According to the present invention, in a cooling water circuit having a water-cooled internal combustion engine for a vehicle, a pump for pumping cooling water, and a heat-accumulating tank for thermally insulating and storing the cooling water having flowed out of the engine, at least one of an inflow cooling water passage for introducing the cooling water having flowed out of the engine into the heat-accumulating tank and an outflow cooling water passage for introducing the cooling water having flowed out of the heat-accumulating tank into the engine is closed while the engine is stopped. In this way, the convection between the cooling water in the heat-accumulating tank and the cooling water in the other portions than the heat-accumulating tank can be prevented, and the heat insulating capacity of the heat-accumulating tank can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling water circuit system of a water-cooled engine (hereinafter referred to as "engine").
Conventionally, there has been proposed an apparatus in which a heat-accumulating tank for thermally insulating and reserving cooling water for cooling the engine is disposed in a cooling water circuit and an acceleration of a warm-up operation of the engine and a quick heating operation are performed by using the high-temperature cooling water accumulated in the heat-accumulating tank when a temperature of the cooling water is low after the engine has been just started.
However, in the above-described apparatus, since the acceleration of the warm-up operation of the engine and the quick heating operation are performed by using the high-temperature cooling water accumulated in the heat-accumulating tank, the heat-insulating capacity of the heat-accumulating tank has a great influence on the effects of the acceleration of the warm-up of the engine and the quick heating operation.
The inventors have experimentally produced a cooling water circuit including various kinds of heat-accumulating tank, and found out that the following points relate to the improvements of the heat-insulating capacity of the heat-accumulating tank greatly.
That is, to the heat-accumulating tank, there are connected an inflow cooling water passage for introducing the cooling water discharged from the engine to the heat-accumulating tank and an outflow cooling water passage for introducing the cooling water discharged from the heat-accumulating tank to the engine.
Therefore, when the other portions (e.g., a pipe connected to the heat-accumulating tank) than the heat-accumulating tank is communicated with the heat-accumulating tank through both passages while the engine stops, the cooling water in the other portions than the heat-accumulating tank and the cooling water in the heat-accumulating tank may be mixed by natural convection.
Further, because the other portions than the heat-accumulating tank do not have a heat insulating structure, the cooling water in the other portions than the heat-accumulating tank may be cooled earlier than the cooling water in the heat-accumulating tank. Therefore, a temperature difference between the cooling water in the other portions than the heat-accumulating tank and the cooling water in the heat-accumulating tank becomes larger, with the result that the mixture by the natural convection may be accelerated. Further, the heat-insulating capacity of the heat-accumulating tank may be deteriorated.

Cooling water circuit system and cooling water control valve


In some embodiments, an ex-situ apparatus and a system, as well as a method and an article, operate to transmit wideband modulated pulses to generate an externally-projected oscillating magnetic field in a material body, to record one or more raw echo free induction decay (REFID) signals during echo acquisition periods following some of the second modulated pulses, and to transform the acquired REFID signals via frequency decomposition to determine a preferred nuclear magnetic resonance frequency associated with a maximum amplitude of decomposed frequency components. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are described.

Understanding the structure and properties of geological formations can reduce the cost of drilling wells for oil and gas exploration. Measurements made in a borehole (i.e., down hole measurements) are typically performed to attain this understanding, to identify the composition and distribution of material that surrounds the measurement device down hole. To obtain such measurements, a variety of sensors are used, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensor probes. When used down hole, in conjunction with a magnet and drive electronics, measurements made by the NMR sensor probe can be used to provide information about the surrounding formation.
Generally, a permanent magnet's remnant field strength (B0) is a function of temperature. Thus, when magnets are used in locations where temperatures vary widely, such as down hole, the preferred NMR activation frequency (which gives the best signal strength) may change with temperature. Searching to locate the preferred NMR frequency at any given temperature can be time-consuming.

Frequency location apparatus, methods, and systems


Implementations generally relate to collecting photos. In some implementations, a method includes collecting photos associated with one or more objects, where the photos are collected from a plurality of users. The method also includes collecting attention information associated with the one or more objects. The method also includes generating an attention map based on the attention information. The method also includes guiding users to capture photos of particular objects based on the attention map.

Digital cameras have made taking photos easy and convenient, and various applications have made sharing photos easy and convenient. For example, some applications enable a person to instantly upload photos to a social network system as photos are captured. Many people capturing photos of the same object are often positioned in the same or similar location. Accordingly, in many situations, numerous photos of the same object are captured, where the photos are substantially the same or are slight variations of each other.

Generating attention information from photos


An apparatus for granulating extruded material includes an extruder and an underwater granulator connected to the extruder and having a cutting plate for cutting extruded material, the granulator being hinged so that it can swivel about a swivel axis when disconnected from the extruder. A feed pipe is connected to said granulator for providing process water and a discharge pipe is connected to the granulator for transporting and cooling granulate, the feed pipe and the discharge pipe each having a swivel joint with an axis of rotation which is coaxial to the swivel axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for granulating extruded material including an extruder, an underwater granulator connected to the extruder and having a cutting plate, a feed pipe connected to the granulator for providing process water, and a discharge pipe connected to the extruder for transporting and cooling granulate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an underwater granulator, the large number of strands of melt which have been pressed from an extruder and through a breaker plate with nozzle holes arrive at a cutting plate, where a rotating knife cuts the strands of cooled and solidified melt into small pieces, which form a granulate. Adjacent to the cutting plate is a chamber filled with process water, which serves to solidify the melt further and to transport the granulate. The granulate-water mixture is transported through a discharge pipeline to a separation device. In this device, the solidified granulate is separated from the process water, and it is then dried. The underwater granulator is connected to the extruder during operation, usually by means of a flange. So that maintenance work such as the replacement of the cutting plate can be performed, the granulator must be detached from the extruder. So that the assembly and disassembly work can be carried out quickly, it has been found advantageous for the underwater granulator to be attached to the extruder by a movable joint, so that the granulator can be detached from the extruder simply by swinging it away. It can then be reattached to the extruder by swinging it back into position.
In a swinging granulator of this type, however, the problem remains that the process water feed and discharge lines must be detached before the underwater granulator can be swung away, and before operations can commence again after completion of the maintenance work, these lines must be reattached after the granulator has been swung back into position. To avoid this assembly/disassembly work, it would be possible to design the process water feed and discharge lines as flexible hoses. A flexible line could also be equipped with expansion joints. A hose connection, however, represents a safety problem, because the water used in the granulation process can reach temperatures as high as 90° C., and hot water escaping from a leaky or burst hose represents a potential danger. In addition, the large bending radii which hoses require sharply limits the freedom with which the unit can be designed. Systems built with connections of this type for the process water are therefore often bulky and can become too large in comparison with the size of the overall granulation system. When the underwater granulator is swing into and out of position, furthermore, the connecting hoses are subjected to torsional forces, because the connecting points at the underwater granulator rotate when the granulator is swung back and forth. The torsional stresses caused by the rotational movements of the swinging granulator, however, are damaging to the hoses over the long term. Hoses are not designed to endure continuous rotational movements around their own axes. In the case of the swinging granulators according to the state of the art, therefore, the connections between the granulator and the pipeline system are usually detached before the granulator is swung away.

Underwater granulator with a water pipe mounted in a swivel joint


There are provided an image generating apparatus, method, program, and recording medium that eliminate the need for specifying the size of paper on which a captured image is to be printed and are capable of printing the image on paper of a suitable size even when information about the paper size is unavailable. An MFP 101 obtains an image from a device such as a digital camera 105, extracts pixel count information from the image, and determines whether or not the image contains resolution information. If the image does not contain resolution information, the image is transformed to an image of a size that fits an A4-size sheet and the resolution of the image is determined on the basis of the pixel count information. Then, the size-transformed image is printed on an A4-size sheet with the determined resolution.

With the proliferation of computers and information networking in recent years, electronic mail (E-mail) for transmitting text information over a network has become widely used. Along with message body, which is text information, files in various formats can be sent as (E-mail) attachments. For example, Internet faxes (hereinafter abbreviated to "IFAX") which can transmit images as TIFF (Tag Image File Format) files attached to E-mail are widely used.
IFAX is a technology for communications between devices that enables a transmitting device to transform an image scanned through a scanner into the TIFF format and send the TIFF image and enables a receiving device to reproduce and print the image in the TIFF format from the data it has received.
One known example of such technology is RFC 2301, which is an IFAX image standard that specifies tags of resolution information and pixel count information in TIFF image files (see <URL:http:ietf.org/rfc/rfc2301.txt>). Another known technique adds information about sheet size to image data and sends and receives the data by E-mail (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-225263).
When resolution or pixel count information is recorded in an image as described in RFC 2301, the size of the image (sheet size) can be obtained from the resolution and pixel count information. When resolution or sheet size information is recorded in an image as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-225263, pixel count information can be obtained from the information.
Images taken with digital cameras typically have pixel count information recorded on them, but not information about resolution or sheet (or image) size. Therefore, when an image taken with a digital camera is to be printed, a sheet size is typically specified by a user through a print application program to provide the sheet size information to cause the image to be printed on a sheet of the specified size.
However, there is a problem that when an image taken with a digital camera and attached to E-mail is to be printed on an IFAX machine, the image cannot properly be printed because the size of a sheet on which the image is to be printed cannot be determined unless resolution information or sheet size information is recorded in the attached image.

Image processing apparatus with resolution determined by pixel count and used for print image, method, program, and recording


A low noise mixer comprises a first mixer core configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) input signal having an RF frequency, and a first local oscillator signal, wherein the first local oscillator signal is at a frequency that is nominally twice the frequency of the RF frequency, the first mixer core configured to switch the RF input signal to at least one secondary mixer core at a frequency that coincides with the frequency of the first local oscillator signal, the at least one secondary mixer core configured to receive the switched RF input signal and a second local oscillator signal, where the second local oscillator signal is at the same nominal frequency as the RF input signal, and wherein switching the RF input signal at the frequency of the first local oscillator signal substantially eliminates flicker noise associated with the down-conversion process.

With the increasing availability of efficient, low cost electronic modules, mobile communication systems are becoming more and more prevalent. For example, there are many variations of communication schemes in which various frequencies, transmission schemes, modulation techniques and communication protocols are used to provide two-way voice and data communications in a handheld, telephone-like communication handset. The different modulation and transmission schemes each have advantages and disadvantages.
One of the advances in portable communication technology is the move toward the implementation of a low intermediate frequency (IF) transmitter and receiver and a direct conversion transmitter and receiver (DCR). A low IF receiver converts a radio frequency (RF) signal to an intermediate frequency that is lower than the IF of a conventional receiver. A direct conversion receiver downconverts a radio frequency (RF) received signal directly to baseband (DC) without first converting the RF signal to an intermediate frequency. One of the benefits of a direct conversion or low IF receiver is the elimination of costly filter components used in systems that employ an intermediate frequency conversion.
Another advance in portable communication technology is the move away from bipolar complementary metal oxide semiconductor (Bi-CMOS) technology and the move toward implementing receiver components completely in CMOS technology. Implementing the receiver components completely in CMOS technology reduces cost, power consumption and the physical space used on the device.
Unfortunately, implementing the receiver components using CMOS technology results in the increase in some noise parameters in the receiver, and particularly in the mixer. Regardless of the type of transceiver used in the system, one or more mixers are used to upconvert the transmit signal to an RF level and to downconvert the received RF signal. A mixer combines the RF signal with a reference signal, referred to as a "local oscillator," or "LO" signal. The resultant signal is the input signal at a different, and, in the case of a downconverter, typically lower, frequency.
The noise performance of a mixer implemented in CMOS technology typically suffers due to so called "1/f" noise (also referred to as flicker noise ) in the mixer core at low frequency offsets. The spectral density of 1/f noise increases significantly as the frequency is reduced. For example, at a low intermediate frequency (IF) offset of 100 kHz, which is a typical frequency to which a received signal is downconverted in a low-IF or a direct conversion receiver, the 1/f noise significantly raises the noise figure (NF) in the receiver. In addition, the large LO and radio frequency (RF) transitions that are used to reduce the noise floor in the mixer contribute to what is referred to as LO self-mixing, where the LO signal is undesirably coupled into the desired receive signal and the combination of the LO signal and the receive signal is undesirably multiplied with the LO signal. The large LO and RF transitions also contribute to RF self-mixing, where the RF signal is undesirably coupled into the LO signal, which leads to a DC signal that is proportional to the RF signal, which further reduce the performance of the receiver. Further, any DC offset mismatch between transistors in the mixer leads to a poor second intercept point (IP2) performance.
Past systems have attempted to minimize the 1/f noise by using a low-IF architecture, implementing large LO signal transitions, or by implementing physically large transistors in the mixer to reduce the effect of the 1/f noise. Unfortunately, these solutions generally consume additional power, degrade linearity of the mixer, contribute to LO self-mixing due to high LO drive power required for the large transistors, and consume additional physical space.
Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the noise contributed by a mixer in a receiver.


A direct drive joystick has a contactless system for sensing the position of the joystick lever and having valve drivers which are positioned within the joystick, and which are directly connected to coils of a proportional valve. The joystick thus is not prone to failure due to internal friction of its sensing elements and at the same time is capable of directly driving valves without the provision of any other devices between the joystick and the valves. The joystick including the valve driver is rugged, compact and can be easily installed. The valve driver can be adjusted by an operator who is simultaneously actuating the joystick. The operational status of one or more of the joystick, the valve being controlled by the joystick, and the power source for the valve and joystick are visually displayed at a location which can be easily viewed by the joystick operator. Operation of the valve driver and thus of the joystick is prevented upon failure of a signal wire or upon generation of a joystick fault signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to joysticks and, more particularly, relates to joysticks for electronically actuated proportional valves which control heavy industrial equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of industrial devices and vehicles employ electronically actuated proportional valves to perform functions of the devices. Such valves may directly control the operation of a device such as a hydraulic piston and cylinder arrangement. Such valves may also indirectly control the operation of a device such as a hydrostatic transmission. Many such valves have two or more coils permitting the valves to be positioned in any activation state.
These industrial valves are typically actuated by moving a joystick through one of a plurality of axes. The typical joystick includes a pivotable lever coupled to a potentiometer which generates an output signal representative of the position and/or rate of motion of the joystick. The output of the potentiometer is in turn transmitted to the coil of a servo or solenoid valve to actuate the valve. Joysticks employing potentiometers to detect the operational state of the joystick lever exhibit several disadvantages. For instance, such potentiometers, while varying greatly in construction, all utilize the direct interface of a stationary conductor and a movable wiper in electrical contact with one another. These potentiometers are subject to rapid wear when used in environments that undergo high vibration such as that found on mobile equipment such as cranes. More specifically, the potentiometer wipers will continuously reciprocate through a small distance due to the vibration of the device on which it is mounted. This movement quickly degrades or wipes off the lubricant between the stationary element and the wiper, leading to relatively rapid wear and failure of the potentiometer and thus of the joystick. Even so called "non-lubricated" plastic resistive element-type potentiometers will incur this type of failure. Signal generators employing potentiometers also employ relatively complex drive systems incorporating various gears, cam followers, etc. Such mechanisms are relatively bulky, expensive and difficult to assemble, and prone to failure.
Some of the problems associated with potentiometer-type detection circuits can be eliminated through the provision of so-called "contactless" sensors. These sensors do not require direct electrical contact between the actuating lever and the signal generator and thus are not as prone to failure.
One such contactless position detector comprises a so-called "inductively coupled" position detector, otherwise known as a "linear induction sensor". The typical inductively coupled position detector employs a transmitting or drive coil positioned on the end of the joystick lever and a plurality of pickup or sensor coils which are positioned proximate the transmitting coil and which generate an electrical signal when a transmitting coil moves into the proximity of one of the respective pickup coils. These signals are transmitted to a circuit board and combined so as to provide a signal indicative of the position of the joystick.
While contactless detection systems such as inductively coupled position detectors avoid many of the problems associated with the use of potentiometer-type detectors, these detectors do not generate a current of a sufficient magnitude to actuate electrically operated proportional valves and thus require the provision of valve drivers which receive the signals generated b the position detector and which generate an electric current of sufficient magnitude to actuate a valve. These valve drivers are typically provided on circuit boards and are sometimes known as drive boards.
Heretofore, valve drivers have been provided as modular units at a location between the joystick and the valves to be actuated. Such externally positioned valve drivers exhibit several disadvantages.
For instance, systems employing separate modular joysticks and valve drivers are relatively bulky and require independent mounting of the joystick and valve driver modules. The valve driver modules are often placed in a location which is open to the elements, and are thus subject to damage through crushing, water damage, etc.
Valve drivers located remote from the position detector are also prone to interference because the relatively long electrical connections joining these elements tend to act as antennas which pick up electrical interference signals. These connections are also exposed to the elements and are thus prone to breakage.
Moreover, it is often necessary to adjust the operational parameters of the valve driver to meet a particular application. For instance, it may be necessary to set the maximum voltage level for full joystick displacement or to set a designated voltage increase rate or ramp rate for a particular application. Such adjustments are most easily performed during operation of the joystick. However, if the valve driver is located remote from the joystick, such simultaneous adjustments cannot be performed by a single operator. It is therefore necessary to employ a first operator to operate the joystick and another operator to adjust the valve driver. Similarly, although some systems employ diagnostic visual indications of the status of the system, such indicators are not mounted on the joystick and thus may not be positioned in a location which can be easily viewed by the user while operating the joystick.
The typical joystick also is incapable of responding to a signal wire failure or to a joystick fault in which the valve being controlled is not completely de-energized when the joystick is in its neutral position. Failure of a system to respond to either of these conditions is potentially hazardous because it may lead to unintended partial or complete actuation of a valve and of the implement being controlled by the valve.

Joystick with contactless direct drive device


Methods and apparatus to apply multiple trip limits to a device in a process control system are disclosed. An example method involves monitoring a value of a parameter associated with the operation of the device and receiving an input indicative of an operational state of the device, where a first input indicates a first operational state and a second input indicates a second operational state. If the first input is received, comparing via a function block the value of the parameter to a first trip limit, and if the second input is received, comparing via the function block the value of the parameter to a second trip limit, and implementing a response based on the comparison.

Process control systems, like those used in chemical, petroleum or other processes, typically include one or more process controllers communicatively coupled to one or more field devices via analog, digital or combined analog/digital buses. The field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners, switches and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure and flow rate sensors), perform process control functions within the process such as opening or closing valves and measuring process control parameters. The process controllers receive signals indicative of process measurements made by the field devices and then process this information to generate control signals to implement control routines, and to otherwise manage the operation of the process control system.
Many industries now implement process control systems with the use of digital control and communications between field devices, controllers, and other elements of a process control system. With the rise of digital control and communications, a number of standard digital as well as combined analog and digital open communication protocols have been developed to facilitate the communications between field devices and controllers. Some of the protocols utilize a basic building block or software construct commonly referred to as a function block.
In general, function blocks are programs that, when executed, perform one or more algorithms or sequences of operation relevant to a process control system for which a process engineer has configured the function blocks. There are many types of function blocks, each of which generally performs a specific portion of a process control routine. Typically, function blocks implement input, control, output, as well as other functions within a process control system and can be downloaded and instantiated within controllers and/or field devices distributed throughout a process control system.
For example, an analog input (AI) function block may be instantiated within a sensor or transmitter configured to measure a parameter (e.g., temperature, strain, flow, etc.), and an analog voter (AVTR) function block may be instantiated within a controller, which may be in communication with the sensor or transmitter performing the AI function block to compare the analog input to a configured trip limit to determine whether an appropriate response should be tripped and implemented based on the comparison. An AVTR function block is called a "voter" block because it can receive multiple inputs that may be compared with the configured trip limit, where each comparison constitutes one vote. If an input exceeds the configured trip limit, the AVTR function block counts that event as a vote to set the output to Tripped. If the required number of inputs "vote" to trip, the output of the AVTR function block goes to a tripped value.
Many other types of function blocks can be instantiated within field devices and controllers and interlinked via communication media in a similar manner to perform almost any desired function of a process control scheme.


A reversible child resistant closure system including a closure and container a container having a neck portion, an engaging means and an axis extending therethrough about which the closure is rotatable. The closure has a child resistant mode when applied to the container in a first child resistant position and has a non-child resistant mode when applied to the container in a second non-child resistant position. The closure includes an outer cap and an inner cap. The inner cap is coaxially positioned and nested within the outer cap and is axially movable between the first child resistant engaging means and the bottom edge of the outer cap such that the plurality of angular abutment surfaces of the inner cap engage the series of angular abutments of the outer cap upon rotation of the outer cap to rotates the inner cap in a closing direction.

There are many varying types of child resistant closure systems disclosed in the art. An example of a particular type of child resistant closure system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,078, which relates to a combination of a container and safety cap. While many child resistant caps effectively provide protection against the danger of small children being able to remove potentially harmful pills from vials or other containers, they also provide a problem for a considerable portion of the adult population that require medication, however, lack the manual dexterity or strength to remove the child resistant cap. This is of a particular concern to the elderly population or people suffering from arthritis and other debilitating diseases.
This particular problem has been addressed by the development of closure systems having a child resistant mode and a non-child resistant mode such that, in the non-child resistant mode, the closure are more easily opened by adults. An example of such a closure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,934 (the '934 patent) which is herein incorporated by reference. The '934 patent discloses a container closure that is selectively manipulable between a configuration which resists opening by children and a configuration which may be easily opened without special manipulation of the closure. Specifically, the closure is manipulated into its non-child resistant mode by "pressing down" on the central portion of the top surface of the closure. Although the aforementioned closure effectively provides protection against the danger of small children being able to remove it from vials or other containers, a certain portion of the adult population lack the manual dexterity or strength to "press down" the central portion of the top surface of the closure so to manipulate the closure from its child resistant configuration to its non-child resistant configuration. This manipulation or "pushing down" also represents a problem for people with long fingernails. Other reversible child resistant closure have been developed to address this problem, however, making the closure easier to convert into the non-child resistant configuration increase the risk that the closures will inadvertently be converted into their non-child resistant configurations. Similarly, there is an increased risk that automated filling machines will inadvertently convert the closures into their non-child resistant configurations when applying the closure to the container.
Further, the closures of the type disclosed in the '934 patent cannot include a warning to the consumer once the closure has been converted to its non-child resistant configuration. This message is required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC") to alert users that the closure has been converted into the non-child resistant configuration.
Furthermore, other reversible child resistant designs that do include the CPSC consumer warning cannot be used in automated dispensing equipment due to projections on their outer surface.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for a closure that has a child resistant mode which resists opening by children, has a non-child resistant mode which may be easily opened without special manipulation, resists inadvertent conversion from its child resistant mode to its non-child resistant mode, is capable of including the mandated CPSC warning "CAUTION NOT CHILD RESISTANT" when used in its non-child resistant mode, and can be used in automated dispensing machines so overcoming the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An image sensor includes a pixel unit having first and second photoelectric converters, an amplifier provided commonly for the first and second photoelectric converters, first and second transfer transistors configured to respectively transfer charges generated in the first and second electric converters to an input portion of the amplifier. The signal read out by the readout portion includes a first optical signal read out in a state in which charges are transferred from the first photoelectric converter to the input portion by the first transfer transistor, and a second optical signal read out, after the readout of the first optical signal, in a state in which charges are transferred from the second photoelectric converter to the input portion by the second transfer transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid-state image sensor, a camera, and a method of driving a solid-state image sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the recent requirement of a multiple pixel structure and high frame rate of a solid-state image sensor, a technique of shortening the time to read out a signal from a pixel is becoming increasingly important. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-134867 describes a solid-state image sensor that provides one amplification element in correspondence with a plurality of photoelectric converters. One of the plurality of photoelectric converters will be referred to as a "first photoelectric converter", and another as a "second photoelectric converter" hereinafter for the descriptive convenience. The solid-state image sensor described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-134867 transfers the charges of the first photoelectric converter to the input portion of the amplification element and reads out a signal (to be referred to as a "first optical signal" hereinafter for the descriptive convenience). After that, the solid-state image sensor transfers the charges of the second photoelectric converter to the input portion and reads out a signal (to be referred to as a "second optical signal" hereinafter for the descriptive convenience) without resetting the input portion. In this case, the signal read out after the charges of the second photoelectric converter are transferred to the input portion is a signal corresponding to the sum of the charges of the first photoelectric converter and those of the second photoelectric converter.
In the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-134867, the second optical signal is larger than the first optical signal. Hence, the time needed for convergence of the second optical signal is longer than that needed for convergence of the first optical signal. If the time to read out the first optical signal and the time to read out the second optical signal are defined similarly, the times should be set such that the second optical signal can be read out at a sufficient accuracy. In this case, however, the time to read out the first optical signal is set longer than necessary. If the time to read out the first optical signal and the time to read out the second optical signal are defined similarly while giving priority to shortening the readout time, the readout accuracy of the second optical signal is lower than that of the first optical signal. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-134867 does not describe these examinations and ideas about improvements based on them.

Solid-state image sensor, camera, and method of driving solid-state image sensor


A material and a method for planarizing an uneven surface of a substrate, such as those used for making wiring boards and electronic devices and having broad patterns on their surfaces, are provided. The material is a polysilphenylenesiloxane or a copolymer of polysilphenylenesiloxane with an organosiloxane, and is applied to an uneven surface of a substrate, and then heated to be reflowed to thereby be formed into a planarized film or layer. The material allows a substrate containing wiring having a width of up to several hundred micrometers to be planarized.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a material for planarizing an uneven or up-and-down surface of a substrate, such as those used for making wiring boards and electronic devices, and a method for planarizing a surface of a substrate using the material of the invention. The invention can planarize a substrate surface carrying wirings having a width as wide as several hundred micrometers, and is particularly useful in forming multi-layered wirings having less than half micrometer rule wiring patters. The invention also relates to a substrate having a surface planarized by the material and method of the invention.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as the degree of integration in semiconductor integrated circuits has increased and the density of semiconductor device elements has increased, the demand has increased for the multi-layering of semiconductor device wirings. Also, thicker wirings are needed to prevent reduction in wiring capacity due to minute wirings, which leads to a tendency to increase in a level difference between an upper and lower surfaces of a film or layer formed so as to cover the and a support on which the wiring are located, the upper surface corresponding to the surface of the film or layer present on the wiring, and the lower surface corresponding to the surface of the film or layer present on the area of the support in which the wirings are absent. Thus, in order to form minute wirings, particularly multi-layered wirings, it is required to form an interlayer insulating film providing excellent planarizability which can extend a focus margin of a resist.
For such a requirement, planarization of a substrate has been carried out by applying a spin-on-glass (SOG) on the substrate by a spin coating to thereby fill in spaces between adjacent ridges. In this technique, a width of wiring capable of being planarized is limited to at most nearly 5 micrometers, which is in the range of the width of a local eminence, even in relatively good cases, and it is impossible to planarize a substrate surface having wider wirings.
On the other hand, for a method of planarizing topographic substrate having a width of several score micrometers or more wiring patterns, which is in the range of width of a global eminence, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), in which mechanical polishing is performed while using an etching solution, has been studied. However, this method may damage wiring, and has the inconveniences of, for example, low throughput, because the CMP requires an alkaline solution, such as a KOH solution, as the etching solution, and a low polishing rate to provide sufficient flat properties for wide wirings.
In contrast, a technique is used in which a planarizing material which reflows on heating is applied on an insulating film thickly formed on wirings by a process such as a chemical vapor deposition (CVD), to thereby form a planarized film, and thereafter, the planarized film and portions of the underlying insulating film are removed by an etchback process, to thereby planarize the insulating film. In this technique, wiring patterns having a width of at most several score of micrometers can be only planarized, because the reflowability of the planarizing material is insufficient.
As used herein, the term "eminence" means a projection or convexity present on a surface of a substrate, regardless of its sizes such as height, width, length, and diameter, which is responsible for unevenness of the surface of the substrate. Further as used herein, "local eminence" means an eminence at a surface of substrate, which results from formation of an uneven or up-and-down pattern on a support, such as a wiring pattern, having a width as narrow as of at most about 10 micrometers. Also as used herein, "global eminence" means an eminence at a surface of substrate, which results from formation of an uneven or up-and-down pattern on a support, such as a wiring pattern, having a width reaching several hundred micrometers or more. As used herein, "support" means a support or base on which an uneven or up-and-down pattern or layer is formed by conventional processes such as those used in the electronic industries, including resist pattern formation and subsequent etching. The term "substrate" is used to mean a substrate including the support and an uneven or up-and-down pattern or layer formed thereon and having eminences at its surface resulting from the formation of the pattern or layer. As described hereinafter, the present invention is applied to such a substrate. It should be noted that the term "substrate" is to be understood to include substrates having any uneven or rough surface, which exhibits a much smaller eminence than the eminence developed by the formation of wiring pattern. Thus, the "substrate" in the invention may include substrates having an unpolished surface, such as those made of a crystal. It should be also noted that the "substrate" also means a substrate comprising a support having eminences such as those resulting from formation of an uneven pattern and a film or layer made of a planarizing material or another material such as an insulating material.
Various siloxane polymers having silphenylene bonds in their molecules, such as the polymer used in the present invention, are known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,445,794, 4,778,871, and 5,035,927 describe siloxane polymers containing silphenylene bonds in their skeleton. Further, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 6-36099 (JP B 6-36099) (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,240,813 and 5,484,687) discloses a polysilphenylene siloxane which is useful for a resist material. In addition, the following references also describe siloxane polymers having silphenylene bonds in their molecules: Y. Lai, P. R. Dvornic and R. W. Lenz, Journal of Polymer Science, Polymer Chemistry Edition, Vol. 20, 2277-2288 (1982); Y. Nagase, K. Ikeda, and Y. Sekine, Chem. Abs., 98 (16), 126994, Polymer, 23(11), 1646-52 (1982); M. Livingston, P. R. Dvornic and R. W. Lenz, Journal of Appl. Poly. Sci., 27, 3238-3251 (1982); and Noll, Chemistry and Technology of Silicones, pp. 139-140. However, no silphenylene siloxane polymer was hitherto known which allows to planarize a surface of a substrate on which the polymer is applied.

Material and method for planarization of substrate


A method is disclosed for determining the translational efficiency of an individual codon in a cell. The method includes introducing into the cell a synthetic construct including a reporter polynucleotide fused in frame with a tandem repeat of the individual codon, wherein the reporter polynucleotide encodes a reporter protein, and wherein the synthetic construct is operably linked to a regulatory polynucleotide; and measuring expression of the reporter protein in the cell to determine the translational efficiency of the codon.

This invention relates generally to gene expression and in particular, to a method and polynucleotides for determining codon utilization in particular cells or tissues of an organism. More particularly, the method and polynucleotides of the invention are concerned with ascertaining codon preferences in cells or tissues for the purpose of modifying the translational efficiency of protein-encoding polynucleotides in those cells or tissues.
It is well known that a "triplet" codon of four possible nucleotide bases can exist in 64 variant forms. These forms provide the message for only 20 different amino acids (as well as translation initiation and termination) and this means that some amino acids can be encoded by more than one codon. Some amino acids have as many as six "redundant", alternative codons while some others have a single, required codon.
For reasons not completely understood, codon utilization is highly biased in that alternative codons are not at all uniformly present in the endogenous DNA of differing cell types. In this regard, there appears to exist a variable natural hierarchy of "preference" for certain codons between different cell types or between different organisms.
Codon usage patterns have been shown to correlate with relative abundance of isoaccepting transfer RNA (iso-tRNA) species, and with genes encoding proteins of high versus low abundance. Moreover, the present inventors recently discovered that the intracellular abundance of different iso-tRNAs varies in different cells or tissues of a single multi-cellular organism (see copending International Application No. PCT/AU98/00530).
The implications of codon preference phenomena on gene expression are manifest in that these phenomena can affect the translational efficiency of messenger RNA (mRNA). It is widely known in this regard that translation of "rare codons", for which the corresponding iso-tRNA is in relatively low abundance, may cause a ribosome to pause during translation which can lead to a failure to complete a nascent polypeptide chain and an uncoupling of transcription and translation.
A primary goal in recombinant research is to provide transgenic organisms with expression of a foreign gene in an amount sufficient to confer the desired phenotype to the organism. However, expression of the foreign gene may be severely impeded if a particular host cell of the organism or the organism itself has a low abundance of iso-tRNAs corresponding to one or more codons of the foreign gene. Accordingly, a major aim of investigators in this field is to first ascertain the codon preference for particular cells or tissues in which a foreign gene is to be expressed, and to subsequently alter the codon composition of the foreign gene for optimized expression in those cells or tissues.
Codon preference may be determined simply by analyzing the frequency at which codons are used by genes expressed in a particular cell or tissue or in a plurality of cells or tissues of a given organism. Codon frequency tables as well as suitable methods for determining frequency of codon usage in an organism are described, for example, in an article by Sharp et al (1988, Nucleic Acids Res. 16 8207-8211). The relative level of gene expression (e.g., detectable protein expression Vs no detectable protein expression) can provide an indirect measure of the relative abundance of specific iso-tRNAs expressed in different cells or tissues.
Alternatively, codon preference may be determined by measuring the relative intracellular abundance of different iso-tRNA species. For example, reference may be made to copending International Application No. PCT/AU98/00530 that describes a method that utilizes labeled oligonucleotides specific for different iso-tRNAs to probe an RNA extract prepared from a particular cell or tissue source.
The above methods provide useful indirect evidence for determining codon preference. However, such indirect evidence may not provide an accurate indication of the translational efficiency of a given codon. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a method that more directly ascertains the translational efficiency of a codon in a cell or tissue.

Method and polynucleotides for determining translational efficiency of a codon


A method for producing a display device includes forming a resin film on a substrate, forming a plurality of light emitting elements above the resin film, forming a plurality of first grooves in a surface of the resin film, the plurality of first grooves enclosing the plurality of light emitting elements individually in a multiple-fold manner, cutting the substrate at a position overlapping any one of the plurality of first grooves other than the first groove closest to one of the plurality of light emitting elements, and peeling off the substrate from the resin layer.

In general, in order to form a large number of sheet display devices such as organic EL display devices or the like by use of a mother substrate, the following method is used. A resin film formed of polyimide or the like is formed on the mother substrate, and a plurality of organic EL elements including a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs), a light emitting layer and ages barrier layer are formed on the resin film. Then, the substrate is cut into a plurality of substrate portions by a glass scribe method or the like, and the resin film is peeled off from the substrate portions to produce a plurality of organic EL display devices. As such a mother substrate, a glass substrate is used, for example.
However, the resin film is thin and elastic, and cannot be easily cut together with the glass substrate by the glass scribe method. It is not easy either to peel off the resin film from the glass substrate. Therefore, there is a problem that in a step of cutting the glass substrate or a step of peeling off the resin film from the glass substrate, the resin film formed on the glass substrate is pulled, which damages the TFTs and the organic EL elements formed on the resin film.
In addition, it is difficult to make small the tolerance for the cutting position at which the glass substrate is to be cut. For these reasons, a production method capable of enlarging the margin for the cutting position of the glass substrate and thus providing a high yield is desired.
According to an existing method proposed for this purpose, a groove is formed by laser light in a resin film along a line along which the glass substrate is to be cut before the glass substrate is actually cut, and then a scribing unit is directed to the groove formed on the resin film in order to cut the glass substrate by the scribe method.
With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, an example of such a method for producing a conventional organic EL display device will be described. As shown in FIG. 1A, a first resin film 20 is formed on a first glass substrate 10, which is a TFT-side mother substrate. An organic EL layer 40, a sealing member 44, a filling member 42, a line 30 and the like are formed on the first resin film 20. A second resin film 22 is formed on a second glass substrate 12, which is a counter substrate-side mother substrate. On the second resin film 22, a gas barrier layer 24 may be formed. Although not shown, ages barrier layer may also be formed on the first resin film 20.
From the structure shown in FIG. 1A, individual organic EL display devices are produced as follows, for example. First, from the state shown in FIG. 1A, an interface between the second glass substrate 12 and the second resin film 22 is irradiated with laser light to remove the second glass substrate 12.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1B. the first resin film 20 and the second resin film 22 are irradiated with light from a solid UV laser to cut the first resin film 20 and the second resin film 22.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, an excessive portion of the first resin film 20 and the second resin film 22 is removed.
Next, as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, an excessive, portion of the first glass substrate 10 (on the TFT side) is cut away by the glass scribe method.
Next, an interface, between the first glass substrate 10 and the first resin film 20 is irradiated with laser light to remove the first glass substrate 10.
As a result, individual organic EL display devices 1000 as shown in FIG. 2C are produced.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2011-227369 describes the following. In a resin film provided on a mother substrate, one groove along which the resin film is to be out is formed. After the mother substrate is peeled off, a plastic substrate is bonded to the resin film. Then, the plastic substrate is cut along the groove formed in the resin film.
According to this method, only one groove is formed in the resin film. Therefore, there is a problem that in the case where the cutting position at which the glass substrate is cut is offset, the resin film is pulled, which may damage display elements formed on the resin film.

Mother substrate for producing display device


A current detector includes a magnetic core that is molded by sintering powder made from a magnetic material, and a current detection busbar. The current detection busbar is a conductor including a penetrating portion that penetrates a hole portion of the magnetic core in a first direction in which a current flows, and terminal portions that are in connection with the penetrating portion on both sides in the first direction. The width of the terminal portions is larger than the maximum width of the hole portion, and the minimum width of the cross-sectional contour of the penetrating portion is larger than the thickness of the terminal portions. An insulating casing holds the magnetic core, the current detection busbar, and the Hall element, while keeping them from coming into contact with each other.

Vehicles such as hybrid automobiles or electric automobiles in many cases include a current detector for detecting a current that flows through a busbar connected to a battery. Examples of apparatuses that may be applied as such a current detector include a magnetic proportion-type current detector and a magnetic balance-type current detector.
A current detector of a magnetic proportion type or a magnetic balance type includes a magnetic core and a magneto-electric conversion element, for example, as shown in Japanese Pub. Patent Apps. H10-104279, 2006-166528A, and 2009-58451-A. The magnetic core is a magnetic material substantially in the shape of a ring with a gap portion, resulting in two ends facing each other across the gap portion. The magnetic core is formed in one piece so as to surround a hole portion penetrated by a busbar. The hole portion of the magnetic material is a space (current detection space) through which a current that is to be detected flows.
In the conventional current detector, the magnetic core has a structure obtained by a plurality of thin plate-like members that each have substantially the shape of a ring and are made from a magnetic material being stacked on top of each other via an adhesive agent. Hereinafter, the magnetic core having such a structure is referred to as a stacked-type magnetic core.
Furthermore, the magneto-electric conversion element is disposed in the gap portion of the magnetic core. The magneto-electric conversion element detects a magnetic flux that changes in accordance with a current that flows through the busbar penetrating through the hole portion, and then outputs a detection signal of the magnetic flux as an electrical signal. Typically, a Hall element is used as the magneto-electric conversion element.


A low dropout (LDO) voltage regulator includes an output terminal for providing a regulated voltage output to a load, and a plurality of PFETs connected in parallel. Each PFET drains a level of current and the sum of the levels of current are provided as a current output at the output terminal. The LDO voltage regulator also includes a feedback network coupled to the output terminal for providing a voltage feedback signal, and an error amplifier coupled between the plurality of PFETs and the feedback network for sensing a differential voltage. The error amplifier includes an output voltage which is provided to the plurality of PFETs for adjusting the drain of current from each PFET. A summation of the drains of current from each PFET is provided as the current output to regulate the voltage output at the output terminal. Each PFET drains a current level of I0/n and the summation of the drains of current is the current output I0.

A linear voltage regulator accepts a poorly specified and sometimes fluctuating input voltage and provides a substantially constant output voltage at a desirable level. The output voltage is used as a supply voltage for other circuits and is substantially independent of an output current (i.e., a load current). The load current level may vary over time with substantially instantaneous transitions from one level to another level.
For example, the linear voltage regulator supplies power to one or more digital circuits within a computer system which may be on or off depending on processing requirements. Thus, the load current level may be relatively high in one clock cycle and relatively low in a following clock cycle. As the digital circuits continue to improve and operate at higher frequencies, the transitions between clock cycles become faster, thereby decreasing the transition time between load current levels.
One example of an LDO regulator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,952,091, issued on Oct. 4, 2005. According to this patent, a series resistor (Rs) is inserted in the output current path to sense the output current (Io), as shown in FIG. 1. The voltage drop across this sense resistance (Rs) is proportional to the output current (Io) of the regulator, which is fed back to a current limiting circuit. The current limiting circuit controls the drive to the gate of the output transistor (Qo) to limit the current. This arrangement suffers, however, from the drawback that the sense resistor causes a voltage drop leading to an undesired increase in voltage dropout.
Another example of an LDO regulator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,278, issued on Mar. 2, 1993. Referring to FIG. 2, which is described in that patent, there is shown an LDO linear regulator that maintains a constant output voltage Vout at point 100, regardless of the magnitude of load 110. Power source 120, which provides the input voltage Vin, may be any type of power supply as currently known in the art.
The LDO regulator provides two feedback voltages to summer 130. The current sense and feedback loop, represented by block 140, provides as its output a voltage Vi directly proportional to the current being drawn by load 110. The second input to summer 130 comes from a voltage sense and feedback loop, represented by block 150. Block 150 provides a voltage directly proportional to the difference between Vout and a fixed reference voltage. The output from summer 130 gates pass device 160, which essentially provides a resistance inversely proportional to the voltage applied at its gate. The net result is that when either or both of the current feedback and voltage feedback inputs to summer 130 increases, the voltage out of summer 130 increases and the resistance through pass device 160 decreases, thereby allowing an increased flow of current through the pass device which keeps Vout at its desired level.
The present invention, which is described below, provides an improved LDO regulator, characterized by its ability to regulate the output voltage by using a differential sense amplifier to measure a small change in the output voltage. Furthermore, as described below, the present invention does not require a sense resistor, placed in series with the output load, to sense the output current. In conventional LDO regulators, as shown in FIG. 1, a sense resistor is inserted in series with the output current path to sense the output current. Such conventional arrangement suffers from a drawback that the sense resistor causes a voltage drop leading to an undesired increase in voltage dropout.

Non-invasive load current sensing in low dropout (LDO) regulators


A railroad car (18) uses a coupling system (10) to couple to other railroad cars. The coupling system includes a coupler (12), a knuckle (14), a knuckle pin (16) and a lock (30). When two railroad cars are coupled to each other, the knuckles of the two railroad cars are engaged and the forces produced during buff and draft movement of the railroad cars are transmitted through the knuckles, the coupler and the locks. Under normal operation, the knuckle pin should experience minimal forces during the buff and draft movement of the railroad cars. However, over time the various components that make up the coupler system may fall out of tolerance due to usage, wear and other factors. As the various components of the coupler system fall out of tolerance, increasing bending forces are applied to the knuckle pin. A knuckle pin with a slot (52) and a hollow body (50) is capable of withstanding bending forces applied to the knuckle pin by out-of-tolerance coupling systems.

This invention relates in general to railroad car coupling systems and, more particularly, to a system and apparatus for a knuckle coupler pin for railroad car coupling systems.
Railroad cars use couplers to attach one railroad car to another. Currently, many railroad car couplers use knuckle couplers that engage with each other to couple the railroad cars together. The operation of the knuckle requires that the knuckle be able to pivot around a knuckle pin. Traditional knuckle pins have been of a generally cylindrical shape and have been formed as solid pieces using various types of materials. Railroad car couplers are designed to meet various tolerances in order to control the distribution of force upon the couplers during buff and draft movement of the railroad cars.
As use takes its toll on couplers, couplers begin to fall out of tolerance and the distribution of force changes. In particular, knuckle pins may be subjected to bending forces due to out-of-tolerance couplers and traditional knuckle pins often fail when subjected to these bending force due to the stiffness of the knuckle pin. From the foregoing, it may be appreciated that a need has arisen for a knuckle coupler pin capable of surviving the bending forces found in railroad car coupling systems.
According to the present invention, a system and apparatus are provided to address the shortcomings of prior couplers. Among other things, the invention provides a coupler knuckle pin for use in a knuckle pin aperture of a railroad car coupler comprising a generally cylindrical body. The body has a longitudinal slot which extends between a first end of the body and a second end of the body. The coupler knuckle pin further comprises a first retaining element coupled to the first end of the body and operable to retain the body in the knuckle pin aperture.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a railroad car coupling system comprises a coupler comprising a top portion and a bottom portion. The top portion has a first knuckle pin aperture disposed therethrough and the bottom portion has a second knuckle pin aperture disposed therethrough. The second knuckle pin aperture has a generally common longitudinal axis with the first knuckle pin aperture. The railroad car coupling system further comprises a knuckle pin comprising a generally cylindrical body. The body has a longitudinal slot extending between a first end and a second end of the body. The knuckle pin is disposable through the first and second knuckle pin apertures. The railroad car coupling system further comprises a knuckle rotatively coupled to the coupler by the knuckle pin. The knuckle has a third knuckle pin aperture disposed therethrough. The knuckle pin further extends through the third knuckle aperture. The railroad car coupling system further comprises a first retaining element coupled to the first end of the knuckle pin. The retaining element is engageable with the top portion to prevent downward movement of the knuckle pin through the first knuckle pin aperture.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a railroad car comprises a coupler system coupled to the railroad car. The coupler system comprises a coupler, a knuckle pin and a knuckle. The coupler comprises a top portion and a bottom portion, the top portion having a first knuckle pin aperture disposed therethrough and the bottom portion having a second knuckle pin aperture disposed therethrough. The second knuckle pin aperture has a common longitudinal axis with the first knuckle pin aperture. The knuckle pin comprises a generally cylindrical body and a first retaining element. The body has a longitudinal slot extending between a first end and a second end of the body, and the knuckle pin is disposable through the first and second knuckle pin apertures. The first retaining element is coupled to the first end of the knuckle pin and is engageable with the top portion to prevent downward movement of the knuckle pin through the first knuckle pin aperture. The knuckle is rotatively coupled to the coupler by the knuckle pin and has a third knuckle pin aperture disposed therethrough. The first, second and third knuckle pin aperture have the common longitudinal axis and the knuckle pin extends through the third knuckle aperture.


A preliminary set of candidate red-eye pixel areas is identified based on computed pixel redness measures. Candidate red-eye pixel areas having computed redness contrasts relative to respective neighboring pixel areas less than a prescribed redness contrast threshold are filtered from the preliminary set. Candidate red-eye pixel areas located in areas of the digital image having computed grayscale contrasts relative to respective neighboring pixel areas less than a prescribed grayscale contrast threshold also are filtered from the preliminary set. In another aspect, a final pixel mask identifying red-eye pixels and non-red-eye pixels in the candidate red-eye area is generated. Pixels in the candidate red-eye pixel area identified as red-eye pixels in the final pixel mask are desaturated from their original color values by respective scaling factors that vary depending on luminance of the pixels in the candidate red-eye pixel area and proximity of the pixels to boundaries between red-eye pixels and non-red-eye pixels.

Red-eye is the appearance of an unnatural reddish coloration of the pupils of a person appearing in an image captured by a camera with flash illumination. Red-eye is caused by light from the flash reflecting off blood vessels in the person's retina and returning to the camera.
Several techniques have been proposed to reduce the red-eye effect. A common red-eye reduction solution for cameras with a small lens-to-flash distance is to use one or more pre-exposure flashes before a final flash is used to expose and capture an image. Each pre-exposure flash tends to reduce the size of a person's pupils and, therefore, reduce the likelihood that light from the final flash will reflect from the person's retina and be captured by the camera. In general, pre-exposure flash techniques typically only will reduce, but not eliminate, red-eye.
A large number of image processing techniques have been proposed to detect and correct red-eye in color images. In general, these techniques typically are semi-automatic or automatic. Semi-automatic red-eye detection techniques rely on human input. For example, in some semi-automatic red-eye reduction systems, a user must manually identify to the system the areas of an image containing red-eye before the defects can be corrected. Many automatic red-eye reduction systems rely on a preliminary face detection step before red-eye areas are detected. A common automatic approach involves detecting faces in an image and, subsequently, detecting eyes within each detected face. After the eyes are located, red-eye is identified based on shape, coloration, and brightness of image areas corresponding to the detected eye locations. In general, face-detection-based automatic red-eye reduction techniques are computation and memory intensive. In addition, most of the face detection algorithms are only able to detect faces that are oriented in an upright frontal view; these approaches cannot detect faces that are rotated in-plane or out-of-plane with respect to the image plane.

Detecting and correcting red-eye in a digital image

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, LP.


Systems and methods for perturbation analysis of harmonic oscillations in the time domain according to several embodiments can include a time domain switching sensor and a resonator for imposing a first oscillation and a second oscillation on the sensor. The first and second oscillations can have the same amplitude A and period P, but can have a known phase shift. The sensor can use a time interval, which can be defined by the time between when the sensor passes a reference point due to motion caused by the first oscillation and when the sensor passes the same reference point, but due to motion caused by the second oscillation. With this configuration an improved accuracy of measurement for the system can be realized.

Accurate measurements of parameters (such as for example force) are often required in a wide variety of applications. Micro-electromechanical sensors (MEMS) devices such as accelerometers have been extensively used in, e.g., dynamic distance and speed measurements, inclination, machine vibration, buildings and structural monitoring, component placement in manufacturing, process control systems and safety installations. Angular rotation rate MEMS (also referred to as the gyroscope or the rate sensors) are useful in, inter alia, navigation, automotive (e.g., electronic stability control), entertainment (e.g., user motion detection for game consoles), photography (e.g., image stabilization), animal behavior studies and many other applications. Pressure sensors are similarly widely used in applications such as weather, industrial monitoring and control, aircraft and automotive, oil and gas exploration, flow sensing, acoustics, etc. Many other parameter measurement applications exist (such as for example, magnetic force measurements used in navigation and mineral exploration, or electrostatic force measurements used in microscopy, etc.).
In the context of a force measurement, the typical prior art force sensor measures displacement (also often referred to as "deflection") of a spring-suspended proof mass in order to estimate a force acting on the proof mass. The methods of measuring such deflection vary in accuracy, variability, and cost of implementation. Various measurement approaches may be used, such as for example capacitive, piezo-resistive, electron tunneling sensing, and optical interferometery, in order to determine the proof mass deflection. In all of these approaches, the deflection (and thus the force) is inferred as a function of a measured voltage (or electric current), and therefore is inevitably subject to measurement errors due to, inter alia, thermal and electromagnetic noise. As a result, most existing force sensor solutions require very accurate signal conditioning circuitry (such as precision amplifiers, filters, voltage references, etc.), as well as periodic recalibrations to account for sensor aging (including e.g., changes in the physical properties or characteristics of the "spring" and/or proof mass with time), and electrical component drift.
As an alternative, perturbation analysis can be accomplished in the time domain, as opposed to measure the deflection of a MEMS device. Time domain switched inertial sensors in the prior art can typically work by assuming that the displacement of a harmonically oscillating proof mass on a spring is going to be the sum of the sinusoidal harmonic oscillation and the displacement due to an external force. By curve fitting time intervals between known displacements to this anticipated behavior, the extraction of the value of the external force can be determined. If the external force is constant for the period of the harmonic oscillation, a simple cosine plus offset curve fit can be used. However, if the force is changing significantly during the period of the oscillation, a more computationally intensive polynomial fit should be used. If the amount of time the force must be constant could be minimized, the simple cosine curve fit could be used with greater accuracy.
One way to allow the use of the simple cosine plus offset curve fit with greater accuracy can be by greatly reducing the time interval during which the force needs to remain near constant. This can be done by imposing two oscillations on the device, and then measuring the beginning of an interval from the crossing past a reference past due to one harmonic oscillation while measuring the end of the interval when the device crosses the reference point due to an identical harmonic oscillator (same amplitude and period) that has a known phase shift from the first harmonic, for example, oscillating 180 degrees out of phase from the first.
If the two oscillations are identical in period and amplitude, but have a known phase shift, triggering information from one oscillation should be identical to the other after period of time associated with the phase shift. By using the virtual interval determined by adding the phase difference to the triggering of the two out of phase oscillations, the time period for which the offsetting influence is needed to be relatively constant become much smaller. This improves the accuracy of the measurement. This can work for two 180 degrees out of phase sinusoidal oscillations, or can work by having the perturbation added and subtracted to identical sinusoidal oscillations.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a MEMS device that performs the measuring function using perturbation analysis of harmonic oscillations in the time domain. Another object of the present invention is to provide a time domain switched inertial sensor (TDSIS) that measures time intervals between harmonic oscillations of the proof mass instead of displacement, in order to determine inertial force. Another object of the present invention is to provide a TDSIS that minimizes that time required for the inertial force to be nearly constant. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a TDSIS with improved accuracy. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a TDSIS with simplified structure, which can be manufactured and used in a cost-efficient manner.

Apparatus and methods for time domain measurement using phase shifted virtual intervals

United States of America, as Represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A system and method are disclosed for securely transmitting and receiving a signal. A nonlinear keying modulator is used in the transmitter to encrypt the signal using a nonlinear keying modulation technique. A nonlinear keying demodulator is used in the receiver to decrypt the signal.

Many modern communication systems use linear modulation techniques for encoding and decoding information. These techniques are typically amplitude and/or phase modulation techniques that map a symbol alphabet to a set of signals. For example, one of the simplest modulation techniques is pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), which maps a symbol alphabet {a0, a1, . . . , aN−1} to N transmission levels. Other examples of linear modulation techniques include phase shift keying (PSK) that maps the symbol alphabet to N phases, and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) that maps the symbol alphabet to both amplitude and phase shifted symbols.
Techniques for demodulating a linearly modulated signal to recover the original input, such as de-convolution and de-correlation, are well known and fairly straightforward to implement. It is possible for an unauthorized third-party to gain access to the transmission channel, intercept the signal, use standard demodulation techniques to demodulate the signal and recover the input, thereby compromising the security of such a transmission system. It would be desirable to have a transmission system that would provide additional security at the physical layer, and prevent unauthorized parties from eavesdropping.


Disclosed is a thrombectomy stent system, comprising a thrombectomy stent, wherein the thrombectomy stent is roll-shaped, and the cross section of the thrombectomy stent is of an open-ring structure. Disclosed is a thrombectomy device, comprising the thrombectomy stent, wherein the thrombectomy stent is provided with a developing element that can accurately display the expansion state of the thrombectomy stent during thrombectomy and the specific position of the thrombectomy stent so as to determine the situation of the thrombectomy stent being fused with a blood vessel. Disclosed is a thrombectomy device system, comprising the thrombectomy stent and a push rod, wherein a proximal end of the thrombectomy stent is connected to the push rod, and the proximal end of the thrombectomy stent or the push rod is connected to a catching member; and the catching member is configured to receive the thrombectomy stent. The catching member can effectively catch a thrombus that is detached during the thrombectomy.

Stroke is one of the most common diseases in the world at present, and has the characteristics of high incidence, high morbidity and high disability. The annual incidence of cerebrovascular diseases in China is 219/100,000 in cities and 185/100,000 in rural areas and is still rising year by year. The morbidity of cerebrovascular diseases increased from 5.9‰ to 9.7‰ from 1998 to 2008. About three quarters of living patients suffering from cerebrovascular diseases are disabled to work on different levels. It was reported that 80% of stroke patients suffer from different levels of limb dysfunctions, and 43.7% cannot take care of themselves. Intravenous rt-PA thrombolysis is currently the only effective therapeutic method for acute cerebral infarction confirmed by evidence-based medicine. However, the intravenous thrombolysis requires a long treatment time, has great damage to ischemic brain tissues, is accompanied by bleeding risk, and is very low in recanalization rate. The recanalization rate of basilar artery thrombolysis is only about 30%, the recanalization rate of pathological thrombolysis at the terminal of carotid artery is only 6%, and the recanalization rate of thrombolysis in common carotid artery is only about 27%. Moreover, the time window for intravenous thrombolysis is only about 4 hours. It can be seen from the above that the single intravenous thrombolysis is far from enough for cerebral artery occlusion, and the single intravenous thrombolysis may be insufficient to meet actual clinical needs.
A thrombectomy device is a medical tool for catching a thrombus in a blood vessel. The thrombectomy device is introduced to the position of embolism through a microcatheter system, is released to catch the thrombus at the position of embolism, and then is withdrawn through the microcatheter to take out the thrombus. However, the existing thrombectomy devices are mainly for large blood vessels and cannot enter small cerebral arteries. Moreover, if the thrombectomy stent itself is improperly designed, irreversible damage is easily caused to the blood vessel, resulting in other complications such as restenosis and vascular rupture. In addition, the thrombus is easy to be detached during catching, resulting in long time consumption and low vascular recanalization rate. If it takes a long time, the ischemia time will be too long, which is easy to cause irreversible damage to the brain. Poor development of the thrombectomy stent may also cause the problems such as excessive thrombectomy time, thrombus detachment and poor thrombolysis effect. All of these are the problems that has to be faced in the application of thrombectomy devices to the treatment of stroke caused by cerebral thrombosis.

SHANGHAI HEARTCARE MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An improved call distribution system is provided for distributing calls and information relating to the calls to different stations serviced by telephones and computers. The call distribution system comprises one or more telephone lines, with or without a PBX or an ACD, a first telephony interface device connected to a computer and to the telephone lines, a second telephony interface device connected to the telephone lines, a call control process that controls the telephony functions on the first telephony interface device, a telephony interface process that controls the telephony functions on the second telephony interface device, and an interprocess message dispatch system that is used to send messages between the call control process and the telephony interface process.

Private branch exchanges (PBXs) and other call switching devices receive incoming telephone calls to an establishment and distribute the calls to available agents at the establishment. However, sophisticated call distribution involving facilities such as multiple caller queues for servicing multiple categories of callers is only available at the cost of acquiring large amounts of expensive and specialized equipment. For example, automatic call distributors can handle large numbers of incoming and outgoing calls simultaneously, and they can manage calls by holding them in queues until an agent is available to receive the call. These systems are expensive to install and expensive to modify.
Many of the users of call switching systems use them to distribute calls to banks of agents who respond to callers' requests with the help of application programs developed at the user's establishment. These application programs typically operate on host computers and are used to organize and process large databases of information related to the business, customers and/or market of the user. The functions provided by these application programs include responding to agent inquiries to send data in a particular format or responding to requests for information on particular subjects or items. Users also can use application programs to tailor-make the agent's interface with the application program for displaying the information necessary for the agent to handle the calls he or she receives. Users also use the application programs for performing statistical and other analyses on the data that are uniquely suited for the user's business.
In the past, it was difficult to integrate a telephone call with the data that related to the purpose of the call or the identity or business of the caller. Agents using application programs were forced to request information from a host computer running the application program only after receiving the telephone call from the PBX and obtaining key information from the caller. This procedure was time-consuming, and prone to errors. Furthermore, if the agent transferred the call, the data obtained from the host computer could not be transferred with the call and was lost.
Recently, one proposed solution to the problem of voice/data integration has been the use of Request and Status Links (RSLs) linking an ACD or a PBX and the host computer. The RSL includes a piece of hardware providing a physical channel between, for example, an ACD and the host computer and software providing one interface between the host computer and the RSL and another interface between the ACD and the RSL. While allowing the host computer to transfer data to agents at the same time as the ACD transfers the call, this approach suffers from several constraints. For example, in order to protect the secrecy of the ACD's software, and leverage the investment in ACD software, RSLs impose call handling protocols on RSL requests that impose constraints on the host computer's access to the RSL's services. A considerable amount of customization to the host's operating system, host hardware and telephone equipment is required by users of RSLs. Frequently an RSL installation requires special hardware that is often incompatible with existing equipment. This incompatibility sometimes necessitates extensive and costly upgrades of the equipment, including the ACD itself.
An RSL installation also requires extensive re-configuration of the user's application programs running on the host computer to allow for coordination of call and data transfer. This reconfiguration can be extremely expensive and time consuming and must be done very carefully, because the application programs very often constitute the user's most valuable asset. Furthermore, each RSL only works on particular models of automatic call distributors, requires digital telecommunication technology, and must adhere to rigid, often proprietary, protocols. Furthermore, purchasers of RSLs often cannot add additional features without a great deal of effort, specialized knowledge and extensive testing.
A proposal for more flexible RSL-type systems is to use an international standard such as Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). ISDN allows for moving data and voice over the same path through the telephone lines. If an establishment uses ISDN compatible equipment, it can add other equipment, including additional ACDs and stations, without significantly changing its original system, provided the added equipment also conforms to ISDN. However, ISDN suffers from many deficiencies, including requiring a slow transmission speed of 144 kb/second (maximum). Furthermore, most existing systems are incompatible with ISDN. Consequently, ISDN does not avoid the extensive upgrade costs associated with RSLs in general.


A self-powered sensor detects or measures an event by converting one form of energy into another form. The converted energy may be conditioned and regulated to drive a wireless transmitter and encoder. A receiver may detect and validate a received message. If validated, the message may be processed or decrypted and processed to determine what has been identified or requested.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to sensors, and more particularly, to a self-powered sensor that may be used in devices or structures for transporting persons or things.
2. Related Art
Vehicle safety devices are designed to protect the occupants of a vehicle. A safety strap or harness may hold a person securely to a seat while a vehicle is moving. A lap belt and/or shoulder harness may prevent an occupant from striking the interior of a vehicle in the event of an accident or when the vehicle suddenly stops. While statistics suggest that there is a higher rate of survival when occupants remain in their seats, safety belts are not universally used.
In some instances, occupants may not realize that their safety belts are not engaged. In some vehicles, a safety belt anchored to a driver seat is monitored. When a clasp does not engage the ends of a driver's safety belt, a warning may issue. Some monitors require that power be sourced to the driver's safety belt to detect when the safety belt is engaged. These monitors may not be used with other safety belts or active restraints due to wiring costs, wiring harness limitations, or electrical load limitations. In some systems it is impractical to wire removable vehicle seats. Therefore there is a need for a self-powered system that may monitor safety restraints.


An anti-PMD system comprises a pulley which oscillates in rotation and applies a torsion torque alternately in the clockwise direction and in the counterclockwise direction to an optical fiber during drawing of the optical fiber to reduce its PMD. A portion of a peripheral external surface of the pulley intended to be in contact with the optical fiber during drawing is convex.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is that of anti-PMD systems, the purpose of which is to reduce the polarization mode dispersion (PMD) of an optical fiber during the fiber drawing process. PMD is a problem in an optical fiber because it degrades the signal propagating in the optical fiber. This problem is becoming increasingly severe as the bit rates in optical fiber communication networks increase.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prior art anti-PMD system known as the SZ system is based on the use of a flat pulley oscillating in rotation. It is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,047, for example, herein incorporated by reference, and in European patent EP 744636. The SZ system includes a flat pulley. A flat pulley is one whose peripheral external surface is cylindrical. The SZ system is positioned at the base of the fiber drawing tower, in the plane through which the optical fiber passes, the optical fiber executing an elbow bend at the flat pulley. The plane through which the optical fiber passes is also known as the fiber drawing plane. The flat pulley, rotating about its rotation axis, also oscillates about the vertical fiber drawing axis, which is coincident with its oscillation axis, and symmetrically with respect to the fiber drawing plane. V-shaped pulleys upstream of the oscillating flat pulley and guide fingers downstream of the oscillating flat pulley guide the optical fiber in the fiber drawing plane. Oscillations of the pulley, alternately from right to left and then from left to right, apply a torsion torque to the optical fiber, which is already covered with its secondary coating. A drawback of this prior art system is that it produces optical fibers whose PMD is still too high.
The invention proposes an improved anti-PMD system which further reduces the PMD of optical fibers during fiber drawing. To this end, the invention proposes an anti-PMD system based on using a pulley oscillating in rotation and which is convex in order to increase the ratio between, firstly, the angle between the optical fiber in contact with the pulley and the normal to the rotational axis and to the oscillation axis of the pulley and, secondly, the angle between the optical fiber drawing plane and the normal to the rotation axis and to the oscillation axis of the pulley, to increase the torsion torque applied to the optical fiber to reduce the PMD of the optical fiber. If the ratio between, firstly, the angle between the optical fiber in contact with the pulley and the normal to the rotation axis and the oscillation axis of the pulley and, secondly, the ratio between the optical fiber drawing plane and the normal to the rotation axis and the oscillation axis of the pulley increases, for a given amplitude of oscillation of the pulley, the angle between the optical fiber in contact with the pulley and the normal to the rotation axis and the oscillation axis of the pulley increases, which causes the optical fiber to twist more, thereby increasing the torsion torque applied to the optical fiber.


The invention relates to an A/D conversion device having an amplifier (A) which receives an analog input signal (Vin), in which device the voltage level of reference thresholds in the output signal (Vout0:7!) resulting from the A/D conversion of the input signal (Vin) is maintained constant by means of a regulation module (CMP1, IS), controlling the voltage which is present at the terminals of a storage capacitor (Cs). According to the invention, such a device controls the average DC component of the input signal (Vin) in the purpose of limiting the amplitude of the variations of said signal (Vin), which variations might lead to a saturation of the amplifier (A).

The invention relates to an A/D conversion device having an analog input intended to receive an analog input voltage, a reference input to which a reference voltage must be applied, and a digital output intended to supply a digital signal resulting from the conversion of the analog input voltage, comprising:
an amplifier having a first input connected to the analog input via a coupling capacitor and to the reference input via a coupling resistor, a second input connected to a power supply terminal via a storage capacitor, and an output intended to supply a signal resulting from the amplification of the difference between the signals received at the first and second inputs, PA1 an A/D converter having an analog input connected to the output of the amplifier and an output constituting the output of the device, PA1 a regulation control module comprising a controllable current source connected to the storage capacitor and allowing the voltage at the terminals of said capacitor to be varied, and a first comparator intended to perform the comparison between a predetermined regulation signal and a signal which is representative of the output signal of the amplifier, and to supply a signal allowing control of the conduction of the current source, the regulation module being active when the analog input voltage has a reference threshold.
In a device of this type, the first input of the amplifier receives a voltage whose DC component, referred to as average DC component, is equivalent to an average of the voltage level variations of the reference thresholds in the analog input voltage. The second input of the amplifier receives the voltage at the terminals of the storage capacitor. The difference between said voltage and the average DC component is adjusted in such a way that the output signal of the amplifier has reference thresholds whose voltage levels are constant and determined by the regulation signal. In the case of a variation of the average DC component, the regulation module is used for adjusting the value of the voltage at the terminals of the storage capacitor in such a way that the voltage level of the reference thresholds of the output signal of the amplifier remains unchanged. The amplitude of the variation of the average DC component may be considerable. The instantaneous values of the potentials of the dynamic signals constituting the AC component of the signal at the first input of the amplifier and representing the information which is the object of the conversion have thus a large variation amplitude, which may go beyond the admissible input range of the amplifier and lead to a saturation of this amplifier, thus causing a clipping and loss of information.

A/D conversion device with dynamic input control


The present disclosure relates to formation of latent images in a radiation sensitive layer applied to a substrate that is transparent to or transmissive of radiation at the exposing wavelength. In particular, it relates to so-called backside lithography, in which the final lens of an exposing system is positioned to project electromagnetic radiation through a first side of the transparent substrate and expose a radiation sensitive layer that overlays a second side of the transparent substrate that is opposite the first side. Five alternative embodiments for further treatment to form a radiation opaque layer corresponding to the latent image (the image or its inverse) are described. These methods and corresponding devices are useful for producing masks (sometimes called reticles), for producing latent images in semiconductor devices and for forming features of semiconductor devices using masks.

The present disclosure relates to formation of latent images in a radiation sensitive layer applied to a substrate that is transparent to or transmissive of radiation at the exposing wavelength. In particular, it relates to so-called backside lithography, in which the final lens of an exposing system is positioned to project electromagnetic radiation through a first side of the transparent substrate and expose a radiation sensitive layer that overlays a second side of the transparent substrate that is opposite the first side. Five alternative embodiments for further treatment to form a radiation opaque layer corresponding to the latent image (the image or its inverse) are described. These methods and corresponding devices are useful for producing masks (sometimes called reticles), for producing latent images in semiconductor devices and for forming features of semiconductor devices using masks.
In lithography, resolution is limited by the optical NA (Numerical Aperture) of the lithography system. One way to increase the NA, and the resolution, is to use a medium with higher refractive index between the final lens and the image substrate. This medium can for instance be an immersion liquid or solid.
FIG. 1 depicts how immersion lithography might be implemented in an optical photomask generator. A substrate (110) is overlaid by chrome (112) and photoresist (114). The substrate typically is quartz, which has limited transmission wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation shorter than 160 nm, unless prepared to be especially dry with fewer hydroxyl groups in the quartz than normal. Other substrates may be used, depending in part on their transparency to radiation used for patterning, such as Corning's ULE and HPFS glass. Chrome is typically used as an opaque or radiation stopping layer. Photoresist is exposed using the radiation and developed to produce a pattern. The photoresist is exposed to electromagnetic radiation focused by an optical path including a final lens (101). The optical path may include shaped mirrors that help focus radiation of a short wavelength. The final lens may be an interface between vacuum or other containment of a mirror-based optical path and the workpiece. An immersion liquid or solid (105) positioned in contact with both the final lens (101) and the resist layer (114) overlying the substrate is useful because it has a higher refractive index than an air gap. Conventional methods for developing and partially removing a resist layer are known in the art. Patterning the resist is part of forming devices on the substrate, including features of semiconductor devices.
An opportunity arises to develop alternative processes for forming latent images, for creating masks to be used in production of devices and, ultimately, to form features of devices on a device substrate. This may result in better, more easily configured and controlled, more resilient and transparent processes, tools and devices.

Backside lithography and backside immersion lithography