Serial digital signals containing output information to be written in an input/output device and input information read from an input/output device are transmitted to a slave station and circulate successively through slave stations back to a master station. The output information is written into the slave stations in an output operation, and the input information is read from the input/output device in an input operation. Each of the input/output devices has its own address for selecting a device to be accessed in the output operation and/or the input operation. The serial digital signals are configured in a frame which is identical for the output operation and the input operation. The frame for the input operation with dummy information added to an input/output information block is transmitted from master station. An input/output information block supplied to the slave station is transmitted therefrom to a next slave station or the master station, while replacing the dummy information in the input/output information block with the input information read from the input/output device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of effecting bidirectional communications by carrying out both an output operation to write output information transmitted from a master station into an input/output device and an input operation to transmit input operation from an input/output device to the master station. More particularly, the present invention is directed to such a bidirectional communication method which is suitable for effecting communications to control a number of input/output devices that are located remotely from each other, such as to remotely control robots, production lines, home-use appliances, display devices, etc., to control simple LANs (Local Area Networks), or to achieve fine control over temperatures and humidities using a number of temperature and humidity sensors that are positioned in remote locations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Communication systems known as a LAN (Local Area Network) are widely used to effect communications between devices that are remotely spaced at distances of several meters or greater.
FIG. 11 of the accompanying drawings shows a frame of serial digital signals according to the data format of the LAN.
To exchange digital signals between a station (hereinafter referred to as a "master station") and another station (hereinafter referred to as a "slave station"), a frame of serial digital signals is generated by the master station and transmitted from the master station to the slave station.
As shown in FIG. 11, the frame usually includes a frame synchronizing signal at its leading end, which indicates the leading end of the frame. The frame also has, following the frame synchronizing signal, a control information field indicating the length of the frame, the type of the frame, etc., an address information field indicating a slave station designated to receive the frame, and an information field containing output information to be transmitted to the slave station. The frame also includes, following the output information field, an error detecting code such as a parity-bit code or a code produced using a check sum, for determining whether or not the output information contained in the output information field has been modified or rewritten by noise or the like during the transmission of the frame, and an end code indicating the trailing end of the frame. The end code may be omitted and the control and address information fields may be switched around in some frames.
The frame of the above structure is generated by the master station and transmitted to the slave station. The slave station which is designated by the address contained in the address information field receives the transmitted frame, and processes, e.g., stores, the output information according to the control information contained in the control information field. When information is to be sent from the slave station to the master station, the same procedure as the procedure described above is employed, and a frame similar to the above frame is generated by the slave station and transmitted to the master station.
The communication protocol (communication procedure or rules) described above allows a large amount of information efficiently from one station to another station.
There are instances where a command is to be transmitted from a master station to a slave station to energize a single lamp at the slave station, and the on/off information of a single pushbutton switch connected to the slave station is to be read by a master station. If the above communication protocol is employed in those cases which require communication of a relatively small amount of information, then the communication process will be very inefficient to carry out.
FIG. 12 of the accompanying drawings schematically illustrates a master station M and slave stations S.sub.1, S.sub.2 which communicate with each other according to the communication protocol as shown in FIG. 11. In FIG. 12, four input/output devices IO.sub.11, IO.sub.12, IO.sub.13, IO.sub.14 are connected to the slave station S1, and three input/output devices IO.sub.21, IO.sub.22, IO.sub.23 are connected to the slave station S.sub.2.
Now, it is assumed that the input/output device IO.sub.11 is a pushbutton switch, and the master station M is to recognize the on/off status of the pushbutton switch, i.e., whether the pushbutton switch is turned on or off.
The master station M generates a frame, as shown in FIG. 11, whose control and output information fields contain a written command to read the status of the push-button switch IO.sub.11 in the slave station S.sub.1 and transmit the read status to the master station M. The master station M then transmits the generated frame to the slave station S.sub.1. The slave station S.sub.1 then reads the contents of the received frame, and interprets the frame such that the slave station S.sub.1 is required to send the on/off status of the pushbutton switch IO.sub.11. The slave station S.sub.1 reads the status of the pushbutton switch IO.sub.11, newly generates a frame containing information as to the status of the push-button switch IO.sub.11, and transmits the generated frame to the master station M. The master station M receives the frame transmitted from the slave station S.sub.1, reads the contents of the frame, and recognizes the on/off status of the pushbutton switch IO.sub.11.
Both the master station M and the slave station S1 have respective microcomputers for generating frames and interpreting received frames. Therefore, each of the stations is complex in structure. Since it is necessary to design control communication software for each of the slave stations in addition to the master station, the period of time needed to design the necessary software is long, and the software thus designed is highly costly. The above many steps to be followed to transmit the information result in an inefficient, slow communication process for the exchange of a relatively small quantity of information.

11-15 Isogodai Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken


A method and circuit for operating a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus to produce tomograms in an arbitrary position (plane) generate logic gradients which are arbitrarily spatially oriented by a combination of a number of physical magnetic field gradients. At least one gradient coil is operated in a resonant circuit. The logic gradients do not chronologically overlap. A logic read-out gradient can have gaps (non-signal regions) in the region of its zero-axis crossings, at which time a logic phase-coding gradient can be activated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method for operating a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus to produce tomograms in arbitrarily oriented planes, as well as to a circuit for operating a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus wherein one gradient coil is operated in a resonant circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus in which one gradient coil is operated in a resonant circuit is used, for example in the echo planar imaging (EPI) method, as described, for example, in European Application 0 076 054. Typically in the EPI method, the raw data for the construction of a complete tomogram are acquired after a single excitation of the examination subject. The high switching speed of, in particular, the read-out gradient which is necessary for this purpose is isually achieved by operating the gradient coil which generates the read-out gradient in a resonant circuit.
Image acquisition in magnetic resonance tomography usually ensues slice-by-slice, with a slice of the examination subject being first selectively excited, with only signals from this slice then being received. The image acquired from these signals then represents a tomogram in the selected slice. The production of tomograms in arbitrarily rotated planes is advantageous for many applications, so that the information relevant for the examination is contained in one sectional plane. For this purpose, it is necessary that slices which are arbitrarily spatially oriented must be excited and read out. This can be achieved using traditional gradients, i.e., gradients which are not switched resonantly, by generating resulting gradients having an arbitrary spatial orientation by simultaneously activating a plurality of gradient coils, and by a corresponding dimensioning of the "physical" gradient, i.e., the gradient produced by the individual gradient coils.
For distinction from the aforementioned physical gradients, the resulting gradients shall be referred to herein as "logic" gradients.
The employment of tilted slices has been proposed for use in the EPI method in "40 Millisecond Instant Long Axis Heart Imaging," Weisskopf et al., Book of Abstracts, SMRM 1990, page 123. Only a tilting around the axis of the frequency-coding gradient, however, can be achieved by controlling the slice selection gradient and the phase-coding gradient, as proposed in this article. A combination of all three physical gradients, i.e., including the frequency-coding gradient, is necessary for arbitrary slice orientation. For gradients which are generated by means of a resonant circuit, however, difficulties are encountered using conventional techniques, as are described below with reference to FIGS. 1 through 7.
As is known, a topical resolution of the nuclear magnetic resonance signals in a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus is achieved by superimposing a magnetic field gradient on a uniform, static fundamental field, on the order of magnitude of 1 Tesla. The principles of such imaging are set forth in the article "NMR-Imaging Techniques and Applications: A Review", Bottomly, Review of Scientific Instrument, 53(9), September, 1982pages 1319-1337.
For topical resolution in three dimensions, magnetic field gradients in three directions, preferably orthogonally disposed, must be produced. The x, y, z axes of a Cartesian coordinate system are shown in FIG. 1 to indicate the direction of the physical gradients G.sub.x, G.sub.y and G.sub.z produced by the gradient coils in the system of FIG. 1. The gradient coils 2, in the form of saddle coils, generate a physical magnetic field gradient G.sub.y in the y-direction. A substantially constant magnetic field gradient G.sub.y in the y-direction is generated within a spherical examination volume 4 by the conductor sections 2a. Due to their greater distance from the examination volume 4, the return conductors produce only negligible magnetic field components in the examination volume 4.
The gradient coils for generating the physical magnetic field gradients in the x-direction are constructed identically to the gradient coils 2 for the y-direction magnetic field gradient, but are rotated 90.degree. in azimuthal direction of the cylindrical carrier 1. For clarity, these gradient coils are therefore not shown in FIG. 1.
The gradient coils 3 for generating the physical magnetic field gradient in z-direction are annular, and are arranged symmetrically relative to the center point of the examination volume 4. The two individual coils 3a and 3b respectively carry current flowing in opposite directions, as indicated in FIG. 1, so as to produce a magnetic field gradient in z-direction.
A typical pulse sequence of the EPI method is set forth below.
At the beginning of the pulse sequence, the examination subject is subjected to a radio-frequency excitation pulse RF, shown in FIG. 2, in the presence of the positive portion SS+ of a slice-selection gradient SS in the z-direction, as shown in FIG. 3. Nuclear spins in a slice of the examination subject are thus excited. Subsequently, the direction of the slice selection gradient is inverted, so that the negative portion SS- of the gradient SS cancels the dephasing of the nuclear spins caused by the positive portion SS+ of the gradient SS.
After the excitation, a phase-coding gradient PC, shown in FIG. 4, or PC' shown in FIG. 5, is activated in the y-direction, and a read-out gradient RO, shown in Figure 6, is activated in x-direction. The read-out gradient consists of a pre-pulse ROV and a sequence of sub-pulses RO of alternating polarity.
Due to the alternating polarity of the read-out gradient RO, the nuclear spins are alternatingly dephased and rephased, so that a sequence of signals S arises, as shown in FIG. 7. After a single excitation with the ratio-frequency pulse RF, so many signals are acquired that the entire Fourier K-space is scanned, i.e., the data obtained with a single pulse RF are sufficient for reconstruction of the complete tomogram.
A phase coding is also implemented in addition to the read-out gradient RO which effects the frequency coding. Two possibilities for such phase coding are shown. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, the phase-coding gradient PC is constantly activated during the sequence. The phase of the nuclear spins thus continuously increases during the sequence. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5, a brief phase-coding pulse PC' is activated at each change in the operational sign of the read-out gradient RO, so that the phase relation of the nuclear spins increases step-by-step over the pulse sequence. In both versions, the actual phase-coding pulses PC or PC' are preceded by respective pre-phasing pulses PCV or PCV'.
The nuclear magnetic resonance signal S arises under each pulse RO of the read-out gradient, the signal S being sampled in the time domain at defined times. The sampled signals are digitized and the numerical values acquired in this manner are entered in a raw data matrix. The raw data matrix can be considered a measured data space, and is thus a measured data plane in the two-dimensional case described in the exemplary embodiment. This measured data space is known to those in the art as "K-space."
The information regarding the spatial origin of the signal contributions S needed for the imaging is coded in the phase factors, the relationship between the locus space (i.e., the image) and the K-spaced existing mathematically via a two-dimensional Fourier transformation, as expressed by the following relationship. EQU S(K.sub.x,K.sub.y)=.intg..intg..rho.(x,y)exp[i(K.sub.x x+K.sub.y y)]dxdy,
wherein ##EQU1## .rho.=nuclear magnetic density, .gamma.=gyromagnetic ratio,
G.sub.x (t')=momentary value of the read-out gradient RO, and PA1 G.sub.y (t)=momentary value of the phase-coding gradient PC.
When, as shown in the aforementioned example, the slice gradient SS is produced only by means of a gradient coil (i.e., the slice selection gradient SS is a physical gradient), such as the physical gradient G.sub.z in the example, the position or attitude of the slice, and thus of the tomogram which is acquired, is limited to slices which lie perpendicularly relative to the z-axis. The phase-coding gradient PC and the read-out gradient RO must always lie orthogonally relative to each other and relative to the slice-selection gradient SS. This is most simply achieved by producing the phase-coding gradient PC exclusively with either one of the physical gradients G.sub.y or G.sub.y2/3 and the read-out gradient RO is produced exclusively with the physical gradient G.sub.x.
In conventional methods which do not use resonant gradients, it is nonetheless possible to produce arbitrarily spatially oriented slices or sections by forming logic gradients using the components from the physical gradients G.sub.x, G.sub.y and G.sub.z to generate the slice selection gradient SS, the phase-coding gradient PC and the read-out gradient RO. In order to produce such a resulting gradient (referred to below as a "logic" gradient) having an arbitrary spatial orientation, all of the physical gradients G.sub.x, G.sub.y and G.sub.z must be capable of being simultaneously activated with respectively selected amplitudes. As set forth in FIGS. 3 through 6, however, this is not possible given resonantly switched gradients without undertaking further steps.
As already mentioned, the arbitrary spatial orientation of a logic gradient requires the possibility of simultaneously activating the three physical gradients G.sub.x, G.sub.y and G.sub.z. This means that all three gradient coils would have to be selected with a direct current for forming a logic phase-coding gradient PC in the form of FIG. 4. At the same time, however, the three gradient coils would have to be resonantly operated to form the read-out gradient RO in the form of FIG. 6. It is impossible, however, to simultaneously operate a gradient coil in a resonant circuit and charge it with a direct current.
If a logic gradient PC' in the form of FIG. 5 is used, all of the gradient coils could be operated in resonance. The resonant frequency, however, for producing the logic phase-coding gradient PC' would have to be a different frequency than that for producing the logic read-out gradient RO, because the phase-coding pulses PC' are significantly shorter than the read-out pulses RO. It is not possible to generate both pulses RO and PC' with different frequencies at the same time.
In the aforementioned Weisskopf et al. article, the production of tilted slices is discussed, with a phase-coding gradient corresponding to FIG. 5 being used. In the article, however, it is proposed that only a conventional y-gradient and a conventional z-gradient, (i.e., gradients not produced by resonance) are combined, which is possible without problems. A frequency-coding gradient (or a read-out gradient) produced by means of resonance is not involved in the combination discussed in the article, so that the above-described difficulties are not present. Using the techniques disclosed in the Weisskopf article, however, an arbitrary slice position or attitude cannot be achieved, because the gradient combination employs only two physical gradients.

Method and circuit for operating a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus for producing tomograms in an arbitrary position


The present invention provides a radiation image detecting device which suppresses occurrence of image irregularities and reduction of sharpness by joining a planar light-receiving device and a scintillator panel so that the distance between the planar light-receiving device and the scintillator panel via an adhesive layer is uniform in plane. The present invention also provides a process for producing the radiation image detecting device. The radiation image detecting device includes, in order, a scintillator panel including a support and a scintillator layer on the support, the scintillator layer having a film-thickness distribution; an adhesive layer; and a planar light-receiving device. In the radiation image detecting device, at least one of the support and the planar light-receiving device bends, so that the scintillator panel and the planar light-receiving device are arranged in plane via the adhesive layer at uniform distance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation image detecting device for use in a medical diagnosis device, a non-destructive testing device, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, digital radiation image detecting devices have appeared, which are typified by a computed radiography (CR) and a flat panel detector (FPD). These devices can directly obtain digital radiation images and cause image display devices, such as a cathode-ray tube and a liquid crystal panel, to display the images. Consequently, the digital radiation image detecting devices have considerably enhanced the convenience of diagnostic operations in hospitals, clinics, and the like.
Further, a flat panel detector (FPD) has been developed which uses thin-film transistors (TFTs) or charge-coupled devices (CCDs), as a new digital radiation image technique.
Regarding these radiation image detecting devices, a radiation image detecting device is known, which has an imaging panel formed by bonding together a sensor panel (planar light-receiving device) on which light-receiving elements, such as thin-film transistors (TFTs) or charge-coupled devices (CCDs), are arranged two-dimensionally, and a scintillator panel in which a scintillator layer for converting radiation into light detectable by the light-receiving elements is formed on a support.
It is disclosed that the above radiation image detecting device is equipped with the sensor panel, the scintillator layer for converting radiation into light, and a scintillator protecting member made of a hot-melt resin (see, e.g., Patent Document 1). The Patent Document 1 describes that a scintillator panel and a sensor panel are bonded together via a scintillator protecting layer made of a hot-melt resin. Patent Document 2 discloses a radiation image detecting device having an imaging panel formed by bonding together a scintillator panel and a sensor panel via a hot-melt resin serving as an adhesive layer.
Here, both of the Patent Documents 1 and 2 describes that a material made of CsI(Tl) having a columnar crystal structure is used as a scintillator layer. Generally, such a scintillator layer is formed by a gas-phase method. However, when a scintillator layer having a large size of, e.g., 430 mm×430 mm is formed by a gas-phase method, a film-thickness distribution inevitably occurs in plane. And, when the scintillator layer having a film-thickness distribution is adhesively bonded to the flat sensor panel, the distance between both of the layers is uneven in plane due to the film-thickness distribution in the scintillator layer. Thus, image irregularity occurs. In addition, a thin-film-thickness part of the scintillator layer is difficult to be intimately bonded to the adhesive layer. Accordingly, there is a problem that the thin-film-thickness part of the scintillator layer peels off the adhesive layer. From the viewpoint of image quality, the thinner the adhesive layer, the better. However, the thinner the adhesive layer, the more serious the above problem.

Radiation image detecting device and process for producing the same


Disclosed are inhibitors for the β-catenin/BCL9 interaction. The inhibitors are selective for β-catenin/BCL9 over β-catenin/cadherin interactions. Methods of using the disclosed compounds to treat cancer are also disclosed.

Hyperactivation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway has been associated with the initiation and progression of triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs). This hyperactivation is mainly caused by the autocrine/paracrine activation of Wnt ligands and the epigenetic slicencing of Wnt antagonist genes, which results in accumulation of β-catenin in the cell nucleus and activates transcription of Wnt target genes. Wnt target genes initiate proliferation and metastasis of TNBC cells and self-renewal of TNBC stem cells. The formation of the β-catenin/B-cell lymphoma 9 (BCL9) complex in the cell nucleus is the penultimate step of canonical Wnt signaling. The aberrant formation of this protein-protein complex is a major driving force for TNBC tumorigenesis. The inhibition of the β-catenin/BCL9 interaction by small-molecule inhibitors represents an appealing therapeutic strategy. On the other hand, the surface area of β-catenin for binding with BCL9 is also used to bind cadherin. The β-catenin/cadherin interaction is essential for the integrity of epithelial junctions in normal cells. Therefore, the selectivity of small-molecule inhibitors for β-catenin/BCL9 over β-catenin/cadherin is important.
Stapled BCL9 L351-F374 α-helical peptides were designed to inhibit the β-catenin/BCL9 interaction (Kawamoto, et al. J. Med Chem. 2012, 55, 1137-1146; and Takada, et al. Sci. Transl. Med 2012, 4, 148ra117). The stapled peptides described in Kawamoto, et al J. Med Chem. 2012, 55, 1137-1146 did not exhibit cell-based activity. SAH-BCL9 described in Takada, et al. Sci. Transl. Med 2012, 4, 148ra117 was able to pass the cell membrane, bind with β-catenin, disrupt the β-catenin/BCL9 interaction, and selectively suppress transcription of Wnt target genes. This stapled peptide also inhibited tumor cell growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis without overt damage to normal tissues in the mouse xenograft models for colorectal carcinoma and multiple myeloma. However, the aqueous solubility, the immunogenic effects, and the in vivo stability of SAH-BCL9 were not reported.
Compound screening identified a small organic molecule, carnosic acid, that can disrupt the β-catenin/BCL9 interaction, inhibit β-catenin-dependent transcription, and destabilize activated β-catenin (de la Roche, et al. Nature Commm. 2012, 3, 680). Carnosic acid is a natural antioxidant and associated with many biological activities. Its catechol substructure readily reacts with protein nucleophiles after oxidation and has been recognized as a substructure for pan assay interference compounds (PAINS) (Baell and Holloway J. Med Chem. 2010, 53, 2719-2740; Beall and Walters Nature 2014, 513, 481-483). To date, no class-specific small-molecule inhibitors for the β-catenin/BCL9 interaction has been reported. Thus what are needed are new, potent and selective inhibitors for the β-catenin/BCL9 interaction and methods for their use. The compositions and methods disclosed herein address these and other needs.

Inhibitors for the B-catenin/B-cell lymphoma 9 (BCL9) protein-protein interaction

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Inc.


A switch assembly includes a shell, and a push button including a fixing member, a pushing member, an elastic member and an electrical-conductive member. A shell includes an upper surface and a cavity extending from the upper surface to a lower surface opposite to the upper surface. The fixing member is received in the cavity of the shell. The pushing member is slidably received in the fixing member and exposed out of the cavity. The elastic member is positioned between the pushing member and the shell. The electrical-conductive member is mounted on an end of the pushing member.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to switch assemblies, and more particularly, to a compact switch assembly with small scale and an electrical device using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
A push button or a simply switch assembly is provided for controlling some aspect of a machine or a process. Most traditional push buttons are designed with a pair of restoring arms or elastic arms for restoring the push button to its normal position after being pushed. However, the restoring arms or elastic arms take up a large space such that the push button is bulky. Thus, the present configuration of the push button is adverse to be used in an electronic device that follows the trend of miniaturization.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a switch assembly and an electrical device using the switch assembly to eliminate or at least alleviate the above problem.

Switch assembly and electrical device using same

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


The present disclosure relates to systems, non-transitory computer-readable media, and methods that utilize a progressive refinement network to refine alpha mattes generated utilizing a mask-guided matting neural network. In particular, the disclosed systems can use the matting neural network to process a digital image and a coarse guidance mask to generate alpha mattes at discrete neural network layers. In turn, the disclosed systems can use the progressive refinement network to combine alpha mattes and refine areas of uncertainty. For example, the progressive refinement network can combine a core alpha matte corresponding to more certain core regions of a first alpha matte and a boundary alpha matte corresponding to uncertain boundary regions of a second, higher resolution alpha matte. Based on the combination of the core alpha matte and the boundary alpha matte, the disclosed systems can generate a final alpha matte for use in image matting processes.

Improvements to computer processing technologies have led to significant advancements in the field of digital image processing and editing. For example, conventional image processing systems can detect content portrayed within digital images and manipulate the digital images in a variety of ways to generate enhanced digital images. To illustrate, some conventional systems generate trimap segmentations and, in turn, alpha mattes for use in image matting to extract certain portions of a digital image and generate enhanced digital images with modified background or foreground features. Other conventional image processing systems utilize machine learning models that process input digital images to generate alpha mattes. Despite these improvements, conventional systems continue to suffer from a number of technical deficiencies with regard to model flexibility, accuracy, robustness, and efficiency of implementing computing devices.

Generating refined alpha mattes utilizing guidance masks and a progressive refinement network


An embodiment of a fluid control device includes a housing, a fluid channel defined within the housing, the fluid channel having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface and having an inlet, and a flow control body disposed in the fluid channel, the flow control body tapering toward the inlet. The body, in use, causing fluid flowing through the channel to diverge into at least a first path between the first surface and a first side of the body, and a second path defined by at least by the second side of the body. A geometry of the first path and the second path selected is based on a subcool of the fluid at a pressure of the fluid entering the fluid channel, and the geometry is selected to induce cavitation of the fluid to choke fluid flow through the fluid channel.

Some forms of energy production involve a number of diverse activities from various engineering fields to be performed in a borehole. For example, Exploration and production of hydrocarbons utilizes boreholes drilled into a resource bearing formation. Stimulation operations may be performed to facilitate hydrocarbon production from formations. Examples of stimulations include hydraulic fracturing, acid stimulation, steam injection, thermal injection and other operations that include injection of fluids and/or heat into a formation.
An example of a steam injection process is referred to as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), which is a technique for recovering formation fluids such as heavy crude oil and/or bitumen from geologic formations, and generally includes heating a formation region through an injection borehole to reduce the viscosity of bitumen and allow it to flow into a recovery borehole. As used herein, "bitumen" refers to any combination of petroleum and matter in the formation and/or any mixture or form of petroleum, specifically petroleum naturally occurring in a formation that is sufficiently viscous as to require some form of heating or diluting to permit removal from the formation.
Other forms of energy production include geothermal production. Geothermal wells use heat present under the ground to extract usable energy. Water is pumped into the ground, absorbs energy, and is removed. The heat energy can be used for various purposes, such as driving turbines or otherwise generating electrical power.

Selective flow control using cavitation of subcooled fluid


A semiconductor wafer (52) or other object is retained in a cell (50) such that a thin space (60) having a laterally spaced inlet (62) and outlet (64) is provided above the wafer surface (52a). A plurality of chemicals including solvents, etchants, etc. are provided in individual pressurized containers (18,20,22,24,28,44). A valve (42) connects a selected container (18,20,22,24,28,44) to the inlet (62) for a length of time sufficient for the respective chemical to fill the space (60), and also connects the outlet (64) to an individual receptacle (26,30) for the chemical. The valve (42) then disconnects the container (18,20,22,24,28,44) and receptacle (26,30) from the inlet (62) and outlet (64) and traps the chemical in the space (60) for a length of time sufficient for the chemical to react with the wafer surface (52a). This operation is repeated such that the wafer surface (52a) is exposed to a number of fresh volumes of the chemical in a pulsating manner sufficient to perform a desired processing operation, and used volumes of the chemical are discharged from the space (60) into and captured by the receptacle (26,30). Additional containers (32) may be provided to enable a non-reactive gas, cleaning agent, etc. to be passed through the space (60) to dry and sanitize the surface (52a) and purge the flow passageways of used chemical prior to processing with another chemical.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wet chemical surface processing of material objects such as semiconductor wafers, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for performing such surface processing using very small volumes of chemicals and without environmental pollution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor substrate wafers must be prepared by cleaning, etching and other wet chemical processes before microelectronic devices can be fabricated in the surfaces thereof. The subject of surface preparation of wafers is presented in an article entitled "Wafer Cleaning: Can Dry Systems Compete", by R. Iscoff, in Semiconductor International, November, 1991, pp. 50-54.
Conventional wet chemical processes for cleaning and etching wafers are generally crude, utilize disproportionate volumes of chemicals, create environmental pollution and toxic waste disposal problems, require bulky and expensive support systems and use substantial amounts of electrical power. These processes include such expedients as squirt-bottle rinsing, beaker immersion, spraying and flushing under a running tap, and lack the precision, cleanliness and parametric control which is critical to consistently produce semiconductor wafer surfaces with the required purity, composition and crystal structure.
The chemicals used, especially acids, are highly toxic, and fume hoods, motor-driven air scrubber fans and other expensive and bulky equipment must be provided to remove vapors from the working environment. In addition, acid and base treatment facilities must be provided for reducing the toxicity of used chemicals prior to disposal.

Method and apparatus for wet chemical processing of semiconductor wafers and other objects


Novel organic electrolytes comprising tetrafluoroborates and hexafluorophosphates of doubly charged cations of N,N-dialkyl-1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octanediium (DADACO) are disclosed, which have general formula (2), where R is the alkyl C1-C4, and Y31  is a BF4xe2x88x92 or PF6xe2x88x92 anion. The invention also comprises a process for the preparation of said electrolytes comprising at least one compound of formula (2) and the use of compounds of formula (2) dissolved in an aprotic polar solvent or a mixture of such solvents as an electrolyte for an electrochemical double layer capacitor.

The present invention relates to novel electrolytes for electrochemical double layer capacitors 9EDLC) comprising doubly charged cations of N,N-dialkyl-1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octanediium (this compound is referred to as DADACO in the remaining description and claims). More particularly, the present invention relates to novel electrolytes comprising at least one salt such as DADACO tetrafluoroborate or hexafluorophosphate dissolved in aprotic polar solvent or mixture of such solvents, a process for their preparation and their use in EDLC.
Organic electrolytes based on polar aprotic solvents and tetraalkylammonium perchlorates, tetrafluoroborates or hexafluorophosphates are widely used for EDLCs (JP Patents Nos. 49-68254, 1974; 5240025, 1977; 54-9704, 1979; 61-203628, 1986; 61-204927, 1986). They have a notable advantage over the aqueous electrolytes due to their much higher electrochemical stability resulting in higher working voltage. It will be recalled that the energy stored in the capacitor is proportional to its voltage squared:
E=0.5CU2.xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
Another advantage of choosing polar aprotic solvents is a wider temperature range since the organic solvents, which are usually used in EDLCs, are liquid within a range of xe2x88x9260xc2x0 C. to +240xc2x0 C. However, the solubility of the tetraethylammonium salts mentioned above decreases rapidly with temperature so that, in practice, the lower temperature limit for the use of such electrolytes is usually xe2x88x9220 to xe2x88x9225xc2x0 C.
In WO95/20231 and Pat RU 2022926 (priority Apr. 26, 1993, publ. Nov. 15, 1994) the present inventors disclosed new tetrafluoroborates and hexafluorophosphates of dialkylamino-phosphonium derivatives to be used as supporting electrolytes in EDLCs. Said amino-phosphonium salts exhibited high solubility in polar aprotic solvents down to xe2x88x9260xc2x0 C. and smooth temperature dependence of the characteristics of a capacitor mockup.
Besides the great number of salts having a singly charged cation, such as different ammonium, phosphonium, pyridinium. imidazolium and other salts, which have been used in SC electrolytes. salts with doubly and triply charged cations have also been disclosed. Among them are flat aromatic heterocycles: pyridazine (I), pyrimidine (II), pyrazine (III) and also hexahydrotriazine (IV) alkyl derivatives (JP Patents Nos. 4-233210 and 4-233211, 1992) as shown below:
However, as experiments performed by the present inventors have shown, these cations are not electrochemically stable enough so that the organic electrolytes based on their salts cannot be used at voltages higher than 2.5-2.8 V. On the other hand, the idea of using doubly charged cations in the electrolytes for EDLC applications looks very attractive since an increase in the ion charge density would lead to a corresponding increase in the density of a counter-charge induced in an electrode, and as a result, the double layer capacitance would also increase.
It is an object of the present invention to provide new electrolytes which contain electrochemically and chemically stable doubly charged cations and provide good performance (first of all, higher capacitance and higher working voltage) for EDLC.
It is another object of the present invention to provide new compounds useful as electrolytes for EDLCs and which can easily be synthesized using commercially produced starting materials and minimizing the formation of toxic and environmentally hazardous by-products in course of their preparation and use.
To accomplish these and other objects the present invention provides novel electrolytes according to the attached claims. These are electrolytes for EDLC comprising doubly charged bicyclic cations of N,N-dialkyl-1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octanediium (DADACO):
where R is an alkyl C1-C4, and Y is a BF4xe2x88x92 or PF6xe2x88x92 anion.
The DADACO cations according to the present invention surprisingly combine both the high chemical and electrochemical stability of bicyclic systems, besides, the 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) is a commercially available starting compound for synthesis of new doubly charged bicyclic cations.
It was surprisingly shown that various DADACO derivatives (R=alkyl C1-C4) can be easily synthesized from DABCO by treating it with a corresponding alkyl bromide followed by substituting the bromide anion with tetrafluoroborate or hexafluorophosphate. Some of the data obtained for DADACO electrolytes are shown in FIGS. 1-3 as well as in Tables 1 and 2. Since the ethyl derivative DEDACO2+(BF4xe2x88x92)2 has demonstrated the best solubility, conductivity and stability in the experiments performed by the present inventors, this salt was also tested in SC mockupsxe2x80x94see in Examples 7-11 for how they were made, and in FIG. 4 and Table 2 for the results.

Electrolytes for electrochemical double layer capacitors


A navigation system provides information about railroad crossing locations. A geographic database used by the navigation system includes data that indicate whether an at-grade railroad crossing is located along a road segment. Using this information, a route calculation function in the navigation system calculates a route to a destination that avoids road segments that have at-grade railroad crossings. In this way, the delays associated with waiting for a train to cross a road are avoided.

The present invention relates to a feature provided by a navigation system whereby a route can be calculated that avoids at-grade railroad crossings.
Navigation systems are available that provide end users (such as drivers and passengers of the vehicles in which the navigation systems are installed) with various navigation-related functions and features. For example, some navigation systems are able to determine the fastest or shortest route to travel by roads between locations in a geographic region. Using input from the end user, and optionally from equipment that can determine one's physical location (such as a GPS system), a navigation system can examine various potential routes between two locations to determine the fastest or shortest route to travel from a starting location to a destination location in a geographic region. The navigation system may then provide the end user with information about the route in the form of guidance that identifies the driving maneuvers required to be taken by the end user to travel from the starting location to the destination location. The guidance may take the form of visual and/or audio instructions that are provided along the way as the end user is traveling the route. Some navigation systems are able to show detailed maps on computer displays outlining routes to destinations, the types of maneuvers to be taken at various locations along the routes, locations of certain types of features, and so on.
In order to provide these and other navigating functions, navigation systems use geographic data. The geographic data may be in the form of one or more databases that include data that represent physical features in a geographic region. The geographic database may include data representing the roads and intersections in a geographic region and also may include information relating to the represented roads and intersections in the geographic region, such as turn restrictions at intersections, speed limits along the roads, street names of the various roads, address ranges along the roads, and so on.
Although navigation systems provide many useful features, there continues to be room for new features and improvements. One area in which there is room for improvement relates to providing routes that satisfy various needs or requirements of end users. As noted above, navigation systems are able to determine the fastest route between two locations. However, this determination relies upon certain assumptions. For example, determining the fastest route necessarily does not take into account unforeseen delays, such as accidents or weather conditions, that have not yet occurred. Another type of occurrence that can cause a delay is a railroad train crossing. Waiting for a train to cross can add many minutes of delay to a route. This delay can be inconvenient or expensive.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous if a route calculation function in a navigation system could account for possible delays at railroad crossings when calculating a route to a destination.

Method and system for route calculation that avoids railroad crossings


For providing an electrophotographic photosensitive member that can always maintain good images without occurrence of fusion of toner, independent of the circumstances and the combination of urging pressure of a cleaner, process speed, components contained in toner, etc. and that can always maintain good images of high resolution and even density without occurrence of uneven shaving against a cleaning system or toner, the outermost surface thereof is comprised of a non-monocrystalline carbon film comprising hydrogen and having a dynamic hardness not less than 300 kgf/mm.sup.2 nor more than 1300 kgf/mm.sup.2 measured using a diamond stylus of a triangular pyramid having a tip of a radius not more than 0.1 .mu.m and an edge-to-edge angle of 115.degree., or the outermost surface thereof is comprised of a non-monocrystalline carbon film comprising hydrogen and having a critical load at rupture of the film not less than 50 mN and not more than 700 mN measured when exerting a load on a diamond stylus having a tip of a radius not more than 15 .mu.m while moving the stylus at an amplitude of 20 to 100 .mu.m, an oscillation frequency of 30 Hz, and a feed rate of 2 to 20 .mu.m/sec.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive member for use in the electrophotographic process, in which the outermost layer is a non-monocrystalline carbon film containing hydrogen (hereinafter referred to as "a-C:H").
2. Related Background Art
In the technology of device members used for the electrophotographic photosensitive member, there have been proposed various materials including selenium, cadmium sulfide, zinc oxide, phthalocyanine, amorphous silicon (hereinafter referred to as "a-Si"), and so on. Among others, proposed as high-performance, highly durable, and nonpolluting photosensitive members are non-monocrystalline deposited films comprising silicon atoms as a principal component, typified by a-Si, for example, amorphous deposited films such as of a-Si compensated with hydrogen and/or halogen (for example, fluorine, chlorine, etc.) or the like, some of which are put in practical use. As the forming method of such deposited films, there have been hitherto known a number of methods such as a sputtering method, a method of decomposing a source gas with heat (thermal CVD method), a method of decomposing a source gas with light (photo CVD method), a method of decomposing a source gas with plasma (plasma CVD method), and so on. Among them, the plasma CVD method is a method of decomposing a source gas by glow discharge induced by direct current, high frequency (RF, VHF), microwave, or the like and thereby forming a thin deposited film on a substrate of such a material as glass, quartz, heat-resistant synthetic resin film, stainless steel, aluminum and so on, and has been put to practical use considerably in the method of forming an a-Si deposited film for electrophotography or the like. A variety of apparatuses for practicing the method have also been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-115551 discloses an example of a photoconductive member in which a surface barrier layer comprised of a non-photoconductive amorphous material comprising silicon and carbon atoms as a matrix and hydrogen atoms is provided on a photoconductive layer comprised of an amorphous material comprising silicon atoms as a matrix and at least either of hydrogen atoms or halogen atoms.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-219961 discloses an example of an electrophotographic photosensitive member in which a surface protecting layer formed on an a-Si based photosensitive layer is comprised of a-C:H containing 10-40 atomic % of hydrogen atoms.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-317920 discloses a method of producing an electrophotographic photosensitive member formed of a photoconductive layer comprised of a non-monocrystalline silicon based material comprising silicon atoms as a matrix, and an a-C:H surface protecting layer containing 8-45 atomic % of hydrogen atoms, using a high-frequency wave of the frequency not less than 20 MHz.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-186849 discloses a method and apparatus for forming an electrophotographic device having a top inhibiting layer formed by the microwave plasma CVD method using the microwave (for example, of the frequency 2.45 GHz) as a source gas decomposing means.
These techniques improved the electrical, optical, and photoconductive characteristics, operating circumstance characteristics, and durability and further implemented improvement in image quality.
However, the electrophotographic devices tend to increase the operation speed and lifetime further in recent years. Under such circumstances, even the electrophotographic photosensitive members, which have demonstrated sufficient performance heretofore, might suffer, for example, fusion in certain cases, depending upon the operating circumstances or the structure of the main body of electrophotographic apparatus. The "fusion" is a phenomenon in which a toner melts to adhere to a surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member during long-term use. The adhesion, depending upon the degree thereof, will result in fusion marks in a solid white image or in a halftone image and will pose a problem in practical use. With occurrence of such fusion resulting in the fusion marks on the image, a service technician has to visit a customer to perform maintenance, which requires an extra maintenance fee. Since the maintenance was carried out after the photosensitive member was dismounted from the main body of electrophotographic apparatus, there was a risk of scratching the photosensitive member during the work to disable it.
In recent years, while development of OA devices which are harmless to the global environment is driven under leading by nations and governments, the tendency of saving of energy and resources is becoming stronger and stronger than before in the field of the electrophotographic apparatus as well. Efforts have been made from various aspects on the energy and resources saving in the electrophotographic apparatus and an example among them is an attempt of power saving of a fixing unit for fixing a toner onto paper. In the conventional apparatuses, the fixing unit is provided internally with a heater to always maintain a fixing roller at 150.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. and to melt the toner, thereby fixing it onto paper. Power consumption of the fixing unit can be decreased by lowering the maintained temperature of the fixing roller. In this case, in order to avoid fixing failure of a toner, the toner used is also switched to a low-melting-point toner capable of being melted to be fixed at a lower temperature. In this case, there arise no practical problems as to the image quality and the fixing property. However, when such a low-melting-point toner was used, there were some cases where the fusion stated previously became easy to occur, depending upon combination of the operating circumstances of the electrophotographic apparatus, components in the toner, the surface property of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, urging pressure of a cleaner, processing speed, and so on.
Further, since the color toner used in a full color electrophotographic apparatus was originally a low-melting-point toner, the circumstances thereof were originally such that the fusion was easy to occur.
A conceivable method of preventing this fusion is a method of polishing the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to shave off the fusion source together with the film surface. However, in the case of the electrophotographic photosensitive member with high hardness of the a-Si type, the surface was not shaven into a smooth surface, but uneven shaving occurred in a stripe pattern. This uneven shaving of the stripe pattern appeared on the image and it was common practice heretofore to use the a-Si type electrophotographic photosensitive member under such conditions as not to cause shaving of surface.
Another method of preventing the fusion is a method of adding silica or the like as an abrasive to the toner itself, changing the component thereof, or increasing the quantity thereof. When the toner itself contains the abrasive, the capability of rubbing the drum surface is enhanced thereby, so that the melted toner becomes less likely to adhere to the surface. However, this can prevent the fusion on one hand, but the capability of rubbing the surface of photosensitive member is also enhanced as a side effect on the other hand. Therefore, it was difficult to strike a balance within the range in which only the fusion was improved without shaving the surface of the photosensitive member.
Further, in order to prevent the fusion, there has been employed a method of increasing the urging pressure of the cleaner and scraping off all the toner to keep the toner from adhering to the surface. However, in order to prevent polishing of the surface of photosensitive member while preventing the fusion, a delicate balance is also required. Therefore, there has been the problem that it is difficult to constantly prevent the fusion for all of electrophotographic apparatuses under mass production.


A group of scintillator elements that convert an incident radiation into a light is one-dimensionally arranged. A photodiode array includes a group of photodiode elements that are arranged corresponding to arrangement positions of the respective scintillator elements, with detection surfaces formed substantially parallel to the incidence direction of the radiation. A reflection thin film is formed on a rear surface of the photodiode array in such a manner that the reflection thin film covers surfaces of the scintillator elements of the scintillator array that is fixed adjacent to the photodiode array.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation detector component for converting an incident radiation into a light and detecting the converted light to photograph a radiation image and a radiation detector, and more particularly, to a radiation detector component a radiation detector for forming a two-dimensional array to photograph the radiation image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an X-ray CT apparatus used in medical institutes and the like photographs an internal structure of a patient by irradiating an X-ray on the patient. Specifically, the X-ray CT apparatus has an X-ray irradiation source and a radiation detector with a structure in which an X-ray detecting unit, which is arranged to be opposed to the X-ray irradiation source via the patient, is arranged in a one-dimensional array shape. The detector has a function of converting a received X-ray into an electric signal and includes a scintillator element that converts the X-ray into a visible ray and a photodiode element that converts the visible ray into an electric signal. The X-ray CT apparatus receives an X-ray that has passed through the patient with this radiation detector and records an electric signal obtained based on this X-ray received. The X-ray CT apparatus varies an angle for irradiating an X-ray to repeat reception of the X-ray while maintaining a positional relation between the X-ray irradiation source and the radiation detector. Thereafter, the X-ray CT apparatus applies processing such as convolution and back-projection to the electric signal obtained to reconstitute an image of a section (a slice) of the patient through which the X-ray has passed.
In particular, in recent years, in a multi-slice X-ray CT apparatus that can simultaneously photograph a plurality of slices by irradiating an X-ray once, a plurality of array-like X-ray detecting units are arranged in association with the slices. The multi-slice X-ray CT apparatus collects X-rays, which have passed through the respective slices, to reconstitute slice images. Therefore, the multi-slice X-ray CT apparatus includes a radiation detector in which the detecting units are arranged in a two-dimensional array shape rather than a one-dimensional array shape.
As a conventional radiation detector, there is a radiation detector in which scintillator elements and photodiode elements are arranged to be adjacent to each other with respect to an incidence direction of a radiation and detection surfaces of the photodiode elements are arranged substantially parallel to the incidence direction of the radiation (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-84066).
In the conventional radiation detector, thickness of a reflection film applied on surfaces that are peripheral edges of the scintillator elements and substantially parallel to the incidence direction of the radiation is added to thickness of a substrate forming the photodiode elements. Thus, there is a problem in that a detection area for the radiation viewed from the incidence direction of the radiation decreases, detection sensitivity falls, and it is impossible to obtain high resolution.

Component for radiation detector and radiation detector


A container with a retractable lid for lipstick, lip cream and/or deodorant including an outer casing in two parts which contains at least one cylindrical element and a cylindrical sleeve insertable coaxially into the cylindrical element such that the two can be rotated one relative to the other during use and, for a product stick, a cup provided with elements for engagement in a track formed in the cylindrical element and in longitudinal recesses in the cylindrical sleeve, in which the two parts of the container can be secured by respective engagement pieces to the cylindrical element and cylindrical sleeve, this latter sleeve being provided with a slide surface for a covering and closure vane for an aperture provided in the upper part, the vane being provided with an element for engagement in a second track provided in the outer surface of the cylindrical element.

The most varied types of containers are currently used for lipstick, lip cream and/or deodorant, in which the contained product, in the form of a stick, can be moved between a position enclosed within the container and an extracted position ready for use only after the appropriate lid element or cap has been removed. In this respect, this latter element is necessary to protect the stick product from possible breakage or from contamination with undesirable substances such as dust and the like.
Containers have also been conceived comprising a lid element movable for using the product between a cover position closing the container and a position withdrawn into the container. However such arrangements comprise complicated elements for operating on the container shell within a suitable seat. In addition, for their formation the individual parts require complicated molds of difficult construction and unsustainable costs. To this must be added the difficulty of molding the parts, of assembling them and of filling the product stick support cup

Container with retractable lid for lipstick, lip cream and/or deodorant


A spinning reel includes a reversing mechanism and a one way clutch. The one-way clutch includes a ratchet wheel defining a plurality of teeth, and a ratchet pawl. The one-way clutch, an engaging section of a reel body and the reversing mechanism are in such a positional relationship that the reversing mechanism contacts or lies close to the engaging sections when a rotor is stopped by the one-way clutch.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a spinning reel, and more particularly to a spinning reel having a bail arm connected to a rotor supported by a reel body to be freely rotatable, the ball arm being switchable between and retainable in a takeup position and a release position by an urging force of a toggle mechanism, a reversing mechanism for contacting an engaging section of the reel body when the rotor is rotated in a line winding direction with the bail arm set to the release position, to switch the bail arm to the takeup position against the urging force of the toggle mechanism, and a one-way clutch for allowing rotation of the rotor only in the line winding direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known spinning reel having a reversing mechanism as noted above is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication Kokai No. 62-80570, for example. In this prior construction, the toggle mechanism includes a compression spring mounted in an oscillatable case. When the rotor is rotated in a line winding direction with the bail arm set to the release position, an operating force is transmitted from an oscillatable piece contacting an engaging section projecting from the reel body, to the case of the toggle mechanism, whereby the case reaches a position beyond a dead point.
When the angler swings a fishing rod at high speed for throwing a bait far, for example, a strong force may act on a handle of the reel having the reversing mechanism, to turn the handle and the rotor in the line winding direction. As a result, the bail arm may be switched to the takeup position by the reversing mechanism.
This switching operation is effected against the urging force of the toggle mechanism, and thus takes place in a situation where the rotor rotates in excess of a certain angle to produce a relatively strong dynamic inertia. When such a switching operation is carried out in a natural way at a bait casting time, the fishing line is stopped being unwound from the spool, which results in breaking of the fishing line or a reduced bait casting distance. Thus, there is room for improvement.

Spinning reel which prevents inadvertent bail closing during casting


The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for generating shift-resilient neural network outputs based on utilizing a dense pooling layer, a low-pass filter layer, and a downsampling layer of a neural network. For example, the disclosed systems can generate a pooled feature map utilizing a dense pooling layer to densely pool feature values extracted from an input. The disclosed systems can further apply a low-pass filter to the pooled feature map to generate a shift-adaptive feature map. In addition, the disclosed systems can downsample the shift-adaptive feature map utilizing a downsampling layer. Based on the downsampled, shift-adaptive feature map, the disclosed systems can generate shift-resilient neural network outputs such as digital image classifications.

Advancements in software and hardware platforms have led to a variety of improvements in systems that utilize convolutional neural networks or other machine learning models to analyze and/or classify digital images. For example, neural network systems are now able to identify an object within the digital image as belonging to one of potentially thousands of possible image classifications. Despite their convolutional nature, however, modern convolutional neural networks are not shift-invariant: small shifts in the input can cause drastic changes in the output. For instance, due to their lack of shift-invariance, many conventional neural network systems incorrectly generate varying outputs based on even minor shifts in input. Amid efforts to improve these conventional neural network systems, some systems can, for example, train a neural network using shift-based data augmentation by including shifted variations of inputs as part of the initial training data.
Despite these advances however, conventional neural network systems continue to suffer from a number of disadvantages, particularly in their accuracy, flexibility, and efficiency. Indeed, as mentioned, many conventional systems are not shift-invariant and therefore inaccurately generate outputs based on shifts in input. For example, based on a rotation or a translation of an object within a digital image, conventional image classification systems often classify the digital image incorrectly. Even systems that train a neural network using data augmentation, nonetheless often generate incorrect outputs, especially in cases where shifts in input do not align with augmented training data (e.g., where a neural network is trained using training images illustrating shifts in one direction but not in another direction). The strided pooling techniques utilized in many conventional neural network systems break shift-equivariance, resulting in the loss of commutable properties between shifting the input and extracting features within neural networks.
Additionally, many conventional systems are inflexible. For example, conventional neural network systems often require replacing an original pooling layer of a neural network with a specialized pooling layer to accommodate shifts in input. Such changes to the neural network itself are invasive and force systems to utilize a specific pooling layer, often different from the original pooling layer designed for the particular neural network. As a result of making such rigid modifications to neural networks, these conventional systems cannot flexibly adapt to applications of different neural networks (or other machine learning models), but instead force the neural networks to fit an indiscriminate, universally-applied pooling layer regardless of the application.
Further, some conventional neural network systems are inefficient. As an initial matter, training convolutional neural networks utilizing conventional systems requires significant training data and computing resources (e.g., analyzing millions of data samples to train the neural network). Moreover, as mentioned above many conventional systems require data augmentation to correctly classify shifted digital images. Training neural networks with the requisite augmented training data require even more processing time and computing resources to generate the augmented training data and then to retrain a neural network using the augmented training data.
Thus, there are several disadvantages with regard to conventional image classification systems.

Generating shift-invariant neural network feature maps and outputs


Microelectromechanical systems with structures having piezoelectric actuators are described. The structures each have a body that supports piezoelectric islands. The piezoelectric islands have a first surface and a second opposite surface. The piezoelectric islands can be formed, in part, by forming cuts into a thick layer of piezoelectric material, attaching the cut piezoelectric layer to a body having etched features and grinding the piezoelectric layer to a thickness that is less than the depths of the cuts. Conductive material can be formed on the piezoelectric layer to form electrodes.

This invention relates to forming piezoelectric actuators for microelectromechanical devices.
Piezoelectric materials can generate electricity or an electric polarity when subjected to mechanical stress. Alternatively, applying a voltage across a piezoelectric material can cause converse piezoelectricity, that is, the piezoelectric material mechanically deforms when a voltage is applied. Converse piezoelectricity can cause bending forces in the piezoelectric material that are extremely high. Both of these properties, generating electricity and converse piezoelectricity, are harnessed for use in electrical and mechanical devices, such as transducers, e.g., actuators and sensors. Multiple transducers, including a combination of actuators and sensors, can be combined together in a microelectromechanical system (MEMS).
A MEMS typically has mechanical structures formed in a semiconductor substrate using conventional semiconductor processing techniques. A MEMS can include a single structure or multiple structures. MEMS have an electrical component, where an electrical signal activates each or is produced by actuation of each structure in a MEMS.
One implementation of a MEMS includes a body having chambers formed in the body and a piezoelectric actuator formed on an exterior surface of the body. The piezoelectric actuator has a layer of piezoelectric material, such as a ceramic, and elements for transmitting a voltage, such as electrodes. The electrodes of the piezoelectric actuator can either apply a voltage across the piezoelectric material or transmit a voltage that is produced when the piezoelectric material is deformed.
One type of MEMS with piezoelectric actuators are micro-fluidic ejection devices. An actuator can include piezoelectric material that can be actuated by electrodes, causing the piezoelectric material to deform towards a chamber of the device. This deformed actuator pressurizes the chamber, causing fluid in the chamber to exit, for example, through a nozzle. Each structure component, including the actuator, the chamber and the nozzle, can affect how much fluid is ejected. In a MEMS with multiple structures, forming uniform sized components for each structure across the MEMS can improve the uniformity of performance of the MEMS, such as the uniformity of fluid quantities that are ejected. Forming uniform structures can be challenging when attempting to process each structure to have measurements that are within a few microns of other structures in the MEMS.


A skylight assembly is provided with a glazing unit which transmits light while limiting heat transfer. The glazing unit has spaced apart top and bottom layer defining an enclosed cavity at least partially filled with translucent insulating particles. A peripheral frame formed in situ from a polymeric material about the glazing unit forming a leak-tight joint.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulated skylight assembly and the method for making same.
2. Background Art
Skylights have been used to allow light into residential and commercial buildings through an opening. The aesthetic value and possible health benefit of having skylights in buildings have led to an increasing demand for these structures. But, since the skylight installation requires an opening in a roof, heat loss through and sealing of such units has presented numerous challenges.
In order to provide good thermal insulation, typically at least two spaced apart transparent layers have been used to enclose the region between a frame forming an insulated glass unit (IGU). A state of the art skylight having an IGU and a molded unitary frame is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,296,388, entitled "Skylight Having a Molded Frame," which is incorporated herein in its entirety. But, the thermal transmission of conventional glazing materials such as an IGU typically is significantly higher than the thermal transmission of conventional building materials such as a framed roof, resulting in significant heat loss in winter, and heat gain in summer.
It is advantageous to provide a skylight having a good seal while providing excellent resistance to thermal transmission through the fenestration unit.

Insulated skylight assembly and method of making same


The present invention relates to methods and test strips for performing nucleic acid hybridizations on a porous chromatographic material having the capacity for rapid chromatographic solvent transport of non-immobilized reagents and reactive solution components by means of a selected chromatographic solvent. The strip includes a first end or contact site, at which chromatographic solvent transport begins, a second end, at which chromatographic solvent transport ends, and at least one zone positioned between the first and second ends. The zone is impregnated with a capture nucleotide sequence which is immobilized against solvent transport and which is capable of hybridization with a complementary nucleotide sequence or probe so as to render it immobilized in the capture zone. The strip may further include a probe zone between the first end and the capture zone, wherein a labeled probe is impregnated such that it is mobilized by the solvent and transported to the capture zone where hybridization can occur. Interfering sample components and unhybridized nucleic acids are cleared from the capture zone by chromatographic solvent transport to form an inherent wash.

The present invention relates generally to solid phase methods for conducting specific binding assays and more specifically to the use of chromatographic techniques in conducting nucleic acid hybridization assays.
The use of specific binding assays has been found to be of great value in a variety of clinical applications. Various biological fluids and tissue samples can be analyzed for a wide variety of components such as drugs, hormones, enzymes, proteins, antibodies, DNA and RNA fragments and other biological material.
Specific binding assays include those assays wherein an analyte is measured which is a member of a specific binding pair consisting of a ligand and a receptor. The ligand and the receptor are related in that the receptor specifically binds to the ligand, being capable of distinguishing the ligand from other sample constituents having similar characteristics. Immunological assays depend on reactions between immunoglobulins (antibodies) which are capable of binding with specific antigenic determinants of various compounds and materials (antigens). Specific binding assays may also involve nucleic acid hybridization reactions wherein single strands of oligo or polynucleotides (e.g. DNA or RNA) hybridize through hydrogen bond formation with strands of other polynucleotides comprising complementary base sequences. Still other specific binding assays are known, such as those involving hormone receptors and biotin avidin, which involve neither immunological reactions nor hybridization.
Various types of specific binding assay techniques are also known for the detection of specific nucleic acid sequences. Such assays utilize nucleic acid hybridization procedures wherein complementary polynucleotide sequences of single stranded nucleic acid polymers recognize each other (nucleate) and interact (anneal) to form a stable duplex structure.
Nucleic acid hybridizations have been carried out in both homogeneous (in-solution phase) media and heterogeneous (solution/solid phase) media. See, for example, EP A-288 737, W086/07387 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,963. In homogeneous media, the hybridized polynucleotide sequences typically are separated from the unhybridized sequences by passing them over a hydroxyapatite column under appropriate conditions. Separation can also be achieved by gel exclusion as taught in Kuhns, EP A-278,220; by polycationic binding supports as taught in EP-A-281-390; or by precipitating agents as taught in EP-A-167,366. Several references teach heterogeneous hybridizations, including a sandwich hybridization taught by Ranki, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,419.
Despite the great advances that have been made with respect to specific binding assay techniques in recent years, there still remain significant opportunities for improvement of these techniques, particularly where nucleic acid hybridizations are concerned. Current solution phase hybridization procedures require significant incubation times, typically on the order of several hours, to permit diffusion and nucleation of complementary sequences. Even under known methods for acceleration of hybridization, incubations require about 1-2 hours. Then a separation step is required to separate the duplexes. Solid phase hybridizations make separation easier but often involve increased incubation times. Since only one of the two complementary nucleic acids is able to diffuse freely, diffusion and nucleation does not occur as rapidly at the surface of the solid phase.
MacConnell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,963 discloses a method and apparatus for improving the kinetics of heterogeneous hybridizations. By electrophoretically concentrating nucleic acid probes at a membrane to which the target sequences are bound, the chances of nucleation and annealing are increased. The reference claims hybridization occurs in a matter of 15-30 minutes, rather than hours.
EP A 0 288 737 discloses another method for achieving more rapid heterogeneous hybridizations. The time required for diffusion of sequences to the internal pores of a nitrocellulose membrane to which probe is bound necessitates longer incubation times. Therefore, the reference discloses a solid phase comprising water suspensible microparticles to which probe is bound. The decreased diffusion distances permit nucleation in about 30 minutes, and the separation of microparticles is easily accomplished by filtration.
Nevertheless, new systems involving solid phase assay devices having improved kinetics are highly desired. Such devices would preferably be simple to use in conducting assays for a wide variety of nucleic acids and would be capable of providing for hybridization in less than 15-30 minutes.

Method and device for improved reaction kinetics in nucleic acid hybridizations


According to a first aspect, it is presented a method for decoding at least one signal from a sequence of symbols. The method is executed in a network node of a mobile communication system and comprises the steps of: receiving a sequence of symbols using a radio receiver; identifying at least one corrupted symbol by identifying a corruption of at least the first received symbol of the plurality of symbols; obtaining a working set of symbols, by omitting the at least one corrupted symbol from the sequence of symbols; and de-spreading the working set of symbols using a subset of a first de-spreading code, wherein the subset of the first de-spreading code comprises code elements corresponding to the working set of symbols, to thereby provide a first decoded signal. A corresponding network node, computer program and computer program product are also presented.

In mobile communication systems, network nodes such as evolved node Bs (eNBs) of a long term evolution (LTE) system sometimes experience interference from surrounding eNBs.
The effect of the interference can be reduced by using code division multiplex. However, when the interference is strong, this can overshadow the symbols resulting from the desired signal. In other words, de-spreading as known in the art will cause interference leakage over all groups of users that are code division multiplexed.

Method, network node, computer program and computer program product for decoding a signal


A digital communication translator for redirection of preprogrammed instructions and/or information from a digital alarm communicator system or digital communicator transmitter. The inventive device includes an integrated circuit board containing memory ships with input for a common analog or digital communications circuit and output for the same. An input for a low voltage direct current power. An EEPROM (Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) may interact with the activated host communication process and initiate a communication circuit with the redirected receiver. This EEPROM may simulate a receiver to the host transmitter, An EPROM (Electronically Programmable Read Only Memory) may contain a library of various formats and data to assist the EPROM in simulating the appropriate receiver for the host communicator.

Alarm systems are well known in the art for use with homes or businesses. In a typical business or home alarm, a number of sensors may be provided to detect various conditions. Examples of these sensors include door and window sensors, motion sensors, glass break detectors, heat and fire sensors, flood sensors and sprinkler system pressure sensors. When one of these sensors is activated (e.g., burglary or fire occurs, or false alarm) the sensor communicates with a control panel.
The control panel, typically microprocessor controlled, may receive sensor signals, as well as signals from sensors indicating sensor tampering, battery status, and sensor maintenance status. From a predetermined program, the microprocessor may determine whether an alarm should be sounded (e.g., Police or Fire), sound the appropriate alarm, and telephone an alarm company to indicate an alarm condition exists.
Most radio frequency (RF) wireless security systems available today, such as those manufactured by Alarm Manufacturing Device Co. (ADEMCO) 165 Eileen Way, Syosset, N.Y. 11791, employ a multiplicity of transmitters in communication with a central receiver control unit. The information transmitted typically describes the state of various transducers or sensors associated with each transmitter, such as smoke, motion, breaking glass, shock and vibration detectors, door, window and floor mat switches, and the like. These transmitters are designed to be inexpensive to manufacture.
Most of these alarm systems are manufactured by a few main alarm system manufacturers. As such, such standardized equipment is relative inexpensive to purchase, maintain, repair and replace. However, some major alarm companies which do large volumes of nationwide business have purchased from these major alarm manufacturers, specialized or "proprietary" versions of these standardized alarm systems.
The reasons for modifying the standardized alarm system are many. For some large alarm companies, the alarm equipment is leased to the consumer, and the alarm company does not want the equipment to be readily used by others. In other instances, where the alarm equipment is sold to the consumer, the use of a "proprietary" version of the alarm system makes it more difficult for the consumer to switch to different alarm monitoring companies.
It should be noted that the term "proprietary" as used here (and as is used in the alarm industry) does not necessarily imply that these modified alarm systems employ any protected intellectual property (e.g., Patents, Copyrights, trade secrets) above and beyond the underlying standard alarm system technology. Rather, the changes to the system to make it "proprietary" relate more to changing the coding used to report alarms, pre-programming of telephone numbers and the like (e.g., 1-800 number to report alarms) and coding used to communicate from the alarm monitoring company to the alarm system (for maintenance and the like).
By slightly altering this coding (e.g., via PROM chip within the control panel or the like) the alarm company has made it much more difficult for a third party alarm monitoring company to monitor the alarm system. Extensive re-programming may be required by a service technician at the site to reprogram the alarm dial-up numbers and alarm codes to conform to the third party alarm monitoring companies numbers and codes.
Such reprogramming may require temporary installation of a programming control panel, as typical consumer control panels may not provide sufficient feedback for programming purposes (e.g., limited display capabilities). Moreover, such programming requires the skills and experience of a knowledgeable technician in the field. Such knowledgeable technicians are hard to come by, expensive to train, and difficult to retain. Improper programming can result in all alarm system settings being lost and even the system being locked out, requiring extensive manual re-programming and "learning" by activating each sensor in the system.
Moreover, the hourly rate of a skilled alarm technician is higher than a standard alarm technician. Thus, if a third party alarm company wants to "convert" a customer (with proprietary equipment) from a major alarm company, considerable cost must be incurred to re-program the consumer's alarm system. As a third party alarm monitoring company may be competing on price, this re-programming adds cost to the alarm company's bottom line, making them less competitive, which is exactly the reason the major alarm companies use proprietary systems in the first place—to keep customers captive.
Moreover, in some instances, it may not be possible at all to reprogram the alarm system. The alarm system may be so modified (or indeed, custom made for the major alarm company) that it cannot be reprogrammed for use with any other alarm company. In such a scenario, the third party alarm company would have to install a whole new alarm system (or at least a new control panel) which may not be cost-effective.
Without competition in the marketplace, the consumer may find themselves in a difficult situation—stuck with an expensive alarm system that would be prohibitive in cost to replace, and stuck with an alarm monitoring company that may be providing inadequate service at whatever prices it chooses to dictate.
A solution which would allow for greater consumer choice would improve competition in the marketplace. Such a solution should be easy to install, inexpensive, and not require the services of a skilled alarm technician.
It can be appreciated that digital data communicators have been in use for years. However, a digital translator for an alarm system is not known to exist. The main problem with digital communicators is that they require a considerable amount of time to be installed by a skilled technician. Another problem is that a digital alarm communicator system manufactured in the past may not have the ability to accept new dialing patterns or other changes as required by the communications industry (e.g., move to 10-digit phone numbers or the like).
Another problem with a digital alarm communicator system manufactured in the past may be the requirement that communication only occur with a digital alarm communicator receiver that was manufactured by a specific company. Thus, for example, if an alarm monitoring company wishes to monitor a number of different customers who use different brands of equipment, the alarm company may need to purchase separate central station monitoring equipment for each brand of alarm monitored.
This central station monitoring equipment (i.e., equipment at the alarm company monitoring headquarters) can be fairly expensive to purchase. Moreover, the use of different brands of monitoring equipment requires having the skills to repair and maintain the different brands of central station monitoring equipment. Alarm monitoring personnel may need to be trained on different types of equipment and monitor different equipment simultaneously. In addition, since each system may be separate, it may be difficult to provide a single display or interface to the alarm monitor personnel or to record or log alarms in a single central system.
Another problem with a digital alarm communicator system is that some manufacturers of digital alarm communicator systems have ceased supporting the dialers or other hardware or have gone out of business—consequently leaving the consumer with no choice but to replace installed equipment with new equipment. Another problem with existing products is that the original installing company may have gone out of business, depriving the new provider of essential information necessary to reprogram the existing system.
Digital data translators per se, are known in the art. For example, Barclay, U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,072, issued Oct. 30, 2001 and incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus for translating between telephone signalling protocols. However, this system, assigned to Lucent Technologies, appears to be designed more for interfacing complete telephone systems together, rather than interfacing between two devices on the same phone system.
Thus, the apparatus of Barclay is a fairly complex device (e.g., using Sun Sparc workstations) designed for a specific type of interface between two phone systems. In contrast, in the Alarm industry, there is a need to interface existing alarm systems of many different types to a receiver system at a very low installed cost. A complex interface network such as in Barclay (assuming arguendo such a system would even be applicable) would be too specialized and costly to use.


This invention is based upon the discovery that kenaf balls that are comprised of an entangled mass of kenaf fibers are highly useful for absorbing oil and other organic liquids from oil spill areas on land or water. In fact, the kenaf balls of this invention are capable of absorbing oil in an amount of over 1000% of their own weight and in some cases even over 1800% of their own weight. The subject invention more specifically discloses a kenaf ball which is comprised of an entangled mass of kenaf fibers, wherein the kenaf ball has a density which is within the range of about 0.02 g/cc to about 0.15 g/cc, and wherein the kenaf ball has a mass which is within the range of 0.2 grams to about 10 grams.

Hibiscus cannabinus, which is commonly known as kenaf, is a annual or biennial herbaceous plant that is grown to heights of 12 to 18 feet in as little as 4 to 5 months. Kenaf can produce 5-10 tons of dry fiber and core per acre and typically does not require treatment with herbicides or pesticides. The kenaf plant is believed to have originated in Africa or Asia and has been cultivated for its fiber in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Egypt for thousands of years. Kenaf fiber, which is frequently referred to simply as "knaft," has traditionally been used in manufacturing rope, twine, clothing, rugs, and paper. Today the kenaf plant is also being commercially cultivated in the Untied States.
The kenaf plant is comprised of two distinct types of different materials. These materials include an outer fiber and a core. The outer fiber is frequently referred to as simply the fiber and is sometimes called the bast or the bast fiber. The bast accounts for about one-third of the plant by weight. The core is a low density woody type material while the bast is a much lower density fluffy type fiber of high tensile strength. As harvested, the bast fibers tenaciously adhere to the core. In a typical harvested kenaf crop, the core is slightly tapered from bottom to top and has a small diameter at the top in the range of 0.25 inch to 0.5 inch.
The core and fibers have distinctly different uses and must be separated before they are suitable for these different uses. The core is useable as animal bedding, oil-absorbent material for oil spill cleanup, potting soil, kitty litter and particle board or other similar construction materials. The most promising high volume use of bast fibers is in paper manufacture. Another potential high volume use is in the manufacture of fiberboard used in automotive door panels and the like. The economics of using bast fibers in such high volume applications is attractive because the cost of the cultivated crop compares very favorably to the cost of timber which is the conventional source of fiber used in paper and fiberboard production.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,582 discloses a method of separating kenaf into its constituents of fiber and core comprising the steps of delivering lengths of kenaf onto a periphery of a saw cylinder comprising a multiplicity of spaced apart teeth; rotating the saw cylinder and snagging the fiber on the teeth, moving snagged lengths of kenaf into contact with a grate and delivering pieces of core through the grate thereby separating the core from the fiber; and removing the fiber from the saw cylinder.
As has been noted, kenaf core is an oil-absorbent material that is used for oil spill cleanup. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,691 discloses using kenaf core particles for adsorbing oil spills on water and on dry surfaces. The kenaf used in the oil cleanup technique of U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,691 can be comprised entirely of core material. However, the teachings of this patent also indicate that mixtures containing 90% core and 10% bast can also be used. U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,691 further indicates that in floor sweeping applications that it is preferable to utilize a mixture containing 80% core material and 20% bast.
Particles or pellets of clay are also commonly used as an absorbent for spilled oil. Clay is relatively inexpensive and can be used to absorb oil that has been spilled onto the ground and other hard surfaces, such as concrete and asphalt. However, clay pellets cannot be used to cleanup oil that has been spilled on water. This is because clay is more dense than water and sinks rather than floating on the water's surface. Oil saturated clay pellets also tend to disintegrate in cleanup operations when attempts are made to recover them by sweeping. Thus, using clay as an absorbent for recovering spilled oil can be a messy procedure. Another drawback associated with using clay pellets as an absorbent in oil cleanup operations is that disposal of the oil saturated clay pellets also presents a disposal problem. For example, oil saturated clay pellets will not burn and there is no simple way to recover that oil from the pellets. Accordingly, the oil saturated pellets are typically discarded into a landfill which leads to other undesirable environmental issues.

Oil absorbent kenaf balls and kits, and methods of making and using the same


Circuits, methods, and apparatus for low-skew input/output level-shift circuits. One low-skew input/output circuit includes a single-ended-to-differential converter, a level-shift circuit, and a differential-to-single-ended converter. The circuit employs a low-skew single-ended-to-differential converter that provides an output to a level-shift circuit. To reduce skew, the single-ended-to-differential converter includes multiple paths from the input to its inverting and non-inverting outputs. The level-shift circuit translates signal levels between voltages used by the core and voltages used by the input and output circuits of the integrated circuit. An output from the level-shifter is received by the differential-to-single-ended converter. This converter also includes multiple signal paths coupling inverting and non-inverting signal paths. A threshold of an input inverter in the differential-to-single-ended converter is set by appropriately adjusting ratio of the size of its p-channel pull-up and n-channel pull-down transistors to match the rising and falling edges of the signals provided by the level-shift circuit.

The present invention relates generally to input/output circuits and more particularly to low-skew input/output level-shift circuits for integrated circuits.
Integrated circuit data rates and associated clock frequencies have been dramatically increasing the past few years, and the rate of this increase shows no signs of abating. Fortunately, circuit designers have developed various techniques for keeping pace. But these techniques place severe demands on the integrity of a device's data and clock signals.
For example, at double-data rate memory interfaces, data is transferred at each edge of a clock signal. To optimize data transfers, clock edges should have a very low level of skew between their rising and falling edges, since a high level of skew can impair device performance. As a comparison, when data is transferred at only one clock edge, rising and falling edge skew is more forgivable so long as the overall clock cycle period remains stable.
Similarly, it is desirable that rising and falling edges of data signals have low skew. Particularly in systems where data is to be recovered by a second integrated circuit, it is important that a first integrated circuit provide a data output having an open "eye" such that data can be accurately retimed.
But data and clock signals are typically handled on integrated circuits by inverters or similar logic gates. These circuits are inherently single-ended in nature, that is, they provide single-ended signals that are more prone to skew than differential signals. At its simplest, an inverter receiving a single-ended signal switches its output when an input signal crosses a threshold voltage. But skew results if the threshold does not match the cross point of the rising or falling edges of the input signal. The result is that the delay through an inverter for a rising edge may differ from the delay for a falling edge. This is particularly true when an input signal and a receiving inverter have different voltage ranges. For a clock signal, this can make double-data rate clocking more difficult. For data signals, this can close the "eye" needed for data recovery.
Thus, what is needed are circuits, methods, and apparatus for providing low-skew input and output level-shift circuits.