A system for testing hardware devices applies a multi-level architecture including a Graphical User Interface (GUI) level (10), a Dynamic Link Library (DLL) level (20), and a device driving level (30). The GUI level selects test items and test units for a test project based on test requirements, stores the test project in a test script file, configures test parameters for performing the test project, and stores the test parameters in a test parameter configuration file. The DLL level transmits test results of each hardware device (108) to the GUI level. The device driving level includes a device driving module (107) for obtaining test information on the hardware device, comparing the test information with standard information in the test parameter configuration file, and generating a comparison result. A related method is also disclosed.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to electronic device testing systems and methods, and particularly to a system and method which can test hardware devices of a computer.
2. Prior Art of the invention
Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) in the computer industry includes the manufacturing of all kinds of components and products, such as motherboards, Central Processing Units (CPUs), Compact Disc Read-Only Memories (CDROMs), and modems. Customers continue to demand increased performance and reliability of the products purchased, and OEM manufacturers need to ensure that their products meet high quality standards. OEM manufacturers routinely conduct numerous functional tests on the finished products before the products are shipped to customers.
Nowadays, function testing has become very important in the field of motherboard production and computer assembly. There are all kinds of test software tools available for testing computer products. Some of these utilities focus on a particular device such as a hard disk drive and its associated control electronics. The art of these utilities has been disclosed in literature such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,588 issued on May 21, 2002 and entitled "Testing of USB Hub." The patent discloses a test apparatus for testing the function of a USB (Universal Serial Bus) hub under the control of a USB host computer. However, this test apparatus and like tools can only test one kind of computer product. They are not intended to test all kinds of computer products. Many OEM manufacturers produce a variety of computer products, and need a testing system and method which can be used to test all the computer products produced.
Accordingly, what is needed is a hardware device testing system and method which readily provides functional testing of all kinds of computer products.

System and method for testing hardware devices

Bao-an District, Shenzhen, Quangdong Province

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


A system (12) operating on a computer (14) creates an executable flowchart (26). The system (12) includes a constructor (24) that generates objects (28) that define the executable flowchart (26). The objects (28) include a first shape (40) and a second shape (40). A data structure (30) stores information associated with the objects (28). An entity (60) located at the first shape (40) accesses the data structure (30) to accumulate information associated with the first shape (40). The entity (60) advances from the first shape (40) to the second shape (40) to associate at least a portion of the accumulated information with the second shape (40) in response to advancing.

Many persons use flowcharts to model organizational, functional, hierarchical, chronological, and other suitable relationships according to particular needs. It is often desirable to construct, customize, and follow flowcharts using a computer to increase efficiency, reproducibility, and quality of appearance. For example, a user might construct a flowchart using a computer and then follow the flowchart during a telemarketing contact with a potential customer according to responses of the potential customer to questions from the user.
As requirements for information become increasingly complex and time-sensitive, organizational business tools such as flowcharting applications continue to gain in importance. A known technique for flowchart construction requires the user to author program code, parameters, and other information each time a new or modified flowchart element is added to a flowchart, making such techniques inaccessible to an ordinary user. Furthermore, once this often complicated process is complete, the user is forced to transport the constructed flowchart to an appropriate operating platform to execute the flowchart, drastically reducing the efficiency of the endeavor. Such techniques do not allow the to construct, customize, and execute a flowchart in real time without authoring program code and without transporting between platforms. Moreover, because users cannot readily execute flowcharts constructed using these techniques, users are not likely to obtain benefits of efficiency, reproducibility, organization, and quality of appearance that an executable flowchart can offer in a business or other setting.


A lid for use on a holder with a candle disposed therein, the holder having a lip defining an open mouth. The lid includes a central cap and a projection depending outwardly from the central cap. The projection includes an inner wall, which is configured to surround and abut the candle in the holder when the lid is in place on the holder, and an outer wall, which is configured to abut the holder when the lid is in place on the holder. A peripheral flange extends outwardly from the outer wall and is configured to abut the lip of the holder when the lid is in place on the holder. In another aspect, a candle package includes the lid, in combination with the holder and the candle. Also, a method of packaging a candle utilizes such a candle package.

FIG. 6 shows a votive candle 1, or simply a "votive." A votive generally has a basically cylindrical shape, with a flat base 1b and a wick 1w extending from its top. Typically, a votive is displayed and burned in a decorative glass holder or jar 10, illustrated in schematic elevation, which diffuses the light from the flame and collects the wax that melts off the candle. Votives and holders are often displayed together at the point of sale, but have generally been packaged separately for shipping and storage. Manufacturers and suppliers, especially those that produce and/or sell both candles and glassware, would prefer to be able to prepackage votives and holders as displayable units.
Often, a votive is not meant to fit snugly within its holder, but instead rests loosely in the holder. In order to prepackage a votive and holder, an initial challenge is to properly orient the votive in the holder. This is especially true if the bottom of the holder is significantly larger or shaped differently than the votive. Even if the votive is initially placed correctly, it can be difficult to maintain the proper positioning. One logical approach would be to glue the base of the votive to the bottom of the holder. Even so, the votive would need to be kept in place at least until the glue dries. Thus, there is a need in the art for a simple mechanism to properly orient a votive in a holder during production.
Once a votive is glued in place in a holder, the votive/holder unit will invariably be jostled (e.g., bumped or moved) during shipping and storage. As a result, either the glue or the wax to which the glue is adhered can break, or the attachment between them severed, dislodging the votive so that it is free to tumble around within or out of the holder. If it ends up displaced, the votive cannot easily be righted, especially if the votive and holder are packaged in an outer container, which must be opened to access the candle and then resealed if the container is intended for display. A dislodged votive can also lead to unsightly wax scuff marks on the inner wall of the holder, chips in the votive itself, or loose wax or glue fragments. Therefore, there is also a need in the art for a simple mechanism to prevent the votive from becoming dislodged from the bottom of the holder. There is a further need for a mechanism that, should the votive become dislodged, prevents the votive from becoming displaced or contacting the inner wall of the holder.
Further, when a glued votive breaks loose from the bottom of the holder, wax or glue fragments can stick to the bottom of the holder or the base of the votive, making it difficult to properly reposition the dislodged votive. Therefore, there is an additional need for a mechanism which can maintain the position of the votive without using glue or other adhesives.
Finally, votives are often decoratively dyed or fragranced, features which should be apparent when the votive is displayed in a store. Therefore, it would be preferable that the above mechanism or mechanisms not obscure or detract from the appearance or aroma of the displayed votive.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,967,703; 3,561,668; 2,102,886; and 2,009,874 discuss various containers for articles other than candles, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,351 discusses a candle holder. None of these patents, however, addresses the particular problems discussed above.

Votive candle holder lid, candle package and related method


Various aspects of this disclosure comprise systems and methods for synchronizing sensor data acquisition and/or output. For example, various aspects of this disclosure provide for achieving a desired level of timing accuracy in a MEMS sensor system, even in an implementation in which timer drift is substantial.

Sensor circuits and/or systems may comprise internal timers that are used for sensor sampling. In various example implementations the timers that are used for sensor sampling may comprise inaccuracies, for example timer drift, that present synchronization challenges. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with the disclosure as set forth in the remainder of this application with reference to the drawings.

System and method for mems sensor system synchronization


A bi-directional communication system comprising a base apparatus and a display apparatus. The display apparatus is a portable liquid crystal display for viewing video programs and browsing the internet. The base apparatus contains a television tuner for receiving broadcast signals and wirelessly transmits programming to the display apparatus. An infrared remote control device connected to the base apparatus is used to control various external input devices (e.g., a VCR or DVD player). Control menus for the base apparatus and the external input device can be displayed on the display apparatus. The display apparatus contains a touch screen, so that a user can select operational commands for controlling the base apparatus and external input devices. The display apparatus wirelessly transmits selected operational commands to the base apparatus, which then retransmits the commands to the appropriate external input device using the infrared remote control device.

The present invention relates generally to a bi-directional communication system having a base apparatus and a display apparatus, such as a television receiver.
A remote control (remote commander) is commonly used to adjust the volume, change the channel, adjust picture quality, or set a timer on a television receiver. Operation of the remote control commonly provides for menus to be displayed on the television screen. These menus display certain operations which can be selected and executed via the remote control. Thus, the remote control allows the user to perform various viewing related operations in accordance with the information displayed in the menus.
Similarly, set-top boxes (STBs) or integrated receiver decoders (IRDs) for receiving satellite broadcasting signals can also be operated by remote control. In addition to the menus commonly found in televisions, STBs generally display an electronic program guide (EPG) on the television screen. Using the remote control, a viewer can select desired programs from those shown in the EPG. In this manner, a television or a set-top box which receives a television broadcast signal is designed to utilize a combination of information displays (i.e. menus) operated by a remote control to select and execute various viewing operations.
However, this process of selecting operations from a displayed menu using a remote control, requires the appropriate information be displayed. Further, this process sometimes requires a complicated series of steps using the remote control. For example, some operations require the user to navigate a complex hierarchy of menus before finding the desired operation, or an operation may require certain inputs that are not conveniently performed using a remote control (e.g., cursor movement or text input).

Bi-directional communication system, display apparatus, base apparatus and bi-directional communication method


A plurality of banks of first deposit provide checking account activity data for both transit items (checks received for deposit that need to be cleared) and incoming returns (bounced checks) to a statistical model which determines from the data the likelihood that a check from a specific checking account will be returned. This data is used to populate a database of checking accounts to be used for making check risk decisions, such as check hold policy decisions, check acceptance decisions, and open to buy decisions.

Customers receive their blank checks from a payor (financial) institution. A payor institution is thus a paying financial institution on whose account a check is drawn and by whom it is paid.
Check clearing is the process of reconciling payments among parties associated with a check-based financial transaction. Most checks are processed in the following manner: The entity to whom the check is made out (the payee) deposits the check in his or her bank (the bank of first deposit or the depository bank). If the checkwriter's (the payor) account is in the same bank, the check is "on-us" and it is processed at the bank. Otherwise, the physical check travels, often via a financial intermediary, to the payor's institution or bank (the paying financial institution or bank), and finally to the payor, who receives the canceled checks and/or an account statement of the canceled checks on a periodic basis, typically monthly. The checks that must travel (interbank transit checks) may be handled by multiple institutions. If the payor has insufficient funds in his or her account to clear the check, or if the paying financial institution does not honor the check for other reasons, the check travels back to the bank of first deposit and possibly back to the payee. The payee suffers a payment loss on checks that do not clear.
The figures in the present specification illustrate both the prior art and the present invention depict "paper check processing." However, there are other financial instruments, such as debit cards, electronic checks (echecks), and Automated Clearing House (ACH) debit system transactions, which are ultimately tied into the checking account of a payor institution, and thus are functionally equivalent to paper checks. For simplicity, both the prior art descriptions and the present invention collectively refer to all of these types of financial instruments as "checks."
FIG. 1 shows examples of three conventional channels of check activity for use of the customer's checks. In one channel, a customer presents a check to a merchant to buy a product or service. The merchant, in turn, deposits the check into a "bank of first deposit," also known as the "depository bank." In a second channel, a customer deposits a check directly into a bank of first deposit (the check may or may not be drawn on the bank of first deposit). In a third channel, the customer makes a payment to a payment processor. Like the merchant, the payment processor, in turn, deposits the check into a bank of first deposit. The bank of first deposit sends all checks (other than its own) to be cleared to the Federal Reserve and/or directly to the payor institution (e.g., payor bank).
FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,682 (Higashiyama et al.) and the corresponding description on column 1 of this patent provides a general overview of one conventional check clearing process for the merchant channel discussed above. In FIG. 1, the merchant bank 103 is the bank of first deposit, and the issuing bank 106 is the payor institution that issued the customer a checking account on which check 101 is drawn.
A "return item" is a check that is returned unpaid by the paying (payor) institution to the bank of first deposit, usually for insufficient funds. These bounced checks are reported back to the bank of first deposit in a "returns file." FIG. 2 of the present specification illustrates FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,682 appended to show returns being sent by the issuing bank 106 to the merchant bank 103. A similar flow of returns occur in FIG. 1 of the present specification. (Return items that flow out of the payor institution are referred to as "outgoing returns," whereas return items that are received by a bank of first deposit are referred to as "incoming returns.")
FIGS. 1 and 2 of the present specification also shows a prior art check risk decision process associated with a risk assessment service. A merchant, bank of first deposit, or payment processor may subscribe to a service that assesses the risk that a check will be returned on an account based on checking account status and item level data provided by the payor institution. This may be done immediately or in an overnight batch process.
The risk assessment service maintains a single "participant database" 10 (shown in separate blocks in FIG. 1 for each channel for ease of illustration) which is populated on a daily basis with the checking account status and item level data of accounts at certain payor institutions (i.e., the participants) that belong to a member service or member network. FIG. 2 also shows the role of the participant database 10.
FIG. 3 shows that the prior art participant database 10 is populated by a daily flow of checking account status and item level data from each of the participant payor institutions. Some examples of a checking account status data are provided below (meaning of the status is noted in parenthesis where needed for a full understanding):                PRESENT (balance is greater than zero)        NEW ACCOUNT        CLOSED        NSF STATUS (balance is less than zero)
Some examples of item level data are provided below:                STOP PAYMENTS        EARLY OUTGOING RETURN NOTICES
Depending upon the information in the participant database 10, along with other pieces of key information such as the depositor's current balance, number of returns, past experience, a depository bank or institution may place an extended hold on the deposit if there is reason to doubt collectability. In the payment world, a payment processor may use this information to make a decision regarding whether or not to open the line of credit or "open to buy" until the check clears. A merchant may also use the information to decline to accept the check. The participant database is a highly reliable source of data because it is populated with actual checking account status and item level data received directly from the payor institutions. Accordingly, merchants, banks of first deposit, and payment processors can make accurate check risk decisions (e.g., check acceptance decisions and check hold decisions). Primary Payment Systems, Inc. (PPS), Scottsdale, Ariz., provides advance notice of potential check returns to inquiring customers using the participant database described herein.
One significant deficiency with the conventional schemes described above is that not all payor institutions belong to (i.e., are members of) the risk assessment service that maintains the participant database, and thus not all checking accounts have checking account status and item level data present in the participant database. If a check is presented from an account of a non-participating payor institution, then the merchant, bank of first deposit, or payment processor must rely on other sources of data to make a check risk decision, such as calling the payor institution directly, using other check verification services that obtain data from other sources, or reviewing past check history records for the customer that is presenting the check or the account that the check is drawn on. Entities that accept checks, and which already use services such as those provided by PPS, would like to rely upon a better and more accurate source of data when determining the likelihood that a check from a specific checking account that is not in the participant database will be returned so that better and more accurate check risk decisions can be made.
Check verification services currently used by merchants, banks and the like in making check acceptance decisions have many deficiencies. Some of the deficiencies are discussed below:
1. Services that use "negative file" databases which contain checking account numbers that are known to be closed or delinquent are typically based on return experiences from selected merchants, and thus are limited in scope and may become stale or outdated.
2. Retail merchants, financial institutions, check cashing services, check printing companies, collection agencies, and government agencies routinely report incoming returns (e.g., bounced checks), closed accounts, new check orders, and the like to private services, who, in turn, use this information in developing proprietary databases such as negative files for check verification. However, the vast majority of checking account activity data consists of checks that clear with no problems. The proprietary databases either do not capture such activity data, or they capture it from sources that are limited in scope (e.g., selected merchants as described in the previous paragraph). Incoming return data has much better meaning when combined with transit items which include therein checks that will ultimately clear with no problem. Consider, for example, a checking account holder who writes 100 checks in one year, averaging $40.00, but then accidentally bounces one $15.00 check during the course of the year. Many existing check verification services will flag the account as a problem account due to the bounced check, when, in fact, the likelihood of a check clearing on the account is extremely high.
3. Some check verification services use predictive models based on multiple variables to determine the level of risk associated with a particular check transaction. However, the predictive models may not take into account actual check activity behavior of the check presenting customer. Thus, a customer who has a stellar check activity record might fit a profile of a bad check writer and be negatively treated as a result of the profile which may not even factor in actual check activity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,938 (Templeton et al.) describes the use of a typical predictive modeling system.
4. Conventional check verification databases that are built from retailer (merchant) check activity data inherently miss a large percentage of checking accounts that are rarely, if ever, used for consumer-type purchases. Furthermore, a large percentage of retailers do not subscribe to, or report check activity to, a check acceptance service, and thus the databases do not contain a complete picture of the checkwriting activity of the checking accounts that even make it into the databases. Positive files (positive databases), negative files (negative databases) and velocity/risk databases, which are typically created by check acceptance services used by retailers, suffer from these deficiencies. Even the largest commercially available services today have no checking account activity data on about half or more of active checking accounts.
Despite the multitude of existing check verification and acceptance services, there is still an unmet need for a service that can be used to make statistically significant check risk decisions based at least in part on actual checking account activity data for a greater percentage of active checking accounts, and which can be used with confidence by merchants, banks and payment processors alike. The present invention fulfills such a need.

Database for check risk decisions populated with check activity data from banks of first deposit


The present invention is directed to an integrated access device (IAD) that provides multiple communication interfaces for communications to a variety of service providers. The disclosed IAD acts as a DSL modem and combines the functions of a gateway, router, and Ethernet hub to provide high-speed Internet access to PCs sharing a local network. It provides the networking functions that let PCs connect through a variety of methods, including traditional Ethernet, wireless, universal serial bus (USB), and home phoneline networking alliance (HPNA). It also provides point-to-point protocol over Ethernet (PPPOE) tunneling through network address translation (NAT).

Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) is a technology which allows for simultaneous voice arid data traffic to coexist over a communication channel comprising a standard telephone transmission line. Typically, a standard telephone transmission line comprises an unshielded twisted pair of copper wire having a gauge of 22-26AWG. Twisted pairs, which can be used to connect a central telephone system (a 'central' unit) to a subscriber's telephone (a 'remote' unit) can support bandwidths of up to 2 MHz through the use of digital signal processing (ASP) technology. Thus, they can be used for bandwidth-intensive applications, such as Internet access and video-on demand, as well as for carrying voice traffic. Frequency division multiplexing is used so that a puality of signals, each occupying a different frequency band, can be simultaneously sent over the same transmission line.
The voice traffic band comprises a number of frequency subbands, or channels, ranging from DC to 20 KHz The analog voice band frequency is typically specified as 200–4000 Hz Customer specified additions may include phone operation up to 8 KHz in addition to 12–16 KHz billing tones. In addition, DC to 30 Hz frequencies are typically assigned for auxiliary analog signaling purposes, such as ringing the telephone, dial pulsing and ontoff hook signaling.
ADSL data traffic bandwidth for Discrete Multitone (DMT) modulation is typically from 25 KHz–1.1 MHZ. Of this, upstream data traffic (i.e., remote unit to central unit) uses the 25 KHz–138 KHz band, while the downstream traffic (i.e., central unit to remote unit) uses the 138 KHz–1 MHZ band.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,955 discloses an adaptive data rate modem, The modem incorporates an adaptive data rate encoder and an adaptive data rate decoder using adaptive, parallel-branch decoding to translate received symbols into corresponding data bits. The data rate is changed automatically and dynamically without interrupting the decoding process. A constant channel symbol rate and a single signal set simplify signal acquisition and synchronization. Incoming and outgoing data are buffered, and the transmission rate is changed dynamically by a memory controller to avert buffer overflows and underflows. An optional adaptive phase-lock loop system maintains synchronization of the decoder at all data rates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,841,840 discloses a multiple line modem and method enabling a user to automatically usurp a plurality of telephone lines for data transfer when the telephone is not in use. A user is able to switch from multiple line data operation to one (Or move) line data and one (or more) line telephone operation automatically when the telephone handset is lifted or an incoming call is detected signaling a request for voice service. The multiple line modern automatically reestablishes the data connection on the line(s) that was used for voice service when the voice service terminates. The multiple line modem allows end to end service that is transparent to the central office. When all lines are operating in data transfer mode, the aggregate data transfer rate is multiplied by the number of lines available for data transport When one line(s) is operating in voice service mode, the other line(s) maintains data transfer operation at a reduced rate. The line(s) that is used for voice service is adaptively managed by the multiple line modem to provide seamless switching between data transfer mode operation when voice service is not requested and voice service mode operation when voice service is requested.
U.S. Pat. No, 5,910,959 discloses a methodology for a modem control channel. The channel allows faster seamless rate change and precoder tap exchange than the baseline procedure for seamless rate change, allowing for more robust transmission of control information It can also be used to convey side-information in the case of multiple data applicatiors, serving the purpose of mode switching. Thus, with a single control channel both the needs for seamless rate change and transmitting control information for multiple data applications can be met.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,722 discloses a modern operating selectively in the voice frequency and higher frequency bands which supports multiple line codes. A DSP is used to implement different existing ADSL line codes on the same hardware platform. The modem negotiates in real time for a desired line transmission rate to accommodate line condition and service cost requirements which may be implemented at the beginning of each communication session by exchange of tones between modems. A four step MDSL modem initialization process provides line code and rate compatibility. The handshake protocol and receiver algorithm allow reliable modem synchronization over severely amplitude distorted channels and makes use of a short length sequence to train a synchronizing equalizer at the receiver. The algorithm and corresponding training sequence to train the transmitter filter are provided. After training to this sequence, a matched filter or correlator detects the inverted sync sequence. Detection of the inverted sequence signals commencement of normal reference training of the demodulation equalizers. An internal state machine in an MDSL modem records and monitors line status and notifies state change to other MDSL and host processor. The protocol for exchanging line connection management messages is a simplified LCP for MDSL. In a DMT system, a transmitter filter reduces the length of effective channel impulse response. Implementation of the filter combines time domain convolution and frequency domain multiplication to reduce needed computation power. The filter coefficients update may occur through a feedback channel.
The contents of aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,541,955, 5,874,840, 5,910,959, and 6,002,722 are incorporated by reference to the extent necessary to understand the present invention

Modem having flexible architecture for connecting to multiple channel interfaces


A system for sealing a wellhead, the system comprising: a wellhead housing for connecting to a well string casing, the wellhead housing being annularly disposed about a central axis comprising: a primary sealing surface disposed within the wellhead housing; a reference surface extending below the primary sealing surface; and a secondary sealing surface extending below the reference surface; a wellhead connector annularly disposed about the central axis having disposed therein a connector sealing surface; and a secondary seal ring annularly disposed about the central axis and comprising: a ring seal surface for sealing contact with the connector sealing surface; and an extension extending below the ring seal surface and having disposed thereon a sealing land extending from a lower portion of the extension for sealing contact with the wellhead housing. A system for sealing a wellhead, the system comprising: a wellhead housing annularly disposed about a central axis comprising: a primary sealing surface disposed within the wellhead housing; a secondary sealing surface extending below the primary sealing surface; and a lever point; and a wellhead connector annularly disposed about the central axis and having disposed therein a connector sealing surface; and a secondary seal ring annularly disposed about the central axis and comprising: a ring seal surface for sealing contact with the connector sealing surface; a sealing land for sealing contact with the wellhead housing; and a lever contact point for engagement with the lever point about which compressive forces imposed by the wellhead housing and the wellhead connector generate a moment which energizes the sealing land.

Metal-to-metal sealing surfaces have been proposed to seal junctions between tubular members such as: blowout preventers, production trees, side outlet valves and wellhead housings. Metal-to-metal seals must be precisely manufactured to enable a seal upon contact of the polished sealing surfaces.
Metal-to-metal seals will not effectively seal if one of the sealing surfaces becomes damaged. This is particularly problematic for inaccessible applications, such as subsea wellheads, where the seal surface cannot be easily removed to refinish the damaged seal surface. Thus, secondary sealing surfaces have been developed for use when a primary surface becomes damaged, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,140 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,915, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
However, such proposals are difficult to implement due to the difficulty in maintaining a tolerance in locating the secondary seal surface or in energization of the secondary seal. Further, no prior secondary seal for such an application has provided for a dual metal-to-metal seal, which is desirable for safety reasons. It is an object of the present invention to reduce or eliminate the above-mentioned problems.


A method and apparatus of providing a level of priority for printing a document in a company having a plurality of departments, which includes receiving a print job for printing at least one document. A department is determined from the plurality of departments which sent the print job, and a priority is assigned to the print job based on the determined department. After the print job has been printed, a print amount is determined from the determined department during a fixed time interval. The priority assigned to the determined department is lowered if the print amount exceeds a threshold value.

In a conventional printer, multi-function peripheral (MFP), or image forming apparatus (hereinafter, for ease, collectively referred to as "printer"), the priority for a print job is decided based on the department that issued the print job, and each print job is processed according to the priority. The priority is fixed in advance for each department. Accordingly, if a department with a higher priority executes a lot of print jobs, a department with a lower priority may not be able to get any or all of its print jobs completed.
Accordingly, there exists a desire to provide a system or method that adjusts the print processing to ensure that the print jobs of each department are executed.

Image forming apparatus and method for changing print priorities


The present invention relates to a cup-shaped member for a hip joint prosthesis for implantation into a cavity in the bone tissue in the acetabulum, and more particularly to an acetabular cup-liner assembly, in which the acetabular cup has an outer surface intended to face the bone tissue in the acetabulum and an inner surface intended to face a liner. The liner has an outer surface intended to face the inner surface of the cup, and the cup is provided with an opening adapted to receive the liner. At least the parts of the liner corresponding to the parallel inside walls of the cup have dimensions equal to or a fraction less than the inner dimensions of the sidewalls. The parts of the surfaces of the inner side walls of the cup located adjacent to the opening of the cup are essentially parallel to each other. The surface of at least the parallel inner side walls of the cup is provided with a grooved region. The liner has an outer shape that is complementary to the inner shape of the cup. The parts of the liner corresponding to the parallel inside walls of the cup are provided with a grooved region corresponding to said grooved region on said cup.

Artificial hip joints have been used and implanted into humans for a long period of time. The joints normally comprise one femoral part which is intended to be inserted or implanted into the femur and which carries a ball-shaped articulation element, normally made of metal or a ceramic material. The joint further normally comprises a cup-shaped member, i.e. an acetabular cup, which is to be inserted into or attached to the acetabulum, and which is to hold a complementary, cup-shaped liner, normally made of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) or an alternative bearing or wear material, in which the ball-shaped element is to articulate or rotate.
Since the depth of the bone tissue which is available in the acetabulum for attaching the acetabular cup is limited, the possibilities of varying the design of the acetabular cup are rather restricted, which poses similar restrictions on the liner. One result of the lack of bone tissue in the acetabulum is that a typical acetabular cup is rather shallow. This fact makes it rather difficult to find a simple and efficient design and method for attaching a liner into an acetabular cup in a firm and secure manner.
The designs and methods used today mostly utilize circumferential beads or spring wires engaging a complementary groove or other snap action means as means for locking a liner in an acetabular cup. These features normally are complemented with anti-rotation means such as anti-rotation lugs etc. preventing the liner from rotating in the cup. In addition, micromovements still occur which may result in wear and debris production.
Some examples of prior designs according to these principles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,903,549, 4,795,470 and 5,049,158.
These designs have the disadvantage that they are relatively difficult to make and also to use, since separate locking rings or wires as well as relatively large locking beads or grooves might present difficulties when the liner is to be inserted into the cup during an operation in view of the inherent rigidity of the polymer material serving as bearing or wear material in conjunction with the relatively large deformation necessary.
FR-A-2626168 (G. Cremascoli S.P.A.) discloses a modular hip prosthesis including a cup and a polyethylene element comprising a part manufactured in the shape of a spherical skullcap and an slightly conical annular part. The connection between these is strengthened by the presence of a series of indentations formed on the circumference of the cup in planes parallel to the one defining the opening of the cup.
In practice, the conicity of said annular part is said to allow a stable and perfect connection to be maintained between the exterior titanium surface and the interior polyethylene element. The cup is rendered elastic through the provision of a series of radial slits.
We have observed a disadvantage of making the annular part conical in that the titanium ball might cause impingement on the interior polyethylene element. The radial slits are also disadvantageous in that many surfaces are generated during their manufacture. This can cause the generation of wear particles between the elements, resulting in the dispersal of polyethylene particles through organic tissue and possible bone breakdown.


The described wind turbine has a set of propeller type wind force collecting rotor turbines which is comprised of an up-wind auxiliary rotor blade turbine, being disposed on the front end of the combined bevel-planet gear assembly, and a down-wind main rotor blade turbine together with attached extender having twice the radius of the auxiliary rotor turbine. These rotor blades rotate in opposite directions with respect to one another, and the extender enables the main turbine to be activated by normal wind speed without aerodynamic wake turbulence effects created by the movement of the auxiliary rotor blade. The super-large scale, integrated, multi-unit rotor blade wind turbine has four sets of wind force collecting rotor blade turbines composed of an auxiliary up-wind rotor turbine and three down-wind rotor turbine units evenly spaced around a central pivotal rotor hub on extenders which arc the same length as the radius of the auxiliary turbine blade. The above described wind turbines are provided with a microprocessor pitch control system thereby achieving a highly efficient stall and storm control operation.

Wind is one of the oldest forms of energy used by man. With enormous increases in demand for environmentally friendly sources of energy, plus a growing fossil-fuel shortage, development of alternative energy sources has been stimulated. In this same environment, wind conversion systems are becoming more efficient and competitive, generating amounts of electrical energy large enough for commercial use. However, in order to meet global clean energy needs, it will be necessary to adopt a new approach to wind-generated electrical energy production.
There are two major challenges to a developer of a wind energy conversion system: overall energy conversion efficiency and fluctuations in wind speed and direction. The lower potential power output of wind energy dictates that an advanced conversion system must be of considerable size if substantial amounts of electrical power are to be generated.
Taking the above matter into account, the present invention provides a more efficient and improved system which is based on the Prior Art system patented in Korea under No. 057585 and in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,924.
After experimental field testing, it became apparent that the counter-rotation of the main and auxiliary rotor blades of the Prior Art in the wind turbine system (FIG. 15) had need of improvement. For example, the main rotor blade of the Prior Art is disposed in the front of the tower in an up-wind position, while the auxiliary rotor blade is mounted in a down-wind position functioning as a tail in order that the wind turbine may face into the wind as the direction varies. However, the up-wind position of the main rotor blade created radius limitations due to the narrow space between the tip of the blade and the tower. When the wind blew, the rotor blade was bent toward the tower, finally touching it, with longer blades bending more easily. Rotational tip speed, then, was limited with respect to the constraints imposed on the length of the blade's radius.
A second structural configuration deficiency was the bevel and planet gear box. In the Prior Art, the sections are separated into an upper bevel gear member and a lower planetary gear member.
The design required a complicated lubrication system as well as extraneous components which curbed operational and mechanical efficiency.

Multi-unit rotor blade system integrated wind turbine


A spinal stabilization system generally comprises first and second anchor members configured to be secured to first and second vertebrae within a patient's body, a flexible element secured to the first anchor member, and a rigid element secured to the second anchor member. An end portion of the rigid element is coupled to an end portion of the flexible so that the system is able to provide both rigid and dynamic stabilization. The coupling is maintained even if the flexible element relaxes after a period of time within the patient's body.

The spinal column is a highly complex system of bones and connective tissues that provides support for the body and protects the delicate spinal cord. The spinal column includes a series of vertebrae stacked one on top of the other, each vertebral body including an inner or central portion of relatively weak cancellous bone and an outer portion of relatively strong cortical bone. The vertebrae in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions of the spine are separated by intervertebral discs, which serve as cushions between adjacent vertebrae to dampen compressive forces experienced by the spine. A vertebral canal containing the spinal cord is formed by the intervertebral foramen of the vertebrae. In spite of the complexities, the spine is a highly flexible structure, capable of a high degree of curvature and twist in nearly every direction. For example, the kinematics of the spine normally includes flexion, extension, rotation, and lateral bending.
There are many types of conditions that can lead to significant pain and affect movement of the spine, including spinal disorders such as scoliosis (abnormal lateral curvature of the spine), kyphosis (abnormal forward curvature of the spine, usually in the thoracic spine), excess lordosis (abnormal backward curvature of the spine, usually in the lumbar spine), and spondylolisthesis (forward displacement of one vertebra over another, usually in a lumbar or cervical spine), as well as conditions caused by abnormalities, disease, or trauma, such as ruptured or slipped discs, degenerative disc disease, fractured vertebra, and the like. In addition to causing pain, these conditions may also threaten the critical elements of the nervous system housed within the spinal canal.
One of the most common methods for treating these conditions is to immobilize a portion of the spine to allow treatment. Traditionally, immobilization has been accomplished by rigid stabilization. For example, in a conventional spinal fusion procedure, a surgeon restores the alignment of the spine or the disc space between vertebrae by installing a rigid fixation rod between pedicle screws secured to adjacent vertebrae. Bone graft is placed between the vertebrae, and the fixation rod cooperates with the screws to immobilize the two vertebrae relative to each other so that the bone graft may fuse with the vertebrae.
Dynamic stabilization has also been used in spinal treatment procedures. Dynamic stabilization does not result in complete immobilization, but instead permits enhanced mobility of the spine while also providing sufficient stabilization to effect treatment. One example of a dynamic stabilization system is the Dynesys® system available from Zimmer, Inc. of Warsaw, Ind. Such dynamic stabilization systems typically include a flexible spacer positioned between pedicle screws installed in adjacent vertebrae of the spine. Once the spacer is positioned between the pedicle screws, a flexible cord is threaded through a channel in the spacer. The flexible cord is also secured to the pedicle screws by a housing and set screw, thereby retaining the spacer between the pedicle screws while cooperating with the spacer to permit mobility of the spine.
In some instances, it is desirable to immobilize a portion of the spine using a rigid stabilization system without significantly limiting the mobility or increasing the stress on nearby areas of the spine. Although combining the rigid stabilization system with a dynamic stabilization system would help achieve this objective, there are several challenges associated with doing so. Specifically, there are several challenges associated with combining a flexible element, such as a braided polymer cord, with a rigid element, such as a rigid fixation rod, in a single construct. The cord and rod are ideally connected or coupled to each other before or during a surgical procedure. But the stiffness of the flexible element is often designed to decrease after placement into a patient's body and as treatment occurs to provide increased range of motion. Therefore, a spinal stabilization system in which the rigid element remains sufficiently coupled to the flexible element after this "relaxation" is highly desirable.

Spinal stabilization system with rigid and flexible elements


A method, system, and computer-readable storage medium are disclosed for combining raster image masks in a digital image. A first raster image mask may be generated that comprises a first set of one or more pixels having a first intermediate value for membership in the first raster image mask. A second raster image mask may be generated that comprises the first set of one or more pixels having a second intermediate value for membership in the second raster image mask. The first raster image mask and the second raster image mask may be combined to generate a third raster image mask, wherein a boundary of the third raster image mask is not greater than a combined boundary of the first raster image mask and the second raster image mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to computer systems; and more particularly, it is directed to the editing of digital images using computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital image editing is the process of creating and/or modifying digital images using a computer system. Using specialized software programs, users may manipulate and transform images in a variety of ways. These digital image editors may include programs of differing complexity such as limited-purpose programs associated with acquisition devices (e.g., digital cameras and scanners with bundled or built-in programs for managing brightness and contrast); limited bitmap editors suitable for relatively simple operations such as rotating and cropping images; and professional-grade programs such as Adobe Photoshop®, Adobe Illustrator®, and Adobe AfterEffects® (all available from Adobe Systems, Inc.) with large and complex feature sets.
Digital images may include raster graphics, vector graphics, or a combination thereof. Raster graphics data (also referred to herein as bitmaps) may be stored and manipulated as a grid of individual picture elements called pixels. Suitable image editors may be used to modify pixels (e.g., values such as hue, brightness, saturation, transparency, etc.) on a pixel-by-pixel basis or as a group. A bitmap may be characterized by its width and height in pixels and also by the number of bits per pixel. Commonly, a color bitmap defined in the RGB (red, green blue) color space may comprise between one and eight bits per pixel for each of the red, green, and blue channels. An alpha channel may be used to store additional data such as per-pixel transparency values. A black and white bitmap may require less space (e.g., one bit per pixel). Raster graphics are often used for photographs and photo-realistic images.
Vector graphics data may be stored and manipulated as one or more geometric objects. The geometric primitives (e.g., points, lines, polygons, Bézier curves, and text characters) may be based upon mathematical equations to represent parts of digital images. Suitable image editors may be used to perform operations on these objects such as rotation, translation, stretching, skewing, changing depth order, and combining with other objects. Vector graphics are often rasterized, or converted to raster graphics data, in the process of displaying the data on a display device or printing the data with a printer. While raster graphics may often lose apparent quality when scaled to a higher resolution, vector graphics may scale to the resolution of the device on which they are ultimately rendered. Therefore, vector graphics are often used for images that are sought to be device-independent, such as in typesetting and graphic design.
Many digital image editing operations may be applied selectively to a portion of the digital image. In selecting a portion of the digital image, a mask may be used to define a portion of a digital image on which an operation is sought to be performed. In general, a mask may comprise any image having a single color channel (e.g., a grayscale image). As used herein, a mask used in raster graphics is referred to as a "raster image mask."
Masks may be used for various purposes. For example, an alpha channel may be a raster image mask which is used to form one component of a color image or the single component of a grayscale image. A layer mask may be used to modulate the blending of two layers (e.g., by removing or "masking" a portion of one or more layers from the final image). Suitable operations may be applied to modify the mask. For example, various filters (e.g., Gaussian blur, median filter, add noise, reduce noise, fragment, unsharp mask), image adjustments (e.g., levels, curves, brightness/contrast, shadow/highlight), and other operations (e.g., resizing, cropping, thresholding, rotation, perspective distortion) may be applied to masks.
A hard mask may represent a binary, "all or nothing" inclusion or exclusion of pixels. A soft mask may comprise a raster image mask having some intermediate values which lie between the minimum and maximum values for membership in the mask. For example, a soft mask may potentially comprise integer values between 0 and 255 or floating-point values between 0 and 1. Soft masks may be used for gradual blending of selected pixels into surrounding regions of the digital image. For example, a soft mask may be used in applying a feathered brushstroke in a digital image.
A selection may represent a region of interest in the digital image and may include one or more pixels (comprising one or more color channels) and/or geometric objects. A selection may be represented by a raster image mask having a single channel indicating per-pixel membership in the selection. If the mask is a soft mask, then the selection may have elements with partial membership (e.g., feathered edges) indicated by an intermediate value in the raster image mask. In most digital image editors, selections may be generated in various ways. For example, a marquee tool may permit the selection of rectangular or elliptical areas in an image. A lasso tool may allow the user to draw a freehand selection area. A magic wand tool may permit the selection of parts of an image based on a color range of pixels. Facilities such as edge detection, masking, alpha compositing, and color and channel-based extraction may also be used to generate selections. The pixels and/or objects in the selection may be contiguous or non-contiguous. Suitable operations may be applied to modify the selection itself. For example, a border operation may produce a selection that borders the edges of the original selection. Expand and contract operations may respectively make the selection larger or smaller. A smooth operation may smooth out irregularities in the selection. A feather operation may add softness to the edges of the selection.
In applying various types of soft masks to a digital image (e.g., selections, brush strokes, etc.), tools with additive or subtractive properties may be used. For example, selection tools may operate in combination modes such as "add to selection," "subtract from selection," and "intersect with selection." Using a prior approach, however, repeated strokes of the tool over the same part of the image may cause the resulting mask to expand in size at the site of the overlap with each additional stroke. Therefore, this approach is not idempotent because repetition of the same operation does not yield the same result every time.

Stable mask combination in digital image editing


Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a method for obtaining a virus library performed at a computing system. The computing system obtains a sample set, each sample being a malicious installation package. The computing system extracts a group of sample features from each sample as a sample feature set. The computing system performs feature selection on the sample feature set, to obtain at least one group of target features, each target feature meeting a first preset condition. The computing system then updates the at least one group of target features to a virus library. An antivirus platform determines whether the feature of a to-be-detected installation package comprises any group of target features in the virus library and determines that the to-be-detected installation package is a malicious installation package when the feature of the to-be-detected installation package comprises any group of target features in the virus library.

With the popularization and development of mobile terminals, various installation packages applicable to the terminals emerge. Some malicious installation packages with a virus may enter a terminal of a user without the user's awareness, bringing hidden trouble to information security and property security of the user.
Generally, feature codes forming a virus library are obtained according to a large quantity of manual analysis, the quantity of feature codes obtained every day is limited, the time costs are high, and the efficiency is low. The feature codes are extracted according to experience of analysts, and the false alarm possibility is high. Moreover, as a new malicious installation package copes with the existing feature code technology, a detection rate for a part of installation packages by using the feature code technology is gradually reduced.

Method and apparatus for obtaining virus library, device, server, and system

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


A direct current electric motor, especially one for driving a fan or blower in a motor vehicle ventilating system, has a motor shaft, a bearing ring around the free end of the motor shaft, and a casing which includes an end plate carrying a bearing element formed with a cylindrical internal face, which defines a housing in which the bearing ring is received. The fixed bearing element has a base portion and a free edge at the opposite axial end of the bearing element from the base. The bearing is formed with reliefs adjacent to the free edge of its fixed element. These reliefs project radially towards the axis from the internal face of the bearing.

European patent specification No. EP 0 343 126A describes a direct current motor which has the advantage of having a short axial length. This motor has a rotating shaft and an end plate which closes the open end of the casing of the motor, the end plate being of a plastics material and including a fixed bearing element which defines a cylindrical housing, in which a terminal end of the motor shaft is received.
In practice, motors of that type which are available commercially also include a bearing ring which is engaged on the terminal end of the motor shaft and which is received in the housing, into which it is force-fitted. However, in spite of this force-fitting, there is still a danger that, during operation of the motor, the ring will escape little by little from the housing, especially under the effect of vibrations.


A procedure to measure the grounding resistances of electrical installations by measuring the loop impedance. According to this procedure, using voltage generator transformers, a current is injected into the loop and this current is measured using current measurement transformers. Two transformers are united into a single transformer, used as impedance transformer, and the loop impedance is established by taking several measurements that allow determining and eliminating parameters of the transformer, by analysis of the measurement results.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a procedure to measure grounding resistances of electrical installations by measuring the loop impedance, according to which we inject, using voltage generator transformers, a current into the loop and we measure this current using current measuring transformers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known process of this type, use two different transformers to inject the current and the current measurement, which are done in the form of two grips which surround the loop to be measured, with sufficient distance between them to avoid any mutual interaction, or in the form of two grips united in a single grip, which imposes perfect magnetic isolation between the two transformers.

Procedure to measure grounding resistances of electrical installations by measuring the loop impedance


Spread spectrum receiver with correlating coprocessor having common datapath for received signal correlations and code cross-correlations for efficient interference cancellation methods.

The invention relates to electronic devices, and, more particularly, to detection in spread spectrum communications and related circuitry and methods.
Spread spectrum wireless communications utilize a radio frequency bandwidth greater than the minimum bandwidth required for the transmitted data rate, but many users may simultaneously occupy that bandwidth. For code division multiple access (CDMA) each of the many simultaneous users has one or more pseudo-random CDMA codes to "despread" by correlating the spread spectrum signals sent to that user and thereby recover the corresponding information data. Each pseudo-random CDMA code may be an orthogonal (Walsh) code, a pseudo-noise (PN) code, a Gold code, or combinations (modulo-2 additions) of such codes. After despreading the received signal at the correct time instant, the user recovers the corresponding information while the remaining interfering signals and noise appear noise-like. For example, the interim standard IS-95 for such CDMA communications employs channels of 1.25 MHz bandwidth and a code pulse (chip) interval TC of 0.8136 microsecond with 64 chips per transmitted bit. The wideband CDMA (WCDMA) proposal employs 3.84 MHz bandwidth and the CDMA code length applied to each information symbol may vary from 4 chips to 256 chips. The CDMA codes for each user are typically produced as the modulo-2 addition of Walsh codes with a pseudo-random code (two pseudo-random codes for QPSK modulation) to improve the noise-like nature of the resulting signal. A cellular system could employ IS-95 or WCDMA for the air interface between a base station and a mobile station.
Signals transmitted by multiple users simultaneously occupy the same frequency band in CDMA. A receiver discriminates among the multiple signals by exploiting the properties of the spreading and scrambling codes that are applied to the signal of each user. The receiver attempts to match in time with the codes of the desired signal a replica of those spreading and scrambling codes. Only then the demodulation result is meaningful; otherwise it appears noise-like. Thus, if the arriving signals have different codes or different code offsets, they can be discriminated at the receiver.
In the downlink of a cellular communication system (the communication from a base station to mobile terminals) the wireless channel may introduce multipath propagation. Even if the signals transmitted by the base station are spread using orthogonal codes (Walsh codes), the multipath propagation will destroy the orthogonality and produce multiple-access interference (MAI). In the uplink (the communication from a mobile terminal to a base station) the signals are asynchronously transmitted. Orthogonality in this case cannot be achieved and each signal will experience MAI.
Interference cancellation attempts to suppress the MAI by estimating and subtracting the contribution from each interfering user of interest from the received signal. This can be accomplished both before and after despreading. The challenge in the implementation of an interference cancellation method comes from the fact that it may have to be performed for many signals (and their multipath components). If the necessary parameters to implement interference cancellation have to be evaluated for every data symbol, the computation and storage requirements can place a significant burden on the overall receiver design. If instead, the previous parameters need to be updated at a slower rate than the symbol rate, the implementation is considerably simplified.
The prevailing considerations governing the implementation of interference cancellation are complexity and performance with the former being the dominant one. One implementation approach is to perform interference cancellation before despreading. Then, interference cancellation methods need to regenerate the signal of each interferer, based on a decision for each interfering signal's information symbol, phase, and received power, and subtract it from the received signal. Another implementation approach that avoids signal regeneration is to compute the code cross-correlations and perform interference cancellation on the decision statistic of the desired signal after despreading.
To cancel interference before despreading, the interfering signals of interest need to be regenerated at the receiver and then subtracted, according to some of a variety of possible interference cancellation approaches, from the received signal. The information needed to accurately describe and hence regenerate the interfering signals consists, for each such signal, of the signal power, the signal phase, the information data symbol, the beginning of the symbol period relative to the beginning of the symbol period of the desired signal at the receiver, and the spreading and scrambling codes.
Alternatively, the interference can be cancelled after despreading without having to re-spread and regenerate the signals. The interference effect after despreading is proportional to the code cross-correlations of the interfering and desired signals. If the codes were orthogonal, the effect of the interfering signals would be zero. For non-zero cross-correlations, the interfering signals have a non-zero effect on the decision statistics of the desired signal. The contribution of each interferer on the decision statistic of the desired signal can be removed if in addition to the previous information, the code cross-correlations are computed. Then, instead of regenerating each interfering signal and subtracting it from the received signal before despreading, the code cross-correlations are simply multiplied by each interfering signal's complex amplitude (power and phase) and information symbol. The result is subsequently subtracted from the output of the despreader for the desired for the desired signal.
For signals having the same data rate, the desired signal is affected by two consecutive symbols from each interferer. If the interfering signal is re-spread and subtracted from the received signal prior to despreading, the regenerated signal needs to be buffered and subtracted at the correct time instant. If the code cross-correlations are computed instead and interference cancellation is applied after despreading, two different cross-correlation values need to be computed for each of the two interfering symbols.
For signals having different data rates, the buffering requirements are determined by the lowest rate signal(s). The lowest rate signal is assigned a spreading code with the largest number of chips per symbol period. To perform interference cancellation by re-spreading, the number of chip samples required for buffering equals to the number of chips of the largest length spreading code. This also applies to higher data rate signals having a smaller number of chips per information symbol. The above statement assumes that the number of chips per symbol for any lower data rate signals(s) is an integer multiple of the number of chips per symbol for any of the higher data rate signal(s). Otherwise, the number of chip samples need to be buffered is equal to the least common multiple of all data rates.
If interference cancellation is performed after despreading, the number of code cross-correlations that has to be computed should also reflect the existence, if any, of different data rates. If N is the integer ceiling of the ratio between the lengths of the spreading codes assigned to a lower and a higher rate signal, the number of code cross-correlations that need to be evaluated to perform interference cancellation is equal to N for synchronous signal reception without orthogonal codes and equal to N+1 for asynchronous signal reception.
Hence the problem of cross-correlation computations for codes and correlations with received signals arises for interference cancellation methods and efficient plus flexible implementations are lacking.


A method for clutter filtering staggered pulse repetition time data signals is provided. The method comprises the steps of receiving a plurality of staggered pulse repetition time data signals. The data signals may comprise one or more desired signals and one or more clutter signals. The method further comprises separating the staggered pulse repetition time data signals into a first separated data sequence and a second separated data sequence. The first and second separated data sequences comprise equally spaced data samples. The method also comprises the step of filtering the one or more clutter signals from the first and second separated data sequences.

Doppler weather radar have experienced great success in locating and calculating precipitation, wind, positions of current weather systems, etc. A Doppler radar transmits a plurality of directional pulses toward an area of interest. The pulses bounce off from various particles, such as precipitation and are then received by a radar receiver as echo pulses. These return echoes are studied based on their intensity, received time, and phase angle relative to the transmitted signal. Generally, there is a compromise between maximizing the unambiguous Doppler velocity (maximum detectable velocity of the target before folding of the signal occurs) and the unambiguous range (maximum distance from the radar to the target before folding of the signal occurs). This is because for a pulse repetition time (PRT) of T, the unambiguous velocity is given by λ/(4T), where λ is the pulse wavelength; whereas the unambiguous range is given by cT/2, where c is the speed of light. The pulse repetition time is the time between transmitted pulses. It is generally desired to have both quantities to be as large as possible. Because the PRT is in the bottom of the equation for the unambiguous velocity, but in the top of the equation for the unambiguous range, there is necessarily a tradeoff between the two.
One method to at least partially overcome this problem is to stagger the spacing of the transmitted pulses. This so called staggered PRT method typically utilizes at least two different alternating pulse spacings T1 and T2. In the case where T1 and T2 have a common interval, i.e. if T1/T2=n/m where n and m are positive integers with no common factors, the common interval is C=T1/n=T2/m, then the unambiguous velocity is given as λ/(4C). The unambiguous range is given by cT2/2, where c is the speed of light in ms−1. It is generally understood that the standard error in the velocity estimate increases as the ratio of T1/T2 approaches unity. Therefore, the ratio is generally chosen as 2/3, however, other ratios are possible, and the particular ratio used should not limit the scope of the invention.
Although the staggered PRT approach overcomes some of the problems experienced by the conflict between the unambiguous velocity and the unambiguous range, the approach can create problems in processing the signals received by the radar. This is particularly true when attempting to suppress the clutter echo in the signal. Signal clutter is produced by echo signals reflected from targets that are not of interest. For example, in weather radar systems, signals reflected off the ground would be an example of clutter. In uniform pulse repetition time systems, clutter filtering can be accomplished according to well known techniques using time domain or spectral domain filtering; almost all prior art techniques rely on uniform pulse repetition times. However, in staggered PRT signal processing, the time series are not uniformly spaced, because of the different spacing between T1 and T2, and thus the aforementioned techniques do not immediately apply.
Prior art approaches to solving this equi-spacing problems include an approach by Sachidananda and Zrnić, (Sachidananda, M. and D. Zrnić, 2002: An Improved Clutter Filtering and Spectral Moment Estimation Algorithm for Staggered PRT Sequences. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 19, 2009-2019), which is hereby incorporated by reference. This prior art approach introduced a staggered PRT clutter filtering algorithm based on the interpolation of the time-series to equi-spaced data samples. This prior art approach interleaved zeros into the time-series to create equi-spaced time-series data samples. The interpolated time-series is then transformed with a discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The resulting spectrum contains five modulated "replicas" of the intrinsic underlying spectrum. Complicated matrix mathematics must then be used to filter the spectra and estimate the power, mean velocity, and spectrum width. These complicated calculations result in requiring more sophisticated processing equipment as well as increased processing time.
Therefore, there exists a need for a method to remove clutter from a staggered PRT signal that is easy to implement and can be utilized with existing filters. The present invention solves this and other problems and an advance in the art is achieved.

Method and apparatus for clutter filtering staggered pulse repetition time signals

University Corporation of Atmospheric Research


Disclosed herein are a platinum compound employed as raw material of medicines having carcinostatic effects, and a process of preparing the platinum compound. The platinum compound (I) substantially free from impurities can be prepared through a reaction between the corresponding dihalogen compound and an organic dibasic acid employing an iodine compound utilizing the difference of solubilities between the desired compound and the iodine compounds.

The present invention relates to a platinum compound and a process of preparing the same.
Heretofore, compounds (I) and (II) have been known as platinum compounds having carcinostatic effects. The compound (I) has been obtained by means of the following procedures. At first, the compound (II) is prepared by reacting K.sub.2 Pl(II)X.sub.4 (X is Cl or Br) with a 1,2-cyclohexanediamine isomer. A silver nitrate solution of two equivalents in respect to the compound (II) is added to a solution prepared by dissolving the compound (II) into water under boiling to precipitate chlorine or bromine as silver chloride or silver bromide which is then filtered off. To the filtrate is added an organic dibasic acid to obtain the desired compound (I). ##STR1##
However, this preparation process possesses a disadvantage that many impurities such as the unreacted compound (II), compounds (III) and (IV) which are by-products of the compound (II) and an unreacted silver ion remain in the compound (I) prepared according to the above process.
One of the reasons the impurities are contaminated in the desired compound (I) is the low solubility of the compound (II) in water. For example, when the compound (II) is a chloride of a trans-1 isomer, its considerably low solubility in water is about 0.26 mg/ml and oven if dissolved under boiling, only about 0.5 mg/ml of the compound (II) dissolves. Because of the low solubility of the compound (II), it is quite difficult to completely dechlorinate the compound (II) from the viewpoint of its characteristics resulting in the contamination of the above impurities.
A remarkable problem also remains in the removal of the silver chloride formed as a result of the above reaction. The solubility of the silver chloride is relatively low so that almost all the silver chloride formed can be removed in ordinary conditions. However, in the above reaction, a large amount of water is required due to the low solubility of the compound (II) so that the complete removal of the silver chloride may be impossible in such a reaction employing a large amount of water.
This tendency becomes worse when the bromide is employed.
Many platinum compounds may possess physiologic activities such as cytotoxicity, and the contamination of the above unreacted compound (II) and the by-products (III) and (IV) is not allowed in the raw material for medicines having carcinostatic effects even if a trace amount. The unreacted silver ion which may exist in the medicines is regulated in a heavy metal test method, but no satisfactory value in connection with the silver ion has been obtained in conventional methods.

Platinum compound and process of preparing same


A new and distinct variety of Pistachio tree denominated ‘Golden Hills’ is described. This selection's most significant advantage over the industry standard is the higher early yield and a greater percentage of this yield is composed of edible split nuts. This variety also has less of a chilling requirement for dormancy resulting in more uniform spring foliation, flowering, pollination and nut maturity at harvest.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Pistachio tree Pistacia vera which has been denominated varietally as 'Golden Hills', and more particularly to such a pistachio tree which has a harvest date of two to thirteen days earlier than the industry standard pistachio tree variety 'Kerman'.
'Golden Hills' produces a greater yield and higher percentage of split, edible nuts than 'Kerman' while maintaining a similar low percentage of loose shells and kernels. The earlier harvest date will permit growers to extend their harvest period and reduce competition for scarce harvesting resources and may reduce disease in the northern production areas of California by permitting an earlier harvest before fall rains. The cultivar requires less chilling than 'Kerman', which improves uniformity of foliation, bloom, nut set, nut fill, and uniformity of nut maturity at harvest in years with insufficient chilling for 'Kerman'. Based on all of our evaluations, this cultivar appears to be an exceptional producer and has the potential to increase grower profits by up to 40%, while being better adapted to low chill years, more uniform harvest period, and having fewer Navel Orangeworm problems.

Female Pistachio tree named ‘Golden Hills’

The Regents of the University of California


A method of partially or completely selectively removing first-pass effect-reducing particles from citrus juice containing first-pass effect-reducing particles, wherein the particles have a size less than about 500 um and greater than about 25 .mu.m and citrus juice products made by the method.

The "grapefruit juice effect" as a well known phenomenon. See Clinical Pharmacokinetics, 33, (2), 103-121, 1997, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 61, (4), 395-400, 1997, Clinical Pharmacokinetics, 26, (2), 91-98, 1994, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 63, (4), 397-402, 1998, The Boston Globe, page C1, Dec. 1. 1997, The Washington Post, page A11, Aug. 30. 1996, and http:/www.powernetdesign.com/grapefruit. In short, the "grapefruit juice effect" is the common name given to an effect sometimes observed when a patient takes medicine by mouth and, at the same time or about the same time, drinks grapefruit juice. In certain instances depending, it is thought, upon the type of fruit used to make the juice, the processing method used to make the juice, the maturity of the fruit, etc., the grapefruit juice exerts an effect upon the body which somehow prevents the body (presumably the liver and the small intestine) from degrading a medicine as it normally would in the absence of the grapefruit juice. The natural degradation of medicines by the body (occurring soon after the medicine is given) is known as the "first-pass effect", and the reproducibility of the first-pass effect is relied upon by pharmaceutical manufacturers and doctors alike in preparing and prescribing medicines. When grapefruit juice interferes with the first-pass effect and exerts an anti-first-pass effect effect, an amount of the medicine taken which otherwise would be degraded by the body is not degraded by the body. The net result is an amount or concentration of the medicine in the blood which can be dangerously high, even fatal. Because the "grapefruit juice effect" is not reliable, meaning that it is not consistently observed from batch to batch, the problem is heightened.

Safe citrus juice and process for preparation


An image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photoreceptor that includes a conductive substrate, an organic photosensitive layer provided on the conductive substrate, and an inorganic protective layer provided on the organic photosensitive layer; a charging unit that charges a surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor; an electrostatic latent image forming unit that forms an electrostatic latent image on a charged surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor; a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor to thereby form a toner image, by using a developer which contains a toner, and a carrier in which a ratio occupied by carrier particles having a particle diameter of 50 μm or greater is equal to or smaller than 1% by number; and a transfer unit that transfers the toner image to a surface of a recording medium.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a process cartridge.
2. Related Art
An electrophotographic method is widely used in a copying machine, a printer, or the like.
Recently, regarding an electrophotographic photoreceptor (referred to as "a photoreceptor" below, in some cases) used in an image forming apparatus which uses the electrophotographic method, a technology in which a surface layer (protective layer) is provided on a surface of a photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor, has been examined.

Image forming apparatus and process cartridge


A method of surface grinding a Zr-rich bulk amorphous alloy article includes providing a substrate; providing a first surface grinder for rough surface grinding; and providing a second surface grinder for finish surface grinding. During the rough surface grinding, the rotating speed is in the range from 20 r/min to 30 r/min, the grinding time period is from 3 minutes to 12 minutes, and the grinding pressure is from 1 kg/cm2 to 2 kg/cm2, and a first pump circularly conveys a first lubricant to a first rotating abrasive wheel. During the finish surface grinding, the rotating speed is in the range from 30 r/min to 40 r/min, the grinding time period is from 5 minutes to 7 minutes, and the grinding pressure is from 1 kg/cm2 to 2 kg/cm2, and a second pump circularly conveys a second lubricant to a second rotating abrasive wheel.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to amorphous alloy articles and methods of surface grinding thereof, and particularly, to a Zr-rich bulk amorphous alloy article and a method of surface grinding thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Amorphous alloys provide superior magnetic, mechanical, chemical, and other properties in comparison with crystal. Many alloy compositions which can form an amorphous phase, such as Fe systems, Ni systems, Co systems, Al systems, Zr systems, and Ti systems have been developed.
A plurality of devices or components produced from Zr-rich bulk amorphous alloys, such as the housings of electronic devices, has been developed. The housing produced from Zr-rich bulk amorphous alloy often requires a surface treatment to obtain a better appearance. However, during a commonly used surface treatment process, the temperature of the Zr-rich bulk amorphous alloy will be unduly increased, which may cause crystallization, thereby limiting the performance of the amorphous alloy article.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Zr-rich bulk amorphous alloy article and method of surface grinding thereof

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


A method is disclosed that allows a content provider to transmit font information to a receiver, and that further allows a receiver terminal to receive and apply such information, thus giving improved possibilities for the content provider to define how to render the transmitted text or symbols on a display. The method is good for data streaming systems, in particular MPEG-4 based systems. Advantageously, the received font information can be stored if the terminal contains an appropriate storage device.

In the MPEG-4 standard ISO/IEC 14496, in particular in part 1 Systems, an audio/video (AV) scene can be composed from several audio, video and synthetic 2D/3D objects that can be coded with different MPEG-4 format coding types and can be transmitted as binary compressed data in a multiplexed bitstream, comprising audio, video and other substreams, e.g. text to be displayed. A substream is also referred to as Elementary Stream (ES), and can be accessed through a descriptor. A scene is generally understood as an audio-visual space that a user can interact with.
The process of synthesizing a single scene from the component objects is called composition, and means mixing multiple individual AV objects, e.g. a presentation of a video with related audio and text, after reconstruction of packets and separate decoding of their respective ES. User interaction, terminal capability, and terminal configuration may be used when determining how to compose a scene at a receiver terminal. The bitstream defined in the mentioned MPEG-4 standard contains an ES called 'Scene Description Stream' being a set of general instructions for composition of scenes, and further contains other substreams, so called Object Description Streams, that contain configuration information being necessary for decoding the AV substreams. In a receiver the configuration substreams are extracted and used to set up the required AV decoders. Then the AV substreams are decoded separately to objects, and the received composition instructions are used to prepare a single presentation from the decoded AV objects. This final presentation, or scene, which is no more under full control of the broadcaster or content provider due to terminal dependent composition, is then played back.
In ISO/IEC 14496-1:2002, which is the current version of the MPEG-4 Systems standard, a hierarchical model for presenting AV scenes is described, using a parametric approach. An InitialObjectDescriptor (IOD) contains descriptors for the Scene Description Stream and a dedicated OD Stream. The Scene Description Stream contains a scene description consisting of an encoded tree of nodes. 'Node' means a processing step or unit used in the MPEG-4 standard, e.g. an interface carrying out time synchronisation between a decoder and subsequent processing units. Nodes can have attributes, referred to as fields, and other information attached. A leaf node in this tree corresponds either to elementary AV data by pointing to an OD within the OD stream, which in turn contains an ES Descriptor pointing to AV data in an ES, or to a graphical 2D/3D synthetic object, e.g. a cube; a curve or text. Intermediate nodes, or scene description nodes, group this material to form AV objects, and perform e.g. grouping and transformation on such AV objects.
Text to be displayed is contained in a Scene Description ES. The reproduction of text is described with the FontStyle node. In the FontStyle node semantics, the family field permits to the content creator to select the font the terminal uses to display, or render, the text. If the font is available on the client platform, it is used to render the given text strings. Otherwise a default font has to be used. In contrast to many other nodes of the Scene Description, the FontStyle node fields are static, i.e. they cannot be modified by updates.

Method to transmit and receive font information in streaming systems


A method of the invention is used for checking the via density between two adjacent layers of an IC layout. The method includes selecting a first metal layer and a second metal layer, wherein the first metal layer is adjacent to the second one, each of the metal layers has at least a wire, and the metal layers are coupled to each other through at least a first via; calculating the cross-sectional area of the first via and the overlapping area of the overlapped part of the wires in the first and the second metal layers; and disposing at least a second via in the overlapped part to couple the first and the second metal layers if the ratio of the cross-sectional area to the overlapping area is smaller than a predetermined ratio value.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a method for checking an IC layout, and more particularly to a method for checking out the wire layout causing the high wire resistance in an IC layout.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a partial equivalent circuit diagram of a conventional integrated circuit (IC). As shown in this drawing, the equivalent circuit 10 includes a voltage source 11, several equivalent wire resistors R11, R12, R13, R21, R22 and R23, and several device units 12, 13 and 14. Theoretically, the equivalent resistance of an ideal wire is zero in the circuit property. In fact, however, each wire has an equivalent resistance. If the electric currents flowing through the device units 12, 13 and 14 are I1, I2 and I3, respectively, because the equivalent wire resistors R11, R12 and R13 cause voltage drops and the equivalent wire resistors R21, R22 and R23 cause ground bounces, the voltages VG3 and V′G3 are represented in the following equations according to the ohm's law:VG3=V−R11(I1+I2+I3)−R12(I2+I3)−R13*I3  (1), andV′G3=R21(I1+I2+I3)+R22(I2+I3)+R23*I3  (2).
Thus, the operation voltage (the voltage drop across two ends) of the device unit 14 is not the ideal voltage (VDD−GND), but is (VG3−V′G3), which is less than (VDD−GND) for (R21+R11)(I1+I2+I3)+(R22+R12)(I2+I3)+(R23+R13)*I3. Hence, the larger the equivalent wire resistance is, the larger the voltage drop is. The large equivalent wire resistance may cause the timing problems and the functional failures of the device unit. The above-mentioned problem becomes worse when the IC manufacturing technology is getting more and more advanced such that the wire line width is getting smaller and smaller, and the wire's equivalent resistance is getting larger and larger. Thus, the difference between the actual operation voltage of the device and the ideal operation voltage thereof is getting larger and larger.
Consequently, it is an important subject of the circuit layout to effectively reduce the wire's resistance.
However, when the IC layout is done according to the currently used IC CAD (computer aided design) software, there are no known objective and effective rules and methods to judge whether or not the circuit layout causes the wire resistance too high. Instead, the circuit layout engineer can only check the complicated circuit layout with his/her naked eyes according to his/her experience for the subjective assertion. Thus, the prior art method is time-consuming, laborious, inefficient, and ineffective.

Method for reducing an equivalent resistance in an IC layout