Hormones and growth factors influence cellular metabolism by binding to receptor proteins. Certain receptors are integral membrane proteins that bind with the hormone or growth factor outside the cell, and that are linked to signaling pathways within the cell, such as second messenger systems. Other classes of receptors are soluble intracellular molecules.
In general, there is conservation among the cytokine receptors, which are classified into two classes. The cytokine ligands for these receptors have some conserved structural identity, as well, however, the biological activity of these ligands is diverse. The molecules of the present invention belong to a structural class of ligands that is characterized by comprising a four-helical bundle. As a group, the cytokine family of ligands have been extremely valuable as therapeutics and reagents for understanding the growth and maturation of many cell types. The cells influenced by cytokines range from totipotent stem cells to terminally differentiated cells with specialized functions critical to homeostasis of a broad spectrum of living systems. Thus, based on the activities of the cytokine family of proteins there is a need for new cytokines, cytokine agonists and cytokine antagonists, as well as related compounds and methods. The present invention provides such polypeptides for these and other uses that should be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein.


A process for manufacturing air-rich yarn and air-rich fabric is provided. The process of the present invention uses optimized parameters for blending, doubling, drafting and spinning in draw frame, roving frame and ring frame respectively. The process of the present invention provides an air rich yarn comprising a plurality of fibers of a water soluble material interlinked and distributed homogenously across a cross-section of the yarn using the optimized parameters. The plurality of fibers of water soluble material after treatment with water provides an improved air rich yarn comprising a plurality of interlinked through-pores distributed homogenously across the cross-section of the yarn. Further, the present invention provides a process of preparing an air-rich fabric from the air-rich yarn, where the fabric exhibits high wettability, easy dry ability, quick absorbency and increased thickness due to homogenous distribution of the plurality of interlinked through-pores across the cross-section of the yarn.

Fabric is a flexible material comprising a network of natural and/or artificial fibers often referred to as yarn or thread. A yarn is produced by spinning raw fibers such as wool, linen, cotton, or other natural or manmade material on a spinning wheel. A thread is produced by twisting two or more yarns together. Further, fabrics may be classified into three categories woven, knitted and non-woven fabrics. Fabrics may be further classified into terry fabric and flat fabrics. Terry woven fabrics, also known as, towelling fabrics may be made from 100% cotton fiber yarns, yarns made from fiber blends such as cotton and viscose, blends of cotton and modal, blends of silk and modal, bamboo fiber yarns; and blends of cotton and bamboo yarns. Flat fabrics, such as sheeting or apparel, may be made from 100% cotton, blends of polyester and cotton, blends of polyester and viscose, blends of cotton and modal, blends of cotton, silk and modal; and any combinations thereof. Additionally, decorative designs and embellishments may be formed using polyester filament, polyester spun yarn, viscose filament yarn, viscose spun yarn, mercerized cotton yarn, cotton linen fiber blended yarns, Ramie cotton fiber blended yarn, modal fiber yarns, chenille yarn, modified viscose fiber yarn, and combinations thereof. Terry fabrics are generally thick and absorb greater amount of water, as thicker the towelling fabric, greater the surface area. Terry fabrics generally include a plurality of pile loops, where the plurality of pile loops when exposed to a water droplet remove the droplet first by sucking the droplet between the spaces available between the pile loops and then absorb the water inside the yarn in the space between the fibers in the yarn. The latter part applies to flat fabrics as well. The absorbed water then enters the secondary wall and in a lumen of the cotton fiber.
Furthermore, terry products generally include a low-twist pile yarn, a ground warp yarn and a weft yarn. Pile yarn loops in the terry fabrics provide maximum surface area for the absorption of water and low twist aids in the absorption by imparting wicking properties to the yarn. Ground warp and weft yarns are generally hard-twisted compared to the pile yarn. The ground warp and weft yarn twist factors generally range from about 3.8 to about 4.2, depending upon the towel construction. In contrast, the twist factor in the pile yarn generally ranges from about 3.2 to about 3.9. Similarly in case of flat fabrics the twist factor for warp yarns and weft yarns ranges from 3.8 to 4.5. The yarns used in terry fabrics are generally coarse and range from 8 Ne to 30 Ne in single as well as doubled configuration for pile, weft and ground yarns. Similarly the warp and weft yarn count, in flat fabrics range from 12 Ne to 100 Ne in single as well as doubled configuration depending on the construction of fiber, their blends and the structure of the yarn made thereof.
Conventional techniques provide free spaces within the structure of yarn by using Polyvinyl alcohol ("PVA"), a man-made fiber, exhibiting unique property of dissolving in hot water by introducing PVA into blended yarns, for instance in core of a cotton yarn.
The conventional techniques introduces PVA into cotton yarn via cotton spinning system using the methods as listed below:                a) Inserting PVA fibers into the core during ring spinning, by inserting PVA spun yarn into the stream of cotton fibers in the drafting zone during ring spinning on Ring Frame.        b) Blending the PVA roving with the cotton roving during feeding in the drafting system of ring frame in SIRO spinning system.        c) Inserting PVA fiber slivers into the middle of cotton slivers at the feeding end of the drafting zone of the speed frame, twisting on the speed frame, and subsequently spinning the yarn at ring frame.        d) Blending PVA fiber along with cotton fiber in the initial process of fiber mixing in cotton spinning system.        e) Doubling PVA yarn with cotton yarn with twist in reverse direction of cotton yarn leaving the final finished fabric with cotton yarn having only few turns of twist.
However, methods (a), (b) and (c) do not ascertain blend homogeneity across radial direction in the final yarn structure. The pores formed are mainly of 'closed' and 'blind' type. The yarn made by said methods may be hollow in the core but the surface is covered. Covered surface does not allow easy access of water into the core in hollow space. Therefore, said methods are not effective to attain a porous yarn structure in the final fabric. The difference in structure of yarns manufactured by using any of the methods (a), (b) and (c) and structure of yarn manufactured using the process of the present invention can be well understood from schematic diagram in FIG. 1.
By using process (d) porous yarn structure in the final fabric can be attained. However, this process has operational challenges in blending process due to entirely different properties and processing behavior of PVA fibers.
Process (e) involves separate spinning process for PVA yarn and Cotton Yarn. Therefore, an additional cost of doubling process with PVA yarn is added, making the process expensive. Also, structure of the yarn is open fiber structure which causes negligible binding of the fibers. Further, none of the methods (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) provide interlinked 'through-pores' throughout the cross section of the yarn.
In light of the aforementioned drawbacks, there is a need for a process for manufacturing a yarn and a fabric having a high percentage of pores throughout the cross-section of the yarn and fabric produced from the yarn. There is need for a process which provides a yarn and a fabric with enhanced bulk, high absorbency and durability. Furthermore, there is a need for an improved process which provides homogenous distribution of through-pores across the cross-section of the yarn, where through-pores are the pores which open to outside and permit fluid flow. Yet further, there is a need for an improved process which provides interlinking of through-pores in the yarn, such that the fabric manufactured from the yarn exhibits high wettability, easy dry ability, quick absorbency and increased thickness or bulk. Yet further, there is a need to provide a process which is cost effective and economical.

Process for manufacturing air rich yarn and air rich fabric


The actual radiation dose absorbed in the body is calculated using three-dimensional Monte Carlo transport. Neutrons, protons, deuterons, tritons, helium-3, alpha particles, photons, electrons, and positrons are transported in a completely coupled manner, using this Monte Carlo All-Particle Method (MCAPM). The major elements of the invention include: computer hardware, user description of the patient, description of the radiation source, physical databases, Monte Carlo transport, and output of dose distributions. This facilitated the estimation of dose distributions on a Cartesian grid for neutrons, photons, electrons, positrons, and heavy charged-particles incident on any biological target, with resolutions ranging from microns to centimeters. Calculations can be extended to estimate dose distributions on general-geometry (non-Cartesian) grids for biological and/or non-biological media.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of radiation therapy to treat cancer patients, and more specifically, it relates to a method for calculating the radiation dose.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently in the United States, radiation therapy is used to treat about 60% of all cancer patients. Since radiation therapy targets specific areas of the body, improvement in radiation treatment techniques has the potential to reduce both mortality and morbidity in a large number of patients.
The radiation source may be may be in the form of external beams of ionizing particles or radioactive sources internal to the patient. FIG. 1A shows a radiation beam 1 as it is delivered to the patient. External beams are usually produced by machines acting as particle accelerators. The beam delivery system consists of the radiation source 5 (see FIG. 1B), which is mounted on a gantry 2 which can rotate about a 360.degree. arc around the patient. Each beam is shaped by a rotatable collimator 3. The patient lies on a rotatable table 4. The gantry 2 and table 4 both rotate about a single isocenter, as shown in FIG. 1.
External beam radiation therapy is performed with several types of ionizing radiation. Approximately 80% of patients are treated with photons, ranging in maximum energy from 250 keV to 25 MeV. The balance are treated primarily with electrons with energies from 4 to 25 MeV. In addition, there are several fast neutron and proton therapy facilities which have treated thousands of patients worldwide. Fast neutron therapy is performed with neutron energies up to 70 MeV, while proton therapy is performed with proton energies ranging from about 50 to 250 MeV. Boron neutron capture therapy is conducted with thermal and epithermal neutron sources. Most internal radioactive sources irradiate the patient with photons, although some sources emit low energy electrons.
The effects of ionizing radiation on the body are quantified as radiation dose. Absorbed radiation dose is defined as the ratio of energy deposited to unit mass of tissue. Because tumors and sensitive structures are often located in close proximity, accuracy in the calculation of dose distributions is critically important. The goal of radiation therapy is to deliver a lethal dose to the tumor while maintaining an acceptable dose level in surrounding sensitive structures. This goal is achieved by computer-aided planning of the radiation treatments to be delivered. The treatment planning process consists of characterizing the individual patient's anatomy (most often, this is done using a computed tomography (CT) scan), determining the shape, intensity, and positioning of radiation sources, and calculating the distribution of absorbed radiation dose in the patient. Most current methods used to calculate dose in the body are based on dose measurements made in a water box. Heterogeneities such as bone and airways are treated in an approximate way or ignored altogether. Next to direct measurements, Monte Carlo transport is the most accurate method of determining dose distributions in heterogeneous media. In a Monte Carlo transport method, a computer is used to simulate the passage of particles through an object of interest.

Calculation of radiation therapy dose using all particle Monte Carlo transport

The Regents of the University of California


A golf ball having at least a core and a cover, wherein at least a portion of the ball is formed from a material resulting from the isomerization of an amount of polybutadiene in solution to create a resulting polybutadiene having an increased content of trans-polybutadiene, is disclosed. Isomerization can be accomplished by mixing a photo-sensitizer into the polybutadiene solution and exposing the resulting mixture to a radiation source such as ultraviolet radiation. Isomerization can also be accomplished thermally by mixing nitrogen dioxide into a sufficiently heated solution of polybutadiene and maintaining the mixture at an elevated temperature for a sufficient period of time to increase the trans-polybutadiene content of the polymer. The resulting polybutadiene is recovered, mixed with other additives as desired and formed into one or more portions of a golf ball.

A variety of golf balls designed to provide a wide range of playing characteristics, i.e., the compression, velocity, "feel," and spin, that can be optimized for various playing ability, are known in the prior art. Conventional golf balls include solid golf balls having one or more layers. Configurations of solid golf balls include one-piece balls, two-piece balls and multilayer golf balls. One-piece balls are generally easy to manufacture and relatively inexpensive. However, one-piece balls have poor playing characteristics and are typically limited for use as range balls. Two-piece balls are constructed with a solid core and a cover surrounding the core. The durability and driving distance associated with two-piece balls makes them very popular with recreational golfers. Balls having a two-piece construction are commonly formed of a polymeric core encased by a cover. Although two-piece balls are generally easy to manufacture and popular with recreational golfers, two-piece balls have limited playing characteristics. Multilayer golf balls contain a solid core having one or more layers and a cover surrounding the core. The cover may also contain one or more layers. Multilayer golf balls provide an extended range of playing characteristics over two-layer balls.
In addition to the configuration of the core and cover of solid golf balls, the materials that make up the core and cover also affect the playing characteristics of solid golf balls. One of the most common polymer components used in golf ball construction is polybutadiene, in particular polybutadiene having a high cis-isomer concentration. The use of a polybutadiene having a high cis concentration in a golf ball core results in a very resilient and rigid golf ball, especially when coupled with a hard cover material. These highly resilient golf balls have a relatively hard "feel" when struck by a club. Often, a softer feel is desired; however, soft feel golf balls constructed with a high cis concentration polybutadiene have low resilience. Since, resilience is sacrificed for ball feel, other formulations of polybutadiene have been attempted to provide golf balls having both improved resilience and a soft feel.
Polybutadiene, or butadiene rubber, having a high trans content, for example from about 20% to about 60%, and a low vinyl content, for example less than about 5% or preferably less than about 2%, exhibits superior resilience at a given compression. In addition, this polybutadiene has a high molecular weight, for example greater than about 350,000 and preferably greater than about 500,000, and a low polydispersity, for example a molecular weight distribution less than about 3 preferably less than about 2.
The desired trans content or isomer ratio in the polybutadiene can be achieved by cis-to-trans conversion. For example, the polybutadiene can be converted from cis-to-trans when the polybutadiene is cured. Cis-to-trans conversion during cure, however, results in a trans gradient that roughly mirrors the cure gradient, because the two chemical reactions occur simultaneously, making it difficult to alter or reverse the trans gradient. Alternatively, polybutadiene can be directly polymerized to the desired isomer ratio. The direct polymerization method, however, can result in reduced molecular weight and high polydispersity, among others. In another method, a polybutadiene having a high trans content, greater than about 90%, is solution blended with a polybutadiene having high cis content, greater than about 90%. However, due to the incompatibility of these two polymers, crystallinity, which is believed to be bad for golf ball properties, is not completely eliminated.
For example, polymers that have a high percentage of the trans-polybutadiene conformation, such as DIENE 35NF, from Firestone Corp., that has 40 percent cis-isomer and 50 percent trans-polybutadiene isomer, and mixtures of high-cis and high-trans-polybutadiene isomers, such as CARIFLEX BR1220, from Shell Corporation, and FUREN 88, from Asahi Chemical Co., respectively, typically do not yield high resilience values and therefore are not desirable.
It is thus desired to prepare golf balls having lower compression, i.e., a softer ball, while having the same or higher resilience than conventional balls. It is alternatively desired to obtain the same or lower compression while achieving greater resilience. To this end, it is believed that solution converted, post-polymerization of polybutadiene will avoid the above-mentioned problems exhibited by conventional trans polybutadiene processing and will yield superior golf ball materials.

Golf balls containing cis-to-trans converted polybutadiene and methods for making same


A serial transmission protocol and architecture are provided that can be used to transmit uncompressed multimedia (e.g., video/audio/control data) over a high speed serial forward communication channel. A backward channel is also provided, for communicating control data. The protocol is implemented with a flexible packet format that supports all different modes of video data, and also supports 24 bit and 30 bit video data (or higher). An example application where the architecture and protocol can be used is a home entertainment multimedia system. A mechanism to implement EDID pass-through and protocols such as HDCP is also provided.

Serial interfaces have been widely used in data communication protocols. In these protocols, data are serialized and transmitted over optical fiber, wireless, copper wires, or other mediums. These protocols can be used, for example, to carry computer data files, voice data, and compressed video data.
Traditionally, most communication systems transmit multimedia data in compressed format. With such compressed data transmission systems, multimedia data is first compressed at the source. The compressed data is then transmitted over the serial communication link. At the destination, the data is decompressed and recovered before being displayed/sounded. The compress-transmit-decompress process of such protocols adds system complexity and cost. In addition, some content details may be lost by the compression and decompression process.
DVI (digital visual interface) or HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) protocols are used to transmit uncompressed video/audio data. However, these protocols require multiple pairs of wires to carry clock data and three components of the video signals (RGB or YCrCb), which makes the cable that interconnects the source and display devices very costly. In addition, limits in transmission distance also restrict the application of the DVI and HDMI protocols.
There is a need, therefore, for serial transmission protocols that can transmit uncompressed multimedia over a high speed serial communication channel.

Protocol for uncompressed multimedia data transmission


A multi-mode receiver and methods are provided, which use blind source separation (BSS) analysis to distinguish the various wireless communication signals from each other. Specifically, different signal types can be identified by BSS. The different signal types can be in overlapping frequencies or they can be in completely different frequencies. The BSS analysis may use center or carrier frequency, bandwidth, modulation scheme, access scheme, or wireless communication resources as an input to assist in the BSS.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to wireless communication and more particularly to systems and methods for multi-mode wireless communication.
2. Background
The wireless communication spectrum is becoming increasingly crowded. Specifically, more and more communication users and more and more communication types are utilizing the limited frequency spectrum that is available. Reception of wireless communication becomes increasingly difficult as more users and types of communications increasingly consume the available communications spectra.
Some communication types occupy overlapping frequency bands. For example, wireless local area networks (WLAN) and wireless personal area networks (WPAN) sometimes occupy the same frequency and space. For example, the communication standards known as 802.11b and g (hereinafter collectively, "802.11") operate at approximately 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), while the communication standard known as Bluetooth also operates at approximately 2.4 GHz. See IEEE Std 802.11b, IEEE Std 802.11g and IEEE Std 802.15 (hereinafter, "Bluetooth"), all published by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1999 (Reaff 2003). It is commonly very difficult if not impossible for wireless communication receivers to differentiate between 802.11 and Bluetooth communications.
It would be convenient to allow Bluetooth and 802.11 systems to operate within the same physical location. But the 802.11 and Bluetooth communications interfere with each other, making it nearly impossible to receive either the 802.11 communication or the Bluetooth communication or both while communication of both types are being transmitted in close proximity. A possible solution is to turn off the 802.11 communications in certain time periods, to allow for Bluetooth communication to proceed without interference during those time periods. However, this approach would decrease the communication capacity of the 802.11 communication and the Bluetooth communication.
Typically, for a wireless communication device to receive wireless communication signals in multiple bands (or frequencies) the device must have multiple receiver architectures. That is, for example, the device typically must have two low noise amplifiers (LNA's) and two radio frequency (RF) filters in order to receive signals in two bands. For example, a wireless communication device may be able to receive signals in both the U.S. cellular band between approximately 824 MHz and 894 MHz, and the U.S. personal communication service (PCS) band between approximately 1910 MHz and 1990 MHz . Such a device would have a cellular LNA and a separate PCS LNA in addition to a cellular RF filter and a separate PCS RF filter. The LNA's and RF filters are narrowband devices. This means that they work especially well at their designated signal frequency, but that they do not work well at other frequencies or that they reject signals at other frequencies. Additionally, typical multi-band receivers operate by receiving and processing signals in one band at a time. For example, typical mobile telephones in the United States can only receive data in either the cellular band or the PCS band at any given time. These devices cannot operate in the cellular band and the PCS band simultaneously.
Another part that may be duplicated in some multi-band receivers is the antenna. Some receivers require multiple antennas to receive multiple bands. Indeed, some receivers require multiple antennas even to receive signals from multiple sources in the same band.

Systems and methods for blind source separation of wireless communication signals


An ink jet printing apparatus can prevent erroneous selection of the print mode, which may degrade the image quality, without imposing any special burden on the user. Specifically, a dot is formed on a print medium to sense the ability of the print medium to absorb printing ink. The ink jet printing apparatus has a reading device for reading the dot and a print mode selecting device for setting the optimum print mode from a plurality of print modes according to the shape of the dot.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ink jet printing apparatuses that perform printing on print media in accordance with print data using an ink jet print head that ejects a colored liquid (ink) in droplet form. In particular, the present invention relates to ink jet printing apparatuses that automatically determine the optimum print mode on the basis of the type of paper or ink jet printing apparatuses that automatically determine the optimum ink ejection amount. The present invention also relates to methods for determining print media using any of these ink jet printing apparatuses and methods for determining ink ejection amount.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ink jet printing scheme forms images by ejecting a monochromatic ink or a plurality of color inks for color printing onto print media (paper, clothes, OHP paper, printed circuit boards, or the like). An ink jet printing apparatus employing this printing scheme generally comprises a carriage on which a print head and an ink tank are mounted, means for reciprocating the carriage, a conveying section that conveys print media, and a control section that controls these components.
Such an ink jet printing apparatus ejects ink droplets through a plurality of ejection ports (nozzles) while serially scanning the print head in a direction (main scanning direction) crossing (for example, substantially orthogonal to) a direction (sub-scanning direction) in which print media are conveyed. On the other hand, each print medium is intermittently conveyed in increments of a predetermined amount to allow the ink jet printing apparatus to print the print medium in accordance with the print data.
The ink jet printing scheme ejects ink directly onto a print medium in response to a print signal and is thus widely used as a simple, inexpensive printing scheme. The ink jet printing apparatus is not only used for a monochromatic ink but can also be adapted for full colors by providing a plurality of print heads for the respective color inks. Some full color type ink jet printing apparatuses comprise four types of print head for four colors, that is, three primary colors including yellow (Y), magenta (M), and cyan (C) as well as black (B), and further comprise ink tanks. Some full color type ink jet printing apparatuses comprise six types of print head for six colors, that is, the above four colors plus pale magenta (PM) and pale cyan (PC).
The conventional ink jet printing apparatus is disadvantageous in that ink attached to a print medium to form characters or images may dissolve into water to cause the printed characters to bleed. This has led to a demand for a technique for printing waterproof images that prevent the characters from being degraded. One such technique is a method of, before or after ink ejection, ejecting a treatment liquid to an ejection position for the ink on a print sheet in order to improve printability. With this method, for example, before ink ejection, a treatment liquid is ejected to the ejection position for the ink, at first. Subsequently, printing ink is ejected to the position to which the treatment liquid has been ejected. The two droplets mix on the print sheet to make it difficult to dissolve the ink into water. The treatment liquid has, for example, the property of being transparent and of fixing the ink on the print sheet.
On the other hand, some ink jet printing apparatuses can print a large number of print media such as ordinary paper, matte paper, and glossy paper. Some of these ink jet printing apparatuses execute print modes corresponding to the different types of print medium in order to perform printing operations appropriately corresponding to the types of print media. For example, some types of print medium require a relatively large amount of ink to achieve a high optical density, and the amount of ink required varies depending on the type of the print medium. Further, the time required to fix ink on the print medium varies depending on the type of the print medium. Thus, the ink jet printing apparatus can achieve a high image grade for each type of print media by performing printing in the print mode corresponding to the type of print media. Some of these ink jet printing apparatuses require users to select the type of print media for printing.
However, many users fail to recognize the necessity to select the print mode depending on the type of print media. The user simply depresses a "print" button to start a printing process. In this case, the printing apparatus executes printing in a print mode normally set by default (initial setting) or an already set print mode. If the executed print mode fails to correspond to the print media in an installed cassette, it causes problems such as the resulting image quality may disadvantageously be degraded. For example, the optimum print mode varies among ordinary paper, matte paper, and glossy paper.
The matte paper has high ink absorbing ability. Therefore, the matte paper causes insufficient optical density of pixels, resulting in a bluffed image, unless a larger amount of ink is ejected to the matte paper than to the ordinary paper. Further, owing to its absorptivity, the glossy paper may require a much larger amount of ink for bright colors. Moreover, some types of glossy paper require a long time for the ink to be absorbed by and fixed on the print medium. Therefore, in case of printing to glossy paper, it requires a longer time for the ink to be fixed on the print medium than case of printing to ordinary paper.
With the configuration in which the user selects the print mode, when, for example, the print mode for the glossy paper set in the printing apparatus during the last printing process remains set, the user may simply depress the print button without selecting the print mode again. In this case, if sheets of ordinary paper are stacked in a tray of the printing apparatus, the apparatus prints the ordinary paper in the print mode for the glossy paper. This causes a large amount of ink to be ejected, resulting in an increase in printing time as well as excessively dark and damp images. Further, in pixels in which different colors are adjacent to each other, the corresponding inks may run and mix to markedly degrade the image quality. Moreover, ink having failed to be absorbed by an ink receiving layer of the print medium may adhere to and thus contaminate the printing apparatus and adhere to the back surface the succeeding printed print medium on a discharge tray to also degrade the quality of the image on this print medium.
As described above, one of major causes of the degraded image quality is the failure to properly select the print mode according to the ink absorbing characteristic of print media.
In recent years, users' diversified demands have made many types of print medium with various characteristics commercially available from ink jet printing apparatus manufacturers and other venders. Thus, to obtain print matter with desired image quality, the user needs to select the optimum print mode (print medium type). However, the large number of print medium types has made it difficult for the user to select the optimum print mode. Consequently, the ink jet printing apparatus desirably senses the type of the print media stacked (or the ink absorptivity of the print media) to select the appropriate print mode, eliminating the need for the user to select the print mode.
In this regard, some ink jet printing apparatuses have a paper type sensor to recognize and check the material characteristics of print media against already memorized paper types to determine the type of the print media to automatically select the optimum print mode. For example, an ink jet printing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-235856 comprises a paper type sensor composed of a through-beam optical interrupter sensor. The through-beam optical interrupter sensor determines the type of the print media to in turn determine whether the print media are transparent sheets or opaque ordinary paper. If the print media are transparent sheets, the type is determined to be transparent sheets. Then, the optimum print mode is automatically selected depending on the detected print media.
An ink jet printing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-216938 exposes the print media to light to detect the gloss or color of the print media on the basis of reflected light to automatically correspondingly select a print medium type.
An ink jet printing apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,688 exposes the print media to light to measure the intensity of reflected light to determine the type of the print media to automatically select the optimum print mode.
The methods described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 11-235836 and 11-216938 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,688 all simply determine the type of the print media on the basis of their optical properties. None of these methods determine the type of the print media on the basis of their ink absorptivity. Thus, if the print media offer similar optical properties but different ink absorption characteristics, the accuracy of determination of the print media is limited. As a result, the optimum print mode may not be selected.

Ink jet printing apparatus, method for determining print medium, and method for determining ink ejection amount


A brick tie for interconnecting a brick wall with a back-up wall comprised of a plurality of spaced apart studs and a wall board secured to the studs wherein each stud includes a pair of opposed side flanges and a web formed between the flanges. The brick tie includes a plate having a series of spikes projecting from a backside. The spikes are adapted to be pushed into and through a portion of the wallboard so as to at least partially support the plate on the wallboard. Further, the plate is positioned on the wallboard such that it aligns with one side flange of a stud. Further, the brick tie includes a series of fasteners that are extended through the plate, through the wallboard and into the side flange of the stud. A loop or tie holder is secured or formed on the front of the plate. A tie is at least partially confined in the loop and the loop is of such a size that the tie can be vertically adjusted within the loop when the plate is secured to the wallboard. When the brick tie is secured to the back-up wall, the tie projects outwardly from the plate and extends between two layers of brick or block so as to anchor or secure the brick or block wall to the back-up wall.

It is common practice to provide a building, for example, a light steel framed industrial building, with a brick exterior wall. Since such a brick wall may have considerable length and height, it is necessary to anchor the wall at intervals to an adjoining structure of the building. Such buildings usually also include a back-up wall which typically would include a series of spaced apart studs and some form of a wall board disposed between the studs and the brick wall. For example, it is common to use an exterior gipboard sheathing along with a separate vapor barrier sheet material about the outside of the studs and in the area between the studs and the brick wall.
In the construction of such buildings, the brick wall is built by bricklayers while other tradesmen construct other parts of the building before the brick wall is built. In many cases, to anchor the exterior brick wall, brick ties are secured to the back-up wall by a framing crew or contractor before the brick wall is constructed. Specifically, the brick ties are usually secured to individual studs of the back-up wall and are projected from the studs through the wallboard. Thereafter when the exterior brick wall is constructed, the bricklayers will cause the brick ties to be embedded in mortar between two courses of brick or block.
Brick ties are well known in the art. For example, see the brick ties disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,843,776; 6,212,841; 5,636,486; 4,021,990; and 6,209,281. The disclosures of these patents are expressly incorporated herein by reference. In such prior art, the brick ties are connected to the back-up wall structure in a variety of ways. Some of the brick ties are actually secured to the metal studs and then are projected through the adjacent wallboard such that the tie component lies exterior of the wallboard for use by a brick mason. Therefore, one of the main drawbacks to brick ties of the prior art is that they have been difficult to implement in a wall structure, and as noted above, sometimes requiring two different tradesmen in order to mount and complete the tying or anchoring arrangement.
Therefore, there has been and continues to be a need for a relatively simple brick tie that is easy to install and which can be installed and completely implemented by a brick mason.


A system, method or facility allow a user to analyze a telecommunications network having virtual private network segments, such as frame relay circuits, where standard network analysis tools fail to identify such circuits. The facility receives identifiers or addresses for such circuits and gathers statistical data with respect thereto. Based on such statistical data, the facility matches end points of the circuits with corresponding starting points. Thus, a network designer or manager may use standard and less expensive hardware in networks employing frame relay circuits, and other virtual private network segments, by employing the facility to fully document and verify the overall configuration of the network environment, without prior knowledge of the network's makeup.

Network managers and other technology specialists must often manage complex networks. These networks include numerous components such as switches, routers, gateways and terminating equipment such as work stations, personal computers (PCs), servers, and the like.
Some computer software systems exist to analyze and diagram elements of a network. Examples of such systems are Visio Enterprise™ by Visio Corporation and OpenView™ by Hewlett-Packard Corporation. These systems analyze a network to create a database that logically represents the various components in the network. These systems can then create a diagram of that network using the database.
Certain network components or circuits are particularly difficult to analyze, such as frame relay circuits. Frame relay circuits employ specialized devices, known as frame relay access devices (FRADs) that encapsulate any native protocol data unit (PDU). Thus, frame relay circuits can encapsulate various size data packets associated with any native PDU and packetize it for transmission over permanent virtual circuits (PVCs). PVCs are predetermined paths specifically defined in frame relay routing logic. Telecommunication service providers favor frame relay circuits since they can provide numerous subscribers to their telecommunication networks without adding additional infrastructure. Frame relay circuits are typically intended for data communication applications especially for networking local area networks (LANs) where data transmissions are bursty.
When analyzing a network containing frame relay circuits, the above software systems simply discover data link connection identifiers (DLCIs), also known as data link circuit identifiers. DLCIs are 10-bit portions of address fields prepended to each frame transmitted along predetermined frame relay circuits. For example, if a device identified and analyzed under the Visio Enterprise System identifies a router having frame relay capability, the system identifies the particular port of the router having frame relay capability and identifies individual DLCIs associated with that port. Each DLCI can be thought of as a single direction pipe. Data may flow into or out of the pipe. Thus, each DLCI defines either a front end of the pipe or a back end. Each frame relay port is attached, through a public switched network to another frame relay port, somewhere else in the world, with each port having unique DLCIs.
Each router port, having one or more associated DLCI, has no information about the other end of the frame relay circuit; the other end is the other frame relay port on another router somewhere in the network. Since neither router has information identifying the other router, the above software systems cannot determine which DLCIs are connected to other DLCIs within the network.
Network managers typically must know the DLCI connection pairs for diagnostic and usage purposes. Therefore, if the network includes frame relay circuits, then the network manager typically must rely on data from the frame relay circuit providers, or purchase proprietary frame relay hardware (FRADs), which is more expensive and less common than standard router hardware. The FRADs, or "probes", are capable of analyzing frame relay circuits, but the network manager must continue to use such expensive hardware in the future if additional frame relay circuits are added, or purchase improved hardware if increased functionality is desired.

Method and apparatus for network analysis, such as analyzing and correlating identifiers of frame relay circuits in a network


A power generation unit is connected with an engine rotary shaft via an accessory gearbox. A rotor extends through the accessory gearbox and a drive gear is disposed at an intermediate portion of the rotor for driving the latter. Permanent magnet elements are mounted on opposite side portions with the intermediate portion intervening therebetween, and stator coils are disposed so as to confront respective outer peripheries of the permanent magnet elements.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric power generator of an integrated gear box design, which is fitted to an aircraft engine and driven by an engine rotary shaft.
Description of Related Art
The aircraft engine has various aircraft accessory equipments such as, for example, an power generating unit, a starter, a hydraulic pump, a lubrication pump and a fuel pump, which are fitted to an engine main body through an accessory gear box (AGB) so that they can be driven by an engine rotary shaft through the accessory gearbox. For the power generating unit, a power generator of a coil exciting type (electromagnet type) having an excellent power generation efficiency is generally utilized. In this respect, see the patent document 1 listed below.

Power generation unit of integrated gearbox design for aircraft engine


A method and apparatus for accumulating arbitrary length strings of input values, such as floating point values, in a layered tree structure such that the order of adds at each layer is maintained. The accumulating utilizes a shared adder, and includes means for directing initial inputs and intermediate result values.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to arithmetic logic units. More specifically, the invention relates to arithmetic logic units capable of accumulating floating values.
2. Related Art
One of the most basic arithmetic operations utilized in information processing devices is that of accumulation of a series of values. Accumulation at its most basic is implemented by use of a memory, such as a register, and an adder device. For instance, FIG. 1 shows a multiply-and-accumulate (MAC) device 100 that accumulates products resulting from the multiplying of two input values. MAC device 100 includes a multiply unit 110 that provides the product of two input values as its output. MAC device 100 also includes an adder unit 120 that provides the sum of two values as its output. Each product resulting from multiply unit 110 is summed with an accumulated total stored in an accumulator 130. The output of the adder unit 120 is sent to the accumulator 130 which keeps a running total of the additions. One common problem with such basic configurations as MAC 100 is that a new product results from multiply unit 110 much faster than the time for the previous product to pass through the adder unit 120 and be accumulated. MAC 100 would work better if the adder unit 120 operated in only a single cycle. However, as is often the case, the adder units themselves are multi-cycle in nature and thus, if the inputs are to be fed in the proper time, delay elements must be introduced in the system.
FIG. 2 exemplifies the conventional use of a multi-cycle adder unit which is controlled by the introduction of intentional delay elements. The MAC 200 of FIG. 2 provides for multi-cycle adder latency by introducing a delay element 215. The multiply unit 210 provides the product of two input values to a delay element and to a MUX (multiplexor) 219. Multiplexor 219 selects between the output of the previous accumulate stored in memory MEM 218 and the current, non-delayed product result. The output of the delay element 215 forms the first of two inputs to another MUX 217. MUX 217 selects either the output of the delay element 215 or the accumulated value of a previous cycle stored in memory MEM 216. The output of MUX 217 and MUX 219 are summed by add unit 220, and then sent to memories 216 and 218.
FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional accumulator design using a tree adder. The adder-accumulator structure 300 uses an adder tree prior to the accumulate stage to compensate for the delay in the accumulate cycle. The tree adder takes inputs in groups of 4 on a given cycle. Two of the 4 inputs are summed by an adder unit 304 while the other two are summed by a parallel adder unit 306. The outputs of the adder 304 and the adder 306 are summed by an adder 310. The output of adder 310 is passed to the final adder unit 320 and summed with the accumulated value (of previous adds) stored in accumulator 330. The delay through the adders 304, 306 and 310 allow the accumulator to act in phase with the multiply units (not shown) providing the initial adds.
The adder-accumulator structure 300 is a balanced "tree" that works best if the inputs to be accumulated are in fixed groups of 4. If the inputs to be accumulated are less or more than 4 in number and not divisible thereby, then zeroes would need to be added through the adders as appropriate. This creates more adds than are necessary and slows performance. Further, if the inputs break in an uneven manner, where for instance, inputs belonging to one logical string are added by inputs of another logical string, the structure must stall the accumulator until the proper inputs for each string are completed.
Consider the summing and accumulation of 6 inputs, A, B, C, D, E and F. In a tree adder such as that illustrated in FIG. 3, the inputs A and B would be summed in one cycle, and in parallel the inputs C and D would be added. On the next cycle, the result of A+B and C+D would be summed together and sent to the adder 320. However, since there are actually a total of six inputs to accumulate, the inputs E and F would have to be added on the second cycle (when the results of the first cycle are being summed by adder 310) along with a pair of zeroes. This results in a extra number of additions than would ordinarily be required. If only three inputs A, B and C were to be accumulated together, then some logic would have to insert a zero to prevent input D from being summed along with A, B and C. Where the grouping of inputs is arbitrary and not well known, it is difficult using conventional designs to prevent slow results.
Worse still, the results provided by such adder-accumulator structures may be inaccurate. This occurs where the addition is not strictly associative in nature. Floating point add operations are examples of such operations that are not necessarily associative. This is due to the nature of floating point adds, which consider FIG. 4 shows the add order of a balanced tree adder-accumulator. The results A+B, C+D and E+F can be performed in any order and even simultaneously since their outputs do not depend on each other. Thus at a layer 410 all of these preliminary adds can be performed. At the second layer 420, the result of A+B is summed with the result of C+D computed from layer 410. On layer 420, since E+F does not need to be summed yet with any other result, passes down to the third layer 430. The result of the layer 420 adds are summed with the E+F result of layer 410 at the third layer 430. The resultant of these adds is in the grouped order ((A+B)+(C+D))+(E+F). The single-cycle adder without delay elements would result in the grouped order of adds ((((A+B)+C)+D)+E)+F. When adding floating point values, the two methods may produce different results. While the single-cycle add method is cost-effective and slow, each add depending upon the result of the previous add, the tree adder method is more efficient in that dependencies are reduced.
In floating point add operations, the grouping of inputs that need to be accumulated may be constantly and arbitrarily changing. The first three inputs may need to be accumulated, then the next six, then the next two, then the next three and so forth. Since it is impractical to cover all such situations by restructuring a tree adder for each or by building a tree adder for each case, there needs to be a floating add solution that can make use of fixed structure that also preserves the order of adds and allows for arbitrary grouping thereof. Therefore, a method and apparatus for accumulating an arbitrary length string of inputs is desired which can minimize the number of adders while maintaining the correct order of operations.

Method and apparatus for accumulating floating point values


A pressed sorbent form includes a sorbent and a binder. The sorbent is chosen from the group including silica gel, molecular sieve, activated carbon, and clay. The binder is powdered ethyl vinyl acetate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to desiccant tablets. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved desiccant tablet using ethyl-vinyl acetate as a binder.
2. Description of Related Art
Any sorbent inserted into places such as disk drives, microelectronic devices, and the like, must maximize the amount of sorbent capacity within their bodies compared to their size because of limited size of the confines in which they are often placed. This demands a low profile type of sorbent, which excludes many traditional sorbent carrying devices such as canisters, capsules, and sachets. Compression of the sorbent, therefore, makes the most sense, since it will allow for the maximum amount of sorbent to be in a given space while keeping the space taken up by the sorbent low. Even with the benefit of a high absorbency per unit volume, compressing the sorbent brings its own group of factors that must be considered. First and foremost, the compressed sorbent must be clean. That means that it cannot be dusting or friable. Dusting occurs when particles that are loose or loosely bound to their neighbors are dislodged through minor abrasions or vibration, producing a find dust of particles. Friability, however, occurs when the compressed sorbent has particles dislodged through vigorous abrasion, either through vibration or agitation. Friability is determined as a percent loss based on the initial weight of the compressed sorbent minus the final weight of the compressed sorbent minus any absorbed moisture divided by the initial weight of the compressed sorbent and the result multiplied by 100. The actual test requires that the compressed sorbent is run through a Friability tester, such as a VanKel Friabilator. This type of tester has two rotating drums, one on either side of the unit that contain the test compressed sorbent, though any similarly operating friability tester would function as well. A standard test requires 200 revolutions.
Because of these two requirements, the sorbent must be tailored to hold as many of the particles together as possible, since most of the components a compressed sorbent would be placed in, such as electronics, cannot have small particles loose in their enclosed environments. Secondly the tablet must be substantially rigid, but still have some degree of flexibility. This allows for the part to retain its shape during transport, but not be so brittle that when it is fitted into the snug space that it is required to be placed, that the part shatters. Thirdly, there cannot be a high degree of variation between parts. Electronics manufacture requires a high degree of dimensional tolerance, due to the precise nature of construction of circuitry. These tolerance requirements even extend to housings that surround the electronics. Often, there is very little space available for the sorbent to be placed, as stated earlier. Since this space is so tight, and precise, the part must be able to have the same degree of tolerance, otherwise, the part could rattle around in the component and run the risk of having particles abrade off, or the part will just not fit, and be rejected. Thus, only when the part is deemed clean, fits snuggly, and has a low degree of dimensional variability, will the part be acceptable for use in a given device.
While the type of sorbent chosen, such as silica gel, molecular sieve, activated carbon, clay, or any combination thereof, does play a part in these aspects, the binder plays a key role. Typical binders used are polyethylene and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Polyethylene is a multifunctional polymer whose properties change with the degree of branching, degree of crystallinity and average molecular weight. The temperature at which these occur varies strongly with the type of polyethylene. For common commercial grades of medium-density and high-density polyethylene, the melting point is typically in the range 120-130° C. The melt point for average commercial low-density polyethylene is typically 105-115° C. Most Low Density Polyethylene, Medium Density Polyethylene, and High Density Polyethylene grades have excellent chemical resistance and do not dissolve at room temperature because of the crystallinity. Polyethylene (other than cross-linked polyethylene) usually can be dissolved at elevated temperatures in aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. toluene, xylene) or chlorinated solvents (e.g. trichloroethane, trichlorobenzene). However, with the regular patterns of the chains, and a low possibility of substitution of side chains that would increase adhesion, polyethylene is not an ideal binder.
PVP is a white, hygroscopic powder. It has a high degree of solubility in both water and organic solvents, but is not so soluble in esters, ethers, hydrocarbons and ketones. PVP is notably quite adhesive to materials, which allow it to be used in film formation, and in specialty polymers. However, this high degree of solubility, while perfect for creating adhesive coatings or glues, does not make for an ideal solid binder, especially when ease of manufacturing is a concern.
For example, the current state of the art uses a PVP binder with activated carbon. While one can get a large degree of sorbent in the compressed body when rubbed, carbon particles come off onto the surface that it is rubbed against. More critically, the tolerance of the compressed sorbent does not meet the standard for the technology it is placed in. An activated carbon compressed sorbent made with PVP in the current state of the art has a tolerance of roughly 0.020 inches. The tolerance of a standard microelectronic device is 0.002 inches; a much higher degree of tolerance then currently available. To compensate for this, the current industry standard is to not attempt to maximize the amount of sorbent in the compressed body, as that maximization leads to having a large number of rejected parts that are too large to fit in the high dimensional tolerance spaces, because of the part's low dimensional tolerances. However, this is of course also undesirable, since having a lower amount of sorbent leads for a lower degree of absorption capability, and a lower amount of material as a whole lowers the dimensional size of the parts at the lower end of the size distribution, allowing them to be able to vibrate in the cavity, which leads to particulate creation. In an attempt to counteract this problem, multiple methods of manufacture have been utilized to hopefully enhance these requirements, but while still keeping with the traditional binder and sorbent combinations.
One such method requires that the carbon be mixed with a solution based PVP binder in a sigma mixer, then having the resulting mixture ground and classified due to agglomeration. After that, the mixture is compressed, and finally activated at 110 C. All of these steps are labor and energy intensive, and in the end, do not produce a highly clean part, that is dimensionally stable, and with a desirable degree of flexibility
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to create parts that are dust free, have a high degree of dimensional stability and can withstand abrasion forces that normally occur in their environments. There also is a need in the art for a more streamlined and time effective method of creating a formed sorbent body, resulting in a more efficient manufacturing process.


An apparatus and method for processing a virtual world. According to certain embodiments of the present disclosure, real-world biometric information on the user may be collected using a bio sensor, and the collected information may be controlled based on the sensor characteristics of the bio sensor, thereby enabling interaction between the real world and the virtual world, as well as between virtual worlds. In addition, an interactive game which is executed in the virtual world on the basis of the collected biometric information may be controlled to thereby produce a virtual world having enhanced realism. Moreover, the real-world health status of a user may be determined and displayed on the basis of the collected biometric information, thereby enabling the health status of the user to be seen.

1. Field
Example embodiments of the following disclosure relate to a method and apparatus for processing a virtual world, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for applying information about a real world to the virtual world.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, an interest in experience-type games has been increasing in the video gaming market, for example. MICROSOFT CORPORATION introduced "Project Natal" at the "E3 2009" Press Conference. "Project Natal" may provide a user body motion capturing function, a face recognition function, and a voice recognition function by combining MICROSOFT'S XBOX 360 game console with a separate sensor device consisting of a depth/color camera and a microphone array, thereby enabling a user to interact with a virtual world without a dedicated controller. In addition, SONY CORPORATION introduced "Wand" which is an experience-type game motion controller. The "Wand" enables interaction with a virtual world through input of a motion trajectory of a controller by applying, to the PLAYSTATION 3 game console, a location/direction sensing technology obtained by combining a color camera, a marker, and an ultrasonic sensor.
A real world and a virtual world may interact in two directions. For example, in one direction, data information obtained by a sensor in the real world may be reflected to the virtual world. In the other direction, data information obtained from the virtual world may be reflected to the real world using an actuator. Embodiments suggest a virtual world processing apparatus and method for applying data obtained through a sensor in the real world to the virtual world, to achieve the interaction between the real world and the virtual world.

Apparatus and method for manipulating a virtual world by utilizing biometric information


The invention relates to a device for the picking and packing of goods from at least one source storage installation on at least one target load carrier according to a packing layout. Further, the invention relates to a method for the picking and packing of goods from at least one source storage installation on at least one target load carrier according to a packing layout. In order to achieve a particularly efficient method, it is provided according to the invention that a partial amount of the goods that are to be positioned on the target load carrier are arranged in a grouping region according to a grouping that corresponds to a part of the packing layout, after which the grouping is moved from the grouping region into a position on the target load carrier that corresponds to the packing layout.

The invention relates to a device for the picking and packing of goods from at least one source storage installation on at least one target load carrier according to a packing layout.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for the picking and packing of goods from at least one source storage installation on at least one target load carrier according to a packing layout.
From the prior art, various methods and devices for the picking and packing of goods from a source storage installation on a target load carrier are known. A disadvantage of such methods and devices as are known from the prior art is that only a relatively low speed is achieved during picking and packing.

Device for the picking and packing of goods and method therefor


An apparatus and method thereof to encode a moving image include a discrete cosine transform (DCT) unit performing a DCT process on input video data, a quantizer, and a motion estimation (ME) unit calculating a motion vector and a SAD per macro block. A DCT computational complexity calculator calculates a computational complexity of the ME unit, estimates a difference between the ME computational complexity and a target ME computational complexity, and updates a target DCT computational complexity based on the estimated difference. A DCT skipping unit sets a threshold value to determine whether to skip performing the DCT process on the input video data, based on the target DCT computational complexity updated by the DCT computational complexity calculator, compares the SAD per macro block, and the quantization parameter with the threshold value, and determines whether to allow the DCT unit to perform the DCT process on the input video data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video encoding system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus to encode a moving image using fixed computational complexity, irrespective of characteristics of the moving image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a moving image is encoded using hardware. However, an improvement in performance of a central processing unit (CPU) of a personal computer (PC) and development of a high-performance media processor make it possible to encode the moving image using software. Consequently, an encoding technique to effectively reduce an amount of calculation is required to compress and restore the moving image in real time. For instance, if a motion of the moving image is estimated with a conventional video encoder according to H.263 standards using an n-step search, a discrete cosine transform (DCT)/inverse DCT module accounts for thirty percent (30%) of the processing time in a conventional video encoder. To reduce such computational complexity, the conventional video encoder uses a DCT skipping technique.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional video encoding system. First, input video data is divided into group-of-pictures (GOP) units. A discrete cosine transform (DCT) unit 120 performs a DCT process on the video data on 8×8 block-by-block basis to obtain spatial redundancy in the video data. A quantizer (Q) 130 quantizes the video data on which the DCT process is performed. An inverse quantizer (IQ) 150 inversely quantizes the video data quantized by the Q 130. An inverse DCT (IDCT) 160 performs an IDCT process on the video data that is inversely quantized by the IQ 150. A frame memory (FM) unit 170 stores the video data, which is IDCT processed by the IDCT unit 160, in frame units. A motion estimation (ME) unit 180 estimates a motion vector (MV) and a sum of absolute difference (SAD) of the moving image per macro block using video data of a current frame and video data of a previous frame stored in the FM unit 170. A variable length coding (VLC) unit 140 removes statistical redundancy in the video data quantized according to the MV estimated by the ME unit 180.
A DCT skipping unit 110 receives the SAD per block estimated by the ME unit 180 or a quantization parameter (QP) generated by the Q 130, compares the SAD or the QP with a threshold value T, and sends to the DCT unit 120 the comparing result as skipping information on the 8×8 block-by-block basis. That is, the DCT skipping unit 110 restricts the video data not to be coded if a ratio SAD/QP is smaller than the threshold value T, which means that an end of block is approximately 0, and allows the DCT unit 120 to perform the DCT process on the video data if the ratio SAD/QP is larger than the threshold value T. However, in a case that the threshold value T is a fixed value within a video sequence, complexity in DCT computation becomes different per macro block or frame. In particular, when a software video encoder is executed by a PC or a media processor, real-time encoding is impossible due to limits in the computational complexity of the PC or media processor if the DCT computational complexity changes according to the macro block or the frame.

Method and apparatus to encode a moving image with fixed computational complexity


A pharmaceutical composition for treating peripheral circulation disorders, which is an emulsion containing an isocarbacyclin having the following formula (1): ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is a hydrogen atom or alkyl group and R.sup.2 is a alkyl group which may be substituted with, a alkenyl group or alkynyl group which may be substituted with, or a cycloalkyl group which may be substituted with, in an amount of 0.2 to 1,000 .mu.g per ml of the composition, a vegetable oil in an amount of 0.05 to 0.5 g per ml of the composition, a phospholipid in an amount of 0.01 to 0.5 g per g of the vegetable oil, and water is provided.

Prostacyclin in the body is a local hormone mainly produced in the inside walls of the arteries and is an important factor in adjusting the functions of the body due to its powerful bioactivities, for example, activity in suppressing platelet aggregation and activity of vasodilation. It has been tried to use as a pharmaceutical. (P. J. Lewis & J. O. Grady, "Clinical Pharmacology of Prostacyclin", Raven Press, N.Y., 1981).
However, natural prostacyclin has an extremely easily hydrolyzed enol-ether bond in the molecule, so easily is inactivated in neutral or acid conditions and therefore cannot be said to be a preferable compound for a pharmaceutical due to its chemical instability. Therefore, chemically stable synthetic prostacyclin derivatives having bioactivity similar to natural prostacyclin have been studied at home and abroad (see R. C. Nickolson et al., Medicinal Research Reviews, vol. 5, p. 1, 1985). Among these, an isocarbacyclin, which is obtained by replacing the 6,9-position oxygen atom of prostacyclin with a methine group --CH.dbd.group) and converting the 5,6-position double bond to a single bond, is a derivative which is chemically extremely stable and has a bioactivity comparable to natural prostacyclin. Application for pharmaceuticals is now being studied.
However, due to its powerful action in suppressing platelet aggregation and its peripheral vasodilation action, experiments as a clinical application of prostacyclin, are being tried to use for chronic arterial occlusion and other thrombotic disorders. Beraprost (tradename) ("The Japanese Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine", vol. 67, p. 574, 1990), Iloprost (tradename) ("The Japanese Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine", vol. 68, p. 1836, 1991), and other examples have been reported. The active ingredient of these, prostacyclin derivatives, however, is different in structure from the active ingredient of the present invention, that is, isocarbacyclin. The form of the preparation is also very different.
On the other hand, as a stabilized lipid preparation of prostaglandin derivatives, in recent years a lipid emulsion containing PGE.sub.1 or PGA.sub.1 has been proposed for the purpose of its vasodilation action, suppressing action of platelet aggregation and blood pressure reducing action etc. (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 58-222014, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 59-141518, and Ann. Rheum. Diseases, 41 263 (1982); J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 35, 398 (1983)). This technique of making lipid preparations has been applied also to anticancer agents and proposals have been made to raise the selective transfer of the anticancer agent to the target organ (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 59-122423). However, since prostacyclin is chemically unstable, it has been difficult to make a lipid emulsion. Therefore, attempts have been made to make isocarbacyclin a lipid emulsion and a more effective, stable preparation having a sustained action and having a targeting effect has been developed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 61-289034).
Also known are examples of use of LipoPGE.sub.1 using the form of a lipid emulsion for chronic arterial occlusion ("The Japanese Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine", vol. 63, p. 2423, 1986, "Cardioangiology", vol. 20, p. 331, 1986).

Pharmaceutical composition for treating peripheral circulation disorders


A method and apparatus operable to execute an error correction decoding process, while controlling the increase in the amount of data that is stored in the receiving apparatus, is disclosed. Data is preferably transmitted to a receiving apparatus to execute the error correction decoding process using received data and re-transmitted data. Transmitting data is generated by executing the rate matching process to a first part of the error correction coded data and generating a second transmitting data. The second transmitting data includes at least the data not included in the first part by executing the rate matching process. Also included is a transmitting means for executing the transmission of the second transmitting data as the re-transmission after the transmission of the first transmitting data.

Standardization of the W-CDMA (UMTS) system, which is one of the third generation mobile communication system, is now under development by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). As a theme of standardization, the HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) which can provide a maximum transmission velocity of about 14 Mbps for the downlink is specified.
The HSDPA employs an adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) system which includes, for example, a QPSK modulation method and a 16-level QAM method that are switched adaptively in accordance with the radio communication environment between the base station and mobile station.
Moreover, the HSDPA also adopts the H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat request) system. When a mobile station has detected an error in the receiving data received from the base station, the data is re-transmitted from the base station responding to the request from the mobile station, while the mobile station executes the error correction decoding process using both received data and the data received from the re-transmission. In the H-ARQ, as described above, if an error is detected, the gain of the error correction decoding is raised and the number of times of re-transmission is controlled by effectively utilizing the received data.
The major radio channels used for the HSDPA include the HS-SCCH (High Speed-Shared Control Channel), HS-PDSCH (High Speed-Physical Downlink Shared Channel), and HS-DPCCH (High Speed-Dedicated Physical Control Channel).
The HS-SCCH and the HS-PDSCH are shared channels in the downlink direction (i.e., the direction toward a mobile station from a base station), and the HS-SCCH is a control channel for sending various parameters of data transmitted by the HS-PDSCH. The parameters, such as the modulation information which indicates the modulation method used for transmission by the HS-PDSCH, number of spreading codes assigned (number of codes), and information such as the pattern of the rate matching for the transmitting data may all be considered.
Meanwhile, the HS-DPCCH is an dedicated control channel in the uplink direction (i.e., the direction toward a base station from a mobile station) and is used to transmit the ACK signal and NACK signal to the base station from the mobile station in accordance with the acknowledgment or non-acknowledgment of reception of the data received via the HS-PDSCH. If a mobile station has failed to receive the data (the CRC error is detected in the receiving data or the like), the base station executes the re-transmission control because the NACK signal is transmitted from the mobile station or neither the ACK signal nor the NACK signal is received by the base station.
Moreover, the HS-DPCCH may also be used by the mobile station which measured the receiving quality of the signal received from the base station to transmit the result of the measurement to the base station as the CQI (Channel Quality Indicator). The base station determines the environment of the radio communication on the basis of the received CQI. When the communication environment is good, the modulation method is switched to the method for transmitting the data at the higher transmission rate. If the environment is not as good, on the contrary, the modulation method is switched to the method for transmitting the data at a lower transmission rate (namely, adaptive modulation is executed).
"Channel Format"
Next, a channel format in the HSDPA will be described below.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a channel format in the HSDPA. The W-CDMA introduces the code dividing multiplex system and each channel is therefore separated with the spreading code.
The channels not yet described will be described briefly first.
CPICH (Common Pilot Channel) and P-CCPCH (Primary Common Control Physical Channel) are respectively common channels in the downlink direction.
The CPICH is a channel used by a mobile station for estimation of channel condition, searching of cells, the timing reference of the other downlink physical channels in the same cell, and the channel used for transmitting the pilot signal. The P-CCPCH is the channel for transmitting the broadcasting information.
Next, the timing relationship of channels will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
As illustrated, one frame (10 ms) is formed based on 15 slots in each channel. As described previously, since the CPICH is used as a reference channel, the top of frames of the P-CCPCH and HS-SCCH channels are matched with the top of frame of the CPICH channel. Here, the top of frame of the HS-PDSCH channel is delayed by two slots from the HS-SCCH channel. This may be done to realize demodulation of the HS-PDSCH channel using the demodulating method that corresponds to the received modulation type after the mobile station has received the modulation information via the HS-SCCH channel. Moreover, the HS-SCCH and HS-PDSCH channels may form one sub-frame with three slots.
The HS-DPCCH channel is not synchronized with the CPICH channel but this channel is provided for the uplink direction and is based on the timing generated in the mobile station.
The channel format of the HSDPA channel has been briefly described above. Next, the processes up to transmission of the transmitting data via the HS-PDSCH channel will be described with reference to the block diagram.
"Structure of Base Station"
FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of a base station supporting the HSDPA channel.
In FIG. 2, the reference numeral 1 designates a CRC attachment unit; 2, a code block segmentation unit; 3, a channel coding unit; 4, a bit separating unit; 5, a rate matching unit; 6, a bit collecting unit; 7, a modulating unit.
Next, operations of each block will be described.
The transmitted data transmitted via the HS-PDSCH channel (data accommodated within one sub-frame of the HS-PDSCH channel in FIG. 1) is first subjected to the CRC arithmetic process in the CRC attachment unit 1 and the result of the arithmetic operation is added to the last part of the transmitting data. The transmitting data to which the result of CRC arithmetic operation is added may then be inputted to the code block segmentation unit 2 and is then segmented into a plurality of blocks. This process is required to shorten the data length in unit of the error correction coding, considering the load of decoding process in the receiving side. When the data length exceeds the predetermined length, the code block is equally segmented into a plurality of blocks. An integer 2 or larger may be selected as the number of segmentations but the number of segmentations 2 may be selected to simplify the description. If the data length is rather short, segmentation of the block may be unnecessary.
The segmented and transmitted data are respectively processed as the object data of the individual error correction encoding process in the channel coding unit 3. In other words, the error correction encoding process is executed for the segmented first block and second block. As an example of the channel encoding process, a turbo encoding process may be used.
Here, the turbo encoding process will be described briefly. In an exemplary turbo encoding process, when the data is defined as U, the data U′ obtained by the convolutional encoding of the data U, and the data U″ obtained by the convolutional encoding of the data U after the interleave (re-arrangement) process of the data U may be outputted. Here, the data may be referred to as the systematic bits and may be understood, in the turbo decoding process, as the data used in two element decoders and the data having a higher degree of importance because the application frequency is high. On the other hand, the data U′ and U″ are parity bits. These bits are data used in one of the two element decoders and have a degree of importance that is lower than that of the data U because the application frequency is low.
Namely, it can be said that since the systematic bits have a higher degree of importance than that of the parity bits, and the systematic bits are received with greater accuracy, the more accurate decoding result can be obtained with the turbo decoder.
The systematic bits and parity bits that are generated as described above may be inputted as the serial data to the bit separating unit 4. The bit separating unit 4 separates the input serial data into the data U, U′, and U″ of three systems, and then outputs this data as parallel data.
The rate matching unit 5 preferably performs the puncture process for deleting the bits with the predetermined algorithm and also executes the repetition process to repeat the bits in order to store the data within the sub-frame formed of three slots of the HS-PDSCH channel.
As described above, the bits having completed the bit adaptation process to the sub-frame are then inputted in parallel to the bit collecting unit 6.
The bit collecting unit 6 preferably generates bit sequences of four bits indicating each signal point, for example, of 16-level QAM modulation based on the input data and then outputs these bit sequences. At the time of generation of bit sequences, the systematic bits are preferably arranged, for the first transmission, in the side of upper bits in which an error is not easily generated.
The modulating unit 7 outputs the signal of the 16-level QAM modulation to provide the amplitude and phase corresponding to the signal points indicated with the input bit sequences and then provides the signal to the side of the antenna (not illustrated) after conversion to the radio frequency through the frequency conversion.
"Detailed Description of the Rate Matching Unit 5"
FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of the rate matching unit 5. The rate matching unit 5 comprises, as illustrated, a first rate matching unit 51, a virtual buffer 52, and a second rate matching unit 53.
The first rate matching unit 51 executes the rate matching process (puncture process) to the first parity bits (U′) and second parity bits (U″) separated in the bit separating unit 4. This process may be executed, considering the capability of the mobile station in the receiving side described below (capacity of memory or the like to store the data obtained by combining the received data and re-transmitted data), in order to keep the maximum amount of data which can be transmitted including the re-transmission under the capability of the mobile station. Accordingly, bits are deleted on the basis of a predetermined rule.
The virtual buffer unit 52 may be provided to store the systematic bits. The first and second parity bits may have completed the puncture process (deletion of bits) in accordance with the capability of the mobile station.
The second rate matching unit 53 performs the puncture process and the repetition process. The puncture process deletes the bits based on the predetermined rule, and the repetition process repeats the bits for the data read from the virtual buffer in order to store the data within the sub-frame formed from the three slots of the HS-PDSCH channel.
The structure and operations of the rate matching unit 5 are described above and one embodiment of data due to the process performed by the rate matching unit 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 4.
The block A in FIG. 4 illustrates the systematic bits (U), first parity bits (U′), and second parity bits (U″) inputted to the first rate matching unit 51.
The first rate matching process unit 51 executes the puncture process to the block A to attain the predetermined amount of data determined in accordance with the capability of the mobile station and then provides an output. Namely, the bits are deleted to result in the amount of data indicated in the block B considering the capability of the mobile station.
Various methods may be assumed for deletion of bits. For example, the block B illustrated in FIG. 4 may be formed by not applying the puncture process to the systematic bits. These systematic bits are important, and the puncture process is applied to the first and second parity bits (indicated as U′ (r) and U″ (r) in order to show execution of the puncture process as the rate matching process). In FIG. 4, the left half bits are deleted but it is preferable to delete the bits at the positions which a dispersed to a certain degree. For example, the even number bits or odd number bits are deleted.
The second rate matching unit 53 executes the rate matching process to store the data within the sub-frame on the basis of the data block B puncture-processed in the first rate matching unit 51 and then outputs the transmitting data.
For example, with the first transmission, the systematic bits U are outputted as the block C after execution of the puncture process. With the second transmission (first re-transmission), the first parity bits U′ (r) and the second parity bit U″ (r) are outputted as block D after execution of the puncture process. The number of times that the re-transmission may occur may be a predetermined number equal to 1 or larger. However, when the third transmission is assumed to be the last re-transmission which includes the first transmission, the block C obtained by the puncture process is transmitted again, for example, to the block B in the third transmission (second re-transmission).
The items regarding the HSDPA channel are disclosed, for example, in the non-patent document "3G TS 25. 212 (3rd Generation Partnership Project: Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Multiplexing and channel coding (FDD))".
According to the background technology described above, the amount of data transmitted to a mobile station is previously limited (limited to the block B), with the (first) rate matching, to the value below the capability of the receiving apparatus (capacity of memory or the like to store the data obtained by combining the received data and re-transmitted data). Thus, the receiving apparatus does not receive data exceeding the capability (capacity of memory) and is capable of executing the error correction decoding process by completely utilizing the first receiving data and the re-transmitted receiving data.
However, such limitation will close the way of utilization of the data part exceeding the capacity of memory of the receiving apparatus. This will result in the disadvantage that the sufficient capability of the error correction decoding process cannot be ensured.
Elimination of such limitation may be achieved by increasing the capacity of the memory of the receiving apparatus. However, when reduction in the size of the mobile station is alienated due to the increase in capacity of memory and particularly when soft-determination data is used for the error correction decoding process, the amount of data increases drastically. Therefore, elimination of the limitation cannot be employed directly.

Method and apparatus for controlling transmitting, receiving, and re-transmission


Provided is a method, system, and program for verifying a network address. A network address included within a file is accessed. At least one context term is provided. Content is accessed at the network address in the file and a determination is made as to whether the accessed content satisfies a qualifying threshold with respect to the at least one context term.

1. Field of the Invention
Provided is a method, system, and program for verifying network addresses included in a file.
2. Description of the Related Art
Oftentimes, Internet Web addresses, also known as Universal Resource Locators (URLs), are embedded in hypertext links within an electronic document, such as a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) page created with a web publishing tool, an e-mail created with an e-mail text editor, and a document created with a word processing document. The person viewing the electronic document may then select the hypertext link to access the page addressed by the URL embedded in the hypertext link. Document authors include hypertext links to provide the reader access to other web pages of interest including related information.
Currently, the accuracy of the URL included in the hypertext link cannot be checked by a spell checker program because the URL itself does not form a recognized English language word, e.g., "www.ibm.com". Moreover, a document author may believe they have included the correct URL in a hypertext link in the document, when in fact the URL they inserted addresses a web page that is different from the one they intended. For instance, the author may insert the URL "www.whitehouse.com" into a document intending to provide a hypertext link to the official United States government Internet Web page for the White House, when in fact the correct official government Web for the White House is "www.whitehouse.gov". The author of the web page may be placed in a compromising situation if the hypertext link included in the document incorrectly references an Internet Web page including content entirely unrelated to the intended Web page or including offensive or objectionable material. For instance, the incorrect URL embedded in the hypertext link may reference a web page including objectionable material, such as profane, pornographic, hateful or otherwise inappropriate content. If the Web page is directed to a sensitive target audience, such as children, business associates, potential customers, etc., then such a mistake could be particularly troublesome.
This same problem may occur if the author is preparing an e-mail to send to business associates or other acquaintances and includes a hypertext link to a URL in the e-mail. The e-mail author would face the same embarrassment and problems discussed above by including a wrong hypertext link to a Web page containing material offensive to the e-mail recipients.
For these reasons, there is a need in the art for an improved electronic file editing tool that assists people in including correct network addresses, such as hypertext links, in the electronic file.

Method, system, and program for verifying network addresses included in a file

International Business Machines Corporation