Apparatus and methods are provided for the assessment of neuromuscular function. Using an apparatus of the invention, stimuli are applied to a nerve that traverses the wrist of an individual. The stimuli are applied at a point that is proximal to the wrist. Stimulation of the nerve causes a muscle innervated by that nerve to respond. The muscle response generates a myoelectric potential, which is detected by an apparatus of the invention at a point that is proximal to the wrist. The delay between stimulation of a nerve and detection of a muscular response to that stimulation is processed to indicate an assessment of neuromuscular function. For example, a sufficient delay between application of stimulus and muscle response may indicate the presence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

There are many clinical and non-clinical situations that call for a rapid, reliable and low-cost assessments of neuromuscular function. Reliable and automated devices are needed to monitor neuromuscular function in surgical and intensive care settings. For example, muscle relaxants significantly improve surgical procedures and post-operative care by regulating the efficacy of nerve to muscle coupling through a process called neuromuscular blockade. They are, however, difficult to use in a safe and effective manner because of the wide variation and lack of predictability of patient responses to them. In another setting, an easy to use and reliable indicator would be beneficial in assessing potential contamination exposure situations by chemical agents. These agents disrupt neuromuscular function and effectively cause neuromuscular blockage, putting soldiers and civilians at risk.
The most common causes of neuromuscular disruption are, however, related to pathologies of the peripheral nerves and muscles. Neuromuscular disorders, such as, for example, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), are very common and well known to the general public. Despite their extensive impact on individuals and the health care system, detection and monitoring of such neuromuscular pathologies remains expensive, complicated, and highly underutilized.
CTS is one of the most common forms of neuromuscular disease. The disease is thought to arise from compression of the Median nerve as it traverses the wrist. CTS often causes discomfort or loss of sensation in the hand, and, in severe cases, a nearly complete inability to use one's hands. Highly repetitive wrist movements, as well as certain medical conditions, such as, for example, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, and pregnancy, are thought to be factors that contribute to the onset of CTS. In 1995, the US National Center for Health Statistics estimated that there were over 1.89 million cases of CTS in the United States alone.
Effective prevention of CTS requires early detection and subsequent action. Unfortunately, the state of CTS diagnosis is rather poor. Even experienced physicians find it difficult to diagnose and stage the severity of CTS based on symptoms alone. The only objective way to detect CTS is to measure the transmission of neural signals across the wrist. The gold standard approach is a formal nerve conduction study by a clinical neurologist, but this clinical procedure has a number of important disadvantages. First, it is a time consuming process that requires the services of a medical expert, such as a neurologist. Second, the procedure is very costly (e.g., $600-$1000). Furthermore, it is not available in environments where early detection could significantly decrease the rate of CTS, such as the workplace where a significant number of causes of CTS appear. As a result of these disadvantages, formal electrophysiological evaluation of suspected CTS is used relatively infrequently, which decreases the likelihood of early detection and prevention.
The prior art reveals a number of attempts to simplify the assessment of neuromuscular function, such as in diagnosing CTS, and to make such diagnostic measurements available to non-experts. Rosier (U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,643) describes a portable device for measuring nerve conduction velocity in patients. This instrument has, however, several very important disadvantages. First, it requires placement of two sets of electrodes: one set at the stimulation site and one set at the detection site. Consequently, a skilled operator with a fairly sophisticated knowledge of nerve and muscle anatomy must ensure correct application of the device. Inappropriate placement of one or both of the electrode sets can lead to significant diagnostic errors. Second, the Rosier apparatus suffers from the disadvantage that it is not automated. In particular, it demands that the user of the device establish the magnitude of the electrical stimulus, as well as a response detection threshold. These parameters are difficult to determine a priori, and their rapid and correct establishment requires an advanced understanding of both neurophysiology and the detailed electronic operation of the apparatus.
Spitz, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,100) and Lemmen (U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,902) have also attempted to enhance the earlier prior art: Specifically, they proposed systems that measure nerve conduction parameters between the arm or forearm and the hand, such as would be required for diagnosing CTS. In both cases, however, electrode supporting structures or fixtures were proposed that would substantially fix the positions at which the stimulation electrodes contact the arm and the detection electrodes contact the hand. Furthermore, these systems suffer, from several important disadvantages. First, both systems are rather large and bulky, because they include a supporting fixture for the arm and hand of an adult. This severely limits their portability and increases their cost. Second, these devices still require highly trained operators who can make the appropriate adjustments on the apparatus so as to insure electrode contact with the proper anatomical sites on the arm and hand. A third disadvantage of both systems is that they continue to demand multiple operator decisions regarding stimulation and detection parameters. Finally, these prior art systems suffer from the disadvantage that they do not automatically implement the diagnostic procedure and indicate the results in a simple and readily interpretable form.
There remains a need, therefore, for apparatus and methods for assessing neuromuscular function that are less time consuming, less expensive, and more available to a wider range of the general public (i.e., are more portable and easy to use). Such apparatus and methods are needed to provide more widespread early detection and prevention of neuromuscular pathologies, such as CTS. The present invention addresses these needs.

Apparatus and methods for assessment of neuromuscular function


A ferritic heat-resistant steel, which exhibits excellent creep characteristics even at a high temperature exceeding 600° C., comprises, on the basis of percent by weight, 1.0 to 13% of chromium, 0.1 to 8.0% of cobalt, 0.01 to 0.20% of nitrogen, 3.0% or less of nickel, 0.01 to 0.50% of one or more of elements selected from a group consisting of vanadium, niobium, tantalum, titanium, hafnium, and zirconium that are MX type precipitate forming elements, and 0.01% or less of carbon and a balance being substantially iron and inevitable impurities, wherein the MX type precipitates precipitate on grain boundaries and in entire grains and the grain boundary existing ratio of an M23C6 type precipitate precipitating on the grain boundaries is 50% or less.

Austenite heat-resistant steel and ferritic heat-resistant steel have been employed as a high temperature member for power generation boilers and turbines, atomic power generation facilities, apparatuses in chemical industries, and the like because they are used for a long period of time at a high temperature under a high pressure. The ferritic heat-resistant steel is often used as a high temperature member at a temperature up to about 600° C. because it is less expensive than the austenite heat-resistant steel, has a smaller coefficient of thermal expansion, and is excellent in heat-resistant fatigue properties.
In contrast, recently, it has been examined to operate thermal power generation plants at a high temperature under a high pressure to increase an efficiency with a target of increasing a steam temperature of a steam turbine from the highest temperature of 593° C. at present to 600° C. and finally to 650° C.
In general, conventional ferritic heat-resistant steel is made by combining enhancement of precipitation achieved by an M23C6 type carbide precipitating on martensite grain boundaries and an MX type carbon-nitride dispersing and precipitating in grains with enhancement of a ferrite mother phase achieved by adding tungsten, molybdenum, cobalt, and the like, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2948324. However, when the ferritic heat-resistant steel is subjected to creep at a temperature exceeding 600° C. for a long period of time exceeding 10,000 hours, the M23C6 type carbide is coarsened and the effect of enhancement of precipitation is reduced as well as a dislocation is actively recovered and a high temperature creep strength is greatly deteriorated. As disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 62-180039, a method of preventing the deterioration of the creep strength for a long period of time is to maintain the enhancement of precipitation by reducing an additive amount of carbon and precipitating a nitride that is more stable than a carbide at a high temperature and unlike to be coarsened. However, carbon is necessary to secure hardenability of the ferritic heat-resistant steel, and when carbon is simply reduced, the ferritic heat-resistant steel is not sufficiently hardened and a strength enhancing effect is reduced by a dislocation introduced in hardening. Thus, there has been not yet provided ferritic heat-resistant steel having a large creep strength for a long period of time at a high temperature exceeding 600° C.

Ferritic heat-resistant steel and method for production thereof

National Institute for Materials Science


A system for storing information having a predetermined use which requires the information to be secured. The information may comprise credit card details used to complete a transaction. The system includes: (a) A client system for storing an encoded version of the information and an identifier. The encoded version is generated from first data of the information and an encoded version of the second data of the information. The information can be generated from the first data and the second data, and the predetermined use is infeasible with only one of the first data and the second data, (b) A remote server for storing the second data and an encoded identifier generated from the identifier. The client system sends at least the encoded version of the second data to the remote server. The client system or the remote server is able to generate the information from the first data and the second data. Accordingly, only part of the information to be secured is stored locally on the client system, whilst the other part is stored on the remote server, and neither the client system nor the remote server have a record of the entire information.

The secure storage of electronic information is a major concern for many organisations. In particular, the storage of customer information creates risks of privacy violations and theft of potentially valuable information. For example, many organisations store credit card information for their customers. The storage of a customer's credit card information obviates the need for the customer to re-enter the same credit card number, expiry date, and card name every time a credit card transaction is processed. Organisations with the ability to avoid this inconvenience and process transactions rapidly are likely to be more attractive to their customers. For example, the storage of credit card information enables the use of so-called 'one click' purchasing over the Internet, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,411, thereby increasing the completion rate of online purchases. Moreover, the storage of sensitive information such as credit card numbers avoids the need to re-transmit the information over potentially insecure communications networks, making it less vulnerable to theft during transmission, by transmission monitoring, for example.
On the other hand, the storage of such information is unlikely to ever be totally secure, and the stored information is always at least potentially vulnerable to theft by hackers, malicious staff, contractors, cleaners, IT services suppliers, etc. This risk is always present for any organisation that keeps such information on record. The loss of such information is embarrassing and is potentially extremely costly for the organisation. It is desired to provide a process and system that alleviate the above difficulties, or at least provide a useful alternative.


A method and apparatus for conducting a transition test of a source synchronous interface is disclosed. A system includes a source synchronous transmitter and source synchronous receiver. The source synchronous transmitter includes a first scannable flop having an output coupled to a data input of a second scannable flop in the source synchronous receiver. During a transition test, the source synchronous transmitter is configured to transmit data from the first scannable flop to the second scannable flop, along with a clock signal at an operational clock speed. The first scannable flop is coupled to feedback circuitry configured to cause transitions of the transmitted data. The second scannable flop may capture the transmitted data. The captured data may be subsequently used to determine if the desired transitions were detected by the second scannable flop.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure is directed to integrated circuits, and more particularly, to testing integrated circuits having source synchronous interfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Testing of an integrated circuit (IC) may be conducted in various ways. One common way of conducting testing of an IC is through the use of scan testing. Circuitry to support scan testing may provide internal access to an IC. Scan circuitry may be implemented by forming chains of scannable elements. Data may be serially shifted through the scannable elements of the scan chain. This may allow for the input of test stimulus data, as well as the capture and shifting out of test result data. Using available scan circuitry, manufacturing tests may be conducted on ICs prior to their shipment to a customer in order to verify the circuitry therein.
One type of test that may be supported by scan testing is known as a transition test. In a transition test, data shifted into a scan chain may cause logical transitions of circuitry coupled thereto. Such testing may be used to determine the ability of circuitry to undergo transitions responsive to stimulus designed to cause such transitions. Both logic 0 to logic 1 and logic 1 to logic 0 transitions may be tested during a typical transition test.
Some ICs include source synchronous interfaces. Transition testing on such source synchronous interfaces may be performed by conducting separate and independent internal transition tests on each side of the interface.

Transition fault testing of source synchronous interface


A method is disclosed for managing torque distribution in a hybrid electric vehicle powertrain. An engine power estimation is determined for use in obtaining an optimum wheel torque command to attenuate sustained powertrain dynamic oscillations during operation of the vehicle with varying wheel torque and speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to management of driving power in a hybrid electric vehicle having two power sources whereby vehicle driveline vibration oscillations are attenuated.
2. Background Discussion
Powertrain configurations for hybrid electric vehicles have multiple power sources. A primary power source typically is an internal combustion engine, although other power sources, such as a fuel cell, can be used instead. A secondary power source would include an electric motor, such as an induction motor electrically coupled to a high voltage battery and an electric generator.
A hybrid electric powertrain may include a configuration in which multiple power sources distribute power to vehicle traction wheels through gearing of a transmission that defines divided power flow paths. The battery acts as an energy storing device for the generator and the motor as power is distributed through the divided power flow paths. The motor and the generator can be referred to as electric machines since either is capable of acting as a motor under certain driving conditions and as a generator under other driving conditions.
A vehicle system controller will maintain the vehicle at its maximum performance value by managing the power distribution among the various components of the vehicle powertrain. It manages the operating state of the engine, the generator, the motor and the battery to maximize total vehicle efficiency. The battery is an energy storage medium for the generator and the motor.
The vehicle system controller will ensure that power management for optimum vehicle performance and drivability is maintained as it commands desired engine torque and interfaces with a transmission control module. The transmission control module commands a motor torque to effect the commanded wheel torque. It also commands a generator torque to control the engine to achieve a desired engine speed.
For the purpose of disclosing the present invention, reference will be made to a so-called series-parallel powertrain configuration, although the invention is not limited to use in a powertrain configuration of that type. In a series-parallel powertrain configuration, a motor torque control must coordinate the wheel torque command and the generator torque command. It then must compensate for the inertia effect of the generator and the gearing elements to which the generator is connected. This will ensure that the vehicle system controller wheel torque command is fulfilled.
Environmental disturbances and powertrain dynamic interactions of the engine, generator and motor can result in oscillatory generator torque. An oscillatory generator torque can result in an oscillatory motor torque command, which can excite driveline torque oscillations. In turn, these driveline torque oscillations can result in oscillatory generator target speeds and actual generator speeds, which will cause oscillatory generator torque commands. A controlled coordination of the torque of the motor and the generator can potentially result in a so-called "positive feedback" control loop if the control system is not implemented properly. This positive feedback can cause driveline torque oscillations to be sustained.
Engine power available at the traction wheels needs to be estimated in order to afford the vehicle operator with maximum powertrain system capability under all engine and battery operating conditions without violating battery power limits. This engine power estimation is used to determine an appropriate maximum wheel power command, which is used to determine an optimum maximum desired wheel torque for a given set of operating conditions. When maximum powertrain system capability is demanded (e.g., in a full acceleration pedal startup, or at accelerator pedal commands with low battery limits), the engine power estimation directly affects the wheel power command and also the wheel torque command.
An implementation of an engine power estimation is done without exceeding allowable power limits as described in patent application Ser. No. 10/248,886, filed Feb. 27, 2003, entitled "Closed-Loop Power Control System For Hybrid Electric Vehicles", now U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,053, issued Jan. 31, 2006. That patent application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
The engine power estimation is based on the difference between the commanded wheel power and the sum of the commanded motor power and the commanded generator power. Assuming that the transmission is delivering the commanded wheel power and wheel torque, the motor and generator torque commands can be oscillatory, as previously indicated, which may result in oscillatory motor and generator power values. This in turn may cause the engine power estimation to oscillate. This oscillatory engine power estimation can cause oscillatory wheel power commands, which would result in oscillatory wheel torque commands. Oscillatory wheel torque commands can amplify the driveline oscillations induced by the so-called "positive feedback" in the motor and generator coordination control.
Engine power can be estimated as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/161,344, filed Jul. 29, 2005, which is entitled "Method for Estimating Engine Power in a Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powertrain", now U.S. Pat. No. 7,285,869, issued Oct. 23, 2007. That application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Such engine power estimation actually is analogous to a coupling between the powertrain control module and the transmission control module, which can sustain driveline oscillations initiated by the transmission. These driveline oscillations are more noticeable during full accelerator pedal launches under low vehicle speeds and under operating conditions when battery power limits are low. They are less noticeable at relatively high vehicle speeds.

Method for reducing driveline vibration in a hybrid electric vehicle powertrain


Disclosed is a machine direction measurement system having an increased cross direction sampling area (significantly larger than the natural sensor measurement window) to generate a more representative and stable machine direction reading of the process. In effect, the sensor should have as wide a coverage area as possible without having to resort to the expense of measuring the entire width of the sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to measuring process variables in a processing system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sensor system for measuring process variables in the machine direction, with cross direction averaging, in a continuous flat sheet process such as a paper making process.
2. Background Art
In many continuous flat sheet formation processes such as paper making, properties of the sheet material can be tracked in two perpendicular directions: the machine direction (MD), which is the direction of movement of the sheet material during production; and cross machine direction (CD), which is perpendicular to the MD or across the sheet during production.
In these continuous flat sheet processes, it would be desirable to track the change of certain process variables along the machine direction to produce gradients that can be used for monitoring, control, and optimization. Measurements of the process can be made by fixing a series of sensors, typically designed for scanning systems, on fixed brackets in corresponding cross direction locations along the machine length. Due to their scanner based heritage, the measurement windows (sampling apertures) are very small in comparison to the width of the process, however the true machine direction measurement is really a process average of the entire cross direction width. Sampling a very small percentage of the sheet leads to a technical problem where cross direction variations would significantly influence the results of machine direction gradients due to sensor alignment, sheet wander, local streak generation, etc.

Machine direction sensor system with cross direction averaging


An electronic engine speed control system for a grass mowing machine powered by an internal combustion engine includes a microcontroller providing an output signal to an engine speed actuator for the engine, a pedal position sensor connected to a foot pedal and providing a voltage input signal to the microcontroller based on the position of the foot pedal, a PTO clutch switch providing a signal input to the microcontroller indicating if a PTO clutch is engaged, and a lever position sensor connected to a hand lever and having a range of positions including an Automatic mode position and a plurality of Manual mode positions. The hand lever position sensor provides a voltage input signal to the microcontroller in the Automatic mode position such that the microcontroller output to the engine speed actuator is related to the voltage inputs from the pedal position sensor and PTO clutch switch, and provides a voltage input signal to the microcontroller in a range of Manual mode positions such that the microcontroller output to the engine speed actuator is related to the voltage input from the lever position sensor.

Riding lawn equipment, compact tractors, commercial mowers, and golf and turf mowing equipment are typically powered by internal combustion engines. These machines include engine speed controls that an operator may use to regulate the rate at which fuel is supplied to the engine. The engine speed controls may include a lever near the operator's seat, and the lever may be connected to a push/pull cable or mechanical linkage that controls the throttle position of a gasoline engine, or the fuel injectors on a diesel engine. A governor may be provided between the cable or linkage and the throttle or fuel injectors. The engine speed, or rotational rate of the engine, may be proportional to the position of the engine speed controls depending on the load.
In the past, many grass mowing machines also have included infinitely variable hydrostatic transmissions to control direction and the drive ratio of the vehicle. For example, the hydrostatic transmission may be controlled with one or a pair of foot operated pedals. Depressing a foot pedal causes the vehicle to move forward or reverse and, at a given engine speed, the travel speed of the vehicle may be proportional to the distance the pedal is depressed.
Controls for engine speed and the hydrostatic transmission are not linked, but are controlled separately. This adds to the complexity of operating the equipment. To simplify operation, some operators may set the engine speed control so that the engine is at a fast idle, and control vehicle travel speed only with the transmission. As a result, an operator may run the engine at a higher speed than is necessary or desirable. Running the engine at a high speed may waste fuel, and create unnecessary noise and vibration which may be undesirable to the operator and bystanders.
An additional problem with separate controls for the engine speed and hydrostatic transmission occurs when a power take-off (PTO) is engaged to the engine. Mower decks, tillers, and other attachments may be driven by a PTO. These attachments are heavy loads on the engine, and it is important to operate them at a fast engine speed. However, some operators do not properly and sufficiently increase the engine speed when operating attachments.
Accordingly, a simplified control system is needed for an operator to control the engine speed of a lawn and garden tractor, compact tractor, commercial mower, or golf and turf mowing machine. An electronic engine speed control system is needed that, based on the desired vehicle speed, can set an engine speed actuator so that the engine runs at an optimal speed that does not waste fuel or create unnecessary noise and vibration. An electronic engine speed control system is needed that can help assure that attachments and implements driven by the PTO of a lawn and garden tractor are operated at an appropriate and sufficient engine speed.

Electronic engine speed control system for grass mowing machine


Provided are a neighboring relationship establishment method, a wireless relay and a network side node. The neighboring relationship establishment method includes: establishing a neighbor list for the first wireless relay, the neighbor list including at least one neighbor relay of the first wireless relay, the neighbor relay being a wireless relay whose signal quality detected by the first wireless relay meets a predetermined condition; and establishing an interface between the first wireless relay and the neighbor relay.

In a 5th-Generation (5G) mobile communications system, the use of a wireless relay as a node device of a backhaul network is currently being studied. A wireless relay backhaul technology includes the use of a wireless backhaul link at a high frequency band of more than 6 GHz. For the wireless relay (Relay) backhaul technology, one or more wireless relay nodes is added between a network side node and a terminal, so as to relay a wireless signal for one or more times, i.e., usually the wireless signal can reach the terminal in a multi-hop manner.
Taking a simple two-hop relay as an example, usually a link from the network side node to the terminal is divided into two links, i.e., a link from the network side node to a relay and a link from the relay to the terminal, and this gives an opportunity to replace a link with inferior quality with two links each with superior quality, so as to acquire a higher link capacity and a better coverage.
Currently, there is no definite scheme about how to establish and maintain a neighboring relationship between nodes in the backhaul network.

Neighboring relationship establishment method, wireless relay and network side node


A computer readable storage medium includes executable instructions to receive a specification of a combinational logic circuit. The specification of the combinational logic circuit is converted to a Single-Rail un-encoded circuit and a Dual-Rail encoded circuit, which periodically encodes a null value, a first valid state and a second valid state on two wires. A logic operation of the Single-Rail un-encoded circuit transpires during processing of a null value by the Dual-Rail encoded circuit.

A combinational circuit with the capability of detecting the completion of its operation exhibits the very important advantage of data-dependent input to output delay. Thus, compared to conventional, fixed-delay counterparts, where the delay is either modeled through the use of a global, fixed frequency clock, or by using a fixed delay reference, if the circuit is without a clock, it is capable of operating without the constraint of a fixed, worst-case critical path. Instead, a clock-less circuit operates with a variable critical path based on the gates that are sensitized for a given input vector. This allows the circuits to operate with an average case delay, i.e. a delay proportional to the average case of a specific input data sample composed of a large collection of operational input vectors. This allows circuits with completion detection to have increased performance.
Circuits with completion detection possess three fundamental implementation requirements, i.e. a data encoding scheme, two-phase alternating NULL/DATA operation, and monotonic transitions at all of the circuit components. The data encoding scheme must contain: (i) a code word for an EMPTY or NULL or SPACER value, which typically designates an empty channel, i.e. data absent at a specific circuit portion, and (ii) VALID code words which represent the presence of binary signal values (e.g. "0" or "1" for a single bit value), which typically designates a full channel, i.e. data arrival of a particular value at a specific circuit portion. The two-phase operation is required to prevent data interference between the VALID and NULL code words. Thus, the typical operation of circuits with completion detection is to alternate between NULL and VALID code words at the inputs by observing an acknowledgement, synchronization signal, which is typically communicated by a sequential (state storing) circuit. This ensures that the VALID word is generated by reading the completion signal and is stored in a sequential register. Monotonic operation or monotonic transition implies that any circuit node during a VALID code word propagation is either rising or falling, and ultimately stabilizes to a high or a low voltage without any change in the direction based on circuit delays, gate switching order or hazards. The propagation of the NULL word is merely used to reset all the circuit nodes to their NULL state in order to ensure monotonic operation.
Thus, the typical mode of operation of a circuit with completion detection is the following. First, all of the circuit's nodes are reset to the NULL codeword by feeding NULL to the inputs. Next, a VALID code word is applied. Thus, based on the polarity of the gates, some nodes will be rising while others will be falling. After the VALID computation is complete, a new NULL word is introduced to clear all the circuit's nodes. The application of the NULL word achieves the opposite effect to the prior VALID codeword, i.e. if a node rose to high, now it will typically return to low, and vice versa. The most common encoding scheme for implementing circuits with completion detection is the Dual-Rail encoding scheme. The Dual-Rail encoding scheme encodes at least three values, i.e. NULL, VALID0 and VALID1 using two wires. Typically, NULL is encoded as the digital representation 00, whereas VALID0 and VALID1 are typically encoded as 10 and 01, respectively. In Dual-Rail conversion approaches, where negative polarity gates are allowed for the Dual-Rail implementation, NULL typically possesses two encodings, i.e. 00 or 11, based on the polarity of a node, positive or negative respectively.
There are three fundamental drawbacks with Dual-Rail encoded circuit implementations: (i) area overhead, (ii) power consumption overhead and (iii) cycle time overhead. The first drawback stems from the necessity to generate logic gates for both rails instead of just one, as in binary logic. The second drawback stems from the additional logic for the two rails and the two-phase operation. Both factors significantly increase the number of transitions for a circuit cycle. The third drawback stems from the two-phase operation, where the cycle time of the Dual-Rail circuit is the sum of the delay of the VALID propagation and the delay of the NULL propagation. The combined delay is potentially larger than that of a binary, i.e., un-encoded, circuit.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to develop techniques to overcome shortcomings associated with prior art circuits incorporating completion detection.

Apparatus and method for mixed single-rail and dual-rail combinational logic with completion detection

Institute of Computer Science (ICS) of the Foundation for Research & Technology Hellas-Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)


A mobile terminal includes: a storage section storing pieces of schedule information indicating respective user's schedules in which planned activities are assigned to respective scheduled dates and times; an incoming contact detection section that detects an incoming contact on the mobile terminal; a date and time information acquisition section that acquires date and time information indicating a current date and time on detection of the incoming contact; a schedule information acquisition section that acquires a piece of schedule information at a scheduled date and time based on the acquired date and time information; an alert operation attribute determining section that determines from the acquired piece of schedule information an alert operation attribute with which the planned activity is associated; and an alert operation control processing section that controls an alert operation notifying the user of the incoming contact according to the determined alert operation attribute.

The present disclosure relates to mobile terminals, such as mobile phones, operable to notify their users of arrivals of incoming contacts, such as calls and e-mails, by incoming alerts with sound, vibration, and so on and non-transitory computer-readable recording media with incoming alert operation control programs recorded thereon.
A typical mobile phone as a mobile terminal, upon arrival of an incoming call or e-mail from another terminal, such as a land-line phone, a mobile phone or an information processing device, generally notifies a user of the arrival by an incoming alert with a preset ring tone, mail tone, vibration or so on.
The setting of the incoming alert operation is appropriately changed according to circumstances from the viewpoint of convenience, manners or so on by the user. For example, the volume of the ring or mail tone is controlled or the incoming alert is changed from the ring or mail tone to the vibration.
However, in the actual use of a typical mobile phone, it is very burdensome for the user to appropriately change the setting of the incoming alert operation according to circumstances and the user often forgets the setting change, so that there are many cases where the incoming alert operation being currently set is circumstantially inappropriate. Thus, an incoming alert inappropriate to a user's situation may be issued. For example, a loud ring or mail tone may be generated in situations where vibration should normally be set as the incoming alert, such as during meetings and lectures.
To avoid the above unfavorable situation, a technique is known for detecting surrounding sounds of a typical mobile phone and vibrations of the mobile phone itself and automatically select the incoming alert operation according to the user's situation recognized from the detected sounds and vibrations.

Mobile terminal and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing computer-executable instructions


A gate electrode is formed of a laminate structure comprising a plurality of conductive layers such that the width along the channel of a lower first conductive layer is larger than that of an upper second conductive layer The gate electrode is used as a mask during ion doping for forming an LDD. A mask pattern for forming the gate electrode is processed into an optimum shape in combination with dry etching so that the LDD overlapping with the gate electrode(Lov) is 1 μm or more, and preferably, 1.5 μm or more.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an insulating gate field-effect transistor. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device that can be applied to a thin film transistor (TFT) having a gate overlapping structure.
2. Related Art
A display device using a liquid crystal has been put to practical use in a 20-inch or more large-screen that is typified by liquid crystal display TV. In recent years, a liquid crystal display device integrated with driving circuit that comprises TFT in which a polycrystalline silicon film is used as an active layer is realized.
However, there is a problem that the TFT using a polycrystalline silicon film result in lower withstanding pressure of drain junction. It resulted that junction leak current (hereinafter, OFF-leak current) is increased. It is known that a lightly doped region (LDD) is effective for reducing the OFF-leak current.
The problem is pointed out that high electric field is generated at the vicinity of the drain region, then, hot carriers are trapped by a gate insulating film on the LDD region, and then, a device characteristic such as threshold value is greatly deteriorated. The TFT in which the gate electrode is overlapped with the LDD region to prevent the deterioration of hot carriers is disclosed in JP 2001-294787. The gate overlapped LDD structure TFT has higher current driving ability compared to the normal LDD structure TFT, and suppresses the deterioration due to hot carriers by easing effectively the high electric field at the vicinity of the drain region.
However, according to the gate overlapped LDD structure TFT disclosed in above publication, an impurity region for forming an LDD region is formed on the semiconductor layer, then, the gate electrode is formed thereon to overlap with the LDD region. The manufacturing method cannot regulate accurately the portion that is overlapping with the gate electrode along with the miniaturization of design rule.
On the other hand, the preferred example of manufacturing the gate overlapping LDD structure TFT in a self-aligning manner is disclosed in JP2002-14337. The technique disclosed in the publication is that at least two layered conductive layer is subjected to once exposure and plural etching, then, the upper layer and the lower layer are formed to have different thickness and shape, and then, an ion doping is conducted thereon. Consequently, an LDD region that is overlapped with a gate electrode can be formed in a self-aligning manner.
Of course, it is necessary that the LDD length (the length for channel length) is optimized depending on the driving voltage of TFT in order to maximize the functions of the LDD overlapped with the gate electrode as a countermeasure against deteriorations due to hot carriers. That is, there is optimum length for easing effectively the high electric field region in the vicinity of the drain region.
The technique disclosed in above-mentioned publication has two steps: in the first step, two laminated conductive layers are subjected to etching to have a taper shape, in the second step, only the upper layer of the laminated conductive layers in the taper shape is selectively subjected to anisotropic etching, and can regulate LDD length by controlling the taper angle.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


System and method for providing a communication link between a central station (11) and a remote mobile or stationary object (13) including transmitting and receiving communication means (13) having transmitting and receiving communication means (14, 15) for speech and data transmission. The communication link includes a speech transmission link between the central station (11) and the remote object (13). The communication link also includes a data transmission link between the remote object and the central station that is rerouted via a centralized communication and database server (10) for handling operator and/or object related information. The method includes establishing a speech connection between the central station (11) and the remote object (13), and simultaneously establishing data connections between the remote object (13) and the communication and database server (10) as well as between the central station and the communication and database server.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication, and more precisely, to a system and a method for providing a communication link between a central station and a remote mobile or stationary object utilizing transmitting and receiving communication means for speech and data transmission. The invention also relates to a method for utilizing such a system.
2. Background
U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,061 discloses an emergency message system for a mobile vehicle for communication with a response center. A cellular transceiver has a restricted and an unrestricted operation mode. The restricted operating mode is selectable by a user to establish communication links that are permitted during normal operation, whereas the unrestricted operation mode is activated prior to initiating a request for assistance in case of emergency, thereby allowing a more reliable connection over a cellular telephone network.
Further, emergency message systems for mobile vehicles are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,101, U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,215, U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,910 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,204. A user can request emergency or roadside assistance from a response service center by activating a button in the vehicle. The global positioning system is used to continuously store the vehicle's location. A cellular telephone network is used to contact the service center and to transfer, via modem, a data string containing information to assist the service center in acting on the request. The various systems comprise (include, but are not limited to) additional means either for storing system information, for sending a termination tone to the vehicle upon satisfactory completion of the request, for initiating an automatic call-in to the service center if a predetermined time has elapsed since the last connection and for initiating a second call to a different number if a first attempt to contact the response center has been unsuccessful.
These prior art systems are not very well suited to environments and situations where a vehicle travels across a border from one country to another. Usually, this involves the transfer of responsibility from one service center operator to another. A large amount of functionality is needed for-this transfer to function smoothly, without risk of interrupting service.
For example, a customer database will have to be maintained and updated at every customer service station. It is also a problem for a large number of customer service station operators to allocate resources for upgrading and scaling-up the telematic infra-structure in response to a growing number of service clients. Additionally, it will be difficult to add or remove services to this environment where different service operators may have different types of system platforms with completely different interfaces to service clients.
It would be desirable for a service client to have access to the same level of service via a transparent interface when traveling across a continent, for example Europe.

System and a method for providing a communication link


A de-icer formed of a solid block of a pressed, granulated salt has at least a top portion water-proofed to prevent rapid deterioration due to precipitation. An exposed bottom surface is in contact with the upper surface of a flat, sloped roof to provide wicking absorption of water flowing down the roof into the salt. Absorption of water by the salt leads to release of the resulting saline solution to the surface of the roof, preventing formation of ice on the roof downstream of the de-icer and in the roof drain. The de-icer may be maintained in place on the surface of the roof by an adhesive tape, or by its own weight.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for preventing ice from forming at a roof drain and for preventing the build-up of ice and/or snow in the region of a roof drain which, in turn, assures flow of water accumulating on the roof, down the drain. This is accomplished by affixing a partially perforated waterproof container within which salt is packed, on the surface of the roof such that water flowing down the roof is drawn into the salt and subsequently gravity discharged onto the roof, flowing toward the roof drain and downspout system, mixing with water, snow and/or ice in the region of the roof drain to melt the snow and ice and thereby prevent the build up of ice at or over the roof drain which would, in turn, result in blockage of the roof drain.
The Roof Drain De-icer Apparatus is a gravity-fed, ice melting system designed to prevent the formation of ice dams at the lower part of flat and/or inclined roofs and ice build-up and water accumulation in the roof drainage system. Ice dams are a cumulative build-up of ice at the gutter and roof drain areas of roofs, which form as a result of the daily thawing and re-freezing of the snow and ice on the roof surface. Accumulation of ice in the region of the roof drain blocks the runoff of melted water off the roof, which makes the ice dam situation more problematic. When the roof drain is blocked with ice or frozen water, the down spouts, gutters and drain box fill up with water which expands when the water freezes causing damage to the roof and the drainage system and the components thereof. Installation of a Roof Drain De-icer system of the present invention prevents this damage. The Roof Drain De-icer apparatus becomes non-operational when the water or snow on the surface of the roof upstream of the De-icer Apparatus freezes.
Means for de-icing or for preventing the formation of ice on the surface of a flat, sloped roof and in the roof drainage system through which water flows, is described in the prior art. However, such teachings are clearly distinguishable from the present invention.
The Park U.S. Pat. No. 133,247 utilizes alum and salt to saturate the roof sheeting and to also saturate the felt roofing paper. Several layers of felt roofing paper saturated with alum and salt, as well as a layer of dry salt and resin and tallow are installed prior to the installation of the roof tiles. In Park, the layer of dry salt as well as the felt roofing paper and the sheeting saturated with alum and salt do not draw water from the surface of the roof and is distinguishable from the present invention. Also, replacement of the alum and salt requires removal of the roof tiles, which is highly impractical.
The Anderson U.S. Pat. No. 4,041,656 discloses a device for draining melting snow. Noting FIGS. 1 through 5, Anderson provides a collection tube 12 open at each end and provided with an inner-tubular portion 24 telescopingly received within tubular portion 14 to change the overall length. A screen 40 is provided within the collection tube 12 and is filled with salt. Screen 50 has an end portion 49 which maintains the salt within the screen. Gutter members 7 and 80 are arranged to form a V shape for directing water to the upper open end of the device. The water passes into and through the device beneath the screen but remains in a liquid state. The water runs outwardly from the lower end of the device. Anderson describes that when the water freezes to ice it reaches screen 50, causing the salt to melt the ice during the following day when melting again occurs and water runs over the ice formed in the tube causing the ice to melt. There is no teaching of water or melting snow flowing down a roof surface to a salt reservoir, which draws water into the salt to produce a saline solution within the reservoir and gravity flow of the saline solution from the reservoir onto the surface of the roof to mix with and melt snow and/or ice, preventing blockage of the drainage system as disclosed in the present invention.
The Guth U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,188 discloses a portable device having electric heating tiles 4 and 18 as well as a device for dispensing xe2x80x9ca melting aidxe2x80x9d. The Guth device is held above a region where ice is formed and cord 8 is pulled in a direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 2 to open gate 14 and dispense the material. Although Guth describes the invention as being usable on a roof of a building, the structure is intended to be manually operated, the material is dispensed to melt ice and there is no teaching of drawing snow, ice or water into a salt-filled enclosure and subsequent production and release of a saline solution from within the enclosure onto the roof.
The present invention provides a novel method and apparatus for de-icing a roof drain. The invention, in one preferred embodiment, comprises a container fabricated of a sleeve of waterproof material defining a hollow interior space. Portions of the upper and lower surfaces of the container are perforated with small holes. Rock salt, common salt or other stable, solid material capable of melting snow and ice, is packed in the annular space of the container. The free ends of the container are affixed to the surface of the roof adjacent to the roof drain with the perforated surface portions of the container being arranged in contact with the roof surface in the upstream direction relative to the flow of water toward the roof drain. The lower surface of the container engages the surface of the roof.
Water, snow or ice in the region of the upper and/or lower perforated regions are drawn into the container by the salt, forming a saline solution. Salt within the container dissolves into the water, which subsequently drains out from the perforations as a saline solution which flows along the roof toward the roof drain preventing formation of ice downstream of the de-icing apparatus and in the region of the roof drain. The saline solution combines and mixes with water in the region between the De-icer and roof drain to facilitate melting and/or prevent freezing.
Ice build up in roof drainage systems and especially roof drains causes ice and melting snow on the roof to block the flow of water, causing the roof drain to overflow, resulting in possible deterioration and structural damage to the roof and the building structure therebeneath. Also, accumulated water in the roof drain freezes, causing damage to the gutter, downspout and roof drainage system.
It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for maintaining the roof drain free of ice and prevent ice and water build-up in the roof drain system and on the roof.
Another object of the present invention is to maintain the surface of the roof, downstream of the de-icing apparatus, free of ice.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel roof de-icer apparatus in broken-down, compact kit form and which is easy to assemble and put into use.


There is provided a gas sensor for measuring the concentration of a specific gas component in a gas under measurement, including a gas diffusion rate limiting portion, a measurement chamber communicating with an atmosphere of the gas under measurement through the gas diffusion rate limiting portion, a sensor element having an ion-conductive layer with first and second surfaces, a first electrode disposed in contact with the first surface of the ion-conductive layer within the measurement chamber and a second electrode disposed in contact with the second surface of the ion-conductive layer and communicating exclusively with the atmosphere of the gas under measurement and a cylindrical support member installing therein the sensor element with the first and second surfaces of the ion-conductive layer directed toward front and base end sides of the support member, respectively.

The present invention relates to a gas sensor, such as a hydrogen gas sensor for measuring the hydrogen concentration of a fuel gas used in a fuel cell.
With a growing awareness of global-scale environmental deterioration in the recent years, fuel cells have been intensively studied as clean and efficient power sources. Among various fuel cells, a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is expected to be suitable for car and home use owing to its advantageous characteristics, e.g., low-temperature operability and high output density. In the fuel cell, a reformed gas (obtained from natural gas, methanol or the like) is commonly used as a fuel gas. In order to further improve the efficiency and other performance figures of the fuel cell, there is a need to provide a gas sensor capable of directly measuring the concentration of hydrogen in the reformed gas.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-215214 discloses one type of hydrogen gas sensor 1000, which includes a sensor element provided with a proton-conductive layer 1010 and first and second electrodes 1020 and 1030, a pair of support plates 1050 and 1060 and a sensor mount 1070 as shown in FIG. 17. The proton-conductive layer 1010 is made of a polymer electrolyte. The first and second electrodes 1020 and 1030 are arranged on opposite surfaces of the proton-conductive layer 1010. The support plates 1050 and 1060 support therebetween the sensor element and are held at base end sides thereof to the sensor mount 1070. The hydrogen gas sensor 1000 is fixed to a pipe 1080 to measure the concentration of hydrogen in a gas under measurement flowing through the pipe 1080.


A semiconductor device testing apparatus for a memory- built-in logic LSI or the like, which has a hardware configuration that test patterns for logic and memory sections of the semiconductor device can be described independently of each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device testing apparatus and a semiconductor device testing method for testing memory and logic sections of a semiconductor device such as a memory-built-in logic LSI with built-in memory and logic sections.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a conventional semiconductor device testing apparatus for memory-built-in logic LSIS. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a random pattern memory for storing random patterns composed of input and output patterns of a logic section test signal, 3 an algorithmic pattern generator (hereinafter abbreviated as ALPG) for generating address/data patterns for testing a memory section of an LSI under test, 2 an ALPG instruction memory for storing instructions for the ALPG 3, 4 a pin selector for selecting a pin of the LSI for the application thereto of a test signal, 5 an OR gate, 6 a formatter for determining the timing of rise and fall of a test signal waveform, 9 a random pattern instruction memory for controlling the sequence of execution of random patterns, and 10 an instruction execution part for executing random pattern instructions stored in the instruction memory 9.
The operation of the illustrated semiconductor device testing apparatus will be described below.
For simultaneously testing both of memory and logic sections of a memory-built-in logic LSI under test (hereinafter referred to as a DUT) with a view to increasing test efficiency, the random pattern instruction execution part 10 extracts a random pattern instruction from the instruction memory 9 and follows the instruction to read out a random pattern from the random pattern memory 1. On the other hand, the ALPG3 fetches an ALPG instruction from the instruction memory 2 and follows the instruction to generate an address and data pattern. After the pin selector 4 selects a pin to which the address and data pattern is to be fed, the pattern is logically added by the OR gate 5 to the random pattern from the random pattern memory 1 to form a test signal, which is provided to the formatter 6, wherein the timing of its rise and fall is determined. The test signal is fed to a pin electronics composed of an amplifier, from which it is applied to the pin of the LSI selected by the pin selector 4.
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic showing of an example of the test pattern that is fed to the semiconductor device testing apparatus of FIG. 6. The test pattern has a configuration that either one or both of instructions for controlling the operation of the ALPG 3 and random pattern instructions are described in a random pattern instruction/ALPG instruction description part. Conventionally, the instructions for the ALPG 3 need to have a one-to-one correspondence with the random test patterns. That is, it is necessary that a one-address ALPG instruction should be prepared for each one-address random test pattern. For this reason, in the case of simultaneously testing logic and memory sections of a memory-built-in logic LSI, since random patterns for logic requires several K to several M addresses, the ALPG instructions, which normally require several to tens of addresses, must be described so that the number of their addresses is equal to that of the random patterns. In concrete terms, the number of addresses of the ALPG instructions is increased, for example, by designating the addresses for the execution of the ALPG instructions by a small amount of addresses.
In the DUT there is a possibility that test results of the logic section, for instance, differ depending on whether the memory section is in its write operation or read operation--this is attributable to noise generation or the like by a difference between the memory operations. To avoid this, the logic section may sometimes be tested using a common random test pattern for every operation of the memory section. In such an instance, it is necessary in the conventional semiconductor device testing apparatus that random patterns for testing the logic section, which are composed of identical two parts for the write and read operations of the memory section, be described together with individual instructions for testing the memory section, as shown in FIG. 8. This inevitably involves the use of a large-scale random pattern memory for storing such an enormous amount of data.
The same goes for the memory section. That is, since test results on the memory section are likely to change with the kind of operation of the logic section, there is a case where the memory section is tested using common data for each operation of the logic section.

Semiconductor device testing apparatus and method for testing memory and logic sections of a semiconductor device


In order to precisely form joints in the ends of adjoining molding pieces, a power coping machine includes a molding support surface, a cutting tool, and a cutting tool support. The molding support surface stably supports a piece of molding to be coped with the machine. The molding support surface has a forward edge over which an end of the piece of molding can be made to extend for coping thereof. The cutting tool has a longitudinal axis extending generally transversely of the forward edge of the molding support surface. The cutting tool comprises an electric motor having a shaft extending generally parallel to the forward edge for mounting and driving a circular cutting blade in a plane generally perpendicular to the forward edge. The cutting tool support is disposed in spaced relation to the forward edge of the molding support surface for supporting the cutting tool for controlled movement. The cutting tool support facilitates controlled movement of the cutting tool in a direction generally parallel to and perpendicular to the forward edge of the molding support surface. With this arrangement, the circumferential cutting edge of the circular cutting blade can be moved to cope the end of the piece of molding in a precise fashion to produce a well-fitting joint.

Over the years, a wide variety of different types of tools have been developed for use by finishing carpenters. These tools are oftentimes specifically directed for accomplishing a particular function that is required for a finishing carpenter to be able to work effectively and efficiently. More recently, there has been a focus on tools that are powered in order to facilitate the tasks that must be performed.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,203,389 to Kurtz discloses an apparatus for cutting contours in a workpiece. This relatively simple apparatus was subsequently followed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,566 to Schmidt which discloses an apparatus for shaping a wooden workpiece according to a template configuration and U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,235 to Fukami which discloses an apparatus for bandsawing operations which has a profiling mechanism capable of automatically copying a model. Still more recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,732 to Heasley discloses a coping apparatus which includes a circular saw.
More specifically, the Heasley '732 patent discloses a circular saw that is mounted on two sliding bases for freedom of movement in the "X" and "Y" directions. The coping apparatus of this patent also includes a support for a stylus used to control the positioning of the saw blade by traversing movement along the profile of a template. With this arrangement, the template is supported on a stationary base underlying a table on which the end portion of a molding to be coped is suitably supported.
More traditionally, a molding end portion has been manually coped by using a conventional coping saw. This is an extremely time consuming and difficult task to perform which requires significant experience and expertise and, even then, it is difficult at best to provide a truly precise fit between two pieces of molding that are to form a joint. Accordingly, the Heasley '732 patent represents one attempt to overcome the limitations of a conventional coping saw.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the foregoing problems and achieving one or more of the resulting objects.


Voting of coordinates of each pixel in a photographic image onto a Hough space corresponding to annuluses is performed, the Hough space being defined by a coordinate system having an X coordinate axis for a circle center point, a Y coordinate axis for a circle center point, and an r coordinate axis for a radial direction. A vote value of each voting position having coordinates (X, Y, r) on the Hough space is acquired as a first integrated vote value from a calculation of a number of votes given to each voting position. A position represented by (X, Y) coordinate values of a voting position associated with the largest first integrated vote value is detected as the position of the center point of the circular pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting a position of a center point of a circular pattern, such as a pupil pattern, from a digital photographic image. This invention also relates to a computer program for causing a computer to execute the method of detecting a position of a center point of a circular pattern.
2. Description of the Related Art
Operations for detecting positions of center points of circular patterns from digital photographic images have heretofore been performed in various fields, such as detection of positions of center points of circular patterns of circular mechanical parts and detection of positions of center points of pupil patterns in photographic images of faces. Heretofore, various techniques, such as template matching techniques and Hough transform techniques, have been utilized for detecting circular patterns from digital photographic images of objects. Of the techniques described above, the Hough transform techniques have been utilized as techniques capable of detecting incomplete circular patterns, such as circular patterns having breakages due to noise, and pupil patterns in which only partial areas of pupils are illustrated due to eye shutting. (The Hough transform techniques are described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-70742.) Specifically, with the Hough transform techniques described above, a digital photographic image is subjected to binarization processing, and an edge is detected from a binary image having been obtained from the binarization processing. Also, by use of data on pixels corresponding to the detected edge, voting is performed on a Hough space corresponding to three parameters (i.e., an X coordinate of a center point of a circle, a Y coordinate of the center point of the circle, and a radius r) for the detection of an annulus. Thereafter, coordinates, which have received the largest number of votes as a result of the voting, are acquired, and values of the three parameters for annuluses are calculated in accordance with the thus acquired coordinates. Further, the annulus center coordinate values (X, Y) having thus been calculated are taken as the coordinate values of the center point of the circular pattern to be detected. In this manner, the position of the center point of the circular pattern is detected.
The aforesaid techniques for detecting the position of the center point of the circular pattern with the Hough transform have large effects of detecting the circular patterns having breakages and the positions of the center points of the circular patterns having breakages. However, with the aforesaid techniques for detecting the position of the center point of the circular pattern with the Hough transform, only the data on the pixels corresponding to edges in the digital photographic images are utilized. Therefore, the aforesaid techniques for detecting the position of the center point of the circular pattern with the Hough transform have the problems in that the aforesaid techniques are apt to be adversely affected by noise.

Method and apparatus for detecting positions of center points of circular patterns


Disclosed herein is a practical knowledge acquisition system, in which, when a diagnosis is made using a knowledge base in the form of an associative network turns out to be erroneous, the network is analyzed backwards from the node representing a desired solution, thereby detecting a node where the backward analysis route joins that analysis route in the network which has resulted in the erroneous diagnosis. The node where the two analysis routes join is identified as one possibility where an error has occurred in the diagnosis. The diagnostic knowledge applied at this node is seen as an candidate to be modified many modification plans for the incorrect knowledge is proposed, the diagnostic knowledge base can be modified with high efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a knowledge acquisition system for efficiently modifying the knowledge base prepared in developing a diagnostic expert system, by using the knowledge acquired in the actual cases diagnosed by means of the diagnostic expert system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, thanks to the advance in computer technology, so-called expert systems have been developed and put to practical use, in which a computer performs part of the work only experts can accomplish. An expert system is developed and verified in the following process. First, a knowledge base is prepared by compiling a multitude of knowledge pieces which human experts have acquired through their experience. Next, a computer diagnoses several cases based on the knowledge base, and an expert diagnoses the same cases. Then, the computer diagnosis is compared with the diagnosis made by human expert, thereby finding differences between the diagnoses. Finally, the knowledge base is modified, thereby canceling the differences.
Hitherto, to collect pieces of knowledge which can be utilized to modify the knowledge base, a person known as "knowledge engineer" must interview human expert and acquire sufficient expert knowledge to modify the knowledge base.
To relieve the knowledge engineer from the tedious task of acquiring a multitude of expert knowledge, it is demanded that a automatic knowledge acquisition system be developed, in which a computer can acquire expert knowledge with high efficiency. To meet this demand, various knowledge acquisition systems have been and are being developed. Knowledge-acquiring techniques are disclosed in Sandra Marcus, Automating Knowledge Acquisition for Expert Systems, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988, pp. 37-80.
The knowledge base of a diagnostic expert system includes an associative network defining the relationship among events which may occur in an object of diagnosis. In the expert system of this type, the associative network is traced in the forward direction from the symptom event (e.g., an undesirable one) detected first, thereby obtaining a causal event for the symptom event as the diagnostic result.
In the conventional system, if an error is found in the diagnostic result, diagnostic knowledge is modified in the following way. First, all analysis routes traced to obtain the erroneous result of analysis are presented to a human expert. Then, the human expert points out where an error has occurred in the presented analysis route. Finally, the knowledge applied in obtaining the erroneous result of analysis is modified.
In this method, what serves to find a defect in the knowledge base is nothing but the data about the analysis route in which the error has occurred. In other words, the expert cannot help but rely on this data in order to determine where in that route the error has taken place. Therefore, with the conventional system, it is difficult, even for a human expert, to find a defect in the knowledge base and, hence, to modify the knowledge base to remove this defect.


A grill is provided that has an upper housing having a first heating plate removably connected thereto, a lower housing having a second heating plate removably connected thereto, and an arm FOR connecting to the upper housing at a first pivot point and connecting to the lower housing at a second pivot point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a food heating device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a grill that cooks food items by grilling the food items.
2. Description of the Related Art
Grills, and in particular electric grills, are known. These devices are generally constructed with heating plates having a particular surface geometry for heating food placed thereon. The heating plates are typically secured to a housing and typically heated by an electrical resistance heater. However, these devices have the disadvantages of being limited to a fixed surface geometry for the heating plate and being difficult to clean since the heating plate is secured to the housing and, thus, containing electrical components therein. Additionally, such devices typically require an extended heat up time because of a thermally inefficient transfer of heat from the heater to the heating plate of the grill.
Additionally, in grills having heating plates that can be moved relative to each other, the heating plates are brought together at a common connection point due to a direct pivotal connection between the heating plates. The direct pivotal connection causes an uneven distribution of heat transferred to the food, and uneven cooking.


Hybrid transaction memory systems and accompanying methods. A transaction to be executed is received, and an initial attempt is made to execute the transaction in a hardware path. Upon a failure to successfully execute the transaction in the hardware path, an attempt is made to execute the transaction in a hardware-software path. The hardware-software path includes a software path and at least one hardware transaction.

Future processors are expected to have hardware support for best-effort hardware transactional memory (HTM). Best-effort HTMs impose limits on hardware transactions, but eliminate the overheads associated with loads and stores in software transactional memory (STM) implementations. Because it is possible for HTM transactions to fail for various reasons, a hybrid transactional memory (HyTM) approach exists that supports a best effort attempt to execute transactions in hardware, yet always falls back to slower all-software transactions in order to provide better progress guarantees and the ability to execute various systems calls and protected instructions that are not allowed in hardware transactions.
For many years, the accepted wisdom has been that the key to adoption of best-effort hardware transactions is to guarantee progress by combining them with an all software slow-path, to be taken if the hardware transactions fail repeatedly. However, all known generally applicable hybrid transactional memory solutions suffer from a major drawback: the coordination with the software slow-path introduces an unacceptably high instrumentation overhead into the hardware transactions. What is needed, then, is a hybrid transactional memory solution with a hardware fast-path that overcomes these deficiencies.

Methods and systems for enhancing hardware transactions using hardware transactions in software slow-path


The invention is a notebook having a cover and a selectively openable and closable binder mechanism which can support a plurality of pre-punched, loose-leaf sheets. The binder mechanism includes the following: (a) an elongated rigid plate; (b) a hollow tubular support channel including upper and lower portions fixed to the plate and in coaxial relation with one another; (c) an opposed pair of pivotable clam-shell sheet retainers which are cooperatively associated so as to define a closed, generally elongated cylindrical, sheet holder in a first radial position and an open split cylinder in a second radial position; (d) the clam-shell sheet retainers include a rod-like pivot which pivot is slidably mounted in the support channel for a limited axial movement between a first normally restrained position and a second normally unrestrained position; (e) a first spring which biases the pivot towards its first normally restrained position; (f) a second spring which radially biases the clam-shell sheet retainers apart towards their open position; and (g) a cam associated with the support channel and operative to force the clam-shall sheet retainers into their closed position.

Looseleaf notebooks having two, three or even more rings which may be selectively opened or closed to accent pages having punched holes therein are well known to the art. The present invention is directed to an improvement in binders for looseleaf notebooks in which the binding mechanism is not a ring but a split cylinder having "clam-shell" type of construction. The loose-leaf pages of the new notebook will not have circular holes for mounting on rings, rather they will have one or more elongated slots for being removably mounted on the elongated cylindrical clam-shell hold ers. Significantly, small notebooks need have only one cylindrical leaf holder in the center of the spine for the new notebook to mount the pages thereof. This presents an extraordinarily attractive and simple construction.

Strategic Financial Communications Corp.


A three-dimensional object detection device has an image capturing unit, a three-dimensional object detection unit, a host vehicle speed detection unit, a light source detection unit and a controller. The image capturing unit captures images rearward of a vehicle. The three-dimensional object detection unit detects a presence of a three-dimensional object in a detection area, based on the captured images. The host vehicle speed detection unit detects a vehicle traveling speed. The light source detection unit detects a headlight light source of a headlight of another vehicle. The controller compares the traveling speeds of the object and the vehicle upon not detecting the headlight light source, and suppresses detection of the object upon determining one of the object traveling speed being equal to or less than the vehicle traveling speed, and a difference between the object and vehicle traveling speeds being less than a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional object detection device and a three-dimensional object detection method.
2. Background Information
In a conventionally known technique, two captured images captured at different points in time are converted to bird's-eye view images, and a three-dimensional object is detected based on differences between the two converted bird's-eye view images (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2008-227646).

Three-dimensional object detection device and three-dimensional object detection method


A vibration monitor is provided which is worn on the wrist of an operative for an operating plant or apparatus. The monitor includes a piezoelectric transducer and associated circuitry which generates electronic digital signals during the periods when vibrations are experienced by the operative. Preferably, the plant or apparatus has a transmitter which transmits a code identifying the plant which is received by the monitor. Alternatively, the code may be entered manually. The monitor preferably includes a logger which can be connected to a host computer which data can be transferred over an external communications link. The logger includes a storage device for storing how long the operative is subjected to vibrations.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to vibration monitors.
2. Related Art
Personnel are required to operate in the field of gas operations apparatus such as road breakers, vibro tampers, rock drills, pole tampers and hand drills for example all of which impose vibrations on the hands of the operator. In other fields, operatives are required to use similar or other vibratory apparatus which impose vibrations on the hands or on other parts of the body or on the body as a whole. These vibrations can cause disease.
The invention is concerned with providing a low cost vibration monitor useful in monitoring the vibrations experienced by an operative.
According to the invention there is provided a vibration monitor to be worn by an operative comprising:
means for identifying plant or equipment in use by the operative to allow a predetermined vibration level value associated with that plant or equipment to be available to the monitor;
sensor means for detecting that vibration is occurring; and means for determining the elapsed time during which the vibrations are detected.
A code identifying the apparatus responsible for imposing the vibrations can, in one form of monitor, be manually entered into the monitor; alternatively the code can be transmitted by a transmitter attached to the plant and received by the monitor.
Alternatively, the actual value of the previously-measured vibration magnitude of the apparatus responsible for imposing the vibrations is transmitted by a transmitter attached to the plant and is received by the vibration monitor as the expected vibration level.
Preferably, the data logger has an external communication facility which allows communication with a visual display, printer, computer, or other data processing device.
Further according to the invention there is provided a method of monitoring vibration imposed by apparatus on an operative and comprising:
idenitifying plant or equipment in use by the operative to allow predetermined vibration level value associated with that plant or equipment to be available to the monitor;
sensing whenever vibrations are occurring and determining the elapsed time during which the vibrations are detected.
The data captured may be processed to give an accumulated measure of the vibration dose experienced by the operative.
Still further according to the invention there is provided a plant identity mechanism for use with a vibration monitor including means for producing an output indicative of the plant or equipment being utilised to allow vibration levels to be determined.


A writing apparatus includes a writing unit to include a deflector for deflecting a charged particle beam and write a pattern on a target object by the charged particle beam, a decision unit to decide a representative position of a deflection result range in which the charged particle beam was deflected with respect to a writing direction by the deflector, and a correction unit to correct drift of the charged particle beam by using a drift amount at the representative position of the deflection result range.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to a method for correcting drift of a charged particle beam and a charged particle beam writing apparatus, and more specifically, relate to, for example, a method for correcting position drift of an electron beam in a writing apparatus that writes a predetermined pattern on a target object with electron beams.
Description of Related Art
The lithography technique that advances miniaturization of semiconductor devices is extremely important as a unique process whereby patterns are formed in semiconductor manufacturing. In recent years, with high integration of LSI, the line width (critical dimension) required for semiconductor device circuits is decreasing year by year. For forming a desired circuit pattern on such semiconductor devices, a master or "original" pattern (also called a mask or a reticle) of high accuracy is needed. Thus, the electron beam (EB) writing technique, which intrinsically has excellent resolution, is used for producing such a high-precision master pattern.
FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram explaining operations of a variable-shaped electron beam writing or "drawing" apparatus. The variable-shaped electron beam (EB) writing apparatus operates as described below. A first aperture plate 410 has a quadrangular aperture 411 for shaping an electron beam 330. A second aperture plate 420 has a variable shape aperture 421 for shaping the electron beam 330 having passed through the aperture 411 of the first aperture plate 410 into a desired quadrangular shape. The electron beam 330 emitted from a charged particle source 430 and having passed through the aperture 411 is deflected by a deflector to pass through a part of the variable shape aperture 421 of the second aperture plate 420, and thereby to irradiate a target object or "sample" placed on a stage which continuously moves in one predetermined direction (e.g., the x direction) during writing. In other words, a quadrangular shape that can pass through both the aperture 411 of the first aperture plate 410 and the variable shape aperture 421 of the second aperture plate 420 is used for pattern writing in a writing region of the target object 340 on the stage continuously moving in the x direction. This method of forming a given shape by letting beams pass through both the aperture 411 of the first aperture plate 410 and the variable shape aperture 421 of the second aperture plate 420 is referred to as a variable shaped beam (VSB) system.
When writing is started, for example, a reflected electron is generated by irradiation of electron beams onto a target object. The generated reflected electron collides with the optical system of a writing apparatus, a sensor, etc., and is charged up to generate a new electric field. Then, the trajectory of the electron beam deflected toward the target object is changed by the generated new electric field. Therefore, at the time of writing, change of the trajectory of the electron beam, namely beam position drift, occurs due to the factor described above as an example. Since beam position drift is not constant, it is difficult to correct drift by prediction without measuring. Therefore, conventionally, the amount of beam position drift is measured and corrected at intervals of a certain period of time (refer to, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-066054).
For measuring the amount of beam position drift, conventionally, a positional deviation amount at the center of the deflection region of the deflector which deflects the beam is measured. However, there is a problem in that, in association with recent miniaturization of patterns, even if drift correction is performed based on the measured result by the conventional method, correction residue remains. Therefore, it is difficult to perform highly accurate writing. Hence, with recent miniaturization and higher integration of patterns, there is necessity of further reducing the amount of positional deviation due to beam position drift. However, conventionally, an effective method has not been established.

Method for correcting drift of charged particle beam, and charged particle beam writing apparatus


Methods and apparatus for making as asset apparent. An individual wishing to locate an asset uses an apparatus to enter an identification code corresponding to the asset. The identification code is transmitted in a request to the asset, where it is processed to determine how to make the asset apparent. The asset then makes itself apparent to the individual, typically by audio or visual means.

I. Field
The embodiments described herein pertain generally to the field of asset management and more particularly to methods and apparatus for having an asset make itself apparent to one attempting to locate the asset.
II. Description of the Related Art
Asset management is an important part of many businesses today. Assets may include, for example, earth moving equipment, tractor trailers, construction equipment, railroad train cars and engines, cargo containers, and rental equipment of all shapes and sizes. Asset management is particularly important in instances where assets are moved in the typical course of business or in cases where assets themselves are mobile. For example, in the equipment rental industry, equipment is usually rented to individuals or companies for use away from a rental equipment yard.
Part of a good asset management system should include the ability to locate an asset among a group of similar assets or to locate an asset within a given geographic area. Such a capability would make it easy for workers to locate, for example, a particular backhoe among a group of similar backhoes for maintenance purposes. Or a foreman on a jobsite may need to locate a particular earth mover because it needs to be returned to a rental company.
What is needed, therefore, is a method and apparatus for locating assets quickly and easily.


Data stored in a ferroelectric capacitor in a ferroelectric memory cell are read by applying a preliminary voltage to the ferroelectric capacitor to increase its polarization if a certain data value is stored, then applying a series of read voltages to produce a potential responsive to the stored data. The preliminary voltage may be applied either before or after one terminal of the ferroelectric capacitor is placed in a floating state, which is maintained while the series of read voltages is applied. Application of the preliminary voltage provides an increased reading margin if the ferroelectric capacitor has partially lost polarization while storing the certain data value, by restoring some of the lost polarization.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ferroelectric memory, and more particularly to a method and circuit for reading data from a ferroelectric memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
A ferroelectric memory is a semiconductor device that stores data in ferroelectric capacitors. FIG. 6 shows one ferroelectric memory cell Mfe and its associated circuits in a conventional ferroelectric memory. The associated circuits include a bit-line driver BLDu, a plate-line driver PLDu, a sense amplifier SA, and a control circuit CTLu.
The memory cell Mfe comprises a ferroelectric capacitor CFe and a selection transistor SLTr connected in series between a bit line BL and a plate line PL. A ferroelectric memory cell of this type, having a single transistor and a single capacitor, is referred to as a 1T1C memory cell. The ferroelectric capacitor can be positively or negatively polarized by an applied voltage, and the polarization remains after the voltage is removed, enabling information to be stored in a nonvolatile manner. The stored information is read by placing the bit line BL in an electrically floating state, manipulating the plate-line potential, and comparing the bit-line potential with a reference potential.
Many previous ferroelectric memories used dummy ferroelectric capacitors to generate reference potentials precisely matched to the electrical characteristics of different memory cells. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-260066 (referred to below as the prior art) describes a method of reading information from a 1T1C ferroelectric memory cell without the need for a precisely matched reference potential or a dummy ferroelectric capacitor. The described method applies a uniform reference potential to both the bit line BL and plate line PL in FIG. 6, then floats the bit line while manipulating the plate-line potential in a way that decreases the positive or negative polarization of the ferroelectric capacitor CFe without changing the sign of the polarization. Finally, the plate line PL is returned to the reference potential and the potential of the bit line BL is compared with the reference potential. Depending on the sign of the polarization of the ferroelectric capacitor CFe, the bit-line potential will be higher or lower than the reference potential.
To enable the ferroelectric memory cell in FIG. 6 to be read by this prior-art method, the bit-line driver BLDu includes a pre-charger PREU and a switch circuit SW. When the switch circuit SW is turned on, the pre-charger PREu drives the bit line BL to a ground potential Vee (=0 V), then to the reference potential Vref. The plate-line driver PLDu drives the plate line PL to a power-supply potential Vcc, the above potentials Vee and Vref, and potentials denoted Vh and Vinv that are respectively higher and lower than Vref. The control circuit CTLu controls the operations of the bit-line driver BLDu, plate-line driver PLDu, selection transistor SLTr, and sense amplifier SA, thereby controlling the storing and reading of information in the ferroelectric memory cell.
FIG. 7 is a timing diagram illustrating the reading of data from the ferroelectric memory cell in FIG. 6 by the above method of the prior art. FIG. 8A is a graph illustrating the polarization of the ferroelectric capacitor CFe during the reading operation in FIG. 7 when '0' information is stored; FIG. 8B is a similar graph illustrating the polarization when '1' information is stored. FIG. 8A also illustrates a problem in the prior art.
The symbol r2 in FIGS. 8A and 8B indicates the polarization at timings s2 and s3 in FIG. 7. The symbols r4, r5, and r6 respectively indicate the polarization at timings s4, s5, and s6. The horizontal axis in FIGS. 8A and 8B indicates the voltage VFe across the two terminals TFe1, TFe2 of the ferroelectric capacitor CFe. The vertical axis indicates the degree of positive or negative polarization (+P or −P) of the ferroelectric capacitor CFe; this quantity (expressible in coulombs per square centimeter) is also known as the polarization charge. The outer curves in these drawings are hysteresis curves illustrating transitions that take place when the polarization of the ferroelectric capacitor CFe changes from the positively saturated state to the negatively saturated state and vice versa.
In the reading operation in FIG. 7, after the plate line PL and bit line BL have been brought to the reference potential Vref and the word line WL has been driven to couple the first terminal TFe1 of the ferroelectric capacitor CFe through the selection transistor SLTr to the bit line BL, the bit line BL is placed in an electrically floating state and the potentials Vh, Vinv, and Vref are applied sequentially to the plate line PL at timings s4, s5, and s6, the bit line BL acting as a capacitive load. The diagonal lines in FIGS. 8A and 8B are capacitive load lines for potentials of Vh, Vinv, and Vref on the plate line PL.
In FIGS. 8A and 8B, it assumed that while storing '0' or '1' information, the ferroelectric capacitor CFe has lost some of its polarization, so the point r2 representing the polarization state at timings s2–s3 is located inside the saturation hysteresis curves. The prior-art reading operation will be described under this assumption with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, 8A, and 8B. The inner curves in FIGS. 8A and 8B indicate polarization state transitions that take place during the reading operation.

Method and circuit for reading data from a ferroelectric memory cell


A concentrator photovoltaic module including: a flexible printed circuit provided in contact with a bottom surface of a housing; and a primary concentrating portion formed by a plurality of lens elements being arranged, each lens element concentrating sunlight, wherein the flexible printed circuit includes: an insulating base material and a conductive pattern; a plurality of power generating elements provided on the pattern, so as to correspond to the lens elements, respectively; a cover lay as a covering layer having insulating property and a low water absorption not higher than a predetermined value, the cover lay covering and sealing a conductive portion including the pattern on the insulating base material; and an adhesive layer having insulating property and a low water absorption not higher than the predetermined value, the adhesive layer bonding the insulating base material and the covering layer together.

Concentrator photovoltaic is based on a structure in which sunlight concentrated by a lens is caused to be incident on a power generating element (solar cell) formed by a small-sized compound semiconductor having a high power generation efficiency. By causing a concentrator photovoltaic panel provided with a plurality of such basic components to perform tracking operation so as to always face the sun, a desired generated power can be obtained. Specifically, for example, a plurality of insulating substrates such as ceramics with wiring, each insulating substrate having one power generating element mounted thereon, are arranged at light-concentrating positions, and generated power on each insulating substrate is collected by an electric wire (for example, see NON PATENT LITERATURE 1).
Other than this, a concentrator photovoltaic apparatus taking heat dissipating property into consideration has been also proposed (for example, see PATENT LITERATURE 1 and 2).

Concentrator photovoltaic module, concentrator photovoltaic panel, and flexible printed circuit for concentrator photovoltaic module


The present invention provides compositions, preparations, formulations, kits, and methods useful for treating subjects in need of therapeutic protocol, including subjects having cancer or at risk of developing cancer. Some embodiments of the invention may comprise a composition comprising a first component comprising a precursor to a therapeutically active platinum agent and a precursor to a second therapeutically active agent. The therapeutically active platinum agent and the second therapeutically active agent may dissociate from each other, thereby forming a first therapeutically active platinum agent and a second therapeutically active agent. The second therapeutically active gent may affect a cellular pathway of a cancer cell and may be substantially inactive towards non-cancerous cells.

Platinum drugs are widely used in cancer therapy. Among the platinum drugs, cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin have FDA approval and are clinically used in the United States and elsewhere. The use of platinum(II) drugs in the treatment of malignancies has been somewhat limited because of the side effects and resistance acquired by cancer cells. An alternative to platinum(II) drug candidates is the use of substitutionally more inert platinum(IV) compounds as prodrugs derived from clinically effective platinum(II) compounds. Substitutionally inert platinum(IV) complexes are less likely to be deactivated prior to reaching their destination target in the cancer cell. The activity of platinum(IV) complexes generally involves reduction with concomitant loss of the axial ligands, affording an active platinum(II) complex that readily binds to DNA. The axial ligands which are released from the platinum(IV) complex may comprise a therapeutically active agent.
It is known that cancer cells may have cellular pathways that differ from non-cancerous cells, which may be targeted by anticancer therapies. For example, it has been recently recognized that mitochondrion may be a target for anticancer therapy due to its role in arbitrating cell apoptosis.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to have methods and compositions for treating cancer using a dual mode therapy comprising a platinum drug and an agent which specifically affects a cellular pathway of a cancer cell.

Platinum (IV) complexes for use in dual mode pharmaceutical therapy