The present invention provides an image display device in which it is possible to obtain an image display of high brightness and high contrast by preventing the halation which may be generated in a peripheral portion of a display image. By providing a carbon film which attenuates the reentry of secondary electrons, which are generated when electron beams impinge on an anodes, to a back surface of the anode, even when primary electrons impinge on the anode, the secondary electrons are hardly emitted from the anode. At the same time, a trace amount of emitted secondary electrons are mainly formed of electrons having a small energy. Hence, these emitted secondary electrons are scattered and hardly reenter the anode.

The present invention relates in general to an image display device of the type which utilizes the emission of electrons in a vacuum which is created between a face substrate and a back substrate; and, more particularly, the invention relates to a secondary electron emission suppression structure which can reduce the reentry of secondary electrons that are generated when electron beams impinge on an anode.
As a display device which exhibits high brightness and high definition, color cathode ray tubes have been widely used conventionally. However, along with the recent demand for images of higher quality in information processing equipment or television broadcasting, the demand for planar displays (panel displays), which are light in weight and require a small space, while exhibiting high brightness and high definition, has been increasing.
As typical examples, liquid crystal display devices, plasma display devices and the like have been put into practice. More particularly, as display devices which can produce a higher brightness, various kinds of panel-type display devices, including a display device which utilizes an emission of electrons from electron sources into a vacuum (hereinafter referred to as "an electron emission type display device" or "a field emission type display device", and also as a "FED") and an organic EL display, which is characterized by low power consumption, have been commercialized.
Among such panel type display devices, such as the above-mentioned field emission type display device, particularly, a display device having an electron emission structure, which was invented by C. A. Spindt et al, a display device having an electron emission structure of a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) type, a display device having an electron emission structure which utilizes an electron emission phenomenon based on a quantum theory tunneling effect (also referred to as a "surface conduction type electron source"), and a display device which utilizes an electron emission phenomenon having a diamond film, a graphite film or carbon nanotubes have been known.
The field emission type image display device includes a back substrate, on which cathode lines are formed which have field-emission-type electron sources and control electrodes on an inner surface thereof, and a face substrate, on which anodes and phosphors are formed on an inner surface thereof which faces the back substrate in an opposed manner. These substrates are laminated to each other with a sealing frame interposed between the inner peripheries thereof, and the inside defined by both substrates and the sealing frame is evacuated to create a vacuum therein. The above-mentioned control electrodes are arranged to cross the cathode lines by way of an insulation layer or an insulation gap.
Further, in the above-mentioned control electrodes, a single hole or a plurality of holes, which allow electrons emitted from the electron sources formed on the cathode lines to pass therethrough, are formed for every pixel. Further, for maintaining a given distance between the back substrate and the face substrate, distance holding members may be provided between the back substrate and the face substrate. The distance holding members for maintaining a given distance between the back substrate and the face substrate are, for example, formed of a thin plate made of glass or ceramics and are arranged in an erect manner at positions which avoid the pixels.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the vicinity of one pixel for illustrating the basic structure of an FED. In FIG. 7, the FED includes a back panel PN1, on which cathode lines CL are formed having cathodes K position thereon which constitute field-emission-type electron sources and on which control electrodes G are formed on an inner surface of a back substrate SUB1, and a face panel PN2, on which phosphors PHS, a black matrix BM and an anode ADE are formed on an inner surface of a face substrate SUB2, which faces the back panel PN1 in an opposed manner and which has a light transmitting property. The back panel PN1 and the face panel PN2 are laminated to each other with a sealing frame interposed between the inner peripheries of both of the panels PN1, PN2, thus forming a vacuum vessel (envelope), the inside of the vacuum vessel being evacuated to create a vacuum therein. Here, with respect to this type of technology, for example, examples of such display devices are described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Hei10(1998)-134701 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication 2000-306508.
In an FED having such a constitution, the control electrodes G, which form electron passing holes EHL, are arranged between the cathodes K, formed on the cathode lines CL provided on the back substrate SUB1, and the anode ADE formed on the face substrate SUB2. By applying given potential difference between the control electrodes G and the cathode lines CL, electrons E are induced from the cathodes K, and the electrons E are allowed to pass through the electron passing holes EHL formed in the control electrodes G and to impinge on the phosphors PHS formed on the anode ADE, thus enabling an image display.
Further, the FED having such a constitution is configured such that the face-to-face distance between the anode ADE and the cathode lines CL is set to approximately several mm. Here, the FED is driven by applying a high voltage, which constitutes an anode voltage Eb (Eb=13±3 kV), to the anode ADE to allow the phosphors PHS to efficiently emit light, by applying a voltage which constitutes a control voltage Eg (Eg=1 kV or below 1 kV) to the control electrodes G, and by applying a cathode voltage Ek (Ek=several 100V) to the cathodes K.
Accordingly, in the FED, the anode voltage Eb is extremely high compared to the respective electrode voltages, and, hence, a steep potential gradient is formed between these voltages. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8, secondary electrons e2, including reflecting electrons, which are generated when primary electrons e1 which form the electron beams impinge on the anode ADE and reenter the anode ADE due to an electric field, excite the neighboring phosphors and cause the phosphors to emit light. Accordingly, in a peripheral portion of the display image which actually emits light, halation attributed to the reentry of the secondary electrons e2 is generated and this phenomenon has been the main cause of the lowering of the contrast.
As a means to overcome such a drawback, there is an image display device in which an aluminum layer is formed over the phosphors PHS, which are formed on the anode ADE in a state in which the film thickness of the aluminum layer is adjusted so as to suppress the reentry efficiency of the secondary electrons into the aluminum layer to 30% or less. Accordingly, the halation can be reduced within a range in which the brightness is slightly lowered, whereby the contrast is enhanced. Here, with respect to this type of technology, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Hei5(1993)-314932 can be cited as an example.
Further, as another means to overcome such a drawback, there is a field emission type display device in which a first conductive layer (an aluminum layer), which constitutes a light reflection layer, and a second conductive layer (a carbon layer), which controls the scattering of the primary electrons, are sequentially formed over the phosphors which are is formed on the anode ADE; and, hence, these layers can simultaneously function as a metal back layer and provide a scattering suppressing function, whereby the contrast and the color purity can be enhanced. Here, with respect to this type of technology, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Hei10(1998)-321169 can be cited as an example.


Polymorphisms at positions 100, 271, 281, 294, 408, 506 or 1432 of the cytochrome P450 enzyme bufuralol-1'-hydroxylase are indicative of the extensive metaboliser/poor metaboliser phenotypes and can be detected using known methods such as amplification of the DNA with the polymerase chain reaction, followed by digestion with a suitable restriction enzyme and analysis by gel electrophoresis. The EM/PM phenotype is relevant to calculating safe or effective drug doses for individuals.

Skoda et al (1988 P.N.A.S. 85, 5240-5243) disclosed an RFLP-based assay which identifies only about 25% of poor metabolisers.
Cytochrome P450-dependent monooxygenases (P450s) are a supergene family of enzymes that catalyse the oxidation of lipophilic chemicals through the insertion of one atom of molecular oxygen into the substrate. They are involved in the metabolism of xenobiotic compounds, and in particular with the clearance of at least 25 drugs, including debrisoquine, sparteine, bufuralol and dextromethorphan. Other drugs whose metabolism is related to the debrisoquine oxidation polymorphism (as of June 1990) include (in the cardiovascular area) metoprolol, timolol, propranolol, perhexilene, N-propylamaline, propafenone, encainide, flecainide and mexiletine, (in the psychiatric area) amitriptyline, imipramine, desipramine, nortriptyline, clomipramine, thioridazine, perphenazine, amiflamine and tomoxitene and (in other areas) codeine, methoxyphenamine and phenformin and possibly also chlorpropamine, melatonin and MPTP. The P450 system is polymorphic in man, and genetic differences in the P450-mediated metabolism of a wide variety of drugs have been clearly demonstrated. The best example of this is the debrisoquine/sparteine polymorphism, (see Ref 1 for a review). Up to 10% of the Caucasian population exhibit the poor metaboliser (PM) phenotype. This is characterised by a significantly reduced ability to metabolise the prototype drug debrisoquine to 4-hydroxydebrisoquine, the metabolism being 10-200 times less than in extensive metabolisers (EMs). The PM phenotype is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, and up to 54% of people are carriers of a mutant allele(s). The PM phenotype leads to impaired clearance of over twenty other commonly prescribed drugs and may result in serious adverse side effects upon their administration. Thus the ability to predict phenotype is an attractive possibility which would be useful in many clinical situations.
Recently the cytochrome P450 isozyme (P450 db1, also called P450 buf 1 or P450 DB) responsible for the metabolism of debrisoquine, sparteine and other compounds related to the polymorphism has been purified from human liver. Immunoquantitation of this protein correlates well with the levels of bufuralol-1'-hydroxylase activity in a series of human livers, bufuralol being a prototype substrate for the db1 isozyme. Furthermore no immuno-reactive db1 protein was detected in liver microsomes of PMs suggesting that the complete or almost complete absence of this protein leads to the PM phenotype. Recent work also provides evidence for the presence of allozymes of P450db1 with altered K.sub.m and V.sub.max probably due to amino acid substitutions. Antibodies against human P450db1 have been found in patients with autoimmune hepatitis type II but the relationship between the debrisoquine polymorphism and the appearance of these autoantibodies is not known.
Gonzalez and coworkers have isolated cDNA clones from libraries made from the livers of EMs and have shown that they encode active P450db1 by expression in COS-1 cells and measurement of bufuralol-1'-hydroxylase activity (2). Sequence analysis shows that P450 db1 belongs to a distinct P450 subfamily, P450IID (3). P450IID cDNA clones were also obtained from libraries made from the livers of PMs and in these cases they appeared to be derived from aberrantly or incompletely spliced mRNAs, and therefore would not be able to encode an active P450db1. Four variants were described: "a" which retains intron 5; "b" which retains intron 6; "b'" which has lost the 3' half of exon 6 in combination with the removal of intron 6; and another cDNA clone from a PM liver, variant "c", which appears to be normally spliced but has several base substitutions and was not characterised further. It was inferred from these studies that the defective mRNAs (cDNAs) were the products of mutant alleles of the P450db1 gene.
The gene encoding P450db1 (CYP2D1) has been located on chromosome 22 and Southern blot analysis shows that there is probably more than one gene/pseudogene within the CYP2D locus based on the amount of DNA hybridizing to the db1 cDNA probe. The CYP2D locus is highly polymorphic, and two alleles, detected using the restriction enzyme XbaI, have been associated with the PM phenotype (44 kb allele and 11.5 kb allele; 4). However, at the present time these restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPS) are not informative in predicting phenotype as they do not identify all PM individuals (4).

Imperial Cancer Research Technology Limited


A light-sensitive material having high light-sensitivity and high contrast and excelling in color reproduction at all light-exposed regions, yellow-image sharpness, magenta-image sharpness, and cyan-image sharpness, and having its sensitivity little deteriorated during storage. The material comprises at least one light-sensitive, silver halide emulsion layer on a support, and contains at least one specified compound which releases a photographically useful group, and a yellow-colored cyan coupler.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material and a method of processing this light-sensitive material. More particularly, the invention relates to a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material containing a novel timing DIR compound and a yellow-colored cyan coupler, and also to a method of processing this light-sensitive material.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a demand for a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material which has high light-sensitivity and excels in sharpness, color reproduction and graininess, which has photographic properties little changing after it has been exposed to light until it is developed, and which can be manufactured at low cost.
As the means to improve the sharpness and color reproduction of such a light-sensitive material, a timing DIR coupler which releases a development-inhibiting compound through two timing groups is known. DIR couplers of this type are disclosed in, for example, JP-A-60-218645 ("JP-A" means Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application), JP-A-61-156127, JP-A-63-37346, JP-A-1-219747, JP-A-1-280755, JP-A-2-230139, Laid-open European Patent Application 348139, Laid-open European Patent Application 354532, and Laid-open European Patent Application 403019. The use of a timing DIR coupler indeed enhances inter-layer effect or edge effect, and improves sharpness and color reproducibility to some extent. However, unless the coupler releases the development-inhibiting compound in an amount sufficient to inhibit development, neither the inter-layer effect nor the edge effect can be sufficient. Further, there are some problems that desirable inter-layer effect cannot be attained if a light-sensitive layer to be inhibited is not developed to same extent or is difficult to develop. Consequently, no sufficient inter-layer effect can be achieved at various layers forming the light-sensitive material, or on all light-exposed portions of the light-sensitive material. In some cases, although inter-layer effect is attained, the coupler-added layers and the adjacent layers have their light-sensitivities decreased, leading to soft gradiation. Further, it has also found that the fog of the light-sensitive material is increased during storage.
The light-sensitive material disclosed in, for example, JP-A-1-319744, and JP-A-61-221748, which contains couplers similar to the yellow-colored cyan coupler of the present invention, is known to have good color reproduction due to the effect which is similar to the above-mentioned inter-layer effect. However, the use of those couplers alone cannot serve to achieve their effect sufficiently on all light-exposed portions of the light-sensitive material. Further, the yellow-colored cyan coupler, hitherto known, is disadvantageous in that the molar extinction coefficient of its yellow dye is small and the coupling activity, thereof is also low.

Silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material, and method of processing the same


An image forming apparatus includes a casing, a cover configured to pivot between a covering position and an exposing position, a shaft portion provided to one of the casing and the cover, a bearing portion provided to the other one, and a retaining mechanism configured to retain the cover at the exposing position. The cover includes a contactable portion configured to, when the cover pivots between the covering position and the exposing position, contact the retaining mechanism. The retaining mechanism includes a retaining member configured to restrict the cover from pivoting from the exposing position to the covering position, and an urging member urging the retaining member toward the contactable portion. The casing includes a frame, the frame including a guide section configured to guide a sheet. The frame of the casing includes one of the shaft portion and the bearing portion and supports the retaining mechanism.

A known electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a body casing and a top cover. The body casing has an upwardly open opening. The top cover is disposed at an upper end of the body casing and is configured to expose and cover the opening. In such an image forming apparatus, the opening is exposed by opening of the top cover and maintenance, e.g., cartridge replacement or removal of a jammed sheet, is performed through the exposed opening. Therefore, it is desired that an unexpected closing of the top cover during maintenance is avoided.
In order to avoid the unexpected closing of the top cover, for example, some known printer includes a retaining mechanism that is configured to retain the top cover at an exposing position where the opening is exposed.
In such a printer, a retaining member of the retaining mechanism is urged upward by a spring member to contact a contactable portion of the top cover from below, thereby retaining the top cover at the exposing position.

Image forming apparatus having casing and retaining mechanism configured to retain cover at position exposing casing


Motion estimation is in each case carried out for the entire image, for that image and for a predetermined number of previous images, with an image motion vector being determined in each case. The images are stored in a memory having been compensated for motion, using the respective image motion vector. A predetermined area of the memory is read in order to form the motion-compensated image.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods and to computer-aided motion compensation in a digitized image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a method and system are known from K Uomori, A. Morimura, H. Ishii, Electronic image stabilization system for video cameras and VCRs, SMPTE Journal, Vol. 101, No. 2, pages 66–75, 1992. In this known method, an image is recorded by a camera, is digitized and is stored. The recorded digitized image has pixels which have associated coding information. The expression coding information means brightness information (luminance information) or color information (chrominance information).
The stored image is enlarged, and the coding information is interpolated between the original pixels in the unenlarged image. "Global" motion estimation, that is to say estimation of the motion of the entire image, and "global" motion compensation are applied to the entire enlarged image. Global motion estimation results in the formation of an image motion vector, which is associated with the enlarged image. A motion-compensated image detail is read from the enlarged image. The expression motion-compensated image detail means an image detail which has been shifted by the determined image motion vector within the enlarged image.
The motion compensation is carried out in order to compensate in particular for a jittering motion of a person when recording an image using a handheld camera.
The procedure known from Uomori, et al. has the particular disadvantage that the enlargement of the image reduces the image resolution of the camera, and this is perceptible as blurring in the motion-compensated image.
It is also known for mechanical means to be used for motion compensation. In an arrangement such as this, mechanical sensors are provided in a camera and measure any motion, for example a jittering motion, to which the camera is subject. A moving lens system is also provided which is controlled as a function of the determined motion such that the motion is compensated for, thus ensuring a stable, motion-compensated image before the image is actually recorded.
However, this technology has the disadvantage that it is considerably heavier due to the additional sensors and due to the lens system. Furthermore, the production of such system is expensive. This technology is therefore unsuitable, especially for small appliances, for example a mobile video telephone.
A block-based image coding method is known in accordance with the H.263 Standard from ITU-T, International Telecommunication Union, Telecommunications Sector of ITU, Draft ITU-T Recommendation H.263, Videocoding for low bitrate communication, May 2, 1996. Further methods for global motion estimation are known from S. B. Balakirsky, R. Chellappa, Performance characterization of image stabilization algorithms, Proc. Int. Conf. On Image Processing, Vol. 2, 3, pages 413–416, 1996, R. Gupta, M. C. Theys, H. J. Siegel, Background compensation and an active-camera motion tracking algorithm, Proc. Of the 1997 Int. Conf on Parallel Processing, pages 431–440, 1997 and D. Wang, L. Wang, Global Motion Parameter Estimation Using a Fast and Robust Algorithm, IEEE Trans. On Circuits and Systems for Video Tech., Vol. 7, No. 5, pages 823–826, 1997.

Computer-assisted motion compensation of a digitized image


Storable water-silica suspensions and methods of cementing well bores are provided. The storable water-silica suspensions are basically comprised of water, silica and an effective amount of a suspending agent selected from the group consisting of colloidal materials, clays and gel forming polymers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storable water-silica suspensions and methods of cementing wells.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hydraulic cement compositions are commonly utilized in subterranean well completion and remedial operations. For example, hydraulic cement compositions are used in primary cementing operations whereby strings of pipe such as casings and liners are cemented in well bores. In performing primary cementing, a hydraulic cement composition is pumped into the annular space between the walls of a well bore and the exterior surfaces of a pipe string disposed therein. The cement composition is permitted to set in the annular space thereby forming an annular sheath of hardened substantially impermeable cement therein. The cement sheath physically supports and positions the pipe string in the well bore and bonds the exterior surfaces of the pipe to the walls of the well bore whereby the undesirable migration of fluids between zones or formations penetrated by the well bore is prevented.
When temperatures in the well bore exceed about 230° F., silica has heretofore been included in the cement composition to prevent cement strength retrogression whereby the strength of the set cement composition decreases and the permeability of the set cement increases. As a result of such strength retrogression, pressurized formation fluids can enter the well bore which is highly disadvantageous.
The degradation of Portland and the equivalent set cement compositions first occurs in the range of from about 210° F. to about 230° F. This degradation has heretofore been prevented by the addition of crystalline silica such as fine silica flour to the cement composition which forms tobermorite gel in the cement composition. The tobermorite is stable up to a temperature in the range of from about 300° F. to about 330° F. To maintain the strength of the cement composition above about 300° F., crystalline silicas such as silica flour or a mixture of silica flour and sand must be present to form truscottolite or xontolite gel in the cement which prevents strength retrogression. Thus, fine silica flour, silica flour, sand, and a mixture of silica flour and sand depending upon the temperature encountered by the cement composition have heretofore been used to prevent strength retrogression of set cement compositions.
Suspensions of micro-silica, fine silica flour, silica flour, sand and mixtures thereof in water have been used heretofore in various applications including in well cements to prevent set cement strength retrogression. The water-silica suspensions are convenient for transferring the silica into a cement composition. That is, the water-silica suspensions can be added to a cement composition mixing water thereby avoiding silica dust which if inhaled is detrimental to human health. The water-silica suspensions can be prepared on shore and shipped to well locations in containers or drums. However, the water-silica suspensions used heretofore settle and separate over time, and as a result, agitating equipment during storage of the suspensions must be utilized to prevent such settling and the formation of hard cake in the bottoms of containers.
Thus, there are needs for improved water-silica suspensions which are highly resistant to settling and which after being stored can simply and easily be stirred and poured prior to use.


In accordance with one embodiment, a color erasing apparatus comprises a reading section, a storage section and a control section. The reading section reads an image formed on a sheet to acquire image data. The storage section stores the image data acquired by the reading section. The control section determines whether or not there exists a mark in the image data, and carries out a control to, in a case in which there exists a mark in the image data, delete the image data read by the reading section from the storage section if it is determined that there exists a mark and the image data acquired by the reading section coincides with the image data stored through the processing of an image forming apparatus when determining whether or not the image data read by the reading section coincides with the image data stored in the storage section in advance, or store the image data read by the reading section in the storage section if it is determined that the image data doesn't coincide with each other.

Conventionally, before erasing a color-erasable toner image formed on a sheet, an erasing apparatus scans the sheet to store the image information formed on the sheet.
Further, in an image forming apparatus, an image formed on a sheet is converted to an electronic data image and stored during a copy or FAX process.
However, if stored in an image forming apparatus and thereby stored in an erasing apparatus, the same image information is stored repeatedly.

Color erasing apparatus deciding whether or not to store read image data, image storage method and image storage system


A technology provides a function capable of passively utilizing a multiplicity of contents on networks. An information processing system includes a storage unit storing information, and a control unit. The control unit searches locating information for locating where data exists, and judges whether or not the data located by the locating information comes under a predetermined category. When the data is judged to come under the predetermined category, the storage unit stores the locating information and collects pieces of locating information for locating where the data exist.

The present invention relates to an information processing system and an information collecting method of collecting pieces of information related to contents on a network, and also to a computer program.
With developments of computers and communication technologies, users become able to access a variety of resources in a network such as the Internet etc. The contents in a variety of categories such as animated images (motion pictures), sounds (including music data and vocal sounds), still images (still pictures), character data and soon, are provided on the network.
Further, a majority of terminal devices come to connect to the network at all times owing to a reduction in communication charges. Under such an environment, there arises a desire for utilizing the contents on the network as by the conventional TV and radio. This is because the animated images and sounds on the network contain the same categories of contents as those provided by TV programs and radio programs.
The TV and radio, however, upon switch-on and predetermined settings, provide the contents in accordance with a program schedule without any active operation of a user. While on the other hand, the user, when accessing the contents on the network, needs the active operation.
Namely, the user, before utilizing the contents on the network, must trace the information on the network by an interactive operation. Therefore, even though the computers and networks have widely spread, the user is unable to simply passively utilize the contents on the network as by the TV and radio.

Information processing system, terminal device, method and medium


Techniques for establishing and enforcing row level database security are presented. Qualifiers are used to uniquely identify particular rows of a database table. The qualifiers are selectively combined to generate a hash value. The hash value is associated with a user. The user is permitted to accesses selective rows of the database table in response to the rows represented in the hash value, which is associated with the user.

Enterprises are increasingly capturing, storing, and mining a plethora of information related to communications with their customers. Often this information is stored and indexed within databases. Once the information is indexed, queries are developed on an as-needed basis to mine the information from the database for a variety of organizational goals: such as planning, analytics, reporting, etc.
Some information included in the database is confidential, such that an enterprise or an individual may desire to maintain security with respect to accessing and modifying certain information included within the database. Often entire database tables have access to their information restricted based on identifiers of certain users or based on certain roles that users assume when they are authenticated to the database.
Generally, access to resources of a database is restricted at a user-level of granularity. So, if a table of information is accessible to a user, then that entire table is usually accessible to the user. Likewise, if a table is not accessible to a user, then the entire table is probably not accessible to the user. In fact, there is little ability to restrict access to sub portions of a database table. Moreover, even when access is arguably capable of being restricted to sub portions of the table, the table itself often carries security identifiers to enforce security at a sub portion level of granularity. The problem with this approach is that the table can become untoward when access security is carried within the table. This is especially so when updates and/or changes are frequently made to the table, or when the information carried with and security associated with the table is voluminous.
In still other approaches, specific enterprise applications may be developed to sit on top of or monitor the database. These applications may provide security at a sub table portion level of granularity within the database, but they are application specific or application centric. That is, they are not database centric meaning they are not geared to be managed and handled from the point of view a specific piece of data included within the database. These techniques alter interfaces associated with accessing the database to include limitations to enforce more granular security. However, if a user can view and edit the modified interfaces, such as modified SQL statements, then the security can be potentially circumvented and compromised.
Thus, it can be seen that improved and more efficient mechanisms for granular database security are needed.


Watermark symbol detection requires a detection metric for deciding at decoder side which candidate symbol is embedded inside the audio or video signal content. The invention provides an improved detection metric processing that achieves a reliable detection of watermarks in the presence of additional noise and echoes, and that is adaptive to signal reception conditions and requires a decreased computational power. This is performed by taking into account the information contained in the echoes of the received audio signal in the decision metric and comparing it with the corresponding metric obtained from decoding a non-marked audio signal, based on recursive calculation of false positive detection rates of peaks in correlation result values. The watermark symbol corresponding to the reference sequence having the lowest false positive error is selected as the embedded one.

EP 2175443 A1 discloses a statistical detector that is used for detecting watermark data within an audio signal. Multiple peaks in a correlation result values sequence of length N (resulting from a correlation of a reference sequence with a corresponding section of the received audio signal) are taken into account for improving the detection reliability. The basic steps of this statistical detector are:                Find peak values ν1 ≧. . . ≧νM in the correlation result values sequence for each candidate watermark symbol, where M is the number of peaks taken into consideration.        Calculate the false positive probability denoted as P(M) for the M peak values that the candidate watermark symbol is embedded.        The candidate watermark symbol with the lowest probability P(M) is selected as current watermark symbol.
P(M) is the probability of falsely accepting a candidate watermark symbol. It describes the probability of M or more correlation result values in an unmarked case (i.e. no watermark is present in the corresponding original signal section) being greater than or equal to the actual M peak values under consideration.

Method and apparatus for detecting which one of symbols of watermark data is embedded in a received signal


Methods and systems are provided. A sending device offers to provide a graphic image to a receiving device by way of a network. The receiving device responds by providing desired parameters including an overall file size to the sending device. A data file formatted according to the desired parameters is provided to the receiving device. The sending device or another entity can be the source of the data file.

Users of various electronic devices such as digital cameras, laptop computers, etc., often seek to exchange graphic images such as photographs, video segments and the like. Such devices are often coupled to each other through networks such as the Internet. A problem arises when a source image file is defined by one or more characteristics that are incompatible with; or otherwise undesirable to, a proposed receiving device.
Accordingly, the embodiments described hereinafter were developed in the interest of addressing the foregoing matters.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A device for detecting a wheel speed includes a comparator that converts a sine-wave output signal Sp of a wheel speed sensor into a binary wheel speed signal Sb. Here, the threshold value Vth of the comparator is continuously increased in response to a period in which the sine-wave output signal Sp is greater than the threshold value Vth, and is continuously decreased in response to a period in which the sine-wave output signal Sp is smaller than the threshold value Vth.

Recently, electronic devices using a CPU and sensors have been mounted on many vehicles to meet the social needs for advanced intelligence and safety for automobiles. In particular, a wheel speed sensor has been used as a basic sensor for enhancing various controls, intelligence and safety for vehicles. A device for detecting the wheel speed that uses the wheel speed sensor must use a filter. The frequency characteristics of a low-pass filter for processing analog signals must be precisely determined. Therefore, it is important to precisely set a circuit constant that is determined by a capacitor and a resistor. To decrease the size, the device for detecting the wheel speed must be realized in the form of an IC. Among the circuit constants in the filter, the resistors can be formed in the form of a MOS integrated circuit in small sizes, but the capacitors cannot be highly precisely constituted in the MOS integrated circuit. Moreover, their sizes cannot be decreased as that of the resistors. In the conventional devices, therefore, capacitors having precise capacitances are attached as external parts of an IC to solve the problem of precision in the filter circuit constant. A device for detecting the wheel speed having the above circuit constitution has been disclosed in JP-A-2000-2553.
In the above device for detecting the wheel speed, too, however, capacitors have been attached to the outer side for determining the constant of the filter circuit. Therefore, the device is not integrated in a perfect all-in-one form, and the size cannot be decreased any more. Moreover, the capacitors attached to the outer side cause an increase in the number of places of physical connection such as soldering. This affects reliability and makes it difficult to decrease the cost since the capacitors attached to the outer side must have highly precise capacities.


A COA substrate, a display panel, and a display device are provided. A pixel photoresist layer is arranged on a passivation layer of the COA substrate; an organic layer and a pixel electrode layer are sequentially arranged on the pixel photoresist layer; and each pixel electrode of the pixel electrode layer is configured to have a planar structure completely covering the organic layer; each planar pixel electrode is arranged with a through hole; and the through hole penetrates the pixel electrode layer.

Display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and organic electroluminescent devices (OLEDs) have become a necessity in people's lives. Meanwhile, as people's demands increase, to improve the display quality of a display device and avoid the problem that a deviation of an array substrate and a color film substrate, when oppositely arranged to from a cell, affects the aperture ratio of the display device and results in light leakage, Color Filter on Array (COA for short) just emerges, and this COA technology is intended to place a color photoresist layer (RGB) on an array substrate. Since the COA substrate has no problem of light leakage caused by alignment, it can effectively reduce the width of a black matrix, thereby increasing the pixel aperture ratio and further increasing panel transmittance.
On the one hand, the preparation of RGB in a COA substrate will increase the thickness of the entire substrate, which further brings about the problem of residual gas, especially for those resin materials with a large amount of out gas. The residual gas will not only damage display quality, but also greatly extend the time required for oppositely arranging an array substrate and a color filter substrate to form a cell.
On the other hand, when a COA substrate in the related art uses an IPS, TN, ADS or VA mode, generally a pixel electrode thereof is correspondingly arranged in a sheet-like manner according to the remaining hierarchical structures or can cover only a partial region of a single pixel, and such method is not conducive to cost reduction or mass production although it has characteristics.
Therefore, the COA substrate in the related art is not only disadvantageous in cost reduction and mass production, but also can hardly solve the problem of residual gas effectively.

COA substrate, display panel and display device

CHONGQING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A new and distinct variety of grapevine plant named ‘SV35-182-213’ particularly characterized by its large, crisp, sweet berries with muscat flavor. The natural cluster size is medium, eliminating the need to hand trim the clusters. The vines are very responsive to exogenous gibberellic acid application and trunk girdling and produce berries which are about 30% larger than natural size. Vines are fruitful when spur pruned to two buds per cane with new shoots producing one or two clusters per shoot.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of grapevine botanically known as Vitis vinifera and hereinafter referred to as grapevine named 'SV35-182-213'. As used herein, 'grapevine' refers to all plant parts including vines, shoots, canes, tendrils, leaves, fruit and roots of 'SV35-182-213'. Grapevine named 'SV35-182-213' is the result of an effort to produce a crisp, sweet seedless table grape with muscat flavor. This new grapevine variety originated from a cross conducted in May 2014 near McFarland, Calif. between female parent grapevine named 'SV21-66-226' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,531) and male parent grapevine named 'SV27-82-371' (unpatented). Resultant ovules from the cross were harvested 42 days after pollination and cultured on McCown's Wood Plant Medium. Subsequently, the resultant embryonic plants were extracted from those ovules and were cultured in the same medium in the laboratory under twelve hours of light from standard fluorescent lamps at 27 C. The seedlings from this effort were transplanted to the greenhouse in November of 2014 and grown at 27 C with 12 hours illumination under high pressure sodium vapor lamps. The seedling population of 75 seedlings was planted in the field in the spring of 2015 near Delano, Calif. The new grapevine was selected from this seedling population on Jul. 8, 2017. It was then propagated by cuttings and was bench grafted to 'Freedom' (unpatented) rootstock in 2018. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through two successive asexual propagations.
Grapevine named 'SV35-182-213' differs from its female parent grapevine named 'SV21-66-226' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,531) in that grapevine named 'SV35-182-213' has berries with an elliptic shape as opposed to the ovate shape of grapevine named 'SV21-66-226' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,531). Additionally, grapevine named 'SV35-182-213' ripens in late July whereas grapevine named 'SV21-66-226' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,531) ripens in the second week of August in the Delano, Calif. area.
Grapevine named 'SV35-182-213' differs from its male parent, grapevine named 'SV27-82-371' (unpatented) by having elliptic berries which are crisp while grapevine named 'SV27-82-371' (unpatented) has berries which are spherical and slightly soft in texture.
Grapevine named 'SV35-182-213' is most similar to commercially available commercial cultivar 'Sheegene-21' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,837) but differ from it in that the clusters of grapevine named 'SV35-182-213' are smaller with about 80 berries per cluster while commercial cultivar 'Sheegene-21' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,837) have about 156 berries per cluster. Additionally, grapevine named 'SV35-182-213' ripens in early August while commercial cultivar 'Sheegene-21' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 23,837) ripens in early July.


There is provided a polyester resin including: moieties of dicarboxylic acid components including terephthalic acid; and moieties of diol components including 5 to 60 mole % of isosorbide, 10 to 80 mole % of a cyclohexanedimethanol, and the balance of other diol compounds, wherein the polyester resin has an intrinsic viscosity of 0.5 to 1.0 dl/g and oxygen permeability of less than 20 cc*mm/(m2*day*atm), as measured by ASTM D 3985, and There is also provided a method for preparing the polyester resin, including: esterifying diol components including 5 to 60 mole % of isosorbide, 10 to 80 mole % of a cyclohexanedimethanol, and the balance of other diol compounds, with dicarboxylic acid components including terephthalic acid in the presence of an esterification reaction catalyst including a zinc compound; adding a phosphorus-based stabilizer to the esterification reaction mixture at the time when the degree of esterification reaches at least 80%; and subjecting the esterification reaction product to polycondensation.

Generally, polyester resins are prepared by reacting aromatic and aliphatic dicarboxylic acids with diol compounds. Polyester resins have excellent physical and chemical properties, are highly soluble in general solvents, are highly flexible, have good adhesion to a broad range of materials and good coating workability, etc. Due to these advantages, polyester resins are used in various applications, such as for fibers, films, and adhesives.
However, previously known polyester resins have poor resistance to chemicals, for example, surfactants, to which humans are frequently exposed in practical life, have colors and appearance properties unsuitable for use in particular applications, and have insufficient impact strength. Attempts to solve such problems of polyesters have been made through many methods, for example, methods including adding various starting materials, monomers, or additives in the course of synthesis, or methods including mixing with other resins. Particularly, previous synthetic fibers or synthetic resin products obtained from polyesters tend to yellow in appearance. In attempts to hide or counteract such appearance properties, methods associated with the use of additives such as cobalt-based colorants have been generally used.
It is known that in the synthesis of a polyester resin, the degree of polymerization of the final polyester resin or the proportions of raw materials present in the main chain of the resin vary depending on the reactivity of the raw materials during esterification or transesterification and on the degree of vaporization of the raw materials during polycondensation. Particularly, when it is intended to synthesize a polyester resin using a secondary or tertiary alcohol as a diol component, a sufficiently long reaction time is required or a very low reaction yield is obtained.
A method for synthesizing a polyester resin using an alcohol such as 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol or isosorbide as a reactant has been known in recent years. According to this method, however, the use of the secondary alcohol makes it difficult to achieve a high reaction yield and a markedly improved degree of polymerization of the resin. A polyester resin synthesized by such a method fails to sufficiently ensure physical properties such as heat resistance, chemical resistance, and impact resistance above optimum levels, or does not have appropriate appearance properties in terms of color, transparency, etc.
Thus, there is a need to develop a method for preparing a polyester resin with improved physical properties and excellent appearance properties, by which the efficiency of the polymerization reaction and the residual rate of raw materials in the final product can be increased.

Polyester resin and method for preparing the same


Simplified XPath evaluation in Extensible Markup Language (XML) document validation. XML schema is compiled into a one dimensional array of schema nodes, where a schema node represents a complex/simple type definition in the XML scheme. Identity constraints are processed during compilation and Xpath expressions within these constraints are extracted and parsed. Further, these Xpath expressions are evaluated at compilation time to identify the schema nodes corresponding to the XML nodes referred in the identity constraints. The identity constraints are then enforced at runtime without the need to evaluate the Xpath expressions at the runtime.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to information processing and more particularly validating Extensible Markup Language (XML) documents.
2. Prior Art
Over the last few years, the use of XML as a data exchange format has increased tremendously. XML schema is a language or a model for describing the structure and constraining the contents of an XML document. The constraints defined for the XML documents follow the basic syntax constraints imposed by XML. An XML schema provides a view of an XML document at a relatively high level of abstraction.
There are languages developed specifically to express XML schemas. The Document Type Definition (DTD) language, which is native to the XML specification, is a schema language that is of relatively limited capability, but has other uses in XML aside from the expression of schemas. Another very popular and more expressive XML schema language is XML Schema standardized by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The mechanism for associating an XML document with an XML schema varies according to the schema language. The process of checking to find out if an XML document conforms to an XML schema is called validation. XML Documents are considered valid if the XML documents satisfy the requirements of the XML schema with which they have been associated.
In a typical XML document validation, there may be identity constraints which need to be identified and evaluated. Identity constraint definitions provide for uniqueness and reference constraints with respect to the contents of multiple elements and attributes. Identity constraints in XML schema are expressed using 'unique', 'key' and 'keyref' constructs. The construct 'unique' is used to specify that a particular element or attribute value, or a combination of one or more of these, is unique within the given scope of an element. The construct 'key' can serve the same purpose as 'unique'. However, the 'key' construct in combination with 'keyref' construct allows one to specify referential integrity constraints. In other words, the 'key' construct is used to specify that the values of selected element or attribute are unique in a given scope and 'keyref' construct is used to specify that selected element or attribute value has a corresponding element or attribute with the same value in the subset identified by the 'key' construct. The 'key' and 'keyref' constructs are further related by having 'keyref' construct referring to the name of 'key' construct, which is unique in a given scope.
Usage of identity constraints is explained using the following example. Consider an XML document including list of customers and the orders placed by these customers. Every customer has a unique customer ID. Every order also has a unique order ID. In addition, an order also has the ID of a customer who placed the order. There may be multiple orders referring to the same customer ID. These constraints can be specified in the XML schema using XML schema identity constraints. The construct 'unique' or 'key' can be used to specify that customers and orders have unique IDs. Further, 'keyref' construct can be used to specify that every order refers to a valid customer identified by the 'key' construct. XML schema uses a subset of Xpath 1.0 language to express the elements or attributes referred in the 'unique', 'key' and 'keyref' constructs.
In a conventional approach for enforcing identity constraints, the XPath expressions are evaluated and XML nodes referred in identity constraints are identified at the runtime of an XML processing system. An XPath processor in the XML validator is needed to evaluate the XPath expressions at the runtime and further enforce the identity constraints. The Simple API for XML (SAX) events are fed into the XPath processor to validate the XPath expressions at runtime and subsequently enforce the identity constraints. Validating XPath expressions at runtime using an XPath processor and enforcing identity constraints significantly degrades the performance of the XML processing system which constitutes to inefficiency in terms of time and cost.
In light of the foregoing discussions, there is a need for efficient XPath evaluation in XML document validation.

Simplified XPath evaluation in XML document validation


A power transmission gearbox for rotorcraft for transmitting rotary movement from at least two engine members to a main shaft, wherein the gearbox presents at least two transmission systems for imparting rotary movement to the main shaft, each of the transmission systems including: an inlet shaft designed to be driven in rotation by an engine member; at least two reduction stages presenting different reduction ratios; a first gearwheel connected to the inlet shaft via a declutchable freewheel, the gearwheel meshing with a first toothed wheel secured to an intermediate shaft defining at least a first reduction stage; a second gearwheel connected to the inlet shaft via a simple freewheel, the second gearwheel meshing with a second toothed wheel secured to the intermediate shaft defining the second reduction stage; a main freewheel mounted on the intermediate shaft to rotate a complementary toothed wheel secured to the main shaft; and a clutch mechanism for the declutchable freewheel.

In the field of rotorcraft, helicopters, or the like, it is common practice to drive a rotor by means of a plurality of engine members, in particular a pair of engine members. The number of such engine members is nevertheless not limiting on the scope of the present invention.
The rotors of a helicopter are driven by engine members via one or more reduction stages that present a constant reduction ratio. This applies to driving the rotary wing, or more precisely the blades.
In the state of the art, systems are known in which one or more speeds of rotation for rotors are accessible for a given speed of rotation for the engine member(s). In order to obtain such a variation in the speed of the rotor, such systems require a corresponding modification to be made to the speed of rotation of the engine member(s), and that generally leads to a temporary loss of torque and power.
Varying the speed of rotation of a known helicopter rotor thus results from causing the speed of rotation of the engine members to vary in a corresponding manner. It is found to be impossible to obtain a large speed difference without loss of torque transmission from the engine members. This constitutes a drawback that is not negligible whether in terms of performance or in terms of safety in the operation of helicopters.
By way of example, document US 2006/0 269 414 discloses a device enabling a variable speed main gearbox to be made that includes freewheels and clutches. Nevertheless, such devices suffer from a certain number of drawbacks. Because of overrunning of their component plates that come into mutual contact, the clutches do not enable the power delivered by an engine member to be transmitted instantaneously. There thus results an instant in which the system for transmitting speed of rotation to the main gearbox (MGB) is interrupted, and the torque that is transmitted is then zero. In addition, the clutches suffer from problems of wear and/or adjustment, that can be harmful to the reliability and the efficiency of devices in which they are incorporated.

Power transmission gearbox presenting a modifiable speed of rotation at its outlet, and a corresponding method of operation


A multi-mission/purpose ground-effect craft is provided which is derived from a common modular platform which includes a hull; an inner floor structure adapted to be installed over the hull; a body adapted to be attached to at least one of the top surface of the hull and the inner floor structure, such that a interior compartment is formed thereinside; a tail wing assembly adapted to be attached to the aft end of the body; a forward nose cowl adapted to be attached to at least one of the forward nose portion of the hull and the forward body portion of the body; a windshield integrated into the forward end of the body; at least one door assembly integrated into the left or right body side; at least one window assembly integrated into the left or right body side; a propulsion system integrated within the aft end of the body; and a retractable skirt attached and draped from the outer or inner perimeter of the hull.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to various multi-mission/purpose ground-effect craft derived from a common modular platform. In particular, the present invention pertains to a craft (a.k.a. HOVERJETBOAT) which is adapted to hover and fly over water, air and land. And in more particularity, the present invention pertains to a modular platform in which a plurality of different HOVERJETBOAT craft may be built using common and interchangeable components (i.e., implementing modularity concepts).
2. Background of the Invention
Ground effect vehicles such as "flying hovercrafts" and its predecessor the hydrofoil have been in development and use for decades, primarily for civilian recreational purposes.
Ground effect craft are generally composed of bodies shaped in various configurations supported by a hull of various construction materials. The craft may, or may not be equipped with lift fan assembly disposed within a somewhat vertically oriented duct, typically formed in the forward portion of the craft. The fan or propeller disposed within the duct sucks air from above the vehicle and forces it underneath the hull of the craft to induce a hovering effect between a surface (air or water) and the bottom of the hull. The inclination or angle of the lift fan relative to the centerline of the duct typically determines the ease on how the craft can elevate, rise or hover above a given surface while slightly assisting push the craft forward.
To help provide the hovering capability of the craft, typically a continuous seamless skirt of durable fabric, canvass or oil-based material is installed around the bottom edge of the craft. The skirt holds or envelops the stream of forced air from the lift fan assembly that is continually generated and pushed downwards underneath the hull of the craft. As a result, the craft is sustained above the ground on a cushion of air contained within the skirt as long as the lift fan, propeller or blade is operating.
To provide forward movement or propulsion, large vertical propeller(s) or thrust engine(s) may be installed in the aft end of the craft, on both sides of the external body, or on the wings and other locations deemed practical. For power source, most hovercrafts employ combustion engines coupled to shaft and belt systems adapted to run both the lift and the propulsion blades. A belt system is typically attached to a revolving shaft turns the front and back propellers, causing the craft to effect a hover and forward motion over a given surface. Working simultaneously, the propulsion fan or thrust engine pushes the craft forward as the lift fan continuously forces air underneath the craft, making the craft float on cushion of air as the craft's velocity starts to build up.
It is noted that some "flying" hovercraft do not really fly in the true "technical sense" such as airplanes. Rather, as the craft picks up speed, the velocity of the craft combined with lift from the craft's wings, enables the craft to start rising above the surface and commence to float and fly in a rudimentary sense. The speed and flight envelope characteristics vary depending on the sophistication of the craft. For instance, hovercraft are capable of traveling at minimal crawling speeds (near still) to high velocity speeds (over 100 mph) and fly at heights from just a few inches above the ground to 50 feet or even higher.
Through the years, the craft have seen various innovations; however, with the exception of a few practical uses, ground effect craft have not truly reached their full potential. Ground effect vehicles or hovercraft may be purchased from vendors or built from a kit, but otherwise, are not readily available or used as a mainstream mode of transportation. Thus, presently the popularity of such craft appears to be somewhat limited.
One concept that has yet to be exploited in the design, manufacture and assembly of ground effect craft is the concept of modularity. It would be ideal to provide various multi-mission/purpose ground-effect craft derived from a common modular platform. In particular, it would be beneficial to provide a modular platform in which a plurality of different craft may be built using common and interchangeable components (i.e., implementing modularity concepts). As a result, specialty craft optimized for the police and military operations could be built from a similar platform of which civilian craft were derived therefrom. Furthermore, various models with different propulsion systems could be built from the same modular platform. As a result, the price of the craft could be reduced significantly.
Ideally, a civilian version of the modular hovercraft would be useful for agricultural, industrial, light commercial, recreational and institutional uses. As an example, crop dusting could be performed effectively and efficiently by a very low-flying hovercraft versus the less-effective higher-flying propeller plane. A civilian version of the craft could be utilized for maintenance and survey of open inland waterways, oil pipelines, land and shoreline environmental monitoring. The civilian craft could even become an alternate mode of transportation. Moreover, the tourism and recreational industries could also greatly benefit from the use of a civilian hover craft derived from a modular platform.
A military version of the modular hovercraft would have varied applications such as reconnaissance, patrol, attack, search and rescue missions particularly on the sea, shorelines, large bodies of inland rivers, canals, lakes and other open bodies of land and water, including ice. For instance, a military version could be used to closely patrol, monitor or deter possible terrorist activities along U.S. coastlines or land boundaries.
Another advantage of hovercraft operation is that the operator need not obtain a pilot's license to fly the craft. The pilot only needs to have about 160 craft training hours (civilian training) to learn boat navigation, law of the sea, certain FAA regulations, operating on water, land and air, service and maintenance. Thus, the proposed modular craft could reduce training expenses currently incurred from more expensive helicopter, aircraft and boat operations.
If properly nurtured, a modular hovercraft platform could quite possibly become the next JEEP of the new millennium. Overall, by providing a line a craft with varying capabilities which can be built from a common modular platform, the hovercraft may become a more mainstream choice of vehicle used to accomplish a variety of tasks once only reserved for boats, airplanes and/or helicopters.

Multi-mission/purpose ground-effect craft derived from a common modular platform


A method of image information enhancement in radiography relates to image information processing techniques in radiography. The method comprising steps of: normalizing an acquired image A(x,y) to form a normalized image B(x,y); filtering the normalized image B(x,y) by a low-pass filter to obtain an filtered image C(x,y); calculating a relative standard deviation for each pixel in the image A(x,y), three times the relative standard deviation being an edge threshold for each pixel; thresholding a difference image obtained by subtracting the filtered image C(x,y) from the normalized image B(x,y) by using the edge threshold for each pixel to form a threshold-processed image D(x,y); enhancing a contrast of the threshold-processed image D(x,y) by using a non-linear function to form a contrast-enhanced image E(x,y); determining a enhancement coefficient a(x,y); obtaining a edge-enhanced image F(x,y) by multiplying the enhancement coefficient a(x,y), the contrast-enhanced image E(x,y) and the filtered image C(x,y); and generating a resulting image by multiplying a sum of the edge-enhanced image F(x,y) and the filtered image C(x,y) with the maximum value Amax As compared with the prior arts, the inventive method has a fast processing speed for image information enhancement and a simple algorithm, images clearly, eliminates noises in the images, and satisfies the requirements of relatively more enhancement to the contrast of the dark regions in the scanned images.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to image information processing techniques in radiography, and more particularly to a method for enhancing image information in radiography.
2. Description of Prior Art
Radiographic technique is now widely used in industrial Nondestructive Detections (NDTs), medical diagnoses and science researches. The basic principle of radiography is that different absorptivities of different materials to X rays are used for forming different gradation values of pixels in a scanned image acquired by X rays penetrated an object. The energy of rays is exponentially attenuated when the thickness of the object to be scanned increases. Therefore, the difference among gradation values for border contours of a scanned image of a thicker object is much less than that of a thinner one, that is to say, the contours inside the object will be more blurred with increasing of the thickness of the object to be scanned. In the scanned image, it is represented by low sharpness of the difference in gradation values for a dark region. Furthermore, human's eyes have lower resolving capability for contours in a dark region than that for contours in a bright region. Thus, the image for objects in the dark region is not clear. Therefore, there is a need for enhancing the contrast of the scanned images.
Presently, processes for enhancing image information mainly include gradation transformation, histogram equalization, border enhancement and the like. The gradation transformation method and the histogram equalization method both use the dot operation rules. So-called dot operation refers to mapping an input image into an output image wherein each pixel dot in the output image is only determined by the value of the corresponding input pixel dot. The dot operation is generally used for changing the gradation range and distribution, and is an important tool for image digitalization and image display. During enhancing the contrast of the scanned images, conventional dot operation does not consider the influence on a certain pixel by its neighborhood, but simply maps one gradation value onto another gradation value. Such a procedure impairs one gradation range while enhancing another gradation range, typically, such as logarithm transformation and exponent transformation. An edge enhancement method is also referred to as sharpening, and the object thereof is to clarify edges of images in order to recognize and process a target. The existing methods include gradient method, Laplacian operator and high-pass filtering etc. The final object of these processing methods is to make images clearer, and to make details apparent. When enhancing the contrast of scanned images, the edge enhancement method directly detects edges of an image, and enhances the contrast of the detected edges, in which a ratio of enhancement is generally constant. On one hand, such a processing method has to enhance the noises in images. On the other hand, the enhancement to weak edges in the dark regions is relatively small, which can not satisfy the requirements of relatively more enhancement to the contrast of the dark regions in the scanned images.

Method and apparatus for enhancing image acquired by radiographic system


Disclosed is a programmable memory test interface. The test interface includes logic circuitry configured to be integrated to a memory device. The memory device has a plurality of receiving connections that are configured to be coupled to a plurality of internal connections that couple to the logic circuitry. The interface further includes a plurality of programmable input pins and output pins leading to and from the logic circuitry, and the programmable input pins and output pins are configured to receive control signals from a test controller for operating the memory device in either a test mode or a mission mode. The programmable input pins and output pins are selectively interconnected to transform the logic circuitry into at least one type of memory testing methodology interface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits, and more particularly to programmable memory test interfacing logic circuitry and methods for making the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As semiconductor integrated circuits have become smaller and more densely integrated over the years, there has been increased demands for more comprehensive testing to verify electrical interconnections as well as the integrated circuit's functionality. One type of integrated circuit testing concerns testing the functional characteristics and electrical interconnections of memory devices that may be embedded in, for example, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). In some applications, as many as 100 random access memories (RAMs) may be embedded in the core logic of a single ASIC, and each memory is typically tested to ensure proper functionality. Because of the dense integration, designers have, for some time, implemented testing circuitry that is embedded directly on the ASIC device to enable rapid verification of the integrity of the millions of electrical interconnections and the functionality of memory devices themselves.
There are a number of well known and commonly used testing methodologies that may be embedded into the ASIC, each requiring special logic circuitry and interfacing connections. The special logic circuitry is typically available in the form of "test collars," which contain the necessary interconnections for performing a desired testing methodology. Because circuit design companies tend to have varying preferences on the types of test collars used in their ASIC applications, each test collar is typically optimized for performing a single type of test methodology. As is well known in the art, typical test methodologies may include a serial built-in-self-test (BIST), a parallel BIST, a parallel test (MUX isolation), a serial memory test and a scan test. For more information on memory testing methodologies, reference may be made to (1) A. L. Silburt, A 180-MHz 0.8 .mu.-m BiCMOS Modular Memory Family of DRAM and Multiport SRAM, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 28, No. 3, March 1993; (2) B. Nadeau-Dostie, Serial Interfacing for Embedded-Memory Testing, IEEE Design and Test of Computers, April 1990; and (3) S. Kornachuk, A High Speed Embedded Cache Design with Non-Intrusive BIST, IEEE International Workshop on Memory Technology Design and Testing, pages 40-45, August 1994. All three articles are incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1A shows an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 100 having a core logic 102 and a number of embedded test collars for testing memory devices. In this example, ASIC 100 includes a memory core A 104 and a memory core B 106, each having a test collar 110 and a test collar 114, respectively. As described above, test collar 110 and 114 are typically selected by the designer to accomplish a specific memory testing methodology. Once the test collar for performing the designer's chosen testing methodology has been integrated in ASIC 100, a test controller 120 that is specifically chosen to interact with test collars 110 and 114 is also integrated into the ASIC 100.
In addition to embedding test collars 110 and 114 for performing the type of testing methodologies described above, designers also typically integrate scan test collars 108 for testing wire routing and chip logic preceding memory inputs and following memory outputs. As shown, scan collars 108 directly interface with memory core A 104 and memory core B 106, and miscellaneous storage elements 118 (e.g., latches, flip flops, and other memories). As is well known, memory core A 104, memory core B 106, and miscellaneous storage elements 118 are typically interspersed and interconnected with static logic circuitry used when ASIC 100 operates in its mission mode (i.e., non-test mode).
When a scan test is performed, "scan-in" (SI) and "scan-out" (SO) pins located on each scan collar 108 as well as on each storage element contained in miscellaneous storage elements 118, are serially chained together to form one long scan chain. By way of example, FIG. 1B shows a magnification of scan collars 108 and miscellaneous storage elements 118, each having SI and SO pins serially chained together, beginning at a SI pad 122 and ending at a SO pad 124. In this manner, all of the wire routing and chip logic preceding memory inputs and following memory outputs may be conveniently tested directly from the ASIC's bonding pads (e.g., by inputting test vectors into SI pad 122 and checking the results exiting SO pad 124).
Although special test collars for performing serial BIST, parallel BIST, parallel test, and serial test are readily available for integration into most ASIC designs, these test collars typically demand a fair amount of core logic 102 area to be properly laid out. As a result, the necessity to integrating test collars into a multi-memory ASICs has the unfortunate effect of increasing chip size and, therefore packaging sizes.
Yet another drawback of implementing different test collars for performing different types of testing methodologies is, that a substantial amount of design labor and verification goes into integrating test collars into a particular ASIC. For example, assume that design company A prefers to test its ASIC memory devices with a serial BIST methodology and a scan test, and design company B prefers to test its ASIC memory devices with a parallel test and a scan test. Although both design company A and B may be using the same types of memories, such as, for example, a DRAM memory, an SRAM memory or an SDRAM memory, both companies are generally required to perform custom test collar integration to implement their chosen testing methodologies. Although custom test collar integration is typically not a difficult design task, custom integration is generally a time consuming task that may slow down product development and subsequent product release.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a memory test interface that may be programmed to perform user selected memory testing methodologies without the need for methodology specific test collars. Further, there is a need for a method of making a memory test interface that may be integrated to a memory device itself, and programmable by a user to perform its preferred memory testing methodology.

Programmable universal test interface and method for making the same


The invention is based on the discovery that compounds of formula (I) possess unexpectedly high affinity for the A2a adenosine receptor, and can be useful as antagonists thereof for preventing and/or treating numerous diseases, including Parkinson's disease. In one embodiment, the invention features a compound of formula I (See formula on paper copy)

Adenosine is a ubiquitous biochemical messenger. Adenosine binds to and activates certain seven transmembrane-spanning G-protein coupled receptors, eliciting a variety of physiological responses. Adenosine receptors are divided into four known subtypes (i.e. A1, A2a, A2b, and A3). These receptor subtypes mediate different and sometimes opposing effects. In general, activation of the adenosine A2a or A2b receptor leads to an increase in cellular cAMP levels, while activation of the adenosine A1 or A3 receptor leads to a decrease in cellular cAMP levels. A2a adenosine receptors are abundant in the basal ganglia, a region of the brain associated with the pathphysiology of Parkinson's disease. For reviews concerning A2a adenosine receptors, see, e.g., Moreau et al., Brain Research Reviews 31:65-82 (1999) and Svenningsson et al., Progress in Neurobiology 59:355-396 (1999). For a discussion of the role and regulation of adenosine in the central nervous system, see, e.g., Dunwiddie et al., Ann. Rev. Neuroscience 24:31-55 (2001).

Triazolopyrazines and methods of making and using the same


A method of forming an electrolyte matrix for a carbonate fuel cell. An .alpha.-LiAlO.sub.2 ceramic is mixed in an aqueous solvent having a citric acid dispersant and deflocculated using a high energy attrition milling. The deflocculated mixture is added to an alcohol/glycerol aqueous binder system to form a slurry which is degassed and then tape cast to form the matrix.

This invention relates to carbonate fuel cells and, in particular, to matrices, and methods of making same, for use in such cells.
Carbonate fuel cells offer a highly efficient and environmentally clean option for power generation. A key component in carbonate fuel cells is a porous (.about.40-50 vol. % porosity), thin (.about.0.5-1 mm) ceramic matrix filed with a carbonate electrolyte (for example, Li/K carbonate eutectic). The functions performed by the ceramic/electrolyte matrix in the carbonate fuel cell include: (1) electronic isolation of the anode and cathode compartments, (2) ionic conduction between the anode and cathode electrodes, and (3) separation of the anode and cathode compartment gases.
The ceramic materials of the matrix provide the electronic isolation, while the carbonate electrolyte present within the pores of the ceramic matrix supports ionic conduction. The matrix pore sizes are required to be in the submicron range to achieve desired capillary force for retaining electrolyte and differential bubble pressure for preventing the anode and cathode compartment gases from crossing over. Large-size pores are avoided to adequately maintain the gas separation.
During the last decade, gamma lithium aluminate (.gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2) has been mainly used as the ceramic matrix support material in the carbonate fuel cell due to its chemical stability in the molten carbonate environment. Matrices made from ultra-fine .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2 powder (.about.0.1-0.24 .mu.m) using a tape casting technique (see, e.g., German Patent DE 3235240; U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,958; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,776) are able to provide a desired pore structure for retaining electrolyte and for realizing gas separation. The tape casting process involves dispersing the ceramic powder in a solvent, to which organic binders and a plasticizer are added to form a castable ceramic slurry. The slurry is subsequently casted into thin-sheet layers in a chambered tape casting machine. In this process, the solvents are evaporated by applying air and/or heating.
Organic solvents are primarily used as the tape casting vehicle in the ceramic matrix formation. However, the use of organic solvents involves a number of disadvantages. Firstly, working with organic solvents requires that appropriate protective measures be taken in order to avoid health hazards and the risk of explosion. Moreover, the organic solvents must be prevented from escaping into the atmosphere. As a result, the equipment requirements are severe. This drives up equipment costs.
A second disadvantage of using organic solvents in the tape casting process is that the ceramic slurry tends to form a surface skin due to the very fast evaporation of the organic solvents. Such skinning significantly retards the as-cast matrix tape drying rate and may trap any unreleased air bubbles in the tape. Bubbles in the matrix tape result in undesirably large pores in the matrix. These large pores can result in detrimental reactant gas crossover, thereby lowering cell performance and shortening cell life.
Despite the aforesaid disadvantages of organic solvents, they offer a more practical solvent than aqueous solvents because of the hydroscopic nature of the .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2. Water can hydrolyze the .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2 into lithium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide. Although lithium aluminate may form again upon drying, the formed phase is the alpha or beta lithium aluminate phase, which phases have not been used to any great degree in matrix formation.
Besides the phase transformation, the formation of widespread aggregates/agglomerates due to the hydrolysis of .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2 is also an obstacle to using an aqueous or water solvent in tape casting of .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2 matrices. These widespread aggregates caused by the hydrogen-bonding of the hydrolyzed particles are very difficult to deaggregate when using only the mechanical forces produced by standard milling. As a result, a slurry with excessively high viscosity is created so as to prevent practical ceramic processing.
While few practical efforts have been made to use water as a solvent in the casting of .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2 matrices, a tape casting method which uses such an aqueous solvent is described in a recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,138. In this method, a hydroxyl group polymer, such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), is used to bond the water molecules so as to prevent the hydrolysis of the .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2. Using this method, a flexible tape can be made from a slurry of gamma lithium powder directly stirred in a PVA/water mixture.
Although this method appears to prevent the hydrolysis of .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2 in the aqueous base processing, several concerns exist as to use of a matrix made with this method in carbonate fuel cell applications. A major concern is that such a matrix may not have a pore size distribution (which plays a key role in electrolyte storage and gas separation) adequate for carbonate fuel cells. It is believed that if the process of the '138 patent is followed, the high surface area .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2 tends to agglomerate easily so as to form uncontrolled lumps and clusters. These agglomerates or clusters will contain nearly random-sized pores, and the largest of these pores can seriously affect the sealing efficiency of the final matrix.
Alpha lithium aluminate (.alpha.-LiAlO.sub.2) has been known to be more stable than .gamma.-LiAlO.sub.2 in the molten carbonate environment, and efforts toward using this material in forming a carbonate fuel cell matrix have recently increased. Tape casting with an organic solvent is also the technique proposed for making .alpha.-LiAlO.sub.2 matrices with a desirable pore size distribution. However, tape casting of such a material using an aqueous or water solvent has not as yet been carried out.
A difficulty in using a water solvent in the tape casting of .alpha.-LiAlO.sub.2 is the occurrence of hydration during the deflocculation step. Although the hydration product is eventually converted back into .alpha.-LiAlO.sub.2 upon drying, the tendency of high viscosity or gelation due to the hydrogen bond (H-bond) retards the deflocculation process. The extent of the gelation is strongly affected by the powder surface area, solid loading level, deflocculation time, and the dispersant used. The more the powder, i.e., the higher the solids loading, the higher the viscosity. Also, the higher the total powder surface area, the easier the gelation. Experimental data indicates that if a high surface area .alpha.-LiAlO.sub.2 (.gtoreq.20 m.sup.2 /g) is stirred long enough (.gtoreq.0.5 hour) in water, a gel or "cake" will form.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for making a ceramic matrix for a carbonate fuel cell which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of prior methods.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for making a ceramic matrix having a desired pore size distribution and in which .alpha.-LiAlO.sub.2 and an aqueous solvent are used.

Method of making matrix for carbonate fuel cells


The present disclosure relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) having a substrate and at least one scanning controller. the substrate is configured with a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs). Each of the TFTs includes a gate, a drain and a pixel electrode, and the gate of each of the TFTs electrically connecting to the scanning controller along a first direction in sequence. One end of the drain connects to the pixel electrode, and the other end of the drain is stacked on the gate along a third direction perpendicular to the substrate. The drain is insulated from the gate, and a dimension of a projection area of the drain on the gate along the third direction increases when a distance between the TFT and the scanning controller in the first direction increases.

a large-sized high-resolution panel, a liquid crystal display produced by a conventional driving method has a wide phenomenon of flickering screen. One important reason is that the power line itself has electrical resistance and a slight voltage drop occurs along the direction of the power line. The voltage (Vp) on the pixel electrode changes due to the capacitive coupling effect, especially for the locations away from the signal input end. In particular, the flicker phenomenon is more obvious, resulting in uneven brightness of the liquid crystal display and affecting the display effect.

Liquid crystal display and mobile terminal

SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method for controlling operation of a parallel transmission comprising two partial transmissions that act upon a common drive shaft and can be coupled to a drive shaft via one respective clutch. The gear ratio of the parallel transmission can be changed from the gear that is engaged in one partial transmission to the gear that is engaged in the other partial transmission without interrupting traction when the parallel transmission functions correctly by opening the clutch of one partial transmission and simultaneously closing the clutch of the other partial transmission. When a malfunction is detected in the actuator of at least one of the clutches, the open clutch can be closed only if at least one of the following conditions is met: the previously closed clutch is open; or, no gear is engaged in the partial transmission allocated to the previously closed clutch.

A method and a device are known from German Patent Application No. DE 10 2004 018 962 for controlling the operation of a parallel shifting transmission, wherein a hydraulic circuit contains a first and a second hydraulically actuatable clutch whose clutch pressure is regulated by means of respective pressure regulating valves, and wherein a safe state of the hydraulic circuit is supposed to be guaranteed by means of a safety circuit if a fault occurs. The safety circuit is designed so that if a partial fault occurs which is associated with only one of the two clutches, that clutch is disengaged, and so that if a total fault occurs, which is associated with both clutches, the clutch whose clutch pressure is lower when the total fault occurs is disengaged, and the other clutch, whose clutch pressure is greater when the total fault occurs, is not disengaged, in order to maintain the transmission of torque through that clutch. The result is that when a partial fault occurs that is associated with only one of the two clutches, the subtransmission associated with the other clutch can be operated like an automated shift gearbox, in which the gear step intervals of the parallel shift transmission are however very coarse. On the other hand, if a total fault occurs which is associated with both clutches, it is no longer possible to shift, but rather it is possible to drive in the gear that is engaged at the moment in the parallel shift transmission, until there is an opportunity to stop.

Method and device for controlling the operation of a parallel shifting transmission

LuK Lamellen und Kupplungsbau Beteilgungs KG


A packaging apparatus with an improved pinch roller apparatus, fluid supply apparatus, and/or a sealing apparatus. The pinch roller apparatus (e.g., comprising one or more guide and/or pinch rollers) is used to deliver film material to the fluid supply apparatus (e.g., nozzle and blower apparatus, or the like) that fills one or more chambers of the film material with fluid (e.g., air, gas, or other like fluid), and the film material is then sealed by a sealing apparatus (e.g., using one or more heating elements with an improved temperature sensor configuration) that seals the fluid within the one or more chambers in order to form the inflated article (e.g., inflated packaging material). In particular, the sealing apparatus provides improved sealing through the improved accuracy of the temperature reading in the heating zone, in part, by locating a sensor between a heating element and a protective member that covers the sensor.

Packaging apparatuses utilize varying speeds and fluid inflation rates to fill chambers of film material (e.g., air pillows, bubble wrap, or the like) with the desired amount of fluid (e.g., air, gas, or the like) based on the film material and the application in which the inflated article (e.g., inflated film material) will be utilized. In order to fill the chambers for the desired application, proper filling and sealing of the chambers is required.

Packaging apparatus for film inflation and method thereof


A firearm pin that includes a head that extends from a shoulder to a crown, a face formed between the shoulder and the crown, wherein the face is formed at an angle of between approximately 1° and 89° relative to a longitudinal axis of the pivot pin, and a shank, wherein the shank includes an elongate, cylindrical shank portion that extends from a terminal surface to the shoulder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of firearms. More specifically, the present invention relates to firearm pins to aid in the assembly and disassembly of firearm components.
2. Description of Related Art
Various firearms comprise certain components that are held together by one or more pins being releasably secured within apertures of the various components. One such firearm is the AR-15.
The AR-15 is based on the AR-10, which was designed by Eugene Stoner, Robert Fremont, and L. James Sullivan of the Fairchild ArmaLite corporation in 1957. Today, there are numerous variants of the AR-15 that are manufactured by a number of companies. The AR-15 and its various related derivative platforms are used by civilians, law enforcement personnel, and military forces around the world.
One of the reasons for the AR-15's widespread popularity and usage is its modularity. The AR-15 can initially be broken down into two main components, an upper receiver and a lower receiver. The upper receiver includes two lugs, each of which includes an aperture formed therethrough. The lower receiver includes cutouts for receiving the lugs of the upper receiver and appropriate apertures to be aligned with the upper receiver lug apertures. When the upper receiver and the lower receiver are appropriately aligned, pins are slidably secured within the aligned apertures to secure the upper receiver to the lower receiver.
Because the upper and lower receivers are secured with slidably movable pins, the upper receiver can optionally be pivoted on the lower receiver or removed from the lower receiver. This allows a user to access various components of the firearm more easily for cleaning and lubrication. Additionally, alternate upper receivers can be used with a single lower receiver or vice versa.
Any discussion of devices, documents, acts, materials, devices, articles, or the like, which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.


A method and an apparatus for authoring stereoscopic 3D video information comprising a 3D video stream and 3D overlay graphics are described. A depth range in z-space for the stereoscopic presentation of the 3D video stream is determined for a plurality of time codes. A reference plane in z-space for placing the 3D overlay graphics is then determined such that depth conflicts between the 3D video and the reference place are reduced. A comfort zone surrounding a display screen plane and comprising the reference plane is defined, wherein the comfort zone specifies a depth range in z-space for preferable presentation of the stereoscopic 3D video information. It is then determined whether a depth conflict between the reference plane and the 3D video stream remains for the respective time codes and/or whether a depth conflict exists between the comfort zone and the 3D overlay graphics for the respective time codes. In this way a set of conflict intervals is generated, which is stored on a media source comprising the 3D video stream and the 3D overlay graphics. The set of conflict intervals is used during playback to adapt a presentation of the 3D video stream or a presentation of the 3D overlay graphics.

With the recent box office success of stereoscopic 3D movies, it is desired to bring 3D video to home entertainment, too. One of the first solutions available is the Blu-ray 3D format. Preferably, the 3D movie is displayed inside a so-called comfort zone. Determination of the comfort zone is still an area of active research. Typically, the comfort zone describes an interval in z-space extending from somewhere behind the screen to a minimal distance to a viewer in front of the screen. One option for determination of this comfort zone is the so-called ⅓ diopter rule. Further, the range of the comfort zone according to the ⅓ diopter rule depends on the distance between the viewer or user and the screen. Reproduction of 3D elements outside the comfort zone should be limited to special scenes and should be done with care to avoid user discomfort.
The Blu-ray 3D format not only supports stereoscopic 3D video, it also supports stereoscopic 3D auxiliary information such as stereoscopic 3D interactive applications like a user menu, which are preferably written in the Java programming language.
An interactive menu may allow the user to select a certain scene, a different audio track, etc. Further, 3D subtitles or an information text may be added to the stereoscopic reproduction. Such information, which is typically presented in front of a main video stream, shall be referred to as overlay graphics.
One technical challenge so as to provide a pleasant 3D user experience is to coordinate visual non-video elements, i.e. overlay graphics such as the aforementioned interactive menus, with the main video stream in z-space. In general, so called depth conflicts should be avoided and overlay graphics should be placed in front of the 3D main video stream. Preferably, interactive graphics should be placed in front of the subtitles if possible. A depth conflict between e.g. a main video stream and a user menu occurs if at least parts of both elements take the same place in z-space. In such a conflicting area the user's viewing experience may be unpleasant.
Document WO 2009/083863 A1 discloses a method for display of 3D overlay graphics that are presented in front of a 3D main video stream. In order to prevent occlusions due to depth conflicts the available depth range in z-space is split up into separate sub ranges. A respective sub range in z-space is reserved for overlay data, the main video stream, subtitles, etc.

Method and apparatus for authoring stereoscopic 3D video information, and method and apparatus for displaying such stereoscopic 3D video information