A method is disclosed for generating computed tomography image data of a volume of interest from X-ray CT data sets generated by a computed tomography system during scanning of an examination subject on a helical path rotating around a longitudinal system axis in the infeed direction. In at least one embodiment, at least two volume-based reconstructions of the volume of interest are performed by way of differential back-projection over surfaces constituted by different groups of M-lines, followed in each case by an inverse Hilbert transformation. The method further includes combining different reconstructed volumes to form a final reconstruction of the volume of interest.

A technique known as filtered back-projection (FBP) is nowadays used as the standard method for reconstructing computed tomography image data from a CT scanner's X-ray CT data sets for which, during data acquisition, an X-ray source from which conical or more specifically pyramidal X-ray beams are emitted rotates around a VoI on a helical path. With this method, the data is first pre-processed in order to make it as noise-free as possible. What is termed a "rebinning" step is then carried out in which the data generated with the beam fanning out from the source is rearranged such that it is present in a form as if the detector had been hit by an X-ray wave front approaching the detector in a parallel manner. The data is then transformed in the frequency domain. Filtering with what is termed a ramp filter takes place in the frequency domain and the filtered data is then inverse-transformed. Using the thus re-sorted and filtered data, back-projection onto the individual voxels within the volume of interest then takes place. Although this method works very well in principle, no mathematically exact reconstructions are possible, which may result in artifacts. In particular, because of their approximative mode of operation, the conventional FBP methods are subject to problems with low-frequency so-called cone-beam artifacts, particularly if the number of detector rows increases considerably and exceeds 100, as may be the case with the latest detectors.
A method has therefore been developed with which mathematically exact and stable reconstruction is possible even if there are incomplete projections among the incoming projection data. With this method, "differential back-projection" along so-called "π-lines" is performed. In this context, π-lines denote straight lines which intersect the helical path twice within one complete revolution. The back-projection data thereby obtained corresponds to the Hilbert transform of the desired image data, so that the desired image data can be generated by subsequent inverse Hilbert transformation. This method of three-dimensional differential back-projection followed by inverse Hilbert transformation (DBP-HT) is described in more detail in the publication by H. Schöndube, K. Stiersdorfer, F. Dennerlein, T. White and F. Noo: "Towards an efficient two-step hilbert algorithm for helical cone-beam CT." in Proc. 2007 Meeting on Fully 3D Image Reconstruction in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (Lindau, Germany), F. Beckman and M. Kachelrieβ, Eds., 2007, pp. 120-123. As the method is theoretically mathematically exact and no artifacts due to the fan beam geometry of the X-ray beam can occur, it can be used to reconstruct good images even when the number of detector rows is markedly increased, as described above.
However, these reconstruction methods have so far been limited to using detector measurement data which is present on the detector within the so-called Tam-Danielsson window (also referred to hereinafter as the "TD window" for short), said TD window being defined by the projection of the X-ray source trajectory, i.e. the helical orbit of the X-ray source, onto the detector. Data that is measured in detector areas outside said TD window has hitherto been unusable in the DBP-HT method. However, since in normal CT systems the conical beam of the X-ray source is implemented such that it is incident on the entire detector, dose is consequently wasted. Although it would be theoretically possible to implement an X-ray source such that it produces an X-ray beam that is precisely incident on the TD window, this would mean no more flexibility in setting the pitch of the helical curve and would also be very cost-intensive, so that it makes more sense to use a rectangular standard detector and a conventional X-ray source. Apart from that, it would be very desirable to be able to use data outside the TD window. This data is redundant data which does not necessarily have to be used for a complete reconstruction. On the other hand, however, the redundant data is very useful for reducing image noise without affecting the resolution of the images. The redundant data could in principle be used with approximative methods, but again at the expense of the advantage of the mathematically exact reconstruction described above. Although an approach for exact mathematical reconstruction in which detector data outside the TD window could also be used is already described in the publication by J. Pack, F. Noo and R. Clackdoyle: "Cone-beam reconstruction using the backprojection of locally filtered projections" IEEE Trans. Med. Imag., vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 70-85, January 2005, this method is limited to performing differential back-projection and subsequent inverse Hilbert transformation for each individual voxel, multiple reconstructions and then averaging of the reconstruction values of the individual voxels being necessary in each case for the individual voxels. This results in a considerable computational complexity in order to reconstruct a complete volume of interest. This method is therefore very inefficient and hardly usable in day-to-day practice.

Method and image reconstruction device for generating computed tomography image data


A digital audio recording apparatus for formatting digital audio data and recording formatted data on a digital recording medium, so that digital audio data having a first sampling frequency and other digital audio data having a second sampling frequency being twice the first sampling frequency, can be reproduced in both a reproduction apparatus having an operating frequency, for digital-to-analog converting the first sampling frequency and that having an operating frequency for digital-to-analog converting the second sampling frequency. The digital audio recording apparatus transforms the digital audio data into transformation coefficients in a frequency domain, the transformation coefficients are formatted using one of predetermined recording formats. Corresponding digital audio reproduction apparatus reproduces an analog audio signal from the formatted data, based on an operating frequency for D/A conversion, a formatting method of the formatted data, and a sampling frequency of the audio signal contained in the formatted data.

The present invention relates to a system for recording and/or reproducing a pulse code modulation (PCM) digital audio signal, and more particularly, to a system for recording and/or reproducing a PCM digital audio signal, in which digital audio signals can be recorded on a digital recording medium or can be reproduced from the digital recording medium, even though sampling frequencies of the PCM digital audio signals differ from each other.
All apparatuses which use PCM digital audio signals use a reference unit, which is a data unit for enabling error correction. The size of the reference unit is determined according to the features of a transmission medium. A digital audio signal which has been sampled according to a predetermined sampling frequency is recorded on a recording medium in the form of blocks having a size, or amount of data, which is determined according to a data recording characteristic of the recording medium, such as a compact disk (CD), a digital audio tape (DAT) and so on. When a reproduction operation is performed with respect to the recording medium, a digital-to-analog converter converts a digital audio signal into an analog audio signal in the sequence of the outflow of the data from the recording medium.
As to PCM digital audio signals, in order to replace an existing system which uses sampling frequencies of 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz, with new audio recording systems which use sampling frequencies of 88.2 KHz or 96 KHz, for example, an advanced audio (ADA) system in Japan, has been proposed. However, the existing reproduction system which uses the sampling frequencies of 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz, cannot reproduce audio signals which have been recorded in a digital form according to the newly proposed system. Therefore, in order to allow such an existing reproducing system to reproduce a digital audio signal which has been recorded according to a new recording system, separate digital signal processing is required so that a bit number representing each sample without creating noise can be handled. Examples of the required digital signal processing include, low-pass filtering to eradicate a frequency component higher than 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz from a signal read from a recording medium, and decimation filtering to make the low-pass filtered signal into a signal having the sampling frequency of 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz.
For this reason, the existing reproduction system should process all input audio data in order to reproduce an audio signal according to the newly proposed system. Consequently, a digital processor having an operating frequency larger than a sampling frequency of the input audio data, is required. However, it is expensive to improve the existing reproducing system in order to reproduce a digital audio signal of the proposed signal recording system. Also, additional RAM capacity is required for the above-described separate digital signal processing, also increasing the cost necessary for such an improvement.
Meanwhile, a reproducing system which includes a digital-to-analog converter having sampling frequencies of 88.2 KHz or 96 KHz, directly transmits received data to an output terminal without processing the received data. Thus, a digital processor for processing audio data and a large amount of RAM capacity are not required. However, if another audio recording system using a frequency higher than 88.2 KHz (or 96 KHz) is proposed, the same problems as those of existing system will be created.

System for recording and/or reproducing a pulse code modulation digital audio signal


An electronic device is configured with a notification throttling system. The notification throttling system obtains a set of priorities for multiple applications that are installed on the electronic device and are enabled for alerting the user via notifications. The set of priorities specifies a relative importance of each particular application among the multiple applications. The notification throttling system throttles application alerts presented by the user device for notifications generated by the applications based on the relative importance of each particular application as specified by the set of priorities.

Currently available electronic devices (e.g., smart phones and electronic tablets) enable applications to generate notifications that are displayed on the screen of the device (e.g., the lock screen or the unlocked screen). This feature enables a user to quickly look at information updates contained in the notifications (e.g., what the user has missed or other updates) from various applications and quickly and easily determine whether the user needs to act upon a particular notification.


The invention provides a method for grouping measurement data obtained by effecting two or more techniques to provide characterization data characterizing at least one sample with respect to characterizing substances. According to one aspect of the invention, the grouping is effected on the basis of at least one statistical distribution of deviations (Δm/zi) of a respective characterizing measurement value. According to another aspect of the invention, the grouping is effected on the basis of at least one collective characteristic of a plurality of respective quantitative measurement values (Ii).

Data preprocessing aimed at reducing the amount of data and extracting relevant information from multi- or high-dimensional data is a step of many data analysis techniques. For example, a Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) data set may consist of several hundred scans with a broad mass range, e.g., from app. 50-100 Da to several thousand Da (typically 2000-10000 Da) expressed in mass/charge (m/z) values. A data set of a single measurement consists of millions of data points that include a significant amount of information with little or no value. (e.g., Both electrical and chemical noise, non-relevant 'real' signals coming from mobile phase components, ion source contamination, signals of bleeding of chromatographic material). Due to the number of data points, a manual selection of relevant information is not imaginable, at least in practical applications; therefore a technological approach using a suitable algorithm is necessary.
For many 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional or even higher dimensional data sets, like LC-MS data, run-to-run variation on within the dimensions is observed as having a detrimental effect on pattern recognition analysis. A correct allocation of signals of the same substance in a collective of data sets (like measurements of more than one sample) is an important premise of a proper pattern recognition application. A false assignment of peaks to a chemical individual within the pattern reduces the possibility to find the 'true' pattern.
In an LC-MS data set, the variability of retention times can have various causes, such as inhomogeneity of gradient formation, fluctuation of flow-rate, overloading of the chromatographic column, chemical and mechanical changes due to the ageing of the chromatographic materials. The variability of mass/charge measurement depends on factors such as the accuracy of the mass detection, mass-to-charge value, intensity values or the signal/noise ratio, the generating of centroided spectra from continuous ones.
Many chemometric methods deal with data preprocessing of LC-MS data. The majority of these methods extract an informative part of data sets using an algorithm analyzing the data in one-dimension only. Some of the methods analyze the data in both dimensions simultaneously resulting in substantially higher quality of preprocessed data.
Other Approaches
1) J. Chromatogr A 771, 1997, 1-7: "Application of sequential paired covariance to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry data; Enhancements in both the signal-to-noise ratio and resolution of analyte peaks in the chromatogram", David C. Muddiman et al. The article provides that a sequential paired covariance (SPC) method generates a series of virtual amplified mass spectra. Each data point in a mass spectrum is multiplied with the corresponding data point from the following mass spectrum—resulting in a geometrically amplified spectrum; the number of spectra used in each multiplication operation defines the order of the covariance algorithm. Thus, dramatic enhancement of the S/N ratio and the resolution in the chromatogram is achieved; however the algorithm can be used for qualitative analysis only because the absolute quantitative information (both peak area and height) is getting lost by multiplying the consecutive data point.2) Analytica Chemica Acta 446, 2001, 467-476: "Fast interpretation of complex LC-MS data using chemometrics", W. Windig at al.3) U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,869 entitled "Noise and background reduction method for component detection in chromatography/spectrometry" provides a component detection algorithm (CODA) that extracts from LC-MS data a compound's information by random noise, spikes and mobile phase peaks elimination. It uses the assessment of differences between original chromatogram and its smoothed form for spiked elimination using a similarity index having a value between 0 and 1 that is user specified. In order to detect a chromatogram representing solvent background, a comparison of an average value of all data points within the selected mass chromatogram was used.4) JChromatogr A 849, 1999, 71-85: "Windowed mass selection method: A new data processing algorithm for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry data", C. M. Fleming et al. In the reference, a method termed 'windowed mass selection method' (WMSM) is shown to eliminate random noise that occurs in the data. The preprocessing method consists of two steps to remove random background noise, and is based on the main assumption that analytes can be distinguished from noise by means of differences in peak width. The disclosed system makes a number of assumptions including:                1. Any peak has a non-zero signal over the length of the window.        2. A characteristic of random noise is that it does not have a constant signal over a number of scans defined by a window, but intermittently displays zero-amplitude intensities. Multiplication of intensities over a window range will result in zero signal.        3. A low consistent background is removed by subtraction of a mean value of each chromatogram from this chromatogram.        4. Mobile phase peaks are removed by selection criteria which set the maximum length of a theoretical peak. If the peak is longer than the maximum allowed value it will be removed from data set.The assumptions of this method do not include many eventualities occurring in the LC-MS data set (e.g. overlapping peaks, long noisy regions with fluctuating intensity values). A benefit over SPC method could be, in principle, preservation of absolute intensity values. However, those intensities would require correction of the intensity values after background subtraction.5) Singular value decomposition method: The singular value decomposition method (SVD) is a method for data compression and noise reduction by eigenvalue-like decomposition for rectangular matrices. Characteristics of this method are provided in Fleming et al.; JChromatogr A 849, 1999, 71-85 and in references cited therein.6) WO 02/13228 A2 (Method and system for identifying and quantifying chemical components of a mixture, Vogels et al.) discloses a method of data processing and evaluation consisting of the steps of smoothing the data point of chromatogram and determining an entropy value for a smoothed chromatogram (chromatogram may be either a selected mass or total ion chromatogram). After evaluation of a quality factor (based on an entropy value) for each smoothed mass chromatogram in the data set, the algorithm generates a reconstructed total ion chromatogram from selected mass chromatograms with the IQ values above a defined threshold value.7) U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,989 A1 (Method and apparatus for compression and filtering of data associated with spectrometry, Gedcke et al.) discloses a method and apparatus for compression and filtering of data associated with spectrometry. The method monitors a value of each data point and compares it to the previously data point to determine whether it is on or very near a peak. The intensity values for a designated number of data are summed and averaged to determine the average of a noisy background. A threshold is determined by multiplying the deviation by a empirically defined constant k, each data point is compared to this threshold value.8) US 2002/0193950 A1 (Method for analyzing mass spectra, Gavin et al.) discloses a method that analyzes mass spectra. The analysis consists of detecting signals above S/N cutoff, clustering of signals, pre-selection of features, identification mass values for selected clusters, creating of a classification model and assignment of unknown sample. This method is predestined for 1-dimensional signals, like MALDI, SELDI or ESI-MS spectra without a time-dependent separation prior the chromatographic detection.
The document focuses on a classification model having classes characterized by different biological status. In this context a feature pre-selection using a cluster analysis is described. Signal clusters having a predetermined number of signals (here: biological samples in which the signal is present) are selected for the classification model, clusters having less signals are discarded.
The possibility of preprocessing raw data is considered only briefly in the document. To this end it is mentioned that the data analysis could include the steps of determining the signal strength (e.g. height of signals) of a detected marker and to remove "outliers" (data deviating from predetermined statistical distribution).
9) US 2003/0040123 A1 (Peak selection in multidimensional data, Hastings) discloses a method of computing local noise thresholds for each one-dimensional component of the data. Each point has a local noise threshold applied to it for each dimension of the data set, and a point is selected as a peak candidate only in the case its value exceeds all of the applied local noise thresholds. Contiguous candidate peaks are clustered into actual peaks (i.e., detected real chromatographic peaks).
A noise threshold can be computed from a window of points surrounding the particular point. After peak picking, additional criteria can be applied to the peaks before they are accepted into a peak database. With respect to the selection of actual peaks it is considered that additional peak recognition algorithms, such as line shape analysis or Bayesian/maximum likelihood analysis for mass chromatograms or isotope distribution analysis for mass spectra may also be applied. Details are not given. With respect to the peak picking it is also considered that the noise could be reduced by using a suitable filter on the basis of a known noise distribution, so that peaks can be detected. The method disclosed in US 2003/0040123 A1 addresses the noise issue, in particular the particularities of noise in LC-MS data, by applying different noise thresholds to different dimensions of the data.
Review Articles of General Interest
A review of so-called data mining techniques which can be used for example with respect to mass spectrometry data can be found in Current Opinion in Drug Discovery & Development 2001 4(3), 325-331, "Data mining of spectroscope data for biomarker discovery" S. M. Norton et al. Of general interest is also the review article IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 22(1), 2000, 4-37: "Statistical Pattern Recognition: A Review", A. K. Jain et al., which considers issues such as feature extraction and selection, cluster analysis and generally so-called data mining on the basis of statistical methods including Bayesian statistics.

Method and system for processing multi-dimensional measurement data


Embodiments of the disclosure provide systems and methods for an optical sensing system steering optical beams with a wedge prism. An exemplary system may include a scanner configured to steer an emitted optical beam towards an object. The system may further include a wedge prism configured to receive an optical beam returned from the object and refract the returned optical beam towards the scanner. The scanner is further configured to steer the refracted optical beam to form a receiving optical beam in a direction non-parallel to the emitted optical beam.

Optical sensing systems such as LiDAR systems have been widely used in advanced navigation technologies, such as to aid autonomous driving or to generate high-definition maps. For example, a typical LiDAR system measures the distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light beams and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor such as a photodetector or a photodetector array. Differences in laser light return times, wavelengths, and/or phases can then be used to construct digital three-dimensional (3D) representations of the target. Because using a narrow laser beam as the incident light can map physical features with very high resolution, a LiDAR system is particularly suitable for applications such as sensing in autonomous driving and high-definition map surveys.
A LiDAR system typically includes a transmitter to emit a laser beam to a direction (e.g., towards an object). For example, a laser source of the transmitter emits the laser beam to a scanner. The scanner rotates around a rotation axis and steers the emitted laser beam towards the object. In a fully co-axial LiDAR, the laser beam is backscattered by the object and returned to the scanner. The scanner steers the returned laser beam to a LiDAR receiver through a beam splitter.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary beam splitter for steering laser beams to a receiver of the LiDAR system. As shown in FIG. 1, a laser emitter 101 of the LiDAR system emits a laser beam 102 (in dashed lines) towards a scanner 105 of the LiDAR system through a beam splitter 103. Because laser beam 102 and beam splitter 103 may be both polarized, laser beam 102 does not lose energy when going through beam splitter 103. Laser beam 102 is received and steered by scanner 105 towards an object 107, and becomes a laser beam 106 (in dashed lines). Object 107 returns a laser beam 108 to scanner 105 which reflects laser beam 108 to form a laser beam 110 towards beam splitter 103. Assuming scanner 105 stays substantially at the same angle during the time the laser beam travels to object 107 and returns to scanner 105, laser beam 110 is in a substantially same light path as laser beam 102 except in an opposite direction. In order for laser beam 110 not to return directly to laser emitter 101 but to receiver 113 located not on the light path, laser beam 110 may be redirected by beam splitter 103 to form a new laser beam 112 towards a receiver 113 of the LiDAR system. Because laser beam 110 is not a polarized laser beam, part of laser beam 110 is not redirected towards receiver 113 but goes through beam splitter 103 to form a laser beam 114 towards laser emitter 101. As a result, some (approximately 50%) energy may be lost due to beam splitting. The limited light collection capability of beam splitter 103 may impact an overall performance of the LiDAR system.
Systems and methods disclosed herein provide an improved design for scanning LiDAR systems by removing the beam splitter and thus reducing the energy loss.

Scanning LiDAR system with a wedge prism


A device for verifying and reading color, particularly used in reading the color of a liquid, the device comprising: a) a guide tube (10); and (b) at least one pair of liquid detection sensors (20), associated to the guide tube (10), the device comprising pairs of spectral-frequency emitting sensors (30, 31, 32) and spectral-frequency receiving sensors (30′, 31′, 32′), associated to the guide tube (10) and oppositely aligned, the spectral-frequency emitting sensors (30, 31, 32) being activated by detection of the liquid by the detection sensors (20). A process of verifying and reading color in liquids by means of a device of verifying and reading color, the process comprising the following steps: (i) calibrating the pairs of spectral-frequency emitting sensors (30, 31, 32) and the spectral-frequency receiving sensors (30′, 31′, 32′); (ii) detecting the liquid by means of the detection sensor (20); (iii) emitting photons at determined frequency ranges of the spectrum by means of the spectral-frequency emitting sensors (30, 31, 32); (iv) receiving the photons by means of the spectral-frequency receiving sensors (30′, 31′, 32′); and (v) reading the frequency received and comparing it with pre-established frequencies.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device of verifying and reading color, usable in conjunction with methods of measuring liquids, especially combustible liquids, in order to verify possible alterations through the change in color, and a method of verifying and reading color in liquids.
2. State of the Art
The large amount of fuel that is daily adulterated is widely known and reaches about 13% on average, varying from 18% to 9% depending upon the region, for sales volumes about 93 million cubic meters in 1999 and 90 million cubic meters in 2000 in Brazil.
This problem is also found in various parts of the world as a function of the high aggregated value of combustible products, which makes them extremely attractive for commerce and also for alterations that impair the quality of the products. In this regard, there is a great difficulty at present in immediately proving adulterations, due to the delay in analysis and the large sales turnover of a reselling station.
According to data obtained at the ANP (National Petroleum Agency), there are on the Brazilian market: 243 Petroleum Distributors, 38,000 filling stations and 100,000 tanks. These data show the impossibility of controlling, through chemical analyses or the like, the quality of fuels from the moment of refining and distributing them until the act of buying the product by the consumer. However, this incapability of controlling the quality and pureness of fuels results in a stimulus for adulteration and the consequent illicit increase in sales.
There is a need for control also in the situations of constant recharges of liquid products. In this case, besides measuring the cubic volume contained in the tanks, it becomes necessary to verify the maintenance of the standard of the liquid to be supplied.
There are many ways of identifying the quality and pureness of the fuel, as for example, the physical-chemical analysis that makes a survey of the various components existing in the products and thus establishes criteria for accepting or rejecting the product in the tank. This process is usually employed in fuel distributing companies, so as to evaluate the maintenance of the standards of quality of their products at the reselling stations, and consists in collecting samples of fuel and mixture of this sample with reactants, so as to establish its composition.
However, in order to prevent frauds, that is, mixture of a fuel with other products after the physical-chemical analysis has been carried out, this analysis should be made in a continuous and uninterrupted way, also at the reselling stations, which is excessively expensive and unfeasible.
In many situations, a fuel reselling station commercializes a large amount of products daily, somewhat above 24 cubic meters (24,000 liters) of a determined type of fuel, for example, gasoline. For various reasons, the reseller intends to purchase 10 cubic meters (10,000 liters) of fuel from another distributing company, which is not the same as that of the reselling company. This product from a third party often does not have any invoice and, since this is not a reliable distributing company, this is often a product of very poor quality, having physico-chemical characteristics quite different from those of the products which this reselling station already has in its tank, and the tank containing the product of good quality already existing therein will receive that of unreliable quality, thus mixing the two products.
The volant unit of the company in charge of the inspection of products of the product-analysis program goes to the selling station at a determined time of day and makes the tests and the physico-chemical analysis, finding and attesting that the products stocked at that establishment are in accordance with the standards of quality determined by the company. At the time of inspection, the storing tank contains only 1 cubit meter (1,000 liters) of fuel from the company itself, which, due to the large volume of sales, will be sold out in a few hours. Once the inspection has been completed, the inspector of the company goes to another station to inspect the product, in order to fulfill his daily visits.
After the inspection and after the fuel of this tank has been sold out, the reselling station receives 10 cubit meters (10,000 liters) of the product from a different origin, which is added to the tank of the example, which is totally empty already, containing only its ballast of 250 liters. The reselling station continues with the regular sales of the adulterated product and, due to its large capacity of sales, in only 10 hours the tank is again empty and needs to be refilled. This time, however, the product is requested to the distributing company.
Thus, when inspection made on the next day the tank is already filled with the product from the distributing company itself and, therefore, the analyses will again indicate that the products sold by the reselling station of the example are totally regular. However, the reselling station would have sold 10,000 liters of adulterated fuel to a large number of consumers, who, without any possibility of reaction or protection, were cheated upon buying products with quality different from that for which they had looked and paid.
Besides the consumer, the distributing company too is seriously prejudiced, since, besides failing to gain regular profits by selling its products, it has expenses with the quality inspection program, which may be questioned, and this would impair its institutional image of a reliable and competent company.
Another important characteristic existing in the products at present is the controlled mixture of colored additives, in order to differentiate products, for instance, in the case of additive-containing gasoline and high octane solid gasoline. This coloring by means of additives also enables visual identification on the part of the consumer who is buying the product.
In this regard, we can observe that there is gasoline of red coloring, which is distinguished form alcohols having greenish color, and so on with other fuels.
Each fuel supplier tries to assign to it mark an exclusive coloring, so as to differentiate it from that of the competitors. This fact also may be proven by installing transparent tubes close to the filling nozzle of the filling station, thus enabling immediate identification by the consumer.
Obviously, there are details in which the consumer's perception cannot detect, such as suave graduations of color or even clarification of adulterated products, since it is not possible, at present, to provide the consumer with standardization, because the slight differences in the coloring of the fuel are imperceptible to the human eye.

Device of verifying and reading color, and a process of verifying and reading color in liquids


A method and a detector system are disclosed for the photon-counting detection of x-ray radiation with direct conversion detectors. In at least one embodiment of the method, as a function of the existing radiation energy, current and/or voltage pulses which are largely proportional thereto are generated, and the generated current and voltage pulses are counted in the detector when a predetermined current and/or voltage source is exceeded, whereby a threshold is used as a predetermined current and/or voltage threshold, which corresponds to a detection of a photon with an energy which is less than the k-edge of the detector material used.

Methods and detectors are generally known. The dose rate and also the energy distribution of a detected radiation are herewith measured by free charges developing in a detector material on account of the ionizing radiation being measured as current or voltage pulses. The extent of a thus developing charge pulse is approximately proportional here to energy of the x-ray quantum and/or photons which penetrate the detector material in each instance. During the measurement of such events, care is generally taken to ensure that the existing noise is always suppressed as much as possible in the electronic measuring equipment, by a threshold being switched, which has to be exceeded before a pulse is counted. Since within the scope of measurements within the field of medical or material examination CT systems, x-ray radiation spectra in the energy range from 30 keV to generally less than 300 keV are generally used, these threshold values are set such that they do not lie significantly below the equivalent of 30 keV. An adequate noise range is herewith ensured.
It has been shown that methods and detectors of this type comprise a relatively strong drift with respect to their radiation sensitivity and as a result lead to incorrect measurement results.

Method for detecting x-ray radiation and detector system with direct conversion detectors


A method and computer software program for publishing images at an accessible website and for ordering goods and/or services to be provided by a fulfillment provider. A high resolution digital image is forwarded from a user to a fulfillment provider that stores the high resolution digital image and associates a unique ID with the high resolution image. The unique ID identifies the storage location of where the high resolution image is stored and the internet address of the fulfillment provider. The user receives the unique ID that is associated with the high resolution image. The user then forwards to an accessible website a low resolution image copy of the high resolution image and the unique ID. The website publishes the low resolution image on the accessible website along with an action button that is associated with the unique ID. Selection of the action button by a viewer causes the viewer being forwarded to the fulfillment provider so that the viewer will to be able to access the high resolution image stored by the fulfillment provider.

Recently there has become a high interest in blogging. Blogging is basically an on-line diary (often referred to as web log or blog) published on a web page that are generally open to the public for viewing. There are a number of tools that help individuals create web logs and hosting sites for making the web logs available on-line. The web log is typically an HTML web page that includes text and images entered in a chronological order in a manner similar to that of a diary. Typically, these web logs represent the "daily" activity for individuals.
These web logs/blogs are read by many individuals, including family and friends. Often when images are presented, it is desirable for the viewing individual to obtain a print or other image related product with respect to the image being viewed. However, the images available on web logs are typically limited to low resolution images and there is no easy way to obtain the original high resolution image for use in ordering image products. While one may go to the original source of the image, i.e., the person that owns the web log, it is often not desirable to allow someone direct access to the image on their personal computer. Typically, the hosting site that allows the placement of the blog does not want to be bothered with maintaining large files that include a large number of high resolution images.
The present invention is designed to solving many of the problems allowing a mechanism for allowing viewers to easily obtain access to the high resolution images for ordering various goods or services that require access to the high resolution image.

Method system of software for publishing images on a publicly available website and for ordering of goods or services


An outside mirror for a motor vehicle has a mirror foot (1) fastenable to the vehicle and a mirror carrier (3) fastenable to the mirror foot so as to be capable of swivelling about a swivelling axis. The mirror carrier (3) is fastenable to the mirror foot (1) by virtue of the latching of at least one first detent element (11) in a first detent contour (12). In this the position of the mirror carrier (3) relative to the mirror foot (1) at at least one defined swivel angle may be secured by virtue of the latching of at least one second detent element in a second detent contour (15, 16). The mirror carrier (3) in the latched state of the first detent element (11) is displaceable counter to the pressure of a spring element (11) at least far enough in the direction of the swivelling axis for the second detent element to be unlatchable from the second detent contour (15, 16) through swivelling of the mirror carrier (3).

Outside rear view mirrors of the type described comprise a mirror foot and a mirror carrier, which is fastenable to the mirror foot so as to be capable of pivoting around a swivelling axis. The mirror foot may in such case be fastened by suitable fastening means to the vehicle and is therefore used to fix the outside mirror on the motor vehicle. The various components needed for operation of an outside mirror, such as a mirror element, an adjusting mechanism, a positioning drive, a heating device and a mirror housing, may be fastened to the pivotally supported mirror carrier.
According to vehicle registration regulations, pivotal supporting of the mirror carrier on the mirror foot is compulsory in modern motor vehicles. The aim is in particular to reduce the risk of injury in the event that a victim of an accident collides with the outside rear view mirrors, which protrude laterally from the body of the motor vehicle. Thus, for example, before an outside mirror is approved a so-called "child's head test" is conducted. During such test, a test specimen corresponding in weight and shape to the dimensions of a child's head is brought into collision with the outside mirror which, in order to pass the test, has to be made to fold inwards by the impact.
Because of the pivotal supporting of the mirror carrier on the mirror foot, conflicting objectives have to be taken into account when designing an outside mirror. On the one hand, the mirror carrier where possible is to be capable of swivelling without great resistance out of its normal position into a folded-in position in order to reduce the risk of injury. On the other hand, while the outside mirror is in operation, the mirror carrier has to be connected as firmly as possible to the mirror foot in order to rule out unintentional displacement of the mirror carrier, especially as a result of vibration. To resolve such a conflict of objectives, U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,181 proposes the use of an elastically supported detent element between mirror carrier and mirror foot. This detent element secures the position of the mirror carrier at a defined swivel angle, which corresponds precisely to the normal position of the outside mirror for observing the traffic behind. When a force directed from front to back or vice versa acts upon the mirror carrier, the detent element disposed between mirror carrier and mirror foot unlatches and therefore allows a substantially resistance-free swivelling of the mirror carrier.
During assembly of the outside mirror, the mirror carrier has to be fastened to the mirror foot in a pivotally supported manner. To solve this fastening problem, it is known e.g. from DE 28 50 164 A1 to provide on the mirror carrier a fastening pin, which is inserted through an eye provided on the mirror foot. After the fastening pin has been inserted through the eye, a fastening screw is attached to the free end of the fastening pin and a spring is placed in between. The effect thereby achieved is that the mirror carrier is preloaded by its fastening pin elastically in the eye of the mirror foot and may be displaced counter to the pressure of the spring in the direction of the swivelling axis. By virtue of the mirror carrier being supported so as to be displaceable axially in the direction of the swivelling axis, it is possible to arrange between mirror carrier and mirror foot detent elements, by means of which the mirror carrier is held in its normal position. As soon as a forward- or rearward-directed force acts upon the outside mirror, this detent element unlatches in that, because of the swivelling motion occasioned by the force, the mirror carrier is pressed upwards in the direction of the swivelling axis and so the detent elements may be moved out of engagement. The drawback of this known design is that it entails a considerable constructional outlay and is relatively difficult to assemble.
From EP 0 846 596 A2 an outside rear view mirror, which is particularly easy to assemble, is known. To simplify assembly, mirror foot and mirror carrier are designed in such a way that the mirror foot is latchable to the mirror carrier. For fastening the mirror carrier to the mirror foot it is possible, for example, to provide radially elastic detent hooks on the mirror carrier, which are latchable to a counterpart detent device provided in the component wall of the mirror foot. The drawback of the outside mirror known from EP 0 846 596 A2 is that the position between mirror carrier and mirror foot is secured not by positive locking, e.g. by means of a detent element, but by frictional engagement. As the friction between the friction surfaces provided on the mirror carrier and on the mirror foot is subject to specific tolerances, reliable adjustment of the friction force acting between mirror foot and mirror carrier is not possible. Consequently, it may happen that the mirror carrier may either swivel too readily, so that it drifts out of the desired position e.g. as a result of vibration, or is too difficult to adjust so that, for example, it fails the "child's head test".

Pivoting outside mirror for a motor vehicle


A folded gusseted plastic bag has a first side gusset formed by first, second, and third longitudinal folds, a second side gusset formed by fourth, fifth, and sixth longitudinal folds, a seventh longitudinal fold being on a side of the bag containing the first, second, and third folds and forming a first folded bag flap, and an eighth longitudinal fold which is on a side of the bag containing the fourth, fifth, and sixth folds, the eighth fold forming a second folded bag flap. The folded gusseted bag also is folded into a total of at least eight contiguous plies. A roll of the folded, gusseted bags includes a continuous web of the folded, flattened bags joined along perforated severance lines. Preferably the perforated severance lines further comprise a centrally-located slit. The dispensing system utilizes the roll of folded-gusseted bags in combination with a dispenser comprising: (i) a support member for attachment to a support surface; (ii) a pair of guide channels carried by the support member for rotatably supporting the roll of plastic bags for rotation of the roll on the core; (iii) a tongue spaced apart from and carried by said support member in a predetermined position corresponding to the predetermined position of the slit in the tear line.

The present invention relates to a folded plastic bag, a roll of folded plastic bags, and a bag dispensing system employing the roll of folded plastic bags in a dispenser.
In recent years, various systems for dispensing bags have been developed, these systems providing a mechanism for dispensing bags from a roll of continuous bags separated from one another by a line comprising perforations and a slit. The dispensing system employs a tongue to assist a user in separating the bag to be dispensed from the next bag on the roll, i.e., the adjacent upstream bag. More particularly, when the roll of continuous bags is unrolled so that a slit between two bags snags on the upstanding tongue member, the user continues to pull, causing the downstream bag to be separated from the adjacent upstream bag by tearing across the line of perforations until the bags are completely separated.
The bags used in such bag dispensing systems have been bags having star seals and eight contiguous plies, with a slit through all eight contiguous plies. These bags are somewhat difficult to open because the device which cuts the perforations and slits tends to cause xe2x80x9cmicro weldingxe2x80x9d of the contiguous plies to one another. The difficulty in opening the bags is also due to the narrow width of the bags. Various means to improve the opening of the star seal bags have been devised. However, these methods have involved some form of treatment of the perforations and slit, or treatment of the film from which the star sealed bag is made.
This invention provides a bag which is easier to open because it has folds along each edge which can readily be unfolded upon dispensing of the bag. As a result, opening the bag requires separation of only half of the number of plies of the star seal bag of the prior art. In addition, the manner in which the bag is folded allows the bag to be sealed so that the seal has a strength comparable to a star seal. Moreover, the folded bag can be rolled onto a core, with the resulting roll of bags having a width suitable for plastic bag dispensers in current commercial use.
As a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a bag dispensing system comprising a roll of plastic bags and a dispenser. The roll of plastic bags comprises a continuous web of folded, lay-flat, end-seal bags separated by a perforated separation line including a slit. The bags further comprise: (i) first, second, and third longitudinal folds which form a first gusset; (ii) fourth, fifth and sixth longitudinal folds which form a second gusset; (iii) a seventh longitudinal fold which is on a first half of the bag which contains the first, second, and third folds, the seventh fold forming a first folded bag flap; (iv) an eighth longitudinal fold which is on a second half of the bag which contains the fourth, fifth, and sixth folds, the eighth fold forming a second folded bag flap. Each bag is folded into a total of at least eight contiguous plies, with the slit being through all of the plies, or through less than all of the plies.
The dispenser comprises: (i) a support member for attachment to a support surface; (ii) a pair of guide channels carried by the support member for rotatably supporting the roll of plastic bags for rotation of the roll on the core and having an open end for receiving said core; (iii) a tongue spaced apart from and carried by said support member in a predetermined position corresponding to the predetermined position of the slit in the tear line. The roll of plastic bags is in direct contact with the dispenser at a braking point on the dispenser, with the roll of bags being positioned in the dispenser so that upon pulling a bag to be separated, the slit catches on the tongue, with further pulling causing the bag to be separated to tear free of the adjacent bag. Preferably, the bags are rolled so that the flaps are positioned inward of a remainder of the bag, i.e., positioned toward the axle upon which the bags are rolled. Preferably, the bags are symmetrically folded.
In this dispensing system, the plastic bags are wound on a core (i.e., an axle). The core having end portions which extend from the roll of bags, with the dispenser further comprising a pair of guide channels carried by the support member for rotatably supporting the roll of plastic bags for rotation of the roll on the core, the guide channels having open ends for receiving the extending end sections of the core. The guide channels hold the extending portions of the core for rotational and translational movement therewithin as the bags are individually dispensed from the roll. The roll of plastic bags is in direct contact with the dispenser at a braking region on the dispenser, to prevent an undesirable degree of freewheeling of the roll of bags during and after dispensing.
Alternatively, the invention is useful on other types of dispensers as referred to herein. As such, the roll of plastic bags can be coreless, have a solid core with ends which either extend from the planar sides of the roll of bags or which are flush with the planar sides of the roll of bags. If coreless, the roll of bags can be solid (i.e., without a hollow center), or can have a hollow center useful for hanging the roll on a dispenser.
As to the roll of bags, preferably the bags are interconnected as a strand, with successive bags being connected to one another via a line of perforations and a slit. Preferably, the slit is centrally-located. Preferably, the separation line further comprises perforations, i.e., in addition to the slit. The slit can be through just two plies, through four plies, or even through eight plies. The slit can be transverse, i.e., across the length of the bag, or can be parallel to the side edges of the bag, i.e., along the length of the bag. Preferably, the gussets do not contact one another.
The slit can be in a direction transverse to a length of the bag. Alternatively, the slit can be in a direction parallel to the length of the bag. Regardless of the slit orientation, in some preferred embodiments the flaps may not overlap one another; in other preferred embodiments, the flaps overlap one another.
In one preferred embodiment, each side of the bags has eight contiguous plies with all eight contiguous plies being sealed to one another. In this embodiment, the flaps preferably overlap one another. Preferably, the plastic bags are folded so that they have a total of eight plies on each side of the bag, and preferably, all eight plies are sealed to one another.
In an alternative preferred embodiment, the bags have four contiguous plies sealed together, with flaps not sealed to a remainder of the bag. In this alternative embodiment, the flaps preferably overlap one another.
Although the bag may be made from a monolayer film or a multilayer film, preferably the bag is made from a monolayer film. Although any thermoplastic, film-forming polymer may be used for the bag, preferred polymers include polypropylene, polyethylene homopolymer, polyethylene copolymer, polystyrene, polyamide, and polyester. More preferably, the bags comprise high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), very low density polyethylene (VLDPE), and single site catalyzed polymers (preferably linear homogeneous ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer or substantially linear homogeneous ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer having long chain branching). Preferably, the bags are made from a 100% HDPE. Other preferred polymers include polypropylene, low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, very low density polyethylene, and single site catalyzed (preferably linear homogeneous ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer or substantially linear homogeneous ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer having long chain branching. Preferred polymer blends include blends of HDPE with LLDPE (5-20 weight percent) and HDPE with LDPE (5-20 weight percent). HDPE is the preferred polymer for use in making the bag film.
Preferably, the film from which the bag is made is a monolayer film. Preferably, the film has a thickness of from 0.1 to 3; more preferably, 0.2 to 1.5 mils; and still more preferably, about 0.3 mil.
The bag in the open position, i.e., when in use, may vary in lay-flat width but is about 14 inches wide lay-flat. Preferably, the bags on the roll are folded so that they each have a width of from about 1 to 7 inches; more preferably, from about 3 to 6 inches; still more preferably, from about 3 to 5 inches; yet still more preferably, about 33/4 inches. Preferably, the axle is at about 1xc2xd inches longer than the width of the roll.
Preferably, the roll of plastic bags is on an axle. Although the axle can be solid or hollow, preferably the axle is hollow. Preferably, the axle is longer than the roll is wide. Preferably, the core has a width of from about 2 inches to about 8 inches; more preferably, from about 4 to 6 inches; still more preferably, from about 4 to 5xc2xd; yet still more preferably, about 5xc2xc inches. Preferably, the axle is at about 1xc2xd inches longer than the width of the roll. Alternatively, the roll of bags can be coreless, with either a hollow center or as a cylindrical roll without a hollow center.
Preferably, the film is corona treated, at least in the area to be printed, as the corona treatment enhances film-to-ink adhesion. In addition, corona treatment imparts a static charge to the bags, increasing bag-to-roll cling, which can be advantageous for the roll of interleaved bags. Finally, corona treatment can make the bag easier to open, in that interply fusion is produced at the open end of the bag by the perforation and slitting. It has been found that the application of corona treatment to the film before slitting and perforating diminishes the fusion from the perforation and slitting, resulting in a bag which is easier to open.
Preferably, the bags have printing on an outside surface thereof, and preferably the printing is confined to a central region on one or both outside plies, with no printing along edge regions with contact the brake plates. More preferably, the printing is confined to the outside surface most visible to the consumer as the bag is being dispensed.
Preferably, the dispenser comprises a brake plate disposed for contact with an outer surface of the roll of bags, the brake being positioned at an acute angle to the direction of translational movement of the core for at least a portion of the translational movement of the core while the core is within the guide channels. Preferably, the brake is present in the form of a pair of narrow brake plates which are positioned to contact outer edges of the roll of bags. Preferably, the brake plates have the same width. Preferably, the brake plates together contact from about 1 to 40 percent of the width of the bag roll; more preferably, from about 5 to 30 percent; still more preferably, from about 10 to 25 percent. Preferably, the dispenser provides a brake point which changes as the roll is depleted.
Preferably, each of the guide channels in the dispenser has an open top and a closed bottom. Preferably, at least a portion of the dispenser is made from wire; preferably, the wire comprises stainless steel. Preferably, the dispenser further comprises a pair of axle constraining members which are spaced wider apart from each other at the open ends of the guide channels than at the closed ends of the guide channels.
As a second aspect, the present invention is directed to a roll of bags for use with a dispenser which dispenses and separates a plastic bag from a roll of plastic bags. The dispenser has a support member for attachment to a support surface and a pair of guide channels carried by the support member for rotatably supporting the roll of plastic bags, a surface which is engageable by the roll of bags when the roll of bags is supported in the guide channels. The improvement comprises a roll of plastic bags wound on the axle, the plastic bags being in the form of a flattened tubular member having at least four contiguous plies, the roll being rotatable with the axle, the axle being axially longer than the roll is wide, with the ends of the axle projecting beyond the ends of the roll a distance sufficient to enable the axle to be supported for rotational and translational movement in the guide channels in such a way that the roll of bags frictionally engages the dispenser at a braking point on the dispenser. The bags are present in the form of a continuous chain of folded, lay-flat, end-seal bags separated by a separation line including a substantially centrally-positioned slit. The bags comprise: (A) first, second, and third longitudinal folds which form a first gusset; (B) fourth, fifth and sixth longitudinal folds which form a second gusset; (C) a seventh longitudinal fold which is on a side of the bag containing the first, second, and third folds, the seventh fold forming a first folded bag flap; (D) an eighth longitudinal fold which is on a side of the bag containing the fourth, fifth, and sixth folds, the eighth fold forming a second folded bag flap. The folds result in each bag being folded into a total of at least eight contiguous plies. The folding and cutting are carried out so that each bag has a total of at least eight contiguous plies, with the slit being through all of the plies, or through less than all of the plies. When a continuous web of such bags are rolled up to form a roll of bags, although either side of the continuous web of folded bags can face outward on the roll, preferably the web is rolled up with the flaps positioned beneath the remainder of the bag, i.e., the flaps being closer to the center of the roll, i.e., facing inward, rather than being present on the outside of the roll. In this manner, the flaps are xe2x80x9ccontainedxe2x80x9d within the roll by the remainder of the bag. However, if the flaps overlap one another, preferably the flaps should be facing outward, exposing the slit below for the tongue to directly engage, i.e., without having the overlapping flaps blocking the tongue from penetration of the slit.

Bag dispensing system and C-fold bag used therewith


A method for improving performance of speech recognition systems. Characteristics of the user and communication channels used by the user may be used to more accurately select the speech model used for that user.

1. Field
This disclosure relates to speech recognition systems, more particularly to improving the performance of such systems using speaker and channel information.
2. Background
Speech recognition systems offer users a convenient interface through which they can interact with any number of other systems. These systems allow users to speak directly 'into' their computers for both content and commands. Voice mail and other telephone-based systems offer the option of "press or say" the appropriate command or numbers.
Speech systems are especially attractive to highly mobile users, who may want to make travel reservations, leave messages, access e-mail and perform other tasks using any available phone. Additionally, as speech recognition technology improves and becomes less expensive, these systems are moving from simple command and control to allowing users to create text and other types of content from converted speech. However, speech is uniquely individualized for each user. Accents, native languages, and gender, among others, are all factors that affect the speech of the user and therefore affect the accuracy of the speech recognition technology. Modeling the user and matching the speech recognition engine to the user can be problematic. Methods and processes that allow for finer granularity in matching the speech recognition engine to the user are useful and needed.

Method for improving speech recognition performance using speaker and channel information


An exercise apparatus includes an elongated outer elastic hollow tubing having opposed ends and an elongated inner elastic hollow tubing having opposed ends. A connection mechanism at each of the opposed ends is for interlocking the respective opposed ends of the elongated outer elastic hollow tubing and the elongated inner elastic hollow tubing. A pair of handles is positioned at respective opposed ends of the elongated outer and elongated inner elastic hollow tubings.

Various types of stretchable exercise members are known in the prior art. For the most part these members are comprised of a stretchable band that may have a handle attached to either or both ends thereof. One of the problems associated with the present equipment is that there can be injury to the user should the band all of a sudden break.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved exercise apparatus having an elastic band that is comprised of inner and outer tubing. In this way, should the outer tubing break, there is sufficient strength at the inner tubing to maintain the overall band in one piece.


The present invention provides an oil-in-water type emulsion for light-exposing food having photodegradation-resistance, which has good taste and flavor with less deterioration such as off-taste and off-flavor even when irradiating light from a fluorescent lamp, etc. The first embodiment thereof is an oil-in-water type emulsion for light-exposing food containing fat and nonfat milk solids, wherein the fat is non-milk fat, or non-milk fat and milk fat, and the non-milk fat has such a constituent fatty acid composition that the total amount of lauric acid and palmitic acid is not less than 40%, the total amount of oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid is not more than 50% and the total amount of linoleic acid and linolenic acid is not more than 5%; and the ratio of milk fat/total fat is not more than 0.95. The second embodiment thereof is a nonfat milk solid-containing oil-in-water type emulsion for light-exposing food, which is the same as the emulsion of the first embodiment and the fat is non-milk fat having the above constituent fatty acid composition.

Recently, in a confectionery shop at the basement of a department store, a convenience store, a supermarket, or the like, there have been more opportunities to sell various kinds of food on display in a showcase by lighting up with a strong fluorescent lamp for prolonged periods of time to put them look better, from reasons to emphasize the freshness and safety of food and to help consumers have a sense of safety. Dessert and cakes such as pudding, coffee jelly, fruit juice jelly, mousse, etc., on which cream of an oil-in-water type emulsion is topped are also included in these kinds of food (herein, sometimes, referred to as light-exposing food), and a whippable oil-in-water type emulsion is used in cakes. In this case, an ingredient in food on display is changed due to energy provided by irradiation of light, which causes off-taste and off-flavor. The phenomenon of food deterioration by causing off-taste and off-flavor in this way is generally called photodegradation. This phenomenon reduces a commercial value of food by deteriorating taste, and thus preventive measures against photodegradation present a great challenge in quality preservation. In particular, cream of an oil-in-water type emulsion to be used for topping of dessert and a whippable oil-in-water type emulsion to be used for cake are highly likely affected by photo-irradiation due to be in position easy to be exposed to photo-irradiation.
Further, the above-described pudding is one kind of dessert and attracts kids and adults with its taste, mouthfeel and the like. To meet their preferences and demands, a variety of formulations of ingredients and production processes have been proposed. Pudding can be divided into two main types, one is a custard type hardened by thermocoagulation of eggs, and the other is a gel type hardened by a gelling agent. The custard type is made of eggs, milk products and sugars as main ingredients. Examples of the eggs include whole egg, egg yolk, egg white and the like, and examples of the milk products include cow milk, concentrated milk, whole milk powder, skim milk powder, fresh cream, compound cream, vegetable cream, natural cheese, processed cheese, cheese foods and the like. While cow milk is used as direct drinks, it is also used as a blending material into pudding, bavarois, jelly, etc. The gel type is made of milk products, a gelling agent and sugars as main ingredients. Examples of the gelling agent include gelatin, carrageenan, etc. Recently, in a confectionery shop at the basement of a department store, a convenience store, a supermarket, etc., various kinds of food are sold on display in a showcase by lighting up with a strong fluorescent lamp for prolonged periods of time. Pudding is also one of those kinds of food. In this case, an ingredient in food on display is changed due to energy provided by irradiation of light, which causes off-taste and off-flavor. The phenomenon of food deterioration by causing off-taste and off-flavor in this way is generally called photodegradation. This phenomenon reduces a commercial value of food by deteriorating taste, and thus preventive measures against photodegradation present a great challenge in quality preservation.
To prevent the photodegradation, various agents for preventing taste deterioration have been added to food as a substance having a preventive effect against photodegradation. For example, in JP 2003-33164 A, myricetin and quercetin are used together in a specific blend ratio; in JP 11-341971 A, propolis is used; and in JP 10-183164 A, at least one ingredient selected from chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, and ferulic acid is used. However, the amount of the agent to be used has restricted because its taste comes out if it is added too much, and especially in an oil-in-water type emulsion, a sufficient effect has hardly been able to be achieved only by the agent.


An integrated semiconductor device which includes a substrate layer, a buffer layer formed on the substrate layer, a gallium nitride layer formed on the buffer layer, and a barrier layer formed on the gallium nitride layer. Ohmic contacts for a plurality of transistor devices are formed on the barrier layer. Specifically, a plurality of first ohmic contacts for the first transistor device are formed on a first portion of the surface of the barrier layer, and a plurality of second ohmic contacts for the second transistor device are formed on a second portion of the surface of the barrier layer. In addition, one or more gate structures formed on a third portion of the surface of the barrier between the first and second transistor devices. Preferably, the one or more gate structures and the spaces between the gate structures and the source contacts of the transistor devices collectively form an isolation region that electrically isolates the first transistor device from the second transistor device.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of gallium nitride (GaN) devices and integrated circuits. In particular, the invention relates to a structure and method for isolating electrical devices in an integrated semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor devices are increasingly desirable because of their ability to switch at high frequency, to carry large current, and to support high voltages. Development of these devices has generally been aimed at high power/high frequency applications. Devices fabricated for these types of applications are based on general device structures that exhibit high electron mobility and are referred to variously as heterojunction field effect transistors (HFET), high electron mobility transistors (HEMT), or modulation doped field effect transistors (MODFET). These types of devices can typically withstand high voltages, e.g., 30V-to-2000 Volts, while operating at high frequencies, e.g., 100 kHZ-100 GHz.
A GaN HEMT device includes a nitride semiconductor with at least two nitride layers. Different materials formed on the semiconductor or on a buffer layer causes the layers to have different band gaps. The different material in the adjacent nitride layers also causes polarization, which contributes to a conductive two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) region near the junction of the two layers, specifically in the layer with the narrower band gap.
The nitride layers that cause polarization typically include a barrier layer of AlGaN adjacent to a layer of GaN to include the 2DEG, which allows charge to flow through the device. This barrier layer may be doped or undoped. Because the 2DEG region exists under the gate at zero gate bias, most nitride devices are normally on, or depletion mode devices. If the 2DEG region is depleted (i.e., removed) below the gate at zero applied gate bias, the device can be an enhancement mode device. Enhancement mode devices are normally off and are desirable because of the added safety they provide and because they are easier to control with simple, low cost drive circuits. An enhancement mode device requires a positive bias applied at the gate in order to conduct current.
Integrated circuits (ICs) consist of devices that are located adjacent to each other. Such devices could interfere with each other if not electrically isolated, preventing the ICs from functioning properly.
FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) illustrate an example of a conventional integrated circuit with two devices 10 and 20 with isolation area 30a, 30b disposed therebetween. Isolation area 30a, 30b is provided to intentionally remove the 2DEG to minimize parasitic capacitance. As shown, device 10 includes drain 11, gate 12 and source 13. Likewise, device 20 includes drain 21, gate 22 and source 23. The isolation area 30a, 30b electrically separates device 10 and device 20, so that the source 13 of device 10 and the source 23 of device 20 will be at different potentials.
For conventional fabricating methods, the isolation area 30a, 30b is formed by either removing the conductive layers by etching as illustrated in FIG. 1(a) or by converting the conductive layers into insulating layers by ion-implantation as illustrated FIG. 1(b). As further shown, the isolation area 30a, 30b is separated by a space of LISO. In gallium nitride (GaN) based materials, the isolation breakdown voltage may be proportional to LISO with 50˜200V per μm.
Isolation structures are typically fabricated with a dedicated mask as illustrated in FIGS. 2(a) and (b). In FIG. 2(a), isolation etching to create an isolation area 50c typically uses C12-based, BC13-based, or argon-based plasma. In FIG. 2(b), isolation implant species 50 are typically iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), oxygen (O) or nitrogen (N). In fabricating an isolation area 50c, 50d with etching or ion-implantation, a dedicated isolation mask is used to form a patterned photoresist 40 on top of the wafer. The isolation area 50c, 50d is exposed while device regions of device 10 and device 20 are covered with the photoresist 40.
The existing methods of fabricating an isolation structure suffers from a number of disadvantages, including: (1) requiring a dedicated mask with the associated process steps that increase cost; (2) isolation by etching, which can result in an etched surface with high leakage current; and (3) isolation by ion-implantation in which the resistivity of the isolation region can degrade after the high temperature process.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a process for fabricating an isolation structure that does not require a dedicated mask, results in a structure with reduced leakage current, and does not suffer from resistivity degradation of the isolation region.

Isolation structure in gallium nitride devices and integrated circuits


System and methods used to inspect a moving web (112) include a plurality of image capturing devices (113) that image a portion of the web at an imaging area. The image data captured by each of the image capturing devices at the respective imaging areas is combined to form a virtual camera data array (105) that represents an alignment of the image data associated with each of the imaging areas to the corresponding physical positioning of the imaging areas relative to the web. The image output signals generated by each of the plurality of image capturing devices may be processed by a single image processor, or a number of image processors (114) that is less than the number of image capturing devices. The processor or processors are arranged to generate the image data forming the virtual camera array.

Manufacturing processes for making various types of roll good products, such as polyester films, paper, and metals, often involve manufacturing the products in a long continuous sheet(s), referred to as a web. The web itself is generally a material having a fixed dimension in one direction ("cross-web direction" or "width dimension"), either a predetermined or indeterminate length in the orthogonal direction ("down-web direction" or "length dimension" or "machine direction"), and a nominal thickness dimension between a top and a bottom exterior planar surface of the web. During the various manufacturing processes used in making and handling the web, the web may be conveyed along a longitudinal axis running in parallel to the length dimension (down-web direction) of the web, and perpendicular to the width dimension (cross-web direction) of the web. Various means are used to convey the web during the manufacturing process, such as rollers or other types of support mechanisms.
At some point in the process of manufacturing the final product where the web is utilized, the web may be partitioned into individual portions of the web material to form "parts" from the web. The parts may include pieces of the web material having a shape, such as a rectangular-shaped perimeter, and may or may not include cutout portions that are void of the web material formed within the shape. Once converted from the web material, the part may be applied to a device, such as a computer monitor screen or a display screen of a mobile device, such as a smart phone, for example as a film layer that may cover some portion of an exterior surface of the device.
Depending on the particular application, each individual piece of the web material, or in some embodiments the entirety of the web, may need to comply with one or more criteria related to certain physical and/or functional characteristics associated with the web product. For example, qualities related to surface imperfections such as machine line defects, anomalies such as bubbles or other irregularities within the web, and qualities related to patterns printed onto or incorporated within the web, may be examples of quality and/or performance characteristics of the web that may be dictated and/or required by a customer and/or by other regulatory requirements, such as governmental safety regulations. These quality and/or performance characteristics may be applicable to each piece of the web material that is eventually rendered into a final product (e.g., a part) for a particular application where the web product is being used, or may apply to the web in its entirety. Various types and/or levels of inspection of the web material itself, or of the individual portions of the web material that are to be utilized in the final products, may need to be performed on the web material and/or on the individual pieces of the web material that will be or are already converted into a part to assure and/or certify compliance to these customer and/or regulatory requirements.
In a traditional web inspection system, a multi-camera inspection system may be used to image portions of a web extending across a cross-web dimension of the web being inspected. Each camera of the multi-camera inspection system is coupled to an individual image processor of a computing device, wherein only a fraction of the total available processor capability is actually being utilized to process the captured image data. These traditional arrangements may lend to wasted capacity of the image processors capacity, added expense, and lack of flexibility in the ability to configure the inspection system(s) for inspection of different types of webs and/or for different characteristics that are being measured or tested for with respect to the web undergoing the imaging process.

Virtual camera array for inspection of manufactured webs


This invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for providing an interface between a client and one or more data storage systems. Existing approaches to the management of multiple, distributed heterogeneous data storage systems are deficient in that they are inflexible to change. To alleviate these deficiencies there is provided a method of providing an interface between a client (307) and one or more data storage systems (309). The method comprises the steps of receiving a request from a client (307), searching, in a rule store populated by modifiable human-readable rules each specifying a handler for use in responding to client requests, for a human readable rule and providing the interface by activating the handler specified in the human readable rule to communicate with the data storage systems.

A database management system (DBMS) controls the organisation, storage, retrieval, security and integrity of data in a database. Many organisations today use multiple, distributed, heterogeneous databases to support their processes (e.g. sales, marketing, purchases, employee databases) supplied by a variety of vendors (e.g. IBM, Oracle, Sybase). Each database may be using different data models including relational, object-relational and object oriented ones. Additionally, each database may provide different mechanisms (interfaces) for accessing the data. Furthermore, data of interest may be distributed among more than one database. Further complicating issues stemming from the use of multiple and heterogeneous databases (see Sheth et al., Federated Database Systems for Managing Distributed, Heterogeneous, and Autonomous Databases, ACM Computing Surveys 22(3), pp 183-236, 1990), render users unable easily to obtain and collate the information they require in a timely fashion.
The management of such multiple, distributed databases draws upon the area of database integration. In this field, there are two approaches to this integration. These are Mediators and Federated Database Management Systems (FDBMS).
Mediators are components that explicitly implement the integration of component databases. Their job is to store and retrieve data by translating the client requests and results between a high-level data model and the native data model of each data source. Example systems that use mediators are TSIMMIS (see S. Chawathe et al., The TSIMMIS Project: Integration of Heterogeneous Information Sources, Proceedings of IPSJ Conference, pp. 7-18, Tokyo, Japan, October 1994), DISCO (see A. Tomasic et al., Scaling Heterogeneous Databases and the Design of Disco, Proceedings of the International Conference on Distributed Computer Systems, 1996) and Garlic (see M. J. Carey et al., Towards Heterogeneous Multimedia Information Systems: The Garlic Approach, Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Research Issues in Data Engineering (RIDE): Distributed Object Management, 1995).
In the FDBMS approach, data schemata of the component databases undergo several stages of transformation until a common integrated schema is produced. This is represented in a semantically rich data model, i.e. one that can describe all the specific features of the individual models adopted by each component source. This approach is applied by database vendors who, apart from their main commercial databases, develop so-called database gateways, i.e. solutions that provide transparent access to content stored in other vendors' databases. For instance, Sybase Inc. have developed the 'Adaptive Server®' that accesses data stored in Sybase as well as in DB2 (by IBM) and Oracle. Similar capabilities are offered by 'ORACLE 8i', the 'Informix Enterprise Gateway' and IBM's 'DB2 DataJoiner'. Additional examples may be companies that solely develop data integration solutions such as Cohera with their 'Content Integration System' and Data Integration Inc with 'InterViso'.
However, in these approaches there are two major deficiencies. First is the inflexibility to change. If a need for change occurs (including the addition of new databases/datastores to the system, the removal of existing ones or changes to the required behaviour of the system), the system must be statically reconfigured before the changes take effect. Such a reconfiguration process may involve the substitution of a new software part for an old software part, the change of configuration parameters of the system and the restart of the system. Second, there is a requirement in these approaches that the target database/datastore be identified in the request to store data or query data. Where mediators are used this requirement manifests itself as the need to select the particular mediator for handling the request, since each mediator only integrates/involves certain databases. Similarly in the FDMBS approach, the query or storage request should explicitly identify the databases that are to be targeted in the data handling process.
An interface that allows flexible management of data in a distributed environment of heterogeneous data storage systems is therefore required.

User interface to a data storage system and rule store

British Telecommunications public limited company


An embodiment of a method of predicting response time for a storage request begins with a first step of a computing entity storing a training data set. The training data set comprises past performance observations for past storage requests of a storage array. Each past performance observation comprises an observed response time and a feature vector for a particular past storage request. The feature vector includes characteristics that are available external to the storage array. In a second step, the computing entity forms a response time forecaster from the training data set. In the third step, the computing entity applies the response time forecaster to a pending feature vector for a pending storage request to obtain a predicted response time for the pending storage request.

Enterprise storage systems are increasingly hard to manage. Today's high-end storage arrays are complex and highly configurable, and therefore inherently difficult to reason about. Furthermore the trend toward storage consolidation in large data centers means that a single "black box" storage array can serve a variety of very different workloads. The mapping from fundamental device capabilities, configuration, and workload to performance often defies manual analysis by human experts, and researchers have therefore begun to automate tasks such as capacity planning and configuration. This approach centralizes performance modeling, but the construction of performance models remains challenging. State-of-the-art approaches rely heavily on expert analysis, but it is difficult for human analysts to keep pace with increasingly elaborate and often proprietary enterprise storage architectures. Enterprise storage trends call for modeling strategies that are more automated, less reliant on human expertise, and applicable to opaque devices.
A storage array is a complex device that typically includes a collection of disks, a controller, and one or more caches. An enterprise storage array is a more complex device that typically includes a plurality of groups of independent disks, a read cache for each group of independent disks, a controller, a non-volatile cache for write data, a high-speed internal interconnect architecture, and several client host interface processors for receiving and responding to storage requests.
Existing methods for storage system performance modeling are not suited to forecasting response times of individual requests for storage arrays and, in particular, for enterprise storage arrays. Analytic models predict average performance (e.g., mean throughput, mean response time) from parametric workload descriptions (e.g., mean request rate, read:write ratio). Simulation models can generate storage request response time predictions but require calibration and a tool for performing the calibrations is available only for disk drives; nothing analogous exists for storage arrays and, in particular, for enterprise storage arrays.

Method of predicting response time for storage request

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A system for limiting the size of a local storage of a processor is provided. A facility is provided in association with a processor for setting a local storage size limit. This facility is a privileged facility and can only be accessed by the operating system running on a control processor in the multiprocessor system or the associated processor itself. The operating system sets the value stored in the local storage limit register when the operating system initializes a context switch in the processor. When the processor accesses the local storage using a request address, the local storage address corresponding to the request address is compared against the local storage limit size value in order to determine if the local storage address, or a modulo of the local storage address, is used to access the local storage.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and method. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a system and method for limiting the size of a local storage of a processor.
2. Description of Related Art
The Cell Broadband Engine (CBE), a multi-core processor architecture available from International Business Machines, Inc., describes a local storage that is specific to each synergistic processing unit (SPU). The main purpose of this local storage is to act as the storage space for instructions and data for a given SPU. The Cell Broadband Engine Architecture (CBEA) does not limit the local storage address to the physical size of the local storage. For addresses greater than the physical size of the local storage, the CBEA defines that the address wraps to the beginning of the physical memory. It is therefore possible that applications running on the SPU may be constructed in such a way as to be dependent upon the local storage size. This could especially be true of software that was developed for a CBE compliant processor with a smaller local storage or legacy software that was developed for a different data processing system architecture. In addition, compilers that are optimizing code to run on CBE compliant processors will also need this information in order to properly break up tasks to run on the SPUs. The CBE, however, does not specify a required size for this local storage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System for limiting the size of a local storage of a processor

International Business Machines Corporation


The present disclosure relates to an automobile electrical system including a solar subsystem. Components collect and store solar energy in an advanced energy storage subsystem including a base portion and, in some embodiments, a solar-energy buffer. The components use the solar energy selectively to meet vehicle loads, including selectively using one or more of: energy obtained directly from the solar subsystem; energy from the advanced energy storage system; and energy from a high-voltage energy converter such as an alternator or accessory power module.

In most conventional automobiles, electricity for operating various vehicle electrical components, such as the vehicle lights and HVAC, is produced by an alternator. Typically, work done by an internal combustion engine (ICE) is converted, by the alternator, to an alternating-current (AC). An AC/DC converter converts the AC current to DC and passes the resulting current to a rechargeable low-voltage battery—i.e., the conventional 12-Volt (12V) battery. Because too much or too little voltage can damage or weaken the battery, a voltage regulator intermediates between the alternator and the battery and ensures that the appropriate voltage is introduced to the battery.
The efficiency with which automobiles generate and use power has increased considerably in the past few decades and efforts to further improve power efficiency and related benefits to mileage continue. Developments include use of a basic regulated voltage control, improved electric and hybrid vehicles, and use of solar energy.
Basic regulated voltage control (or, basic RVC) systems were introduced in response to a determination that the low-voltage battery need not always be kept fully charged during vehicle operation—i.e., at a 100% state-of-charge (SOC). It was noticed that maintaining a SOC at or above about 80% was sufficient for vehicle operation.
Basic RVC controls electrical system voltage by regulating output voltage of a generator or alternator. The control is based on an estimated battery temperature, the battery SOC, and present electrical needs of the vehicle. While earlier vehicles maintained a generally constant system voltage at a maximum level, e.g., 13V or 14V depending on the low-voltage battery, vehicles having the basic RVC in connection with the same 12V power source were able to, based on vehicle conditions at the time, dynamically fluctuate the system voltage, e.g., between about 12V and the maximum (13V or 14V in the examples). This ability to fluctuate system voltage resulted in a lower average voltage per trip with lowered energy consumption.
With basic RVC, the battery charge, through the manipulation of system voltage, can be selectively lowered to values between 100% SOC and about 80% SOC. In terms of voltages, 80% SOC for a typical flooded, lead-acid 12V battery, would equate to about 12.8V (80% of the range between a 0% SOC value of 12V and a 100% SOC value of 13V).
Just the basic RVC usage improved fuel economy, extended battery life, extended lamp life, and extended switch life. Further improvements are now possible according to the teachings of the present disclosure, including an augmented, more-aggressive, RVC model selectively using solar energy that is stored in an augmented, low-voltage, energy source or received directly from a solar subsystem.
In current automobiles equipped with a solar subsystem, solar energy is used in various ways. There are numerous shortcomings to using solar energy in these ways. The technology of the present disclosure overcomes these shortcomings, resulting in improved power efficiency and related vehicle-mileage characteristics.

Methods and vehicle systems for selectively using energy obtained from a solar subsystem


A determination apparatus and method for gaze angle are provided. The apparatus analyzes an image to generate a plurality of facial triaxial positioning values and a plurality of facial landmark points. The apparatus obtains a plurality of specific facial landmark points from the facial landmark points to generate a heatmap, and compares the heatmap with a standard heatmap to generate an image compensation value. The apparatus performs a facial correcting process based on the image and the image compensation value to generate a virtual corrected image. The apparatus analyzes the virtual corrected image to obtain a displacement of pupil. The apparatus determines a gaze angle of a user according to a determination model for gaze angle, the facial triaxial positioning values and the displacement of pupil.

Due to the rapid development of technology, image processing technology has been utilized in various camera devices (e.g., the camera device which is used to monitor factory operators that operate the control panel, general monitor devices disposed around the store shelves) so as to provide a variety of related information, services, promotions, or assistances, such as the related information about the control buttons that the factory operator is looking at and the related information about the products on the shelves that the customer is looking at, to a target user according to the gaze of the target user.
There are two main types of gaze tracking technologies in the prior art. The first type is that the user needs to wear special glasses, the special glasses have sensors that can detect and track the movement of the user's pupils and thus to determine the user's gaze target by combining the sensors with other senses or locators of the mall. However, since the user is required to wear extra hardware and set up additional sensors, it is not convenient in use and will increase the cost of installation. The first type therefore cannot be effectively applied in a general factory or a store.
A second type of gaze tracking technology mainly captures a user's facial image, analyzes the image to obtain an eye position, and further obtains a pupil position, and then tracks the displacement and the direction of the pupil at different time points to determine the user's gaze. However, this type of technology requires precise positioning of the pupil in advance, so that the displacement and the direction of the pupil can be correctly tracked to determine the user's gaze, and the image must have enough clarity to improve the accuracy of the determination.
Since the distance for capturing the image cannot be too far, the camera is usually installed on the computer screen to capture the image. When performing the gaze tracking technology, the user needs to perform a complicated positioning process through a user interface, and positions his face and the facial features in the preset area of the user interface to process a positioning and a correction detection (e.g., the size of the preset facial features must be met within a certain focal length), such a process is time-consuming and inconvenient to use.
In addition, the conventional technology only considers the frontal face of the user when the image analysis is performed to obtain the face image (i.e., with a presumption that the angle of the face is fixed). Since the conventional technology does not consider the angles of the skewing of the user's face, the rotating of the user's face, and the lateral user's face, the result may cause significant inaccuracies. Due to the needs for clear facial images, such technologies are limited to the detection for close distances (e.g., the distance between the user and the camera is between 30 and 45 cm), so it still cannot effectively be used in shopping malls, factories or other environment.
Accordingly, there is an urgent need in the art for useful invention to efficiently and accurately determine the gaze angle of a person without adding additional hardware installation costs and processing the complicated pupil positioning process.

Determination apparatus and method for gaze angle