Hall device is provided by enabling stable provision of a quantum well compound semiconductor stacked structure. It has first and second compound semiconductor layers composed of Sb and at least two of five elements of Al, Ga, In, As and P, and an active layer composed of InxGa1-xAsySb1-y (0.8≦x≦1.0, 0.8≦y≦1.0), which are stacked. Compared with the active layer, the first and second compound semiconductor layers each have a wider band gap, and a resistance value five times or more greater. The lattice constant differences between the active layer and the first and second compound semiconductor layers are each designed in a range of 0.0-1.2%, and the thickness of the active layer is designed in a range of 30-100 nm.

Generally, Hall devices are used for the rotation control and position detection of motors and for magnetic field detection, and find extensive application in such fields as brushless motor, noncontact open/close detection switch, and current sensor.
Recently, mobile equipment typified by mobile phones, mobile information terminals and notebook personal computers has become widely available. The Hall devices are widely applied not only to such devices that are installed into the mobile equipment, but also to technical fields of automobiles and the like.
For example, the Hall device is used as a pointing device for reading an input direction and an amount of movement by detecting the movement of a magnet mounted on an input portion. This pointing device has an advantage over a button pointing device whose input information is only a direction in that it can input more detailed information including both the direction and amount of movement.
Furthermore, the Hall device is also applicable as a sensor used for an open/close detection switch of a flap attached to the mobile equipment. The sensor includes a magnet placed at one of the body and flap, and a Hall device placed at the other of them, and detects the opening and closing according to the variations in the magnetic field involved in the movement of the magnet. The open/close detection switch using the Hall device has an advantage over open/close detection switches with contacts such as a reed switch in that its life is semipermanent.
Moreover, the Hall device is also used for a geomagnetic direction sensor.
Basic characteristics required of the Hall device used for the mobile equipment are low power consumption, high sensitivity, and good temperature characteristics. The low power consumption is the most important characteristics of the mobile equipment with a battery.
As for the sensitivity, the higher sensitivity makes it possible to detect smaller variations in the magnetic field, thereby increasing flexibility in placing the magnet and Hall device, and in selecting the type of the magnet. As for the temperature characteristics, the better temperature characteristics makes it possible to achieve better accuracy without adding any extra function to the circuit such as that for temperature correction, thereby simplifying the circuit design and reducing the cost.
In such technical fields, magnetic sensors with low power consumption, high sensitivity and excellent temperature characteristics are required. In particular, it is very important for the mobile equipment such as mobile phones to have low power consumption.
Generally, the major characteristics of the Hall device constituting the magnetic sensor depend greatly on the characteristics of the semiconductor material. For example, the sensitivity is proportional to the electron mobility of the semiconductor material, and the power consumption, which is inversely proportional to the input resistance of the device, becomes smaller as the sheet resistance of the semiconductor material increases.
The conventional Hall devices use compound semiconductors with large electron mobility, particularly such as InAs, InSb and GaAs. This is because the InAs, InSb and GaAs and their compound semiconductors have high electron mobility, and are suitable as a material for the highly sensitive Hall devices. Although the Hall devices using the InSb or InAs have good sensitivity, they have a problem of being inferior in the temperature characteristics and power consumption characteristics. It is known that the temperature characteristics of the Hall devices can be improved by doping Si into InAs. However, they cannot satisfy other device characteristics such as the sensitivity characteristics and power consumption characteristics. In contrast, although the Hall devices using the GaAs as the material have good temperature characteristics and power consumption characteristics, they have a problem in that their sensitivity is low.
Thus, no Hall devices are applied easily to the mobile equipment. Accordingly it is necessary to use the Hall devices with various of contrivances.
As for these problems, Japanese Patent No. 3069545 discloses a stacked structure having a first compound semiconductor layer, an InAs layer formed thereon as an active layer, and a second compound semiconductor layer with a high resistance formed on the top surface of the InAs layer. It forms a quantum well potential in the InAs active layer, increases the mobility of the electrons passing through the active layer and the sheet resistance because of the appearance of the quantum effect, thereby being able to form a stacked structure with good temperature characteristics.
Japanese Patent No. 2793440 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6-077556 (1994) discloses that a high electron mobility, large input resistance and excellent temperature characteristic Hall device can be formed by forming an InAs active layer on an AlGaAsSb layer that has a lattice constant close to that of the InAs active layer and a large band gap.
In addition, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B16(1998) p. 2644 discloses a structure achieving higher electron mobility by forming an AlGaAsSb layer on InAs, with a structure sandwiching an InAs active layer with compound semiconductor layers with a large band gap.
As a technique concerning the device structure of the Hall device that sandwiches the InAs active layer with the AlGaAsSb layers, there is Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-116207 (1997), for example. It describes that the reliability is improved by removing all the semiconductor thin films other than a magneto-sensitive pattern, and by covering the entire magneto-sensitive pattern and electrode layer with a passivation. It also describes that the electrode layer may make contact either with the InAs layer or with the upper AlGaAsSb layer.
However, to bring the sensitivity and resistance value of the Hall devices employing such a compound semiconductor stacked structure into specified design ranges, it is necessary to place the electron mobility and sheet resistance value of the compound semiconductor material within certain ranges with high reproducibility. However, since it is difficult to control their physical property values, a problem arises in that it is difficult to manufacture the Hall devices with the quantum well compound semiconductor stacked structure industrially.
In addition, the foregoing Hall device has a problem in that the absolute value of an unbalanced voltage (Vu) does not agree with that of a rotated unbalanced voltage (rVu) obtained by rotating the input and output terminals by 90°. In a linear Hall IC used as a current sensor, an output voltage obtained by the 90° rotation is added to cancel out the Vu, thereby achieving good linearity of the Hall output for the magnetic field. It is desirable that the absolute value of the Vu agree with that of the rVu, and the difference between the absolute values of the Vu and rVu must be within 0.5 mV (for a input voltage of 3V) from a practical standpoint. Therefore it is required that the disagreement between the foregoing Vu and rVu (called Vu+rVu variations from now on) be improved.
Furthermore, the foregoing Hall devices have a problem in that their reliability is insufficient. More specifically, the unbalanced voltage (Vu) value varies greatly under high temperature, high moisture conditions, and input resistance (Rin) and unbalanced voltage (Vu) value vary greatly when soldering the Hall device to a printed circuit board.
FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a Hall device with a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-116207 (1997), and FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating its fabrication process. In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 designates a substrate, 2 designates semiconductor thin films, 2a designates a first compound semiconductor layer, 2b designates an active layer, 2c designates a second compound semiconductor layer, 2d designates a third compound semiconductor layer, 3 designates a metal electrode layer, and 4 designates a passivation.
The Hall device has the metal electrode layer formed by a lift off method, and is completed by covering the entire device with the passivation, followed by opening a bonding pad section. The reason for using the lift off method for forming the electrodes is that the compound semiconductor including Sb has not enough resistance to acid and alkali, and hence it is difficult to carry out patterning by etching using the acid or alkali after forming the metal electrode layer on the entire surface.
However, the metal electrode layer formed by the lift off method has a problem of leaving protruding, ragged edges (burrs) at the edges of the patterns, thereby greatly deteriorating the covering conditions of the passivation formed thereon. As a result, a high temperature, high moisture accelerated test results in corrosion of the compound semiconductor including Sb with insufficient moisture resistance, thereby varying the unbalanced voltage Vu greatly.
Because of these variations, the conventional Hall devices are not practical. Thus, the Hall devices are required with small characteristic variations under the high temperature, high moisture conditions and due to soldering, that is, with a high reliability.
The present invention is implemented to solve the foregoing problems. Therefore it is an object of the present invention to ensure a stable supply of a stacked structure of a quantum well compound semiconductor with high electron mobility and sheet resistance and with excellent temperature characteristics by improving the reproducibility of controlling the physical properties of the quantum well compound semiconductor stacked structure, thereby enabling industrial provision of highly sensitive, low power consumption Hall devices with excellent temperature characteristics.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a compound semiconductor Hall device with small Vu+rVu variations in the stacked compound semiconductor Hall device capable of achieving high sensitivity using InAs or the like as an active layer.
Still another object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable compound semiconductor Hall device and its fabrication method in the stacked compound semiconductor Hall device capable of achieving high sensitivity using InAs or the like as an active layer.
Still another object of the present invention to provide a magnetic sensor suitable for various devices used for the mobile equipment such as pointing devices.

Compound semiconductor multilayer structure, hall device, and hall device manufacturing method


When the focal length of a photographic lens is less than a first focal length, a dimming correction amount deltaY is set to a certain minus value (deltaYW=−WddY) (S100, S150). When the focal length is greater than a second focal length, the dimming correction amount deltaY is set to a dimming correction amount deltaYT for a longer focus side (S110, S160). For the focal length falling between the first and second focal lengths, the dimming correction amounts deltaY is calculated with the deltaYW and the deltaYT being weighted and mixed according to focal-length information. Accordingly, even when a photographic lens having a short focal length is used, flashing can always be controlled stably with accuracy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera system which can emit a flash as supplemental illumination upon taking a photograph.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the TTL auto flash scheme has been used to control the flashing device of a film camera of the monocular reflex type. Some of these film cameras emit a preflash prior to a main flash upon taking a photograph to measure reflected light from an object and thereby obtain information for the main flash.
On the other hand, digital cameras have an image sensor such as CCDs placed at the position of the photographic film, thus being dimmed with difficulty using light diffused on the surface of the image sensor. Accordingly, a well-known digital camera of the TTL auto flash type is employed. The camera emits a preflash prior to a main flash upon taking a photograph, measures reflected light from an object, calculates the flash amount required for the main flash in accordance with the measurement result of the preflash, and then emits the main flash with the calculated flash amount. Some of these digital cameras emit a preflash under mirror lockup to measure the reflected light of the preflash relative to the flux of light diffused on the surface of the shutter curtain. Based on this measurement result, it is calculated how many times the main flash amount should be greater than the preflash amount. Some other digital cameras allow a photometric sensor provided in the viewfinder optical system to measure the reflected light of the preflash under mirror lockdown and calculate the intensity of the main flash through computation for flashing at the resulting intensity.
Some of these film cameras employing the TTL auto flash and digital cameras are configured particularly to provide the information about the reflectance of an object in accordance with the measurement result of reflected light upon emitting a preflash and the object-distance information from the photographic lens or the focusing section to optimize the main flash amount. That is, what these cameras do first is obtain information about whether the object has a standard reflectance, a low reflectance, or a high reflectance. Then, in accordance with the information obtained, the cameras assign weights to divided dimming regions to calculate the main flash amount or control the dimming sensor.
Publication of Japanese Patent No. 3136658 (hereinafter denoted as Patent Document 1) describes a camera with a flash controlling device which employs the measurement result of reflected light upon emitting a preflash, the object-distance information, and the object-distance information detection error to determine the region used for dimming.
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-66504 (hereinafter denoted as Patent Document 2) describes a camera which corrects the main flash amount in accordance with the measurement result of reflected light upon emitting a preflash, the object-distance information, and the object-distance information detection accuracy.
However, as described above, the following problems were found with the cameras which obtained information regarding the object reflectance from the measurement result of reflected light upon emitting a preflash and the object-distance information to assign weights to the dimming regions or calculate the dimming correction amount. That is, an error present in the object-distance information would lead to an error in the reflectance information, causing weights to be improperly assigned to the dimming regions. This would cause the dimming correction amount to be improperly calculated, thus resulting in an improperly set flash amount.
To obtain the object-distance information, a method is known which allows an encoder to detect the rotational position or the amount of rotation of the focusing ring of the photographic lens. Also known is such a method which employs defocus degree information detected by an auto focusing sensor.
However, the above-described methods do not directly measure distances, thus causing the resulting object-distance information to include a relatively significant error. In particular, a photographic lens with a short focal length is greater in depth of field than one with a longer focal length, thus providing a smaller rotational angle to the focusing ring relative to a change in photographic distance (object distance). Accordingly, when a photographic lens with a short focal length is used, the error included more significant which is contained in the object-distance information obtained from the rotational position of the focusing ring will be more significant.
When focus is achieved through auto-focusing, the error of the object-distance information also becomes significant because the object distance falls within a wider range for the same defocusing amount being allowed. For example, when all distances farther than a certain distance fall within the depth of field, no object-distance information is obtained on distances farther than that distance.
Furthermore, a wide angle lens with a short focal length provides lower optical image magnification, which often causes the object to be reduced in size. Accordingly, when a wide angle lens with a short focal length is employed with a bright portion present in the background, the auto focusing sensor is more likely to detect the bright portion in the background to focus the background. In this case, information on an object distance farther than the distance of the actual main object is output, causing the error to be more significant.
This point is considered in Patent Documents 1 and 2.
In Patent Document 1, the dimming region is determined using the object-distance information detection error stored in the photographic lens with the object-distance information. This object-distance information detection error is stored as information unique to the photographic lens in combination with the object-distance information. When the photometric value of reflected light in a region upon emitting a preflash is greater than or lower than a predetermined value based on the distance detection error, the region is not allowed to contribute to dimming. In other words, the region is excluded from contributing to the process of dimming. The wide angle lens prevents the region from being accidentally excluded according to the object-distance information having a significant error, because the region is not easily excluded. A region is not easily excluded because, when the object-distance information is on farther distance sides, detection errors are significant.
On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, the dimming correction amount is calculated as the reflectance correction value based on the preflash measurement result and the object-distance information. In this calculation, the method of calculating the reflectance correction value is changed with the product between the focal length and the optical image magnification employed as a parameter. That is, the correction can be readily made when the value of the product between the focal length and the optical image magnification is large (i.e., when the focal length is long and the photographic distance is short). On the contrary, when the product between the focal length and the optical image magnification is small (i.e., when the focal length is short and the photographic distance is long), the correction is made with greater difficulty. As described above, when the wide angle lens is employed and the photographic distance is relatively long, the object-distance information is expected to include a significant error. However, Patent Document 2 avoids making an inappropriate dimming correction based on erroneous object-distance information in the manner mentioned above.
As described above, both Patent Documents 1 and 2 employ the wide angle lens and provide control such that a positive corrections are not to be made using the object-distance information when the photographic distance is relatively long, thereby preventing improper control.
However, as described above, the wide angle lens has a large depth of field during the use of auto focusing, and falls within a wide distance range for the same amount of defocusing allowed, thus causing the stopping position of the lens focusing ring to vary within a certain range. In addition, in the presence of a brighter portion in the background as mentioned above, there is a high possibility that the background is focused because the portion may exert a stronger effect. This also raises a problem in the dimming level being varied.
Suppose that the lens stops at a relatively close distance side position of the focusing ring. In this case, the object-distance information corresponds to a short distance. In this case, according to the configuration of Patent Document 1, a relatively small value is output as the aforementioned object-distance information detection error, thus allowing a dimming region to be relatively easily excluded. Suppose that the lens stops at a relatively distant position of the focusing ring, and the same object as mentioned above (where the lens has stopped at a relatively close distance side position of the focusing ring) is photographed at the same distance. In this case, the object-distance information corresponds to a long distance, and the object-distance information detection error becomes significant, which makes the exclusion of the dimming region difficult.
Also, in Patent Document 2, when the lens has stopped at a relatively close distance side position of the focusing ring, the object-distance information indicates a value corresponding to a short distance with the optical image magnification being relatively large, thus allowing a correction to be readily made to the amount of dimming. However, when the lens has stopped at a relatively distant side position and the same object as mentioned above (where the lens has stopped at a relatively close distance side position of the focusing ring) is photographed at the same distance, the optical image magnification is decreased, which makes the correction of the amount of dimming difficult.
As described above, both the Patent Documents 1 and 2 have a problem in that the flash amount varies as a result of variations in stopping positions of the focusing ring.
Suppose that a scene of a man standing with no background is photographed using a wide angle lens. In this case, the area of the man is often small due to a reduced optical image magnification. Using the conventional TTL auto flash (the conventional technique of performing neither region exclusion or auto dimming correction as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2) to photograph such a scene would cause overexposure due to the reduced area of the object reflecting the illuminated light. To photograph such a scene, the flash amount would be appropriately set only if the region exclusion and the auto dimming correction as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 work properly.
However, when the wide angle lens is used as described above, the stopping position of the lens varies significantly because of auto focusing, which causes large variations in the object-distance information obtained. Accordingly, the scene may be taken properly in some cases, whereas overexposure may be caused in other cases due to the region exclusion and the auto dimming correction not working properly. Thus, there was a problem in that use of a wide angle lens caused variations in the amount of dimming and, thus, resulted in unstable control.

Camera system with flash control based on focal length


A balance shaft mounting arrangement for a four cycle overhead camshaft internal combustion engine wherein the balance shaft is driven from the crankshaft and is disposed within the crankcase chamber and is disposed below the axis of rotation of the crankshaft. The balance shaft is driven from an end of the crankshaft and is journalled, at least in part, by a detachable crankshaft journaling member.

This invention relates to a balancer shaft for a four cycle engine and more particularly to an improved mounting structure for such a shaft.
It is well known that reciprocating engines generate certain forces which should be balanced to provide smooth running. One way in which these forces are balanced is by providing a balancing shaft having eccentric masses which is driven by the crankshaft and which rotates at the same speed as the crankshaft but in an opposite direction. Although such balancing shafts have high utility and provide smooth running engines, the addition of a further shaft to the engine crankshaft complicates and enlarges the overall construction of the engine.
Conventionally it has been the practice to locate the balance shafts on the side of the engine crankshaft so as to avoid any increase in height of the overall engine. It is undesirable for a number of reasons to increase the height of the engine. An increase in height not only raises the center of gravity in the overall vehicle but also precludes the use of low hood lines which are important for aerodynamic reasons.
When the balance shaft is employed in a four cycle internal combustion engine additional problems arise. For instance, if the balancer shaft is located at a distance away from the crankshaft, the intermediate area, that area between the crankshaft and the balance shaft, will be subject to the vibrations caused by the imbalance. The vibrations are then translated into other components causing both vibrations and noise, both of which are undesirable. Another problem arises when the balance shaft is located in the oil collection region of the oil pan. When the rotating balance shaft contacts the oil, the oil will froth which could potentially cause damage to the oil pump.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide an improved balance shaft mounting arrangement for an internal combustion engine.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a balance shaft mounting arrangement that does not increase the overall height of the engine.
It is yet a further object to this invention to provide an improved balance shaft arrangement for a four cycle engine wherein the balance shaft rotates within the crankcase chamber and is positioned closely adjacent to the crankshaft.


A video signal detection circuit of the present invention is provided with a trapping circuit which traps frequencies corresponding to color sub-carrier wave signal components and which is disposed between a phase comparing circuit and a voltage controlled oscillation circuit in a PLL circuit performing synchronous detection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video signal detection circuit and a video signal processing device, and, more specifically, relates to a video signal detection circuit for PLL synchronous detection which suppresses leakage onto a picture plane of so called C/S beat signals representing beat components of color sub-carrier waves and sound carrier waves in an intermediate frequency amplifier circuit (IF circuit) of a video signal processing device, such as a TV receiver or a VTR.
2. Background Art
In a video signal processing device such as a TV receiver or a VTR, intermediate frequency signals (IF signals) which are transmitted from a tuner in response to channel selection are normally received by a video signal detection circuit by a SAW filter (a comb filter). In this device, there are two methods for separating video signals from the sound signals. In one method, respective SAW filters for the video relating signals and for the sound relating signals are provided and these signals are separated at the IF stage, and in the other method the video relating signals and the sound relating signals are received by a common single SAW filter and the sound signal components are separated by a band pass filter (BPF) and transmitted to a sound detection circuit after video signal detection.
On the other hand, at the detection output of the video signal detection circuit other than luminance signals and chroma signals such as sound carrier wave signals of 4.5 MHz and C/S beat signals representing the beat of the sound signals and the chroma signals as explained above, for example a beat component normally of 920 kHz in an NTSC system, are generated. Since reproduced picture images are likely to suffer from video disturbance by the C/S beat signals, the sound relating signals are normally attenuated by about several tens of dB with respect to the video relating signals so as to suppress the C/S beats. In particular, since the frequency of the voice sound carrier waves of 4.5 MHz is high, these components are removed after the video signal detection with the provision of a trapping circuit.
In the former method in which the two separate SAW filters are provided, since the sound relating signals and the video relating signals are separated from each other, an advantage that the influence of the C/S beat signals is suppressed accordingly is obtained; however, the number of circuits which are to be formed into ICs is increased correspondingly to thereby increase the cost thereof. On the other hand, in the latter method in which the single common SAW filter is provided, the circuit scale thereof is reduced to thereby realize a system of a low cost, however, since sound signals flow through the video signal detection circuit, C/S beat signals are generated and the generated C/S beat signals appear on the picture plane which poses a problem of reducing the picture quality. In particular, in a case of a video signal detection circuit for a PLL synchronous system, since phase detection outputs are returned to a PLL, the circuit is more likely affected by the C/S beat signals in comparison with other detection systems.

Video signal detection circuit and video signal processing device


Position calculating methods and devices are described. Satellite information may be calculated, which includes satellite position, satellite movement speed, and satellite movement direction of a positioning satellite. A pseudo distance between the positioning satellite and a user may be calculated based on a satellite signal received from the positioning satellite. The position of the user may be calculated using the satellite information and the pseudo distance in executing a convergence calculation with positioning information for a reference satellite, thereby eliminating a time error term from unknown quantities.

The present invention relates to position calculating methods and devices.
A position calculating device using GPS (global positioning system) may be integrated into a mobile phone, a car navigation apparatus, or the like.
A position calculating device may calculate its own position by performing a predetermined position calculation using the position as an unknown quantity. This calculation may be based on satellite positions, satellite speeds, satellite movement directions, and pseudo distances from GPS satellites to the position calculating device. In addition, an error is included in the calculated pseudo distance due to bias of the clock provided in the position calculating device. Since it can be difficult to correct the clock bias, it is common to perform the position calculation under conditions in which the clock bias is also included as an unknown quantity.
Because such errors relate to the clock, there is not only the clock bias, but also an error (hereinafter, referred to as a "time error") included in the time that is counted. Regarding the position of a satellite required when calculating the pseudo distance, the time that is counted serves as the reference. For this reason, when the position of a satellite deviates due to a time error, the pseudo distance becomes inaccurate and this affects the accuracy of the calculated position. Japanese Patent Application No. JP-T-2004-518135 discloses a method of calculating the position under conditions in which a time error is considered.
One known way to address the issue of time error is by synchronization with a received GPS satellite signal. This may be satisfactory when the receiving intensity of a satellite signal is sufficiently strong. However, when the position calculating device is located, for example, within a building, the intensity of a received signal may be weak. Accordingly, it may be difficult in such instances to acquire the accurate time information by synchronization with a GPS satellite signal. For this reason, in some cases it may be difficult to perform accurate position calculations because accurate time cannot be acquired.

Position calculating method and position calculating device


The present invention provides a PEG-ACS/M-siRNA nanocomposite application, and method for reducing the histamine content during fishmeal storage thereof. A small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) is designed and prepared according to a histidine decarboxylase gene of Morganella morganii (Morganella morganii subsp. morganii KT), and the histidine decarboxylase gene has a sequence of SEQ ID No: 1. A PEG-ACS/M-siRNA nanocomposite is prepared by using a PEGylated arginine-modified chitosan as a carrier. A PEG-ACS/M-siRNA nanocomposite is added to fishmeal in a certain ratio. The method for reducing the histamine content during fishmeal storage has a significant inhibitory effect on the histamine content during fishmeal storage, and can reduce the histamine content in fishmeal by 49%-53%, which has great significance for the control of biogenic amines in fishmeal in the feed industry.

Fishmeal is a powder obtained by way of processing the whole fish or fish waste as raw materials via steaming, pressing, dehydrating, degreasing, drying, crushing and the like. As a high-quality animal protein feedstuff, fishmeal has a crude protein content of more than 55% and is rich in essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins. In addition, fishmeal also contains a large number of "unknown growth factors" which can promote animal growth, thus playing an important role in feed production. However, during the process of storage, the abundant histidine in the fishmeal undergoes decarboxylation under the action of histidine decarboxylase to form histamine, which is highly toxic to animals. Studies show that Morganella morganii has a high histidine decarboxylase activity and is the main spoilage species for the formation of histamine in fishmeal. Therefore, the inhibition of the expression of histidine decarboxylase of Morganella morganii is an effective way to inhibit the formation of histamine in fishmeal.
Histamine, as a biogenic amine, can interact with receptors on the cell membrane and thus cause histamine poisoning. The derivative of histamine called gizzerosine has 100 times the pathogenic ability than that of histamine. It is reported that 2.2 mg/kg of gizzerosine can stimulate the gastric acid secretion in poultry to cause stomach diseases and cause liver damage in fish. At present, the main methods for reducing histamine in fishmeal include irradiation, as well as the improvement of processing and storage conditions. These methods have the disadvantages of high operation requirements, high cost and ineffective effects, and are difficult to apply and popularize in production. Therefore, an efficient, simple, practical and safe method to reduce the histamine content in fishmeal has important significance for the feed industry.
The RNA interference technology is to block the gene activity of a target-specific gene by homologous double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). According to the principle of base pairing, small-interfering RNA (siRNA) has a high specificity, only interferes with target genes and does not work for other sequences. At present, non-viral vectors of siRNA are mainly cationic liposomes and cationic polymers, such as polyethyleneimine and chitosan. However, both liposome and polyethyleneimine have a high cytotoxicity and toxicity in vivo, while chitosan as a carrier has low efficiency and poor targeting.
In the present invention, the modified chitosan is chosen to be a siRNA transferring carrier in the constructed PEG-ACS/M-siRNA nanocomposite, which can silence the histidine decarboxylase of the main histamine-producing microorganism Morganella morganii by specifically combining with its mRNA according to the principle of base pairing, thereby inhibiting the synthesis of histamine in fishmeal, effectively delaying the decay process of fishmeal during storage, and having broad application prospects.

PEG-ACS/M-siRNA nanocomposite, application thereof, and method for reducing histamine content during fishmeal storage

RONGCHENG HUATONG MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY CO. LTD.


The subject matter disclosed herein includes, inter alia, a method and system which enables to determine the steering-angle between the longitudinal axis of a tractor and the longitudinal axis of an aircraft which is being led by the tractor (referred to herein as “steering-angle” in short). While an aircraft is being led, the steering-angle can be repeatedly calculated and compared to a threshold value defining a mechanical steering limit. In case the comparison complies with one or more predefined conditions (e.g. the steering-angle is equal or smaller the threshold value) a warning can be generated indicating to an operator that the steering-angle has reached (or is about to reach) its limit and should be adjusted accordingly.

When aircrafts (e.g. airplanes) are on the ground, after landing and before takeoff, they are often led from one location to the next in an airport by designated vehicles called tractors or tugs. These vehicles are used to push or pull the aircraft around the airfield. One common example of such aircraft transport is a pushback procedure during which a tractor pushes an aircraft away from an airport gate. Aircrafts are also pushed and/or pulled for various other maintenance purposes.
Tractors dedicated for leading aircrafts often comprise a low profile platform designed in order to fit under the aircraft's underbelly and connect to the aircraft near the aircraft's nose landing gear (NLG) and in some cases under the aircraft's NLG.
While an aircraft is being led (pushed or pulled) by a tractor, steering of the tractor results in a steering-angle between the body of the tractor and the body of the aircraft. Over-steering may occur when the steering-angle exceeds the given mechanical limits and may result in damage to the aircraft.
There is therefore a need in the art for a system and method which enable to monitor the steering-angle, and alert an operator before over-steering occurs.
Published documents considered to be relevant as background to the presently disclosed subject matter are listed below. Acknowledgement of the documents herein is not to be inferred as meaning that these are in any way relevant to the patentability of the presently disclosed subject matter.
U.S. Application Publication No. 2005196256A discloses an early warning system for a tractor operator engaged in towing or pushing an aircraft, and includes two ultrasonic sensors that are used to create a detection area in which the aircraft should be present when the steering-angle is well within a safe range. When one of the detectors fails to detect the presence of the aircraft, then the operator is alerted, before over-steering can occur, in order that corrective action can be undertaken. Accordingly, complex distance-measuring algorithms can be avoided as can the requirement that an aircraft fuselage have a specially modified detection region.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,125 discloses that a wheeled vehicle has a source of collimated radiation which directs a beam on a surface of the aircraft having at least two significantly different collimated radiation reflecting areas (e.g. a light material arc bounded by dark material marks). In response to radiation from the collimated beam, or lack thereof, reflected from the surface of the aircraft back to a receiver on the wheeled vehicle, it can be determined if the nose wheel steering-angle is within an acceptable range. Two beam sources and receivers may be provided, and other information-such as the size of the aircraft may also be calculated. An indicator or device for initiating corrective action may be provided to respond to insufficient reflected radiation received by the receiver.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Monitoring of steering-angle during aircraft transport


The present invention relates to a method and system for calculating eating bites of a user. The method comprises: (a) continuously measuring the electrical properties data of mastication of a user for a predetermined period of time; (b) periodically determining single eating bites according to the data obtained in step (a) through a time interval; (c) periodically storing the bites determined throughout the predetermined period of time, through a time interval.

In neuroscience, different practices have been developed for detecting neural activity in a living brain. One such practice is electroencephalography (EEG), which measures electrical signals generated by the brain's neurons, via a multitude of electrodes placed on a subject's scalp. The neural signals are transmitted by wires to an EEG monitoring system that records the neural signals, and generates data about the signal variation in time, which data can be further analyzed and possibly also displayed. EEG enables high temporal resolution, in the order of milliseconds, and is therefore useful for detecting quick changes in the electrical activity of the brain.
A large percent of the western population suffer from behavioral disorders related to eating and overweight. The terms "overweight" and "obesity" refer to body weight that is greater than what is considered healthy for a certain height. Millions of people worldwide are overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese puts the individual at risk for many health problems. The more body fat that an individual has and the more the individual weighs (e.g above the defined healthy), the more likely the individual is to develop: Coronary heart disease, High blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, Gallstones, Breathing problems and other health problems.
Overweight is a result of many factors. These factors include environment, family history and genetics, metabolism (the way the body changes food and oxygen into energy), behavior or habits, and more. Even though it is very important to keep up with healthy lifestyle habits in relation to eating, it is still somewhat of a challenge for many people. Reaching and staying at a healthy weight is a long-term challenge for people who are overweight or obese. It has been shown that physical monitoring of the body or portions thereof in real time, that includes various types of measurements applied and the analysis of the measurements can assist people in improving their health.
Many have changed their undesired habits regarding their physical activities, according to feedback received from the monitoring means. One example is the use of fitness tracking devices—like the Fitbit, Jawbone and Apple Watch which counts the individual steps of a user throughout the day. Another example is the use of Blood Glucose Monitors, like A1CNow SELFCHECK and EvenCare® G2 Glucose Meters. The real time aspect of the feedback was found to be crucial for the behavioral change in various aspects of life domains. For example, McCaig R G, Dixon M, Keramatian K, Liu I, Christoff K. "Improved modulation of rostrolateral prefrontal cortex using real-time fMRI training and meta-cognitive awareness", Neuroimage, 2011 Apr. 1; 55(3):1298-305, found that participants that used a feedback application to guide their thoughts, significantly improved their ability to control their thoughts and were successfully able to perform certain mental tasks. In contrast, participants given inaccurate or no brain feedback did not achieve any improvement in brain regulation.
Another example is the growing use of EEG neurofeednack for the purpose of attention training for ADHD children and adults. In a comparison study neurofeedback was found as effective as methylphenidate medication at treating the attentional and hyperactivity symptoms of ADHD in children and adolescents (6 to 18 years). Nezla S Duric, Jorg Assmus, Doris Gundersen and Irene B Elgen, "Neurofeedback for the treatment of children and adolescents with ADHD: a randomized and controlled clinical trial using parental reports", BMC Psychiatry, 2012, 12:107, and "A recent randomized controlled trial with six-month follow up" by Servera Meisel, Garcia-Banda G, Cardo E, Moreno I., Reprint of "Neurofeedback and standard pharmacological intervention in ADHD: a randomized controlled trial with six-month follow-up", Biol Psychol. 2014 January; 95:116-25, found that immediately following neurofeedback treatment, maternal ratings for both groups (EEG neurofeedback and medication) indicated significant reductions in inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms; suggesting the EEG neurofeedback as a powerful, uninvasive promising tool to change behavior.
However, the prior art does not provide a sufficient feedback that can aid food consumption controlling.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and means for measuring electrical signals indicating eating disorders.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and means for analyzing the measured signals and providing intervention treatment accordingly in order to overcome eating disorders of a subject.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Method and system for analyzing neural and muscle activity in a subject's head for the detection of mastication


Evanescent wave scattering by a scanning probe in a scanning probe microscope is utilized to determine and monitor separation between a scanning probe and a sample. A laser light is totally internally reflected at the interface between a more optically dense (incident) medium and less optically dense (transmitting) medium, exciting a decaying evanescent field in the less optically dense medium. A scanning probe, such as a colloidal probe, is dipped into the evanescent field, which scatters off the scanning probe. The portion of the scattered field propagates back into the incident medium and is then detected by a detector. A dependency between the intensity of the scattered evanescent field and the separation between the probe and the incident medium was measured and used in determining the separation. This dependency of intensity is used to prepare images or maps of interfaces. A particular application of determining the separation between the probe and the sample in an atomic force microscope is disclosed.

The present invention relates to use of scattered evanescent electromagnetic field for direct distance measurements. More specifically, the present invention relates to using evanescent electromagnetic field generated by total internal reflection for measuring separation between a sample and a probe in a scanning probe microscope.
One of the first techniques developed to measure surface forces of a sample was the development of the Surface Force Apparatus (SFA) in the 1970s which led to the first accurate measurement of many of such forces An SFA employs an interferometer using Fringes of Equal Chromatic Order (FECO). The distance between the silver-coated back-sides of mica sheets is determined from the wavelength of constructive interference for light in the gap between the silver layers. If one assumes that the thickness and refractive index of the mica sheets is constant throughout the measurement, then the thickness of a film intervening between the mica sheets can be measured using the wavelength at that thickness, and a three-layer optical model. The existence of a convenient wavelength standard (e.g. a mercury lamp) is a critical advantage for an interferometric technique such as FECO. The spectrometer wavelength can be frequently calibrated so that an absolute comparison can be made between wavelength measurement when the two mica sheets are in contact and the wavelength when there is an intervening film. In this sense, the SFA separation axis gives the absolute distance between mica sheets in some reference 'contact' position and all subsequent positions. Specifically, even after the adsorption of a thin film to the mica surface, the force can still be measured as a function of the separation between the mica sheets.
Scanning probe microscopes are the tools often used to profile a surface of a sample at an atomic level by approaching the surface with a probe and measuring tunneling currents or force between the tip of the probe and the surface. The tip of the probe may interact with the surface via a variety of surface effects, such as electron tunneling, interatomic forces, capacitive coupling, friction forces, magnetic forces, van der Waals forces, electrostatic double layer forces and other electrostatic forces, hydration forces, frictional forces, and oscillatory packing forces.
An Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), which is one of the types of the scanning probe microscopes, emerged in early 1990s as a as a valuable technique for surface force measurements, particularly when employed with a large spherical colloidal particle (r˜3 μm) attached to the force sensor. In an AFM, the probe is attached to a flexible cantilever or a spring, which in turn is attached to the force sensor. The probe can be a sharp tip (with the end radius of about 30 nm) or a spherical colloidal particle (with a radius of about 3 μm) which moves above the surface. If the cantilever control mechanism is constructed so that the force acting on the probe from the interaction with the surface remains constant, the probe will closely follow the profile of the surface. By detecting the motion of the cantilever (for example by detecting the reflection of a laser beam directed at it) it is therefore possible to determine the profile of the surface at the atomic level. These methods are known in the pertinent art and their details are beyond the scope of this invention.
Compared to the use of a sharp AFM tip, force measurement with a spherical colloidal particle (the colloid probe technique) improves the signal to noise ratio, and the known geometry allows the interpretation of results in terms of the energy per unit area, which is the intensive property used to compare forces in different geometries. The colloidal probe technique has many advantages including the ease of use of the instrument; the availability of AFMs in many research labs and the ability to measure forces on a variety of materials, including large colloidal particles and low probability of encountering contamination, as compared to the SFA technique. This latter advantage arises from the fact that the interacting area is about 104 times smaller in a Colloidal Probe measurement than in an SFA measurement.
It should be noted that there is no explicit measurement of the separation between the probe and the surface in an AFM colloidal probe measurement. The colloidal particle is attached to one end of a spring and the other end of the spring (the fixed end) is driven by a piezoelectric crystal (the piezo-drive) toward an interface while the deflection is monitored. Instead of a piezoelectric crystal, a different type of electromechanical transducer may be used as long as it is capable of transforming an electronic signal into a mechanical displacement. Zero force is established from the deflection of the spring far from contact where there is zero gradient in the curve of deflection versus piezo-drive displacement or distance, as shown by the force profiles in FIGS. 1A and 1B discussed below. Hereinafter, the piezo-drive distance means the distance between a probe and a sample inferred from the signal applied to the piezo-drive. Contact with the surface is inferred from the shape of the force curve. The contact between the colloidal probe and the other solid is assumed to occur when the slope of a curve of deflection versus piezo-drive distance is constant (the constant compliance regime). This assumption is based on the idea that surface forces are seldom changed linearly with distance, and that the interacting objects are rigid, so that they do not deform during the interaction. A linear spring is a spring producing a linear force, i.e., the force that is proportional to displacement, the coefficient of proportionality is called the spring constant. When all other components that connect the interacting surfaces are rigid, the load on the probe consists of only the linear AFM spring and the non-linear surface force. If the compound force is linear, either the surface force is zero, meaning that the particle is far away from the surface or the net surface force gradient is large (i.e., much larger than the spring constant of the cantilever), which would occur at contact. When the particle is far from the sample, the region of constant compliance is assumed to be where hard contact occurs between the solids.
In principle, the contact position in the AFM could be referenced to a standard position of the piezo-drive and a standard deflection of the cantilever. In practice, the contact position is measured on each force-separation curve. This leads to ambiguity when comparing force-separation runs under different conditions of the probe, surface, and the medium between them. The reason for establishing the zero on each force-separation run is that changes in the dimensions of equipment components due to fluctuations in the temperature (thermal drift) make it very inconvenient to produce a standard deflection of the cantilever or a standard position of the fixed end of the cantilever.
In AFM measurements, the constant compliance regime is also used to calibrate the deflection of the spring. The spring deflection is usually measured using the light-lever technique. A change in the end slope of the spring under an applied force produces a change in the angle of a laser beam reflected from the end of the cantilever. This change in angle causes a large displacement of the reflected beam if the displacement is measured far from the spring. The displacement of the reflected beam is calibrated by placing the colloidal probe in contact with a solid that is much stiffer than the cantilever spring. When the piezo-drive is used to reduce the separation between the fixed end of the spring and the solid sample, the deflection of the free end of the cantilever is equal to the distance moved by the piezo-drive if the solid is infinitely stiff. If the solid is known to be compliant, then the calibration must be performed independently on a stiff sample.
FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of force measurement data obtained in a traditional colloid probe AFM experiment. These particular forces were measured between a borosilicate glass particle and a fused silica surface in an aqueous 0.9 mM (millimolar or millimole per liter) hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) solution.
FIG. 1A shows non-calibrated dependence of deflection of a cantilever on distance of the probe from the surface. The deflection was measured using a spring-mounted lever. The deflection in region 1 (far from the surface) is defined to correspond to zero force. Region 2, where the slope is constant, is defined to be zero separation. This region is also used to calibrate the deflection of the cantilever. Note that in region 3, the slope is very nearly constant but the separation is not zero.
FIG. 1B shows calibrated deflection versus separation data obtained using FIG. 1A. The force is the deflection times a spring constant. The shape of the force curve in region 3 is obtained from the very small difference between the slopes in regions 2 and 3.
In summary, in FIGS. 1A and 1B the region of constant compliance is used both to determine the zero of distance and to calibrate the deflection of the cantilever. Problems arise when certain made assumptions are violated, the wrong region is chosen, or when the data collection error in this region is too large. An example of the wrong region is region 3 in FIGS. 1A and 1B, where the slope is almost constant, but a smaller separation was later achieved. The sudden discontinuities in FIG. 1A (at distance of about 60 nm and deflection of about 0) and FIG. 1B (at about 3.5 nm) make it clear that the solids are not touching in region 3. The data presented in FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate that there is no unique method for uniquely identifying contact between the interfaces with a region of constant compliance. This is particularly problematic if the aim of the experiment is to determine the effect of an adsorbate on the surface force.
The Total Internal Reflection Microscopy (TIRM) technique was developed at about the same time as the colloidal probe technique to measure the relative energy of the particle at various separations. TIRM can be used to obtain the energy-separation profile of a colloidal particle that is unencumbered by a cantilever spring. The particle can rotate and translate, and over time will adopt a distribution of states with a frequency that is determined by the energy through the Boltzmann distribution. Thus, the TIRM technique measures the frequency-separation histogram, which is then used to determine the relative energy of the particle at various separations; there is no explicit measurement of force.
Total internal reflection is based on the following phenomenon. Electromagnetic radiation or an electromagnetic wave (for example, light) propagating in a medium, such as vacuum, a gas, a liquid, or a solid, may encounter a location where the medium interfaces another medium with different electromagnetic properties. Upon encountering this interface a portion of the incident radiation crosses the interface into the second medium and the remainder of the incident radiation propagates within the first medium in a different direction; this remainder is commonly called reflected radiation or reflected wave. Consider two uniform media separated by a plane with indices of refraction n1 and n2, respectively and imagine a line perpendicular or normal to the plane. When an electromagnetic wave approaches the planar interface from the first media at an angle θi to the line normal to the plane (called the angle of incidence), a portion of the wave enters the second media from the first at the angle θ2 to this normal line (called the angle of refraction). These angles are related by Snell's law (also called the refraction law): n1 sin θi=n2 sin θ2. As may be seen from this equation, when n1>n2, above a certain angle of incidence θi there is no angle of refraction θ2 that would fit the equation, because the value of sine is less or equal than one for any real angle θ2. At the angles above a certain angle of incidence (called critical angle) no portion of electromagnetic wave crosses the interface between the media, but the incident radiation is totally reflected back to the n1 medium, the phenomenon known as total internal reflection (TIR),
Direct measurement of a separation between the probe and the surface in a scanning probe microscope, such as an AFM, would have removed existing ambiguities from surface force measurements and would have allowed monitoring the forces at a known constant separation and exercising a much greater control over the position of the probe in the AFM applications.

Method and apparatus for evanescent filed measuring of particle-solid separation

Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.


An air cycle machine (10) has a first stage turbine (60) mounted to a central portion of a common shaft (12), a compressor (50) mounted to the central portion of the shaft (12), a second stage turbine (30) mounted to a first end of the shaft (12), and a fan (40) mounted to a second end of the shaft (12), all for rotation therewith about a longitudinal axis (14). The first and second stage turbines (60, 30) are operative to extract energy from a flow of compressed air for driving the shaft (12), and the fan (40) and the compressor (50), in rotation about the axis (14). A bypass air discharge nozzle (20) is disposed coaxially with the turbine shroud (32) of the outboard turbine (30) at the outlet (134) thereof or downstream thereof at the discharge end (38) of the turbine diffuser (36) so as to receive in a central region the turbine exhaust (3 ) discharging from the turbine (30) and to define an annular flow inlet (28) through which a flow of bypass air (5) is directed into an outer circumferential region thereof to flow substantially parallel to and about the cooled expanded conditioning air exhaust flow (3) discharged from the turbine (30).

Conventional aircraft environmental control systems incorporate a turbomachine, commonly referred to as an air cycle machine or an air cycle cooling machine, for use in cooling and dehumidifying air for supply to the aircraft cabin for occupant comfort. Such air cycle machines may comprise two, three or four wheels, including at least one compressor and at least one turbine, disposed at axially spaced intervals along a common shaft. The turbine or turbines, as the case may be, extract energy from a working fluid passing therethrough for driving the compressor and any other wheels mounted to the shaft, such as a fan or an additional compressor. The three wheels are supported for rotation about the axis of the shaft on one or more bearing assemblies disposed about the drive shaft, such as a pair of spaced bearing assemblies, one bearing assembly disposed intermediate each pair of adjacent spaced wheels. Although the bearing assemblies may be ball bearings or the like, hydrodynamic film bearings, such as gas film foil bearings, are often utilized on state-of-the-art air cycle machines.
On aircraft powered by turbine engines, the air to be conditioned in the air cycle machine is typically compressed air bled from one or more of the compressor stages of the turbine engine. In conventional systems, this bleed air is passed through the air cycle machine compressor wherein it is further compressed, thence passed through a condensing heat exchanger to cool the compressed air sufficiently to condense moisture therefrom thereby dehumidifying the air before expanding the dehumidified compressed air in the turbine or turbines, as the case may be, of the air cycle machine to both extract energy from the compressed air so as to drive the shaft and also to cool the expanded turbine exhaust air for use as the cooling fluid in the aforementioned condensing heat exchanger before it is supplied to the cabin as conditioned cooling air. The compressed bleed air being supplied to the compressor of the air cycle machine is typically precooled by passing it through a precooling heat exchanger in heat exchange relationship with ambient air drawn through the precooling heat exchanger by the fan of the air cycle machine.
As aircraft environmental control systems must be capable of delivering conditioned air to the aircraft passenger and crew cabins over a wide range of operating conditions, it is necessary during portions of the operational envelope to bypass a portion of the working fluid bled to the system about the turbine, or at least one turbine in multi-stage turbine machines, and thereafter readmit the bypass fluid with the turbine exhaust, i.e. that portion of the working fluid passed through the turbine. For example, in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,867, there is disclosed an air cycle refrigeration system for cooling and ventilating an aircraft enclosure wherein provision is made for bypassing a portion of the system working fluid, i.e. compressed air bled from the aircraft engine compressor, about the turbine of a three wheel air cycle machine under certain operating conditions, and thereafter readmitting this bypass air into the turbine exhaust being directed to the aircraft enclosure at a point downstream of the turbine. In this system, a portion of relatively warm air may be bypassed around both the compressor and turbine of the air cycle machine and subsequently remixed therewith at a location downstream of the turbine and upstream of a cabin air recirculation heat exchanger so as to raise the temperature of the mixed air stream sufficiently to prevent icing in the cabin air recirculation heat exchanger.
The environmental control system disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,622 operates in a condensing cycle mode, employing a four wheel air cycle having a first stage turbine and a second stage turbine, which together serve to extract energy from the system working fluid, again engine compressor bleed air, and condition the working fluid for supply to the aircraft enclosure. Water vapor is removed from the compressed air before it is expanded in the first turbine by passing the incoming air through a condensing heat exchanger in heat exchange relationship with the chilled exhaust from the first turbine so as to condense moisture from the incoming air. After passing through the condensing heat exchanger, the first turbine exhaust, having been warmed via absorption of the heat given up by the condensing water vapor, is expanded through the second turbine. Under certain operating conditions, a portion of the working fluid is bypassed about the second turbine and thereafter remixed with the exhaust from the second turbine being directed to the aircraft enclosure at a location downstream of the second turbine. Commonly, the relatively warm bypass air has been perpendicularly introduced into the chilled turbine exhaust downstream of the turbine outlet so as to create flow turbulence in order to facilitate mixing of the bypass air with the turbine exhaust air. While effective in improving mixing, such perpendicular bypass air introduction is often accompanied by undesirable noise generated by the flow turbulence during the mixing of the flow streams.
Under some operating conditions, the turbine exhaust may be cooled to such a point that residual moisture remaining in air supplied thereto condenses on the walls of the turbine outlet shroud and outlet duct work upstream of the location of the admission of the turbine bypass air, thereby causing undesirable icing on such upstream surfaces. One method of addressing icing of the turbine outlet shroud and downstream exhaust ductwork is to pass a flow of relatively warm air over the external surfaces of the shroud and the turbine exhaust ductwork. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,406 discloses an air cycle environmental control system wherein a first portion of the relatively warm bleed air being supplied to the compressor of the air cycle machine is first passed over the outside of the turbine outlet shroud to heat the shroud before being supplied to the air cycle machine compressor. A second portion of the relatively warm bleed air being supplied to the compressor of the air cycle machine bypasses the air cycle machine altogether and is passed into a plenum chamber disposed about the turbine exhaust duct, thereby heating the outside surface of the wall of the turbine exhaust downstream. The bypass air admitted to this plenum chamber is vented therefrom into the turbine exhaust air immediately upstream of a condensing heat exchanger disposed downstream of the turbine outlet through which the chilled turbine exhaust passes in heat exchange relationship with the compressed bleed air being passed to the turbine for expansion therein.


A method for controlling a display means on board a motor vehicle, characterized in that it includes: a first step of determining the presence of a disruption in front of the vehicle, in which it is checked that at least one parameter representative of the presence of a disruption in front of the vehicle meets at least one predetermined condition; a second step of developing a display order that is triggered when the predetermined conditions are met, and in which an order to display a pictogram representative of the disruption on the display means is transmitted by an electronic control unit.

Vehicles on the road may stop, or at least slow down substantially, for various reasons including the observation of regulatory signage, for example a stop sign or a red light, or else the presence of a disruption in front of the vehicle.
The disruption in front of the vehicle may be formed by:                road users crossing the road, such as pedestrians, cyclists, other motor vehicles or animals;        the presence of an obstruction on the road;        the presence of weather conditions substantially reducing visibility for the driver, such as fog or heavy rain.
Regulatory signs are generally arranged so as to be sufficiently visible on the roads that they can be seen from following vehicles when a first vehicle stops.
However, in the case of a disruption in front of the vehicle, it can happen that the first slowing or stopping vehicle masks the presence of the disruption from the drivers of following vehicles. In some cases, the following drivers may be tempted to overtake the vehicle that is slowing or stopping, unaware of the presence of the disruption. Such a situation is therefore particularly dangerous.

Method for controlling the automatic display of a pictogram representative of the presence of a disruption in front of the vehicle


A first shaft has one end coupled to an engine. A damper has a spring coupled the other end of the first shaft. A second shaft has one end coupled to the spring. A third shaft rotates in correspondence to a final output shaft. A fourth shaft has one end coupled to a first rotary electric machine. A power split mechanism is provided among the second shaft, the third shaft and the fourth shaft and transfers torque among the second shaft, the third shaft and the fourth shaft. A control unit calculates a torque correction value for the rotary electric machine based on information indicating torsion angle of the damper and corrects the torque of the rotary electric machine based on a calculated torque correction value.

A torque transfer system is used conventionally to transfer torque of an internal combustion engine or a rotary electric machine to an axle (drive shaft) of a hybrid vehicle. In a torque transfer system disclosed in patent document (JP-B-3958220), for example, a torsional damper is provided between a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine and a power split mechanism. The torsional damper reduces transfer of torque variation of the crankshaft, which is transferred to the power split mechanism.
In the torque transfer system according to the patent document, the torque variation of the crankshaft often increases when rotation of the internal combustion engine is not stable, particularly when the internal combustion engine is started for example. When the torque variation increases, the torsional damper tends to clatter or clatter and the gears of the power split mechanism hit each other generating tooth hammer sound. The torque transfer system therefore controls the torque of the rotary electric machine, which is coupled to the torsional damper through the power split mechanism, in accordance with the torque variation of the crankshaft so that the torque variation and the tooth hammer sound is reduced.
The torque transfer system according to the patent document estimates the torque variation of the crankshaft based on a map data, which is determined in accordance with an angular position of the crankshaft and a coolant temperature of the engine. The torque transfer system controls the torque of the rotary electric machine based on the estimated torque variation thereby to reduce the torque variation of the crankshaft and the tooth hammer sound of the power split mechanism. The power split mechanism sometimes generates the tooth hammer sound, when an actual torque variation exceeds the estimated torque variation or increases excessively because of resonance in such an occasion as an irregular operation of the internal combustion engine. It is generally not possible to estimate or detect in real time the torque variation of the crankshaft. If a torque meter or the like, which can detect the torque variation in real time, is used, it will add cost.


There is provided a subminiature imaging optical system utilizing only three sheets of lenses having positive, negative and positive refractive powers, respectively. The subminiature imaging optical system comprising, sequentially from an object side: a first lens having a meniscus shape with a convex object-side surface, the first lens having at least one aspherical surface and positive refractive power; a second lens having a meniscus shape with a convex image-side surface, the second lens having at least one spherical surface and negative refractive power; and a third lens having both surfaces formed of an aspherical surface and having positive refractive power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a subminiature imaging optical system, and more particularly, to a subminiature imaging optical system installed in a mobile communication terminal and a personal digital assistant (PDA) or utilized in a surveillance camera and a digital camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, mobile communication terminals had only functions of basic communication at their incipient stage. However, with increased use, the mobile communication terminals are required to have diversified functions ranging from photographing to image transmission and video communication, continuously evolving in their functions and services. Recently, a new expanded concept of mobile communication terminal by integrating digital camera technology with mobile phone technology, i.e., so called camera phones or camera mobile phones are significantly attracting attention.
In particular, the imaging optical system mounted on the camera phone is not only required to be miniaturized, light-weight and low-cost, but also have high resolution since the pixel size of an image sensor formed of a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) used in the imaging optical system is decreasing.
In order to satisfy miniaturization and low cost, the imaging optical system mounted on a small device such as a mobile phone needs to have lenses of as small a number as possible, but this restricts a degree of freedom in designing and undermines the optical capabilities.
Meanwhile, the imaging optical system may employ lenses formed of glass and plastic, respectively to achieve better optical capabilities and aberrational corrections. This construction may satisfy high pixel requirements, but degrades color definition due to increase in chromatic aberration. Besides, this renders the imaging optical system hardly miniaturizable enough to suit consumer's needs.
In addition, the conventional imaging optical system formed of lenses having positive, negative and positive refractive powers allows chromatic aberration and other aberrations to be corrected relatively easily but requires highly precise machining owing to the lenses formed of all aspherical surfaces.


Disclosed herein are systems and methods for managing exceptions to orders collected by autonomous vehicles. The exemplary systems may be configured to receive an indication of an exception that at least one item for an order cannot be collected with a first autonomous vehicle carrying a container associated with the order and determine a reconfigured path for the first vehicle responsive to receiving the indication of the exception. The reconfigured path may include a stop at a storage location configured to store containers associated with the exception. The systems may be configured to receive an indication that the container was removed from the first vehicle and deposited at the storage location, transmit an instruction to a second autonomous vehicle to collect the at least one item for the order, and receive an indication that the at least one item has been matched with the container deposited at the storage location.

Inventory management systems are typically configured to manage customer orders for products in a warehouse or a store. Warehouses can be arranged such that human pickers and/or autonomous vehicles can access and collect items for orders in an efficient manner. Customer orders can include orders by individual purchasers with single-packaged items or orders by businesses with bulk packaged items (e.g., multiple items packaged together).

Systems and methods for managing exceptions to orders collected by autonomous vehicles


The present invention relates to antibodies that specifically bind to human BNP and immunoassays using said antibodies in the quantification of human BNP or a fragment of human BNP in a test sample.

Atrial natriuretic peptide (hereinafter referred to as "ANP"), brain natriuretic peptide (hereinafter referred to as "BNP"), C-type natriuretic peptide (hereinafter referred to as "CNP") and Dendroaspis natriuretic peptide (hereinafter referred to as "DNP") are each members of a family of hormones known as "natriuretic peptides". ANP and BNP share a wide spectrum of biological properties and belong to the cardiac natriuretic system. Both ANP and BNP are of myocardial cell origin while CNP is of endothelial cell origin. DNP was isolated from the venom of the green mamba snake and possesses structural similarity to ANP, BNP and CNP.
BNP received its name because it was first isolated from porcine brain, thus "BNP" stood for "brain natriuretic peptide". However, because BNP belongs to the cardiac natriuretic system, "brain" has been changed to "B-type". Therefore, "BNP" now refers to "B-type natriuretic peptide".
ANP is secreted by the heart in the atria. BNP is secreted by the heart through the coronary sinus, predominantly from the cardiac ventricles. BNP is secreted as a 108 amino acid polypeptide precursor (See Valli et al., J. Lab. Clin. Med., 134(5):437-444 (November 1999)). The mature form of BNP is made up of 32 amino acids (representing amino acids 77-108 of the 108 amino acid polypeptide precursor) with a 17 amino acid ring closed by a disulfide bond between two cysteine residues, an amino-terminal tail of 9 amino acids, and a carboxyl-terminal tail of 6 amino acids. ANP and CNP also have a 17 amino acid ring closed by a disulfide bond between two cysteine residues. Eleven of the seventeen amino acids in the ring are conserved between the three molecules. In addition to the 17 amino acid ring structure, ANP has an amino-terminal tail of 6 amino acids and a carboxy-terminal tail of 5 amino acids. ANP is produced as a 126 amino acid pro-ANP form that is the major storage form of ANP. After proteolytic cleavage between amino acids 98 and 99, the mature 28 amino acid peptide ANP is found in coronary sinus plasma (See Yandle, J. Internal Med., 235:561-576 (1994)).
CNP is found in the brain and cerebral spinal fluid and is the most prevalent of the three peptides in the central nervous system. Little if any CNP is present in the heart. Pro-CNP is a 103 amino acid peptide that is processed into either CNP-53 (amino acids 51 to 103) or CNP-22 (amino acids 82 to 103) that are the active peptides. In addition the 17 amino acid ring structure, CNP-22 has an amino-terminal tail of 5 amino acids and contains no carboxy-terminal tail. CNP-53 is identical to CNP-22 except for a 31 amino acid extension at the amino terminal end.
As mentioned previously, DNP was isolated from the venom of the green mamba snake. The mature form of DNP is made up of 38 amino acids. DNP-like immunoreactivity (DNP-LI) has been reported in human plasma and the plasma concentration of DNP-LI has been found to be elevated in patients with congestive heart failure (See, Cataliotti, et al., Mayo Clin. Proc., 76:111-1119 (2001)). Additionally, it is also known that the infusion of synthetic DNP results in marked natriuresis and diuresis in association with increased plasma and urinary cyclic guanosine monophosphate. Id.
One of the problems with natural human natriuretic peptides is that they are unstable in plasma and serum. Specifically, enzymes, such as proteases, cleave these peptides. For example, proteases cleave BNP (natural and synthetic) at various locations along its amino acid chain. For example, protease cleavage is known to occur at the amino terminus of BNP between amino acids 2-3 (Shimizu et al., Clinica Chimica Acta, 316:129-135 (2002)) and at its carboxy terminus between amino acids 30-32. Moreover, endopeptidase cleavage of BNP is also known in the art (Davidson and Struthers, J. Hypertension, 12:329-336 (1994)).
The measurement of mature BNP (i.e., the 32 amino acid molecule (amino acids 77-108 of the precursor polypeptide of BNP)) in humans (hereinafter referred to has "Hbnp"), in the general population has been found to reflect cardiac diseases, such as congestive heart failure, ischemic heart diseases, atrial fibrillation and renal dysfunction. In fact, elevated levels of BNP in human plasma has been reported in heart disease, following acute myocardial infarction and during symptomless or subclinical ventricular dysfunction (See Mukoyama et al., J. Clin. Invest., 87:11402-11412 (1991), Motwani et al., Lancet, 341:1109-1113 (1993), Yoshibayashi et al., New Eng. J. Med., 327:434 (1992)). Increased circulating levels of ANP are seen in congestive heart failure, chronic renal failure and in severe hypertension. The presence of CNP in human plasma remains controversial with reports of its absence or presence as CNP-22 (See Yandle, J. Internal Med., 235:561-576 (1994)).
A ligand binding assay is an analytical technique for measuring concentrations of substances commonly referred to as ligands that react selectively with specific binding proteins. Immunoassays that measure the concentrations of antigens that react selectively with specific antibodies are an example of a class of ligand binding assays.
Ligand binding assays, such as immunoassays, for measuring human natriuretic peptides in plasma, particularly Hbnp, are well-known in the art and are commercially available. These immunoassays require the use of at least one or two specific antibodies as well as at least one calibrator and, ideally, at least one control. In addition to the calibrators and controls, immunoassays require the use of at least one test sample. Test samples are normally biological samples derived from serum, plasma, whole blood or other bodily fluids (normally from a human patient). The levels of at least one human natriuretic peptide in the test sample is quantified in the immunoassay.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,902 (hereinafter referred to as the "'902 patent") discloses isolated antibodies that are monospecifically reactive to epitopes 1-10, 5-13 and 15-25 of Hbnp. More particularly, the '902 patent describes two isolated monoclonal antibodies. The first monoclonal antibody is produced by hybridoma cell line 106.3 (ATCC Accession No. HB 12044) and is monospecifically reactive to epitopes 5-13 of Hbnp. The second monoclonal antibody is produced by hybridoma cell line 201.3 (ATCC Accession No. HB 12045) and is monospecifically reactive to epitopes 1-10 of Hbnp. The '902 patent also describes the use of the above antibodies in immunoassays for the purpose of quantifying the amount of HBNP in a biological sample. U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,124 (hereinafter referred to as the "'124 patent") discloses a monoclonal antibody that binds to an epitope having the amino acid sequence of LYS-VAL-LEU-ARG-ARG-HIS (SEQ ID NO:6) that is found in the C-terminal region of Hbnp, namely epitopes 27-32. More particularly, the '124 patent describes a monoclonal antibody produced by hybridoma cell line BC203 (FERM BP-3515). The '124 patent also describes immunoassays for Hbnp using this monoclonal antibody.
As mentioned briefly previously, one of the problems with natural human natriuretic peptides is that these peptides are unstable in plasma and serum. As also mentioned previously, it is known in the art that both natural and synthetic human BNP is subject to protease cleavage at the amino terminus between amino acids 2-3 and at the carboxy terminus between amino acids 30-32. One of the problems with the immunoassays described in the '902 and '124 patents is that if the Hbnp in the test sample is subject to protease cleavage at either or both of the amino or carboxy terminus that the monoclonal antibodies employed in said immunoassays will be unable to detect Hbnp in the test sample. The failure to detect Hbnp in a test sample could result in a missed or incorrect diagnosis. Therefore, there is a need in the art for antibodies that bind to epitopes in human natriuretic peptides, particularly Hbnp, that are not subject to preotease cleavage, as well as for immunoassays that employ said antibodies.


Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention fabricate objects including amorphous metals using techniques akin to additive manufacturing. In one embodiment, a method of fabricating an object that includes an amorphous metal includes: applying a first layer of molten metallic alloy to a surface; cooling the first layer of molten metallic alloy such that it solidifies and thereby forms a first layer including amorphous metal; subsequently applying at least one layer of molten metallic alloy onto a layer including amorphous metal; cooling each subsequently applied layer of molten metallic alloy such that it solidifies and thereby forms a layer including amorphous metal prior to the application of any adjacent layer of molten metallic alloy; where the aggregate of the solidified layers including amorphous metal forms a desired shape in the object to be fabricated; and removing at least the first layer including amorphous metal from the surface.

Metallic glasses, also known as amorphous metals, have generated much interest for their potential as robust engineering materials. Metallic glasses are characterized by their disordered atomic-scale structure in spite of their metallic constituent elements—i.e. whereas conventional metallic materials typically possess a highly ordered atomic structure, metallic glasses are characterized by their disordered atomic structure. Notably, metallic glasses typically possess a number of useful material properties that can allow them to be implemented as highly effective engineering materials. For example, metallic glasses are generally much harder than conventional metals, and are generally tougher than ceramic materials. They are also relatively corrosion resistant, and, unlike conventional glass, they can have good electrical conductivity.
Nonetheless, the manufacture and implementation of metallic glasses present challenges that limit their viability as engineering materials. In particular, metallic glasses are typically formed by raising a metallic glass above its melting temperature, and rapidly cooling the melt to solidify it in a way such that its crystallization is avoided, thereby forming the metallic glass. The first metallic glasses required extraordinary cooling rates, e.g. on the order of 106 K/s, to avoid crystallization, and were thereby limited in the thickness with which they could be formed because thicker parts could not be cooled as quickly. Indeed, because of this limitation in thickness, metallic glasses were initially largely limited to applications that involved coatings. Since then, however, metallic glass compositions that have lower critical cooling rates have been developed, which can thereby form metallic glasses at much lower cooling rates, and can therefore be made to be much thicker (e.g. greater than 1 mm), for example via die casting. These thicker metallic glasses are known as 'bulk metallic glasses' ("BMGs").

Systems and methods for fabricating objects including amorphous metal using techniques akin to additive manufacturing


Microconnectors are described that can be fabricated on circuitry, the microconnectors for physically and/or electrically connecting separate structures. The microconnectors permit partitioning of a function among a plurality of chips. The microconnectors include a latching member.

At least two problems are addressed by the present invention, chip area and chip fabrication turn-around-time. With respect to chip area, improvements are limited by the ability of designers to physically connect some structures to other structures without substantially increasing the area of a chip. For example, with electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), there is increasingly a mismatch between the dimensions of drive circuitry that requires a relatively high voltage and the memory arrays that operate at low voltage. With each technology advance the arrays can get smaller and smaller, but, because of the need for high voltage, the drivers and decoders remain larger. More specifically, as photolithographic improvements permit the pitch of array word lines to decrease, the ability to fit individual word line drivers and decoders within the array pitch is strained because of the continuing high voltage write requirements for the word lines. Thus, the word line drivers and decoders can limit an array pitch that can otherwise be reduced, substantially increasing word line pitch above minimum dimensions and increasing the size of a chip needed for a given amount of memory.
Thus, a need exists for a way to accommodate the differing area requirements of interconnected structures within a semiconductor chip without sacrificing the ability to implement density improvements.
With respect to turn-around-time (the time it takes to design and manufacture a chip), fabrication speed has become vital to achieving a rapid time to market for new logic products. However, commonly accepted penalties for the achievement of a rapid turn-around time for programmable arrays, interconnects, or combinations of programmable arrays and bus interconnects, include lower circuit density, slower performance, interconnection inefficiency, and performance delays. Such is the case with programmable logic arrays (PLAs). Countering this, there is constant pressure to increase the density of semiconductor chips in general, and in particular PLAs.
Thus, a need exists for a way to decrease the turn-around time for PLAs while retaining high density for the array.

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Systems and methods are provided for processing and executing commands in automated systems. For example, command processing systems and methods are provided which can automatically determine, evaluate or otherwise predict consequences of execution of misrecognized or misinterpreted user commands in automated systems and thus prevent undesirable or dangerous consequences that can result from execution of misrecognized/misinterpreted commands.

Technological innovations in speech processing and other types of automated pattern recognition systems have led to widespread development and employment of automated intelligent systems such as IVR (interactive voice response) on-line services (e.g., banking), automated user identification (facial, fingerprint, speaker identification) for secured access to services and locations, voice-controlled systems for various environments (e.g., car, home, office, etc.) and various other systems.
Speech recognition system and/or natural language understanding can be implemented in automated system to enable conversational interaction with the automated system and allow a user to utter voice commands or queries that are automatically recognized, interpreted and executed by the system. For example, speech recognition may be implemented in car environments to allow a driver to provide commands via voice.
One problem with speech recognition and other recognition system is that such systems can make errors that result in undesirable or dangerous consequences. For instance, a speech recognition system in a car control application can misinterpret a driver command and thus activate the wrong command which can endanger the safety of the driver. For example, assume that a driver utters a command to "open a window" and that the car control system also has voice commands that can stop a car. If the system miss-recognized the voice command to "open a window" as the command to "stop the car", such decoding mistake can lead to dangerous results as causing an accident if the driver did not intend to stop the car.
By way of further example, miss-recognition of a caller's request by a natural language understanding system installed at a bank center can result in undesirable consequences such as transferring money to a wrong account. Moreover, similar problems exist with respect to recognition errors in visual recognition systems. For example, in military applications, if a visual recognition system is designed to recognize enemy airplanes, if misrecognition occurs, the error can be fatal e.g., the military can shoot down a misrecognized friendly airplane.
Recently, research and development has began to develop systems that can identify driver states (angry, stressful, tired), predict driver behavior and situations (like whether a driver will cross a middle road line), and cognitive driver workload. The recognition of such situations is especially difficult and problematic, and recognition errors in such applications can lead to fatal consequences for drivers.

Systems and methods for predicting consequences of misinterpretation of user commands in automated systems

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