A surround for protecting an acoustic device for sending and/or receiving acoustic signals positioned therein from impact as the surround is rolled along an interior surface of a fluid-containing pipeline, the surround comprising: a shell comprising an exterior segment configured to roll along the interior surface, the exterior segment defining at least one acoustic aperture configured to allow the passage of acoustic signals therethrough; and a lattice configured between the exterior segment and the acoustic device, the lattice comprising a plurality of unit cells, each unit cell defining an opening, wherein the plurality of unit cells are interconnected and define a plurality of openings, wherein the plurality of openings allow fluid to move between the interior of the surround and the exterior of the surround and enable the passage of the acoustic signals transmitted and/or received by the acoustic device such that the surround reduces the diminution of the quality and/or strength of the acoustic signals.

Equipment to detect pipeline conditions are known and are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,098,063 (Paulson). Such equipment may include an acoustic sensor or hydrophone to detect sounds that are created at the location of a leak in the pipeline. For example, Singapore patent No. 167514 (Paulson) describes the use of ultrasonic acoustic pulses emitted from the instrument as it rolls through a pipeline. The equipment tends to be quite expensive and prone to damage if not adequately protected.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,098,063 and Singapore patent No. 167514 describe a foam ball which includes ports proximal to the acoustic sensor location for protecting the detection equipment. As shown in FIG. 1, the foam ball or foam surround 1 may have ports 2 to allow the passage of sound into the instrument, and from the instrument into the pipeline fluid for the ultrasonic acoustic pulses.
The use of a foam surround has several disadvantages. The foam itself is a reticulated foam, which includes pores but lacks cell structure. This type of foam has been chosen because it allows the pipeline fluid to displace any air in the foam and thus avoids flotation caused by trapped air. While pores in the reticulated foam surround can be as large as 4 pores per inch, the foam will impede the passage of high frequency sound moving from the pipeline fluid inward toward the instrument, and moving outward from the instrument into the pipeline fluid. The ports described in the patents U.S. Pat. No. 8,098,062 and Singapore patent No. 167514 mitigate the attenuation of acoustic energy reaching and leaving the instrument, however, the provision of ports may introduce unintended effects such as uneven rolling motion when one or more ports contact the surface of the pipeline.
Another disadvantage of the foam surround is that in use, the movement of the instrument and surrounding foam through a flowing pipeline includes the rolling action described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,098,063 but also includes a sliding action produced by the drag of the instrument and surround as the top surface of the foam moves forward in the pipeline fluid. This drag generates an acoustic noise that encumbers the detection of leak sounds by generating a background noise that increases as the velocity of the fluid increases.
Another disadvantage of the foam surround is that the effort required to compress the surround during insertion through a small port on the pipeline can be considerable because a certain minimum foam density is required to maintain a spherical outside surface.
Yet another disadvantage of the foam surround is that it cannot be molded easily into the shape required, and so is typically shaped after the foam is created, making the surround more expensive.

Surround for pipeline inspection equipment


An ink jet recording apparatus, which is provided with a blade for wiping the surface of discharge openings of an ink jet recording head, and a blade cleaner for removing ink adhering to the blade, comprises a cleaning device for cleaning the blade by enabling the blade cleaner and the blade to reciprocate correlatively. This cleaning device causes the blade cleaner to be in elastic contact with the blade intensively without rotating the blade cleaner when the blade moves forward, and for causes the blade cleaner to rotate to be in elastic contact with the blade weakly when the blade moves backward. With the structure thus arranged, it is possible to reduce the spraying of ink from the blade into the interior of the ink jet recording apparatus significantly. Therefore, the surface of discharge openings of the ink jet recording head can be cleaned by a blade in good condition to make it possible to operate cleaning in the most suitable mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus that records on a recording medium by discharging ink, and a method for recovering an ink jet recording head. More particularly, the invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus provided with means for cleaning the surface of discharge openings of an ink jet recording head, and also, relates to a method for recovering the recording head thereof.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, a recording apparatus that records on paper, cloth, plastic sheet, OHP sheet, or the like (hereinafter, may also be referred to simply as a "recording sheet") is generally proposed as a recording apparatus having a mode in which it can mount a recording head of various recording types, such as wire-dot, thermosensitive, thermal transfer, or ink jet.
Of these recording apparatuses, a recording apparatus of the ink jet recording type (hereinafter referred to as an "ink jet recording apparatus") that records on a recording sheet by discharging ink from discharge openings, namely, nozzles, is arranged to adopt non-impact recording method having a lesser amount of noises, and also, it is arranged to perform recording operations in high density at high speeds.
Generally, an ink jet recording apparatus comprises means for driving a carriage mounting a recording head on it; conveying means for conveying a recording sheet; and control means for controlling these driving means and conveying means.
On the other hand, as energy generating devices that generate energy to be utilized for discharging ink from the ink discharge openings of the recording head, there are such devices as piezoelectric or some other electromechanical transducing devices, devices irradiating laser or some other electromagnetic waves to generate heat to be applied when discharging ink droplets, or electrothermal transducing devices having heat generating resistors for heating liquid, among some others.
Of these devices, the recording head of ink jet recording type, which discharges ink droplets by the utilization of thermal energy, is capable of recording in high resolution, because this type of the head enables the ink discharge openings to be arranged in high density. Of the heads of this type, the ink jet recording head that uses electrothermal transducing devices as energy generating devices is particularly effective in making the head smaller not only because it is possible to fully utilize for its manufacture the advantages of the IC technologies and micro-machining technologies and techniques whose advancement and reliability have been enhanced remarkably in the field of semiconductor industry of late, but also, because it is easier to assemble the head in high density at lower costs of manufacture.
As described above, the ink jet recording type is the one that can be made with simpler structures, and demonstrates excellent performance. On the other hand, however, this type has several problems yet to be solved.
At first, one of such problems is the stains that adhere to the surface where ink discharge openings are arranged for the ink jet recording head (hereinafter referred to as the "surface of discharge openings"). The stains are caused mainly by two factors. One of them is brought about by the adhesion of a part of the ink droplets which have been discharged for printing and impacted upon a recording sheet but rebounded to the surface of the discharge openings without adhering to the recording sheet, and also, by the adhesion of the fine ink droplets to the surface of discharge openings, which have been discharged but caused to float in the atmosphere besides the main ink droplets as ink is being discharged for recording. The other factor is brought about by the ink droplets remaining on the surface of discharge openings when the cap is removed from this face after having sucked ink in the ink paths or the like that conductively connect with the discharge openings or ink in the vicinity thereof when the cap is closely covered on the surface of discharge openings for the performance of recovery operation to prevent the clogging of the ink discharge openings.
If unwanted ink droplets adhere to the circumference of the ink discharge openings, there occurs the so-called "twist" that causes the direction of ink discharges to be deviated or the so-called "non-discharge" that causes the ink discharge to be disabled, hence resulting in the degradation of printing quality.
As means for solving the problems described above, there is often used a method for wiping the surface of discharge openings of an ink jet recording head with a blade (that may also be referred to as a "wiper") formed by rubber or some other elastic material (hereinafter referred to as "wiping"). As the wiping method, there are such ones in which the surface of discharge openings are allowed to be in contact with a stationary blade when the recording head is scanned or the blade moves in parallel with or rotates around the stationary recording head to be in contact with the surface of discharge openings. In order to allow the recording head to scan, the main scanning operation is most often utilized for recording. In other words, this scanning makes it possible to perform the wiping only when it is needed if only the blade is arranged to be able to advance to or retract from the position that is overlapped with the scanning position of the recording head. Also, in order to allow the blade to scan, it should be arranged to enable the blade to reciprocate in the direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction by means of the parallel advance or rotation of the blade. In this case, the ink jet recording head is arranged to be able to advance to or retract from the scanning position of the blade, hence making the wiping possible only when it is needed. In other words, if the wiping should be made only in the forward operation, the ink jet recording head is retracted in its returning operation. In this manner, it becomes possible to prevent the contact between the blade and ink jet recording head from being made more than necessary.
Further, in order to maintain the performance of the blade operation, it is most desirable to remove ink that adheres to the blade particularly when the blade is formed by rubber or the like. Therefore, it is practiced to allow the blade to abut upon an absorbent to absorb ink or to abut upon a molded or metallic edge to scape off ink from the blade. When the wiping is performed by means of the main scanning of the ink jet recording head, a cleaning member is installed on the ink jet recording head or on a carriage that mounts the ink jet recording head on it so as to clean the blade. Also, when the wiping is performed by means of the scanning of the blade, a cleaning member is installed on a location where the blade is in contact with it immediately after the blade has wiped off the ink jet recording head.
However, as the blade passes the blade cleaner correlatively, there is a fear that the blade is caused to bend once, and then, ink remaining by adhering on the blade sprays upon the restoring operation of the blade, thus staining the interior of the ink jet recording apparatus.

Ink jet recording apparatus, and a method for recovering an ink jet recording head


An expandable body device for the gastric cavity including an elastic expandable body, a rigid fillant delivery tube sealedly connected to the expandable body and having a base portion, an extending portion, and a tip portion. An anchor and a valve are included on the base portion of the fillant delivery tube. A method of treating obesity including the steps of performing a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy to establish a gastro-cutaneous fistula, pushing an expandable body through said fistula into the gastric cavity with a rigid fillant delivery tube to which the expandable body is sealedly connected, the rigid fillant delivery tube including a base portion, an extending portion, a tip portion, and an anchor attached to the base portion, delivering a fillant through a valve connected to the fillant delivery tube such that the fillant flows into the fillant delivery tube and the expandable body to cause the expandable body to expand within the gastric cavity, delivering the fillant through the valve out of the fillant delivery tube and the expandable body to cause the expandable body to return to a non-expanded configuration, and removing the fillant delivery tube and the expandable body from the fistula.

Obesity is a major health problem for many individuals. Many solutions for achieving the weight loss necessary to treat this problem have been proposed.
Common to many of these solutions is the requirement of the obese individual to decrease overall caloric intake and/or to increase energy output. One solution for reducing caloric intake may involve instructing the obese individual to consume foods which have a relatively low calorie to volume ratio, for example, low fat foods. Typically, however, this solution, by itself, is not sufficient for many overweight individuals because of an inability to select such foods for consumption. Oftentimes this is due to a lack of knowledge about nutrition and/or a lack of self-control.
In many cases vigorous exercise is recommended to achieve an increase in energy output. However, many overweight individuals, particularly, the morbidly obese, risk further damage to their health, for example, heart attacks, from such activity.
Other solutions involve the use of pharmaceuticals, for example, stimulative or appetite suppressive drugs. While this may be a satisfactory solution for many, the use of pharmaceuticals in the treatment of obesity is not without drawbacks. For example, individuals using such drugs are at risk of becoming addicted or ill-affected by side effects of the drugs. Further, these drugs oftentimes become less potent over time due to the development of a high drug tolerance.
Surgical solutions to the problem of obesity have also been proposed. Some of these procedures involve reducing the volume of the gastric cavity, for example, by creating a small pouch gastric bypass, or reducing the capacity of the stomach to expand, for example, by placing a constrictive band around the stomach. These surgical procedures are particularly traumatic to the body and are thus often associated with serious complications and increased mortality rates.
Thus, there continues to be a need for effective solutions to the problem of obesity.
Accordingly, it is first object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity and method.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide an improved expandable body device for the gastric cavity and method.
It is a third object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity and method of treating obesity.
It is a fourth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which is easily introduced to and removed from the gastric cavity.
It is a fifth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which may be introduced to and removed from the gastric cavity through a gastro-cutaneous fistula having a transverse cross-sectional profile which defines a relatively small area.
It is a sixth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which minimally contacts the inner surface of the gastric wall.
It is a seventh object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which is prevented from moving relative to the individual in whose gastric cavity the device has been introduced.
It is an eighth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which includes an expandable body which is prevented from excessive movement while in the gastric cavity.
It is a ninth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which is comfortable for the person in whose gastric cavity the device has been introduced.
It is a tenth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which does not allow for gastric juices to escape from the gastric cavity.
It is an eleventh object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which includes a minimum number of parts.
It is a twelfth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which is inconspicuous while in use.
It is a thirteenth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which is easy to manufacture.
It is a fourteenth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which is safe to use.
It is a fifteenth object of the present invention to provide an expandable body device for the gastric cavity which includes a small number of parts.
The present invention provides an expandable body device for the gastric cavity and method. The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a rigid to semi-rigid fillant delivery tube having a base portion, an extending portion, and a tip portion. The fillant delivery tube is sealedly connected to an expandable body which is preferably constructed of surgical grade latex rubber. In a preferred embodiment, the extending portion and tip portion of the fillant delivery tube extend into the expandable body, which forms a substantially proximal and uniformly congruent layer thereover. An anchor and a valve are provided on the base portion of the fillant delivery tube.
To use a device constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention for the treatment of obesity, a gastro-cutaneous fistula is established in the obese individual via a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, a procedure well known to persons skilled in the art. The cross-sectional profile of the fistula tract is configured to correspond with the cross-sectional profile of the device along the expandable body.
Preferably, the fistula tract is allowed to mature (i.e. form scar tissue) over a period of from 1-2 weeks. Then, the device is brought into proximity of the fistula tract and a bio-compatible lubricant is applied to the device and/or to the fistula tract. The tip portion of the fillant delivery tube and the expandable body are placed at the entrance of the fistula tract and passed through the fistula by the application of a gentle force at the base portion of the fillant delivery tube. The anchor provides a convenient surface against which such a force may be applied.
The device is fully inserted when the anchor contacts the abdominal wall. The expandable body may then be expanded with a biocompatible fillant. A graduated syringe is loaded with an appropriate amount, typically 100-500 ml, of saline solution. The syringe is then sealedly engaged with the valve on the proximal end of the fillant delivery tube and the fillant is forced into the fillant delivery tube by depressing the syringe plunger, thereby causing the expandable body to expand within the gastric cavity. Once appropriate expansion size is reached, the tip of the syringe is removed from the valve which is preferably configured to seal upon withdrawal of the syringe.
The size of the of the expandable body is preferably configured so that when appropriate expansion size is reached, the expandable body occupies a substantial fraction of the total volume of the gastric cavity of the person in whose gastric cavity the device is introduced. This enables the individual to feel satiated or "full" after consuming a relatively small portion of food.
After a period of time, preferably 3 to 6 months, the syringe is again engaged with the valve. The plunger of the syringe is operated to create a vacuum condition in the syringe cylinder, thereby causing fillant to flow from the device into the syringe until the expandable body is returned to a non-expanded configuration. Once the expandable body is returned to a non-expanded configuration, the device may be re-filled, for example, to a new volume, or easily removed from the gastric cavity by simply pulling on the base portion of the flilant delivery tube.
Alternatively, a hose may be connected between a fillant supply pump and a valve on the fillant delivery tube. The valve is opened and a biocompatible fillant, for example, air or saline, is pumped through the valve and into the filiant delivery tube. The fillant goes through the fillant delivery tube and enters the expandable body causing the expandable body to expand within the gastric cavity. After a period of time, the hose is again connected to the valve. Upon opening of the valve, the force of the elastic expandable body forces fillant from the expandable body into the fillant delivery tube and out of the device. Thereafter, the device may be re-filled with fillant or easily removed from the gastric cavity by simply pulling on the base portion of the fillant delivery tube.
While the function of the present invention to provide a deterrent to the consumption of food is easily appreciated, it is important to realize that the present invention allows this benefit to be realized with a lower risk of health problems, smaller loss of healthy social activity, and lower monetary cost than known methods of treating obesity.
To begin, the fillant delivery tube is preferably provided with a tapering, closed tip portion having a rounded distal end which is easily placed at the opening of the fistula by sliding the tip portion along the abdomen until the rounded distal end engages the entrance of the fistula tract. During insertion, the tip portion gently and gradually forces open the fistula to accommodate the fillant delivery tube.
Second, the rigid to semi-rigid fillant delivery tube preferably has a circular transverse cross-sectional profile and the ratio of the longitudinal length of the tube to the diameter thereof is relatively large. Thus, the is device easily translated through the fistula tract.
Third, the tip portion and the extending portion of the fillant delivery tube are covered by the expandable body which forms a single layer of material thereover. During insertion, the tissue of the fistula contacts only the relatively soft material of the expandable body. The device may be passed through a fistula tract having a transverse cross-sectional profile only slightly larger than the transverse cross-sectional profile of the device distal of the anchor.
Further, the expandable body expands within the gastric cavity such that contact with the gastric wall or lining is minimized (i.e. a space is maintained between substantially all surfaces of the expanded expandable body and the gastric wall). Since a tip portion of the fillant delivery tube is proximal to the internal surface of the spherically shaped expandable body, if the expandable body pivots slightly, it will contact the tip portion. Since these features prevent the expandable body from contacting the gastric wall and causing for example, ulcers, the device may be maintained in an expanded configuration within the gastric cavity for extended periods of time, preferably, three (3) to six (6) months.
The distance between the proximal surface of the expandable body and the distal surface of the anchor is preferably slightly smaller than the distance between the gastric entrance of the fistula tract and the surface of the abdomen proximal to the abdominal entrance of the fistula tract. Thus, as the expandable body expands, the proximal portion of the expandable body contacts the gastric entrance of the fistula tract which causes the anchor on the fllant delivery tube to which the expandable body is sealedly connected to abut the abdominal surface proximal to the fistula entrance. The associated compressive force causes the expandable body to sealingly contact the gastric entrance of the fistula tract, thus preventing the escape of gastric juices from the gastric cavity. The force also fixates the device relative to the individual in whose gastric cavity the device has been inserted. Thus, the present invention allows a morbidly obese person to remain active during treatment involving use of the present invention without fear of gastric juices leaking from the fistula tract or discomfort which could have been caused by shifting of the device.
Moreover, when the device of the present invention is inserted in the gastric cavity, the preferably disk shaped anchor mounted on the fillant delivery tube lies substantially flush with the surface of the abdomen and the base portion of the delivery tube and the valve mounted thereon protrudes only minimally, preferably, less than three (3) centimeters. The present invention is thus inconspicuous during use.
A device according to the present invention is also easy to manufacture. For example, an expandable body may be placed over a rigid to semi-rigid fillant delivery tube in a first manufacturing step. In a second manufacturing step, an integral anchor and valve component may be press-fit onto the proximal end of the fillant delivery tube to sealedly connect the fillant delivery tube to the expandable body and to mount the anchor and valve component to the proximal end of the fillant delivery tube.
Thus, the present invention provides a device which may be easily inserted into the gastric cavity through a gastro-cutaneous fistula having a relatively small transverse cross sectional profile. Further, an individual in whose gastric cavity the device has been introduced may remain active while the device is within the gastric cavity since the device prevents leakage of gastric juices from the fistula tract and otherwise does not present a threat of injury or discomfort to the individual. Use of a device according to the present invention also facilitates social activity since it is relatively inconspicuous while inserted in the gastric cavity. Moreover, since the fillant delivery tube inhibits the expandable body of the device from contacting the gastric wall, the expandable body may be maintained in an expanded configuration, within the gastric cavity for extended periods of time. Still further, the device of the present invention may be easily manufactured in, for example, as little as two steps. Thus, the present invention provides an expandable body device and method which are particularly useful in the treatment of obesity.

Expandable body device for the gastric cavity and method


A flat panel display capable of reducing element defects by decreasing taper angles of contact holes and a via hole. The flat panel display includes a thin film transistor having at least source and drain electrodes formed over an insulating substrate, an insulating layer having a via hole for exposing one of the source and drain electrodes, and an anode connected to said one of the source and drain electrodes through the via hole. The via hole and the anode are tapered with taper angles of 60° or less. The source and drain electrodes are connected respectively to source and drain regions of the thin film transistor through the contact holes. The contact holes are also tapered with taper angles of 60° or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display and, more particularly, to a full color active matrix organic light emitting display (AMOLED), which lowers taper angles of an anode and a via hole to prevent defects from occurring.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, AMOLED has a plurality of pixels arranged on a substrate in a matrix format, and each pixel includes an electroluminescent (EL) element with an anode, an organic emission layer, and a cathode that are layered together. The AMOLED also includes a thin film transistor (TFT) connected to the EL element as an active element for driving the EL element.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a bottom-emitting organic light emitting display (OLED) in accordance with the prior art. Referring to FIG. 1, a buffer layer 105 is formed on an insulating substrate 100, and a semiconductor layer 110 having source and drain regions 111 and 115 is formed on the buffer layer 105. A gate electrode 125 is formed on a gate insulating layer 120, and source and drain electrodes 141 and 145 are formed on an interlayer insulating layer 130, and are connected to the source and drain regions 111 and 115 through contact holes 131 and 135, respectively. This way, the TFT is fabricated.
An anode 170 as a lower electrode is formed on a passivation layer 150, and is connected through a via hole 155 to the drain electrode 145 of the source and drain electrodes 141 and 145. An organic emission layer 185 and a cathode 190 as an upper electrode are formed on the substrate. In this manner, the organic EL element is fabricated.
In the conventional organic light emitting display having the above-mentioned structure, when taper angles θ11 and θ12 of the contact holes or via hole are large, pin hole defects have occurred at stepped portions of the anode 170 and near the contact hole or via hole, or open circuit defects between the anode and the cathode have occurred. In addition, the organic emission layer has not been deposited on the stepped portions of the anode and near the contact hole and via hole, or it has not been uniformly deposited to thereby have a thickness thinner than those of other portions. Thus, when a high voltage is applied between the anode and the cathode, the portion where the organic emission layer is not deposited or thinly deposited has current density concentrated to generate circular dark spots. Due to the occurrence of the dark spots, emission regions become reduced to thereby deteriorate image quality.
In addition, the cathode to be deposited over the entire surface of the substrate is not densely formed in the stepped portion, which causes external oxygen or moisture to penetrate through the portion that is not densely formed. Thus, when a high voltage is applied between the anode and the cathode, the portion that is not densely deposited has a void in the cathode due to electromigration resulting from the current density concentration, so that high heat occurs due to a resistance increase resulting from external oxygen penetration. As a result, the portion has circular dark spots generated as time proceeds.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional photograph near a contact hole for indicating the deterioration mechanism resulting from a high taper angle of the contact hole or via hole in the conventional OLED. Referring to FIG. 4, oxygen or moisture penetrates through the open portion of the cathode 190 resulting from pin hole defects near the contact hole or via hole, so that the deterioration may be diffused.
FIG. 5 is a graph for explaining a relationship between the number of defects and taper angles of a contact hole or via hole in the conventional OLED. Referring to FIG. 5, it can be seen that the defects near the contact hole or via hole may be prevented when the taper angle of the contact hole or via hole is 60° or less. FIG. 6 is a photograph that shows occurrences of dark spots at the edge portion of the emission region when the taper angle of the contact hole or via hole is large. Referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that a lot of dark spots generate near the edge portion of the emission region when the taper angle of the contact hole or via hole is 75°. In this case, the reference numerals 61 and 62 indicate dark spots occurred near via hole and the contact hole, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,365 discloses a technique, which limits a taper angle of a passivation layer at an edge of an opening for exposing some portions of an anode. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional bottom-emitting OLED. Referring to FIG. 2, a buffer layer 205 is formed on an insulating substrate 200, and a semiconductor layer 210 having source and drain regions 211 and 215 is formed on the buffer layer 205. A gate electrode 225 is formed on a gate insulating layer 220, and source and drain electrodes 241 and 245 are formed on an interlayer insulating layer 230, and are connected to the source and drain regions 211 and 215 through contact holes 231 and 235, respectively. Further, an anode 270 as a lower electrode is formed on the interlayer insulating layer 230, and is connected to the drain electrode 245.
A passivation layer 250 formed of an insulating layer such as a silicon nitride layer is deposited to have a 0.5 to 1.0 μm in thickness on the substrate, and is etched to form an opening 275 for exposing some portions of the anode 270. In this case, the passivation layer 250 is arranged at the edge of the opening 275 to have a taper angle θ21 of 10° to 30° with respect to the anode 270. An organic emission layer 285 and a cathode 290 as an upper electrode are then formed on the substrate.
In the conventional flat panel display having the above-mentioned structure, the taper angle θ21 of the passivation layer contacted with the anode is limited to be in a range of 10° to 30° when the passivation is etched to expose some portions of the anode so as to prevent defects of the organic emission layer from occurring. However, pin hole or open circuit defects still generate near the contact hole, the via hole, or in the stepped portion as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, and dark spots are also generated due to the cathode that is not densely deposited.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,179 discloses a technique employing an organic insulating layer with planarizing property to prevent defects from occurring near the via hole, contact hole, or in the stepped portion. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the OLED having the conventional top-emitting structure. Referring to FIG. 3, a buffer layer 305 is formed on an insulating layer 300, and a semiconductor layer 310 having source and drain regions 311 and 315 is formed on the buffer layer 305. A gate electrode 325 is formed on a gate insulating layer 320, and source and drain electrodes 341 and 345 are formed on the interlayer insulating layer 330, and are connected to the source and drain regions 311 and 315 through contact holes 331 and 335, respectively.
A planarizing layer 360 is formed on a passivation 350, and an anode 370 as a lower electrode is formed on the planarizing layer 360, and is connected through a via hole 355 to one of the source and drain electrodes 341 and 345, for example, to the drain electrode 345. A pixel defining layer 365 is then formed to have an opening 375 for exposing some portions of the anode 370, and an organic emission layer 385 and a cathode 390 as an upper electrode are formed on the anode 370 and the pixel defining layer 365.
In the above-mentioned OLED, a taper angle θ31 of the pixel defining layer is limited in a range of 20° to 80° to prevent defects of the organic emission layer, and the planarizing layer is used for preventing element defects from occurring near the contact hole or via hole due to the stepped portion of the substrate surface. However, reliability of the element is dependent on the taper angle between the pixel defining layer and the anode. By way of example, the organic emission layer and the cathode are likely to be deteriorated at the edge of the opening when the taper angle is large, and there is a limit to reducing the taper angle and the thickness of the pixel defining layer because of a parasitic capacitance and a step resulting from wiring when the taper angle is small.
Further, an aperture ratio is further decreased with the increasing use of the pixel defining layer, and outgas from the pixel defining layer causes the emission region to be reduced, which leads to pixel size reduction, so that lifetime and image quality are deteriorated, and additional processes for depositing and etching the pixel defining layer are required.


This invention provides a Togavirus-amplified retrovirus vector and a novel method for packaging a retrovirus cassette that contains a heterologous nucleic acid, which is amplified in a packaging cell cytoplasm by a Togavirus vector. The retroviral cassette is packaged into infectious retrovirus particles by retroviral packaging cells. These retroviral particles carrying the retroviral packaging cassette are then used to infect host cells.

Not applicable.
This invention provides a Togavirus-amplified retrovirus vector and a novel method for packaging a retroviral cassette that contains a heterologous nucleic acid, which is self-amplified in a packaging cell cytoplasm.
Retrovirus vectors are currently the most advanced system available for mammalian gene therapy. These vectors are preferred for gene therapy because of their unique life cycle, which is divided into two phases: RNA and DNA. Wild-type retroviruses infect cells with a single-stranded RNA genome. This viral RNA genome is reverse-transcribed into a double-stranded DNA provirus, which integrates into the host genome. The viral RNA genome is then transcribed in the nucleus from the provirus. For the most part, the provirus functions as a cellular gene after integration into the genome. This characteristic is desirable for gene therapy as it provides a relatively stable copy of the gene of interest in the host genome. This characteristic, however, also creates a drawback for the production of recombinant vectors used in gene therapy: The nuclear-based transcription of the RNA genome limits the sequences that can be included in a recombinant retrovirus vector, due to nuclear RNA processing of the viral genome prior to packaging. Thus, the nuclear-based RNA synthesis of the retroviral genome results in the removal of intron sequences and other flanking and regulatory sequences from the retroviral RNA.
Typically, recombinant retrovirus vectors are constructed as a DNA provirus having a heterologous expression cassette. These vectors, in the form of recombinant DNA plasmids, are transduced into packaging cells. The DNA vector is transcribed in the nucleus, and the resulting RNA genome is processed in the nucleus before moving to the cytoplasm for packaging. Thus, heterologous genes included in the vector are processed before they are packaged into virus particles for gene therapy. The heterologous genes in retrovirus vectors, therefore, do not usually include complex, more gene-like features such as introns, polyadenylation signals, and flanking sequences because of this drawback in the vector system. Furthermore, the production of full-length retrovirus RNA can be severely impaired by transcriptional polyadenylation signals and transcriptional stop signals in 3xe2x80x2 flanking regions. Finally, often cDNAs are not expressed well in the nucleus due to the absence of processing signals (Chuah et al., Hum. Gene Ther. 6: 1363-1377 (1995)).
Other strategies have been used to construct retrovirus vectors that contain complex heterologous genes, but these systems have been unsuccessful. Attempts to integrate gene-like constructs in reverse orientation have been difficult mostly due to instability of these constructs and low vector titers (Jonsson et al., Hum. Gene Ther. 6: 611-623 (1995); Cone et al., Science 236: 954-957 (1987); Cosset et al., J. Virol. 69: 7430-7436 (1995)). These intron and flanking sequences, however, are often essential for efficient, stable in vivo gene expression (see, e.g., Brinster et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85: 836-840 (1988); Palmiter et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87: 6024-6028 (1991)). This lack of complexity thus limits the use of retrovirus vectors for the expression of heterologous genes in gene therapy.
Alphaviruses are a genus of the Togavirus family that have a positive strand, single-stranded RNA genome. Unlike retroviruses, Alphaviruses carry out their intracellular activities, including replication, in the cytoplasm. Certain members of the Alphavirus family are well-characterized, in particular Semliki Forest virus (SFV) and Sindbis virus (Liljestrom and Garoff, Biotechnology 9: 1356-1361 (1991); Rice et al., J. Virol. 61: 3809-3819 (1987)). Semliki Forest virus (SFV)-based expression systems have been used to express heterologous genes. In the SFV system, viral replicase proteins are translated from the viral RNA genome. The replicase proteins recognize specific viral replicase promoters and amplify SFV RNA. Eukaryotic RNA polymerases and nuclear RNA processing machinery are not involved in the synthesis of SFV RNA. However, Alphaviruses do not provide an integrated copy of the heterologous gene of interest in the host genome. Therefore, there is a need for a vector that provides stable and efficient expression of heterologous genes.
The present invention provides Togavirus-amplified retrovirus vectors and a novel method of packaging heterologous nucleic acid sequences in a retroviral cassette using a Togavirus system. These heterologous nucleic acids can include, for example, full length genes, cDNAs, introns, flanking regions, polyadenylation signals, or other sequences that are normally incompatible with expression of the retrovirus RNA in the cell nucleus. This system liberates vector design from constraints imposed by nuclear RNA transcription. To achieve this result, nuclear transcription and processing of retrovirus RNA in the packaging cell must be avoided. By using Togavirus mediated RNA self-amplification in the cytoplasm, the present invention provides vectors and a method of bypassing the DNA provirus stage during packaging. This invention therefore permits the production of retrovirus vectors that contain complex heterologous genes or cDNAs. Thus, the vectors and method of the invention are useful for gene therapy. An additional advantage of the Togavirus-amplified retrovirus vector production system is that it is able to produce high titers of retrovirus particles, due to its self-amplification capabilities.
The method of the invention includes first, selecting a packaging cell that produces retroviral components, including reverse transcriptase, integrase, gag proteins, and envelope proteins. Second, the cell is transduced with RNA sequences. These RNA sequences encode: the replicase gene cluster of a Togavirus, which is operably linked to a ribosomal binding site recognized by ribosomes of the packaging cell; and a Togavirus replicase target sequence, which contains a replicase promoter operably linked to a replicase amplification region. The replicase amplification region consists of a subgenomic promoter and the retroviral packaging cassette. The cassette comprises R and U5 regions at the 5xe2x80x2 end, reverse transcriptase recognition sites, a retroviral packaging sequence, a eukaryotic expression cassette that contains a promoter operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid, and U3 and R regions at the 3xe2x80x2 end of the cassette. The R, U5, and U3 regions, the primer binding site and the polypurine tract, and the packaging sequence are compatible with the retroviral components of the packaging cell. Finally, the packaging cell is cultured under conditions that permit the replicase gene cluster to be translated; that permit the replicase to amplify the expression cassette; and that permit the retroviral components to package the expression cassette into retrovirus vector particles.
In one embodiment of the invention, the retrovirus vector includes the replicase gene cluster and the replicase amplification region on the same ribonucleic acid.
In one embodiment, the cell is transduced with an SFV particle comprising the RNA sequences. In another embodiment, the cell is transfected with the RNA sequences.
In another embodiment of the invention, the retrovirus vector is a murine retrovirus vector.
In one embodiment of the invention, the Togavirus is an Alphavirus. In another embodiment, the Togavirus is a Semliki Forest virus.
In another embodiment of the invention, the packaging cell line is selected from the group consisting of PA317, GP+E86, and PHOENIX.
In one embodiment of the invention, the heterologous nucleic acid is a ribozyme or an antisense sequence. In another embodiment, the heterologous nucleic acid carries untranslated genomic regions. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the heterologous nucleic acid is a cDNA. In another embodiment, the heterologous nucleic acid encodes human clotting factor 9.
In one embodiment of the invention, the method further includes separating the retrovirus vector from the packaging cells. In another embodiment of the invention, the method includes the step of infecting a eukaryotic cell with the retrovirus vector.
The invention also provides a nucleic acid sequence with the elements of the retrovirus vector of the method, as described above.
In one embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid sequence is an RNA.
In another embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid sequence contains a replicase gene cluster from an Alphavirus, and in yet another embodiment the replicase gene cluster is from a Semliki Forest virus.
In one embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid sequence includes R, U5, and U3 regions derived from a murine retrovirus.
In another embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid sequence includes a heterologous nucleic acid the comprises genomic untranslated regions.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid sequence includes a heterologous nucleic acid that is a cDNA, a ribozyme, or an antisense sequence. In another embodiment, the heterologous nucleic acid sequence encodes human clotting factor 9.

Retroviral packaging cassettes amplified in the cytoplasm by autocatalytic Togavirus vectors

The Government of the United States as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Human Services


A scalable event notification system is provided. The event notification system manages the set of topics available for notification via a topic manager network. The event notification system transmits event notifications to event consumers via a subscription manager network. The configuration and operation of the subscription manager network may to reconfigured in response to changing load and fault conditions to facilitate the timely delivery of event notifications. The notification to subscribers also includes mechanisms to provide individual privacy and non-tampering of notifications. Notification may dynamically be delivered to alternative locations and localized to accommodate different natural languages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of event notification systems. More particularly, the invention provides an event notification system that provides rapid notifications in large-scale networks.
2. Description of Related Art
Event notification systems provide content and information to entities connected to an event notification source. In one prior art example, current news events are delivered to users connected to the Internet. Each user subscribes to the event notification source. When the event notification source becomes aware of a current news event, the event notification source reviews the list of subscriptions and sends an event notification to each subscribed user.
Typical wide area network (WAN) event notification systems include single source distribution trees and distribution trees having fixed structures. For example, an event notification is generated at a single node and then distributed throughout the tree in a predetermined manner. Drawbacks of such systems are that the rigid distribution mechanisms do not compensate for changing load conditions or allow users to customize delivery features. One example is a news event service that transmits news alerts through a network to a group of subscribers. Some nodes may experience overloading while other nodes are underutilized. As a result it can take up to a week for all of the subscribers to receive the news alert.
Existing local area network (LAN) event notification systems sometimes provide rapid event notifications to all subscribers. Such systems utilize the underlying broadcast communication mode of the network transport. As a result, existing LAN event notification systems are not scalable and cannot be used with wide area networks.
There exists a need in the art for a flexible event notification system that provides efficient event notifications to users connected to a wide area or large-scale network.


Embodiments of the invention generally provide a method and wordline driver having a reduced leakage current. In one embodiment, a wordline is driven to a boosted high voltage with a driver transistor of the wordline driver if the wordline driver is in an operational mode and the wordline is driven to a downward-driven low voltage if the wordline driver is in a standby mode. The driver transistor is electrically isolated from the downward-driven low voltage of the wordline when the wordline driver is in the standby mode. A leakage current in the wordline driver is thereby reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to leakage currents in integrated circuit (IC) devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern mobile electronic devices such as digital music players, portable digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, and laptops require increasing amounts of memory to handle the computing demands of users of the devices. Accordingly, modern mobile electronic devices typically employ some sort of random access memory (RAM), such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), either as a separate integrated circuit (IC) or combined with a processor, for instance as part of a cache or a system on a chip (SOC). DRAM memories consume power, and because mobile electronic devices may have a limited power supply provided by a battery, there is an increased demand for low-power memories for use in such mobile devices. Such low-power memories may include low-power single data rate (LP-SDR) DRAM, low-power double data rate (LP-DDR) DRAM, and pseudo-static RAM (PSRAM).
FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an exemplary memory device 100. The memory device may have control circuits 102 accessed using a memory I/O interface. The control circuits 102 may be used to access one or memory arrays 104 of the memory and may issue control signals to components within the memory array 104. FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting an exemplary memory array 104. The memory array 104 may contain a row decoder 210 and a column decoder 220. Each time a memory address in the memory array 104 is accessed, the address may be decoded by the row decoder 210 and column decoder 220 to determine at which row (also referred to as a wordline or main wordline 240) and which column (also referred to as a bitline 250) in the array the memory address resides. When the memory address is decoded by the row decoder 210 to select a wordline 240 from the memory array 104, a main wordline driver 212 may drive a signal (MWL) onto the selected wordline 240, thus enabling data to be accessed from the selected wordline 240. The memory array 104 may also contain many other elements (not shown), such as sense amplifiers, which may be used to access (e.g., read, write, or refresh) the memory array 104.
In some cases, the memory device 100 may utilize a segmented wordline structure. In a segmented wordline structure, each memory array 104 may contain multiple memory segments 230 and each segment may contain an array of memory cells 218. To activate the memory cells 218 in each memory segment 230, the row decoder 210 may first be used to decode the memory address and select a segment 230 within the memory array 104. After a segment 230 has been selected, the memory address may be further decoded to access a local row (referred to as a local wordline 242) within the segment 230. The process of decoding a memory address to select a segment 230 and a local wordline 242 within a segment may be referred to as hierarchical decoding.
Each local wordline 242 may have a local wordline driver 216 used to drive the local wordline 242. For any one memory address being accessed, one wordline 240 and one local wordline 242 may be activated while many wordlines 240 and many local wordlines 242 are not activated. The wordline 240 and the local wordline which are selected may be in what is referred to as an operational mode. The wordlines 240 and local wordlines 242 which are not selected may, in some cases, be in a state or mode referred to as a standby state or standby mode.
A signal (referred to as WLON) output by a wordline decoder 214 to each local wordline driver 216 may be used to determine whether the local wordline driver 216 is activated. Each wordline decoder 214 may control several local wordline drivers 216 (also referred to as a column or cluster of local wordline drivers 216). When WLON is asserted to a high voltage and MWL is also a high voltage, the local wordline driver 216 may be activated. When WLON is lowered to a low voltage (e.g., VSS), the local wordline driver 216 may be inactive. When a wordline 242 is inactive, it may be reset using a wordline reset signal (WLRST).
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram depicting an exemplary local wordline driver 216. The local wordline driver may have an inverter (PMOS transistor P1 302 and NMOS transistor N1 304) which drives local wordline 242 as well as a reset transistor (NMOS transistor N2 306) which resets local wordline 242. The inverter may be controlled by the bMWL signal (the complement of the MWL signal) and the reset transistor 306 may be driven by bWLRST signal (the complement of the WLRST signal).
Operation of the Local Wordline Driver
Table 1 depicts the signals used to control the local wordline driver 216 as well as the corresponding state of the local wordline driver 216.
TABLE 1Local Wordline Driver StatesWordlineDriverDriver StatebMWLWLONbWLRSTOutputWordline selected,VWLOFFVSSVDDVWLOFFlocal wordline drivernot selectedWordline and localVWLOFFVPPVWLOFFVPPwordline selectedMain wordline notVPPVPPVWLOFFVWLOFFselected, local wordlinedriver selectedStandby modeVPPVSSVDDVWLOFF
If a memory access is made which utilizes a given main wordline 240 and local wordline 242, the wordline driver 212 for the main wordline 240 may assert the MWL signal, selecting the main wordline 240. When the MWL signal for the main wordline 240 is asserted, the bMWL signal may be lowered, driving the WLON value for the local wordline driver 216 through the PMOS transistor P1 302. If bMWL is lowered and the local wordline 242 is not selected during a memory access, a low power supply voltage (VSS) may be applied to WLON and driven onto the local wordline 242. If bMWL is lowered and the local wordline 242 is selected during a memory access, the wordline decoder 214 for the local wordline driver 216 asserts the WLON signal to a boosted high voltage (VPP), and the asserted WLON signal is driven onto the local wordline 242, allowing the local wordline 242 to be accessed. In some cases, the main wordline 240 for a local wordline driver 216 may not be selected (bMWL=VPP), but the column of local wordline drivers controlled by a wordline decoder 214 containing the local wordline driver 216 may be selected (WLON=VPP). In such a case, the local wordline 242 is not selected, and the output of the local wordline driver 216 is VWLOFF.
The boosted high voltage VPP (also referred to as the upward-driven high voltage) may be maintained by a charge pump. A charge pump is a circuit which may utilize a capacitor to increase a voltage above a positive power supply voltage or decrease a voltage below a negative power supply voltage. Thus, VPP may be greater than a positive power supply voltage (referred to as VDD) utilized by the memory device 100.
The local wordline 242 is typically driven to the boosted high voltage VPP (also referred to as VCCP, or VCC pumped, where VCC is the high power supply voltage) so that the high power supply voltage VCC (also referred to as VDD) can be successfully written into memory cells in the memory array 104, for example, by compensating for switching transistor voltage drops. In some cases, the switching transistor voltage drops may be due partly to a threshold voltage of the switching transistor (referred to as VTH) and the boosted voltage may be selected to overcome the threshold voltage when a high voltage is being written to the memory cell, such that VPP is equal to VCC+VTH.
When an access to the main wordline 240 is not occurring, the main wordline 240 and local wordline 242 may be deselected. Thus, for the main wordline 240, the MWL signal may be lowered to a low value, and bMWL may be raised to a high logic value, VPP. For the local wordline 242, the local wordline signal WLON may be lowered to VSS (deselecting the local wordline 242) and the wordline reset signal WLRST may be asserted, lowering bWLRST to a low logic value and causing the local wordline 242 to be reset to a wordline off voltage. In some cases, the wordline off voltage may be a low voltage, VSS. In other cases, the wordline off voltage may the downward-driven low voltage VWLOFF (also referred to as a downward-boosted low voltage) which may be maintained by a charge pump. Thus, VWLOFF may be a lower voltage (e.g., a negative voltage) than the low power supply voltage VSS. When the main wordline 240 and the local wordline 242 are not selected, the local wordline driver 216 may be in the standby mode.
FIG. 4 is a substrate view depicting an exemplary PMOS transistor P1 302 in a local wordline driver 216 during a standby mode. The PMOS transistor 302 may have a gate 402, a gate oxide layer 410, a source 406, a drain 404, and may be located in an N-well 408 (sometimes referred to as the substrate with respect to a PMOS transistor). When the local wordline driver 216 is in standby mode, the gate voltage may be VPP, the source voltage may be VSS, and the drain voltage may be VWLOFF. The N-well substrate voltage may also be VPP. Applying a voltage to the N-well 408 may be referred to as biasing. Biasing the N-well substrate 408 may lower the threshold voltage (VTH) of the PMOS transistor P1 302 and improve the operating characteristics of the PMOS transistor 302.
When the transistor is in the standby mode, the gate to drain voltage (VGD) may be large (VPP+|VWLOFF|) because both the gate and drain voltages (VPP and VWLOFF, respectively) are being driven by charge pumps. This creates a strong reverse bias across the gate 402 and drain 404. When there is a strong reverse bias across the gate 402 and drain 404, an effect known as Gate-Induced Drain Leakage (GIDL) may develop. GIDL creates a current (labeled IGIDL) flowing from the N-well substrate 408 to the drain 404 (in some cases, the direction is from the drain 404 to the N-well substrate 408). IGIDL is proportional to the voltage difference between the gate 402 and drain 404, and may be caused by band to band tunneling (BTBT) and/or trap assisted tunneling (TAT) of electrons occurring in the drain region 404. The negatively-charged electrons flow from the drain 404 to the N-well substrate 408, creating IGIDL. Conventionally, the direction of current flow is defined as the flow of positive charge, so the direction of IGIDL is from the N-well 408 to the drain 404 (opposite the direction of the flow of electrons). Because the IGIDL flows from the N-well 408 to the drain 404, the current due to GIDL may also be increased by the N-well bias (VPP) and the drain bias VWLOFF which may both be driven by charge pumps (VPP is driven upwards, VWLOFF is driven downwards).
Thus, even though the local wordline driver 216 is in a standby mode, a significant leakage current due to GIDL may drain power from the driver 216. The power consumption may be increased by the charge pumps which drive VWLOFF and VPP. The increased power consumption may be due to both the increased bias across the gate 402 and drain 404 and may also be due to inefficiency of the charge pumps which consume power while maintaining VWLOFF and VPP. The GIDL effect may also be increased by aspects of the process used to manufacture the memory device 100, such as decreased gate oxide thickness or doping in transistors of the memory device 100.
Referring back to FIG. 2, as depicted, each segment 230 in a memory array 104 may have several local wordline drivers 216, and due to the large number of segments 230, the memory array 104 may contain a large number of local wordline drivers 216, each of which may be placed in a standby mode. Because of the large number of local wordline drivers 216 in standby mode, the total leakage current and power loss due to GIDL may become substantial. A specification for a DRAM device may require low power consumption. The leakage current due to GIDL may cause the DRAM device to fail to meet the desired specification.
Accordingly, what is needed is a wordline driver for and method of suppressing a leakage current.


Examples disclosed herein are relevant to systems, methods, and other technology for determining furniture compatibility. For example, graph neural networks (GNNs) that leverage relational information between furniture items in a set may be used as models to predict a compatibility score indicative of visual compatibility of furniture items across the set. In one implementation, the GNN-based model can extend the concept of a siamese network to multiple inputs and branches and use a generalized contrastive loss function. In another implementation, the GNN-based model learns both an edge function and the function that generates the compatibility score. The predicted compatibility score can be used for a variety of purposes, including furniture item recommendations.

The increasing availability of electronic shopping venues (e.g., online retailers or app-based stores), each with ever-expanding catalogs, can increase the difficulty of surfacing specific products that suit the user's interests. Recently, the field of recommender systems have grown to attempt to address this issue. Many recommender systems are based on user-item interactions (e.g. collaborative filtering), which do not typically take into account visual aspects of items. There has also been interest in computer-vision-based solutions to visual compatibility problems for fashion and furniture because visual compatibility can be beneficial to attaining successful recommender systems for fashion outfits and furniture sets.
Many authors have framed the problem of visual compatibility as a metric learning problem. For example, Learning Fashion Compatibility Across Apparel Categories for Outfit Recommendation describes two sub-networks: (1) a siamese network that extracts features for an input pair of images, and (2) a deep metric learning network. Polania and Gupte, arXiv preprint ARXIV:1905.03703 (2019). The whole model is trained end-to-end to derive a notion of compatibility between a pair of items. In Learning Fashion Compatibility with Bidirectional LSTMS, the outfit generation process is modeled as a sequential process through bidirectional LSTMs. Han et al., PROCEEDINGS OF THE 25TH ACM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MULTIMEDIA, pp. 1078-1086 (ACM, 2017). Additionally, Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), have been proposed for fashion, such as in Context-Aware Visual Compatibility Prediction (Cucurull et al., PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER VISION AND PATTERN RECOGNITION, pp. 12617-12626 (2019)) and Dressing as a Whole: Outfit Compatibility Learning Based on Node-Wise Graph Neural Networks (Cui, et al., THE WORLD WIDE WEB CONFERENCE, pp. 307-317 (ACM, 2019)).
Until recently, the problem of furniture compatibility has received less attention. Learning Style Compatibility for Furniture proposed to address style compatibility and classification among categories of furniture using a siamese network and a joint image-text embedding method. Aggarwal, et al., GERMAN CONFERENCE ON PATTERN RECOGNITION, pp. 552-566 (Springer, 2018). And Visual Classification of Furniture Styles proposes to address the style classification problem by creating handcrafted features using standard feature extractors, such as SIFT and HOG, and then applying an SVM classifier. Hu, et al., ACM TRANSACTIONS ON INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY, 8(5):67 (2017). Others have devised models to predict the style compatibility of computer-generated 3D furniture models. See, e.g., T. Liu, et al., Style Compatibility for 3d Furniture Models, ACM TRANSACTIONS ON GRAPHICS 34(4):85 (2015); Lun, et al., Elements of Style: Learning Perceptual Shape Style Similarity, ACM TRANSACTIONS ON GRAPHICS, 34(4):84 (2015); and Pan et al., Deep Model Style: Cross-Class Style Compatibility for 3d Furniture within a Scene, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Big Data, pp. 4307-4313 (IEEE, 2017).

Compatibility based furniture recommendations


A control device and a control method can improve a voltage utilization ratio of an inverter for a green car, in which an input DC voltage of the inverter is modulated by a maximum amount into an output AC voltage of the inverter by changing the output AC voltage incapable of being linearly output into a voltage capable of being linearly output. The control method includes steps of: generating a two-phase current command having two phases of a first current command and a second current command; generating a two-phase voltage command having two phases of a first voltage command and a second voltage command; generating a three-phase pole voltage command; modulating the three-phase pole voltage command into a linear output voltage capable of being linearly output; and calculating a voltage gain value, using the two-phase voltage command and an input DC voltage of the inverter.

(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a control device and a control method for improving a voltage utilization ratio of an inverter for a green car, and more particularly, to a control device and a control method for improving a voltage utilization ratio of an inverter for a green car, which can improve the output and efficiency of a motor system and enhance vehicle fuel efficiency by improving the voltage utilization ratio of the inverter for controlling a driving motor of the green car.
(b) Description of the Related Art
As is known in the art, green cars including an electric vehicle (EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), and the like use electric motors as driving sources for vehicle driving.
In particular, a motor is driven by converting DC power stored in a main battery of a vehicle into three-phase AC power using an inverter, and the driving power of the motor is transmitted to driving wheels, thereby driving the vehicle.
In a motor system including a motor that is a driving source of a green car and an inverter, the inverter is generally configured with a plurality of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). The inverter converts a DC voltage supplied from a battery through switching in response to a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal and supplies the converted voltage as a phase voltage for driving the motor.
The inverter acts as a motor controller, and controls operation of the motor by outputting a final PWM signal using a torque command signal applied from a hybrid control unit (HCU), a battery voltage state applied from the battery, and motor speed information applied from the motor.
However, in above-described conventional method, there is a disadvantage in that an input DC voltage Vdc input to the inverter is used in only a linear section, and therefore, any efficiency and output improvements of the motor system are limited.
In particular, when there is generated a voltage (output AC voltage of the inverter) incapable of being linearly output with respect to the input DC voltage of the inverter, the output of the inverter is limited so that only a linear output is generated. Therefore, the efficiency and output of the motor system are limited.
When the input current of the motor is controlled by improving a voltage utilization ratio of the inverter in a situation in which the output of the inverter is controlled using the conventional method, the motor control stability in a partial region is disadvantageous.

Control device and method for improving voltage utilization ratio of inverter for green car


A method and apparatus for a telephone call routed over a network to include called party identification information personally identifying the called individual such that the called individual is distinguished from any other individual associated with a common telephone number of an end-user device. The telephone call is connected or rerouted based upon the called party identification information. Based on the called party identification information, a call may be automatically routed by the network to an end-user device, and the end-user device may further be provided with the called party identification information. A premises-based end-user device may automatically or by user control route the call based on the called party identification information.

Advances in communications technology, such as switching systems that can support Local Area Signaling Services (LASS) capabilities, Information Services Digital Network (ISDN) protocols, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) standards, have allowed communications carriers to offer a rich set of communications services features to their subscribers. These features include various methods of screening, and forwarding or otherwise rerouting telephone calls. For example, the name or telephone number of the caller party can be displayed on the recipient's telephone (e.g., Caller ID), or telephone calls to a particular telephone number can be automatically forwarded by the telephone network to another destination such as another end-user device or an automated message center.
There also are existing premises-based methods of rerouting telephone calls. For example, premises-based automatic call forwarding, or automated answering systems that allow callers to reroute their telephone call.
The existing methods of call screening and forwarding or rerouting of telephone calls have several disadvantages. One distinct disadvantage with respect to caller ID, for example, is that the caller may be calling from a telephone station which is not necessarily associated with the calling individual, and thus the caller ID information actually does not provide the individual at the called station with any information from which call handling may be decided.
In addition, since an end-user device (e.g., telephone set) is often associated with a single telephone number that is shared by multiple individuals (e.g., family members), neither automatic (i.e., without user intervention in response to the call) network-based nor automatic premises-based call forwarding can practicably be implemented since all individuals will not concurrently and identically invoke call forwarding or otherwise concurrently have the same call forwarding requirements. Concomitantly, from the caller's perspective, the preemption of call forwarding reduces the likelihood that the caller will reach a called individual who shares an end-user device identified by a telephone number associated with at least one other individual.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved and additional call identification and call forwarding systems, and particularly for a method and apparatus that allows a call to be forwarded to a particular called party from among a plurality of individuals associated with a common telephone number, and further for an individual at an end-user device to identify the called party and reroute the call to a different destination, or invoke another call handling procedure, without answering the call.

Method for called party identification and call re-routing


A post-deterioration performance estimating apparatus estimates a post-deterioration performance value indicating performance of an energy storage device at a predetermined deterioration point, wherein discharge capacity of the energy storage device discharging at a predetermined first current is referred to as energy storage capacity, discharge capacity of the energy storage device discharging at a second current of a current value smaller than that of the first current is referred to as small current discharge capacity, a relational expression on relation among initial capacity of the energy storage device, a first capacity decreased amount obtained by subtracting the small current discharge capacity from the initial capacity, a second capacity decreased amount obtained by subtracting the energy storage capacity from the small current discharge capacity, and a cumulative operating period as a cumulative value of operating periods of the energy storage device is referred to as a first relational expression, and the post-deterioration performance estimating apparatus includes a post-deterioration performance estimator configured to estimate the post-deterioration performance value at the deterioration point in accordance with the first relational expression and the cumulative operating period at the deterioration point.

An energy storage device like a lithium-ion secondary battery had been used as a power source of mobile equipment such as a notebook computer or a mobile phone. The energy storage device has been recently applied to wider fields and has been used as a power source of an electric vehicle. Such an energy storage device requires a technique for accurate estimation of discharge capacity (battery capacity) in a certain deterioration state.
There have been conventionally proposed techniques for estimation of discharge capacity of an energy storage device (see Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1, for example). Patent Document 1 discloses estimation of battery capacity according to the law (linear law) that a battery capacity retention ratio decreases in proportion to a battery cumulative operating period. Non-Patent Document 1 discloses estimation of battery capacity according to the law (root law) that a battery capacity retention ratio decreases slowly as a cumulative operating period elapses.

Post-deterioration performance estimating apparatus and post-deterioration performance estimating method for energy storage device, and energy storage system


A starter assist device for an engine has a first rotatable member for rotating a shaft of the engine in a starting direction. The starter assist device also has a second rotatable member arranged to rotate relative to the first rotatable member in a non-starting direction, and further arranged to rotate in conjunction with the first rotatable member in the starting direction. The starter assist device includes an energy transfer assembly having a torque supply for rotating the second rotatable member in the non-starting direction and an energy storage mechanism arranged to alternately store and release a quantity of energy used when rotating the second rotatable member in the non-starting direction. The energy storage mechanism is arranged to release the quantity of energy to rotate the second rotatable member in the starting direction, thereby causing the first rotatable member to rotate the shaft of the engine.

Engines are traditionally started (or "fired") by a starter motor which converts electrical energy provided by a battery into mechanical energy. This mechanical energy turns the engine until a combustion process within a plurality of cylinders is initiated to provide energy so that the engine can sustain rotation under its own power. This process was generally considered sufficient. However, newer engine management systems demonstrate a desire to shut off the engine when a vehicle comes to a complete stop, and to restart the engine when an operator indicates that forward movement is again desired. In such an application, it is desirable to fire an engine rapidly. A traditional starter motor typically provides insufficient energy to accomplish this goal.
Thus, there exists a need for a starter assist device capable of overcoming these and other disadvantages.


A memory 201 comprising an array 302 of memory cells, an address decoder 303, 305 for accessing a selected one of the cells in response to at least one address bit, and a programmable array 311 for selectively presenting the at least one address bit to the address decoder 303, 305 in response to a control signal.

The typical semiconductor memory includes an array of memory cells organized in intersecting rows and columns. The cells along each row in the array are coupled to a conductive wordline whose voltage is controlled by an associated row decoder. The cells of each column are coupled to at least one bitline, which is in turn coupled to and controlled by a sense amplifier and a column decoder. During an access, a row address is presented to the row decoder to activate (select) the cells of a corresponding row in the array. Data is then exchanged (read or written) with a location, comprising one or more cells along the selected row, through the corresponding sense amplifier(s) and the column decoder in response to a column address.
In the case of a dynamic random access memory (DRAMs), memory operations, including accesses, are timed by a master clock CLK, (synchronized), a row address strobe (/RAS) and a column address strobe (/CAS). Two periods, an active cycle and a precharge cycle, together constitute one random cycle. First, /RAS and /CAS allow for the word-serial input of row and column addresses from a multiplexed address bus. Second, /RAS times the active and precharge cycles. When /RAS is in a logic high state, the DRAM device is in a precharge, during which the nodes of various dynamic circuits, such as those used in the column and row decoders, are brought to a predetermined voltage. Most importantly, during the precharge cycle the bitlines of the cell array are voltage equalized. Then, with the falling edge of /RAS, the device enters the active state and the row address presented to the address pins is latched into the address latches. After a very small delay for set up, the column address is presented at the address pins and latched-in to the address latches with /CAS. A short time thereafter the addressed cells (location) can be accessed (i.e. a "random access" can be performed). During page mode accesses, additional column addresses are input with additional falling edges of /CAS (i.e. /CAS cycling) to access a series of locations or "pages" along the selected row. At the end of the active state, /RAS returns to a logic high state and the device re-enters precharge.
Similar accessing schemes are used in other types of volatile memories, such as static random access memories (SRAMs), as well as non-volatile memories, such as electrically-programmable read-only memories (EPROMs). The only significant differences between the access operations of these devices and the DRAM discussed above is in the actual circuit construction. For example, while DRAMs are normally constructed from dynamic circuitry and operate in the precharge and active states described above in order to save power, SRAMs are typically designed for speed and are therefore normally constructed from static circuitry and operate in a single active cycle.
In each type of conventional semiconductor memory however, the row and column decoders are hardwired such that a given row or column address always selects only one corresponding row or column in the array. Conversely, a given row or column in the array must always be selected using the same row or column address. Thus, because the address decoders are hardwired, an address selecting a given row/column of cells cannot be "moved" and used to address another row/column of cells. Only means by which data can be moved from one location to another is by changing the address as required to access that data at the new location.
The hardwired address decoders of presently available memory devices create substantial disadvantages in many memory applications, such as the construction and operation of the main memory subsystem of information processing systems. In particular, fixed address memories are inefficient when used in the system (main) memory of PC systems running the popular operating systems and applications software. In these systems, each of the memory devices normally has the identical address space which makes individual chip accessing difficult, in light of limitations on the CPU and software operations, when a small amount of main memory is repeatedly and continually required.
Most often, the operating system, in conjunction with the CPU and application software, generates addresses to access (read from or write to) memory as is most convenient to execute a given task. In view of the relative inexpensiveness of memory, efficient use of memory becomes a secondary consideration next to system operating performance. In fact, typically, execution of a given instruction always associates a given piece of data, such as an operand called for by that instruction, with a particular address to memory. Thus, during the execution of the instructions required for a given task, the operating system and CPU may generate addresses which, because of the fixed nature of the address decoding within the memory devices of the system memory, results in data being accessed to locations distributed across multiple chips. This distribution of data throughout the system memory takes place, even though the type of task being performed and/or the type of data being operated on suggests that the required accesses would be more efficient if made to fewer chips, if not a single chip. Further, even when the addresses are to the same chip, the majority of the time the resulting accesses are not to the same page, and as a result multiple random accesses are still required rather than more efficient page accesses.
In sum, in currently available PC systems, memory efficiency is at the mercy of the CPU and the operating system in light of the fixed addressing of conventional memory devices. Among other things, the fixed addressing scheme of presently available memory devices prevents accesses to non-contiguous memory spaces to be redirected to a contiguous memory space. In particular, no means are available for redirecting addresses such that data required for a given operation or task can be accessed from a single chip, let alone a single page in a single chip.
Thus, the need has arisen for memory devices with programmable decoders and systems and methods using the same. Such memories, systems and methods should allow memory accesses to be optimized and unused memory space minimized.

Memories with programmable address decoding and systems and methods using the same


An optical system has a virtual lens comprising an array of image sensors and processor in communication with the virtual lens and configured to focus the at least one virtual lens by way of mathematical image processing of a dynamic object plane.

This disclosure is in the field of optical systems and, in particular, optical systems that are not fixed-focal length lens-centric or require mechanical means for focusing.
There are a lot of optical systems that we encounter in our daily lives. The cameras in our phones are optical systems based on a lens and an image sensor. There are surveillance cameras around our homes, places of work and public facilities that are similarly based on an optical lens system and an image sensor. There are military and other government agencies with more sophisticated surveillance systems that are based on the same optical systems. There are large telescopes that are more complex optical systems that are used for deep space observation.
These prior art optical systems have limitations. The main limitation is they rely on lenses with fixed focal lengths. They rely on mechanical means of moving lenses for focusing. The lens based optical system can only be focused on one object at a time. They also tend to be only usable to one user at a time. If the image is connected to the internet or a monitor others can see what the user is seeing but they have no control to focus in on another object of interest to them. We also have artificial intelligence ("AI") systems that use optical systems for gathering data for a verity of applications but the focus is fixed or is mechanically controlled via electronic motors by the AI.


A transactional replication system wherein each replicated command applies to a single row as identified by the primary key, replicated commands are dispatched among multiple connections by hashing of primary key from a single command queue to ensure that changes to the same data row are always dispatched to the same connection to maintain the order of commands as originally occurred on publisher. All connections commit their transactions at the same time in a coordinated fashion without a two phase commit. Retry logic based on a logical sequence number is used to reapply commands from any connection that fails to commit.

Replication is the capability to copy data and changes to that data from one database to another. FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of conventional transactional replication. A Publisher 200 is a server or database that sends its data to another server or database. The Publisher 200 may contain publication/publications that are a collection of one or more articles that are sent to a subscriber server or database. In transactional replication, an article is what is to be replicated, and may be an entire table, select rows from a table, specified columns from a table or a stored procedure.
A Distributor 202 manages the flow of data through the replication system. The distributor 202 contains a distribution database that tracks the changes (to publications) that need to be replicated from publishers 200. A publisher 200 may act as its own distributor 202, or a remote database server can be used to hold the distribution database.
A Subscriber(s) 204 is a server or database that receives data from the publisher 200 or other database. A subscription is the group of data that a server or database 204 will receive. This can be one or more publications. There are push and pull subscriptions. A push subscription is subscription when the publishing server will periodically push transactions out to the subscribing server or database. A pull subscription is subscription when the subscribing server will periodically connect to the distribution database and pull information.
In conventional transactional replication, replicated commands are typically applied through a single connection 203 at the subscriber, as shown in FIG. 1. While a single connection ensures the transactions will be applied at the subscriber in the exact order as the transactions occur on the publisher, there are performance losses with this method, especially when requests are from a heavily loaded publisher.
In addition, conventional replication technique utilizes triggers when an insert, update, or delete operation occurs, to keep track of changes made to published table. This adds additional overhead to Publisher 200 because of the triggers. Thus, there is a need for increasing the performance of transactional replication systems, while reducing overhead costs and ensuring that transactions are properly applied at the subscriber. The present invention provides such a solution.

System and method of distributing replication commands


The present invention is an orientation flat aligner for preventing the angle deviation of the flat edge of the wafer. This invention applies two new designs to the aligner: (1) The two parallel rollers with different radius instead of two parallel rollers the same radii prevent the problem of the angle deviation to line up the flat edge of the wafer. (2) placing the photosensor on the orientation flat aligner instead of on the sensor bracket avoids the detection error because of the photosensor position relate to the orientation flat aligner position and saves time on checking whether the flat edge of the wafer line up or not.

Generally, the wafers are moved into the furnace by the carrier. There is a carrier I.sub.(input) /O.sub.(output) port on the furnace. FIG. 1 shows the front view of the furnace. From the FIG. 1, the carrier I/O port is located on the middle position of the furnace. It is the rectangular opening for placing two carriers 14. A stage is under the carrier I/O port and as a base to support the carrier. There are two sets of orientation flat aligner in the stage 15. FIG. 2 shows the cross-section view of the furnace. FIG. 3 shows the cross-section view of magnifying the stage 15 and the carrier I/O port. The carrier 14 includes one cassette and four piers. There is a photosensor bracket among the four piers. The stage includes two orientation flat aligners 20.
FIG. 4 shows the front view ofthe orientation flat aligner. An orientation flat aligner includes four devices: one fixed shell 22, two rollers 24, wafer counters 26, and a driver 28. The driver 28 contains a ring roller 30 connected to the power supplier of the furnace and a belt tied with the driving roller and the two rollers as shown in FIG. 5. When the power supplier supplies the energy to the driving roller, the driving roller will rotate and drive the two rollers to work by the belt. FIG. 6 shows the top view of the orientation flat aligner. The outline oftwo rollers is serrated from the FIG. 6. This is because the rollers 24 combine with two different radius rings, as shown in FIG. 7. Generally, the wafers were placed on the depressed part of the roller and secured by the bigger rings of the roller. The stage 15 is a hollow fixed structure. An orientation flat aligner 20 will be elevated from the stage to the photosensor bracket 19 when the orientation flat aligner begin work. The photosensor bracket includes a photosensor 32 and a reflecting plate 34. When the orientation fiat aligner is elevated, the rollers will raise the wafers up a little bit to rotate the wafers to made the flat edge of the wafers line up. After the fiat edge ofthe wafers lines up, the orientation flat aligner will move down to the stage position and then the photosensor employ infrared ray to check the result. If the flat edge of the wafers line up, the infrared ray can reach the reflecting plate 34 through the path 33 and reflect back the photosensor through the path 35, as shown in FIG. 8.
The operating procedure of conventional orientation flat aligner of the furnace: (1) Put carrier into the carrier I/O port. (2) Elevate the orientation fiat aligner to the upstage position, the position of photosensor bracket. (3) Rotate the parallel rollers of orientation flat aligner about forty seconds. (4) Count the number of the wafers by the wafer counters. (5) Move the orientation flat aligner down to the stage position. (6) Check the flat edge of the wafers by the photosensor on the photosensor bracket. (7) If the flat edge of the wafers do not line up, repeat the procedure from the second step to the sixth step until the the flat edge of the wafers line up. After the flat edge of the wafers line up, the wafers are loaded on the boat to continent the next process.
There are two disadvantages about the conventional orientation flat aligner. One is the two parallel rollers with the same size. In normal condition, when the flat edge of the wafers line up, there are two degree angle deviation occurred on the right hand by arrows 37 in the FIG. 9. Ifthe flat edge ofthe wafer has touched on the rollers when the wafer loaded on the carrier were placed into the carrier I/O port, it is no useful to rotate roller to make the flat edge of the wafer reach the correct position. Thus, the undesired condition will happen as shown in FIG. 10. The undesired condition is that the angle deviation about two degrees occur on the left hand, indicated by arrow 38. This condition will make the wafers drop or break when the flow rate of gas is too strong or the boat moves in the furnace. The another is the photosensor located on the photosensor bracket. The photosensor detect the the flat edge of the wafers whether the flat edge of the wafers line up or not, after the rollers stop rotating and then the orientation flat aligner move back the stage. If the flat edge of the wafers do not line up, repeat the procedure from the second step to the sixth step until the flat edge of the wafers line up. This design which the photosensor are not separated from the orientation flat aligner wastes time for checking the flat edge ofthe wafers and increases the mis -detection chance to damage the wafers.

Wafer aligner apparatus using different diameter rollers

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation