A first-in-first-out (FIFO) module is disclosed. The FIFO module includes multiple individually addressable memory locations, a write pointer, a read pointer and at least additional pointer. The write pointer is connected to the memory bank for addressing a first memory location to write a datum on an input data bus into the first memory location. The read pointer is connected to the memory bank for addressing a second memory location to read a datum stored therein onto an output data bus. The at least one additional pointer is connected to the memory bank for addressing a third memory location to read a datum stored therein. A deskew circuit and a rate matching circuit which utilize the FIFO module, and a deskew method are also disclosed.

This invention relates to a FIFO module, and a deskew circuit and a rate matching circuit having the same.
The continuing demand for higher speed network connections has resulted in the development of the 10-Gigabit Fiber Channel (10 GFC) and 10-Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) networks. In a 10 GbE network, between the media access control (MAC) layer and the physical (PHY) layer, there is a 10-Gigabit Media Independent Interface (XGMII). The XGMII provides full duplex operation at a rate of 10 Gb/s between the MAC and the PHY layers. Each direction of operation is independent of the other and involves 32 bits of data, as well as clock and control signals to define a 74-bit interface between the MAC and the PHY layers.
To overcome issues related to routing such a large number of signals of the 74-bit interface over a distance of more than 7 cm, the 10-Gigabit Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI) was developed. XAUI is a full duplex interface that uses four self-clocked serial differential links in each direction of operation to achieve a 10 Gb/s data rate. Each serial link operates at 3.125 Gb/s to accommodate both data and the overhead associated with 8B/10B coding. The self-clocked nature of the coding eliminates skew concerns between clock and data, and extends the functional reach of the XGMII to approximately 50 cm. Conversion between the XGMII and XAUI interfaces occurs at the XGMII extender sublayer (XGXS).
The transmit and the receive path of the XGMII interface is each organized into four lanes. Each lane uses 8 bit data signals and a 1 bit control signal. At the source side of the XAUI interface, the data for transmission on a given lane as well as a timing clock are converted into a self-clocked, serial, 8B/10B encoded data stream. Each encoded data stream is transmitted across a single differential link to a destination side in frames or packets. At the destination side, the clock is recovered from the incoming data stream. The incoming data is decoded and then mapped back to the 32-bit XGMII format. Thus the 74 pin wide XGMII interface is reduced to a XAUI interface that uses 8 differential pairs for supporting the 8 serial differential links, requiring a total of only 16 pins.
The frames in each lane are separated by inter-frame or inter-packet periods, which are intervals during which no data transmission occurs. The XGMII sends idle control characters during these periods instead. In 10 GbE terms, these periods are known as Inter-Packet Gaps (IPGs). During the IPGs, XGXS converts XGMII idle control characters to and from a randomized sequence of control code-groups to enable serial lane synchronization, clock rate compensation (also known as rate matching) and lane-to-lane alignment (also known as deskewing). This randomized sequence includes control codegroups commonly referred to "A", "K" and "R" codegroups.
A "K" or synchronization codegroup in the data stream enables a XAUI receiver at the receiving side to attain codegroup synchronization on the incoming bit stream. Each lane adjusts for proper alignment to the "K" codegroup whenever it appears. Codegroup synchronization is considered to be achieved on each lane upon reception of four consecutive error free and valid "K" codegroups for the respective lane.
Each serial transmission lane, however, operates independently of the other lanes. Data streams transmitted on a lane can often go out of alignment with respect to data streams transmitted on the other lanes due to different path delays and latencies between the lanes. This misalignment is known as lane-to-lane skew. Lane alignment or deskewing is accomplished by use of the "A" or alignment codegroup. The XGXS defines specific times during the IPG when an "A" codegroup should be present on each of the four lanes, simultaneously. The receiver uses these "A" codegroups to correct lane to lane skew. Correcting lane to lane skew is known as deskewing.
Furthermore, the XGXS compensates for clock rate differences in clock domains that often exist between the transmitting side and the receiving side of a link. By monitoring the difference between incoming and outgoing data rates, the receiver can add or delete "R" or skip codegroups in the IPG to balance or rate match the incoming and the outgoing data rates in each lane.
Typically, a receiver implemented as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) includes prior art FIFO modules that are connected to respective deserializers. The prior art FIFO modules are used for buffering data streams received on their respective lanes. Each of the FIFO modules has two pointers—a write pointer and a read pointer. The write pointer points to or addresses memory locations in the FIFO module for writing codegroups in the data stream thereto. The read pointer, which trails the write pointer during operation, points to or addresses memory locations that were previously written to, to allow the codegroups stored therein to be read for further processing.
In order to perform deskewing and rate matching, additional circuits external to the FIFO modules are required in the receiver. These additional circuits include register banks for further buffering read codegroups and comparators for comparing read codegroups with predetermined codegroups etc. Such a design suffers from a variety of disadvantages. Firstly, the chip area of the ASIC is not utilized efficiently due to the need for the additional circuits. The degree of inefficiency depends on how long it takes to compare the read codegroups with the predetermined codegroups, and the number of register banks that are required on the chip is directly proportional to the comparison duration. Hence, the longer the comparison duration, the higher the degree of chip area inefficiency. The hardware structure of the ASIC is thus non-deterministic, as the structure will need to be changed in accordance with the comparison duration.
Secondly, the ASIC would have to be verified at a system level for any change in the additional circuits. Such verification is complicated to perform and is time consuming. Thirdly, deskewing is performed only after control codegroups stored in the FIFO modules are read and made available outside of the FIFO modules. When a memory location is written to, the memory location is read only when the read pointer is advanced to point to that particular memory location. There is therefore a lag between the writing and the reading of a particular memory location, and deskewing can only be done after a control codegroup is read from the memory location. Deskewing is therefore delayed, and rate matching, which is performed after deskewing, is similarly delayed.

FIFO module, deskew circuit and rate matching circuit having the same

Avago Technologies Fiber IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A surface shape measurement method that divides a surface shape of an object (107) into a plurality of partial regions (201, 202, 203, 204) to obtain partial region data and that stitches the partial region data to measure the surface shape of the object, and the method includes the steps of calculating sensitivity of an error generated by a relative movement between the object and a sensor (110) for each of the partial regions, dividing the surface shape of the object into the plurality of partial regions to obtain the partial region data, obtaining the partial region data, calculating an amount corresponding to the error using the sensitivity, correcting the partial region data using the amount corresponding to the error, and stitching the corrected partial region data to calculate the surface shape of the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface shape measurement method that divides a surface shape of an optical element so as to measure the surface shape.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a method of measuring a surface shape of an object surface (an optical element), particularly an aspherical lens, without contacting the surface at high speed, Jahannes Pfund, Norbert Lindlein and Johannes Schwider, "NonNull testing of rotationally symmetric aspheres: a systematic error assessment," App. Opt. 40 (2001) p. 439 discloses a method of illuminating light of a spherical wave onto an object surface via an optical system to measure reflected light of the object surface using the Shack-Hartmann sensor of a light receiving unit. In a method of disclosing in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-30016, in accordance with a diameter of the object or an aspherical surface amount (a deviation from the spherical surface), a wavefront that exceeds a size of the diameter of the Shack-Hartmann sensor needs to be measured. In this case, in view of reducing the size and the cost of a measurement apparatus, a method of dividing a sensor incident wavefront into partial regions to perform a division measurement and then performing a data processing to stitch each of division measurement data (partial region data) is suitably used (a stitching method). In the data processing of the stitching method, correcting an error generated by the division measurement is important.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-30016 and J. Floriot, X. Levecq, S. Bucourt, M. Thomasset, F. Polack, M. Idir, P. Mercère, S. Brochet, and T. Moreno, "Surface metrology with a stitching Shack-Hartmann profilometric head," Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6616, 66162A(2007), measurement apparatuses that perform a measurement using the stitching method using the Shack-Hartmann sensor are disclosed. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-30016, a method of removing an error caused by an inclination of a sensor of errors contained in each the division measurement data is disclosed. In J. Floriot, X. Levecq, S. Bucourt, M. Thomasset, F. Polack, M. Idir, P. Mercère, S. Brochet, and T. Moreno, "Surface metrology with a stitching Shack-Hartmann profilometric head," Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6616, 66162A(2007), a method of removing an error caused by a defocus component in addition to the inclination error of the sensor is disclosed.
However, in the methods disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-30016 and J. Floriot, X. Levecq, S. Bucourt, M. Thomasset, F. Polack, M. Idir, P. Mercère, S. Brochet, and T. Moreno, "Surface metrology with a stitching Shack-Hartmann profilometric head," Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6616, 66162A (2007), position displacements in an optical axis plane of the sensor and in an optical axis direction and an error caused by a rotation displacement around the optical axis (an error generated by a relative movement between an object and a sensor) cannot be corrected. In addition, a correction accuracy of the error generated by the relative movement between the object and the sensor is deteriorated.

Surface shape measurement method, surface shape measurement apparatus, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, optical element, and method of manufacturing optical element


The respective sections between a power source unit 4 and a room master station 1, between the room master station 1 and an entrance door station 2, and between the entrance door station 2 and an electric lock 3 are connected by transmission lines of two-wire system 6 for transmitting signals and electric power.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Application Number 2002-197678 filed Jul. 5, 2002, the entity of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door station apparatus with an electric lock. More particularly, it relates to a door station apparatus with an electric lock, having a room master station which is installed in a room, an entrance door station which serves to call and talk to an inhabitant, an electric lock which is mounted on the door or gate of an entrance, and a power source unit which feeds a supply voltage to the room master station.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a prior-art door station apparatus with an electric lock, one having a construction shown in FIG. 6 has been known. The door station apparatus with the electric lock as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 6 is constructed of a plurality of room master stations 51 (in FIG. 6, four stations) which are installed in corresponding rooms so as to talk with a visitor and each of which is furnished with an electric lock button 58 for controlling the electric lock 53, a single entrance door station 52 which is connected to the individual room master stations 51 so as to call and talk with inhabitants, and a power source unit 54 which feeds supply voltages to the room master stations 51 and the electric lock 53 mounted on the door or gate of an entrance. Besides, the individual room master stations 51, and the entrance door station 52 are respectively connected to the power source unit 54 by transmission lines of two-wire system 55, while the individual room master stations 51, and the entrance door station 52 are connected by transmission lines of two-wire system 56 for the talking/calling. Further, the electric lock 53 is connected to the power source unit 54 by a transmission line of two-wire system 57, but one wire of the transmission line 57 is led to the individual room master stations 51.
Here in the door station apparatus with the electric lock, when the visitor calls over the entrance door station 52, buzz is emitted at the called room master station 51 so as to notify the arrival of the visitor to the inhabitant. Subsequently, when the inhabitant answers by taking up a handset, he/she is permitted to talk with the entrance door station 52. Further, when the inhabitant depresses the electric lock button 58 of the room master station 51, the supply voltage is fed from the power source unit 54 to the electric lock 53, and the electric lock 53 is released. In the prior-art door station apparatus with the electric lock, however, the devices are connected to the power source unit 54, and the electric lock 53 is connected to the respective room master stations 51. Therefore, the number of necessary wiring lines is large, and arrangements of the lines are troublesome. Accordingly, the installation of the door station device is troublesome. Especially in case of installing the door station apparatus with an existing house, the installation is difficult due to an insufficient number of wiring lines.

Door station apparatus with electric lock


An air-conditioning system comprises portable devices including measurement units that measure temperature or humidity. In addition, the air-conditioning system comprises a transmitter mounted in indoor equipment that transmits light or electromagnetic waves to the portable devices, and a receiver mounted in the indoor equipment that receives detected intensity information expressing the intensity of the light or the electromagnetic waves detected by the portable devices. Furthermore, the air-conditioning system comprises a detector that detects the distance from the indoor equipment to the portable devices based on the detected intensity expressed by the detected intensity information, and a controller that controls the air-blowing state of the indoor equipment based on the detected distances and the measured temperature or humidity. Thus, the temperature or the humidity at a specified location can be adjusted more accurately.

As this kind of technology, there is, for example, technology as disclosed in Patent Literature 1 that changes the temperature setting of an air-conditioner having a sensor that detects room temperature, and a sensor that detects the temperature of a floor-heating radiation panel that performs floor heating based on the detected room temperature, the temperature of the floor-heating radiation panel, and data expressing the comfort characteristics of the user that are set according to the room temperature and floor temperature.

Air-conditioning system and air-conditioning method


A calibration pattern unit which obtains correction information of an imaging system by imaging at the imaging system is formed by combining a plurality of three-dimensionally arranged planes. The calibration pattern unit comprises supporting members each of which has a predetermined surface corresponding to one of the planes, and a calibration pattern in which a predetermined pattern is formed on the predetermined surface of the supporting member. The supporting member can selectively set the calibration pattern unit to a first form for photographing when the correction information is obtained, and a second form for other purposes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a calibration pattern unit used to obtain correction information of an imaging system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various calibration patterns used to obtain correction information of the imaging system have conventionally been presented. For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-166818 discloses a calibration method and a calibration device of a three-dimensional shape measuring device for using a calibration pattern in which a known geometric pattern is drawn on a flat plate, and obtaining correction information of an imaging system by changing a relative distance between the pattern and the imaging system. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-82941 discloses a technology for configuring a three-dimensional calibration pattern unit by drawing similar known geometric patterns on surfaces of a corner cube structure, and obtaining correction information of an imaging system.

Calibration pattern unit photographed by an imaging system to acquire an image for obtaining correction information


A turbine blade for a turbine engine having an internal cooling system formed from at least one cavity for receiving cooling air from a turbine blade assembly, passing the cooling air through the internal cooling system, and expelling the cooling air through orifices in a leading edge forming a showerhead, orifices in a trailing edge and in other locations. The showerhead includes exhaust orifices extending at various angles relative to each other through an outer wall forming the turbine blade. The exhaust orifices may form rows of orifices that are offset generally orthogonally and generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the blade. The exhaust orifices are configured to effectively cool the leading edge portion of the blade and to reduce the likelihood of cracking of the outer wall forming the leading edge.

Typically, gas turbine engines include a compressor for compressing air, a combustor for mixing the compressed air with fuel and igniting the mixture, and a turbine blade assembly for producing power. Combustors often operate at high temperatures that may exceed 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Typical turbine combustor configurations expose turbine blade assemblies to these high temperatures. As a result, turbine blades must be made of materials capable of withstanding such high temperatures. In addition, turbine blades often contain cooling systems for prolonging the life of the blades and reducing the likelihood of failure as a result of excessive temperatures.
Typically, turbine blades, as shown in FIG. 1, are formed from a root portion at one end and an elongated portion forming a blade that extends outwardly from a platform coupled to the root portion at an opposite end of the turbine blade. The blade is ordinarily composed of a tip opposite the root section, a leading edge, and a trailing edge. The inner aspects of most turbine blades typically contain an intricate maze of cooling channels as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 forming a cooling system. The cooling channels in the blades receive air from the compressor of the turbine engine and pass the air through the blade. The cooling channels often include multiple flow paths that are designed to maintain all aspects of the turbine blade at a relatively uniform temperature. However, centrifugal forces and air flow at boundary layers often prevent some areas of the turbine blade from being adequately cooled, which results in the formation of localized hot spots. Localized hot spots, depending on their location, can reduce the useful life of a turbine blade and can damage a turbine blade to an extent necessitating replacement of the blade.
Typically, conventional turbine blades have a collection of exhaust orifices in the leading edge forming a showerhead for exhausting cooling gases onto the leading edge of the turbine blade. Many conventional configurations of the showerhead orifices have the orifices aligned in the same orientation. Aligning the orifices in the same orientation of the showerhead often leads to cracking of the leading edge, as shown in FIG. 4, which is often referred to as zipper effect cracking as the cracks extend between adjacent orifices radially along the leading edge. Thus, a configuration of orifices for a leading edge is needed that produces an effective film cooling gas distribution and reduces the likelihood of zipper cracks forming in the leading edge of the blade.

Cooling system for a showerhead of a turbine blade


The present invention relates to chiral ligands deriving from α- and β-amino acids, and from metal complexes formed from the same. The ligands are useful with catalytic gold complexes, particularly Au(I) complexes.

Generally there are three different sources of gold(I) that can be used to catalyse a reaction. One source is gold(III) salts that are reduced in situ to gold(I) to catalyse a reaction. In such systems, it is not always clear to see whether gold(I) or gold(III) is the active species. Another source of gold(I) is the use of a simple inorganic gold(I) salt such as AuCl. Finally gold(I) can be used as a phosphine-stabilised cationic gold species, eg [Ph3PAu]+, with coordinating anions such as [TfO]−, [SbF6]−, [PF6]−. These species are generally formed in situ with the assistance of a silver salt containing the appropriate anion. This method of using a silver co-catalyst in the presence of a gold(I)phosphine is generally the method of choice seen in most gold(I) catalysed transformations.
Despite the use of a gold(I) phosphine and a silver salt as a co-catalyst being the most common catalytic system in gold(I) catalysis, there are some problems inherent in this methodology. Silver salts are known to be hygroscopic and light sensitive which can be an issue when weighing out the reagent, especially in small quantities. In 2005 Gagosz at al. documented some other possible drawbacks of using silver salts and suggest that the resultant phosphine gold(I) complexes may be unstable in solution (Org. Lett., 2005, 7, 4133-4136). Gagosz at al. developed a new phosphine gold(I) catalyst Ph3PAuNTf2 (Org. Lett., 2005, 7, 4133-4136), which was found to be air stable and easy to handle.
The first example of an asymmetric gold catalysed transformation, an aldol reaction between isocyanoacetates and aldehydes, was reported by Hayashi et al. in 1986 (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1986, 108, 6405-6406). In general, most gold-based asymmetric catalysts use a chiral phosphine ligand to induce enantioselectivity in a transformation. In 2007 Toste et al. demonstrated that this approach is not always successful and reported that a chiral counterion could be used for an asymmetric hydroalkoxylation of allenols (Science, 2007, 317, 496-499). This example of chiral induction by a chiral ion pair shows that the chiral auxiliary does not necessarily need to be in the first coordination sphere of the gold(I) centre. The chiral ion pair can produce good enantioselectivity where traditional chiral ligands cannot. The combination of both strategies has also resulted in superior enantiomeric excesses compared to the use of only one of the two strategies.
There remains a need for further chiral ligands for gold and gold complexes containing the same that are active as asymmetric catalysts.

Organogold complexes and methods for making the same


A liquid crystal display with a backlight is described. The liquid crystal cell comprising a front panel and a rear panel with polarizing means on each panel, and the front polarizing means includes a reflective polarizer and a dichroic polarizer.

Flat panel displays or liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are popular display devices for conveying information generated by computers. Reduced weight and size of a flat panel display offer great advantages over cathode ray tube (CRT) displays. High-quality flat panel displays are typically backlighted, that is, a source of illumination is placed behind the LCD layers to facilitate visualization of the image. Flat panel LCD devices are used in many applications including the computer industry, where flat panel LCD units are an excellent display choice for laptop computers and other portable electronic devices. However, because of rapid progress in the technology of flat panel LCDs, these devices find increasing use in other mainstream applications such as desktop computers, high-end graphics computers, and television and other multimedia monitors.
A liquid crystal display typically comprises a pair of plates with driving electrodes and a layer of twist nematic (TN) or supertwist nematic (STN) liquid crystal material confined between these plates. The liquid crystal layer thickness and anisotropy are such that it is capable of rotating polarization of a normally incident ray of light for at least one wavelength in the visible spectrum by about 80-1000 (for TN) or 180-230° (for STN). The device further comprises a rear light-entrance polarizer having a transmission axis oriented in a certain direction, a front light-exit polarizer having a transmission axis oriented in a direction different from the former one, thereby defining a normally white or normally black display, and a backlight system. The device may also comprise a rear retardation film situated between the rear polarizer and the twisted nematic liquid crystal layer, and a front retardation film situated between the front polarizer and the liquid crystal layer.
A picture on the display is formed by thousands of small imaging elements, or "pixels", which are either "on", "off", or "partially on". An image is displayed usually by applying an electric field to the individual pixels. In the case of a twist nematic (TN) LCD, if a particular pixel is "on", then the phase and thus the polarization of a linearly polarized light ray will remain unchanged as it passes through the pixel. However, if the pixel is "off", then the polarization plane of the light ray will be rotated, that is, its phase will be modulated so that its polarization angle is changed by 90°. If the pixel is "partially on", then the ray polarization axis will be rotated by less than 90°. An "on" pixel can be designated to represent either black or white. If the "on" pixel is designated as black, then the "off" pixel is designated as white, and vice versa. A "partially on" pixel represents a shade of gray. Polarizers are provided on the LCD so that the polarization state of light passing through a pixel is converted into an appropriate amount of transmission (black, white, or gray).
In the case of a supertwist nematic (STN) LCD, the optical effect is due to birefringence so that each of the "on", "off", and "partially on" pixels have a characteristic birefringence color. If the "blue mode" is used, the "off" pixel will have a blue color, while the "on" pixel will be cream colored. If the "yellow mode" is used, the "off" pixel will be yellow and the "on" pixel will be blue-gray. A film may be added between the STN LCD and one of its polarizers to neutralize the display color, that is, to convert the color display into a black-and-white display.
The flat panel LCD is typically provided with a backlight system. Preferably, the backlight system radiates at least partly polarized light. The most effective system capable of converting all the nonpolarized incident light flux of backlight system into polarized light with minimum losses is offered by the so-called optical recycling scheme with a reflective polarizer.
The reflective polarizer usually comprises a multilayer structure consisting of alternating anisotropic and isotropic layers, with the refractive index of an isotropic layer being equal to that of one of the anisotropic layers. This structure is capable of transmitting light in one polarization state while reflecting light polarized in the perpendicular direction. In one of such structures, the reflected polarized light passes through a quarter-wave plate, changes the polarization direction, reflects from a mirror, and enters the reflective polarizer again, this time in the first polarization state. The reflective polarizer is placed on the backlight system or on the rear plates of the LCD.
Many naturally occurring crystalline compounds act as birefringent (or reflective) polarizers. For example, calcite (calcium carbonate) crystals possess well-known birefringent properties. However, single crystals are expensive materials and cannot be readily formed into the desired shapes or configurations, which are required for particular applications. In the prior art, birefringent polarizers were fabricated (see, e.g., Makas, U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,691) from plate-like or sheet-like birefringent polymers such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) incorporated into an isotropic polymer matrix.
In many cases, polymers can be oriented by uniaxial stretching so as to align the polymer chains on a molecular level as described by Rogers et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,413. Multilayer optical devices comprising alternating layers of highly birefringent polymers and isotropic polymers with large refractive index mismatch have been also proposed by Rogers et al. However, these devices require the use of specific highly birefringent polymers obeying certain mathematical relationships between their molecular configurations and electron density distributions.
There is a known birefringent interference polarizer in the form of a multilayer sheet or film, which can be fabricated from readily available materials using well-established coextrusion techniques. The layers can be made of alternating birefringent and isotropic materials. In this system, one of the two indices of refraction of the birefringent material substantially matches the index of refraction of the isotropic material in the adjacent layer, or the alternating layers can be made of two different birefringent materials selected so that the lower of the two indices of refraction of one of the materials substantially matches the higher of the two indices of refraction of the other material. When adjacent layers of the latter embodiment are both positively or negatively birefringent, then their optical axes should be perpendicular; when the birefringence signs are opposite, the two optical axes should be parallel. To reach the extremely high efficiency previously mentioned, the layers should have an optical thickness equal to one-quarter of the selected light wavelength.
Also known is an LCD containing a reflective polarizer on the rear panel, which represents a multilayer structure containing anisotropic layers made of the same materials.
Examples of diffusely reflecting polarizing materials are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,783,120 and 5,825,543 and in PCT Patent Application Publication Nos. WO 97/32223, WO 97/32224, WO 97/32225, WO 97/32226, WO 97/32227, and WO 97/32230. Examples of multilayer reflective polarizers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,774. Examples of cholesteric reflective polarizers are described in EP No. 606,940 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,218.
Some promising materials for manufacturing anisotropic films are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,739,296; 6,174,394; and 6,563,640. PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 02/63660 describes methods for manufacturing such films. This invention provides for an increase in the display brightness and makes it possible to obtain images with spectrally clean colors and to create white, black and color components in the image, which allows increasing the contrast and richness of the image, as well as the viewing (aspect) angle of the display.

LCD comprising backlight and reflective polarizer on front panel


A combustion staging system is provided for fuel injectors of a multi-stage combustor of a gas turbine engine. The system has a splitting unit which receives a metered total fuel flow and controllably splits the metered total fuel flow into out-going pilot and mains fuel flows to perform pilot-only and pilot-and-mains staging control of the combustor. The system further has pilot and mains fuel manifolds which respectively receive the pilot and mains fuel flows. The system further has a plurality of mains flow scheduling valves which distribute the mains fuel flow from the mains fuel manifold to mains discharge orifices of respective injectors of the combustor. The system further has servo line which extends to the mains flow scheduling valves, the servo line being controllably fillable with pressurised fuel to change the pressure in the servo line relative to the pressure in the mains fuel manifold. Each mains flow scheduling valve has a chamber containing a movable piston, the chamber to a mains side of the piston being fed by the mains fuel manifold, and the chamber to a servo side of the piston being fed by the servo line. The piston has an open pilot-and-mains position which allows flow out of the mains side of the chamber to the mains discharge orifice of the respective injector. The piston is biased towards a closed pilot-only position which prevents flow out of the mains side of the chamber to the mains discharge orifice of the respective injector. The piston is movable to the closed position under an increase in pressure in the servo line relative to the mains fuel manifold.

Multi-stage combustors are used particularly in lean burn fuel systems of gas turbine engines to reduce unwanted emissions while maintaining thermal efficiency and flame stability. For example, duplex fuel injectors have pilot and mains fuel manifolds feeding pilot and mains discharge orifices of the injectors. At low power conditions only the pilot stage is activated, while at higher power conditions both pilot and mains stages are activated. The fuel for the manifolds typically derives from a pumped and metered supply. A splitter valve can then be provided to selectively split the metered supply between the manifolds as required for a given staging condition.
A typical annular combustor has a circumferential arrangement of fuel injectors, each associated with respective pilot and mains feeds extending from the circumferentially extending pilot and mains manifolds. Each injector generally has a nozzle forming the discharge orifices which discharge fuel into the combustion chamber of the combustor, a feed arm for the transport of fuel to the nozzle, and a head at the outside of the combustor at which the pilot and mains feeds enter the feed arm. Within the injectors, a check valve, known as a flow scheduling valve (FSV), is typically associated with each feed in order to retain a primed manifold when de-staged and at shut-down. The FSVs also prevent fuel flow into the injector nozzle when the supply pressure is less than the cracking pressure (i.e. less than a given difference between manifold pressure and combustor gas pressure).
Multi-stage combustors may have further stages and/or manifolds. For example, the pilot manifold may be split into two manifolds for lean blow-out prevention during rapid engine decelerations.
During pilot-only operation, the splitter valve directs fuel for burner flow only through the pilot fuel circuit (i.e. pilot manifold and feeds). It is therefore conventional to control temperatures in the de-staged (i.e. mains) fuel circuit to prevent coking due to heat pick up from the hot engine casing. One known approach, for example described in EP A 2469057, is to provide a separate recirculation manifold which is used to keep the fuel in the mains manifold cool when it is deselected. It does this by keeping the fuel in the mains manifold moving, although a cooling flow also has to be maintained in the recirculation manifold during mains operation to avoid coking.
However, a problem with such a system is how to accommodate a mains FSV failing to an open condition. In pilot-only operation, when cooling flow is passing through the recirculation manifold and the mains manifold, such a failure can result in the cooling flow passing through the failed open FSV through one injector into the combustor, causing a hot streak which may lead to nozzle and turbine damage. In pilot and mains operation, such a failure can produce a drop in mains manifold pressure which causes other mains FSVs to close. A possible outcome is again that a high proportion of the total mains flow passes through the failed open FSV to one injector, causing a hot streak leading to nozzle and turbine damage
In principle, such failure modes can be detected by appropriate thermocouple arrangements, e.g. to detect hot streaks. However, temperature measurement devices of this type can themselves have reliability issues.
Further, the problem of mains FSV failure can be exacerbated by system arrangements used to prevent combustion chamber gas ingress through the fuel injectors during pilot only operation. Whilst the impact of such gas ingress is generally non-hazardous, it can lead to hot gas-induced degradation of FSV seals. Degraded FSV sealing can in turn lead to dribbling of fuel into de-staged nozzles, resulting in component blockage due to coking.
US 2016/0273775 proposes a fuel staging system (reproduced in FIG. 1) that addresses some of the above problems. The staging system splits the fuel under the control of the engine electronic controller (EEC—not shown) into two flows: one at a pressure PBp1 for first 131 and second 132 pilot manifolds and the other at a pressure Pfsv for a mains manifold 133. The first pilot manifold feeds pilot discharge orifices of a subset of the fuel injectors. The second pilot manifold feeds pilot discharge orifices of the rest of the fuel injectors. The mains manifold feeds mains discharge orifices of all the fuel injectors. Mains fuel flow scheduling valves (FSVs) 140 at the injectors prevent combustion chamber gases entering the respective manifolds and also provide a drip tight seal between the mains manifold and the injectors when mains is de-staged. By varying the fuel split between the manifolds, the EEC can thus perform staging control of the engine.
In more detail, the staging system 130 has a fuel flow splitting valve (FFSV) 135, which receives a metered fuel flow from a hydro-mechanical unit (HMU) of the engine at pressure Pfmu. A spool is slidable within the FFSV under the control of a servo-valve 146, the position of the spool determining the outgoing flow split between a pilot connection pipe 136 which delivers fuel to the first 131 and second 132 pilot manifolds and a mains connection pipe 137 which delivers fuel to the mains manifold 133. The spool can be positioned so that the mains stage is deselected, with the entire metered flow going to the pilot stage (except that a cooling flow is sent to the mains manifold during pilot-only operation, as discussed in more detail below). An LVDT (not shown) can provide feedback on the position of the spool to the EEC, which in turn controls staging by control of the servo-valve 146.
The pilot discharge orifices are divided into two groups by the first 131 and second 132 pilot manifolds in order to provide lean blow out protection. More particularly, the second pilot manifold connects to the pilot connection pipe 136 via a further connection pipe 139 (at a pressure PBp2) and a lean blow out protection valve 141. This is operable to terminate or substantially reduce the supply of fuel to the second pilot manifold and associated pilot discharge orifices, when desired, so as to increase the flow of fuel to the first pilot manifold and associated discharge orifices under low fuel conditions for a given metered flow from the HMU. In the arrangement illustrated, the valve 141 is controlled by way of a solenoid operated control valve 142, although other forms of control are possible, such as by a servo-type valve (for example an electro hydraulic servo-valve). In this way, under low fuel conditions the flow of fuel to the pilot discharge orifices may be directed preferentially via the first pilot manifold, whereby the risk of a lean blow out condition arising can be reduced. Further details of such lean blow out protection are described in EP A 2469057.
The part of the staging system 130 comprising the FFSV 135, servo-valve 146, lean blow out protection valve 141 and control valve 142 may be housed in a staging unit mounted to a fan case of the engine. The connection pipes 136, 137, 139 then extend across a bypass duct of the engine to the manifolds 131, 132, 133, which wrap around the core engine in proximity to the injectors 134. Alternatively, the staging system can be mounted to the engine core.
In the staging system described in EP A 2469057, each injector has a pilot FSV and a mains FSV for respectively the flows from pilot and mains manifolds. In contrast, in the staging system shown in FIG. 1, pilot FSVs are not necessary (although optional pilot FSVs can be located between the mains FSVs 140 and the pilot discharge orifices), and instead pilot flow is routed through modified mains FSVs 140 with negligible restriction: the mains FSVs 140 distribute the mains flow from the mains manifold 133 to the mains discharge orifices in the injectors 134, while the pilot flow is passed through the mains FSVs for valve cooling purposes. These FSVs each have a chamber containing a movable, spring-biased piston, with the chamber to a pilot (spring) side of the piston being in fluid communication with the respective pilot fuel manifold 131, 132 and the chamber to a mains (non-spring) side of the piston being in fluid communication with the mains fuel manifold 133. In this way, the FSVs 140 have a reduced cracking pressure with the pilot (spring) side of the FSVs being referenced to pilot manifold pressure (PBp1 or PBp2) rather than the lower mains pressure downstream of the FSVs (as is the case with the system of EP A 2469057). With the low cracking pressure, the pressures on either side of each piston (Pfsv and PBp) are approximately equal during the pilot-only operating mode such that the FSV springs maintain the FSVs 140 in a closed position (i.e. no flow from the mains manifold 33 through the FSVs to the mains discharge orifices of the injectors 134). The approximate equalisation of the pressures Ptsv and Pbp is achieved by energising open a single-stage solenoid-operated mains cooling valve 147 which allows a small cooling flow through the mains manifold 133 to pass to the second pilot manifold 132 through a port in the solenoid valve 147 that is significantly larger than the port in the FFSV 135 feeding the mains connection pipe 137.
In this pilot-only operating mode, the position of the FFSV 135, controlled by the servo-valve 146, is such that there is a large flow number opening between the HMU supply and the pilot connection pipe 136, such that Pfmu≈PBp1≈Pfsv. Any difference between the metered fuel pressure (Pfmu) from the HMU supply and the pilot manifold pressures (PBp1 and PBp2) is insufficient to open the FSVs 140. In the pilot-only mode there is a small opening in the FFSV between the HMU supply and the mains connection pipe 137 to allow for the cooling flow in the mains manifold 133. The mains manifold remains fully primed in pilot-only mode to reduce the unprimed volume required to be filled when mains flow to the combustor is required. When mains staging is selected the solenoid-operated mains cooling valve 147 is closed so that the connection between the mains manifold 133 and the second pilot manifold 132 is closed. Simultaneously, the FFSV 135 (controlled by the servo-valve 146) moves to increase the opening between the HMU supply and the mains connection pipe 137. This reduces PBp1 and PBp2 relative to Pfsv resulting in fuel flow to the mains discharge orifices of the injectors 134.
If one of the FSVs 140 fails such that it opens in pilot-and-mains mode, fuel flows from the HMU supply through the FFSV 135 to the mains manifold 133 and thence through the open port in the failed FSV to the mains discharge orifice of the respective injector 134. However, as the FSVs have a relatively low cracking pressure, only a marginal increase in pressure in the mains manifold, resulting from flow through the port in the failed FSV, causes the other FSVs to open. This then leads to a relatively even distribution of fuel flow injection around the combustor. Thus, by ensuring that the other FSVs open before a severe level of fuel flow through the failed FSV is reached (i.e. a level that results in hot streaks and turbine damage), the staging system 130 can mitigate the potentially hazardous mal-distribution issues associated with failed open mains FSVs in the system of EP A 2469057. The latter incorporates high cracking pressure FSVs, potentially allowing a high level of flow to pass through a single failed open FSV (i.e. gross maldistribution) before the other FSVs crack open.
The staging system 130 also allows complex cooling recirculation architectures to be avoided, which avoids the hazards that can result from combustion gases leaking past mains FSVs and thence to the low pressure side of the fuel system of the system.
Cooling of the FSVs 140 can be provided by the pilot flow that is continuously routed through the FSVs. Cooling arrangements can be provided for the pilot manifolds 131, 132 and the mains 133 manifold, e.g. by using a small portion of the air flow through a bypass duct of the engine, and for the mains manifold in pilot-only operation using the cooling flow discussed below.
The pilot/mains flow split is achieved via movement of the spool within the FFSV 135, with a mains fuel flow sensing valve (MFFSV) 143 being provided on the mains connection pipe 137. The FFSV 135 then provides a coarse split and the MFFSV trims to the required accuracy. The position of the FFSV 135 is controlled via the servo-valve 146 using the position feedback signal from the LVDT 144 attached to the MFFSV 143 to give accurate flow control in the connection pipes 136 and 137. In particular, the position feedback signal that is input to the staging control logic in the EEC is taken from an LVDT 144 measuring a spool position of the MFFSV rather than a spool position of the FFSV. In such an arrangement, MFFSV spool position is a measure of the mains flow.
To provide the cooling flow in the mains manifold 133 during pilot-only operation, the single-stage solenoid-operated mains cooling valve 147 opens a bypass connection between the mains 133 and second pilot 132 fuel manifolds, allowing the cooling flow to pass from the mains fuel manifold to the pilot fuel manifold, and thence onwards for burning at the pilot orifices of the injectors 134. The mains cooling valve 147 closes during pilot-and-mains operation. The mains cooling valve has a relatively large minimum orifice size, and thus is relatively insensitive to contamination and ice build-up.
In the pilot-only operating mode, the cooling flow of fuel passes continuously from the mains manifold 133 to the second pilot fuel manifold 132, which maintains cooling in the mains manifold. This cooling flow is sensed by the MFFSV 143 and the feedback signal from the MFFSV LVDT 144 to the EEC is used to adjust the spool position of the FFSV 135 (via the servo-valve 146) if the cooling flow needs to be altered. In pilot-only operating mode, even with the cooling flow the pressure drop across each FSV piston (Pfsv−PBp) is insufficient to open the FSVs.
When the pilot-and-mains operating mode is selected, the solenoid operated mains cooling valve 147 is closed, and the spool position of the FFSV 135 is altered to increase the opening of the mains port of the FFSV and reduce the opening of the pilot port of the FFSV, which increases the pressure differential Pfmu−PBp1 across the pilot port, thus producing a rise in pressure Pfsv relative to PBp1 and PBp2. This results in the pistons of the FSVs 140 opening against their respective spring forces, and fuel flowing through the FSVs to the mains discharge orifices of the injectors 134. The MFFSV 143 now senses the flow to the mains discharge orifices of the injectors and the feedback signal from the LVDT 144 is used to adjust the FFSV spool position via the EEC and FFSV servo-valve 146 to set the correct pilot/mains flow split.
Thus inclusion of the MFFSV 143 on the mains connection pipe 137 enables accurate control of the pilot/mains split irrespective of FSV tolerances, variation and friction. The MFFSV position from the LVDT 144 is a measure of mains manifold cooling flow during pilot-only operation, and total mains burnt flow during pilot-and-mains operation. This flow measurement signal is sent to and used by the EEC control logic to provide an MFFSV position demand signal that is used to drive the FFSV servo-valve 146 to move the FFSV 135 to set the correct pilot/mains flow split (during pilot-and-mains operation) or the correct mains cooling flow (during pilot-only operation).
Although the fuel staging system of US 2016/0273775 addresses many of the problems of the system of EP A 2469057, a difficulty arises in that the closed loop control of the fuel split using the MFFSV 143 also involves the EEC. In particular, the digital sample and hold processes of the EEC introduce phase lag in any control loop using the EEC. This limits the maximum gain that can be set within the loop, given loop stability considerations, and thus limits response of the closed loop. Typical sample periods for the EEC limit loop bandwidth to 1-2 Hz, which may not be fast enough for accurate dynamic control of fuel flow to the engine.
Moreover, a difficulty still exists in relation to the mains FSVs in that these are active valves (i.e. they are not binary operating between fully closed and fully open). When mains flow is deselected, a spring load is needed to close each valve. This results in a limited closing force margin, making the FSVs susceptible to an open failure case. A failed open mains FSV when mains is staged in may cause a gross mal-distribution of flow between the combustion sectors, potentially leading to local overheating of the turbine. This can cause a reduction in the lifespan of the turbine. A failed open valve during pilots-only operation can similarly cause turbine damage.
A further difficulty in relation to the FSVs is variation in the level of piston/sleeve friction acting on individual FSVs. This can result in poor burner-to-burner flow distribution and thus impacts emissions and turbine life.
The difficulties associated with maldistribution due to a failed open FSV or valve-to-valve frictional variations can be addressed by increasing the size of the FSVs, as they can then have higher spring loads to provide a higher closing force margin and to reduce the impact of piston/sleeve friction on burner-to-burner flow distribution. More particularly, a high spring load requires a large piston diameter in order to reduce the pressure differential required to open the valve to an acceptable level. Indeed, it can be advantageous to minimise the required differential so as to limit burner-to-burner maldistribution in mains flow resulting from a stuck open FSV. A further driver for large FSVs is that pressure losses in the pilot manifold result in different pilot pressures at the FSVs. Although these losses are typically small, they can be significant relative to the differential pressure required to open each valve, and the spring load of all the FSVs must be high enough to ensure that the valve which sees the lowest pilot pressure is able to close and remain closed when de-staging mains. However, there are significant disadvantages with using large FSVs. They add weight to the engine, and also may not be feasible to implement if space constraints are tight.


An airbag with two or more inflators can be inflated in successive stages separated by a time interval, inflated simultaneously or some not inflated at all, depending on crash severity. The first stage inflation is controlled in accordance with a conventional algorithm for single stage deployment. Deployment time and velocity parameters used for the first stage are employed to determine the crash severity and the time interval of the next stage. There is no time delay in the case of a very severe crash, but for a moderately severe crash the time interval is proportional to the difference of the time or velocity and a selected minimum time or velocity value.

To afford occupant protection in motor vehicles it is a common practice to provide air bags which are quickly inflated,when a crash is sensed by an accelerometer and associated controller. Such controllers are able to measure the severity of the crash and the velocity change by analyzing the acceleration so that the airbag inflation is optimally timed. Typically the airbag is deployed by firing a pyrotechnic device which releases or produces gas for inflation at a fixed rate, so that deployment is the same for every type of crash, except for the timing. Further improvement in the deployment can be made by controlling the rate of deployment over time. One way of accomplishing this is by multilevel inflation or variable level inflation.
It has been proposed to include two or more inflators in an airbag and to inflate the airbag in stages by triggering inflators in succession. An optimum control for each inflation is desired.

Control method for variable level airbag inflation


Methods and apparatuses are set forth herein for updating a GPS sampling rate used by a terminal device. The method includes determining a current speed of the terminal device and based on the speed of the terminal device, updating a current GPS sampling rate used by the terminal device.

Nowadays, positioning systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS) have been widely used in various terminal devices equipped with functions of positioning. When positioning, a GPS function samples data periodically, and records latitude, longitude and an altitude of a terminal device at the time of sampling. Usually, the GPS function samples data with a predetermined rate, i.e., the GPS function samples data with a fixed sampling rate. However, the terminal device has high power consumption when using the GPS function. If the GPS function of the terminal device is switched on at all times, i.e., the GPS function is running even though a position of the terminal device is not changed, the power of the terminal device may be exhausted in a short period of time. As a result, a user cannot use the terminal device, causing inconvenience.

Method and apparatus for modulating GPS sampling frequency on terminal devices


Displaying an indicator of a usage of hygiene equipment by one or more operators, the system including a first receiving section configured to receive usage data from an equipment sensor arrangement, said usage data indicating a usage of said hygiene equipment; a calculation section configured to determine, based on said usage data said indicator; and an output section configured to provide display data to a display unit based on said indicator, said display unit being arranged so as to convey said display data to said one or more operators.

Hygiene equipment is commonplace today in many facilities, such as hospitals, medical service centers, intensive care units, day clinics, private practices, lavatories, rest rooms, hotels, restaurants, cafes, food service places, schools, kindergartens, manufacturing sites, administration and office buildings, and, in general, places and facilities that are accessible to the public or to a considerable number of individuals. The mentioned hygiene equipment thereby includes various types of individual devices and installations such as soap dispensers, dispensers for disinfectant solutions, gels or substances, towel dispensers, glove dispensers, tissue dispensers, hand dryers, sinks, radiation assisted disinfectant points, ultraviolet (UV) light, and the like.
Although such hygiene equipment is commonplace today in many places, the use thereof by the individuals visiting these places or working in these places is still oftentimes not satisfactory. For example, hospitals, and, in general, medical service centers often suffer from hygiene deficiencies, which, in turn, may lead to the spread of infections and related diseases. In particular, such insufficient hygiene amongst medical care personnel coming into close contact with patients and bodily fluids can lead to the spread of infectious diseases amongst the personnel and other patients. It is also known that infections by highly resistant bacteria pose a severe problem in such places, especially in hospitals. In general, so-called Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) are a real and tangible global problem in today's healthcare. HAI can be found to be currently the primary cause of death for 140.000 patients/year, affecting millions more and costs society in the range of billions of EUR/year.
At the same time, however, it is known that hygiene, and, in particular, hand hygiene, is an important factor as far as the spread of infectious diseases are concerned. Specifically, medical care personnel should make proper use of hand hygiene as often as possible so that the spread of bacteria and other disease causing substances is minimized. The actual usage of such hygiene equipment, however, may depend on—amongst others—the management of the facility, accessibility and usability of the equipment, culture, the cooperation and will exercised by the individuals working in these places or visiting such places, training of individuals, time pressure and possibly also other factors. In other words, an important factor remains the fact that individuals may not make use of installed and provided hygiene equipment although they are supposed to. Furthermore, it is generally accepted that an increased use of hygiene equipment can substantially contribute in reducing the spread of bacteria and the like, which, in turn, can drastically reduce the appearance of related infections and diseases.
For example, a corresponding relatively low compliance metric may indicate that the actual use of hygiene equipment is not satisfactory, whilst relatively high compliance metric may indicate that the actual use of hygiene equipment corresponds, within a given threshold, to some target usage, and, consequently, may be regarded as being satisfactory. Such a compliance metric may provide many advantages, since it gives a concise picture to operators of the corresponding facility so that they may initiate measures for increasing the actual use of hygiene equipment.
Therefore, there are already ways of estimating such a compliance metric in the arts, wherein the conventional approaches usually rely on measuring and/or observing "manually" by a human observer so-called opportunities and comparing these obtained opportunities to a measured/detected/observed actual use of the hygiene equipment. In other words, the opportunities indicate any event when hygiene equipment should or could have been used. By then comparing this "should/could"-value to an actual usage value a compliance metric can be calculated, as e.g. a percentage value or a ratio. In general, the opportunities can be well defined figures, since they may be associated to specific rules and/or recommendations. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined the so-called "Five Moments Of Hand Hygiene" (cf. www.who.int/psc/tools/Five_moments/en/) including as explicit definitions for opportunities: 1. Before patient contact; 2. Before aseptic task; 3. After body fluid exposure risk; 4. After patient contact; and 5. After contact with patient surroundings. Moreover, measurements on a corresponding hand hygiene compliance is becoming a regulatory requirement for the healthcare sector and may serve as an important quality improvement tool.
As a consequence, one may have considerable interest in that a given or desired target compliance is achieved. In other words, there is considerable interest that the individuals (operators) that are involved with such facilities implement the hygiene scheme as good as possible so as to reduce the spread of any disease as effectively as possible. At the same time, however, the actual use of hygiene equipment may quite considerably depend on the cooperation shown by the individuals.
There is therefore a need for an improved system and method of promoting the use of hygiene equipment so that preferably a target use compliance is achieved and the spread of diseases is substantially reduced, whilst the implementation of the system should interfere as little as possible with existing surroundings, such as the mentioned hospitals, wards, and related facilities.

Display system for usage compliance of hygiene equipment


A rotary microtome includes a crank mechanism for moving an object carriage up and down in a vertical path and a drive mechanism for driving the crank mechanism. The object carriage has a receptacle for a specimen holder. A mass-balancer balances the moveable masses of the microtome. The mass-balancer has a pretensioned, adjustable spring element and a pivotably mounted lever for compensating different inertial forces of the microtome in combination with the spring element. A drawing element connects the lever to the object carriage. The mass-balancer is indirectly connected to the drive mechanism by the drawing element.

This invention relates to a novel rotary microtome with a crank mechanism.
A rotary microtome generally includes an object carriage. The object carriage carries a specimen holder that holds a specimen to be cut. The object carriage is moved up and down in a vertical path on the rotary microtome. During this vertical movement, the specimen is passed over a cutter fixedly arranged on the rotary microtome.
In conventional rotary microtomes, control of the vertical cutting movement generally takes place by means of a crank mechanism which is driven by a handwheel. The crank mechanism transforms turning movement of the handwheel into vertical movement of the object carriage. In this type of drive, the moveable masses of the rotary microtome, which includes the specimen and all of the moveable components of the microtome, are alternately and repeatedly accelerated and decelerated. Gravitation accelerates the moveable masses during a first half-turn of the handwheel (downward movement of the object carriage) and decelerates the moveable masses during the second half-turn of the handwheel (upward movement of the object carriage). Thus, only a force reduced by the force of gravitation is required on the handwheel during the downward movement of the object carriage, and a force increased by the force of gravitation is required during the upward movement.
To balance these undesired accelerations and decelerations, rotary microtomes include mass-balancing means. The mass-balancing means generally comprises an asymmetrical balancing weight which is integrated into the handwheel.
Where the moveable masses of the rotary microtome are relatively large, the balancing weight must be dimensioned to be correspondingly large, thereby increasing the bulk of the microtome. Furthermore, an asymmetrically formed balancing weight may produce undesirable vibrations in the rotary microtome during relatively fast upward and downward movements of the object carriage. Vibrations in the microtome inevitably lead to specimens which are uneven and consequently cut in such a way that they are unusable.
DE 33 47 238 C1A discloses a means for dispensing with an asymmetrically formed mass integrated into the handwheel. This document describes a mass-balancing Means which has a cam element fastened on the drive shaft of a crank mechanism. A pivotably mounted lever is positioned on the cam element. A spring element produces the compressive force of the pivotably mounted lever. The torque produced by the lever is dependent on the respective position of the cam element. The torque produced by the lever is inversely proportional to the torque of the microtome's moveable masses at every position of the crank mechanism. Consequently, the handwheel can be actuated uniformly over its entire turning angle.
It has been found in practice, however, that, here too, the microtome vibrates. The cam element causes vibrations during relatively fast cutting movements so that smooth and even cuts can be produced only at a relatively slow drive speed.
The difficulties suggested in the preceding are not intended to be exhaustive but rather are among many which and to reduce the effectiveness of prior rotary microtomes. Other noteworthy problems may also exist; however, those presented above should be sufficient to demonstrate that such apparatuses appearing in the past will admit to worthwhile improvement.
Accordingly, it is therefore a general objective of the invention to provide a rotary microtome which will obviate or minimize difficulties of the type previously described.
It is a specific object of the invention to provide a rotary microtome having a microtome drive that produces no vibrations in the microtome, even at relatively high drive speeds or cutting speeds.


An object is to provide a video evaluation apparatus and video evaluation method capable of appropriately evaluating a video consisting of a plurality of frame images, using an objective standard. The object is achieved as follows. A reference characteristic, which is a predetermined spatio-temporal frequency characteristic about a video, is stored, and a video characteristic analyzer 101 calculates a spatio-temporal frequency characteristic of a target video consisting of a plurality of frame images. Then a video evaluation determiner 102 calculates an evaluated value of the target video, based on a relative relation between the calculated spatio-temporal frequency characteristic and the stored reference characteristic. This enables appropriate evaluation of the video.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video evaluation apparatus, spatio-temporal frequency analyzing apparatus, video evaluation method, spatio-temporal frequency analyzing method, video evaluation program, and spatio-temporal frequency analyzing program for evaluating a video.
2. Related Background of the Invention
A "video" is composed of a sequence of "frames" of single still images. A target of video processing including acquisition, accumulation, transmission, display, coding, decoding, and so on of a video is generally a video in which spatial resolutions of individual frames (hereinafter referred to simply as resolutions) are fixed or gradually varied. The human eyes are able to clearly discriminate the differences of the resolutions of images. Accordingly, the differences of resolutions are often connected directly with evaluation on qualities of images, and images of high resolutions are preferred in general.
The document below describes occurrence of the following visual illusion: even in the case where individual frames are images of a low resolution, when they are displayed as a sequential video of the frames, the video looks to a person viewing it as if it were a clear video with an enhanced resolution of images, and is perceived as smoother motion. This visual illusion is called motion sharpening.    Takeuchi T, Karen K. De Valois, "Sharpening image motion based on spatio-temporal characteristics of human vision," Human Vision and Electronic Imaging X, Mar. 18, 2005; Volume 5666, No. 5666, p 83-94; ISBN/ISSN: 0-8194-5639-X
The above document describes that the motion sharpening can arise from the magnitude of motion of a subject in images and from high-frequency components of spatial frequencies. It is also described as to the motion sharpening that when frames of a high resolution are interposed between images composed of low-resolution frames and when they are viewed as a motion picture, the resolution of the low-resolution frames is perceived as being higher than the original resolution. Particularly, where 50% of frames constituting a video are high-resolution frames, the resolution of the video seems the same as that of a motion picture consisting of all high-resolution frames, i.e., the video appears such that the perceived resolution is constantly high.
On the other hand, it is known as to the human visual features that the sensitivity of eyes has characteristics for spatio-temporal frequencies of the video (hereinafter referred to as spatio-temporal frequency characteristics). Namely, there exists a property that the human eyes are more sensitive to specific spatio-temporal frequencies contained in images. It is also known that the sensitivity of eyes as a human visual feature becomes lower with increase in spatio-temporal frequencies of a video viewed. It is thus considered that even with change in spatio-temporal frequencies of the video, the lowered sensitivity of eyes can lead to failure in perceiving the difference.

Video evaluation apparatus, spatio-temporal frequency analyzing apparatus, video evaluation method, spatio-temporal frequency analyzing method, video evaluation program, and spatio-temporal frequency analyzing program


A method of generating electricity from geothermal energy utilizing an in situ closed loop heat exchanger deep within the earth using a recirculating heat transfer fluid to power an in situ modular turbine and generator system within a vertical, large bore, deep, tunnel shaft. The shaft length and diameter are dependent on the shaft temperature and sustaining heat flux. The method further includes methods of deep shaft boring and excavating, liner placement and sealing, shaft transport systems, shaft Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning, and operations and maintenance provisions. The method has few global location restrictions, maximizes thermal efficiency as to make power generation practical, has a small site surface footprint, does not interact with the environment, is sustainable, uses renewable energy, and is a zero release carbon and hazardous substance emitter.

The geothermal energy contained within the earth is a renewable energy. The production of geothermal power typically includes the extraction and conversion of geothermal thermal energy into electricity through a heat exchanger(s) and a turbine generator via a fluid heat transfer medium, such as water. In current commercial geothermal power plants, the geothermal thermal energy is contained within a mile or two from the earth's surface in the form of either hot water or hot rocks. In hot water power plants, the heat transfer medium is the hot water itself and may be used directly or via a heat exchanger to supply the turbine generator. This method depends on geothermal activity at the earth's surface, and these locations are relatively rare on the planet. In hot rock power plants, fluid is pumped into natural or man-made fractures within the hot rock and collected after being heated for use. This method is typically called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). EGS technology may negatively result in manmade seismic activity and other unknown hazards from the fracturing process, which may contain toxic substances, and loss of fluid recovery within the earth. EGS is an open loop system, where there is no barrier between the heat transfer fluid and the environment. Many EGS projects that were started or planned across the globe have been halted due to these potential public and environmental hazards. U.S. Pat. No. 9,376,885 is for a typical open EGS style system.
Other geothermal power plant concepts describing closed loop systems rely on the transport of geothermal energy through wells (U.S. Patent examples: U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,527,026, 9,423,158, 9,404,480, 9,394,771, 9,181,931, 8,650,875, 8,616,000, 7,320,221, 3,905,196, 6,073,448, and 9,978,466 among others). Those wells have a small diameter borehole similar to fossil oil and gas extraction wells. At several miles of length and the small well pipe diameters, the thermal energy loss, even with pipe insulation, is too great to efficiently generate electricity from power plants that are on the earth's surface. As well pipe diameters become smaller and pipe lengths reach miles, the energy dissipation along the well to the surface turbine increases to the point where the system is not practical to produce electricity on a coal, gas, or nuclear plant scale. U.S. Pat. No. 8,677,752 discusses the use of abandoned mines and the use of more conventional power systems.
Many countries are shutting down fossil fuel and nuclear power plants due to public safety, economics, and environmental concerns. The solar, wind, hydro and other renewable energy power plants combined are not enough to replace the loss in electricity supply from these shutdown plants nor the increase from future electricity demand.
Consistent with the Paris Agreement, there is a current and future need for a zero hazardous release, zero carbon emission, large scale electric power production system with improved safety factors that utilize renewable and sustainable energy.


A first network device determines capabilities of resources in a section of a network that is accessible using the first network device. The first network device groups the resources into a resource cluster. The first network device advertises the resource cluster in the network, wherein each of a plurality of network devices advertise a resource cluster associated with sections of the network. A second network device receives a request for providing a service. The second network device groups the request into a plurality of request clusters. The second network device selects at least one resource cluster for providing the service based on information associated with the request clusters and the advertised resource clusters. The second network device allocates resources included in the at least one resource cluster for providing the service based on selecting the at least one resource cluster.

Data centers sometimes use external resources for providing services. For example, data center applications may be executed by groups of remote servers in a back-end network providing virtual data center services. It may be useful to place applications of the data centers by mapping to resources in the back-end network.


A virtual school user interface running on networked personal computers for providing administrative and instructional functions to users in a scholastic environment. A user selects among grouped system functions by accessing one of a plurality of rooms within a school representation displayed on a video screen, with the networked virtual reality presenting the user as a real-time entity within the virtual school so that the user can interact with other users and system elements. A learning path editor is also provided for allowing users to author student curriculum sequences using graphical icons. A guidance tutor is further provided for coaching a student by displaying a guidance message on the video screen when so indicated by an instructional context. A courseware scheduler is further provided for delivering specific courseware to specific computers during specific time periods. A system monitor is further provided for gathering information in real-time on the state of each computer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of computerized administrative systems, and more particularly to a networked instructional management system targeted to scholastic environments.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, the power of personal computers has grown remarkably while their price has steadily fallen. By connecting a number of personal computers together via a local area network (LAN), it is possible to create a system that is flexible and cost-effective for automating many functions within businesses and institutions.
One such institution that may benefit from a networked computer system is that of schools. In a typical school, one computer system might be used to provide administrative functions for running the school and tracking the progress of students, while another computer system might be used for computer assisted instruction (CAI) within the classroom. Having multiple computer systems within a school presents difficulties in sharing critical information between the systems as well as presenting different user interfaces that must be learned separately by staff, faculty, and students.
By using an appropriate management system, it is possible to combine administrative functions such as student monitoring and tracking and curriculum authoring, with such CAI functions as courseware delivery and student coaching. The management system should provide an easy to use interface appropriate to users of all ages and skills.
Therefore, there is a need to combine administrative and CAI capabilities within a single computer system and allow users to select system functions in a simple and intuitive manner. There is also a need to provide a easy way to author student curriculum sequences. There is an additional need to provide an effective way to coach a student if the student is not progressing through a curriculum as expected. There is a further need to deliver specific courseware to specific computers during specific time periods. There is a further need to monitor in real-time the status of each computer on the network.


Disclosed is an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a copying machine, or the like, for forming an image onto recording paper. The image forming apparatus includes a photoreceptor for rotationally displacing, at a fixed speed, a toner image formed on a surface of the photoreceptor in accordance with image information; feed rolls for feeding, at a fixed speed, recording paper from selected one of a plurality of paper supply portions to a transfer initiation position through corresponding one of recording paper feed paths; a timer which starts counting for each of the paper supply portions from a point of time when feeding of recording paper by the feed rolls is started; a stopping unit for making the feed rolls stop when the timer completes counting of a predetermined time; and a feed roll drive unit for making rotation of the feed rolls restart in response to initiation of arrival of image information. According to the image forming apparatus, a position of image transfer onto the recording paper can be adjusted without using any resist rolls conventionally used to thereby miniaturize the apparatus.

The present invention generally relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a copying machine, or the like, for forming an image onto a recording medium, and particularly relates to an image forming apparatus having a plurality of paper supply portions.
A laser printer in which high printing quality is provided is frequently used as an apparatus for printing a document, a chart, or the like, formed by means of an information processor such as a word processor or the like. Further, the formed document or the like is easily copied by using an ordinary electrostatic copying machine.
In each of the laser printer and the copying machine, a photoreceptor drum, a photoreceptor belt, or the like is generally used and an image is formed by transferring a toner image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor body onto recording paper. Generally, such an apparatus has a plurality of paper supply portions, and in order to transfer a toner image on the photoreceptor body onto recording paper at a suitable position, it is necessary to accurately control the timing of transfer. For this, there has been proposed such a following paper supply device as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho. 60-56751.
The paper supply device has such a configuration that a pair of rolls called aligning rolls (hereinafter, referred to as "resist rolls") are provided between paper supply rolls (herein after, referred to as "feed rolls") and a photoreceptor drum so that recording paper fed by the feed rolls is made to hit against the resist rolls so as to stop once, and then the recording paper is fed to the photoreceptor drum by restarting drive of the resist rolls in predetermined timing. That is, a stand-by position of a front end of recording paper is limited by the resist rolls.
In the conventional apparatus, the timing of transfer of an toner image on the photoreceptor drum onto recording paper is adjusted by the resist rolls against which recording paper hits so as to become into a stand-by state as described above. Therefore, existence of the resist rolls is a large obstacle in miniaturizing the apparatus.


Systems and methods for conducting a test on a third-party testing platform are provided. A networked system causes presentation of a setup user interface to a third-party user, whereby the setup user interface includes a field for indicating an attribute of a publication to be tested. The networked system receives, via the setup user interface, an indication of the attribute, a subject to be tested, and one or more test parameters. The networked system applies the attribute change to a first version of the publication to generate a second version of the publication. The first version is presented to a first subset of potential users and the second version is presented to a second subset of potential users. Interactions with both the first version and the second version are monitored and analyzed to determine results of the test. The results are then presented to the third-party user.

Conventionally, a third-party user of a networked system may receive recommendations for changing an aspect of their publication in order to obtain more interactions with the publication (e.g., more views, more click-thrus, more sales of an item described in the publication). Often time, the third-party users are reluctant to implement recommendations that they believe may adversely affect them. These third-party users do not currently have a mechanism that allows them to easily conduct a well-controlled experiment to test recommendations or changes to their publication.


Disclosed is a semiconductor device comprising a substrate, a first region provided on the substrate and comprising a first insulating portion which includes an insulating film having a relative dielectric constant of at most 3.0 and a conductive portion which is provided in the first insulating portion, a second region provided on the substrate, located adjacent to the first region in a direction parallel to a major surface of the substrate and comprising a second insulating portion which is located adjacent to the first insulating portion in the direction and which includes no insulating film having a relative dielectric constant of at most 3.0, and a pad provided on the second region and electrically connected to the conductive portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the invention relates to a technique of using a low dielectric-constant insulating film as an interlayer insulating film.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is proposed that insulating films having lower relative dielectric constants than ordinary SiO2 films be used as interlayer insulating films in LSIs. The use of low dielectric-constant insulating films can lower inter-wiring capacitances, making it possible to enhance the operating speed of the LSI.
Most low dielectric-constant insulating films are, however, softer and more fragile than ordinary SiO2 films. They are likely to be deformed, scratched or cracked. When used as interlayer insulating films in any LSI, too, they may be deformed or cracked when pads are connected to an external portion, inevitably decreasing the reliability or yield of the LSI. More specifically, they may be deformed or cracked when they receive a pressure as a test probe pressed onto the pads to evaluate the characteristics of LSI elements or as wire bonding is performed to connect the pads to an external portion.
To solve this problem, an insulating film made of ordinary SiO2 may be formed in the peripheral region of a semiconductor chip, where the pads are provided, and a low dielectric-constant interlayer insulating film may be formed in the circuit region inside the peripheral region, where transistors, wires and the like are provided.
Pads are formed on the interlayer insulating films that lie, one above another, in the peripheral region of the chip. The pads formed on each interlayer insulating film are connected to the pads formed on the next interlayer insulating film by conductive portions (vias) that extend through the interlayer insulating film. To provide this structure, the following sequence of steps must be performed for each layer of the chip.
First, a low dielectric-constant insulating film is formed on the entire surface. Next, a peripheral part of the insulating film is removed. Then, an SiO2 insulating film is formed in the removed region. Further, a via and a pad are formed. Obviously, many steps must be performed to manufacture the semiconductor device. This inevitably decreases the productivity.
As described above, low dielectric-constant interlayer insulating films are soft and fragile and likely to be deformed or cracked when pads are connected to the external portion. If deformed or cracked, they will degrade the reliability and characteristics of the device. To prevent the reliability and characteristics of the device from being degraded, it is proposed that an ordinary insulating film, such as SiO2 film, be formed in only the peripheral region of the chip, where pads are provided. Since pads and conductive portions are formed at each layer, however, many steps must be performed to manufacture the semiconductor device. This inevitably decreases the efficiency of manufacturing the semiconductor device.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


Yeast for making wine and beer, is placed on the subject's tongue to reduce oral malodor. About 30 to 100 milligrams of powdered yeast placed on the dorsal part of the subject's tongue just before he or she turns in for the evening, is optimal. Other methods of delivery yeast to the tongue include creams, solutions and Pills.

Halitosis, or oral malodour, is thought to be created by degraded epithelial cells of the tongue and the surface of the oral mucosa. Volatile sulphur compounds (such as hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulphide) are produced by the putrefactive activities of bacteria in the saliva, the gingival crevice, the tongue coating and other places in the oral cavity. Tongue coating includes desquamated epithelial cells released from the oral mucosa, leukocytes from periodontal pockets, and bacteria. Leukocytes possess large quantities of sulphur-containing amino acids from which volatile sulphur compounds are made.
There have been many commercial attempts to reduce or mask oral malodour, including mouthwash and chewing gum. Their effects last perhaps a few hours.
The simplest method of removing the volatile sulphur compounds is to scrape the tongue (by brush or tongue scraper, for example). But this method has disadvantages. For example, scraping damages the oral mucosa (because the cells are strongly attached to the oral mucosa) and also produces a gag reflex if the dorsal portion of the tongue is touched.
PCT application #US91/06011 (Chaykin) discloses a method for reducing the undesirable side effects of eating vegetables like onions, garlic and beans; namely, ingesting active dry yeast in a form which retains substantial enzymatic activity under digestive conditions in the stomach and intestinal tract.
It is known informally that Bacillus Natto has been placed on the tongue during the day but that it had no or little effect on oral malodour.


An incontinence device for attachment to the inferior ischio-pubic rami in the anterior perineal triangle of a user. The device may include a generally semi-flexible bi-parabolic membrane configured to deflect from an engaged position in which the device exerts pressure upon the user's urethra, or a similar anatomical part. The membrane may deflect to a disengaged position with a first force applied by the user, and be configured to deflect back to the engaged position from the disengaged position upon a further second force applied by the user. Additionally, the device may include bolster connected to the membrane. The bolster may exert pressure upon the user's urethra, or similar anatomical part, when the membrane is in the engaged position and relieve pressure when the membrane is in the disengaged position.

a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to the treatment of involuntary urinary incontinence, and, more particularly to a surgically implantable device operable by a user to prevent or allow bladder emptying by the application of predetermined forces on the device.
b. Description of Related Art
In the art, there presently exist a variety of known surgical treatments for incontinence. Typical surgical treatments include the removal of prostatic obstruction, periurethral injections of obstructive collagen, nerve de-enervation, insertion of artificial urinary sphincters, supporting the urethral-vesical angle with pubovaginal slings and various other methods of surgical urethral bladder neck suspension. In males, while external condom catheters, penile/urethral clamps or indwelling bladder catheters have been used as the simplest therapeutic solutions, these solutions have been both psychologically and operationally deficient for a patient.
Of the aforementioned surgical incontinence treatments, pelvic sling procedures generally use a mesh material for compressing the urethra. Artificial urinary sphincters typically surround the urethra completely, and include an attached separate fluid reservoir implanted in the pelvis. The surgical procedure of urethral bladder neck suspension corrects the position of the bladder and urethra by sewing the bladder neck and urethra directly to the surrounding pelvic bone or nearby structures. These procedures are problematic due to the requirement of extensive surgical dissection for insertion, the propensity for mechanical failure and leaks, and difficulty in the operation of the devices associated with the procedures. Further, these procedures often require post-operative surgical intervention and/or repair in nearly one-half of the patients.
Known prior incontinence treatments are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,188 to Srougi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,711 to Raz et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,522 to Cheng et al., the respective disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,188 to Srougi et al., as shown in FIG. 1 thereof, discloses a mechanical sphincter device 1 including a semi-annular piece 2. Attached to the semi-annular piece 2 are two strips 3 configured to surround a urethra when sphincter 1 is surgically implanted in a user's urethra. In use, sphincter 1 prohibits passage of urine through the urethra unless the user compresses the sphincter. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, a user applies pressure upon the free ends of semi-annular piece 2, causing loosening of the two strips 3 to release the flow of urine through the urethra.
An exemplary drawback of the mechanical sphincter of Srougi et al. is that the urethra is completely surrounded when the sphincter is in the resting position. More importantly, any device that completely surrounds the urethra poses a threat of ischemic injury and is prone to mechanical failure and leaks. Additionally, use of mechanical sphincter 1 requires consistent opposing forces by at least two digits of the user during the release of urine. The present invention thus purports to overcome at least the aforementioned exemplary drawbacks of the treatment disclosed by Srougi et al.
Another type of surgical treatment is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,711 to Raz et al. As shown in FIG. 12 of Raz et al., the surgical treatment includes the insertion and anchoring of a "hammock-like" sling material to bone anchors. The sling material is configured to compress against the bulbar urethra.
While the surgical treatment of Raz et al. overcomes some of the noted drawbacks of the surgical treatment disclosed by Srougi et al., there is no user control. Thus, the surgical treatment of Raz et al. causes permanent compression of the urethra without user control.
Lastly, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,522 to Cheng et al, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the incontinence treatment disclosed is an external urethral compression device 10. The device includes an arced structure 12 which acts to compress a urethra when worn by a user as shown in FIG. 3. While the user may have one handed control of the incontinence treatment, external urethral compression devices are prone to urine leakage and may prevent blood circulation to the penis, and most importantly, can be painful when used for extended periods of time.
It would therefore be of benefit to provide a treatment for incontinence including urethral compression and having user controls designed for a first user touch to disengage urethral compression and a second user touch to re-engage urethral compression. It would also be of benefit to provide a surgical treatment that refrains from completely surrounding the urethra. There also remains a need for a surgical treatment which is less prone to mechanical failure, simpler and more economical to manufacture, less invasive to insert, and has superior comfort than the prior art treatment techniques.

Surgically implantable perineal urinary incontinence device