A system for determining the position of a medical device having a sensor comprises a plurality of field radiators wherein each field radiator has a plurality of radiator elements. Each radiator element generates a magnetic field such that each magnetic field is distinct from one another due to the use of a different frequency through simultaneous energizing of the radiator elements. A signal processor is operatively connected to the field radiators and the sensor of the medical device for receiving a sensing signal from the sensor indicative of the magnetic field sensed at the sensor. Alternative field radiator arrangements are also provided in conjunction with a novel algorithm utilizing a global convergent technique.

The present invention relates generally to object tracking systems, and specifically to non-contact, electromagnetic medical systems and methods for tracking the position and orientation of an object. The present invention is also directed to a novel calibration method for electromagnetic-based medical tracking systems that can account for the effects of interference from nonmoving metallic objects.
Non-contact methods of determining the position of an object based on generating a magnetic field and measuring its strength at the object are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,199, and PCT patent application publication WO 96/05768, which are incorporated herein by reference, describe such systems for determining the coordinates of a medical probe or catheter inside the body. These systems typically include one or more coils within the probe, generally adjacent to the distal end thereof, connected by wires to signal processing circuitry coupled to the proximal end of the probe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,708, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a location determining system using a single axis solenoid with a ferromagnetic core as a radiating coil. There are a plurality of magnetic coil receivers. The position of the solenoid is determined assuming that it radiates as a dipole.
PCT patent application publication WO 94/04938, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a position-finding system using a single sensing coil and an array of three, three-coil radiators. The radiator coils are wound on non-ferromagnetic forms. The position of the sensing coil is determined based on a dipole approximation to the magnetic fields of the coils where an estimate of the orientation of the sensor coil is first utilized in order to determine the position of the sensor coil in that order. Additionally, the radiator coils of each array are energized sequentially using a time multiplexing approach. Interestingly, although this reference discloses that frequency multiplexing can be utilized in order to significantly increase the operating speed of the position system, it clearly indicates that there are disadvantages to this type of approach due to its complexity. It is also important to note that although this reference teaches a single axis sensor position and orientation tracking system, it does not address any specific method for calibrating the system.
Accordingly, to date, there is no known system or method that provides for a electromagnetic position sensor single axis system and method that is capable of being simultaneously driven through frequency multiplexing utilizing a novel exact solution technique and a novel calibration method.
The present invention is a novel system and method used for determining the position and orientation of a medical device having a single sensor arranged along the longitudinal axis of the device. The system comprises a plurality of field radiators wherein each field radiator has a plurality of radiator elements. Each radiator element generates a magnetic field that is distinct from the others through its frequency which is sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cfrequency multiplexingxe2x80x9d. A signal processor is operatively connected to the field radiators and the sensor of the medical device for receiving a sensing signal from the sensor indicative of the magnetic field sensed at the sensor. The sensing signal defines a measured magnetic field at the sensor. The signal processor also has a desired range of accuracy for the system which is stored therein. The signal processor includes an initial position estimator for establishing an initial position estimate for the sensor (which is based on the dipole approximation); a magnetic field calculator for calculating the magnetic field at the initial position estimate; a steepest descent calculator for calculating a steepest descent of the calculated magnetic field to the measured magnetic field; and a new position estimate calculator for calculating a new position estimate of the sensor based on the steepest descent. The magnetic field estimator and the steepest descent calculator use the exact theoretical field expressions and pre-stored calibration data which are unique to the system. The signal processor determines the position of the sensor when the new position estimate of the sensor is within the desired range of accuracy for the system.
The system also includes pre-stored calibration information for use with the magnetic field calculator and the steepest descent calculator for calculation of the magnetic field and the steepest descent step respectively. This calibration data is uniquely derived for each system using a novel calibration system and method along with its unique algorithm. The system also has a predetermined and stored desired range of accuracy of  less than 0.1 cm (the accuracy of the system). However, the incremental steps (iterations) for the algorithm are stopped as soon as the change from a previous step is less than 0.001 cm which is necessary in order to get better than 1 mm accuracy for the system.
One embodiment for the plurality of field radiators are arranged in a fixed arrangement and are contained in a fixed plane on a location pad. Other field radiator embodiments as described later do not necessarily have to lie in the same plane. In the first embodiment, the radiator elements of the field radiators are mutually orthogonal. In this embodiment, the system has three fixed radiators wherein each radiator has three generator elements or coils mutually orthogonal to each other.
Additionally, the signal processor determines both the position and orientation of the sensor such that the position of the sensor is derived in three different directions (X, Y, Z) and at least two orientations (pitch and yaw) which is generally known as 5 degrees of freedom (DOF). However, the restriction to 5 DOF is due to the coil sensor symmetry as shown. Thus, it is contemplated by the present invention to also provide for 6 DOF (X, Y, Z directions and three orientations roll, pitch and yaw) by changing the configuration of the sensor coil to an asymmetrical shape.
The system further comprises a display operatively connected to the signal processor for displaying the position and orientation of the sensor. Moreover, the display displays the position and the orientation of the sensor with respect to an anatomical feature of a patient. This is particularly useful for navigating a surgical instrument within a patient""s anatomy for performing a surgical procedure. The system further utilizes a reference device, which can be an external removable patch, for establishing a frame of reference. One particular use of the system is to map the heart thereby creating a 3D model of the heart. The sensor can be used together with a physiological sensor, such as an electrode in order to map a physiological condition, for instance, a local activation time (LAT).
The present invention also includes a novel method of determining the position and orientation of a sensor relative to a plurality of field radiators of known location wherein each of the field radiators comprises a plurality of co-located radiator elements. Each radiator element produces a differentiable field from all other field generating elements through frequency multiplexing. The sensor produces sensing signals indicative of the magnetic field at the sensor and from which the field at said sensor may be calculated. The method comprises the steps of:
(a) establishing a desired range of accuracy;
(b) determining an initial estimate of sensor position and orientation;
(c) calculating the magnetic field at the estimated sensor position and orientation;
(d) calculating the steepest descent from the calculated magnetic field at the estimated sensor position and orientation to the measured field at the sensor;
(e) calculating a new estimate for said sensor position and orientation from the steepest descent;
(f) iterating steps (c)-(e) based on the newly calculated sensor position and orientation estimate of step (e) to refine the sensor position and orientation estimate.
As mentioned above, the desired range of accuracy for the single axis sensor position and orientation system is xe2x89xa60.1 cm (the accuracy of the system). However, the incremental steps of the position and orientation algorithm are stopped as soon as the change from a previous step is less than 0.001 cm which is necessary in order to get better than 1 mm accuracy for the system. Additionally, the method includes establishing, storing and using of calibration information for the field radiators. This calibration information is derived using a novel calibration system and method. The calibration information is used at steps (c) and (d) for calculating a new estimate for the sensor position and orientation in order to provide greater accuracy to the system. The method also includes an optional step of refining the initial starting point of the sensor position and orientation using a dipole approximation in step (b).
The method further includes determining the position of the sensor in three different directions (X,Y,Z) and the orientation of the sensor in at least two orientations (pitch and yaw). Additionally, a display is used with this method for displaying the position and orientation of the sensor to include mapping this information to a displayed an anatomical feature of a patient which can be in the form of a pre-acquired image, real time image or model of the anatomy of interest.
The present invention also includes a novel calibration method which accounts for the effects of stationary metallic objects that are located within the mapping volume when the position and orientation medical system is in use. The novel calibration method is used for any medical system capable of generating a magnetic field for tracking a position of a medical device. The method comprising the steps of:
(a) defining a mapping volume within the generated magnetic field;
(b) placing a metallic object within the mapping volume;
(c) aligning a sensor at a first point within the mapping volume and measuring the magnetic field at the first point with the sensor to establish a first coordinate position (Xi, Yi, Zi);
(d) moving the sensor to a next point (Xi+dx, Yi+dy, Zi+dz) along one coordinate axis by an added distance component (dx, dy, dz) and measuring the magnetic field at the next point to establish a next coordinate position;
(e) interpolating the magnetic field at an intermediate point between the first position and the next coordinate position to establish an interpolated intermediate coordinate position;
(f) determining the position difference between the interpolated intermediate coordinate position and an actual intermediate coordinate position;
(g) comparing the position difference to an error limit;
(h) setting (Xi, Yi, Zi) of the next point as (Xi=Xi+dx, Yi=Yi+dy, Zi=Zi+dz) if the position difference is within the error limit and repeating steps (d)-(g) along another coordinate axis; and
(i) setting the added distance component (dx, dy, dz) by decreasing the value of the added distance component if the position difference is not within the error limit and repeating steps (d)-(g) along the same coordinate axis.
The method also includes completing the calibration method for the entire mapping volume in accordance with the steps outlined above. Although, the error limit can be any reasonable error range, it is preferable that the error limit be xe2x89xa61 mm for the greatest accuracy effects. Additionally, the sensor is stepped or moved a distance ranging from about 2 cm to about 3 cm. Moreover, with respect to the stepping of the sensor, the distance moved should remain constant to eliminate variability in the calibration. Also, step (i) is accomplished by decreasing the value of the added distance component through division by a factor of two (Xi+dx/2, Yi+dy/2, Zi+dz/2).
A second embodiment of the calibration method accounting for static metallic objects comprises the steps of:
(a) defining a mapping volume within the generated magnetic field;
(b) placing a metallic object within the mapping volume;
(c) aligning a sensor at a first point within the mapping volume and measuring the magnetic field at the first point with the sensor to establish a first coordinate position (Xi, Yi, Zi);
(d) extrapolating the magnetic field of a next point (Xi+dx, Yi+dy, Zi+dz) along one coordinate axis by an added distance component (dx, dy, dz);
(e) calculating the coordinate position at the extrapolated next point based on the extrapolated magnetic field to establish an extrapolated coordinate position;
(f) determining the position difference between the extrapolated coordinate position and the actual coordinate position of the next point;
(g) comparing the position difference to an error limit;
(h) setting the added distance component (dx, dy, dz) according to a predetermined distance if the position difference is within the error limit, aligning the sensor to a new point within the mapping volume along another coordinate axis and measuring the magnetic field at the new point with the sensor to establish a new point coordinate position and repeating steps (d)-(g) along the other coordinate axis; and
(i) setting the added distance component (dx, dy, dz) by decreasing the value of the added distance component if the position difference is not within the error limit and establishing an intermediate point by repeating steps (d)-(g) along the same coordinate axis.
The predetermined distance may remain constant and is preferably approximately 3 cm. However, the predetermined distance or step distance can be varied by the user as well. Additionally, the added distance component can be decreased by a factor of two such that the intermediate point or position is defined as (Xi+dx/2, Yi+dy/2, Zi+dz/2).
For either calibration embodiment accounting for the effects of stationary metallic objects, the sensor is moved according to the vertices of a cube and the entire mapping volume comprises a plurality of cubes. Each cube is defined by measurements derived from at least four different vertices. Generally, the calibration method is accomplished for a mapping volume is approximately 20 cmxc3x9720 cmxc3x9720 cm or (20 cm)3. For controlled accuracy in the calibration, the sensor is moved by the arm of a robot.

Electromagnetic position single axis system


According to example embodiments, a nonvolatile memory device includes a first memory cell configured to store a first data pattern, a second memory cell configured to be programmed using a program voltage, and a coupling program control unit. The coupling program control unit may be configured to perform a verification operation for verifying whether the first memory cell is programmed with the first data pattern. The verification operation may provide to the first memory cell a verification voltage corresponding to the first data pattern. The coupling program control unit may be configured to end programming the second memory cell when the verification operation on the first memory cell indicates a pass.

Example embodiments of inventive concepts relate to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a nonvolatile memory device including a coupling program control unit and/or a method of operating the same.
Semiconductor memory devices may include volatile memories, such as DRAM and/or SRAM. Semiconductor memory devices may also include nonvolatile memories such as EEPROM, FRAM, PRAM, MRAM, flash memory, and the like. A volatile memory may lose data stored therein at power-off, while a nonvolatile memory may retain data stored therein even at power-off. In particular, a flash memory device may have merits such as a high programming speed, low power consumption, a mass storage capacity, and the like. For this reason, the flash memory device may be widely used as a storage medium of a computer system.
A flash memory device may store single bit data or two or more data bits (or, referred to as a multi-bit data) per memory cell. A flash memory device storing single bit data per memory cell may be referred to as an SLC flash memory device, and may have an erase state and a program state according to a threshold voltage distribution. A flash memory device storing multi-bit data per memory cell may be referred to as an MLC flash memory device, and may have an erase state and a plurality of program states according to a threshold voltage distribution.
In the MLC flash memory device, it is important to secure the read margin between program states. However, threshold voltages may vary due to various factors at programming.

Nonvolatile memory device, nonvolatile memory system, program method thereof, and operation method of controller controlling the same


This invention uses Bayesian techniques to prioritize alerts or alert groups generated by intrusion detection systems and other information security devices, such as network analyzers, network monitors, firewalls, antivirus software, authentication services, host and application security services, etc. In a preferred embodiment, alerts are examined for the presence of one or more relevant features, such as the type of an attack, the target of an attack, the outcome of an attack, etc. At least a subset of the features is then provided to a real-time Bayes network, which assigns relevance scores to the received alerts or alert groups. In another embodiment, a network manager (a person) can disagree with the relevance score assigned by the Bayes network, and give an alert or alert group a different relevance score. The Bayes network is then modified so that similar future alerts or alert groups will be assigned a relevance score that more closely matches the score given by the network manager.

Intrusion detection systems, network analyzers, network monitors, and other information security devices are all used to detect computer network problems. These systems and devices typically generate alerts that identify specific problems or events caused by hacker attacks, hardware failure, operator error, etc.
As networks become larger, the number of alerts generated by a network's intrusion detection systems and other information security devices grows as well. Even when multiple alerts related to a specific event or attack are consolidated into alert groups, it is still difficult for a network manager (a person) to prioritize the alerts, and to act on those alerts that reflect the biggest threat to network operations. And even if a network's intrusion detection systems and other information security devices do not generate a large number of alerts, the network manager may not have sufficient training or experience to prioritize alerts effectively.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/626,547, filed Jul. 25, 2000, entitled "Network Based Alert Management Process," and incorporated herein by reference, describes a system for alert correlation and alert ranking that uses discrete algorithms. Although the system described in that patent application is very effective at ranking alerts, it is not easily adaptable to reflect changes in a network or changes in the security preferences of a network manager.


A safety construction of receptacle plugs mainly comprises a housing and an insertion piece; the housing having an inspection port provided on its top, and a cover plate that can be placed into the housing from the rear side of the housing and slides in and out to close the inspection port; the insertion piece having a plurality of troughs arranged thereon that can accommodate two sets of copper conductor plates and two fuses, each set of copper conductor plates including two separated parts connected to each other by way of a fuse that constitutes a safety device. Under the cover plate there is an overhanging separator formed to keep fuses apart to obtain a safety effect.

A prior art plug used for Christmas light bulb series is designed to be connected in series to fit for a multitude of light bulb series using. That is, the plug can be attached to a receptacle and in the same time provides another receptacle on its back to which another plug can be attached so that a plurality of light bulb series can use the same power source, which was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,723 and 4,768,979. However, in the two cases there is no protection mechanism for safety. Accordingly, another improved construction was presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,976, in which a fuse is installed in the plug to prevent an overcurrent in light bulb series and a cover is provided on the housing so that people can open the cover to inspect or replace. But, there still exist shortcomings in such a design. For example, the copper conductor plate is a single whole piece with one projecting end used as a copper blade that is to be inserted into another receptacle, and the other end situated inside the housing and used as a connecting portion that is to reach the copper blades of another plug. The fuse connects the copper conductor plates to the light bulb series and so the current still flows to the next plug even when the fuse is burned down, which is apt to incur danger. Additionally, the cover is not easy to open and if the cover is opened but the plug has not been disconnected due to a user's neglect, the danger of an electric shock may happen.


A DIY flexible pipe with rigidity comprising a screw typed inner spring sheet, a screw typed outer spring member, a plurality of spring strips, a soft sleeve and many smaller sleeves; wherein, each layer (thread) of the inner spring sheet is provided with many engaging holes for insertion therein the spring strips having engaging teeth, the spring strips string multiple layers of the inner spring sheet, each spring strip in the layers of the inner spring sheet can also be strung up with many smaller sleeves, the inner spring sheet is slipped over with the outer spring member, and the soft sleeve is slipped over the outer spring member; thereby, a user can press to and fro on the pipe gradually as he likes to make a three-dimensional pipe having the curvatures desired, the spring strips, outer spring member and inner spring sheet in the areas bended are engaged with one another to construct a state which is provided with rigidity for bearing loading, or are mutually released to render the pipe to obtain flexibility in favor of adjustment and control in bending to form a shape, the pipe thus obtains an object of bending it in a simple and easy way and making it with fixed three-dimensional bending curvatures. Such pipe can afford making of bending pipe handicrafts or be used as a supporting pipe on a spine correction device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a DIY flexible pipe with rigidity, the pipe is different from a common soft bended pipe, and can be bended by a user into any desired three-dimensional arciform shape, and after bending to form a fixed shape, it keeps rigidity and stores the bending pressure, therefore it can bear loading, and can be made an exhibited stand having a three-dimensional artistic shape, a decorative framework, a handicraft bending pipe or a supporting pipe for a spine correction device etc., this can manifest the practicability and convenience in bending various three-dimensional arciform pipes in a DIY mode.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional adjustable bended pipe products mostly are made from soft plastic pipes or screw typed soft pipes, they normally are used in bearing light loading which are, for example, general stands for desk lamps or water cooling pipes on a working table of a machine, and they are able of being bended randomly to have an arciform shape of any curvatures; however, capability of bearing loading of such conventional adjustable bended pipe products is extremely limited, yet accuracy and stability of the curvatures after adjusting and shaping are inferior, merely adjustment without requirement of accuracy can be done, i.e., as to the conventional adjustable soft pipes, capability of bearing loading, obtaining accuracy and stability of the curvatures etc. are impropable to be accomplished technically.
Besides, in the arts of indoor decoration and artistic creation, people mostly make daily necessities or handicrafts three-dimensional art works, so that they can have exquisite curves of unique styles, however, selection of material is extremely troublesome by virtue that a three-dimensional drawing which can be deliberated and drawn always is hard to be practised in manufacturing, or that the cost for manufacturing is too high to complete, the reason of these is that conventional material is hard to both have the capability of being moulded and shaped and the strength required, so that the hand-made artistic articles are more difficult to become three-dimensional art works; examples are stands of exhibited comodities, clothes hangering pipes, desk stands, chair legs or decorative frameworks made from metal pipes, plastic pipes or wooden pipes etc., these conventional pipes basically shall have the capability of bearing loading, and shall be extremely stable after being shaped, while the capability of being moulded and shaped is limited; the basic conventional material is unable to be adjusted for recovering their original shapes or changing to some other shapes after having been shaped, the shaped pipes can not used for other purposes, in other words, after shaped by moulding, a user, an art creating technician or an indoor decoration designer can no more able to bend and adjust the three-dimensional curvature thereof, this is the disadvantage resided in the pipes.
Further, supporting pipes used on conventional spine correction devices are made of steel pipes and made for the required amount of correction in pursuance of the length and deformation degree of a spine, while the length and deformation degree of a spine for every patient can be various, therefore, supporting pipes used on the conventional spine correction devices presently must be made according to the measure of the body of a patient, or alternatively to make in advance supporting pipes for various lengths and deformation degrees of spines ready for the patients requiring them; however, in this way, the supporting pipes for the conventional spine correction devices can not be generalized, and are cost high, yet available material may seriously wasted.


Apparatus, system, and method that include a pacing apparatus having a stent electrode through which pulses of electrical current can be delivered. Stent electrodes receive energy for generating the electrical current from a variety of sources. Sources include from one or more induction coils that can form at least a portion of the stent. Sources can also include an implantable pulse generator coupled to a lead through which pulses of the electrical current are supplied to the stent electrodes.

In heart failure, the heart does not pump blood as well as it should and fluid builds up in the lungs. The symptoms of heart failure include difficulty breathing, decreased ability to exercise, and leg swelling. Although many drugs help patients with heart failure, there is no cure. The condition is disabling and even fatal for many patients.
In patients with heart failure, conduction of electrical impulses through the heart is often abnormal. This abnormal conduction, in turn, can lead to uncoordinated contraction of the ventricles, the large pumping chambers of the heart. Cardiac resynchronization, or atrial-synchronized biventricular pacing, has been shown to be an effective treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe heart failure.
Cardiac resynchronization is a heart failure treatment that uses a special type of pacemaker to synchronize the contraction of the ventricles. Results from resynchronization therapy studies on patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III and IV heart failure have demonstrated significant improvement in the quality of life, functional status, and exercise capacity. In these patients, cardiac resynchronization has also been shown to improve cardiac structure and function while significantly reducing the risk of worsening heart failure.
Another serious cardiac condition is atrial fibrillation (AFIB). AFIB is a debilitating rapid and uncoordinated or chaotic depolarization of the atria, resulting in irregular contraction of the ventricles. In this condition, the atria are not capable of efficient ejection of blood into the ventricles during atrial systole, and blood tends to collect and stagnate in the atria. Patients with chronic AFIB are generally placed on life long systemic anticoagulation medication to prevent the formation of blood clots in the non-functional atria. AFIB is a common ailment among the aging population.
An even more serious cardiac condition is ventricular fibrillation (VFIB). VFIB is a rapid and uncoordinated or chaotic depolarization of the ventricles. In this condition, the ventricles are not capable of efficient ejection of blood, often resulting in sudden death of the subject. Patients at risk for VFIB often receive an implanted cardiac defibrillator.
Both AFIB and VFIB can be caused by an ectopic focal stimulation source arising from aberrant cells in the myocardium. For example, in the majority of AFIB, the abnormal cells giving rise to the condition are located in or around the openings of the pulmonary veins. Both AFIB and VFIB can manifest as racetrack patterns of depolarization in which depolarization traverses an irregular path through the tissues. In both conditions, depolarization is no longer controlled by the sinus node.

Electrode apparatus, systems and methods


A compatibilizing agent is described for a mixture of

Polyesters are industrially well known compounds, and various types of polyesters are in use. In particular, polyester polyols can be crosslinked and cured with various crosslinking agents, e.g., isocyanate compounds, and are frequently used in applications such as coating materials, adhesives, inks, and sealants.
Of such polyester polyols, crystalline polyester polyols not only have excellent mechanical properties but have the following property. At temperatures not lower than the melting point thereof, they can be handled as a relatively low-viscosity liquid; upon cooling to a temperature not higher than the crystallization temperature thereof, they solidify in a short time period through recrystallization. Owing to this property, the crystalline polyester polyols are coming to be increasingly utilized as components of reactive hot-melt adhesives, ink-jet inks for hot-melt use, etc.
In particular, use of reactive hot-melt adhesives is rapidly expanding because the adhesives are excellent in strength and bonding rate and highly suitable for use in assembly lines and because they meet the social demand for nonuse of solvents and energy saving. There also is a strong desire for improved suitability for use in continuous operation, and a reactive hot-melt adhesive having a higher setting rate is desired.
It is known that the degree of crystallization of a polyester polyol influences the setting rate thereof; this fact, which can be used for meeting that demand, is disclosed, e.g., in Setchaku, 1984, Vol.28, No.8, p.5 and ADHESIVES AGE, 1987, November issue, p.32. Namely, a polyester polyol having a high degree of crystallization is extremely advantageous for improving setting rate.
Known starting materials for those polyester polyols are as follows. Examples of polycarboxylic acid ingredients include terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, succinic acid, adipic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, and dodecanedioic acid. Examples of diol ingredients include ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, and 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol. Of the polyester polyols obtained from combinations of these monomers, polyester polyols for use as a material for hot-melt adhesives having an improved setting rate are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 88686/1990. These polyester polyols include one formed from dodecanedioic acid and 1,6-hexanediol, one formed from sebacic acid and 1,6-hexanediol, and one formed from dodecanedioic acid and ethylene glycol.
The polyester polyol formed from dodecanedioic acid and 1,6-hexanediol, in particular, has a far higher setting rate than in conventional techniques. However, this polyester polyol is used in limited amounts because dodecanedioic acid is expensive.
On the other hand, reactive hot-melt adhesives based on a highly crystalline polyester polyol have problems remaining unsolved, for example, that they have a low rate of moisture absorption and should hence be allowed to stand for a prolonged time period so as to have an increased bonding strength through crosslinking reactions with water.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 304223/1992 discloses a mixture for urethane prepolymer production which is prepared by mixing a polyester polyol obtained using dodecanedioic acid with a polyester polyol obtained using an inexpensive acid ingredient, e.g., adipic acid.
However, the polyester polyol obtained using dodecanedioic acid has poor compatibility with the polyester polyol obtained using adipic acid, so that the mixture prepared by mixing these polyester polyols suffer phase separation. This means that when the polyester polyol mixture is reacted with a polyisocyanate in producing a urethane prepolymer, the reaction proceeds unevenly, resulting in impaired workability.

Compatibilizing agent, polyester polyol mixture containing the same, and hot-melt adhesive obtained from the mixture

Abstract: (1) a polyester polyol containing units derived from                at least one aliphatic dicarboxylic acid (A) having n carbon atoms (10≦n≦20) and        at least one aliphatic diol having k carbon atoms (2≦k≦12) and

Abstract: (2) a polyester polyol containing units derived from                at least one aliphatic dicarboxylic acid (B) having m carbon atoms (2≦m≦9) and        at least one aliphatic diol having k carbon atoms (2≦k≦12),the compatibilizing agent containing a polyester polyol which contains units derived from        at least one aliphatic dicarboxylic acid (A) having n carbon atoms (10≦n≦20),        at least one aliphatic dicarboxylic acid (B) having m carbon atoms (2≦m≦9), and        at least one aliphatic diol having k carbon atoms (2≦k≦12)and in which the ratio of ingredient (A) to ingredient (B) used is from 90:10 to 10:90 in terms of molar ratio (provided that n-m≧4).


In evaluating whiteness of light from a light source or a luminaire, whiteness W is given by the following equation,W=−5.3C+100,                wherein chroma C is determined by the CIE 1997 Interim Color Appearance Model (Simple Version).

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of evaluating whiteness of light from a light source, a method of evaluating comparative whiteness, a light source and a luminaire that produce light with whiteness evaluated as being high by the method of evaluating whiteness.
(2) Related Art
Development of light sources and luminaries has conventionally been directed toward reproducing the original colors of an object to be illuminated faithfully. Specifically, luminaire that can provide color appearance of an object closer to that provided under a standard illuminant have achieved a high reputation. This can be objectively evaluated using the general color rendering index.
In recent years, however, desirable color appearance has been drawing attention instead of fidelity of color appearance. As a result, techniques for developing light sources and luminaries to render light colors as desired for specific applications are receiving attention. Some lamps have already been developed, such as those for making foods placed on the shelf look good or making plants at flower stores look more beautiful. To evaluate the desirable color appearance, visual clarity index is proposed in Japanese Laid-Open patent application No. 9-120797, which indicates how vivid an object color is rendered.
It is pointed out that light colors affect our perception of brightness (See Urabe et al., "Color Temperature of Light Source for Interior Lighting . . . The Effects on Brightness, (1) Impression from outside by Method of Paired Comparisons", Annual Conference of The Illuminating Engineering Institute of Japan, 1995.). In other words, the whiter a white object is rendered, the brighter the object appears to the human eyes. Also, as the feeling of whiteness increases, the Figure of an object looks neat. This would help make the visual environment more comfortable. Accordingly, it is desirable to use a luminaire with high whiteness while maintaining the vividity of color appearance.
However, evaluation measurements of such whiteness have conventionally relied on subjective judgments. For the same reasons, users have found it difficult to choose lighting devices.

Method of evaluating whiteness, method of evaluating comparative whiteness, light source and luminaire

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Materials and methods for preparing P-chirogenic monophospholanes and bisphospholanes are disclosed. The methods employ stereoselective cyclization to generate the phospholane rings followed by pyramidal inversion to access a variety of P-chirogenic phospholanes. When bound to transition metals such as rhodium, the disclosed P-chirogenic phospholanes may be used as catalysts in asymmetric synthesis of valuable pharmaceutical chemical entities, including pregabalin.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to materials and methods for preparing P-chirogenic phospholane ligands and to their use in asymmetric syntheses, including the enantioselective hydrogenation of prochiral olefins to prepare pharmaceutically useful compounds such as pregabalin.
2. Discussion
Asymmetric catalysis is often the most efficient method for the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched compounds because a small amount of a chiral catalyst can be used to produce a large quantity of a chiral target molecule. Over the last two decades, more than a half-dozen commercial industrial processes have been developed that use asymmetric catalysis as the key step in the production of enantiomerically pure compounds with much effort focused on developing new asymmetric catalysts for these reactions. See, e.g., J. D. Morrison, ed., Asymmetric Synthesis 5 (1985); B. Bosnich, ed., Asymmetric Catalysis (1986); H. Brunner, Synthesis 645 (1988); R. Noyori & M. Kitamura, in R. Scheffold, ed., Modern Synthetic Methods 5:115 (1989); W. A. Nugent et al., Science 259:479 (1993); I. Ojima, ed., Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis (1993); R. Noyori, Asymmetric Catalysis In Organic Synthesis (1994). For more recent examples, see "Special Feature Section: Homogeneous Transition Metal-Catalyzed Reactions," Organic Process Research and Development 7 (3):341-445 (2003).
Chiral phosphine ligands have played a significant role in the development of novel transition metal catalyzed asymmetric reactions to produce enantiomeric excess of compounds with desired activities. The first successful attempts at asymmetric hydrogenation of eneamide substrates were accomplished in the late 1970s using chiral bisphosphines as transition metal ligands. See, e.g., B. D. Vineyard et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 99 (18):5946-52 (1977); W. S. Knowles et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 97 (9):2567-68 (1975). Since these first published reports, there has been a continuous expansion of research related to the synthesis of new chiral bisphosphine ligands for asymmetric hydrogenations and other chiral catalytic transformations. See I. Ojima, ed., Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis (1993); D. J. Ager, ed., Handbook of Chiral Chemicals (1999).
Much of the current interest in new chiral ligands and catalysts results from their use in preparing enantiomerically enriched or enantiopure drugs. One such drug is pregabalin, (S)-3-aminomethyl-5-methyl-hexanoic acid, which is the active pharmaceutical ingredient in LYRICA®. Pregabalin is related to the endogenous inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is involved in the regulation of brain neuronal activity. Pregabalin exhibits anti-seizure activity, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,175 to R. B. Silverman et al., and is thought to be useful for treating, among other conditions, pain, physiological conditions associated with psychomotor stimulants, inflammation, gastrointestinal damage, alcoholism, insomnia, and various psychiatric disorders, including mania and bipolar disorder. See, respectively, U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,488 to L. Bueno et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,374 to L. Magnus & C. A. Segal, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,876 to L. Singh; U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,459 to H. C. Akunne et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,429 to D. Schrier et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,418 to L. Bueno et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,368 to L. Bueno et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,910 to L. Magnus & C. A. Segal; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,005 to A. C. Pande, which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety and for all purposes.
A recent U.S. patent describes a method of making pregabalin and other chiral compounds via asymmetric hydrogenation of a cyano-substituted olefin to produce a chiral cyano precursor of (S)-3-aminomethyl-5-methyl-hexanoic acid. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,745 to G. S. Hoge, II & O. P. Goel (the '745 patent), which is assigned to the Warner-Lambert Company LLC and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. The cyano precursor is subsequently reduced to give enantiomerically-enriched pregabalin in high yield. According to the '745 patent, the asymmetric hydrogenation employs a chiral catalyst, which is comprised of a transition metal (e.g., rhodium) bound to a P-chirogenic bisphospholane ligand, such as 1,2-bis((1R,2R)-2-benzylphospholanyl)ethane,
Besides alkanediyls, such as the ethanediyl in Formula 1, the '745 patent discloses other bridges that link the phosphorus atoms, including substituted and unsubstituted phen-1,2-diyl bridges as shown in the compound of Formula 2,

The '745 patent discloses numerous methods for making P-chirogenic bisphospholane ligands. One useful method employs a CuCl2 promoted oxidative coupling of a methyl anion of the compound of Formula 3,
which is obtained by treating the compound of Formula 3 with a strong base, such as s-BuLi. Although this approach is useful for preparing P-chirogenic bisphospholanes similar to the compound of Formula 1, such approaches are less useful for ligands exemplified by Formula 2. Therefore, it would be desirable to develop a general technique for preparing P-chirogenic bisphospholanes.

Preparation of P-chirogenic phospholanes and their use in asymmetric synthesis


A face image processing apparatus is adapted to extract a retinal reflection image accurately and decide the opened and closed states of eyes correctly, regardless of reflection images of eyeglasses, which exist around the retinal reflection image. The face image processing apparatus includes a lighting unit 11 for irradiating a face of a person 1 to be detected, a photographing unit 10 for photographing a face image of the detected person 1, a binarization unit 21 for binarizing a variable-density (light and shade) image, a feature extracting unit 23 for extracting binarized white pixel regions, and an eye-state decision unit 24 for deciding the eye states of the detected person 1. The feature extracting unit 23 sets the most of entire white pixel regions as the retinal reflection image candidate regions, distinguishes and extracts the retinal reflection images and the reflection images according to an attribute of a previous screen by a correlation of the present screen candidates and the previous screen candidates, whereby a false detection of the reflection images can be prevented. At the same time, the feature extracting unit 23 creates the retinal reflection image candidates according to the relative positional relation of the left and right eyes, thereby extracting the retinal reflection images accurately through complementation of these two extractions, regardless of the reflection images such as the eye glasses which might exist around the retinal reflection images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a face image processing apparatus having means for distinguishing a retinal reflection image from other reflection images using an image processing, for extracting it, and for deciding an eye-state (i.e., opened or closed eye) according to an existing state of the retinal reflection image.
2. Description of the Related Art
One example of such a face image processing apparatus is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-5713 filed on Jan. 17, 1996 and assigned to the same assignee. This face image processing apparatus is principally aimed at removing a reflection image at a stage of setting a retinal reflection image candidate region within a binarized image. As conditions for setting a candidate region, a shape characteristic and a mobility vector from a previous screen are used. Also, the apparatus is featured in the provision of a retinal reflection image region extraction means for extracting the left-side and right side retinal reflection images, separately.
FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram showing a stimulated-state or wakefulness detection apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 8-5713. In this figure, a numeral 1 indicates a person to be detected (i.e., hereinafter simply referred to as a detection subjected person), a numeral 10 indicates a camera, a numeral 11 indicates a lighting unit in the form of an LED device, a numeral 12 indicates a half-mirror, a numeral 13 indicates a LED driving circuit, a numeral 20 indicates a variable-density (light and shade) image memory, a numeral 21 indicates a binarization means, a numeral 22 indicates a binarized image memory, a numeral 23 indicates a characteristics extraction means, a numeral 24 indicates an eye-state decision means, and a numeral 25 indicates an optical glass existence and/or non-existence decision means. With the above arrangement, light irradiated by the LED device 11 illuminates the face of the detection subjected person 1 through the half-mirror 12.
Photographing the face of the detection subjected person 1 by the camera 10, a pupil of the detection subjected person 1 is taken as if the pupil is flashing, as shown in FIG. 2(a), according to reflected light from a retina inside the eyeball. This is because the retina has a character of sending the reflected light back to the same direction as the incident light. Since the reflection image from this retina will be photographed remarkably brighter than other parts of the face, with a binarized process for the photographed light and shade image, an image region with a larger luminance could be extracted as a pupil region. By paying attention to a shape feature of this pupil region (retinal reflection image), the opened and closed states of the eyes can be decided.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a retinal reflection image tracking algorithm of the aforementioned face image processing apparatus. At first, by controlling the camera 10, an output image from the camera 10 is adjusted to an appropriate brightness value (step S1). Next, by mode selection, either one of a search mode for extracting a retinal reflection image for the first time or at other times from a lost-eye state in which an eye is lost or not seen, or of a tracking mode for continuously tracking the retinal reflection image which is being currently in the progress of an extraction is selected (step S2).
In the search mode, setting a search window for the most of an entire face is set (step S3); a region to be a candidate of a retinal reflection image is selected according to a size/shape of the binarized region (step S4); and a retinal reflection image region is extracted from those candidates according to a relationship between the relative positions of the left and right eyes (step S5).
In the tracking mode, the tracking windows is set for tracking the retinal reflection image binarized regions found in the search mode, in the left and right, separately (step S6). Specifically, in order to track the left and right eyes separately, a left-eye tracking window (step S7) as well as a right-eye tracking window are set (step S8). Then, the left and right eye candidates are created in the tracking windows (step S4). That is, the left eye candidate in the left eye tracking window is created (step S9), and the right eye candidate in the right eye tracking window is created (step S10). Next, a retinal reflection image candidate from the left and right eye candidates is selected (step S5), and a decision of a closed eye is made (step S11). That is, if the retinal reflection image of either one of the left or the right could be extracted, then an opened-eye decision is made as an eye state (step S12), and a closed-eye decision is made if no retinal reflection image could be extracted (step S13). When the closed-eye decision continues for a long time (equal to or more than a predetermined time), then a lost-eye state is determined (step S14), and the process returns to the search mode for performing re-extraction once again from the beginning.
FIG. 2(a) represents an original image when the detection subjected person 1 is with the naked eyes, and FIG. 2(b) shows the binarized images thereof.
The above-mentioned face image processing apparatus could, as in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), extract the retinal reflection image binarized region 27 according to the shape characteristics such as a degree of squareness (i.e., ratio between side lengths of a rectangular shape) or an area thereof, because a reflection image other than the retinal reflection image 26 rarely appears, and thus could decide the opened and closed states of eyes, correctly.
FIG. 3(a) shows an original image when the detection subjected person 1 is with the eye glasses, and FIG. 3(b) shows the binarized images thereof.
The above-mentioned conventional face image processing apparatus could, as in the Japanese Patent Application 8-5713 Publication, even when the eye glass reflection images 28 exist, with paying attention to a point that a brightness is higher in the eye glass reflection image than in the retinal reflection image, distinguish the binarized regions 29 of the eye glass reflection images and the retinal reflection images, by making the binarized regions 29 to be doughnut shape as shown in FIG. 3(b) according to a binarized threshold value control, thus could extract the retinal reflection images.
Also, the reflection images are limited on the eye glass frame, and will not appear around the eyes.
Since the above-mentioned face image processing apparatus could remove the most of reflection images at a stage of extracting the retinal reflection image, the state with no candidate could be decided as the closed-eye state, finally.
As described above, in the above-mentioned face image processing apparatus, no reflection image other than the eye glass reflection images exist, and when the detection subjected person is with the naked eyes, the binarized images are only the retinal reflection images, and when wearing the eye glasses, the reflection images other than the retinal reflection images could be removed by the brightness difference.
However, with the above-mentioned face image processing apparatus, degradation of a relative resolution due to an expansion of the angle of field of the camera such as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), or as in FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b), there were many false detection of the reflection images, since it can not distinguish the retinal reflection images 27 and the reflection images 29 other than them, for a change of a face image such as an appearance of a reflection image other than the eye glass reflection images due to an increased output of the LED.
Particularly, at a time of the closed eyes, the retinal reflection images 27 which have been tracked would disappear on the screen, so that there were instead many false detections of the reflection images 29 whose size/shape are very similar to the ones of retinal reflection images located around the eyes.
Once a false extraction is made, a correct position can not be extracted unless waiting for the next lost state of being seen, the eye-state decisions during that time would be much deviated from the actual opened and closed states of eyes, and thus an accurate eye-state decision can not be made.

Blink detection face image processing apparatus utilizing retinal reflection image


An aerodynamic rail cover for an operating room with laminar airflow is provided. The rail cover comprises a rail cover component configured to be movably attached to a support rail of a ceiling mounted support arrangement of a medical imaging system. The rail cover component comprises a base element and an air guiding surface element connected to the base element. The base element is configured to be attached to a portion of the support rail of the ceiling mounted support arrangement. The air guiding surface element forms an air guide to be mounted at least temporarily to cover a portion of the support rail of the ceiling mounted support arrangement. The air guiding surface element comprises two surface parts that extend from starting edges on opposite sides of the base element to a common trailing edge.

For operations or other medical interventions, e.g. in a hospital, air supply requirements may exist, in particular with regards to the patient area in an operating room, which zone is also referred to as the operating zone. Temperature, air speed, relative humidity and also limited values for different grades of air purity in the sterile operating zone exist. In order to prevent contaminated environmental air entering the operating zone to prevent exposure of the patient's body to airborne contaminants while he/she is being operated, for example during surgical interventions and also during medical imaging procedures, treated air, e.g. filtered, cleaned or sterilized air, may be supplied to the operating zone. As an example, laminar air flow (LAF) units provide an air downflow from the ceiling, e.g. from the ceiling downwards towards a patient table, to cover the zone of the operating table and some of the adjacent surrounding zone. However, the air downflow may be affected by medical equipment suspended from the ceiling, such as an X-ray imaging system. As an example, WO 2016/116389 A1 describes an air supply for providing a laminar downflow to an operating zone, wherein the carriage also provides an air downflow. Nevertheless, support structures in the ceiling area may still impair the laminar air downflow.


A method of co-simulation involving a high level modeling system and an integrated circuit such as, e.g., a programmable logic device (PLD) can include, when writing to at least one input port of the PLD, storing a plurality of commands from a co-simulation engine within a command buffer and, responsive to a send condition, sending the plurality of commands to the PLD as a single transaction. When reading from at least one output port of the PLD, selectively reading from a cache external to the PLD or a memory of the PLD according to a state of cache coherency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of integrated circuits and, more particularly, to co-simulating physical implementations of integrated circuits with software environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic circuit designs can be constructed, simulated, debugged, and translated into electronic hardware using a High Level Modeling System (HLMS). Typically, an HLMS is implemented as a software-based design tool which provides blocks that can be combined to build a circuit design. A block refers to a high level software construct which represents a particular circuit function, such as multiplexing, addition, multiplication, or the like. The blocks can be arranged within the HLMS to form a circuit and/or system. Communication among the blocks can be represented by wires, or signals, which graphically link the blocks. Once configured, the HLMS can run various simulations upon the design. The HLMS further can generate a hardware implementation from the block representation of the circuit design. For example, an HLMS can generate the bitstream necessary to program a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or can generate hardware description language (HDL) files necessary to specify the hardware design.
One example of an HLMS is System Generator™, available from Xilinx, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. System Generator™ is a system level modeling tool that facilitates FPGA hardware design. System Generator™ can function with other design tools to provide a modeling environment that is well suited to hardware design. The System Generator™ tool provides high level abstractions for hardware algorithms and resources using blocks. A block has ports which allow it to be connected to other blocks in a diagram. Two ports are connected together via a net, which allows information, or data, to travel between the ports. System generator blocks can be automatically compiled into an FPGA. In addition, access to underlying FPGA resources can be provided through low level block abstractions which facilitate the construction of highly efficient FPGA designs.
It is possible to incorporate circuit designs, which already have been implemented in hardware, back into the HLMS development environment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional co-simulation system 100. The co-simulation system 100 depicts the situation in which a hardware implementation has been incorporated into an HLMS environment. As shown, a host computer system 105 can execute an HLMS 110. Within the HLMS 110, a programmable logic device (PLD) 130, for example an FPGA, has been represented by a proxy referred to as a hardware co-simulation block 115. The hardware co-simulation block 115 functions in much the same way as other blocks within the HLMS 110 in that it can consume signals from other blocks of the device under test (DUT) 120 and generate signals that can be interpreted by other blocks of the DUT 120.
The hardware co-simulation block 115 communicates with a co-simulation engine 125, also executing within the host computer system 105. The co-simulation engine 125 typically is provided by the vendor of the PLD 130 which has been incorporated into the HLMS 110 via the hardware co-simulation block 115 proxy. While shown independently of the HLMS 110, the co-simulation engine 125 usually integrates with the HLMS 110 as a plug-in. In any case, the co-simulation engine 125 communicates with the hardware platform 135, i.e., a simulation board upon which PLD 130 is disposed. In general, the hardware co-simulation block 115 executes generic function calls to the co-simulation engine 125. These generic function calls can include, but are not limited to, opening and closing commands directed to the hardware platform 135, commands for managing data I/O with the hardware platform 135, and commands for controlling clock sources for the PLD 130.
When the HLMS 110 compiles a particular circuit design, in this case the DUT 120, for hardware co-simulation, an HDL wrapper 140 can be generated. The HDL wrapper 140 specifies a memory map interface as well as clock control logic. The memory map interface sets aside a portion of memory in the PLD 130 itself which can be used to store input and output values for the co-simulated circuit, or the DUT 120. Elements of the memory map correspond to I/O ports on the hardware co-simulation block 115. The hardware co-simulation block 115 reads and writes to specific ports on the DUT 120 by generating an address that can be decoded by the memory map. The address is computed using the index of a hardware co-simulation block port to generate an address offset.
The co-simulation engine 125 translates the generic function calls from the hardware co-simulation block 115 into instructions specific to the hardware platform 135, and thus the PLD 130. The instructions are sent from the co-simulation engine 125 to the hardware platform 135 via a communication channel 145. Typically, the communication channel 145 is the channel and/or interface provided by the hardware platform 135, for example an interface such as PCI, JTAG (IEEE Standard 1149.1), USB, Ethernet, or the like.
With respect to co-simulation, speed often is critical. As such, certain communication interfaces and protocols are better suited for co-simulation than others. In general, the performance of a communication interface and protocol, as it relates to co-simulation, can be measured in terms of latency and available bandwidth. While bandwidth can be an important factor in the performance of a communication interface, typically it is less significant than latency. Latency, as used herein, can refer to the total delay, inclusive of transaction setup time, associated with transmitting to, or receiving data from, the hardware platform 135.
During co-simulation, new transactions are initiated from the co-simulation engine 125 to the hardware platform 135 under several different circumstances. These circumstances can include, but are not limited to, the case where an input port value changes on the hardware co-simulation block 115, the case where a hardware co-simulation block 115 output port must be updated, or the case where the hardware clock must be run in order to keep the PLD 130 in lockstep with the HLMS 110 simulation. It is also necessary for the co-simulation engine 125 to communicate with the hardware platform 135 to initialize and close the PLD 130. In such circumstances, however, latency does not significantly contribute to the overall simulation performance.
The amount of data transmitted for each individual transaction can vary. For I/O port updates, the data size typically is small (e.g., 64 bits). The different transactions outlined above are performed frequently in the context of co-simulation. The number of transactions performed per simulation cycle is proportional to the number of I/O ports on the hardware co-simulation block 115. As used herein, a simulation cycle in the HLMS 110 corresponds to a tick of the clock of the synchronization mechanism which drives the various components of the so-simulation. One example of a synchronization mechanism is Simulink®, which is a platform for multi-domain simulation and model-based design for dynamic systems, available from The MathWorks, Inc. of Natick, Mass. The synchronization mechanism can advance time forward, update data, and then advance time again. The time period beginning with a time advance and ending with a next time advance can be referred to as a simulation cycle. In general, a simulation cycle corresponds to a number of clock cycles in the PLD 130. While the number of PLD 130 clock cycles that correspond to a simulation cycle can vary, the number does remain constant within a given co-simulation session.
Frequent small transactions exchanged between the host computer system 105 and the hardware platform 135, which are inherent to co-simulation, can adversely affect data throughput when the communication interface and/or protocol is associated with high latency. For instance, the HLMS 110 simulation time cannot advance forward until the output port of a co-simulation block is updated, as there may be downstream blocks in the diagram which depend on such data. Bandwidth effectively is wasted in repeated transactional overhead or setup. Lower throughput can significantly hinder HLMS simulation performance. Further, this manner of co-simulation communication does not scale well as the number of ports on the hardware co-simulation block 115 increases.
It would be beneficial to provide a technique for exchanging data between a PLD and an HLMS in the context of co-simulation which overcomes the difficulties described above.

Command buffering for hardware co-simulation


An inkjet printer and a head cleaning method for an inkjet printer reduce the time required for head cleaning while also reducing needless ink consumption. The control unit 30 of the printer 1 confirms if a timer AID flag, impact detection flag, startup process flag, AID hold flag, or cover closed flag is set before executing the cleaning process a first time. If any one of the flags is set, the possibility that there are numerous defective nozzles in the printer 1 is high, and a stronger or more intense cleaning process (CL1 or CL2) is executed. Whether cleaning process CL1 or CL2 executes is determined according to the number of defective nozzles detected in the first nozzle check. If no flag is set, the weakest cleaning process (CL0) is executed.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a head cleaning method used in an inkjet printer to recover from defective discharge of ink droplets from the nozzles of an inkjet head, and relates to an inkjet printer implementing this head cleaning method.
2. Description of Related Art
Inkjet printers in particular are subject to discharge defects in the ink nozzles of the inkjet head. Such discharge defects include the nozzles becoming clogged by an increase in the viscosity of ink left in the nozzles as well as by air bubbles, dust, or other foreign matter getting into the nozzles, and nozzles that are not completely clogged but become unable to discharge the prescribed amount of ink at the prescribed position on the paper being printed. Nozzles in such a condition are called defective nozzles. Because print quality drops when an inkjet head having defective nozzles is used for printing, the inkjet head is moved regularly or at a predetermined time to a position outside the printing area and a head cleaning process is applied. The inkjet printer taught in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2003-1835, for example, can perform two head cleaning processes, a wiper cleaning process whereby ink on the nozzle surface is removed using a wiper, and a nozzle vacuuming process in which ink is removed from inside the nozzles by suction to prevent or recover from nozzle clogging.
The printer taught in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2007-7960, executes nozzle check and head cleaning processes as part of the startup procedure when the printer power turns on. This printer automatically runs the nozzle check process when the power turns on because the likelihood is high that ink had not been discharged from the nozzles for an extended period of time before the power turned on and the possibility that nozzles are clogged is therefore high. This printer also checks the number of defective nozzles found in the nozzle check, executes a head cleaning process controlled according to the number of defective nozzles if the number of defective nozzles is greater than or equal to a user-defined threshold value, and does not execute the head cleaning process if the number of defective nozzles is less than the set threshold value.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2003-1835 does not propose checking the nozzles and executing a head cleaning process according to the condition of the nozzles, or executing a head cleaning process controlled according to the condition of the printer while the head is being cleaned.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2007-7960 teaches cleaning the print head at a time when the possibility is high that there are clogged nozzles, for example, but is silent about changing the content of the cleaning process according to differences in nozzle condition, such as whether or not the likelihood is high that more nozzles than usual are clogged, such as whether or not it is immediately after the power turned on, or whether or not a direct impact was applied to the printer. This means that the cleaning process may be too gentle when the likelihood of there being numerous defective nozzles is high, the cleaning process may take too long to finish, or excessive ink may be consumed.

Head cleaning method for an inkjet printer and an inkjet printer


An optimizer optimizes the configuration of a computer system, such as a web farm. The optimizer makes use of a performance simulator that simulates a cluster of machines running a given workload. A modular architecture allows different optimization modules to be plugged into the optimization system. In addition, the modular architecture also interfaces with different simulators through a simulator interface module. The simulator is decoupled from the optimization module. Simulation data may be filtered to provide and store only relevant objective and parameter values. A unique comparison module also guides the optimization module towards the optimum solution, even if no solutions have yet satisfied the objective completely. By caching simulation and/or optimization results (i.e. as opposed to raw simulation output data from the simulator), the simulations from previous simulation runs and different designers may be reused to reduce the time required for each optimization.

As businesses and consumers continue to flock to the Internet for commercial interaction, design of web-based computer systems, such as "web farms", must satisfy more numerable and restrictive constraints while satisfying increasingly difficult objectives. For example, a proposed web farm may be specified to run an e-commerce site serving 10,000 concurrent users, requiring that the utilization of each server is less that 60% and that the response times users experience be less than 5 seconds. In addition, the design must minimize the number of total servers in the web farm. This information represents a "problem" that a designer must solve (i.e., by designing a computer system configuration to satisfy the problem requirements).
In existing approaches, the design of the resulting web farm is achieved through manual trial-and-error calculations or speculative performance simulations. For example, a designer may change workload and topology parameters of a computer system configuration to vary the number of servers and users, CPU speed, the amount of memory in each server, the secondary storage configuration, etc. and then simulate the configuration with a performance simulator. Such simulations can take a long time to complete (e.g., ranging from a few minutes to many hours per iteration). However, the selection of the configuration variables for each iteration is left to the designer and is often based on the designer's interpretations of one or more previous iterations. Particularly, designers have previously used rules of thumb and speculations based on previous experience to make provisioning decisions. Accordingly, arriving at an optimal solution is risky, time-consuming, manually intensive, and difficult to achieve using most existing approaches.
In other approaches, optimization tools have been offered for use with some specific performance simulation systems to reduce the manual emphasis of the optimization process. Such a tool can support one or more predefined optimization algorithms. However, in some such approaches, each optimization tool has been absolutely dependent on and often integrated into a given simulator, preventing use of the same optimizer and problem specification with multiple and disparate simulators.
Moreover, the various web farm configurations that are simulated may share iterations having common configurations and results. Clearly, it is undesirable to re-simulate such shared iterations for each web farm being designed, but existing approaches do not provide means for reusing previously simulated iterations.

Modular architecture for optimizing a configuration of a computer system


A refrigerator cabinet assembly includes a shell formed by opposed, upright side walls and a top wall, all of which have in-turned front and rear face portions with each of the front face portions terminating in a return flange defining a liner receiving cavity opening forwardly of the shell. Each liner receiving cavity is spaced inwardly of a respective side and top wall such that a channel, which is readily accessible from within the shell, is defined. A rear wall is interconnected to the side and top walls by being arranged between and forced to intimately contact a pair of spaced layers defining the rear face portions of each of these walls. A plurality of reinforcement members, including a pair of upper corner plates and a pair of side reinforcement bars adapted to be arranged in the channel, as well as upper and lower crossbars in one preferred embodiment that interconnect the side reinforcement members, are attached to the shell, along with a mullion plate and a faceplate. Since the return flanges open forwardly of the shell, a liner can be front loaded therein in a quick and easy fashion with an inwardly extending flange provided on the liner projecting into the liner receiving cavity. The side reinforcement members and their associated brackets are provided with structure defining hinge locations for both refrigerator door hinges, as well as one hinge for a freezer compartment, to assure proper alignment and spacing of the hinges.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to the structure of and reinforcement for the shell of a refrigerator cabinet.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In constructing a refrigerator cabinet, it is highly desirable to minimize the weight of the cabinet shell to reduce manufacturing, transportation and additional associated costs, yet it is imperative that the cabinet be structurally sound in order to counteract loads exerted thereon without deforming. Mainly due to cost efficiencies and flexibility in workmanship, it has been commonplace to utilize sheet metal in the forming of most refrigerator cabinets on the market today. Since the sheet metal is thin and rather high loads tend to be concentrated on the shell, particularly by the opening and closing of a weighted down refrigerator door, a fair amount of effort has been applied in this art to provide reinforcement for such a refrigerator cabinet shell. Of course, an additional important concern is also the ease of assembly of the cabinet as a whole.
With this in mind, it has heretofore been proposed to form the sides and top of a refrigerator cabinet shell out of a single piece of bent sheet metal and then to attach thereto rear and bottom walls. An example of such a known arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 1 at 2 with the side walls 4 and 6 being integrally formed with top wall 8, while rear wall 10 and bottom wall 12 are attached thereto. The front edge portions of the side and top walls are in-turned to defined front face portions 16 of the cabinet and these front face portions 16 are additionally bent to form return flanges 20 (also see FIG. 2) which define a liner receiving cavity 22 that opens laterally inwardly of the shell 2.
With this arrangement, side reinforcing bars 24 and 25 can be slid between the front face portions 16 and the return flange 20 on either side of the cabinet for reinforcement purposes. A flexible liner 30 can then be positioned within the shell 2 by causing the liner 30 to bow inward in order that an outwardly projecting annular flange 32 of the liner 30 can be received within the liner receiving cavity 22. A similar freezer liner (not shown) can likewise be inserted. A mullion support bar assembly 34 is also positioned within a section of the liner receiving cavity 22 and threaded fasteners 36 are used to secure the side reinforcing bars 24 and 25, as well as the support bar assembly 34 and the liner 30, to the front face portions 16 of the shell 2. In addition to the attaching of a cross plate 40, a foam 42 is injected between the shell 2 and the liner 30 which forms an insulation barrier and also adds to the overall structural rigidity of the cabinet.
The major drawbacks of such a known arrangement is the difficulties associated with assembling the cabinet including the manner of insertion and the aligning of the various reinforcement members, as well as the associated design considerations of the liner itself to enable the same to adequately flex for insertion into the flange of the cabinet while not being damaged.
There has also been proposed in the art to provide a cabinet shell design which will directly receive a liner without the need to flex the liner into place. Such an arrangement is commonly referred to as "front loading" of the liner. FIG. 3 illustrates one typical known design of this type wherein liner 44 can be directly inserted into cabinet shell 46 with flange 48 of liner 44 simply abutting a laterally extending portion of the cabinet shell 46. Again the space between the liner 44 and the shell 46 is foamed with insulation. Such a cabinet design obviously enhances the assembly of the liner to the shell. Unfortunately, many of the advantageous features of prior designs are lost with such a front loading arrangement. These features include larger design tolerances, enhanced liner stability following installation and desirable aesthetic qualities to name a few.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art of refrigerators for a cabinet assembly having enhanced structural and simplified assembly characteristics, while also being cost effective and aesthetically pleasing.

Refrigerator cabinet and method of assembling the same


A modification method for reducing emissions from an annular shaped combustor of a gas turbine plant, having uniformly spaced circumferentially mounted premix burners (20), includes the steps of: removing at least one burner (20), thereby disrupting the spatial uniformity of the remaining the burners (20); and modifying the combustor air distribution system so as to compensate for the increased burner pressure drop of the remaining burners, thus enabling the modified combustor to operate at a load equivalent to the unmodified combustor. Emission reduction is enabled by the increase in the gas velocity of the burner for a given load further enabled by the flame stabilizing effect of disrupting the spatial uniformity.

1. Field of Endeavor
The invention relates to the reduction of emissions from an annular combustor of a gas turbine plant. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of reducing emissions from premix burners used in the high-pressure combustor of a gas turbine plant with sequential combustors.
2. Definitions
In particular, throughout this specification a gas turbine plant is taken to mean and is defined as a gas turbine plant shown in FIG. 1 and described as follows. The first element of the gas turbine plant is a compressor 21 for compressing air for use in a high-pressure combustion chamber 22 fitted with premix burners 20 and also for cooling. Partially combusted air from the high-pressure combustor 22 passes through a high-pressure turbine 23 before flowing further into a low-pressure combustion chamber 24 where combustion occurs by self-ignition. In this chamber fuel is added to unburnt air from the first combustor 12 via a lance 37. The hot combustion gases then pass through a lower pressure turbine 25 before passing through a heat recovery steam generator. In order to generate electricity, the compressor 21 and turbines 23, 25 drive a generator 26 via a shaft 30
Further, throughout this specification a pre-mix burner is taken to mean and is defined as a burner, as shown in FIG. 2, suitable for use in the high-pressure combustor of a gas turbine plant. More specifically, it includes a conical swirl shaped body in the form of a double cone 11, which is concentric with a burner axis surrounded by a swirl space 17. A central fuel lance 12 lies within the burner axis extending into the swirl space 17 to form the tip of the swirl body 11. In a first stage 18, pre-mix fuel is injected radially into the swirl space 17 through injection holes in the fuel lance 12. In a second stage 14, pre-mix fuel is injected through injection holes located in the double cone 11 section of the burner into an air stream conducted within the double cone 11.
3. Brief Description of the Related Art
Combustion chamber dynamics of gas turbine plants with annular ring combustors not having canned burners are generally dominated by circumferential pressure pulsation. There are many supplementary causes for the pulsation, including the velocity of the fuel/air mixture through the burner, where the higher the velocity the greater the pulsation potential. In contrast to the negative effect of increased burner gas velocity, increasing velocity reduces NOx and for this reason alone there is a need to have alternative methods that enable higher burner gas velocity operation. Further as older plants are general poorer performing than newer plants, the desire to improve the emission performance of older plants is particularly high.
A method of ameliorating the detrimental effects preventing higher burner velocity operation is by disruption of burner configurational spatial uniformity. For example, DE 43 36 096 describes an arrangement where burners are displaced longitudinally in relation to each other, while WO 98/12479 discloses a burner arrangement where burners of different sizes are used as a means of stabilizing the flame.
While for new designs such configurations can easily be configured, the opportunity to change the burner layout in a preconfigured combustor is limited and, as a result, the above layouts cannot be suitably applied to preconfigured combustors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,930, disclosing an arrangement having burners with varying characteristic shapes along the longitudinal direction, as well as a secondary feature in the radial plane, is similarly unsuitable as suitably significant disruption of the spatial uniformity of burners cannot be achieved such that significant burner velocity change can be realized without redesigning of the combustor chamber.
Despite the unsuitability of known methods, there remains a need to reduce the emissions of existing gas turbine plants by solutions that do not require major modification involving changing the size of the combustor.

Method for reducing emissions from a combustor


A filtering system with electrolytic action and method is disclosed which is adapted for filtering the water in swimming pools, spas, saunas, hot tubs, whirlpools and the like with circulatory flow or single-flow. The filtering system may include a pump for drawing water from a body of water and circulating this water through an electrolytic filter including a layer of electrolytic filter media of dissimilar metal particles or granules and returning this filtered water to the body of water. The filtering system not only removes sand and sediment but also prevents algae and fungus growth, kills bacteria, and eliminates the need for adding chlorine, bromine, and algaecide to the water.

The present invention relates to filter systems and, more particularly, to an electrolytic-based water filtering system that eliminates bacteria, fungi and algae without the use of chemicals.
Chlorine, bromine, algaecides and other chemicals commonly used to control bacteria, fungi, algae and otherwise purify water can be hazardous to humans. So why do we introduce such hazards into our swimming pools, spas, saunas, hot tubs, whirlpools and the like?
As can be seen, there is a need for a water filtering system that eliminates bacteria, fungi and algae without the use of chemicals.


A projector includes a laser beam source that outputs a laser beam and modulates the laser beam in a beam form based on an image signal, a scanning unit that scans the laser beam output by the laser beam source at least in one-dimensional direction, a scan driving unit that drive controls the scanning unit by a first force, a retaining unit that stops and retains the scanning unit at a predetermined position by a second force, and a light shielding unit that shields the laser beam from the scanning unit that is retained by the retaining unit. The scan driving unit releases the scanning unit retained by the retaining unit, and drives it when the first force is larger than the second force. The retaining unit stops and retains the scanning unit at the predetermined position when the second force is larger than the first force.

A projector is an image display apparatus that displays an image by projecting light corresponding to image signals that are obtained from an image supplying device such as a computer. Conventionally, a metal halide lamp such as an extra-high pressure mercury lamp has mainly been used for a light source of the projectors. Recently, a laser projector that uses laser beam as light of the light source has been proposed. The laser beam source has a high directivity which allows effective utilization of light as compared to a lamp. Moreover, a projector having a laser beam source has a simpler structure and high color reproducibility. Moreover, an optical system of the projector can be made small by the use of a laser beam source. Therefore, the laser projector has an advantage that the projector is small and light, and provides projection images with excellent color reproducibility, compared to a conventional projector that uses a metal halide lamp.
The laser beam used in the projectors is quite powerful. Therefore, if the laser beam that stops scanning due to malfunction and the like and directly falls on the eyes of the people standing or seating nearby, it affects the eyes. In addition, when laser beam is irradiated on an object having a high absorptance for longer than a certain time, there is a risk of ignition. Particularly, there is a fear that stopping of laser beam scanning may cause burning of the screen. Therefore, it is necessary to reliably prevent problematic situation from occurring by shutting down the laser beam production instantly when the laser beam stops scanning for any reason. The technologies that produce safer laser beams have been proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication Nos. 57-60309 and 2001-267670.
However, the conventional technologies require to check that scanning of the laser beam is not carried out normally, and to undergo a processing path via a control circuit before shutting down the laser beam production. The shutdown of the laser beam production is not directly performed on the laser beam source but indirectly carried out via the control circuit. When the shutdown of the laser beam production is indirectly carried out, there may be a case where avoiding occurrence of problematic situation arising from a hitch of the control circuit itself is not sufficient. It becomes a problem to be exposed to laser beam, in particular, to laser beam with high power because the laser beam has a high directivity. Furthermore, it is possible to divert a laser beam source to other applications by taking it out of the projector on purpose. However, diverting such a laser beam source to other applications raises a further problem when the laser beam source is provided with high power. The present invention is carried out to solve the above problems and has an object to provide a projector with a high level of safety that reduces exposure to laser beam by directly shutting down the laser beam production when scanning of the laser beam is not carried out normally. Another object of the present invention is to provide a projector that makes it possible to reduce a possibility of diversion of the projector to other applications.


A sealing member is formed on a glass substrate, and dropping points are arranged in the form of a matrix in the region surrounded by the sealing member. The dropping points arranged in the outermost columns and the second outermost columns are connected respectively to imagine first straight lines and second straight lines. Third straight lines are imagined to be equidistant from the first straight lines and the second straight lines. The positions of the dropping points are determined in such a manner that the density of the dropping points in four edge divided regions can be 0.9 to 1.1 times the density of the dropping points in the region as a whole, and the density of the dropping points in four corner divided regions can be 0.83 to 1.17 times the density of the dropping points in the region as a whole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device by an One Drop Fill process, and more specifically, to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device which has two substrates opposed to each other with spacers disposed therebetween to form a fixed gap and which also has a liquid crystal layer disposed between these substrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. H11-326922 for example, an ODF process (One Drop Fill process) has been conventionally used to manufacture liquid crystal display devices. The ODF process disclosed in this patent document will be described as follows. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a conventional method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device by the ODF process. In FIG. 1, an active matrix substrate is in the process of being manufactured.
As shown in FIG. 1, first, scan lines, data lines and pixel circuits (not shown) including TFTs (Thin Film Transistors) and the like are formed on a surface of a glass substrate 101 to prepare an active matrix substrate 110. Then, rectangular frame-like sealing members 102 and 103 are formed doubly on the surface of the active matrix substrate 110 that has the pixel circuit thereon. The sealing members 102 and 103 can be made of, e.g. an ultraviolet curable resin. The sealing member 102, which is inside the sealing member 103, is formed so as to surround the display region of the liquid crystal display device. Between the inner sealing member 102 and the outer sealing member 103 is formed of a ring-like region 104. Then, liquid crystal 106 is dropped in a region 105 which is inside the sealing member 102.
On the other hand, a color filter (CF), a black matrix and the like are formed on a surface of another glass substrate to prepare a color filter substrate (not shown). The color filter is provided with a plurality of pillar-like spacers thereon.
Then, in a vacuum, the color filter substrate is superimposed on the active matrix substrate in such a manner that the surface of the color filter substrate having the color filter thereon can be opposed to the surface of the active matrix substrate on which the liquid crystal 106 has been dropped. Next, the superimposed structure of the color filter substrate and the active matrix substrate is taken out to the atmosphere. As a result, the regions 104 and 105 are sealed air-tight, thereby being made a negative pressure. In particular, the region 104 not filled with the liquid crystal 106 is evacuated, so that the atmospheric pressure applied on the region 104 causes the active matrix substrate and the color filter substrate to be pressed toward each other. On the other hand, the spacers formed on the color filter substrate prevent the distance (hereinafter, the gap) between the active matrix substrate and the color filter substrate from becoming less than a specified value. This results in the formation of a uniform-thick liquid crystal layer between the active matrix substrate and the color filter substrate.
Next, the sealing members 102 and 103 are hardened by being exposed to ultraviolet radiation. This enables the active matrix substrate and the color filter substrate to be laminated to each other. Then, the active matrix substrate and the color filter substrate are cut along cutting lines 107 set along the sealing member 102 on the region 104. As a result, the region including the sealing member 103 is cut off to form a liquid crystal display device.
Also, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-281678, for example, discloses a technique in which the height of the spacers formed on the color filter substrate is measured, the optimum amount of the liquid crystal 106 to be filled in the region 105 is calculated based on the spacer height, and the dispenser for the liquid crystal 106 is controlled based on this calculated amount. This patent document describes, as its method for controlling the drop amount, selecting the number of drop shots, and preparing two dispensers having different numbers of drops per shot from each other and selecting the dispenser to drop the last shot.
However, the aforementioned conventional techniques have the following problems. In the conventional method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 1, the two sealing members 102 and 103 are formed around the display region. This forces to use of glass substrates much larger than the final products of the active matrix substrate and the color filter substrate, thereby causing a cost increase.
However, in the absence of the sealing member 103, when the superimposed structure of the color filter substrate and the active matrix substrate formed in a vacuum is taken out to the atmosphere, the vacuum region 104 is not formed. Therefore, the active matrix substrate and the color filter substrate are laminated only by the negative pressure of the region 105 filled with the liquid crystal 106. This makes the force to press these substrates inward insufficient, thereby causing the gap between the substrates to be non-uniform. In particular, the gap in the peripheral areas of the region 105 is liable to be non-uniform. A gap larger than the designed value causes images displayed on the liquid crystal display device to be yellowish. In contrast, a gap smaller than the designed value causes the images to be bluish. Thus, a non-uniform gap leads to degradation in display quality.

Method for manufacturing liquid crystal display device


The present invention relates to an example-based concept-orietned data extraction method. In an example labeling phase, the exemplary data string is converted into an exemplary token sequence, in which the target concepts and filler concepts are labeled to be tuples for use as an example, and thus an exemplary concept graph is constructed. In the data extraction phase, the untested data string is converted into an untested token sequence to be processed, and, based on the associated concept recognizers defined by the tuples in the example labeling phase, it is able to detect the concept candidates and establish the composite concepts and aggregate concepts, thereby constructing a hypothetical concept graph. After comparing the exemplary concept graph with the hypothetical concept graph, the optimal hypothetical concept sequence in the hypothetical graph is determined, so as to extract the targeted data from the matched target concepts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of data extraction, and, more particularly, to an example-based concept-oriented data extraction method that is adapted to free texts, such as the source code of web pages, or general articles.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, with the development of information technology and the explosion of World Wide Web (WWW), more and more information is available online. There are a lot of web pages providing various useful information, such as weather forecast, stock quote, book price, and so on. However, these web pages are human-readable, but not machine-understandable. The information on the web pages is hard to be manipulated by machine. One way to handle web information more effectively is extracting data from web pages to populate databases for further manipulation.
The conventional approach for extracting data from web pages is to write application-specific programs, named wrappers, which are able to locate data of interest on particular web pages. But writing wrappers is a tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming process. Furthermore, the wrapper programs are usually not reusable once the formatting convention of the targeted web pages changes. In such case, the painful wrapper writing process has to be repeated.
Conventionally, many methods have been proposed to facilitate generating wrappers automatically or semi-automatically for solving the laborious and error-prone problems of handcrafting wrappers. These methods can be classified into two approaches. The first approach is developing languages specially designed to assist users in constructing wrappers. The other approach is using labeled examples to generate wrappers.
Although using specially designed languages to build wrappers can more or less reduce the effort, it still inherits the drawbacks of manually building wrappers with general purpose languages, such as Perl and Java. While in the example-based approach, it consists of two phases: rule induction and data extraction. In the rule induction phase, some possible contextual rules are generated to specify the local contextual patterns around the labeled data. Then, in the data extraction phase, these contextual rules are then used to locate and extract the targeted data on new web pages. This approach is based on an assumption that the inducted contextual rules are able to precisely locate the targeted data. However, due to the imperfect rule induction or insufficient examples, the inducted rules sometimes also locate undesired data. This kind of errors may propagate and make the data extractor fail to grab the targeted data, even though the contexts of the targeted data satisfy the contextual rules. Besides, in the prior-art, the representation form of contextual rules is predefined and the inducted rules must be strictly obeyed. As a result, the user must label a lot of examples so that all possible contexts around the targeted data can be taken into account.

Computer implemented example-based concept-oriented data extraction method

Industrial Technology Research Institute