The present invention relates to a compound represented by Formula [I] or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof:

Proliferation is known to be active generally in cancerous cells as compared with normal cells, and it is considered that the disordered proliferation due to an abnormality in the cell cycle control mechanism is the cause of cancer. A mitotic phase (M phase) of the cell cycle is the step of equally partitioning a chromosome into daughter cells, and a strict control in the process is essential for cell proliferation and survival. Therefore, it is believed that the inhibition of the M phase progression is an effective means for inhibiting cell proliferation, and practically, anticancer agents targeting M phase such as taxol, vincristine, or the like are achieving clinically effective results.
It has been known that many steps in the M phase progression are controlled by a protein kinase which phosphorylates proteins. A PLK (polo-like kinase) family is a serine-threonine kinase playing an important role in controlling the cell cycle including M phase, and this family includes four similar proteins of PLK1, PLK2, PLK3, and SAK (Nature Review Molecular Cell Biology (Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol.), Vol. 5, 429, (2004)). Among them, PLK1 is known to participate in a plural of important stages at M phase in mammalian cells. That is, PLK1 has been reported to be participated in each step of entering the M phase, control of centrosomes, separation of chromosomes, and cytokinesis, by phosphorylating various substrates (Nature review Molecular Cell Biology (Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol.), Vol. 5, 429, (2004)).
Moreover, there are many reports suggesting that PLK1 is overexpressed in various cancerous tissues in human. For example, PLK1 is acknowledged to be overexpressed in non-small-cell lung cancer (Oncogene, Vol. 14, 543, (1997)) and head and neck cancer (Cancer Research, Vol. 15, 2794, (1999)), and there are data showing that the overexpression of PLK1 is in relation with a prognosis of patients with those diseases. It is also reported that the expression of PLK1 is increased in other types of cancer such as in colon cancer, esophageal cancer, ovarian cancer, and melanoma. Such reports suggest that the overexpression of PLK1 is related to malignant alteration of cells in one way or another, and also that the function of PLK1 is important particularly in the progression of M phase in cancer cells.
From the facts, PLK1 is thought to be a possible target for anticancer approach. In fact, there are many reports on experiments for examining the inhibitory effect on the function of PLK1 against cancerous cells by using various experimental techniques. For example, from the experiment of expressing a function-inhibited PLK1 mutant in a cell by using a viral vector, it is reported that PLK1 inhibition promotes the cancerous cell-selective apoptosis (Cell growth & Differentiation, Vol. 11, 615, (2000)). There is also a report showing that PLK1 siRNA induces cancer cell growth inhibition and apoptosis (Journal of National Cancer Institute (J. Natl. Cancer Inst.), Vol. 94, 1863 (2002)). In addition, it is reported that PLK1 shRNA (Journal of National Cancer Institute (J. Natl. Cancer Inst.), Vol. 96, 862, (2004)), or antisense oligonucleotide (Oncogene, Vol. 21, 3162 (2002)) gives an antitumor effect in a mouse xenograft model. Those experimental results show that inhibition of the PLK1 activity causes promoting cancer cell growth inhibition and apoptosis, and strongly suggest that a PLK1 inhibitor may be an effective anticancer agent.
In the past, there are filed patent applications related to a compound having a PLK inhibitory effect (Pamphlet of International Publication Nos. 2004/043936, 2004/014899, etc.). However, there has not yet been reported a substituted imidazole derivative having an excellent PLK1 inhibitory effect.

Abstract: wherein:                X1, X2, X3, and X4, which may be identical or different, are each C or N, provided that none to two of X1, X2, X3, and X4 is/are N;        Y is CH or N;        R1, R1′, R2, R2′, R3, R3′, R4, and R4′, which may be identical or different, are each a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, or the like;        R5 is a hydrogen atom or a methyl group;        R6 and R7, which may be identical or different, are each a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, or the like;        R8 and R8′, which may be identical or different, are each a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, or the like;        R9 is an aryl group or a heteroaryl group which may be substituted; and        n is an integer from 1 to 3,        and a PLK1 inhibitor or an anticancer agent containing the same.


Adsorption vessels and systems utilizing adsorption vessels are provided herein. In one embodiment, an adsorption vessel for receiving a fluid mixture and for separating a component from therein includes a vessel wall extending from a bottom end to a top end and defining a vessel chamber. A bottom inlet is formed in the bottom end of the adsorption vessel for introducing the fluid mixture to the vessel chamber. A filler material having a total porosity of less than about 25% and a density less than about 900 kg/m3 or an insert or both are positioned in the top void volume to increase overall performance of the adsorbent vessel.

The present invention relates generally to pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems and vessels, and more particularly relates to PSA vessels having reduced void volume and uniform flow through the use of an inexpensive, inert and light-weight material.
Pressure swing adsorption processes can separate selectively adsorbable components, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, argon, nitrogen, light hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, and propane, and water, from gas mixtures. Often, one or more of these components are adsorbed to purify a fluid stream, such as hydrogen gas. Typically, a PSA process uses an adsorber that includes a vessel surrounding an adsorbent bed formed with adsorbent particles. Generally, void volumes in the adsorber vessel include volumes within porous adsorbent particles, volumes between particles, and internal volumes defined by the walls of the vessel and the adsorbent bed.
These void volumes can decrease the efficiency of the PSA process. Specifically, the void volumes may lead to loss of recovered product such as hydrogen. In some instances, it has been found that adsorber vessels are being used that are over-sized even a factor of 2 or 3 times the size needed for a particular situation. One solution would be to fill the adsorbent vessel with significantly greater quantities of adsorbent than are necessary for the particular separation being accomplished. However, although adsorbent can be placed in the void volume to reduce the void volume, such a solution is undesirable as it may increase hydrogen storage within the vessel thereby increasing hydrogen loss, and adversely affect the gas flow distribution and pressure drop through the adsorbent bed as well as significantly increasing the costs. A second solution would be to have significant empty space within the vessel. This is less than desirable due to the potential for losses of hydrogen. Prior art methods such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,393,394B2 rely on internal structures such as a perforated baffle. In CN1221304C there is referenced the use of an inert filler. However, the reference does not mention any specific density requirement and does mention using metal filler (high density). In addition, the Chinese patent reference mentions the use of adsorbent materials for the filler which would have the potential to adsorb product. Other methods required the use of a dense filler material that would have an excessive weight. A solution has now been found for this problem in the present invention.

Adsorption vessels having reduced void volume through the use of non-porous, low-density filler material to reduce voids


An endoscope system comprises an endoscope, a treatment instrument cartridge, an advancing and retracting device, a controlling device, and an operation instructing device. The endoscope includes a treatment instrument channel in an inserting portion. The treatment instrument cartridge includes a treatment instrument and a storage case. The treatment instrument includes a treatment instrument inserting portion having an elasticity which is inserted through the treatment instrument channel, a treatment section at the tip end thereof, and an operating portion at the base end thereof. The storage case includes an inserting portion storing section into which the treatment instrument inserting portion is wound, an extension port from which the tip end of the wound treatment instrument inserting portion is extended, and a holding section for holding the base end of the treatment instrument inserting portion or the operating portion. The advancing and retracting device has a driving power source and is provided between the treatment instrument inserting channel and the extension port. The controlling device is electrically connected to the driving power source and controls an operation of the driving power source. An operation instructing device issues an instruction on an operation of the driving power source to the controlling device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope system, comprising an endoscope, a treatment instrument used with the endoscope, and a storage case for containing an elongated treatment instrument inserting portion of the treatment instrument.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an endoscope is widely used in the medical field. An endoscope in the medical field has an inserting portion which is inserted into a body cavity of a subject for observation. The inserting portion of the endoscope is provided with a treatment instrument channel through which a treatment instrument is introduced into the body cavity for various procedures.
When an operator performs a medical procedure by inserting a treatment instrument into a treatment instrument channel of an endoscope, the operator introduces the treatment instrument through the treatment instrument channel into a body cavity. During the introduction, the operator holds the endoscope at its operating portion with one hand. So, in order to insert the treatment instrument through the treatment instrument channel, the operator needs to hold, with the other hand, a sheath which is an introducing section of the treatment instrument, and manually inserts the sheath into the treatment instrument channel. The sheath is held at its base end by a staff such as a nurse. Such holding is necessary to keep a part of the sheath, having a length of 2 m for example, from touching dirty areas including floor during the insertion.
On the other hand, when an operator samples a body tissue for example with a treatment instrument, the operator holds the endoscope at its operating portion with one hand. In this state, the operator cannot operate an operating portion of the treatment instrument with the other hand holding an inserting portion of the endoscope. So a staff holds the endoscope inserting portion, or operates the treatment instrument operating portion.
This means a help by a staff is required in inserting a sheath of a treatment instrument into a treatment instrument channel of an endoscope, and operating the treatment instrument.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-208961 discloses an endoscope conduit cleaning apparatus comprising a brush cassette. The endoscope conduit cleaning apparatus has a delivery roller which can be rotated in any direction as needed. An endoscope conduit cleaning brush is contained in a brush cassette in the cleaning apparatus, and the cleaning brush is delivered from a guiding section at a distal end of the cleaning apparatus into an endoscope conduit, and the delivered endoscope conduit cleaning brush can be wound up again to be stored in the brush cassette. However, in the endoscope conduit cleaning apparatus, the brush section can be delivered out and stored in by advancing and retracting a wire, but the wire defines only the forward and backward movement of the brush section.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-334132 discloses a treatment instrument for endoscope having a storage device, so-called a drum, which is provided with a rotatable roll member for winding up an inserting portion of an endoscope. In this treatment instrument for endoscope, an operation of a sheath by hand or operation of the drum by hand causes the inserting portion to be delivered and stored. And in this treatment instrument for endoscope, the operating portion of the treatment instrument can be mounted to a side surface of a storage main body. However, because the operations for delivering or winding the sheath cause the operating portion of the treatment instrument at hand to rotate, in order to move the treatment instrument forward or backward during the treatment, the person, that is, an operator or any helper who is operating the treatment instrument, has to release his/her hand from the operating portion, which may be inconvenient.

Endoscope system, treatment instrument cartridge, and storage case


A railway axle is described of the type in which a rolling element bearing is mounted within a seat defined between two members, a first of which rotates with respect to the second, and is provided, externally of the seat, with a sealing assembly adapted to protect respective rolling bodies of the bearing; an annular element of the sealing assembly is fixed for rotation with the rotating member of the axle and is provided with a plurality of permanently magnetized zones having substantially the same width circumferentially spaced from one another with substantially constant pitch; within the seat and close to the said annular element of the sealing assembly there is further provided a sensor carried by the fixed member of the axle and adapted to be activated by the transit past it of the said magnetized zones to generate a periodic signal having a frequency proportional to the number of these which transit past the sensor in unit time.

The present invention relates to a railway axle of traditional type, into the structure of which is integrated a detector for sensing the speed of rotation of the wheel (in the case of bogies having independent wheels) or of the wheels (in the case of traditional rigid bridge bogies) fixedly mounted to the axle.
It is known that the problem of preventing the wheels from locking during braking, with consequent loss of adhesion, is today encountered not only on road vehicles, but also on modern high speed trains; therefore, antilock braking systems, the so-called ABS devices, have been developed, which are usable on railway bogies with which engines and wagons are equipped. As is known, such bogies usually comprise a pair of axles, each of which supports a pair of wheels; in rigid bridge bogies the two wheels are carried by a single shaft, one on each end, and the shaft is carried freely rotatably by respective supports connected by means of a suspension system having shock absorbing arms, to the supporting structure of the bogie, in turn connected to the wagon or engine. In independent wheel bogies, on the other hand, each wheel of each axle is supported by its own shaft, mounted so as to project through a respective support; these are carried by suspension arms as in the preceding case.
In both types of bogie the speed of rotation of the wheel is detected by means of a sensor disposed in a fixed position in front of a toothed wheel, known as a "phonic wheel" or "impulse ring", made of magnetic material and fitted to the shaft: by rotating the shaft, a succession of voids and solid parts determined by the presence of the teeth on the phonic wheel pass in succession in front of the coil and cause the creation of a variable electrical signal across its terminals, the frequency of which signal is proportional to the number of teeth which transit in front of the sensor in a unit of time and, therefore, to the speed of rotation of the wheel or wheels fitted to the shaft together with the phonic wheel. The signal generated by the sensor is then processed by an electronic central processing unit which, by comparing it with signals generated by the other wheels of the bogie, is able to detect wheel-lock phenomena during braking and, consequently, to control the braking device in a suitable manner.
The arrangement described is not, however, entirely free from disadvantages. In particular, the sensors and the associated phonic wheels are bulky and difficult to adjust; assembly is therefore onerous in that it is necessary to ensure a perfect centering, between the sensor, usually carried by the closure cover for the shaft bearing housing, and the phonic wheel, carried by this latter, otherwise the system performs poorly; finally, the sensors have a low sensitivity at low speed so that the ABS system of the train does not detect speeds below five to seven Km/h.

Railway axle bearing and sealing assembly with integrated rotational speed detector


A method of making chip stacks begins with the formation of a plurality of panels having apertures therein and conductive pads on opposite sides thereof. Solder paste is deposited on the conductive pads prior to mounting plastic packaged IC chips within each of the apertures in each of the panels so that opposite leads thereof reside on the conductive pads at opposite sides of the apertures. The plural panels are then assembled into a stack, such as by use of a tooling jig which aligns the various panels and holds them together in compressed fashion. The assembled panel stack is heated so that the solder paste solders the leads of the packaged chips to the conductive pads and interfacing conductive pads of adjacent panels together, to form a panel stack comprised of a plurality of chip package stacks. Following cleaning of the panel stack to remove solder flux residue, the individual chip package stacks are separated from the panel stack by cutting and breaking the stack. Score lines across a topmost panel and transverse slots within remaining panels therebelow result in the formation of strips of chip package stacks when longitudinal cuts are made through the panel stack. The remaining portions of the uppermost panel within such strips are then snapped along the score lines thereof to separate the individual chip package stacks from the strips.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of making chip stacks in which a plurality of integrated circuit chip packages arranged in a stack are electrically connected in a desired fashion.
2. History of the Prior Art
It is known to provide a chip stack in which a plurality of integrated circuit (IC) chips such as memory chips are formed into a stack arrangement and are electrically interconnected in desired fashion. Typically, the chips, which are included within packages therefor, have electrical contacts which are coupled in common or in parallel to contacts on a supporting substrate, as well as unique contacts which are coupled individually to the substrate to the exclusion of the other chips.
A number of different arrangements have been provided for electrically interconnecting IC chips in a stack. For example, electrical conductors which may comprise thin film metal on an insulating base may be disposed perpendicular to the planes of the planar chips so as to connect those conductors on each chip which are exposed through openings in an insulating layer. Where the chip packages are assembled into a stack, electrical connections may be accomplished by lead frames or solder strips extending along the sides of the stack and attached to the electrical contacts of the chips.
Another common technique for providing the desired electrical interconnections in a chip stack is to form a stack of chips having bonding pads disposed on the chips adjacent the outer edges thereof. After assembling the stack of chips, the chip edges are ground flat and polished before sputtering an insulating layer thereon. The bonding pads on the edges of the chips are masked during the sputtering process to avoid covering them with the insulating layer. Next, a metal layer is sputtered onto the entire edge of the stack in conjunction with photomasking which forms conductor traces of the metal layer in desired locations for connecting the bonding pads.
Still further examples of vertical stacks of IC chips and various methods of making such stacks are provided by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,956,694, 5,313,096 and 5,612,570, which patents are commonly assigned with the present application. U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,570, which issued Mar. 18, 1997 and is entitled CHIP STACK AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME, describes a chip stack and a method for making the same in which chip packages are first assembled by mounting plastic packaged chips or thin, small outline package chips (TSOPs) within the central apertures of thin, planar frames having a thickness similar to the thickness of the packaged chip. Leads at opposite ends of the package are soldered to conductive pads on the upper surface of the surrounding frame. Each frame also has other conductive pads on the upper and lower surfaces thereof adjacent the outer edges of the frame, which are coupled to the conductive pads that receive the leads of the packaged chip by conductive traces and vias. A chip stack is then formed by stacking together a plurality of the chip packages and dipping the outer edges of the stack into molten solder to solder together the conductive pads adjacent the outer edges of the frames. The conductive pads adjacent the outer edges of the frames can be interconnected in a stair step arrangement, and pads on opposite sides of each frame can be coupled in offset fashion using vias, in order to achieve desired electrical interconnections of the various chip packages.
The chip stacks and the methods of making the same described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,570 have been found to be advantageous. The chip stack described therein is relatively easy to assemble using a simple process involving only a few steps. Moreover, a chip stack of relatively simple and economical configuration is provided. The stack is easily disassembled in the event that a defective chip must be replaced. Also, the design of the stack minimizes stresses occurring as a result of expansion and contraction of various materials within the stack and an attached substrate as the ambient temperature changes. The design of the stack provides the ability to electrically interconnect the chips in a manner which facilitates addressing of individual chips, such as for purposes of chip enabling as well as for common interconnection of other chip terminals.
However, it would be desirable to provide alternative methods of making chip stacks from plastic packaged or similarly packaged chips. In particular, it would be desirable to be able to make a large number of the chip stacks in simple and efficient fashion. While such chip stacks of U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,570 are relatively easy and simple to make, when compared with some of the much more complex stacks of the prior art; nevertheless, the chip stacks typically are made individually, one-at-a-time. First, each chip package is made by soldering the leads of the plastic packaged chip to the conductive pads after the chip is mounted within the frame. Then the chip packages are assembled into a stack and the edges of the stack are solder dipped in order to solder the individual chip packages together and form the stack. These steps must be repeated, over and over again, when a large number of the chip stacks are being made.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide alternate methods of making chip stacks of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,570. In particular, such methods should lend themselves to the simultaneous making of a large number of the chip stacks, so that a large number of the chip stacks may be made in a relatively speedy and efficient manner. At the same time, the methods should be capable of being carried out using industry standard processes and equipment.


A call-unit count device according to the present invention comprises a memory circuit having a high-order level and a low-order level composed of n (n: integer greater than or equal to 2) bits and wherein all the bits each indicative of the initial value and placed in the low-order level are changed to reversed values bit by bit each time a one call-unit add command is given, all the bits in the low-order level, which have been brought to the reversed values, are returned to the initial value bit by bit each time the one call-unit add command is given, and values stored in the high-order level are changed upon a carry from the low-order level to the high-order level.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a frequency or call-unit count device.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of call-unit count device has heretofore been configured as a portable module such as an IC card having a memory circuit such as an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (hereinafter called EEPROM) or the like. When a command for adding a frequency or call unit (call-unit add command) is issued or given from a card reader, the call-unit count device adds the call unit given by the call-unit add command to call units (corresponding to the sum of call units which have been given up to now by the input call-unit add commands) stored in the EEPROM at this time, and stores the call units obtained by its addition therein.
Described specifically, the EEPROM is divided into a plurality of levels respectively composed of a plurality of bits. In this type of EEPROM, bits in the least significant level are set to "1" bit by bit each time a command for adding one frequency or call unit (hereinafter called "one call-unit add command") is given, for example. When all the bits in the least significant level are brought to "1", a bit in a level higher by one than the above level are brought to "1" and all the bits in the least significant level are set to "0" in response to a one call-unit add command given in the next place. Thus, the conventional call-unit count device performs a carry from a low-order level to a high-order level by inputting one call-unit add command after the transition of all the bits in the least significant level from a "0" state to a "1" state.


Methods and devices for providing improved ultrasound visibility of medical devices intended for intravascular use are described. The inclusion of gas/solid boundary regions within a medical devices improves the resolution of the device under ultrasound visualization. Gas/solid boundary regions may be provided through the use of embedded gas-filled microlumens, microwells, or enclosed pockets within the medical device.

Healthy leg veins contain valves that allow blood to move in one direction from the lower limbs toward the heart. These valves open when blood is flowing toward the heart, and close to prevent venous reflux, or the backward flow of blood. When veins weaken and become enlarged, their valves cannot close properly, which leads to venous reflux and impaired drainage of venous blood from the legs. Venous reflux is most common in the superficial veins. The largest superficial vein is the great saphenous vein, which runs from the top of the foot to the groin, where it originates at a deep vein.
Factors that contribute to venous reflux disease include female gender, heredity, obesity, lack of physical activity, multiple pregnancies, age, past history of blood clots in the legs and professions that involve long periods of standing. According to population studies, the prevalence of visible tortuous varicose veins, a common indicator of venous reflux disease, is up to 15% for adult men and 25% for adult women. A clinical registry of over 1,000 patients shows that the average age of patients treated for venous reflux is 48 and over 75% of the patients are women.
In men, the testicular blood vessels originate in the abdomen and course down through the inguinal canal as part of the spermatic cord on their way to the testis, where they form a network of small veins known as the pampiniform plexus. Upward flow of blood in the veins is ensured by small one-way valves that prevent backflow. Defective valves or venous compression by nearby structures can cause dilation and tortuosity of the pampiniform plexus. This may result in a varicocele, or abnormal enlargement of the veins in the scrotum. Like varicose veins, the presence of a varicocele is a common indicator of venous reflux.
Venous reflux can be classified as either asymptomatic or symptomatic, depending on the degree of severity. Symptomatic venous reflux disease is a more advanced stage of the disease and can have a profound impact on the patient's quality of life. People with symptomatic venous reflux disease may seek treatment due to a combination of symptoms and signs, which may include leg pain and swelling; painful varicose veins; skin changes such as discoloration or inflammation; the presence of a palpable, abnormal mass along the spermatic cord; and open skin ulcers.
A primary goal of treating symptomatic venous reflux is to eliminate the reflux at its source, such as, for example, the great saphenous vein. If a diseased vein is either closed or removed, blood can automatically reroute into other veins without any known negative consequences to the patient.
The current non-invasive methods for treatment of reflux in the greater saphenous vein include radiofrequency (RF) ablation, laser endothermal ablation, and sclerotherapy, including foam sclerotherapy. Radiofrequency ablation and laser ablation require tumescent anesthesia which produce both bruising and pain along the inner thigh and upper inner calf for several weeks, and both can have side effects of burns and nerve damage. Radiofrequency ablation and laser ablation also require capital purchases of a radiofrequency device or laser box, often at costs of more than $50,000, in addition to expensive disposal mechanisms. While foam sclerotherapy is relatively non-invasive, it has a high rate of recurrence and potential side effects. All of the methods require wearing compression stockings for 2-4 weeks.
For those treatments which involve careful placement of a catheter at a particular intravenous treatment site, a reliable means for visualizing the instruments is needed. Ultrasound is a common method for device visualization in the medical device industry. Ultrasound works by emitting sound waves and analyzing the waves that are reflected and returned to the ultrasound sensing device. Despite its popularity, ultrasound visualization often provides inadequate resolution for careful intravenous placement of a catheter for the treatment of venous reflux disease, and improved echogenic catheters and methods of use are needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Enhanced ultrasound visualization of intravascular devices


A method for printing in a draft mode of a serial printer includes a first printing step for printing information data in a first direction on a first line, and a second printing step for printing information data in a second direction opposite to the first direction on a second line. The second printing step includes checking the number of dots corresponding to the data to be printed, and aligning the dots to be printed corresponding to the first and second lines in a predetermined form by determining dots to be printed according to the checked number of dots. According the principles of the present invention, every other dot is skipped and printed in turns, that is, a first dot is printed and a next dot is not printed when the number of the adjacent dots is an odd number. To the contrary, when the number of the adjacent dots is an even number, a first dot is not printed and a next dot is printed. As a result, it is possible to prevent printing data from being refracted by vertically aligning or diagonally aligning the dots.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for printing in a draft mode of a serial printer, and particularly to an improved method for printing in a draft mode of a serial printer which is capable of printing by aligning dots to be printed in a predetermined form according to the number of dots corresponding to data to be printed when bidirectional printing in a draft mode.
2. Related Art
Conventional printer such as a dot matrix printer, inkjet printer and plotter includes a printhead having an array of nozzles mounted on a carriage for printing a plurality of rows of dots in a single scan of a movable print carriage across a printable medium. Typical printer prints information serially one letter per unit time and can be unidirectional or bidirectional. Bidirectional printer can print information on a printable medium in both directions, that is, from left to right of a first row, and then from right to left of a second row next to the first row. As a result, a printing speed of bidirectional printer is two times faster than that of a unidirectional printer which can only print information in one direction and the carriage must be returned to a starting position for each row.
Many contemporary serial printers are provided with a so-called draft mode for rapid printing in which the number of dots or the rejection ink from a nozzle is reduced, for example, to half the number of dots used to make a character pattern under a normal mode. Exemplars of contemporary printers operable both in a draft mode and a normal mode of printing are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,835 for Printer For Printing Characters In Two Alternative Print Qualities issued to Alexander et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,351 for Thermal Printer issued to Engle et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,968 for Arrangement of Discharge Openings In A Printhead Of A Multi-Color Ink Printer issued to Hillman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,758 for Method Of Improving The Printing Speed Of Impact Dot Printer Printing In A Near Letter Quality Mode issued to Sanders, Jr. et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,833 for Variable Density Ink-Jet Dot Printer issued to Kubota, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,824 for Dot Line Printer Having Ordinary Low Dot And High Dot Density Printing Modes issued to Matsumoto et al. Generally, when the draft mode is selected for high speed printing in those serial printers, printing operation is performed by excluding a certain dot unconditionally. For example, when the dots are adjacent to data to be printed, one dot is printed and a next dot is not printed. Accordingly, when the number of the adjacent dots is an odd number, the vertical lines are aligned. However, when the number of the adjacent dots is an even number, the vertical lines are not properly aligned. As a result, contemporary printers which are operable in a draft mode experience a problem in that data (i.e., font or image) to be printed is refracted when performing bidirectional printing in the draft mode, as the number of dots included in the data to be printed can be both an even number and an odd number.

Method for printing in a draft mode of a serial printer


A dry sterilizer includes a container for containing beads, a heater, and a resilient member disposed adjacent to an opening of the container. An instrument, after sterilization, is tapped against the resilient member to remove beads attached to and lodged in the instrument and the removed beads are returned to the container. The resilient member prevents beads from entering a housing of the sterilizer by blocking a gap between the container and the housing at the opening.

This invention relates to a dry sterilizer for decontaminating instruments.
A dry sterilizer is used to decontaminate, i.e., sterilize for limited purposes, parts of instruments. In the dry sterilizer, a part of an instrument is immersed in a reservoir of heated inert beads, such as glass beads, and sterilizing heat is transferred from the beads to the instrument. The immersed part of the instrument is decontaminated after it has been heated to or above a sufficient temperature for a sufficient period of time, for example, 500xc2x0 F. for at least 15 seconds. A dry sterilizer can be used to decontaminate a variety of parts of instruments such as the tip of a scalpel or the tips of scissors, forceps, or tweezers.
In the dry sterilization process, some of the beads may become attached to or lodge in an instrument after the instrument has been decontaminated. Removing the beads can be a time-consuming process. For example, a probe may have to be used to dislodge beads from the instrument with possible contamination of the instrument by the probe. The beads removed from the instrument may not be returned to the dry sterilizer and contaminate a working area so that beads may have to be added to the bead reservoir to compensate for lost beads.
The beads have to be replaced from time to time. The known dry sterilizers generally have a gap between a container for the beads and a housing of the sterilizer to limit the transfer of heat to the housing. Removing the old beads and adding beads can result in beads falling through the gap and being trapped within the housing, clogging or fouling the interior of the sterilizer.
This invention provides a dry sterilizer that overcomes drawbacks associated with conventional dry sterilizers.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a dry sterilizer includes a container for containing beads and having an opening, a heater, and a resilient member disposed opposite the opening of and providing access to the container. The resilient member supports an instrument being decontaminated and, after decontamination, provides for tapping of the instrument to remove any beads attached to and lodged in the instrument, without damaging the instrument, and for returning the beads in the container. In addition, the resilient member blocks a gap between the housing and the container preventing beads from falling between the housing and the container when the beads are changed or an instrument cleaned. Since the member has a relatively low thermal conductivity, the housing does not become excessively warm even if the member provides a thermal bridge between the housing and the container.


A technique is disclosed for dealing with transmissions between telecommunications stations on a shared-communications channel that avoids some of the costs and disadvantages for doing so in the prior art. The present invention introduces transmission rules that alleviate timing constraints. By following the transmission rules in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, stations exchanging data with each other can prepare frames for transmission far enough in advance to overcome timing constraints.

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of local area network 100 in the prior art, which comprises point coordinator 101; telecommunication stations 102-1 through 102-K, wherein K is a positive integer; and shared-communications channel 103, interconnected as shown. Stations 102-1 through 102-K enable associated host computers to communicate. Point coordinator 101, a specialized station, enables stations 102-1 through 102-K to communicate with each other.
Each station in local area network 100 is able to transmit into shared-communications channel 103 a block of data called a "frame" to another station. To transmit the frame, the station has to follow a standard procedure to gain access to shared-communications channel 103. A centralized polling protocol is one such procedure.
In a centralized polling protocol, point coordinator 101 sends polls to stations 102-1 through 102-K, granting them opportunities to transmit. Each polled station may transmit its buffered frames, each frame being acknowledged by point coordinator 101. If point coordinator 101 has buffered frames destined for a polled station, station 102-3 as an example, point coordinator 101 may transmit these frames together with the poll. Since each station transmits only upon receiving a poll, transmission is contention-free.
To improve the efficiency of frame exchange, according to the protocol, a transmitting station may combine in the same frame i) acknowledgements to a received frame and ii) data transfers. This is called "piggybacking." Similarly, point coordinator 101 may also "piggyback" acknowledgements and data transfers, as well as polls, in the same frame. For example, during a frame exchange with point coordinator 101, station 102-3 may piggyback an acknowledgement with a data transfer in the same frame if point coordinator 101 had previously transmitted a frame comprising data to station 102-3. (The acknowledgement is necessary because the previously transmitted frame comprising data requires an acknowledgement.)
Polling protocols require that frames be exchanged within a specified time interval. If the recipient does not acknowledge transmission within the time interval, the source will repeat the transmission. The problem is that the requirement can become difficult to meet if the response frame necessitates computationally intensive processing before transmission. For example, if the acknowledgement is to be piggybacked with a poll or data or both, the time required to generate the combined frame and encrypt it might be longer than the specified time interval.
What is needed is a technique that deals with polled data exchanges between stations without some of the costs and disadvantages of doing so in the prior art.

Efficient polled frame exchange on a shared-communications channel


An electric device, in particular for medium or high voltage electric substations, able to perform the functions of circuit-breaking, isolating and earthing is described. The device comprises: a casing; at least one circuit-breaker; at least one line isolator having a fixed isolator contact; a line isolator actuating shaft for actuating the at least one line isolator; at least one earthing isolator; a circuit-breaker actuating shaft for actuating at least one circuit-breaker; and a lever connected to a conductor rod co-operating with movable circuit-breaker contacts, said conductor rod further engaging with said fixed isolator contact in a closing position, wherein: the device further comprises a resilient member co-operating with said conductor rod in order to transfer correct pressing loads to said movable contacts. According to the invention, said circuit-breaker actuating shaft and said line isolator actuating shaft are coaxial. Profitably, the casing is filled with nitrogen or sulphur hexafluoride.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric device, in particular for medium or high voltage electric substations, able to perform the functions of circuit-breaking, isolating and earthing. In other words, the invention relates to a device suitable for installation in cubicles of the protected type which form medium or high voltage electric switchboards. According to one embodiment, the device of the invention has a resilient member for transferring correct pressing loads to the circuit-breakers. Furthermore, in the device according to one embodiment of the invention, a circuit-breaker actuating shaft and a line isolator actuating shaft are coaxial.
2. Related Art and Other Considerations
As is known, an electric substation receives voltage from voltage busbars and conveys current via a line directed to the user. Electric devices, typically (line and earthing) circuit-breaker and isolators, are provided between the voltage busbars and the line directed to the user.
A circuit-breaker for electric substations is able to protect the line directed to the user. A line isolator, after the circuit-breaker has opened the line directed to the user from the voltage supply busbars, is able to disconnect the line physically. Finally, an earthing isolator, again after the line isolator has disconnected the line directed to the user from the voltage supply busbars, earths the line directed to the user in order to avoid the occurrence of discharges or induced currents. The assembly formed by all the abovementioned devices, as well as other devices not relevant for the purposes of the present invention, which are present in an electric energy distribution node, is generally referred to by the term "switchboard". Each switchboard is composed of several cubicles in each of which the circuit-breaking, isolating and earthing functions for each line are contained.
At present, in most of the cubicles which are commercially available, the same functions are performed using different apparatus for isolation, earthing and circuit-breaking. In particular, the circuit-breaker is usually a separate component.
The known cubicles generally have fairly large dimensions. Typically they have a height of between about 170 and 250 cm, a depth of about 100 cm and a width of between about 50 and 100 cm.
EP 1,226,596 in the name of the same Applicant describes a three-pole apparatus for electric substations, having an extremely compact structure compared to the known apparatus. The device according to EP 1,226,596 comprises a series of isolating devices which comprise at least one line isolator, a circuit-breaker and an earthing isolator. The circuit-breaker is sealed inside a vessel in a vacuum and is positioned in series with a line/earth isolator device which is movable between a first position where it connects said circuit-breaker to a contact of the voltage busbars and a second position where it connects the circuit-breaker to an earthing contact. According to EP 1,226,596, the line/earth isolator and the circuit-breaker are all contained in a metal casing and the metal insulators are arranged at the input and output terminals of the device.
The device according to EP 1,226,596 represented a notable improvement compared to the known devices, in particular because of its extremely small dimensions.
In the device according to EP 1,226,596, a single shaft (denoted by the reference number 10) actuates the circuit-breakers by means of a lever connected thereto. Moreover, another shaft (indicated by the reference number 9) actuates the line isolators by means of another lever connected thereto. The line isolator shaft is situated at a distance from the circuit-breaker shaft and this complicates the arrangement of the various mechanisms inside the casing of the device and prevents optimum use of the available space, which is restricted by the small dimensions of the device.
As is known, the movable contacts in a vacuum circuit-breaker for use in medium or high voltage substations must be moved with a high degree of precision and in a substantially instantaneous manner, i.e. within the space of a few milliseconds.
Another problem associated with the operation of vacuum circuit-breakers consists in the extremely high pressing loads. Typically these loads are in the region of 1000–1500 N or more. As mentioned above, in the device according to the patent EP 1,226,596, these loads are transferred by means of the lever connected to the shaft 10. In particular, the lever connected to the shaft 10 actuates a round conductor rod with which it is pivotally hinged and a small cylinder which comes into contact with the movable circuit-breaker contacts. The Applicant has ascertained that such an essentially rigid configuration is unable to transfer (and maintain) in a sufficiently reliable and precise manner the abovementioned pressing loads onto the movable circuit-breaker contacts. Furthermore, the Applicant has faced the problem to optimize the space inside the device and to provide an optimized arrangement within the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,444 discloses a gas insulating switchgear which is not adapted for use in modular cubicles of medium voltage switchboards. The switchgear according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,444 can not be connected to voltage supply busbars.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,763 describes means for suppressing contact-separation at the end of a vacuum circuit breaker closing operation. The vacuum circuit breaker according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,763 does not perform any line isolator and earthing isolator function.
DE 12 44 913 describes a pure vacuum switch for high voltage substations which does not perform any line isolator and earthing isolator function.
EP 0,737,993 describes an hybrid break device for high tension which does not perform any line isolator and earthing isolator function.
FR 2,839,193 describes a hybrid switching mechanism with a dielectric filled gas envelope (12) and a vacuum switch envelope. The mechanism does not perform any line isolator and earthing isolator function.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,503 describes a three-phase vacuum switch operating mechanism with anti-bounce device for interrupter contacts.

Isolator/circuit-breaker device for electric substations


A method and apparatus for assessing performance of an operation for a vehicle. Real-time information is received by a computer system in the vehicle from at least one of a vehicle operator or a group of hardware systems in the vehicle during the operation for the vehicle. The performance of the vehicle operator in performing the operation is determined by from the real-time information. A graphical image of the feedback is displayed in a display system in the vehicle during the operation in which the graphical image provides guidance in operating the vehicle to perform the operation. The graphical image of the feedback comprises a graphical indicium of a corrective action for the correcting operation of the vehicle while carrying out the operation of the vehicle in which the graphical indicium enables improving performance of the operation of the vehicle by the vehicle operator.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to vehicles, and in particular, to a method and apparatus for providing training for vehicles. Still more particularly, the present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for providing real-time visual feedback to guide a vehicle operator to perform an operation for a vehicle.
2. Background
Training an operator to operate a vehicle may be performed using a number of different techniques. For example, the operator may operate the vehicle under the guidance of an instructor. A large amount of training may be performed in a classroom and using training devices on the ground. For example, with the aircraft, these training devices often take the form of flight simulators. A flight simulator is a system that copies or simulates the experience of flying an aircraft. A flight simulator is meant to make the experience as real as possible. Flight simulators may range from controls and a display in a room to a full-size replica of a cockpit mounted on actuators that are configured to move the cockpit in response to actions taken by a pilot. These types of simulators provide a capability to teach pilots, other crew members, or some combination thereof to operate various aircraft systems and to react to different events.
Additional training is performed through training exercises using live aircraft. These types of training exercises expose pilots to the actual conditions encountered when flying an aircraft. Various conditions cannot be accurately simulated using a flight simulator. For example, the actual movement or forces encountered in flying an aircraft may not be adequately provided through a flight simulator. In many cases, an instructor may be present in the aircraft with the pilot. The instructor may perform an assessment of how well a pilot performs different operations in operating the aircraft. The assessment cannot be completed until after the training session. The instructor may be able to focus on some aspects of an operation being performed by the pilot but unable to view or evaluate other aspects as to how the pilot performs an operation. Other information that may be needed for the assessment is stored in a data recorder, and aircraft. The instructor is unable to access the information to complete the assessment until after the flight.
After the flight, data recorded during the training session is downloaded from the data recorder in the aircraft and sent to a debriefing station. The pilot determines how well an operation was performed at the debriefing station. This process is lengthy and more time-consuming than desired.
The feedback received at the debriefing station may include a score on how well the pilot performed an operation. Additionally, the feedback also may include guidance or information indicating corrections to the manner in which the operation was performed. This type of feedback may be used by the pilot in performing the operation in the aircraft during a subsequent training session in the aircraft.
This type of training may increase the number of training sessions needed by the pilot. The increase in the number of training sessions increases the cost and time needed for the pilot to be able to operate the aircraft without the need for additional training.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues. For example, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that provide feedback to an operator of a vehicle, such as a pilot of an aircraft, more quickly than with current training techniques.

Instructional assessment system for a vehicle


An easily openable one-piece RF interference shield and method of manufacturing the same that is cost efficient and easily adapted for use with existing electrical devices. The RF shield having a plurality of interconnected sidewalls, a substantially open bottom region, and a hingeably connected top cover portion, having a top cover latch and disposed along the top edge of one of the sidewalls. The top cover portion of the shield is adapted to hinge toward another one of the sidewalls such that the top cover latch engages a hole disposed on the other sidewall being engaged and completing a protective enclosure about electrical components and preventing those components from causing electromagnetic interferences. The RF shield of the present invention allows for easy opening of the top cover portion to provide access to the enclosure for rework or repair of the electrical components covered by the shield, without having to unsolder the unit from a substrate containing the electrical components. The plurality of sidewalls include a first mating sidewall that is connected to a first intermediate sidewall, the first intermediate sidewall being connected to a second intermediate sidewall, and the second intermediate sidewall being connected to a second mating sidewall.

Over the past number of years, technological advancements in the area of electronic devices have experienced vast growth. An increase in the complexity and operation of the electrical components found in electrical devices combined with a decrease in the amount of space available for such components has resulted in dense clusters of electrical components. In such electrical devices, many electronic components radiate electromagnetic radiation which may cause interference with other electrical devices. This RF interference may detrimentally affect the performance and operation of other electrical devices. As a result, RF shields have been used to prevent such components from causing such interference.
The most common RF shields are comprised of a metal box contoured to fit over a PC board. These shields are then soldered onto the circuit board. Over time, the circuit board may require repair or reworking, however, it is extremely time consuming and difficult to unsolder and remove the RF shield originally in place.
Thus, there exists a continuing need for a low cost RF shield that will prevent electrical components of an electrical device from causing RF interference, yet will also allow fast and simple access to the electrical components covered by the RF shield. Such a shield should be easy to manufacture and be capable of adaptation to a wide array of electrical devices.

Openable one-piece electrical RF shield and method of manufacturing the same


A controller comprises a host interface section and a processing circuit. The host interface section receives a command sequence outputted from a host apparatus to a first nonvolatile semiconductor memory. The processing circuit processes the command sequence outputted from the host apparatus to the first nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and controls writing, reading and erase of data to a second nonvolatile semiconductor memory, according to the command sequence.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a memory card having a controller and storage cells, and a method of controlling the memory card. For example, it relates to a memory card which performs writing, reading and erase of data by access from a host apparatus, a controller mounted on the memory card, and a method of controlling the memory card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in various portable electronic apparatuses such as personal computers, PDAs, cameras, and mobile phones, memory cards which are one kind of removable memory devices are widely used. Among memory cards, there are cards which do not have a controller but only have a NAND type flash memory. The conventional NAND type flash memory generally has a small erase block size in erase set to, for example, 16 kbytes.
In the meantime, as NAND type flash memory mounted on memory cards, inexpensive NAND type flash memories having a large capacity and a large erase block size in erase have been used. In the NAND type flash memories, the erase block size is set to, for example, 256 kbytes. Therefore, if the host apparatus accesses the memory card on the assumption that the memory is a NAND type flash memory having a small erase block size, the memory card having a NAND type flash memory having a large erase block size cannot properly respond to the access, and this causes a malfunction. The term "erase block size" indicates a data size which is erased at once in erase in a NAND type flash memory.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Pub. No. 2002-259322 discloses a memory system having a plurality of kinds of memory chips and a memory controller that controls the memory chips, wherein one memory controller enables access to the plurality of kinds of memory chips.

Memory card having a storage cell and method of controlling the same


An apparatus that corrects a weight imbalance around an axis of a spindle motor that rotates a disc in a disc drive includes an impact applicator that applies an impact to a housing that houses the spindle motor and the disc, a plate that supports the housing and impact applicator, a spring member that supports the plate, and enables the plate and the housing to vibrate together when the spindle motor rotates, and a detector that detects a vibration of the housing when the spindle motor rotates.

The present invention relates generally to an adjustment of driving in a disc drive, and more particularly to an apparatus that corrects weight imbalance (simply referred to as "imbalance" hereinafter) around an axis of the spindle motor. The present invention is suitable, for example, for an apparatus that corrects the disc rotating balance in a hard disc drive ("HDD").
Along with the recent spread of the Internet etc., a demand for fast recording of a large amount of information is growing. A magnetic disc drive, such as an HDD, is required to have a larger capacity and an improved response. For the larger capacity, the HDD narrows a track pitch on the disc and increases the number of installed discs. For the improved response, use of a higher speed spindle motor is promoted.
The high-density disc requires highly precise head positioning. It is thus necessary to restrain vibrations applied to and deformations of the discs, and to correct imbalance around the spindle motor axis. A primary factor of the imbalance is an imbalance between the disc and the spindle hub. A method of moving the disc to a balanced position is one known imbalance correcting method.
In the HDD that mounts plural discs 24 around the spindle hub 32 of the spindle motor 30, the imbalance occurs when an interval (positional relationship) between each disc 24 and the hub 32 is not equally set unlike FIG. 10. FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view showing a relationship between the hub 32 and a pair of discs 24 that have imbalance. In FIG. 11, the upper disc 24 is likely to move in the right arrow direction, the lower disc 24 is likely to move in the left arrow direction, and a moment applies to the hub 32. When the hub 32 receives the moment, the disc 24 vibrates and it becomes difficult to position a head (not shown). A large imbalance amount causes a collision between the head and the disc, a damage of the head, and a loss of data on the disc 24.
FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional balance corrector 10. The balance corrector 10 detects the vibration of a housing or disc enclosure base 22 when a pair of discs 24 are rotated with the spindle hub 32 of the spindle motor 30 in the pre-assembled HDD 20. If the vibration exists, an acceleration sensor 16 outputs a waveform W as shown in FIG. 13. If there is no vibration, the output becomes almost 0. In FIG. 13, the ordinate axis represents the imbalance amount (output of the acceleration sensor 16), and the abscissa axis represents time. It is known that the waveform W is output when the imbalance exists. The balance corrector 10 is mounted with a housing 22 via a rubber member 14 on a plate 12 supported on a base F. The rubber member 14 have an L shape, and the right side surface of the convex is restricted by an inner surface of a right sidewall 12b of the plate 12. The left side surface of the convex contacts a right side surface 22b of the housing 22. An impact applicator 14 fixed onto a left sidewall 12a of the plate 12 contacts an outer side of a left side surface 22a of the housing 22. The acceleration sensor 16 is attached to a right side surface 22b of the housing 22. The impact applicator 14 applies an antiphase impact to the housing 22 so that the output of the acceleration sensor 16 shown in FIG. 13 becomes 0. The impact applicator 14 typically has a cylindrical shape and uses a piezoelectric element.
Other prior art include, for example, Japanese Patent Applications, Publication Nos. 10-134502 and 11-39786.
Disadvantageously, the conventional balance corrector 10 cannot correct the imbalance with high precision. Firstly, the output (amplitude) of the acceleration sensor 16 is weak as shown in FIG. 13. This is because the impact applicator 14 is made of ceramic and has high rigidity, reducing the vibration of the housing 22 which the impact applicator 14 contacts. As a result, the output of the acceleration sensor 16 is subject to noises, and the measurement precision and finally the imbalance correction precision lower. Secondly, since the acceleration sensor 16 is attached directly to the housing 22, the measurement precision lowers. First of all, the acceleration sensor 16 is attached directly to the housing 22, and directly receives the impact from the impact applicator 14. This impact shifts the internal condition of the acceleration sensor 16 from its optimized state, increases the noise component, and lowers the measurement precision. In addition, the imbalance-corrected housing 22 is detached from the balance corrector 10 to complete the HDD 20 by mounting other components on the housing 22. Then, another housing 22 is attached to the balance corrector 10. Therefore, in attaching the housing 22 to and detaching the housing 22 from the balance corrector 10, the acceleration sensor 10 must be arduously attached and detached. The attachment error or attachment/detachment impacts shift the internal condition of the acceleration sensor 16 from the optimized state, increases the noise component, and lowers the measurement precision. Thirdly, the impact applicator 14 that uses a piezoelectric element surface-contacts the housing 22, the alignment between them after the housing 22 is mounted is arduous. In addition, the insufficient alignment cannot correct the waveform W shown in FIG. 13, or needs a long time to correct it.
Each of the balance correctors disclosed in Japanese Patent Applications, Publication Nos. 10-134502 and 11-39786 fixes on a table a base mounted with an impact applicator that uses a piezoelectric element, and applies the impact to the plate that supports the disc drive housing. Therefore, the vibration of the spindle motor is reduced by the impact applicator. The acceleration sensor is attached to the plate, and directly receives the impact of the impact applicator.


Even though no light source is provided in the vicinity of each curved apex of a main face, the brightness difference depending on the location on the main face is reduced, and a light guide plate that contributes to electric power saving can be provided. A display and a traffic sign including the display that can keep a small brightness difference depending on the location on the main face, and reduce the power consumption. The ratio of the area of the first diffusion dots and second diffusion dots within the second diffusion region is greater than the ratio of the area of the first diffusion dots within the first diffusion region. Even though no light source unit is provided at a curved section, the brightness difference (the unevenness of brightness) depending on the location on the entire main face is reduced, and electric power saving can be achieved.

Conventionally, as a method of lighting the main face of a light guide plate having a round shape or polygon (for example, pentagon) shape, it is known a method of providing LEDs at the entire side face of the light guide plate. For example, when a light guide plate has a main face having a round shape, as shown in FIG. 18 it is known a light device or display, wherein: a C-shaped steel having a light source having a plurality of LEDs on the inside face thereof is provided on the side face of the light guide plate; the light of the LEDs are emitted from the side face of the light guide plate; when the light enters into the light guide plate, the light diffuses by diffusion dots provided on the main face of the light guide plate. However, in this method, in which the LEDs are placed over a wide range of the side face of the light guide plate, there are problems that a great number of LEDs are required, and that large power consumption is required.
As a method of reducing the power consumption of LEDs, it can be thought of, for example, reducing the number of LEDs provided at the side face. Particularly, when the light guide plate is polygonal (for example, pentagonal), it can be thought of a method where no light source is provided in the vicinity of each curved apex while a light source is only provided at the side face of each linear side. In this case, as compared with the case where the light source is provided on the entire side face, the number of provided LEDs is reduced, which reduces the power consumption, and also as no LED is placed on the curved portion of the main face, the labor for placing LEDs can be saved. However, since no LED is placed in the vicinity of each apex, there is a problem that a region in the vicinity of each apex becomes darker than other regions, and the unevenness of brightness occurs, and the brightness of the entire main face cannot be uniform.
For such problems, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a light device having a light guide plate, in which prisms are formed on the entire side face of the LED-provided side face of the light guide plate, and thereby light is diffused between LEDs, which allows the brightness of the entire main face to be uniform.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-2003-331628

Light guide plate, display unit including the light guide plate, traffic sign including the display unit, and method of manufacturing the light guide plate and method of manufacturing the traffic sign


A method for automatically determining the concentration of nitrite in a liquid sample includes:                determination of the extinction of the liquid sample at a wavelength λ of 150-250 nm,        addition of a nitrite reducing agent to the liquid sample,        determination of the extinction of the reduced liquid sample at a wavelength λ of 150-250 nm, and        determination of the nitrite concentration from the difference between the concentration values obtained from the extinctions of the non-reduced and the reduced liquid samples.

The invention relates to a method and a device for automatically determining the concentration of nitrite in a liquid sample.
Such methods and devices are employed, inter alia, in waste water clarification plants for monitoring and controlling the clarifications process. In the known measuring methods and devices, the extinction of the liquid sample of the waste water is determined with the aid of UV radiation. Using the extinction value obtained in this manner, the concentration of the sum of nitrite and nitrate is calculated. Since the spectral curve shapes of the extinction of nitrite and nitrate show large similarities, photometric means virtually do not allow for an exact differentiated determination of nitrite or nitrate in a liquid sample containing both nitrite and nitrate. However, monitoring or controlling the correct process of nitrification, i.e. the microbiological oxidation of ammonium over nitrite using Nitrosomonas, and the subsequent microbiological oxidation of nitrite to nitrate using Nitrobacter, requires individual determination of both the concentration of nitrite and the concentration of nitrate.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a method and a device for automatically determining the concentration of nitrite in a liquid sample possibly containing nitrate.

Method and device for determining the concentration of nitrite


A training device for combat vehicles which can hold a replacement weapon. This training device is comprised of an insertion portion which inserts within the barrel support of the combat vehicle and has secured thereto a holding device for holding a replacement weapon. This training device permits the firing of the replacement weapon with similar firing characteristics to the originally mounted gun. The use of this replacement unit can provide realistic training using less expensive ammunition than that necessary for the original weapon of the combat vehicle.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to military training equipment. More specifically, this invention relates to a training device for use with combat vehicles.
2. Prior Art
The military utilizes a large number of combat vehicles with guns firing numerous sizes and types of shells. One of the most important combat vehicles currently in use by the United States military is the M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S., Fighting Vehicle. The U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force alternative to the M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle is a Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) with many similar operational characteristics. Both the M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle and the LAV currently use as their main weaponry a 25 millimeter gun.
Because of reductions in the military budget in recent years, fewer and shorter training courses, including fewer hours spent on weapons training, are becoming more the norm in the military. In addition to reducing the amount of training costs, the military is looking for methods to lower its costs. One method for reducing the cost of training is to use less expensive ammunition during training. For example, the cost of using the main weapon of the Bradley vehicle, a 25 millimeter cannon, is approximately $1,400.00 per training session. In contrast, the cost of the standard United States Army M2.50 caliber machine gun is only about $90.00 per training session. While the firing characteristics of these two weapons are not exactly the same, they are sufficiently similar to permit the substitution of the M2.50 caliber machine gun for the 25 millimeter cannon where possible. The cost savings of such a substitution is estimated to be in the millions of dollars each year. Thus, an effective device for securing a M2.50 caliber machine gun to a combat vehicle would be quite useful.
It is important to understand that not all substitutions of weapons would be useful. To achieve the best possible training, the substituted weapon must have similar firing characteristics and similar operational characteristics to the weapon being replaced. Further, the substituted weapon must be securely attached to the combat vehicle so that upon movement by the vehicle, the substituted weapon does not move significantly. The substituted weapon must also permit firing in a pattern similar to the weapon that is being replaced. Finally, the substituted weapon should be inexpensive and readily interchangeable with the weapon being replaced.
One such substituted device is the Reavis subcaliber device for Bradley vehicles described in Tradoc Pam 71-9 published by the United States Army. This Reavis device is a specialized mount for an M16 rifle which is mounted to the main gun trunnion/barrel of the Ms/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle. It is mounted to the barrel by a set of aluminum or steel brackets which are clamped to the main gun turret ring/barrel. This device uses a M16 rifle as a substitution weapon for the main gun of the M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle. While the Reavis device is a substitution device for the 25 millimeter weapon, it cannot be used with many current Bradley Fighting vehicles because of mounting problems. In addition, it does not possess similar firing characteristics to the 25 mm weapon of the M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle, is expensive to produce and difficult to mount.
A somewhat similar device is designed for use with a tank or other combat vehicle having a fixed main gun. For example, the M179 Telfare is a tank appended device that mounts an M2.50 caliber machine gun to the main gun of a tank or other armored vehicle. The Telfare consists of a base plate, a front mounting yoke, and a transverse and elevating assembly attached to a mounting bracket wherein the bracket is secured to the tank around the barrel of the main gun. However, the mounting bracket of this device cannot be used with the barrel of a combat vehicle, such as the M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle.
Another tank appended device mounted using a bracket mounting system is the Brewster M180/M181 subcaliber training device. This device attaches a mounting bracket to the main barrel of an armored vehicle, such as tank. Attached to the mounting bracket is a conventional assault rifle or M55 laser trainer. While this Brewster training device can be useful in situations similar to that of the Telfare device, it cannot be used as a substitution for the barrel of a combat vehicle such as the M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle.
WO 85 01341 discloses a subcaliber training device for launchers and similar weapons. This device constitutes a subcaliber anti-armor training device which permits the firing of a 0.22 mm rimfire cartridge from a 66 mm light anti-armor weapon.
Another training means for a weapon is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,372.
As listed in Field Manual 27-1 dated list, a variety of the current devices such as the Thru Sight Video, Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (M.I.L.E.S.), Precision Gunnery System (P.G.S.), Videodisc Integrated Gunnery Simulator (V.I.C.S.), Conduct of Fire Trainer (C.O.F.T.), Simulations Network (SIMNET), do not allow crews to perform actual ammunition firing. These devices are at best described as laser simulation gunnery and requires expensive equipment to be mounted on the combat vehicle. Though the military has spent years and millions of dollars to develop and field these simulation devices, they all are still unable to overcome environmental conditions such as rain, fog, dust, and snow.
While these devices are helpful in some training situations, specifically designed training devices for use with a M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle or the LAV used by other branches of the military are still necessary.
Therefore there is still needed a subcaliber training device which will replace the main weapon of combat vehicles such as the M2/M3 Bradley Infantry/Calvary/O.D.S. Fighting Vehicle of the Army or the LAV used by other branches of the military.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a training device for use with combat vehicles.
It is another object of this invention to provide a training device for combat vehicles which simulates the firing characteristics of the main gun of the combat vehicle while using a smaller, less expensive weapon.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a training device for combat vehicles which is easy to install and sight.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a training device for combat vehicles which provides realistic training and practice for the individuals who are being trained using that device.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description, drawings and claims. The description along with the accompanying drawings, provides a selected example of construction of the device to illustrate the invention.

Training device for use with combat vehicles


Aspects include receiving a request to perform an image classification task in a target domain. The image classification task includes identifying a feature in images in the target domain. Classification information related to the feature is transferred from a source domain to the target domain. The transferring includes receiving a plurality of pairs of task-irrelevant images that each includes a task-irrelevant image in the source domain and in the target domain. The task-irrelevant image in the source domain has a fixed correspondence to the task-irrelevant image in the target domain. A target neural network is trained to perform the image classification task in the target domain. The training is based on the plurality of pairs of task-irrelevant images. The image classification task is performed in the target domain and includes applying the target neural network to an image in the target domain and outputting an identified feature.

The subject matter described herein relates in general to domain adaptation and fusion, and more specifically, to performing domain adaption and fusion using weakly supervised target-irrelevant data.
The shortage of labeled data for training classifiers in specific domains is a significant problem in machine learning applications since the cost of acquiring data labels is often high. Domain adaptation is one way to address this problem by leveraging labeled data in one or more related domains, often referred to as "source domains," when learning a classifier for labeling unseen data in a "target domain." The source and target domains are typically related but not identical.
However, for classifier models that are learned on source domains, the performance in the target domain tends to be poor. This is especially true in computer vision applications where existing image collections used for object categorization present specific characteristics which often prevent a direct cross-dataset generalization. One reason is that even when the same features are extracted in both domains, the underlying causes of the domain shift (such as changes in the camera, image resolution, lighting, background, viewpoint, and post-processing) can strongly affect the feature distribution. Thus, the assumptions of the classifier trained on the source domain do not always hold for the target domain.
Similarly, corporate document collections, such as emails, orders, invoices, and reports, may have the same class labels but the document content and layout may vary considerably from one customer to another. Accordingly, adapting a document (image) classifier model from one customer to another may not yield a sufficiently good accuracy without significant amounts of costly labeled data in the target domain.
The useful information to solve practical tasks often exists in different domains captured by various sensors, where a "domain" can be either a modality or a dataset. For instance, the three-dimensional (3D) layout of a room can be either captured by a depth sensor or can be inferred from red, green, and blue (RGB) images. In real-world scenarios, most of the time only a limited amount of data in certain domain(s) is available for access. This limited amount of data is often a challenge faced by domain adaptation where a source domain, a target domain, and a task of interest (TOI) are given. A natural extension of the end product of domain adaptation, that is a source-domain TOI solver and a target-domain TOI solver, is domain fusion, where the typical end objective is to obtain a dual-domain (source and target) task solver, which is robust to noise in either domain.
Contemporary domain adaptation methods assume that the task-relevant data, that is the data directly applicable and related to TOI, in the target domain is available at training time, which is not always true in practice. For example, acquiring the depth image inside a small delicate component may be infeasible due to not having the suitable tool at hand and/or due to time/budget limitation. A similar assumption that the task-relevant data is available is also made by contemporary domain fusion methods.
Recent progress in computer vision has been dominated by deep neural networks trained with large amount of labeled data. Collecting and annotating such datasets can be a tedious task, and in some contexts an impossible task. This has led to a recent surge in approaches that rely solely on synthetically generated data from 3D models for their training, for example depth or 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) data. However, for certain modalities, it is also very difficult to synthesize data, such RGB images.
Accordingly, while domain adaptation and fusion methods are suitable for their intended purposes, what is needed is domain adaptation and fusion methods having certain features of embodiments of the present invention.

Domain adaptation and fusion using weakly supervised target-irrelevant data


In order to electrically connect the projecting electrodes of an LSI with a given wiring pattern on a circuit substrate, at least a portion of the electronic part is covered with a heat-shrinkable film member which in turn is fixedly mounted on the circuit substrate by adhesive at the opposite side or all the sides of the heat-shrinkable film member. When the heat-shrinkable film member is heated, the shrinkage of the heat-shrinkable film member presses the LSI against the circuit substrate under pressure. Thus, the bumps of the LSI can be electrically connected with the wiring pattern on the circuit substrate. Therefore, the LSI can be easily mounted on the circuit substrate or replaced by a new one.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure and method useful for accurately mounting at least one electronic part such as a semiconductor device or the like on a circuit substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic parts such as integrated circuits (LSI) and the like are incorporated into a product after they have been mounted on a given circuit substrate. On mounting, it is required to ensure that the electrodes of the electronic parts are electrically connected with the corresponding wiring pattern on the circuit substrate.
For example, if it is wanted to mount an integrated circuit (LSI) on a circuit substrate, that is, where the projecting electrodes (hereinafter called "bumps") of the LSI are to be electrically connected with wiring patterns on the circuit substrate, the prior art used an electrically conductive paste for connecting the wiring patterns with the bumps (see FIG. 1). Such a paste may be a silver paste. Referring to FIG. 1, the bumps 12 of an LSI 11 are electrically connected with wirings 14 of a circuit substrate 13 through silver pastes 16.
Since the electrically conductive paste such as silver paste or the like is thermosetting, however, it is difficult to replace any failed integrated circuit with a new integrated circuit. When it is desired to replace an integrated circuit with a new one, the entire circuit substrate must be heated up to a temperature higher than the melting temperature of the silver paste. This may damage the other integrated circuits mounted on the same circuit substrate.

Method of mounting electronic part on circuit substrate and circuit substrate including electronic parts mounted thereon


The disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for acquiring spatial division information. The method includes controlling a sound source device to play a first sound signal; obtaining a second sound signal that is a sound signal collected by a sound collecting device when the first sound signal is propagated to the sound collecting device; obtaining direct intensity information based on the second sound signal, wherein the direct intensity information indicates an intensity of a direct sound signal in the second sound signal, wherein the direct sound signal is a sound signal that is generated by the sound source device and reaches the sound collecting device without physical reflection; and obtaining spatial division information based on the direct intensity information, wherein the spatial division information indicates whether the sound source device and the sound collecting device are in a same spatial zone.

With the continuous development of artificial intelligence technology, there are more and more applications in smart home devices. In the home environment of people's daily life, it is also very common to place multiple voice-enabled smart home devices to improve the voice playing effect.
In the related art, the space in which the devices are actually placed can be divided. For example, a sound signal may be played to the space through a smart home device, and a received sound signal may be sensed by its own receiver to determine a room impulse response (RIR) of the space, and a reverberation time of the room through the RIR. The area size of the space where the smart home device is placed may be inversely calculated according to the reverberation time of the room, and respective area sizes calculated by the different smart home devices may be compared with each other, thereby determining whether different smart home devices are placed in the same area.

Method for acquiring spatial division information, apparatus for acquiring spatial division information, and storage medium

Beijing Xiaomi Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.


Controlled release compositions of matter are disclosed comprising complexes for treating a population of one or more aquatic organisms in a column of water. The complexes comprise at least one system wherein the system comprises at least one bioactive agent as a component selected for treating a population of aquatic organisms, at least one carrier component, and at least one coating component for regulating the controlled release rate and release profile of the bioactive agent in water or at least one bioactive agent and one joint-function component that can serve as both a carrier and coating to regulate the controlled release rate and release profile of the bioactive agent in water, with or without optional binder components and/or additional formulation materials. The components are selected to sink or float so that the complexes will permeate and/or remain in any planar or volumetric segment of a water column for a period of time that is sufficient to effectively treat a population of aquatic organisms. Methods for treating a column of water are also disclosed which comprises delivering the compositions to a column of water or to a dry preflood area (pretreatment) that will develop in a column of water or a flood area. The composition and process can also be used to treat terrestrial organisms.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention is directed to compositions and processes for controlled delivery of bioactive agents to a population of aquatic organisms located in any planar or volumetric segment of a column of water by ground or aerial application techniques. Organisms of special interest are disease-carrying or biting or non-biting nuisance insects, and parasitic animals or plants, especially weeds. Compositins for controlled delivery of bioactive agents to terrestrial organisms are also described.
2. Description of Related Art
Various methods have been devised for delivering biologically active materials to control pests and vegetation. For example, Yaffe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,274,052 describes a process and a composition in which molten droplets of a normally solid toxicant are sprayed on the surface of a granular carrier whereupon they adhere to and solidify on the surface of the carrier as an adherent coating. When employed for treating aquatic environments, the specific gravity of the granules, and the rate of release of the toxicant is adjusted during the manufacture to provide surface, intermediate or bottom contact, or penetration into mud to control the specific organisms involved. Neither methods nor compositions are described for adjusting the specific gravity.
Hedges et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,814, describes a nonpoisonous insecticidal composition consisting of diatomaceous earth having a sorptive silica gel adhered to the surface.
Jacobson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,585, describes an antimicrobial composition consisting of inorganic core particles coated with a metal or metal compound having antimicrobial properties.
Thies et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,317, describes a process for encapsulating a pesticide with an inorganic silicate coating. The encapsulated materials according to the inventors are capable of fragmenting upon storage in water to provide controlled release of a pesticide such as a mosquito control agent. Non-encapsulated materials were shown to have about half the active life of the encapsulated materials.
Levy, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,818,534; 4,983,389; 4,983,390; and 4,985,251, describe various insecticidal, herbicidal, terrestrial, and flowable insecticidal delivery compositions based on bioactive materials and superabsorbent polymers.
One of the problems encountered in delivering bioactive materials to aquatic environments is that the aquatic organism to be treated is not immediately susceptible to being contacted with the bioactive material because of its location in a column of water either at the surface, the bottom, or some intermediate region in between. Because of the specific gravity of the bioactive material, in many instances it cannot be targeted to precisely treat the organisms of interest in the water column. By way of example, bioactive materials that have a specific gravity greater than water will generally be ineffective for treating aquatic organisms at the surface of a column, and vice-versa. Aquatic organisms that persist at some intermediate level are also difficult to treat for the same reason.
The foregoing illustrates that various delivery systems have been devised for bioactive materials, and the need to have a controlled delivery system suitable for delivering these materials to aquatic organisms. Although there is some suggestion that by adjusting the specific gravity of a toxicant composition of matter, it would be suitable for delivering the toxicant to an aquatic environment either at the surface, the bottom or at some intermediate level, the means for adjusting the specific gravity have not been disclosed.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to compositions and processes for treating a population of one or more aquatic organisms in a column of water in which the foregoing and other disadvantages are overcome.
The present invention is also directed to compositions and processes for pretreating a dry (preaquatic) habitat area before it has been flooded by rain or tides, and which is a breeding site for the target aquatic organism(s), i.e. a preflood area. Pretreating a flooded aquatic habitat area before the target aquatic organism(s) breed is also within the scope of the invention, as well as flooded habitats where the organisms exist.
The foregoing illustrates that various delivery systems have been devised for bioactive materials, and the need to have a controlled delivery system suitable for delivering these materials to one or more terrestrial organisms, i.e. non-aquatic organisms. Although there are some systems that are available to provide control of these organisms, it would be advantageous to provide additional compositions for addressing the problems caused by such organisms whether they are plant, insect, or other animal pests.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to compositions and processes for treating one or more terrestrial organisms in which the foregoing and other disadvantages are overcome.
Specifically, the advantages sought to be obtained according to the present invention are to provide compositions of matter or processes for treating a population of one or more aquatic organisms in a column of water, or one or more terrestrial organisms. Throughout the specification it is intended that the terms "treat," "treating," or "treatment" are intended to mean enhancing development of an organism, prolonging life of an organism, stopping or reversing the development of a condition in an organism, stopping the development of an organism, or eradicating an organism.

Controlled delivery compositions and processes for treating organisms in a column of water or on land


A method of browsing media items is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of displaying (802) representations of the media items on a display (914), defining (803) a filter criterion for a display pointing device (903), browsing (804) the displayed representations of the media items by moving the pointer of the pointing device about the display (914), and displaying (804) in a pop-up window, while the pointer of the pointing device (903) is designating a selected one of the displayed representations of the media items, a representation of the designated media that satisfies the filter criterion.

Computers are often used for managing and storing digital photos, videos, audio files, and other similar "media items", which are also referred to as "media files". Typically, media items are organised for graphical display in "folders", which can be logically arranged and graphically displayed as hierarchical "folder trees". Folders are graphical icons that logically reference media items that are referred to as being "contained" in the folders.
Metadata can be associated with media items. Metadata may include the location where the media file was captured, the size of the media file and so on.
Computer applications are currently available that are used for browsing and managing media files on a computer. Some of these applications can perform filtering, thereby displaying only media items that meet specified criteria.

Method of displaying a tool tip with filtered contents