An image-based measurement technique that directly measures the orientation of fibers in a moving web that comprises nonwoven material measures the orientation angles of the individual fibers so that a more robust estimate of the statistical distribution of fibers is obtained. The technique includes the steps of: (a) illuminating an area on at least one side of the web with radiation; (b) obtaining at least one digital image of the illuminated area; and (c) calculating the fiber orientation of the web by processing the at least one digital image with a gradient operator thereby analyzing the distribution of observed fiber orientation angles within the image. The gradient operator is preferably of a non-integer order between ⅓ and ⅔ and particularly between ¼ and ¾. The use of fractional-gradient operators yields more reliable results than when integer order gradients are employed.

In the manufacture of paper on continuous papermaking machines, a web of paper is formed from an aqueous suspension of fibers (stock) on a traveling mesh, papermaking fabric, or wire and water drains by gravity and suction through the fabric. The web is then transferred to the pressing section where more water is removed by pressure and vacuum. The web next enters the dryer section where steam heated dryers and hot air completes the drying process. The paper machine is, in essence, a water removal, system. A typical forming section of a papermaking machine includes an endless traveling papermaking fabric or wire, which travels over a series of water removal elements such as table rolls, foils, vacuum foils, and suction boxes. The stock is carried on the top surface of the papermaking fabric and is de-watered as the stock travels over the successive de-watering elements to form a sheet of paper. Finally, the wet sheet is transferred to the press section of the papermaking machine where enough water is removed to form a sheet of paper. Papermaking devices well known in the art are described for example in Handbook for Pulp & Paper Technologists 2nd ed., G. A. Smook, 1992, Angus Wilde Publications, Inc., and Pulp and Paper Manufacture Vol III (Papermaking and Paperboard Making), R. MacDonald, ed. 1970, McGraw Hill. Sheetmaking systems are further described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,634 to He, U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,966 to Hu, U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,334 to Balakrishnan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,817 to Boissevain et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,935 to Anderson et al.
In the art of modem high-speed papermaking, it is well known to continuously measure certain properties of the paper material in order to monitor the quality of the finished product. These on-line measurements often include fiber orientation (FO), basis weight, moisture content, and sheet caliper, i.e., thickness. The measurements can be used for controlling process variables with the goal of maintaining output quality and minimizing the quantity of product that must be rejected due to disturbances in the manufacturing process. The on-line sheet property measurements are often accomplished by scanning sensors that periodically traverse the sheet material from edge to edge.
Fiber orientation in papermaking refers to the preferential orientation of the individual fibers on the web. Because of flow patterns in the headbox and the jet impingement on the wire, fibers have a tendency to align in the machine direction (MD) versus other directions in the web. If all of the fibers in the web were perfectly distributed, the paper sheet would have the same properties in all directions. This is called an isotropic sheet and its fiber distribution can be plotted on a polar graph in the form of a circle. A fiber ratio, which is the ratio of maximum to minimum fiber distribution 90° apart, can be defined for a paper sheet. An isotropic sheet has a fiber ratio of one.
If there are more fibers in one direction than in other directions the fibers are distributed non-uniformly and the sheet is anisotropic. As shown in FIG. 12, the anisotropic fiber distribution can be plotted on a polar graph as a symmetrical ellipse-like geometric 2. An anisotropic sheet has a fiber ratio greater than one and with higher fiber ratios the polar distribution tends to be in the shape of a figure eight. The fiber ratio (anisotropy) is defined as the ratio of maximum to minimum distribution, 90° apart. The fiber angle α is defined as the angle of the major axis 6 of the ellipse 2 to the machine direction 4. The minor axis 8 is perpendicular to the major axis 6. FIG. 12 also illustrates the definitions of FO ratio (the ratio of max 3 to min 5) and FO angle of fiber distribution in a paper sheet. Fiber ratios can also be defined for other orthogonal directions, and it is common in papermaking to use the ratio of the fiber distribution in the machine direction 4 to the fiber distribution in the cross-machine direction 9.
Fiber orientation in formed webs can influence numerous properties of the final product. In particular, if the fiber orientation distribution is incorrect, then dimensional instability in the form of twist, curl, and skew will occur, and strength axes will not correspond to manufacture axes. This leads to defective products such as paper that jams in printers/copiers, packaging that jams in discrete item containers, and boxes which lean or collapse when stacked. By accurately measuring the fiber orientation on-line in the manufacturing process, it is possible to rectify problems in a timely manner either by manual intervention or by a fiber orientation control system.
Numerous techniques for measuring fiber orientation have been suggested some of which are based on the transmission of laser or maser spots from polarized or unpolarized light sources. The distortion of the spot in transmission through the web or the directional variation in intensity of reflection of the illuminated spot, specular or aspecular, is measured. Because the spot illumination area is relatively small, these techniques do not necessarily yield representative measurements for the sheet. Many of these indirect techniques that measure proxies of fiber orientation are based on the physical principle that fibers scatter more light across their alignment direction than along it.
For example, CA 2,012,351 to Karasikov et al. discloses a system for determining fiber orientation in a stationary or moving web of fibers wherein a small circular spot light is focused onto a first surface of the web thereby forming an ellipse-shaped spot on the opposite or second surface of the web. The elliptical light spot is focused onto an array of light-sensitive elements that are positioned parallel and at a predetermined distance on the second surface of the web. The fiber orientation is determined by evaluating the size, orientation and aspect ratio the ellipse-shaped spot to image.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,720 to Blecha et al. discloses an on-line method that illuminates on side of a moving sheet with a circular spot of coherent light and acquires a freeze-frame image of the transmitted spot on the opposite side. The fiber orientation angle is estimated from the shape of the transmitted spot, which is presumed to be elliptical.
Similarly, U.S. Patent No. Application 2003/0156293 to Kazuhiko et al. discloses a method that uses an unpolarized focused light beam to illuminate a circular spot on one side of a sheet and images the transmitted spot on the opposite side. Fiber orientation angle and anisotropy are estimated by approximating the transmitted spot shape with an ellipse.
DE 3,413,558 to Hartig describes a technique that employs polarized laser light to illuminate a laser spot on one side of a sheet. Four photodiodes are positioned at the nominal edges of the expected excident spot position along x and y axes on the opposite side. The fiber orientation and anisotropy are determined from the ratio of transmitted intensities summed on each axis. As in the above systems, the Hartig device also measures the total or average fiber orientation in the sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,233 to Fukuoka et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,244 to Hellstrom et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,022 to Komppa disclose various methods in which laser light is obliquely directed onto a sheet and the intensity of aspecularly reflected laser light is measured at various directions and inclination angles. The surface fiber orientation determination is based on the differences in the illumination reflectivity when measured from a number of directions. The methods disclosed differ to some extent in the geometries of the illuminations employed.
Image analysis is a standard laboratory technique for fiber orientation measurements of paper whereby transmission images of stationary sheets taken from flatbed scanners or similar devices are analyzed. Since paper strongly scatters light, the samples usually must be peeled into layers for transmission or reflection imaging to be feasible. The layers typically are very thin and weigh just a few grams per square meter (gsm). This laboratory process is labor-intensive and not applicable to on-line measurements of moving webs.
Therefore, despite the asserted advantages associated with these fiber orientation measurement systems, none of these apparatuses affords a simple, robust, and accurate device for on-line fiber orientation measurements of a moving web or sheet made of nonwoven components.

Method and apparatus for measuring fiber orientation of a moving web


An impedance matching system is provided. The impedance matching system includes an impedance matching apparatus and an impedance analysis apparatus. The impedance matching apparatus varies a capacitance value of a capacitor according to an applied voltage value, and matches an impedance according to the varied capacitance value. The impedance analysis apparatus supplies a voltage for varying the capacitance value to an impedance matching circuit, and determines an impedance value, changed according to the voltage value, to analyze characteristic of a capacitor included in the impedance matching apparatus.

The present disclosure relates to an impedance matching system and an operating method thereof.
In mobile communication terminals, an antenna circuit transmits or receives a certain radio wave signal through an antenna.
Impedance is required to be accurately matched such that the antenna has optimal transmission/reception irradiation performance.
Therefore, the antenna circuit includes a capacitor and an inductor. The antenna circuit controls the value of the capacitor and the value of the inductor to match the impedance of the antenna in an optimal state.
In the matching of impedance, the impedance of an antenna is matched in a state where a mobile communication terminal is located in a free space.
Generally, a user uses a mobile communication terminal in a state where the user holds a body with its hand and brings a speaker into contact with its ear, or uses the mobile communication terminal by using an earphone in a state where the body of the communication terminal has been placed in a bag or a pocket.
Since a user uses a mobile communication terminal in a state where the user has held a body with its hand and brought a speaker into contact with its ear or uses the mobile communication terminal in a state where the body of the communication terminal has been placed in a bag or a pocket, the impedance matching condition of an antenna varies, and consequently, the transmission/reception irradiation performance of the antenna with impedance matched in a free space is degraded.
Accordingly, mobile communication terminals include an adaptive tuning antenna circuit that allows an antenna to have optimal transmission/reception radiation performance by automatically controlling the impedance of the antenna when the impedance matching condition of the antenna is changed.
To optimally maintain the transmission/reception radiation performance of the antenna, the adaptive tuning antenna circuit is required to detect the changed impedance state of the antenna and change a value of a capacitor according to the changed impedance state.
However, since the related art cannot detect the characteristic of the capacitor that is changed according to the changed impedance state, the related art is required to detect a value of a capacitor for optimally maintaining the transmission/reception radiation performance of the antenna, and consequently, a time taken in matching an impedance is increased.

Impedance matching system and operating method thereof


Coated substrates are disclosed comprising a three-dimensional inorganic substrate having a coating of electrically conductive tin oxide on at least a portion of all three dimensions thereof, produced by a unique process having particular applicability to the manufacture of tin oxide coated three-dimensional substrates. Certain novel coated substrates, such as flakes, spheres and monoliths are disclosed. The coated substrates are useful in battery, catalysis, heating, shielding and field dependent fluid applications.

The present invention relates to a process for coating a substrate. More particularly, the invention relates to coating a substrate with a tin oxide-containing material, preferably an electrically conductive tin oxide-containing material and to coated flakes, i.e. platelet substrates.
Even though there has been considerable study of alternative electrochemical systems, the lead-acid battery is still the battery of choice for general purposes, such as starting an automotive vehicle, boat or airplane engine, emergency lighting, electric vehicle motive power, energy buffer storage for solar-electric energy, and field hardware, both industrial and military. These batteries may be periodically charged from a generator.
The conventional lead-acid battery is a multi-cell structure. Each cell comprises a set of vertical positive and negative plates formed of lead-acid alloy grids containing layers of electrochemically active pastes. The paste on the positive plate when charged comprises lead dioxide, which is the positive active material, and the negative plate contains a negative active material such as sponge lead. An acid electrolyte, based on sulfuric acid, is interposed between the positive and negative plates.
Lead-acid batteries are inherently heavy due to use of the heavy metal lead in constructing the plates. Modern attempts to produce light-weight lead-acid batteries, especially in the aircraft, electric car and automotive vehicle fields, have placed their emphasis on producing thinner plates from lighter weight materials used in place of and in combination with lead. The thinner plates allow the use of more plates for a given volume, thus increasing the power density.
Higher voltages are provided in a bipolar battery including bipolar plates capable of through-plate conduction to serially connected electrodes or cells. The bipolar plates must be impervious to electrolyte and be electrically conductive to provide a serial connection between electrodes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,275,130; 4,353,969; 4,405,697; 4,539,268; 4,507,372; 4,542,082; 4,510,219; and 4,547,443 relate to various aspects of lead-acid batteries. Certain of these patents discuss various aspects of bipolar plates.
Attempts have been made to improve the conductivity and utilization efficiency of the positive active material of monopolar batteries and the strength and integrity of bipolar plates of bipolar batteries. Such attempts include the use of conductive carbon particles or filaments such as carbon, graphite or metal in the positive active material or in a resin binder. However, such carbon-containing materials are oxidized in the aggressive electrochemical environment of the positive plates in the lead-acid cell to acetic acid, which in turn reacts with the lead ion to form lead acetate, which is soluble in sulfuric acid. Thus, the active material is gradually depleted from the paste and ties up the lead as a salt which does not contribute to the production or storage of electricity.
The metals fare no better; most metals are not capable of withstanding the high potential and strong acid environment present at the positive plates of a lead-acid battery. While some metals, such as platinum, are electrochemically stable, their prohibitive cost prevents their use in high volume commercial applications of the lead-acid battery.
One approach that shows promise of providing benefits in lead acid batteries is a battery element, useful as at lease a portion of the positive plates of the battery, which comprises an acid resistant substrate coated with a stable doped tin oxide.
The combination of an acid resistant substrate coated with doped tin oxide has substantial electrical, chemical, physical and mechanical properties making it useful as a lead-acid battery element. For example, the element has substantial stability in the presence of, and is impervious to, the sulfuric acid or the sulfuric acid-based electrolyte. The doped tin oxide coating on the acid resistant substrate provides for increased electrochemical stability and reduced corrosion in the aggressive, oxidative-acidic conditions present on the positive side of lead-acid batteries.
Another application where substrates with coatings, e.g., electrically conductive coatings, find particular usefulness is in the promotion of chemical reactions, e.g., gas/liquid phase reactions, electro catalytic reactions, photo catalytic reactions, redox reactions, etc. As an example of a type of reaction system, a catalytic, e.g., metallic, component is contacted with the material to be reacted, e.g., hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide is passed through or near to the catalytic component to enhance the chemical reaction, e.g., hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide oxidation to carbon dioxide and water and nitrogen oxide reduction to nitrogen. In addition, using a substrate for the catalytic component which is coated with an electrically conductive material is highly advantageous for electro and photo electro catalysis and/or rapid heat transfer to catalyst surfaces since a field/current can be effectively and efficiently provided to or near the catalytic component for electron transfer reactions. Many types of chemical reactions can be advantageously promoted using such coated substrates. Tin oxide containing coatings on substrates may promote a electron transfer whether or not the chemical reaction is conducted in the presence of a electrophoto electro current or field. In addition, tin oxide coated substrates and sintered tin dioxides are useful as gas sensors, and combustion type devices and articles. One or more other components, m e.g., metal components, are often included in certain of these applications.
In many of the above-noted applications it would be advantageous to have an electrically, electronically conductive; electro mechanical tin oxide which is substantially uniform, has high electronic conductivity, and has good chemical properties, e.g., morphology, stability, etc.
A number of techniques may be employed to provide conductive tin oxide coatings on substrates. For example, the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process may be employed. This process comprises contacting a substrate with a vaporous composition comprising a tin component and a dopant-containing material and contacting the contacted substrate with an oxygen-containing vaporous medium at conditions effective to form the doped tin oxide coating on the substrate. Conventionally, the CVD process occurs simultaneously at high temperatures at very short contact times so that tin oxide is initially deposited on the substrate. However tin oxide can form off the substrate resulting in a low reagent capture rate. The CVD process is well known in the art for coating a single flat surface which is maintained in a fixed position during the above-noted contacting steps. The conventional CVD process is an example of a "line-of-sight" process or a "two dimensional" process in which the tin oxide is formed only on that portion of the substrate directly in the path of the tin source as tin oxide is formed on the substrate. Portions of the substrate, particularly internal surfaces, which are shielded from the tin oxide being formed, e.g., such as pores which extend inwardly from the external surface and substrate layers which are internal at least partially shielded from the depositing tin oxide source by one or more other layers or surfaces closer to the external substrate surface being coated, do not get uniformly coated, if at all, in a "line-of-sight" process. Such shielded substrate portions either are not being contacted by the tin source during line-of-sight processing or are being contacted, if at all, not uniformly by the tin source during line-of-sight processing. A particular problem with "line-of-sight" processes is the need to maintain a fixed distance between the tin source and the substrate. Otherwise, tin dioxide can be deposited or formed off the substrate and lost, with a corresponding loss in process and reagent efficiency.
One of the preferred substrates for use as catalysts including use as a catalyst additive in batteries, such as the positive active material of lead-acid batteries, are inorganic substrates, in particular flakes, spheres, fibers and other type particles. Although the CVD process is useful for coating a single flat surface, for the reasons noted above this process tends to produce non-uniform and/or discontinuous coatings on non-flat, non-equidistant surfaces and/or three dimensional surfaces having inner shielded surfaces and/or the processing is multi-step and/or complex and/or time consuming. Such non uniformities and/or discontinuities and/or processing deficiencies are detrimental to the electrical and chemical properties of the coated substrate. A new process, e.g., a "non-line-of-sight" or "three dimensional" process, useful for coating such substrates would be advantageous. As used herein, a "non-line-of-sight" or "three dimensional" process is a process which coats surfaces of a substrate with tin oxide which surfaces would not be directly exposed to tin oxide-forming compounds being deposited on the external surface of the substrate during the first contacting step and/or to improve the processability to conductive components and articles and/or for the type of substrate to be coated. In other words, a "three dimensional" process coats coatable substrate surfaces which are at least partially shielded by other portions of the substrate which are closer to the external surface of the substrate and/or which are further from the tin oxide forming source during processing, e.g., the internal and/or opposite side surfaces of a glass or ceramic fiber or spheres, or flakes or other shapes or surfaces.
Although a substantial amount of work has been done, there continues to be a need for a new method for coating substrates, particularly three dimensional substrates with tin oxides. The prior art processes described below follow conventional processing techniques such as by sintering of a tin oxide and/or the instantaneous conversion to tin oxide by spray pyrolysis.
For example in "Preparation of Thick Crystalline Films of Tin Oxide and Porous Glass Partially Filled with Tin Oxide," R. G. Bartholomew et al, J. Electrochem, Soc. Vol. 116, No. 9, p 1205 (1969), a method is described for producing films of SnO.sub.2 on a 96% silica glass substrate by oxidation of stannous chloride. The plates of glass are pretreated to remove moisture, and the entire coating process appears to have been done under anhydrous conditions. Specific electrical resistivity values for SnO.sub.2 -porous glass were surprisingly high. In addition, doping with SbCl.sub.3 was attempted, but substantially no improvement, i.e., reduction, in electrical resistivity was observed. Apparently, no effective amount of antimony was incorporated. No other dopant materials were disclosed.
In "Physical Properties of Tin Oxide Films Deposited by Oxidation of SnCl.sub.2, " by N. Srinivasa Murty et al, Thin Solid Films, 92 (1982) 347-354, a method for depositing SnO.sub.2 films was disclosed which involved contacting a substrate with a combined vapor of SnCl.sub.2 and oxygen. Although no dopants were used, dopant elements such as antimony and fluorine were postulated as being useful to reduce the electrical resistivity of the SnO.sub.2 films.
This last described method is somewhat similar to the conventional spray pyrolysis technique for coating substrates. In the spray pyrolysis approach tin chloride dissolved in water at low pH is sprayed onto a hot, i.e., on the order of about 600.degree. C., surface in the presence of an oxidizing vapor, e.g., air. The tin chloride is immediately converted, e.g., by hydrolysis and/or oxidation, to SnO.sub.2, which forms a film on the surface. In order to get a sufficient SnO.sub.2 coating on a glass fiber substrate to allow the coated substrate to be useful as a component of a lead-acid battery, on the order of about 20 spraying passes on each side have been required. In other words, it is frequently difficult, if not impossible, with spray pyrolysis to achieve the requisite thickness and uniformity of the tin oxide coating on substrates, in particular three dimensional substrates.
Dislich, et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,491 discloses a process for producing cadmium stannate layers on a glass substrate. The process involved dipping the substrate into an alcoholic solution of a reaction product containing cadmium and tin; withdrawing the substrate form the solution in a humid atmosphere; and gradually heating the coated substrate to 650.degree. C. whereby hydrolysis and pyrolysis remove residues from the coated substrate. Dislich, et al is not concerned with coating substrates for lead-acid batteries, let alone the stability required, and is not concerned with maintaining a suitable concentration of a volatile dopant, such as fluoride, in the coating composition during production of the coated substrate.
Pytlewski U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,491 discloses changing the surface characteristics of a substrate surface, e.g., glass pane, by coating the surface with a tin-containing polymer. These polymers, which may contain a second metal such as iron, cobalt, nickel, bismuth, lead, titanium, canadium, chromium, copper, molybdenum, antimony and tungsten, are prepared in the form of a colloidal dispersion of the polymer in water. Pytlewski discloses that such polymers, when coated on glass surfaces, retard soiling. Pytlewski is not concerned with the electrical properties of the polymers or of the coated substrate surfaces.
Gonzalez-Oliver, C. J. R. and Kato, I. in "Sn (Sb)-Oxide Sol-Gel Coatings of Glass," Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 82(1986) 400-410 North Holland, Amsterdam, describe a process for applying an electrically conductive coating to glass substrates with solutions containing tin and antimony. This coating is applied by repeatedly dipping the substrate into the solution of repeatedly spraying the solution onto the substrate. After each dipping or spraying, the coated substrate is subjected to elevated temperatures on the order to 550.degree. C.-600.degree. C. to fully condense the most recently applied layer. Other workers, e.g., R. Pryane and I. Kato, have disclosed coating glass substrates, such as electrodes, with doped tin oxide materials. The glass substrate is dipped into solution containing organo-metallic compounds of tin and antimony. Although multiple dippings are disclosed, after each dipping the coated substrate is treated at temperatures between 500.degree. C. and 630.degree. C. to finish off the polycondensation reactions, particularly to remove deleterious carbon, as well as to increase the hardness and density of the coating.


In a switching power supply device, a partition portion that includes a slit divides a winding portion of a bobbin. A primary winding of a transformer is wound to a height h1 in a first section, and a secondary winding is wound to a height h2 in a second section. A low side drive winding and a high side drive winding are wound around the primary winding to a height h3 with the high side drive winding being located toward the secondary winding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to switching power supply devices and, in particular, relates to a resonance type switching power supply device that utilizes a resonance phenomenon for an electric power conversion operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A switching power supply device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-228382 turns on/off a high side switching element and a low side switching element in an alternating manner so as to generate a resonance voltage in a primary winding of an insulated transformer, on the basis of a voltage generated in two auxiliary windings provided in the insulated transformer. As a result, the switching power supply device outputs a constant direct current voltage through a secondary winding of the insulated transformer. The switching power supply device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-228382 is configured such that the primary winding is wound between the two auxiliary windings and the secondary winding. Through this, the degree of coupling between the two auxiliary windings and the primary winding is increased, and the degree of coupling between the two auxiliary windings and the secondary winding is reduced. This makes a voltage generated in the two auxiliary windings similar to a voltage generated in the primary winding, and a ZVS (zero voltage switching) operation is thus achieved.
In the switching power supply device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-228382, it is desirable that the low side switching element operate with a waveform that is similar to the waveform of a voltage generated in an inductance of the primary winding and that the high side switching element operate with a waveform that is similar to the waveform of a voltage generated in an inductance of the secondary winding. Then, an operation such that the high side switching element and the low side switching element are turned on/off in an alternating manner is achieved more reliably. In other words, a low side drive winding needs to enhance its coupling with the primary winding, and the voltage waveforms of the low side drive winding and of the primary winding need to be made similar to each other. Meanwhile, a high side drive winding needs to enhance its coupling with the secondary winding, and the voltage waveforms of the high side drive winding and of the secondary winding need to be made similar to each other.
However, in the switching power supply device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-228382, the primary winding is present between the drive windings (the high side drive winding and the low side drive winding) and the secondary winding, and thus the degree of coupling between the secondary winding and the auxiliary windings cannot be increased. In addition, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-228382, the physical distance between the primary winding and the secondary winding is small, and a leakage inductance generated through coupling between the primary winding and the secondary winding is reduced. Therefore, desired excitation inductance and leakage inductance cannot be generated. Furthermore, a distance in accordance with a safety standard needs to be provided between windings, which restricts design flexibility.


Encoded data using reversible variable length code words is input to a forward decoder (123) to be decoded in the forward direction. When an error is detected in the encoded data in the forward decode processing, backward decode processing is started by a backward decoder (126). A decode value determination unit (125) determines a decode value by using the forward and backward decode results and the error detection positions in the encoded data in units of bits and syntax which are respectively detected in the forward decoding and the backward decoding.

A variable length code is a code system for generating a code having a short average code length by respectively assigning a code having a short code length to a frequently occurring symbol and a code having a long code length to a rarely occurring symbol on the basis of the frequencies of occurrence of symbols. By using variable length codes, therefore, the amount of data can be greatly compressed as compared with the data before encoding. For this reason, variable length codes are widely used as codes for information compression.
In a video encoding system as well, variable length codes are used for a general standard scheme such as MPEG1, MPEG2, H.261, or H.263.
A general problem associated with variable length codes is that when an error is mixed in encoded data due to a channel error or the like, the encoded data mixed with the error cannot be properly decoded by a decoding apparatus owing to the influences of the error. In order to prevent this problem, when an error can occur in a transmission channel, a method of preventing the propagation of an error by inserting sync codes in data at given intervals is generally used. A bit pattern that does not appear by any combination of variable length codes is assigned to a sync code. According to this method, even if an error occurs in encoded data and the data cannot be decoded, the propagation of the error can be prevented by resuming decoding upon detection of the next sync code, thereby continuing the decoding.
Even with the use of sync codes, however, decoding cannot be performed for encoded data between the position where an error has occurred and decoding cannot be performed and the position where the next sync code is detected.
A variable-length decoding/encoding apparatus which can reduce the portion, which cannot be decoded, by using variable length codes that can be decoded bidirectionally, i.e, forward and backward and performing backward decoding upon detection of a next sync code, has been proposed in the patent application (Japanese Patent Application Nos. 7-260383 and 9-81614) filed by the present applicant.
Even with such a variable-length encoding/decoding apparatus, an error in encoded data can be detected only when, for example, a bit pattern that is not used as a code word of a variable-length code appears. For this reason, in some case, an error is detected at a succeeding position considerably away from the position where the error is actually mixed in the data. This is because a bit pattern that is not used as a code word of a variable length code does not always appear at the position where the error is actually mixed in the data, and decode processing is continuously performed as long as a corresponding portion is present in the bit patterns used as the code words of the variable length code. As a result, an incorrect word code is erroneously decoded as a correct code word.
Various methods have been examined as counter-measures against channel errors in a video encoding/decoding apparatus. For example, several methods as countermeasures against channel errors are disclosed in a literature (Hideo Kuroda, "Image Coding Technique", Shokodo, 1996). Of these methods, error concealment is introduced as a technique used on the decoder side. Error concealment is a technique of minimizing the influences of an error on a frame by using motion vectors on the peripheral portion of the frame upon occurrence of a loss of encoded data.
If, however, an incorrect code word is decoded as a correct code word, a technique of minimizing the influences of an error, such as the above error concealment, cannot be used. As a result, the frame is affected by the error.
The influences of an error in the INTRA mode (intraframe encoding mode) are larger than those in the INTER mode (interframe encoding mode), and a block in unnatural color appears on a frame.
As described above, in the conventional variable-length decoding apparatus, when a variable length code is decoded, an incorrect code word may be decoded as a correct word. If, therefore, this apparatus is applied to decoding of a variable length encoded video signal, a frame is affected by an error.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a variable-length decoding apparatus and a decoding method which can decrease the possibility that an incorrect code word is erroneously decoded as a correct word, and can realize sufficient resistance to errors.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Variable-length decoding apparatus and decoding method


The present invention provides a system and computer program product for implementing a smart transformer, comprising a processor, and a balancing algorithm residing on the processor, wherein the balancing algorithm is stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable program code embodied thereon, the computer executable program code configured to cause the system to monitor and control an electric customer load and generation in order to optimize the performance of a distribution transform wherein the processor receives a plurality of system inputs and uses the balancing algorithm to determine a rating of the transformer and an amount of customer load.

Due in part to the technology of Electric Vehicles, and other Smart Grid opportunities, the loads of the future are expected to be vastly different from the loads of today. As such, utilities may begin to see daily peaks move, or level out, due to the expected increased loading patterns. Although the full system load is an issue, the problem at hand concerns the load specific to an individual distribution transformer. Currently, transformer sizing in residential applications may be based on a number of assumptions. One assumption may entail an average load based on home size, while a second assumption may entail a peak period (e.g., four hours). As a result of the charging of electric vehicles, the amount of load on a distribution transformer could potentially double, as well as increase the peak period to well past four hours. Accordingly, an increased loss of life in distribution transformers is expected going forward, as well as a much greater potential for transformer failure.
Currently, there is no known way of monitoring and controlling the real-time load on a distribution transformer. Overload situations may be detected in two ways. In some cases, a customer calls in with voltage issues, sparking an investigation and subsequent upgrade of the transformer in the case that it is overloaded. In cases where the transformer fails, may be upgraded if overloading is the expected cause. Both cases involve treating the problem with reactionary measures. As such, a proactive solution is sought that uses Smart Grid technology with the goal of running the system in the most efficient and cost effective way possible.


An optical actuator adapted to control the position of the actuator in at least two degrees of freedom of motion. The actuator includes a base, a moveable lens holder having a lens, a structure for connecting the lens holder to the base to support movement of the lens holder, and first and second pairs of surface-field motors, each pair of surface-field motors having first and second surface-field motors, each first and second surface-field motor including a surface-field coil and a surface-field magnetic assembly for applying forces to the lens holder to move the lens holder in at least two degrees of freedom of motion relative to the base, the surface-field coil being mounted on either the base or the lens holder, and the corresponding surface-field magnetic assembly being oppositely mounted on either the lens holder or the base to interact with the surface-field coil. Each surface-field magnetic assembly includes two pairs of opposing poles with one pair of opposing poles facing the corresponding surface-field coil, the opposing poles of each pair being separated by a pole dividing line so that the pole dividing lines of the opposing poles facing the surface-field coils of the surface-field magnetic assemblies of the first surface-field motor extend and intersect at a point above the surface-field coils, and the pole dividing lines of the opposing poles facing the surface-field coils of the surface-field magnetic assemblies of the second surface-field motor extend and intersect at a point below the surface-field coils. Currents are selectively applied to the surface-field coils so that the surface-field motors apply forces to the lens holder to control at least two degrees of freedom of motion of the lens holder relative to the base.

Optical disk recording devices include an objective lens which focuses a laser light beam onto an optical disk while the disk is rotating. Both focus and tracking of optical disks must continuously be maintained while the disks are recording. Focus and tracking actuators are typically used in optical disk recording and playback devices to control the position of the objective lens relative to the rotating disk. Focus is controlled by adjusting the distance between the objective lens and the disk surface. Tracking is controlled by correcting the radial position of the objective lens so that a single data track is read or written at a time. The motions of the actuator in the focus and tracking directions are conventionally controlled by a servo system, and the forces which cause these motions are typically generated by one or more electromagnetic motors.
Alignment of the optical axis of the objective lens to the optical disk must be maintained accurately for the system to function properly. Higher data densities in optical recording require higher quality optics. Any tilt of the disk surface relative to the optical axis of the objective lens decreases the spot quality at the recording layer on the disk. The tilt of the disk surface introduces a wavefront aberration called coma. The coma deteriorates the ability to read or write marks on the disk. In addition, the disk tilt can introduce an offset in the tracking signal.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional optical actuator generally designated 10. The optical actuator 10 includes an objective lens 12, which is well known in the art to focus a light beam (not shown) onto the surface of an optical disk (not shown). The objective lens is fixed to a lens holder 14 by an adhesive or other fastening member (not shown). The optical actuator 10 further includes four spaced-apart flexures 18 to connect the lens holder 14 to a base 16. A conventional motor is shown, which includes a pair of magnets 20, which are fixed to a pair of magnetic flux yokes 22 secured to opposite sides of the base 16. The motor further includes a focus coil 24 and four tracking coils 26 which are bonded to the lens holder 14. The focus coil 24 and tracking coils 26 are positioned with the magnetic flux generated by the magnets 20 and the magnetic flux yokes 22. The focus coil 24 and tracking coils 26 provide forces which deform the flexures 18 and move the lens holder 14 in the Y and Z directions so as to maintain the focus and tracking of the laser beam (not shown) on the optical disk (not shown). In operation, current is applied to the focus coil 24 to create a magnetic field. By energizing the focus coil 24, the lens holder 14 moves in a direction which is perpendicular to the surface of the optical disk. By energizing the tracking coils 26, the lens holder 14 moves in a direction parallel to the plane of the optical disk for tracking of the optical disk during recording or reading.
Conventional prior art optical recording actuators having two degrees of freedom of motion (focus and tracking), such as shown in FIG. 1, cannot actively control tilt of the objective lens with respect to the disk and, therefore, cannot correct for the coma. The presence of coma limits the overall system performance and reduces recording quality.

Multiple degrees of freedom actuator for optical recording


A non-volatile memory device includes a plurality of word lines, a plurality of sense lines, and a plurality of non-volatile memory cells. Each memory cell includes a floating gate transistor having a control gate, a floating gate separated dielectrically from the control gate, a drain connection and a source connection. The control gate is connected to one of the word lines and the source connection is connected to one of the sense lines, the drain connection being electrically isolated from the other memory cells. A method for reading the memory device and a method for operating the memory device are also provided.

The present invention relates to non-volatile memory devices such as electrically erasable programmable read-only memory devices (EEPROMS).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,842,372 is entitled "EEPROM cell having a floating gate transistor within a cell well and a process for fabricating the memory cell" and is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,853 discloses a DRAM and is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Non-volatile memory device with single transistor memory cell


An electrostatic atomizer includes an atomizing electrode to which a high voltage is applied to atomize water held on the atomizing electrode so as to generate charged water particles; and a cooling unit for producing water, to be supplied to the atomizing electrode, through condensation. The cooling unit is made using a cooling part of a cooling cycle which circulates a coolant between a heat-radiating part and the cooling part. A coolant-circulating equipment incorporating the electrostatic atomizer therein includes a condensation space in which the atomizing electrode is disposed to produce condensate water; a cooling space in which the cooling section of the cooling cycle is disposed to produce cold air; and a partition wall for separating the condensation space from the cooling space.

Conventionally, there has been known an electrostatic atomizer in which high voltage is applied to an atomizing electrode to atomize water held on the atomizing electrode so as to generate electrically charged water particles having a nanometer size and carrying a large number of electric charges. The charged water particles having a nanometer size has not only a moisturizing effect, but also a deodorizing effect, a disinfecting effect on molds and bacteria, and a suppressive effect on the propagation thereof, since active species exist therein in a state of being wrapped with water molecules. Further, the charged water particles having a nanometer size exhibit a longer life span as compared with active species existing independently in the form of free radicals, and is as small as a nanometer in size and thereby exhibits high floatability in air for a long period of time and high dispersive performance. Thus, the charged water particles has a feature of being able to drift evenly and over a wide area of air for a long period of time so as to provide an enhanced deodorizing effect.
In the conventional electrostatic atomizer, a water supplier includes a water tank containing water and a water transfer section for transferring water from the water tank to the atomizing electrode using a capillary phenomenon. This type of water supplier requires a user to refill the water tank with water on a regular basis, undesirably causing a problem in which a user is obliged to spend time and effort for the cumbersome water-refilling operation. Also, in the conventional electrostatic atomizer, in the case where water containing impurities such as Ca or Mg, for example tap water, is used as the supply water, such impurities entail a problem in that they react with CO2 in air, thus causing deposits of CaCO3 or MgO on a leading portion of the water transfer section, undesirably obstructing the supply of water based on a capillary phenomenon.
In order to solve the above problems, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2006-68711 discloses an electrostatic atomizer using a Peltier unit having a cooling part connected to an atomizing electrode to cool the atomizing electrode and induce the condensation of moisture in air, in order to supply water to the atomizing electrode. This electrostatic atomizer has a feature of being able to eliminate the need for the aforementioned water-refilling operation, and avoid the deposits of CaCO3 or MgO, because no impurities are contained in water obtained through the condensation.
However, the electrostatic atomizer as disclosed above includes the Peltier unit as the cooler for obtaining condensate water and requires power supply for the operation of such a Peltier unit. As such, power required to attain predetermined cooling capacity using the Peltier unit is greater than power necessary for obtaining predetermined cooling capacity using a cooling cycle which circulates a coolant. In addition, in the case where the electrostatic atomizer as disclosed above is implemented within various instruments, the use of the Peltier unit as the cooler makes it difficult to reduce the total size of the instrument and realize low costs and an energy-saving effect.

Electrostatic atomizer and coolant-circulating equipment including same


The invention is concerned with a process for the production of a solution of N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide in water, characterized by the following steps:. (a) providing an aqueous solution containing N-methylmorpholine and morpholine and exhibiting a pH value of from 6.0 to 9.0, thereafter PA0 (b) treating said aqueous solution with a peroxidic oxidant to oxidize N-methylmorpholine to N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide.

For some decades there has been searched for processes for the production of cellulose moulded bodies able to substitute the viscose process, today widely employed. As an alternative which is interesting for its reduced environmental impact among other reasons, it has been found to dissolve cellulose without derivatisation in an organic solvent and extrude from this solution moulded bodies, e.g. fibres, films and other moulded bodies. Fibres thus extruded have received by BISFA (The International Bureau for the Standardization of man made fibers) the generic name Lyocell. By an organic solvent, BISFA understands a mixture of an organic chemical and water.
It has turned out that as an organic solvent, a mixture of a tertiary amine-oxide and water is particularly appropriate for the production of cellulose moulded bodies. As the amine-oxide, primarily N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) is used. Other amine-oxides are described e.g. in EP-A-0 553 070. A process for the production of mouldable cellulose solutions is known e.g. from EP-A-0 356 419. For the purposes of the present specification and the present claims, the production of cellulose moulded bodies using tertiary amine-oxides generally is referred to as amine-oxide process.
In EP-A-0 356 419, an amine-oxide process for the production of spinnable cellulose solutions is described, wherein as a starting material among other substances a suspension of cellulose in liquid, aqueous N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) is used. This process consists in transforming the suspension in a thin-film treatment apparatus in one single step and continuously into a mouldable solution. Finally, the mouldable solution is spun into filaments by a forming tool such as a spinneret and the filaments are passed through a precipitation bath.
In the precipitation bath cellulose is precipitated. The tertiary amine-oxide is accumulated in the precipitation bath. The precipitation bath may contain up to 30 weight % of amine-oxide. For the economy of the amine-oxide process it is of vital importance to recover the amine-oxide as completely as possible and reuse it for the production of a mouldable cellulose solution. Thus it is necessary to recover NMMO from the precipitation bath.
In addition to the amine-oxide however, degradation products of the amine-oxide are also accumulated in the precipitation bath. These degradation products may be intensively coloured, thus deteriorating the quality of the cellulose moulded bodies produced. On the other hand, other substances may represent an additional safety risk, since under certain conditions the amine-oxide tends to show highly exothermic decomposition reactions and these decomposition reactions may be induced or accelerated by certain substances. These substances have to be removed from the precipitation bath which is to be regenerated before the NMMO is concentrated and separated in accordance with the purification process described in WO 97/07268.
After removing these unwanted substances, water is withdrawn from the purified precipitation bath which optionally is combined with other process liquids of the amine-oxide process such as vapour condensates formed during the production of the cellulose solution. This may be carried out for instance by means of evaporation. The residue of this evaporation contains highly concentrated aqueous amine-oxide which is recycled again into the amine-oxide process. The vapours of the evaporation consist mainly of water, wherein significant amounts of N-methylmorpholine, the main degradation product of NMMO, are also dissolved. Moreover, the vapours contain also NMMO and morpholine. Typically, the vapours contain up to 100 mg of NMMO, 240 mg of N-methylmorpholine and 30 mg of morpholine per liter. Conveniently, these vapours are concentrated, e.g., by means of reverse osmosis. The aqueous solution obtained contains typically up to 4 g of NMMO, up to 10 g of N-methylmorpholine and up to approximately 1 g of morpholine.
To keep the NMMO losses as low as possible, it is tried to reoxidize the N-methylmorpholine to NMMO. This may be achieved for instance by means of a peroxidic oxidant.
A process for the preparative production of tertiary amine-oxides by means of oxidation of tertiary amines is known e.g. from EP-A-0 092 862. According to this process, the amine-oxide is oxidized under pressure with molecular oxygen in an aqueous solvent, said solvent having a pH value approximately equal or higher than the pKa value of the tertiary amine.
DD-A-259 863 is concerned with the production of aqueous NMMO solutions by means of oxidation of N-methylmorpholine with H.sub.2 O.sub.2 and by passing the reaction solution over one or more exchanger columns filled with styrene/divinylbenzene copolymer containing sulphonate groups, as well as by adjusting a pH value of the solution to values ranging from 8 to 5 by addition of phosphoric acid.
In an oxidation it is disadvantageous that morpholine present in the process liquid introduced as a contamination together with the tertiary amines is partially transformed into toxic N-nitrosomorpholine, which is accumulated unwantedly in the NMMO cycle. Additionally, other nitrosoamines are also formed in the oxidation reactions.
Oxidation of N-methylmorpholine with H.sub.2 O.sub.2 to NMMO is known e.g. from EP-A-0 254 803. From DE-A-4 140 259, the production of NMMO by a process is known wherein the formation of nitrosoamines is restricted by scavenging primary and secondary amines, for instance by means of acid halides. EP-A-0 320 690 describes the production of amine-oxides substantially free from nitrosoamines by oxidation with peroxides in the presence of a combination of CO.sub.2 /ascorbic acid acting as a nitrosoamine inhibitor. From EP-A-0 401 503, oxidation with H.sub.2 O.sub.2 in water and a co-solvent, preferably a carboxylic acid ester, is known. According to FR-A-8 808 039, oxidation is carried out while adding CO.sub.2, and according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,154, oxidation to NMMO is carried out in a pure CO.sub.2 atmosphere.
In the state of the art, the forming of nitrosoamine either is not prohibited, or it is achieved by removing the starting products of the N-nitrosomorpholine or by employing additives to slow down the formation rate of the N-nitrosomorpholine. Particularly in an amine-oxide process comprising a closed cycle, the addition of various chemicals such as acid halides or ascorbic acid or CO.sub.2 to the process causes problems in the purification of the process liquids, since the degradation products introduced together with the added chemicals have to be removed from the process. For many chemicals, it is also necessary to consider safety aspects such as the risk of exothermic reactions. Thus, neither of the described processes is appropriate for the regeneration of process liquids of the amine-oxide process.

Process for the regeneration of an aqueous process liquid of the amine-oxide process


A line cutter in the form of an apertured disk or plate mounts onto the housing of a propeller drive or screw drive. The line cutter mounts over the propeller shaft, and covers the propeller shaft seal. The line cutter opening has a small clearance over the shaft which is smaller than a standard fish line gauge, i.e., about 0.002 inches. Fishline or other debris encountered by the screw drive winds around the shaft and winds back until it is torn, ground, or cut when it encounters the circular cutting edge at the small clearance. This line cutter is useful on a trash skimmer work boat.

This invention relates to propeller drives or screw drives for watercraft, and is more specifically concerned with a device to protect the screw drive from fish line or other debris in the water, which may wind around the shaft and damage the drive mechanism. The invention more particularly addresses problems of work boats and vessels, such as trash skimmers, that operate in areas where there is considerable amounts of debris in the water.
A problem arises where there are strands of fish line in the water, as the fish line can catch on the screw or propeller, and then wind around the propeller shaft as the shaft rotates. The fish line can wind back towards the housing where the shaft emerges, and can damage the rubber seal that surrounds the propeller shaft at that location. This can result in leakage of lubricants out of the housing and of water into the housing.
There have been several proposed solutions for cutting debris away from a propeller shaft. One typical solution is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,277. There, a spool is mounted on the propeller to provide a place for the debris to wind up, and a cutter in the form of a knife or blade is mounted on the skeg or body of the motor to cut away the debris that accumulates on the spool. This approach has not proved to be reliable, and in addition it presents an exposed sharp edge.


The invention relates to a method for the control of the bandpass width in the filtering of an intermediate frequency signal of an audio receiver of a radio reception apparatus. A signal parameter of a user signal of the audio receiver which is received at a reception frequency is determined and taken into account and a signal parameter of at least one neighboring signal which is received at a neighboring frequency which is adjacent to the reception frequency is determined. The bandpass width of the intermediate frequency filtering is selected in dependence at least on the signal parameter which is determined from the user signal, on the signal parameter which is determined from the neighboring signal and on the frequency distance between the reception frequency and the user frequency. Furthermore, the invention relates to a corresponding radio reception apparatus.

The invention relates to a method for the control of the bandpass width in the filtering of an intermediate frequency signal of an audio receiver of a radio reception apparatus in which a signal parameter of a user signal of the audio receiver which is received at a reception frequency is determined and taken into account. The invention also relates to a corresponding radio reception apparatus with an audio receiver for the reception of a user signal at a reception frequency, an intermediate frequency filter unit for the filtering of an intermediate frequency signal corresponding to the user signal and a filter selection unit for the selection of a bandpass width for the intermediate frequency filter unit of the audio receiver.
In radio reception apparatuses of this kind the user signal, i.e. the wanted signal, is received in an input circuit of the audio receiver by means of an antenna, pre-amplified and converted to an intermediate frequency signal in a heterodyning circuit so that the user signal is for example present as a frequency modulation of an intermediate frequency of 10.7 MHz. The intermediate frequency signal is amplified and bandpass filtered in the intermediate frequency filter unit with a specific bandpass width.
Known radio reception apparatuses have, for the selection of the bandpass width of the intermediate frequency filtering, a filter selector unit in which a suitable signal parameter of the user signal is determined and in which in dependence on this a corresponding bandpass width is set in the intermediate frequency filter unit. If for example a lower reception quality is detected, a narrower bandpass width is selected in order to filter the frequency-wise adjacent disturbance signals out of the user signal.
This filtering with a narrower bandpass width indeed reduces the influence of disturbance signals of this kind and thus improves the selectivity; it however also leads to a worsening of other parameters, such as for example the stereo channel separation. Therefore the filter selection unit causes the use of a greater bandpass width as soon as a higher reception quality is detected. Since the improvement of the reception quality however can be effected by the previously caused use of a narrower bandpass width, this control mechanism can lead to an audible and thus disadvantageous continual change among the various filters available.
An object of the invention is to provide a method for the control of the bandpass width in the intermediate frequency filtering in which a continual change among various bandpass widths is avoided.
This object is satisfied for a method of the initially named kind in that a signal parameter of at least one neighboring signal which is received at a neighboring frequency adjacent to the reception frequency is determined; and in that the bandpass width of the intermediate frequency filtering is selected in dependence at least on the signal parameter which is determined from the user signal, on the signal parameter which is determined from the neighboring signal and on the frequency distance between the reception frequency and the neighboring frequency.
It is thus provided in accordance with the invention to determine and take into account for the calculation and setting of the bandpass width not only a signal parameter which is associated with the audio user signal, but also at least one signal parameter which is associated with a disturbing neighboring signal on a different neighboring frequency which is adjacent to the reception frequency of the user signal.
In the context of this invention a signal parameter of the user signal is to be understood to be a parameter which can be determined from the user signal and which at least indirectly enables a statement on the quality of the signal reception in the audio receiver or on the presence of undesirable disturbing influences. For example the signal level or the signal strength of the user signal, in particular in the form of the electric field strength, or the deviation of the user signal, come under consideration as a signal parameter of this kind. A further possible signal parameter of the user signal can be given by an output signal of an associated reception quality detector, in particular by a so-called ultrasonic-noise (USN) signal, which provides information on the presence of neighboring signals.
In the method in accordance with the invention an unintentional continual change among different filters or filter bandwidths respectively can be more easily avoided, since with the relevant signal parameter of the neighboring signal a selection criterion can in principle be used which is not influenced by a change in the bandpass width for the user signal. As a result of this additional selection criterion, a criterion can also be used as the signal parameter of the user signal which, in comparison with the reception quality, which is taken into account in known methods, is not or is merely insignificantly influenced by a change of the bandpass width of the intermediate frequency filtering.
A signal parameter of the neighboring signal is to be understood in the sense of this invention to mean a parameter which can yield a statement on the strength of the associated neighboring signal and accordingly on the suitability of the neighboring signal for the disturbing influencing of the user signal. For example the signal strength, in particular the electrical signal strength, or the deviation of the neighboring signal can be used as such a parameter of the disturbing signal.
In this manner a direct feedback between the selected bandpass width on the one hand and the determined signal parameters on the other hand is avoided to a great extent, and the known regulation mechanism is replaced by a stable control.
The determination of the respective signal parameter of the user signal and of the neighboring signal can take place particularly effectively when the relevant signal is already transformed to an intermediate frequency signal and as such has been amplified and filtered as well as in particular demodulated again.
In order to select a corresponding bandpass width of the intermediate frequency filtering on the basis of the explained signal parameters of the user signal and the neighboring signal, these signal parameters can be compared relative to one another. It is in particular possible to compute the respective characteristic values with one another, for example to subtract them, to add them and/or to divide them, and in this to provide them with different weighting factors.
Preferably, the bandpass width is in principle selected all the narrower, the higher the ratio of the signal strength of the neighboring signal to the signal strength of the user signal and/or the lower the distance between the reception frequency and the neighboring frequency is.
Furthermore, it is preferred when the neighboring signal is determined by means of a separate additional receiver, the reception frequency of which, i.e. the neighboring frequency, can be set independently of the reception frequency which is set in the audio receiver. In this way the additional receiver can continually monitor different neighboring frequencies so that the current setting of the bandpass width of the intermediate frequency filtering can be continually monitored and corrected when appropriate, without it being necessary for the audio receiver to interrupt its reception at the reception frequency for this.
If the signal parameter of the neighboring signal can be determined in a correspondingly short time, it is however in principle also possible to receive the neighboring signals which are required for the selection of the bandpass width by means of the audio receiver, in that the latter continually changes, for short times and thus not perceivably by the listener, from the reception frequency to the relevant neighboring frequency and back.
If the neighboring signal is determined by means of an additional receiver, it is preferred when the latter is designed as a data receiver so that digitally coded radio data, in particular RDS signals, of all available radio stations can be evaluated by means of the additional receiver. These radio data can, for the reception frequency which is set in the audio receiver, for alternative reception frequencies of the radio program which is set in the audio receiver or for other radio programs, be determined, evaluated and/or held in readiness for the case of a subsequent manual change of the radio program.
In particular it is possible to take into account the bit error rate of an RDS signal which has been received by the additional receiver or by the audio receiver as an additional criterion for the selection of an intermediate frequency bandpass width.
It is of course possible to monitor many different neighboring frequencies. The respective determined signal parameter of a neighboring signal can for example be taken into account in that after each setting of a new neighboring frequency it is examined whether the disturbing influence of the corresponding neighboring signal requires a change of the currently set bandpass width of the intermediate frequency filtering. For this a current value of the relevant signal parameter of the user signal can be determined. In addition, between such monitorings of different neighboring frequencies, it can also be examined anew on the basis of which the last change of the bandpass width was carried whether those signal parameters of the user signal and the neighboring signal out still have the same values. In these examinations predetermined tolerances can be taken into account.
The monitoring of different neighboring signals or neighboring frequencies respectively is preferably limited to a restricted frequency band in the neighborhood of the user signal. For example in ultra short wave (frequency modulation) reception this monitoring can take place in frequency steps of 100 kHz, namely in a frequency neighborhood of xc2x1300 kHz with respect to the reception frequency of the user signal.
In order to set a bandpass width which has been selected for an intermediate frequency filtering, one of a plurality of available filters of different bandpass width can be activated, or the filter properties of a digital filter can be varied quasi continuously in small steps and within predetermined extreme limits. It is possible to filter the intermediate frequency signal in dependence on the result of the explained monitoring asymmetrically, i.e. with different bandwidths in the positive and negative frequency neighborhood of the user signal.
It is a further object of the invention to create a radio reception apparatus in which a continual change among different bandpass widths in the intermediate frequency filter unit caused by feedback effects is avoided.
This object is satisfied for a radio reception apparatus of the initially named kind in that an additional receiver which is substantially independent of the audio receiver is provided for the reception of a neighboring signal on a neighboring frequency which is adjacent to the reception frequency of the audio receiver; in that a signal parameter of the neighboring signal of the additional receiver and a signal parameter of the user signal of the audio receiver can be determined by the filter selection unit; in that the filter selection unit has a signal processing unit for the computation at least of the signal parameter of the user signal, of the signal parameter of the neighboring signal and of the frequency distance between the reception frequency and the neighboring frequency with one another; and in that the bandpass width of the intermediate frequency filter unit of the audio receiver can be selected in dependence on an output signal of the signal processing unit.
Through the provision of a special additional receiver and a filter selection unit for the determination and corresponding processing of the signal parameters of the user signal and the neighboring signal, the advantages which have already been explained in connection with the method in accordance with the invention can be achieved.
The radio reception apparatus can be designed in accordance with the explained embodiments of the method in accordance with the invention. In particular the filter selection unit can have a frequency determination device for the determination of the distance between the reception frequency and the neighboring frequency. The signal processing unit can be formed by a microprocessor.

Radio reception apparatus and method for the control of a radio reception apparatus


The present disclosure is generally directed to the generation of domain-specific, voice-activated systems in interconnected networks. The system can receive input signals that are detected at a client device. The input signals can be voice-based input signals, text-based input signals, image-based input signals, or other type of input signals. Based on the input signals, the system can select domain-specific knowledge graphs and generate responses based on the selected knowledge graph.

In a networked environment, such as the Internet or other networks, first-party content providers can provide information for public presentation on resources such as web pages, documents, applications, and other resources. The first-party content can include text, video, and audio information provided by the first-party content providers. A user accessing the resources may request or wish to receive additional information about information related to the resources. To view or receive the additional information, the user needs to leave the currently viewed resource.

Generation of domain-specific models in networked system


This document provides methods and materials for treating cancers including renal cancer (e.g., renal cell carcinoma) as well as ovarian, breast, prostate, colon, pancreatic, bladder, liver, lung, and thyroid cancers and melanoma. For example, methods and material for using one or more inhibitors of an SCD1 polypeptide to treat renal cell carcinoma (e.g., clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC)) or to increase the efficacy of a renal cell carcinoma treatment are provided. In addition, this document provides methods and materials for using elevated SCD1 expression levels in diseased tissues as an indication that an SCD1 inhibitor can be used as an appropriate therapeutic to ameliorate the disease.

1. Technical Field
This document relates to methods and materials involved in treating cancer, for example, renal cell carcinoma, ovarian, breast, prostate, colon, pancreatic, bladder, liver, lung, thyroid cancers, and melanoma. For example, this document provides methods and material for using one or more inhibitors of a stearoyl-Coenzyme A desaturase 1 (SCD1) polypeptide to treat cancer.
2. Background Information
The incidence and deaths caused by renal cell carcinoma are increasing in the United States. Indeed, mortality from renal cell carcinoma has increased over 37% since 1950.

Methods and materials for treating cancer

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research


A multiplication circuit for a floating point digital processing system includes a partial products generator and a carry adder circuit for determining a product resulting from multiplication of an M bit multiplicand and an N bit multiplier. The partial products generator outputs to the carry adder circuit partial products based on the M bit multiplicand and N bit multiplier. The carry adder circuit contains a plurality of carry adders connected in a hierarchical tree structure such that a plurality of carry adder stages are defined, with each carry adder stage except a first carry adder stage receiving adder sums from a next adjacent, lower carry adder stage in the hierarchical tree structure. The first carry adder stage receives the partial products output from the partial products generator. The multiplication circuit is optimized by employing carry select adders or carry look-ahead adders in the hierarchical tree structure.

As computer programming becomes more sophisticated ever greater performance demands are placed upon basic logic combinational networks such as adders, multipliers, and the like. In general, these demands have been met by utilizing state-of-the-art transistor processing techniques to reduce switching delays. However, as the number of bits to be logically synthesized increases, this solution becomes inadequate. Accordingly, renewed emphasis is being placed on the design of these basic logic networks.
Hardware multiplication is generally used in digital signal and data processing systems to perform high speed binary multiplication. Multiplication of binary numbers is conducted in essentially the same way as decimal number multiplication. For every bit in one of the factors (the multiplier) a multiple is formed of the other factor (the multiplicand) and is added to a running total. Successive partial products are shifted one position to the left with the final product being obtained from the sum of the partial products. If the whole operation is to be conducted simultaneously by a fast multiplier, then one adder is needed for every digit in the multiplier.
A large number of combinational logic multipliers now exist which are capable of high speed multiplication. Most, if not all, of these multiplication circuits employ carry save adders (or a variation thereof) connected branchwise to add (to the extent possible) partial products in parallel. By way of example, consider a conventional carry save multiplier, Dadda multiplier, Wallace tree multiplier or binary tree multiplier, all of which are well known in the open literature and all of which employ carry save adders connected in multiple stages and coupled to receive partial products and output based thereon a binary number comprising the desired product of the input factors (see, e.g., Habibi and Wintz, "Fast Multiplier," IEEE Transaction on Computers, pp. 154-157 (February 1970)).
Perhaps the most widely used hardware multiplier approach today is the Wallace tree multiplier. This multiplier requires complex interconnections of carry save adders to enhance performance summation within each column of the array multiplier. Although successful in enhancing performance, the Wallace tree multiplier is difficult to implement, often requiring wiring by hand (which is obviously time consuming and inflexible), and results in a very irregular structure that is hard to diagnose. Further, to optimize performance, interconnections must be carefully planned in order to minimize stray capacitance.
Thus, a need exists in the computer system art for a novel combinatorial logic approach comprising a less complex, high speed binary multiplier. The present invention addresses this need by employing a plurality of regular carry select adders or carry look-ahead adders in a novel binary multiplication array structure having a hierarchical tree configuration.

Multiplier employing carry select or carry look-ahead adders in hierarchical tree configuration

International Business Machines Corporation


A heart valve prosthesis configured for placement at a mitral valve in the heart is disclosed that includes a stent-like support structure for supporting a prosthetic mitral valve. The support structure is configured to have a low ventricular profile with only a short length thereof protruding into the left ventricle when deployed in vivo. The support structure includes an upstream section that is outwardly expandable to sit against the atrial wall so as to at least partially anchor the prosthesis therein and a downstream section to which the prosthetic mitral valve is coupled that extends between the left atria and ventricle through the native mitral valve. The low-ventricular profile of the prosthesis is achieved by shaping the support structure such that the downstream section extends within and overlaps with the upstream section at given regions around the circumference of the support structure in an expanded configuration.

The mitral valve exhibits two types of pathologies: regurgitation and stenosis. Regurgitation is the more common of the two defects. Either defect may be treated by a surgical repair. Under certain conditions, the mitral valve must be replaced. A standard surgical approach to mitral valve replacement requires cutting open the left side of the heart to access the native mitral valve.
US 2008/0071363 to Tuval et al, describe prosthesis for implantation at a native semilunar valve of a native valve complex via in at least one embodiment a transapical approach. The prosthesis includes a distal fixation member, configured to be positioned in a downstream artery, and shaped so as to define exactly three proximal engagement arms that are configured to be positioned at least partially within respective ones of semilunar sinuses, and, in combination, to apply, to tissue that defines the semilunar sinuses, a first axial force directed toward a ventricle. The prosthesis further includes a proximal fixation member configured to be positioned at least partially on a ventricular side of the native semilunar valve, and to apply, to the ventricular side of the native valve complex, a second axial force directed toward the downstream artery, such that application of the first and second forces couples the prosthesis to the native valve complex.
US 2009/0276040 to Rowe et al. describe a prosthetic mitral valve assembly and method of inserting the same via in at least one embodiment a transapical approach. In certain embodiments, the prosthetic mitral valve assembly includes a stent or outer frame having a flared upper end and a tapered portion to fit the contours of the native mitral valve.
US 2010/0217382 to Chau et al. describe a prosthetic mitral valve assembly and method of inserting the same via in at least one embodiment a transapical approach. The prosthetic mitral valve assembly includes a stent frame and valve combination with an upper anchoring portion being positionable above the annulus of the mitral valve within the left atrium. The upper anchoring portion of the stent frame may include a lattice structure with cells left intentionally disconnected from adjacent cells and bent outwardly to create prongs for anchoring the valve assembly.
US 2009/0005863 to Goetz et al. describe a replacement valve for implantation centrally within the orifice of a malfunctioning native heart valve. The valve is designed for minimally invasive entry through an intercostal opening in the chest of a patient and an opening in the apex of the human heart. The replacement valve includes either a separate anchor or a combined anchor that folds around the malfunctioning native valve leaflets, sandwiching them in a manner so as to anchor the replacement valve at a desired location.
US 2009/0216312 to Straubinger et al. describe a stent for the positioning and anchoring of a valvular prosthesis in an implantation site in the heart of a patient. Specifically, Straubinger relates to an expandable stent for an endoprosthesis having positioning arches and retaining arches, whereby at least one positioning arch is connected to at least one retaining arch via a first connecting web. The stent also includes at least one auxiliary retaining arch that connects the respective arms of the at least one retaining arch connected to the at least one positioning arch.
US 2008/0255660 to Guyenot et describe a medical device for treating a heart valve insufficiency with an endoprosthesis that can be introduced into a patient's body and expanded to secure a heart valve prosthesis in the patient's aorta. The endoprosthesis may have a plurality of positioning arches configured to be positioned with respect to a patient's aorta connected to and positioned above a plurality of retaining arches to support a heart valve prosthesis.
Due to the different physical characteristics of the mitral valve as compared to other valves such as the pulmonary and aortic valves, percutaneous implantation of a prosthetic valve in the mitral position has its own unique requirements for valve replacement. There is a continued need within the art to provide improved mitral valve replacement devices that may be delivered by minimally invasive techniques and that accommodate the structure of the heart.

Mitral bioprosthesis with low ventricular profile


A positive-type photosensitive resin composition that exhibits excellent adhesion to a substrate after a humidification treatment includes (A) an alkali-soluble resin, (B) a photosensitive diazoquinone compound, and (C-1) a silicon compound shown by the following formula (1),

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a positive-type photosensitive resin composition, a cured film, a protecting film, an insulating film, a semiconductor device, and a display device using the films.
2. Description of Related Art
A polyimide resin having excellent heat resistance, superior electrical and mechanical properties, and the like has generally been used as a surface protecting film and an interlayer dielectric in semiconductor devices. In recent years, a polybenzoxazole resin which is regarded as having good moisture resistance reliability due to the absence of a carbonyl group that has high polarity and is derived from an imide ring has been used, and a photosensitive resin composition which can simplify a part of a relief pattern formation process due to photosensitivity is under development.
Nowadays, in order to further improve the photosensitive resins in terms of safety, a positive-type photosensitive resin composition which comprises a polybenzoxazole precursor which can be developed by an alkaline aqueous solution and a diazoquinone compound as a sensitizer has been developed (see JP-A-56-27140). Production of a relief pattern will now be described by way of a development mechanism of the positive-type photosensitive resin composition. Irradiation of (exposure to) actinic rays through a mask using a photolithographic device such as a stepper produces exposed areas and unexposed areas in a coated film on a wafer. The diazoquinone compound in the unexposed areas is insoluble in an alkaline aqueous solution, and provided with further resistance to the alkaline aqueous solution as a result of the interaction with the resin. On the other hand, the diazoquinone compound which is present in the exposed areas chemically changes by the action of the actinic rays and becomes soluble in an alkaline aqueous solution, thereby promoting dissolution of the resin. A relief pattern consisting only of the unexposed areas can be prepared by dissolving and removing the exposed area utilizing the solubility difference of the exposed areas and unexposed areas.
However, since the cured film produced from the photosensitive resin composition disclosed in JP-A-56-27140 has only poor adhesion to a substrate such as a silicon wafer, the film causes problems such as peeling after high temperature and high humidity treatment.

Positive-type photosensitive resin composition, cured film, protecting film, insulating film and semiconductor device and display device using these films

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 represent alkyl groups having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, R3 represents an organic group, and R4 represents an alkylene group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and i represents an integer from 0 to 2.


Method and systems generate optimized and online targeted messages. Various campaign criteria are provided having different advertising or marketing goals that cause the delivery of targeted messages. Messages may be generated based upon customer data, customer preferences, life events, marketing campaigns, predictive models, and/or propensity scores. For instance, messages may be sent when a propensity threshold score is exceeded indicating a high likelihood of a milestone event, which may be indicative of customer behavior or an event that is relevant to the campaign goal, thereby sending more relevant messages to customers. A milestone propensity score may be calculated using a predictive modeling algorithm having weighted data variables, which may include data provided by the customer or accessed through various sources, such as monitoring customer online interactions with their permission. Aspects also include identifying customers that match campaign criteria by comparing propensity scores to thresholds to assist marketing and advertising efforts.

Often, insurance providers may use several marketing or advertising campaigns to reach out to potential new clients or to offer new services to existing clients. Such campaigns traditionally target large groups of people, such as current customers residing in a certain geographic region, for example. Traditional campaigns may also be launched using a limited set of data for the targeted group, such as names and addresses. By using only limited data, the messages of traditional campaigns may not be relevant for a large number of people in the targeted group, or be sent using a delivery channel that may not be preferred by some members of the targeted group.

STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY


A pedal adjuster for adjusting the position of pedals within a vehicle. The pedal adjuster assembly includes a frame member mounted to a support and a pedal arm pivotally mounted to the frame. The frame includes a pair of sides having slots to receive a clevis. The pedal arm is mounted between the sides and mounted to the clevis. A screw rod is actionable to move the pedal arm with respect to the frame to adjust the position of the pedal arm. The pedal arm angles forwardly and downwardly from the pivot point to adjust the pedal through a arc having a relatively linear adjustment path.

Pedal adjusters are used in vehicles to adjust the position of a pedal arm and pedal with respect to a driver's foot. The pedal arms are connected to rods or cables which are moved by the pedal arm to actuate the brakes or the throttle. Most pedal adjusters are designed to adjust the pedal position without changing the position of the terminus of the rod or cable which is to be moved by the pedal arm. Accordingly, it is known to mount the terminus to an adjuster bracket disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,474. The position of the terminus remains unchanged during adjustment of the pedal arm position. However, the pedal is adjusted through an arc which has a verified vector which increases during adjustment. Thus, as the pedal moves rearwardly, it also moves increasingly upwardly. This results in the pedal being too far from the floor at the full rearward adjustment. The adjuster bracket mechanism is complicated and a great amount of space is used by the structure.


A plurality of operators provided on a communication terminal, such as a portable phone, are assigned in advance to functions for generating tones, and a tone generation starting signal is generated in response to depressing operation, by a user, of any one of the operators. The communication terminal transmits, to a tone generator module, performance content data having added thereto operation time information representative of a time when the user's depressing operation has taken place. Upon receipt of the performance content data from the communication terminal, the tone generator module carries out a process based on the tone generation starting signal on the basis of the operation time information added to the performance content data.

The present invention relates generally to systems for generating tones using communication terminals, such as portable communication terminals, and tone generator modules.
In view of recent trends toward higher performance and functionality of communication terminals, such as portable (handportable) phones, there have been proposed various usage or additional functions other than their primary telephone functions. One example of the proposed additional functions is to use the communication terminal to generate musical tones. Among the proposed techniques for generating tones using the communication terminal is one in accordance with which tones are generated, in response to user's operation of keys on the communication terminal, via a tone generator circuit provided within the communication terminal. According to another one of the proposed techniques, a terminal operation device including performance operators is connected to a communication network via a portable communication terminal, so that tones are generated by remote-controlling an electronic musical instrument also connected to the communication network.
However, none of the conventionally-proposed techniques can readily generate and perform tones of high musical quality. Namely, with the technique for generating tones by the communication terminal itself, generated tones tend to be of poor musical quality because the tone generator circuit provided within the communication terminal is unavoidably limited to a simple structure. Further, with the technique for remote-controlling the electronic musical instrument, the user can not easily enjoy a musical instrument performance, because the extra operation terminal device including performance operators is required. Also, because the communication via the network requires a predetermined time, it would take a long time before the electronic musical instrument can actually generate tones after user's operation on the terminal device, so that a real-time performance is difficult to achieve.

Tone generation system, communication terminal and tone generator module


A capacitance type sensor includes: a dielectric layer made of a polymer; an elongated front-side electrode placed on a front side of the dielectric layer; an elongated back-side electrode placed on a back side of the dielectric layer; a front-side wiring connected to the front-side electrode; a back-side wiring connected to the back-side electrode; and a plurality of detection portions formed between the front-side electrode and the back-side electrode. Each of the front-side electrode and the back-side electrode has an elongated electrode body containing a binder and a conductive material, and an extended wiring portion extending in a longitudinal direction of the electrode body and having lower volume resistivity than the electrode body, and the front-side wiring and the back-side wiring have lower volume resistivity than the electrode body.

As disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, a capacitance type sensor can be configured by placing front-side electrodes and back-side electrodes with a dielectric layer interposed therebetween. A plurality of detection portions are formed between the front-side electrodes and the back-side electrodes which face each other in the front-back direction. When a load is applied to the capacitance type sensor, the thickness of the detection portion corresponding to a part subjected to the load, i.e., the distance between the front-side electrode and the back-side electrode in the part subjected to the load, is reduced, and capacitance of the detection portion is therefore increased. The capacitance type sensor detects surface pressure distribution based on this change in capacitance.
In the capacitance type sensor disclosed in Patent Document 1, the dielectric layer is made of an elastomer. In order not to restrict elastic deformation of the dielectric layer, the front-side electrodes and the back-side electrodes (hereafter sometimes collectively referred to as the "electrodes") are made of conductive paint containing polymer and carbon black corresponding to the amount of elastomer. Front-side wirings and back-side wirings (hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to as the "wirings") are made of conductive paint containing polymer and silver powder corresponding to the amount of elastomer, in order for the front-side wirings and the back-side wirings to have lower electrical resistance than the electrodes.


An integrated circuit device includes a scan driver block, a high-speed interface circuit block, and a scan driver pad arrangement region in which pads electrically connecting scan output lines of the scan driver block and scan lines are disposed. The high-speed interface circuit block includes a physical layer circuit that receives data using differential signals, and a link controller that performs a link layer process. The scan output lines of the scan driver block are provided from the scan driver block to the scan driver pad arrangement region to pass over the link controller while avoiding the physical layer circuit. A common voltage line connecting first and second common voltage pads is provided from the first common voltage pad to the second common voltage pad along a first direction, the common voltage line being provided in a second direction with respect to the physical layer circuit along the first direction in an arrangement region of the physical layer circuit.

The present invention relates to an integrated circuit device, an electronic instrument, and the like.
In recent years, a high-speed serial transfer such as low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) has attracted attention as an interface aiming at reducing EMI noise or the like. In such a high-speed serial transfer, data is transferred by causing a transmitter circuit to transmit serialized data using differential signals and causing a receiver circuit to differentially amplify the differential signals.
An ordinary portable telephone includes a first instrument section provided with buttons for inputting a telephone number and characters, a second instrument section provided with a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a camera device, and a connection section (e.g., hinge) which connects the first and second instrument sections. Therefore, the number of interconnects passing through the connection section can be reduced by transferring data between a first circuit board provided in the first instrument section and a second circuit board provided in the second instrument section by a high-speed serial transfer using small-amplitude differential signals.
A display driver (LCD driver) is known as an integrated circuit device which drives a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel. In order to realize a high-speed serial transfer between the first and second instrument sections, a high-speed interface circuit which transfers data through a serial bus must be incorporated in the display driver (see JP-A-2001-222249).
On the other hand, since the high-speed interface circuit handles differential signals with a small voltage amplitude of 0.1 to 1.0 V, for example, the high-speed interface circuit tends to be affected by noise from other signal lines. In particular, when noise from a signal with a large amplitude (e.g., scan signal transmitted through a scan line) is transmitted to the high-speed interface circuit, a malfunction such as a transfer error may occur.
A display panel includes an array substrate in which thin film transistors (TFTs) are disposed in an array, and a common substrate on which a common electrode is formed. The display driver outputs a data signal (source signal) supplied to the source of the TFT and a scan signal (gate signal) supplied to the gate of the TFT. The display driver generates and outputs a common voltage (common electrode voltage) applied to the common electrode.
In this case, the voltage difference between the voltage of the data signal and the common voltage is applied to a liquid crystal element. Therefore, when the common voltage generated by the display driver does not reach the desired voltage due to parasitic resistance and the like, the voltage applied to the liquid crystal element does not reach the desired voltage, whereby the display quality deteriorates.

Integrated circuit device and electronic instrument