A gas manifold assembly is disclosed which includes a manifold fitting connected to at least one gas valve. The manifold has an inlet fluid port which branches out into a delivery port. Each delivery port receives a protrusion from each valve which is in turn crimped together to form a collar. A stop offsets the valves from one another to improve manufacturability. One aspect of the invention includes flattening a portion of the protrusion that extends from the valve body in order to engage the fitting which creates an anti-rotation feature once the fitting is crimped. Another aspect of the invention provides seals between the fitting and the valve to increase joint integrity.

Contemporary outdoor gas grills often utilize dual gas burners that are controlled by a common dual gas valve assembly. A typical dual gas valve assembly has a single feed supply line that delivers gas to a pair of valves which in turn selectively supplies gas to the individual burners in the gas grill. Conventional methods of connecting the gas supply line to the valves include using a manifold fitting with a plurality of ports. The ports are often threaded internally or externally, in order to enhance connectability of the gas inlet line and the valves.
The problem with conventional threaded pipe connections is that they are slow to assemble in a high-speed manufacturing environment. Further, they require additional manufacturing steps including cutting threads, either internally or externally, into the fitting or the manifold. Also, the pipe or member that is to be connected to the manifold must be threaded. Such designs increase the per unit cost and require special machines for production.
Other problems with conventional threaded pipe connections for gas valve assemblies is the difficulty of obtaining the proper alignment of the two valves relative to the face plate of the gas grill. Typical face plates for gas grills include prepunched holes that allow the valve stems to extend therethrough. Thus, the valve stems must be concentric with the prepunched holes in the face plate. Failure to maintain such alignment creates a visually displeasing appearance. It has been problematic to maintain the distal relationship between the valve stems when the gas manifold assembly is threaded. This in part because the angular displacement caused by threading the parts together creates a variable in the manufacturing process. It is preferred to remove this variable from the manufacturing process in order to improve product quality. This can be accomplished in part by maintaining the distal relationship of the centerline of each valve stem by creating a stop between the valves and the manifold.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a dual gas valve assembly that either eliminates or minimizes the number of threaded connections, has enhanced manufacturability, can be formed in a minimal number of steps, can be mass produced, yet still produce a gas tight connection by way of a threadless mechanical stake. There is also a need for an assembly that has an alignment feature for promptly and accurately joining a valve to a manifold in high speed manufacturing environments.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dual valve and manifold system that overcomes the problems mentioned above. Such a manifold system should be simple in design, minimize the number of operations required by an operator to create such an assembly, and minimize the number of tools that are required to perform such an operation while still being capable of providing a mechanical joint with significant joint integrity.
One of the preferred forms of the present invention provides as one of its aspects, a fitting having a fluid delivery bore connected to a central chamber, a first elongated section extending from the central chamber, a second elongated section extending from the central chamber, and a crimped portion located at an end of the elongated sections for securing the fitting to first and second control valves. A first control valve has a main body with a central fluid passage. The first control valve further has an outwardly extending member with an internal fluid passage. A second control valve with a main body has a central fluid passage. The second valve further has a member with an internal fluid passage and a member which extends outwardly from the main body.
For a more complete understanding of the dual valve assembly, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which the presently preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. Because the invention may take on several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it is expressly understood that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and description only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. Throughout the following description and drawings, identical reference numbers refer to the same component throughout the several views.


Motor vehicle control arm (1) comprising two profiles (2, 3) made from a metallic material, which are arranged at a distance opposite each other, and are connected to at least one plastic element (11) made from a fiber-reinforced plastic, wherein a plastic element (11) is designed in particular as a spring seat, which is designed to accommodate a motor vehicle spring.

The invention relates to a motor vehicle control arm.
Motor vehicle control arms, which are designed to include and support a vehicle spring, are commonly made from a steel alloy or an aluminum alloy.
In the prior art, for example, a motor vehicle control arm made from steel is known from DE 10 2009 012 551 A1.
A motor vehicle control arm made from aluminum or aluminum alloy is disclosed in DE 10 2010 051 741 A1.
While steel is characterized by high weight, aluminum or an alloy thereof has the disadvantage of high costs.
It is the objective of the invention to propose a motor vehicle control arm which is lightweight and at the same time cost-effective.

Abstract: Such a motor vehicle control arm (1) is optimized with respect to weight and costs.


The present invention provides a method for treating a hyperproliferative disorder characterized by expression of a mutant form of p53 in a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of an agent which inhibits promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein.

Bibliographic details of the publications referred to by number in this specification are collected at the end of the description.
The development of small therapeutic agents is a major goal in the pharmaceutical industry. Such agents are potentially relatively inexpensive to manufacture and are less likely to induce adverse immunological responses. One of the difficulties, however, in small therapeutic molecule development is target selection. Many potential targets lack suitability due to their pleiotropic nature and/or due to the level of redundancy in a particular pathway.
p53 (also known as protein 53 or tumour protein 53), is a transcription factor which in humans is encoded by the TP53 gene. p53 is important in multicellular organisms, where it regulates the cell cycle and functions as a tumor suppressor that is involved in the prevention of cancer. As such, p53 has been described as "the guardian of the genome," "the guardian angel gene," and the "master watchman", referring to its role in conserving stability by preventing genome mutation.
p53 mutation can corrupt the tumor suppressive functions of the wild type (wt) protein. In response to specific cellular stresses, wt p53 either initiates a temporary interruption of the cell cycle to enable DNA repair or triggers cellular senescence or apoptosis when damage is excessive (reviewed in Meulmeester et al.). In contrast, cells bearing common p53 mutations are released from these constraints. Further, certain p53 mutations may acquire distinct properties from the wild type counterpart, referred to as a "gain of function" (GOF) phenomena (reviewed in Strano et al. (Head Neck)). The contribution of certain p53 mutations to chemotherapeutic drug resistance was demonstrated in human cancer cells cultured in vitro (reviewed in Sigal et al. and Strano et al. (Oncogene)). A role for mutant p53 in the development and spread of the tumors was also corroborated by these studies. The most compelling evidence for the GOF of mutant p53 was demonstrated in knock-in (KI) mutant p53 mice, which developed tumors with a distinct spectrum from p53+/− or −/− mice. Furthermore, tumors in these KI mice exhibited an enhanced metastatic potential (Lang et al. and Olive et al.)
Wild-type p53 is subject to tight regulation that is affected through protein-protein interactions and by extensive post-translational modifications (Lavin et al. and Bode et al.). In contrast, less is known about the regulation of mutant p53, although mutant p53 is subject to at least certain modifications (Bode et al.). Strikingly, higher mutant p53 levels have been identified in (most) tumor cells than in the surrounding healthy tissues of mutant p53 KI mice (Iwakuma et al.). Recent work by Terzian et al. demonstrated that, as in the case of wt p53, the stabilization of mutant p53 is regulated by Mdm2. Mice lacking mdm2 express higher levels of mutant p53 succumb earlier and develop metastatic tumours (Terzian et al. and Prives et al.).
Certain modifications of wt p53 are regulated by the promyelocytic leukemia (PML) protein (Zimber et al.). PML is a key factor in the formation of PML nuclear bodies, which are distinct nuclear multi-protein complexes that have been associated with critical cellular processes, including tumor suppression, gene regulation, post-translational modifications and protein catabolism (reviewed in Zimber et al. and Salomoni et al.). PML knock-out mice develop normally, but are resistant to lethal doses of γ-irradiation (IR; Guo et al.). In addition, they are prone to tumorigenesis in response to carcinogens (Wang et al.), or an additional oncogenic event, such as the loss of PTEN (Trotman et al.). In humans, a complete or partial loss of PML has been observed in multiple types of cancers, including breast colon and prostate (Gurrieri et al.). PML is therefore considered as a bona-fide tumour suppressor.
WO 2009/063426 discloses siRNA mediated knock-down of the PML/RARα (retonoic acid receptor alpha) complex which inhibits the growth of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) cells. However, it is the chromosomal translocation t(15; 17) of the PML gene which causes the formation of an aberrant fusion protein between PML and RARα. RARα then targets the complex to myeloid specific genes with consequent inhibition of myeloid cell differentiation. Thus, the siRNA is used to target a mutant form of PML specifically for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
US 2003/0207791 discloses methods for the treatment of a disease associated with the formation of high molecular weight complexes of chimeric transcription factors. This includes PML/RARα and its use in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemias. Again, the agent is used to target a specific transcription factor complex for the treatment of AML.
The regulation of mutant p53 and the cellular events leading to tumour cell growth and associated hyperproliferative disease is not well understood. Identifying possible cellular targets which affect the growth and/or survival of tumour cells characterized by mutant p53 expression may lead to the identification and development of effective cancer therapies.

Therapy of p53 mutant colon adenocarcinoma, breast cancer and lung cancer


A method comprises: splitting laser light into sample light, reference light, and monitor light; routing the reference light into a reference arm of an OCT interferometer; routing the monitor light into a monitor device, which generates at least one optical monitor signal representing at least one time-dependent property of the monitor light; generating at least one electric monitor signal from the at least one optical monitor signal; illuminating in a point-shaped manner a sample with sample light, wherein the illumination point is guided on the surface of the sample along a predetermined trajectory; superimposing the light scattered by the sample with the reference light emerging from the reference arm to generate an electric OCT signal; wherein the at least one electric monitor signal and the electric OCT signal are AD-converted in alternating sequence, in each case equidistantly in time, to form a single digital data stream.

Optical coherence tomography is one of the most important optical microscope imaging techniques in medicine. Worldwide sales of OCT amount to more than one billion dollars per year. At present, most of the OCT systems use spectrometer-based measurement techniques—commonly known as Fourier-domain OCT (FD-OCT)—without lasers.
However, more and more OCT systems which employ a rapid wavelength-tunable laser have come into use recently. These are known as swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) units and offer many advantages: larger measurement areas can be detected and lower noise levels can be realized than with FD-OCT or even with time-domain OCT (TD-OCT), which work with broadband light sources and time-variable reference arm lengths. Furthermore, it is expected that only the rapid scanning SS-OCT will make it possible to sweep many millions of depth scans—or so-called A-scans—of a sample per second.

Method for monitoring time-dependent properties of light during scanning swept-source optical coherence tomography


Disclosed are cyclosporine derivatives in which the 3-Sarcosine carbon and 5-Valine nitrogen are each substituted by a non-hydrogen substituent, and their use as pharmaceuticals, in particular for the treatment of hepatitis C virus.

In 1989, a main causative virus of non-A non-B post-transfusion hepatitis was found and named hepatitis C virus (HCV). Since then, several types of hepatitis viruses have been found besides type A, type B and type C, wherein hepatitis caused by HCV is called hepatitis C. The patients infected with HCV are considered to involve several percent of the world population, and the infection with HCV characteristically becomes chronic.
HCV is an envelope RNA virus, wherein the genome is a single strand plus-strand RNA, and belongs to the genus Hepacivirus of Flavivirus (from The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, International Union of Microbiological Societies). Other hepaciviruses, for example, hepatitis B virus (HBV), which is a DNA virus, is eliminated by the immune system, and the infection with this virus ends in an acute infection, with the exception of neonates and infants having yet immature immunological competence. In contrast, HCV somehow avoids the immune system of the host due to an unknown mechanism. Once infected with this virus, even an adult having a mature immune system frequently develops persistent infection.
When chronic hepatitis is associated with the persistent infection with HCV, it advances to cirrhosis or hepatic cancer at a high rate. Enucleation of tumor by operation does not help appreciably, because the patient often develops recurrent hepatic cancer due to the sequela inflammation in non-cancerous parts.
Thus, an effective therapeutic method of treating or controlling hepatitis C is desired. Apart from the symptomatic therapy to suppress inflammation with an anti-inflammatory agent, there is a demand for the development of a therapeutic agent that reduces HCV to a low level free from inflammation and that eradicates HCV. An optimal therapeutic agent would provide a virologic response classified as a "sustained virologic response," which is defined as undetectable levels of virus in blood six months or more after completing hepatitis C therapy.
At present, a treatment with interferon, as a single agent or in combination with ribavirin, is the only effective method known for the eradication of HCV. However, interferon can eradicate the virus in only about one-third of the patient population. For the rest of the patients, it has no effect or provides only a temporary effect. Therefore, there is a need for an anti-HCV drug to be used in the place of or concurrently with interferon.
Cyclosporine A is well known for its immunosuppressive activity and a range of therapeutic uses, including antifungal, anti-parasitic, and anti-inflammatory as well as anti-HIV activity. Cyclosporine A and certain derivatives have been reported as having anti-HCV activity, see Watashi et al., 2003, Hepatology 38:1282-1288, Nakagawa et al., 2004, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 313:42-7, and Shimotohno and K. Watashi, 2004, American Transplant Congress, Abstract No. 648 (American Journal of Transplantation 2004, Volume 4, Issue s8, Pages 1-653). Cyclosporine derivatives having HCV activity are known from International Publication Nos. WO2005/021028, WO2006/039668 and WO2006/038088. Cyclosporines in which the 5-Valine nitrogen is substituted by a non-hydrogen substituent are known from Papageorgiou et al, 1997, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, 5(1): 187-192.


The invention provides a MDGC apparatus that includes a cryotrapping apparatus capable of cooling at least twice a portion of a chemical sample and provided with a detector device disposed upstream of the cryotrap and allowing identification of the portion of the chemical sample to control the residence time of the latter in the cryotrapping apparatus.

The present invention relates to on-line GC transfer techniques, meaning methods wherein a group of chromatographic peaks resulting from elution of a complex chemical mixture on a first GC column is transferred automatically to a second GC column in a controlled manner, or eventually to a detection apparatus, namely an olfactometric detection means.
Chromatographic analysis of complex chemical samples is based on the principle that, as the chemical sample flows along a chromatography column, each chemical is separated into a band and possibly detected in the form of a peak, thus allowing separation and identification of each ingredient in the chemical mixture which constitutes the sample. Ideally, each of the chemicals is separated into a discrete band but, in practice, it is common that several ingredients elute at very close times thus producing broad and/or overlapping bands. In an attempt to obtain separate bands and thus complete separation and identification of all the ingredients, such broad or overlapping bands may be resolved by passing them (i.e. the part of the sample eluting from the first column at the time corresponding to the band) through a second column having different chemical or physical characteristics from those of the first column, thus allowing multidimensional resolution of the GC spectrum.
Multidimensional GC is a well-known technique that has been developed early after the invention of gas chromatography. The controlled transfer of analytes from the first to the second column is a critical issue.
There are basically two known ways of carrying out this transfer. In the most recent one, the whole GC profile obtained after elution of the chemical sample fluid stream out of the first column is transferred to the second column, thermal modulation means, namely cryo-control, being provided between the two columns to improve the sensitivity of the peaks eluted out of the second column—we are typically in the realm of the so-called GCxGC or comprehensive gas chromatography field.
In all these prior known methods which use cryo-control of the analyte transfer between columns, the analytes eluting from the first column are continuously trapped and automatically re-injected into a second column at a given frequency, without possible control in the injection rate along the chromatographic run.
Due to the frequency of the transfer pulses (typically 3-5 sec), peaks must elute through the second column in the same time frame as that at which they elute from the first column. As a result, the second column must be a fast-GC column with a smaller inner diameter (typically 0.05-0.10 mm) and considerably shorter length than the first column, otherwise peak overlap may occur.
The fast elution from the second column thus requires a high sampling rate of the detector, which means that conventional detectors such as quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS), infrared (IR) detectors cannot be used.
Moreover, it also prevents optimal detection in applications suited to the fragrance industry for example, where olfactometric evaluation by a perfumer of the peaks as they elute requires high resolution and sufficient time separation between the peaks to allow detection and evaluation by the human nose of the chemical or chemicals of interest.
However, all such known GCxGC interfaces have been designed and automated to sequentially transfer the all chromatogram from the first to the second column and they are not suitable for MDGC.
To specifically re-analyze a given zone of the first chromatogram, a "targeted GC" mode has also been proposed (see for example P. J. Marriott et al., J.Chromatogr. 2000, 866, 203-212; P. J. Mariott, WO 98/21574). Using the GCxGC configuration, the target zone is cryo-trapped and transferred into the second column. This still requires a fast-GC analysis to elute the trapped zone in a few seconds in the second dimension, as the rate of retention of peaks eluting before and after the trapped zone remains unchanged. Therefore, the same drawbacks as those previously cited result.
Thus, most of the known multidimensional GC techniques deal with a second method which achieves an on-line "heart-cut", i.e. only some peaks eluted from the first column are transferred to the second one, while others are vented. Such methods fall in the category of the so-called multidimensional gas chromatography (MDGC) techniques.
Alternative techniques, such as the intermediate trapping of analytes in a sorbent and their subsequent desorption in a second column (see for example the articles of K. A. Krok et al. in J.Chromatogr. 1994, 678, 265-277 or Anal.Chem. 1993, 65, 1012-1016), require far longer analysis times and sophisticated hardware and they do not therefore compete with the method and apparatus which are the object of the present invention.
The so-called "heart-cut" in prior art MDGC can be achieved via two means: with a valve, or with a pneumatic switcher.
A valve is the simplest interfacing as no pressure or flow control is required when two columns of the same diameter are used (see for example L. Mondello et al. in J.Chromatogr.Sci. 1998, 36, 201-209 or the disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,555 to M. R. Strunk et al.).
However, valves can interact with the sample, in particular when the mixtures to be analyzed contain labile components (e.g. sulfur derivatives) susceptible of being degraded by the valve metallic material, namely stainless steel. Other compounds (e.g. carboxylic acids, amines) are prone to adsorption on the stainless steel surface of valves. Such phenomena cause memory effects susceptible of being prejudicial to the analysis (see, for example, B. M. Gordon et al. in J.Chromatogr. Sci. 1985, 23, 1-10).
Pneumatic switching has been proposed by D. R. Deans (see for example Chromatogr. 1968, 1, 18-21 and 1971, 4, 279-285) which avoids passing analytes through a valve.
However, pneumatic switching requires an accurate flow control of the pressure between the two columns. This must be achieved using a make-up gas and e.g. electronic mass flow controllers. Such sophistication makes the optimization of analytical parameters more complicated and increases instrument cost. Moreover, pneumatic switching may cause some peak broadening.
The use of thermal modulation means, namely a cold trap, has also been proposed to re-focus the heart-cut peak after the pneumatic switching means (A. Hagman; S. Jacobsson in Journal of High Resolution Chromatography and Chromatography Communications 1985, 8, 332-336). Then, an additional means to quickly heat and re-inject the trapped peak is required, but again this increases the complexity of the system.
Finally, a "loop modulator", wherein the inlet and outlet of the modulator tube pass in front of a gas jet alternatively supplied with a cold and hot fluid, has also been proposed in International patent application WO 03/82427. The chromatographic column or modulation tube has a loop structure and it allows the measurement of the carrier gas velocity through the modulator tube. It mainly claims to shorten the peak width of modulated peaks.
Although the invention described in this prior art document is based on multi-stage thermal modulation of chemical substances admixed with a carrier gas and flowing through a tube, it still does not provide means to control, in a simple manner, the rate at which successive targeted analytes zones, which are cryo-trapped as they elute from the first column, reach the second column to be eluted there-through, detected and possibly evaluated by a perfumer as they come out of the second column.
In short, none of the prior known chromatographic methods and devices involving automatic transfer of analytes from a first separation column to a second separation column, or to a detection device such as a physical or biological detector, in particular a human nose, comprising a thermal modulator in the analyte transfer line, allows the control of the speed at which a selected peak or group of peaks, which it is desired to completely separate, elutes through the second column or reaches the detector.
The present invention aims at solving this problem.

Multidimensional gas chromatography apparatus and analyte transfer procedure using a multiple-cool strand interface


The present disclosure relates to a method, a device and a medium for making up a face. The method for making up the face of the present disclosure includes: obtaining a first face image; determining facial key-points by detecting the first face image; generating a second face image by applying makeup to a face in the first face image based on the facial key-points; determining a first face region by segmenting the first face image, wherein the first face region is a face region that is not shielded in the first face image; and generating a final face makeup image with makeup based on the first face region and the second face image.

In common short video applications or camera applications currently, it is a common makeup technology to apply makeup (such as lipstick, eye shadow and blusher) to the face. This makeup technology is relatively mature and has been widely used in various scenarios.
However, the interference of shielding information cannot be avoided and the makeup cannot be applied to the face image in the electronic device in the above makeup technology which affects the user experience.

Method, device, and medium for processing image

Beijing Dajia Internet Information Technology Co., Ltd.


A method for automating interaction with a messaging system receives a first message from the messaging system, associates the first message with a topic, assigns the first message to an identity associated with the topic, maps content to the first message, creates a second message based on the content, and sends, via the identity, the second message to the messaging system. The first message may be screened for quality and assigned a quality score, and if the quality score does not exceed a predetermined threshold, then the second message will not be sent to the messaging system.

1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate generally to a system and method for automatically increasing the follower count of a messaging identity.
2. Description of Related Art
There currently exist a number of messaging platforms through which users can "follow" and otherwise interact with other users, and through which they themselves can be followed by other users of the platform. A large following on one of these messaging platforms can mean the ability to influence a large number of people, which ultimately can be advantageous for the user, company, etc. being followed (e.g., they may be able to quickly tell their followers about a particular product so that the followers might consider purchasing it).
Generally, the best way to generate a large following is to 1) provide good content and 2) interact with a large number of users. By doing both of the above, chances are increased that some users of the system will decide to follow you. However, a problem with this approach is that it requires constant human attention, time and effort.
Thus, it may be desirable to automate interactions with other users of the messaging platform in an effort to increase the size of a particular user's following, and to leverage automatically the particular user's audience for various commercial or other ends.

System and method for automatically building up topic-specific messaging identities


A paste for solar cell electrodes includes conductive particles, a glass frit, an organic vehicle, and lead oxide. The lead oxide may be added in an amount of about 0.05 to about 1.5 wt % with respect to a total weight of the paste.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a paste for a solar cell electrode and a solar cell using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As fossil fuels such as oil and coal are expected to be exhausted, solar cells utilizing sunlight as an alternative energy source have attracted attention. A solar cell may be formed to generate electric energy using the photovoltaic effect of a p-n junction which converts photons of sunlight into electricity. In the solar cell, a front electrode and a rear electrode may be formed on a front surface and a rear surface of a semiconductor wafer or a substrate with the p-n junction, respectively. Then, the photovoltaic effect of the p-n junction is induced by sunlight entering the wafer and electrons generated by the photovoltaic effect of the p-n junction provide an electric current flowing to the outside through the electrodes.

Paste for solar cell electrode and solar cell using the same


A method is provided for designing a 3D modeled object comprising the steps of providing at least one surface defined by a field of points of the surface and a field of normal vectors normal to the surface; and watermarking the object by modifying the field of points while keeping the field of normal vectors as it is. Such a method provides a technique for tracing a 3D modeled object modeled at least by a field of points of a surface and a field of normal vectors normal to the surface.

Computer-aided techniques are known to include Computer-Aided Design or CAD, which relates to software solutions for authoring product design. Similarly, CAE is an acronym for Computer-Aided Engineering, e.g. it relates to software solutions for simulating the physical behavior of a future product. CAM stands for Computer-Aided Manufacturing and typically includes software solutions for defining manufacturing processes and operations.
A number of systems and programs are offered on the market for the design of objects (or parts) or assemblies of objects, forming a product, such as the one provided by Dassault Systemes under the trademark CATIA. These CAD systems allow a user to construct and manipulate complex three dimensional (3D) models of objects or assemblies of objects. CAD systems thus provide a representation of modeled objects using edges or lines, in certain cases with faces. Lines or edges may be represented in various manners, e.g. non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). These CAD systems manage parts or assemblies of parts as modeled objects, which are mostly specifications of geometry. Specifically, CAD files contain specifications, from which geometry is generated, which in turn allow for a representation to be generated. Geometry and representation may be stored in a single CAD file or multiple ones. CAD systems include graphic tools for representing the modeled objects to the designers; these tools are dedicated to the display of complex objects—the typical size of a file representing an object in a CAD system being in the range of one Megabyte per part, and an assembly may comprise thousands of parts. A CAD system manages models of objects, which are stored in electronic files.
Also known are Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, which refer to a business strategy that helps companies to share product data, apply common processes, and leverage corporate knowledge for the development of products from conception to the end of their life, across the concept of extended enterprise. By including the actors (company departments, business partners, suppliers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), and customers), PLM may allow this network to operate as a single entity to conceptualize, design, build, and support products and processes.
Some PLM solutions make it for instance possible to design and develop products by creating digital mockups (a 3D graphical model of a product). The digital product may be first defined and simulated using an appropriate application. Then, the lean digital manufacturing processes may be defined and modeled.
The PLM solutions provided by Dassault Systemes (under the trademarks CATIA, ENOVIA and DELMIA) provides an Engineering Hub, which organizes product engineering knowledge, a Manufacturing Hub, which manages manufacturing engineering knowledge, and an Enterprise Hub which enables enterprise integrations and connections into both the Engineering and Manufacturing Hubs. All together the system delivers an open object model linking products, processes, resources to enable dynamic, knowledge-based product creation and decision support that drives optimized product definition, manufacturing preparation, production and service.
Such PLM solutions comprise a relational database of products. The database comprises a set of textual data and relations between the data. Data typically include technical data related to the products said data being ordered in a hierarchy of data and are indexed to be searchable. The data are representative of the modeled objects, which are often modeled products and processes.
For designing a 3D modeled object, it is usually provided at least one surface which is to represent a physical boundary of the modeled object. The rendering of the 3D modeled object processes two fundamental quantities which usually define the surface: points of the surface and normal vectors of the surface (i.e. vectors which are normal to the surface). The points of the surface are usually provided as a set of 3D coordinates of the points on the object surface. Application of the projection and view matrices to such coordinates will give the position of a pixel on the computer screen. A normal vector is often provided as a 3D vector which is associated to a point of the object surface. This vector, also called the "normal", controls the reflection of light from the surface, and, together with the material properties, will define the color of the resultant pixel. The following may also refer to a normal field, which is defined as the function that gives a normal for each position on the 3D object surface. FIG. 1 shows an example of a surface S for which normal vectors N are represented as arrows normal to the surface, the base of the arrows being points P of the surface S.
Geometric theory would suggest that it is sufficient to only model position in order to model a 3D object that is to be rendered, since the normal can be calculated from the derivatives of the position. In practice, however, many computer graphics systems provide for separate channels for position and normal, because it is more efficient to represent position data at a low resolution, and to represent local features such as sharp edges and surface roughness via variations in the normal field.
A common means of displaying 3D objects is the so-called "Phong shading", described e.g. in a paper by Bui Tuong Phong entitled "Illumination for Computer Generated Pictures," Comm. ACM, Vol 18(6):311-317, June 1975. In this approach, the system maintains a mesh of triangles, with separate positions and normals defined at each mesh vertex. Given a point on the surface, the normal vector at that point is computed by weighted average of the normal at each of the triangles vertices, using as weights the barycentric position of the point in the triangle.
An improvement on the Phong model is the Normal Mapped or Bump Mapped model, first described in a paper by Blinn entitled "Simulation of wrinkled surfaces", ACM SIGGRAPH, 1978, and widely used today in applications such as video games. This uses a triangle mesh with 2D coordinates (u,v) at each mesh vertex. The (u,v) pair points to a 2D map called a "normal map" or "bump map". Given a point on the surface, the normal field first computes a (u,v) value by weighted average of the (u,v) at each of the triangles vertices, and then performs lookup in the normal map using this (u,v) value. The normal map will usually be represented by a 2D image of finite size, and the lookup operator will perform interpolation between pixels of the image to simulate the existence of a continuous mapping.
In yet another known example, position data is stored as NURBS surfaces. A normal field is associated to the NURBS as a normal map.
To sum up, known techniques allow for distinct position and normal information on the surface. While Phong shading produces a normal field that smoothly evolves with position, going from the normal of one vertex to the normal of another vertex, a Normal Map can include any amount of detail.
Product lifecycle information, including product configuration, process knowledge and resources information are typically intended to be edited in a collaborative way. Thus, modeled objects are more and more shared and submitted to copyrights infringements. For that reason, the need for a higher traceability of 3D modeled objects has appeared, in order to prove infringement or illegal copy of 3D models.
To increase the traceability of 3D modeled objects, the field of 3D watermarking (the watermarking of 3D objects in general) has been explored. The applications of such a technique are multiple, for example, we might want to mark an object with a code representing the original author, to prevent it from being reused without permission. Most 3D watermarking techniques have in common a perturbation in the local shape (in other words, the position of the surface points) of the 3D model to insert the desired information. The technique proposed to hide these perturbations, is generally to make them so small that they are undetectable to the naked eye. A good survey of 3D watermarking techniques is provided in the paper entitled "A comprehensive survey on 3 dimensional mesh watermarking", by Wang, Lavoué et al., IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, vol. 10, No. 8, December 2008. However, there is no watermarking technique specific to 3D modeled objects for which a field of normal vectors is present beforehand.
Thus there still remains a need for a technique for tracing a 3D modeled object modeled at least by a field of points of a surface and a field of normal vectors normal to the surface.


A method for compiling and evaluating local traffic data based on a real time evaluation of Doppler echoes on a digital basis, wherein initially the frequency spectrum of the Doppler echo is formed, then the frequency of the maximum amplitude in this spectrum is identified, and the speed of the vehicle is determined from this frequency. The length of the vehicle can also be determined from the speed of the vehicle and from the Doppler echo signal duration. An apparatus for implementing the method includes a millimeter wavelength radar sensor, a transmission unit, and an evaluation unit operating with digital signal processing.

The present invention relates to a method of compiling and evaluating local traffic data, and to an apparatus for implementing the method. More particularly, the invention is directed to a method and apparatus of the type wherein a radar sensor is connected to an evaluation device by way of a transmission device; wherein the radar sensor emits a continuous signal at a constant frequency and amplitude and at a fixed, vertical angle of incidence .alpha. and, as soon as a moving object passes the radar beam with a speed component in the direction of the beam, receives part of the signal reflected at the object and shifted in frequency due to the Doppler effect; wherein the two signals are mixed to generate a first output signal at the difference frequency; and wherein the evaluation unit includes a pre-connected lowpass filter in order to avoid spectral convolutions, an analog-digital converter, and a subsequently connected digital signal processing device.
Methods and apparatuses of this type are employed, for example, to monitor and control or statistically compile information on the traffic flow on limited-access highways, inter-urban highways, and/or in intra-city traffic. They can also be used for track-bound traffic, such as for railroads, and for automatic warehousing or in industrial processing, for example to monitor and control automatic production lines.

Method and apparatus for compiling and evaluating local traffic data


A screen transfer control system includes a business device performing a business process, a mobile terminal, and a screen transfer control device converting a business screen of the business device to image data and sending the image data to the mobile terminal, the screen transfer control device converting the business screen to the image data on the basis of the drawing command, detecting a change in the cursor shape on the basis of cursor information included in the drawing command, and sending change information, when a change in the cursor shape is detected, to the mobile terminal, the mobile terminal displaying the image data from the screen transfer control device, determining whether the cursor shape is changed on the basis of the change information, and starting up a software keyboard when a screen touch that made the change in the cursor shape continues for a predetermined time.

With the popularization of mobile terminals, such as smartphones, tablets, or the like, and the speed up of mobile communication networks, the use of mobile terminals in business is accelerated. For example, business activities are supported by mobile terminals. Furthermore, the case of bring your own device (BYOD) in which smartphones personally owned are utilized in business is increased.
When mobile terminals are used in business, a mobile solution using a screen transfer system that does not leave data in a terminal has been drawing attention. The screen transfer system that does not leave data in a terminal needs to have only the function in which image data is sent to a terminal and the terminal receives the image data and displays the data. Consequently, the screen transfer system that does not leave data in a terminal is also called a thin client system.
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating a screen transfer control system used in a thin client system. As illustrated in FIG. 11, in a screen transfer control system 90 in the thin client system, a business device 1 sends, as a drawing command to a screen transfer device 9, information on a business screen 11 developed for a Personal Computer (PC). The information on the business screen 11 is described in, for example, HyperText Markup Language (HTML).
The screen transfer device 9 converts the business screen 11 to image data on the basis of the drawing command, compresses the image data, and sends the compressed image data to a mobile terminal 8. The mobile terminal 8 displays a business screen 41 on the basis of the image data. Then, if a user performs an operation on the business screen 41, operation information is sent to the business device 1 via the screen transfer device 9 and then the business device 1 updates the business screen 11 on the basis of the operation information.
In this way, the screen transfer control system 90 in the thin client system can be used, from the mobile terminal 8, by the same operation as that performed on a PC without changing a business system that is developed for the PC. Furthermore, because the screen transfer control system 90 used in the thin client system does not send data to the mobile terminal 8, it is possible to prevent leakage of information due to a loss of the mobile terminal 8.
Furthermore, there is a conventional technology in which, regarding an input from the mobile terminal, if a key input field in a display screen in the displaying unit is focused due to an operation of an operating unit, a control unit displays a soft keyboard in a display screen.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-10894
However, there is a problem in that, in the screen transfer control system 90 used in the thin client system, if a character input entry field is selected in the mobile terminal 8, a character input is inconvenient for a user who is familiar with the state in which a soft keyboard is started up. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an issue of a character input performed by the screen transfer control system 90 used in the thin client system. FIG. 12 illustrates a case, as an example of the business screen 41, in which a character input screen 82 is displayed on the mobile terminal 8.
Because the mobile terminal 8 has only image data, even if a user touches a character input entry field 83, the mobile terminal 8 is not able to determine whether the touched place is the character input entry field 83. Accordingly, because a soft keyboard 2 is not started up, the user needs to manually start up the soft keyboard 2. The user needs to manually start up the soft keyboard 2 every time the user selects the character input entry field 83 and, if the number of the character input entry fields 83 is great, the load applied to the user is particularly increased.

Screen transfer control system, computer-readable recording medium, and screen transfer control method


This invention provides a novel method for amplifying and detecting a target gene rapidly with high sensitivity under isothermal conditions. In such method, a sequence to be amplified can be freely designed regardless of the template sequence, an amplified product can be amplified and detected within a short period of time with high sensitivity, and thus, the gene expression level can be determined more easily than is possible with prior art.

In the field of biological sciences, amplification of DNA or RNA has been carried out for various purposes. For example, competitive PCR (A. Wang, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 86, 9717-9721, 1989) and real-time PCR (S. H. Aliyu, et al., Journal of Antimicrobial, 54, 968, 2004) have been known as techniques for analyzing the expression of given genes and quantifying the expression levels thereof. These techniques involve the application of a common nucleic acid amplification technique, i.e., polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (R. K. Saiki, et al., Science, 239, 487-491, 1988), to determine expression levels based on the amplified genes.
The aforementioned nucleic acid amplification technique for analysis consists of 3 steps of denaturation from double-strand template DNA to single-strand template DNA, annealing of the primers to the single-strand template DNA, and elongation of complimentary strands from the primers. It can also consist of 2 steps of denaturation and elongation. Such amplification technique requires repetition of a cycle from high temperature treatment to low temperature treatment.
In order to carry out such a cycle, it is necessary to carry out PCR with the use of a thermal cycler that is capable of accurate temperature control. An increased number of cycles results in a prolonged time frame required for bringing the temperature of the apparatus and that of the reaction solution to the determined levels. This disadvantageously prolongs the time frame required for analysis.
In order to overcome such drawbacks, nucleic acid amplification techniques that could be carried out under isothermal conditions were developed. Examples of major techniques that have been known include nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) (J. Compton, et al., Nature, 350, 91-92, 1991), strand displacement amplification (SDA) (G. T. Walker, et. al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA, 89, 392-396, 1992), self-sustained sequence replication (3SR) (J. C. Guatelli, et al., Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87, 1874-1878, 1990), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) (JP Patent No. 3241717), and Qβ replicase amplification (JP Patent No. 2710159). In these isothermal nucleic acid amplification techniques, primer elongation and primer annealing to a single-strand elongation product are carried out in a reaction mixture that is maintained at a constant temperature.
Among these techniques, TMA, Qβ replicase amplification, 3SR, and NASBA techniques, whereby RNA is amplified in the end, involve the use of RNA polymerase or reverse transcriptase to amplify the target nucleic acid sequence in a sample. Since these techniques do not comprise a high temperature cycle for accelerating denaturation during the reaction, a template has a secondary structure and thus annealing of a primer to the template may not be satisfactorily carried out. Thus, these techniques cannot always produce an amplified product even with the use of a primer that can yield an amplified product of interest by PCR. For the same reason, it is difficult to detect an amplified product of a sequence to be detected. Even though primer and probe sequences were designed at regions of interest, therefore, amplification or detection efficiency is not always satisfactory, and designing of the primers or probes that could be employed for isothermal amplification was difficult. As is apparent from the foregoing explanation, conventional isothermal amplification techniques have various drawbacks such as the difficulty of designing primers and probes that could effectively produce and detect amplified products with high sensitivity. Therefore, development of a technique of isothermal nucleic acid amplification has been awaited in order to overcome such drawbacks.


A medium bears a deformable model configured to enable a machine to estimate positions of four points defined by X and Y coordinates, each of the points representing a facial element position in a digital image.

Face recognition technology (FRT) (also referred to as face tracking) is a vital part of a broad area of pattern recognition. Face tracking in general, and the tracking of moving people in natural scenes in particular, require a basic set of visual tasks to be performed robustly. This face tracking process typically includes three tasks, i.e., acquisition, normalization and recognition. The term acquisition refers to the detection and tracking of face-like image patches in a dynamic scene and localizing the face region from these patches. Normalization includes the alignment and normalization of the face images. Recognition is the representation and modeling of face images as identities, which can include the association of novel face images with known models.
Face tracking has involved two main approaches, i.e., a feature geometrical approach and a pictorial approach. The geometrical approach uses a spatial configuration of the facial features. The pictorial approach uses templates of the facial features.
A more recent approach is referred to as a deformable template approach that combines the elements of both pictorial and feature geometry approaches and has been applied to faces with varying pose and expression.
Being able to track a face from images contributes toward an ability to monitor a user's attention and reactions automatically and without intrusion, and has benefits in human-machine interaction.


The present invention provides an array substrate and a display panel. A second data line is disposed on the array substrate, so that a first data line is connected to the second data line. Therefore, after the first data line is disconnected, signals can be transmitted from the second data line, which solves a technical problem that current display panels cannot solve poor display caused by disconnection of the data lines.

Current display panels adopt a source/drain layer to form data lines. The data lines are unilateral input signal lines, and each of the signal lines transmits different signals, so that the data lines cannot be cross-linked to each other. After the signal lines are disconnected, it will cause a breaking point away from a signal input terminal to produce a bad bright line, which affects display.
Therefore, current display panels have a technical problem of not being able to solve poor display caused by disconnection of the data lines.

Array substrate and manufacturing method thereof, and display panel

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


Electronic circuits (1, 101) are disclosed. The electronic circuits comprise a first and a second integrated circuit (10a, 110a, 10b, 110b) and a printed circuit board (PCB) (15, 115). The PCB comprises dielectric layers (30a-c, 130) of polymer-based materials having different dissipation factors arranged in accordance with various embodiments for suppressing noise.

Electronic circuits may be constructed from electronic components, such as integrated circuits (ICs), discrete active components (e.g. transistors), discrete passive components (e.g. capacitors, resistors, inductors, and/or diodes), and/or various types of connectors, etc. These electronic components may be mounted onto a printed circuit board (PCB), which is normally built up from electrically conductive layers forming wires for electrically connecting the electronic components, and of insulating dielectric layers arranged between the electrically conductive layers. In order to facilitate the use of relatively high signal frequencies (e.g. for bit-serial digital signals with relatively high bitrates) in the wires, it is normally desirable to use dielectric layers with relatively low dissipation factor. Furthermore, power-supply planes are normally formed in various ones of the electrically conductive layers for supplying different supply voltages, such as ground (or 0 V), and one or more positive and/or negative supply voltages. In order to connect different conductive layers with each other and/or to one or more of the electronic components, so called vias of electrically conductive material passing through holes in the insulating layers are normally arranged in the PCBs. To e.g. reduce the impact of switching activity in digital components of the electronic circuit, capacitors connected between different supply voltages (such as between ground and a positive supply voltage) are normally provided in close proximity to the power-supply terminals of ICs in the electronic circuit for stabilizing the supply-voltage levels. Such capacitors are normally referred to as decoupling capacitors.
In order to simplify the production of electronic circuits, thereby reducing the production time and/or cost, it is desirable to keep the number of components in the electronic circuit to be mounted on the PCB relatively low.


A light emitting device package includes a sub mount; a light emitting device on the sub mount, and configured to generate light of a first wavelength; a dielectric layer disposed on the sub mount; and a fluorescent layer on the dielectric layer, and configured to convert the light of the first wavelength into light of a second wavelength, wherein the dielectric layer includes a plurality of layers having at least two different refractive indices, that transmits the light of the first wavelength and reflects the light of the second wavelength.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a light emitting device package and a lighting system.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A light emitting device (LED) includes a p-n junction diode, whose characteristic includes converting electric energy into light energy and which is manufactured by, for example, combining Group III and Group V elements in the periodic table into a compound semiconductor. The LED may be made to display a variety of colors by adjusting the composition ratio of the compound semiconductor.
The LED emits energy that corresponds to an energy gap between a conduction band and a valance band, which occurs after electrons of an n-layer and holes of a p-layer are combined during applying of forward voltage. This energy is typically emitted in a form of heat or light, and is emitted in the form of light in the LED.
For example, since a nitride semiconductor has a high thermal stability and wide band-gap energy, it receives a lot of attentions from optical device and high-output electronic device development fields. Especially, a blue LED, a green LED, and an UV LED, which use a nitride semiconductor, are commercialized and extensively used.
A related art white LED module is realized by combining separate R, G, and B light sources or by combining a blue or ultraviolet light source and a fluorescent material.
In relation to a typical fluorescent material converting method that applies yellow fluorescent material on the edge of a blue LED, light converted from the yellow fluorescent material is emitted, such that it is emitted to all directions. Then, the light re-entering the inside of a light emitting device is absorbed into the device while inside, thereby causing optical loss of the re-entered light, such that light emitting efficiency of the light emitting device is deteriorated.

Light emitting device package and lighting system


A method for checking integrated circuit designs comprising the steps of calculating a first performance parameter by analyzing the network""s sensitivity to a signal applied to the network; comparing the first performance parameter to one or more rules to determine a first pass condition and writing the value of first performance parameter to a netlist file in response to a pass to the first pass condition; followed by calculating a second performance parameter based on a first network model to determine a second pass condition in response to a fail to said first pass condition and writing the second performance parameter to the netlist file in response to a pass to said second pass condition or writing an error flag to the netlist file in response to a fail to said second pass condition is disclosed. The method, at each step, decides if a quick to calculate parameter provides sufficient design margin or if a more accurate but longer to calculate parameter is required.

The present invention relates to the field of integrated circuit design checking; and more specifically, it relates to an efficient method for analyzing the timing, noise, and power consumption of logic networks in such integrated circuits prior to physically implementing the circuitry in hardware.
Integrated circuit devices are comprised of large numbers of networks linked together to perform various logic functions. They are typically implemented in hardware form on silicon dies using solid state integrated circuit technology of which many types exist, very large scale integration (VLSI) being an example. A hierarchical implementation in such technology exists. The basic elements are the transistor, resistor, capacitor, or inductor, usually built in the silicon. One or more of these basic elements, or combinations thereof are electrically coupled to form the next higher elements, logic elements or gates, that perform simple to moderate logic tasks. When these elements are implemented in silicon, unwanted but often unavoidable parasitic elements such as capacitors, resistors, and inductors are created which can change the designed performance of higher order elements in the design. Other non-electrical elements such as mechanical linkages and thermal resistances may also be created and may have an effect on other aspects of the design, such as its reliability. In the next higher element, one or more gates are then electrically coupled to form logic networks that perform more complicated logical tasks. The electrical interconnection is implemented in hardware in conductive lines in wiring layers on the integrated circuit. The signals run from gate to gate in a network along these conductive wiring layers. Several problems arise in these interconnection designs that can adversely effect network or integrated circuit performance.
First the implementation of these wires introduces additional parasitic elements which can add unexpected delays to the signal propagation through the network. Second, signals running in one wire in close proximity to a second can couple and create a false signal on the second wire. Third, local voltage levels in the power grid can drop in some networks, making them more sensitive to noise on the signal wire. And fourth networks, circuit gates or even individual transistors and resistors can draw more current than anticipated because of duty cycle or other reasons, increasing power consumption. This increased power consumption often leads to local voltage drops which increase noise sensitivity.
Because it is expensive and time consuming to complete a physical implementation of integrated circuit design, find problems, redesign, and rebuild, it is advantages to do design analysis and design correction before implementation.
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of outlining the general prior art method of integrated circuit design checking employed before first pass die layout is complete. The design is reduced to a design netlist 10 upon which circuit analysis 12 is performed. Design netlist 10 contained the circuit design information. The circuit analysis step 12 provides data so fixes can be calculated in step 14, and changes made to the netlist 10. The process is repetitive and much of the fix calculation is manual. As applied to timing analysis, this method uses estimated parasitics, supplied by the designer based on the designers prediction of relative placement of layout elements. Often this input is provided only for those networks where parasitics are believed to impact the critical timing.
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram outlining the general prior art method of integrated circuit design checking for analyzing time delays after first pass die layout is complete. The netlist 10 and a shapes file 16 are used to extract or calculate the parasitics in step 18 for each network in the design. Shapes file 16 contains the layout information. The circuit analysis software of step 12 then supplies data so the fixes can be calculated in step 14. These fixes are fed back to the design netlist 10 and the shapes file 16. While the flow of FIG. 2 has the advantage of providing more accurate delay data, it is a very time consuming. Often this process is 7 times longer than the method of illustrated in FIG. 1.
To illustrate the range of modeling that can be used for parasitic extraction the examples of FIGS. 3 through 5 are instructive. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a simple network using a simple resistance/capacitance value to represent anticipated parasitic elements, as might be provided by a designer or a pre-layout estimation tool for analyzing timing delays through the network. In FIG. 3 network 20 has input 22 stages 24A, 24B, and 24C, and output 26. The parasitic RC delay is modeled by the resistor 28 and capacitor 29 between stages 24B and 24C. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a simple network using a simple grounded capacitance parasitic elements for analyzing timing delays through the network. In FIG. 4 network 30 has input 32 gates 34A, 34B, and 34C, and output 36. Designers can supply the parasitic as an RC delay comprised of grounded capacitors 38A, 38B and 38C combined with the output impedances of stages 34A, 34B, and 34C, respectively. FIG. 4 is illustrative of another example typical of the parasitics that might be supplied by a designer or early estimation tool for the analysis shown in FIG. 1 and described above.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a simple network using a complex resistance and capacitance parasitics model for analyzing timing delays through the network; FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a simple network. In FIG. 5 network 40 has input 42 gates 44 and 46 and output 48. The extracted parasitics include resistor/capacitor pairs 51A/51B and 52A/52B, which introduce additional delay between input 42 and gate 44. The extracted parasitics further include resistor/capacitor pairs 53A/53B, 54A/54B, and 55A/55B between gates 44 and 46 as well has line to line capacitor 50, which also introduce additional delay. The extracted parasitics still further include resistor/capacitor pairs 56A/56B, 57A/57B, and 58A/58B, which introduce additional delay between gate 46 and output 46. This model, while supplying very accurate parasitics for delay or noise or power analysis, leads to very time consuming runs for the circuit analysis software used with this level of parasitic extraction. However simpler parasitic extractions as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and described above, when applied to all nets, can reduce analysis accuracy to an unacceptable degree. The alternative of using manual selection of some networks for the complex models and others for simple parasitic extraction introduces the risk of human error.
In today""s environment the size of elements on semiconductor devices is decreasing, thus the number of elements in an integrated circuit design are increasing making long run times longer and more unacceptable. At the same time, new technologies, circuit design styles, and scaling mean the impact of parasitics on timing, noise, and power grids is increasing and more accurate analysis is required. Therefore there exists a need for a method to provide accurate integrated circuit timing, noise and power design checking in less time.
The present invention provides a method of selectively reducing the complexity of individual network and combined network analysis in an integrated circuit design thus reducing runtimes, while controlling the loss of accuracy of the resulting analysis. The present invention employs a circuit analysis technique suitable for performing timing delay, noise sensitivity, or power consumption analysis.
The invention provides a method of selectively reducing the complexity of the extracted netlist, and thus analysis runtimes, while controlling the loss of accuracy of the resulting analysis. A preliminary analysis is used to divide the range of possible characteristics for each net into a range in which the net definitely would not cause a constraint violation in the resulting analysis, a range in which the net definitely would cause a constraint violation in the resulting analysis, and an intermediate range in which it cannot be easily determined whether or not the net would cause a constraint violation in the subsequent analysis. Each net is then passed through a series of successively more accurate and expensive screens, and successively more accurate and expensive estimates for the net characteristics are determined, until it can be determined whether or not the net will cause a constraint violation in the subsequent analysis. The goal is to use the minimum accuracy necessary for each net. The final and most accurate estimate of net characteristics is used only for those nets which cannot be definitively classified using previous screens and characteristic estimates. The result is a much reduced data volume and complexity while maintaining overall accuracy of the analysis.
The method comprises the steps of calculating a first performance parameter by analyzing the network""s sensitivity to a signal applied to the network; comparing the first performance parameter to one or more rules to determine a first pass condition and writing the value of first performance parameter to a netlist file in response to a pass to the first pass condition; followed by calculating a second performance parameter based on a first network model to determine a second pass condition in response to a fail to said first pass condition and writing the second performance parameter to the netlist file in response to a pass to said second pass condition or writing an error flag to the netlist file in response to a fail to said second pass condition. Instead of terminating the analysis after the second performance factor has been determined, additional performance parameters may be determined using increasing complicated network models and refined estimates of the sensitivity value.
The present invention has the advantage of using the minimum accuracy necessary to determine timing delays, noise sensitivity or power consumption for individual networks or each network in an integrated circuit design. The result is a reduced data volume and reduced run time in subsequent dependent analysis steps. Yet it maintains overall accuracy of the analysis.

Method of integrated circuit design checking using progressive individual network analysis

International Business Machines Corporation


A material storage hopper tiltably supported on the bed of a hopper support frame is disclosed, which frame is liftable either by a fork lift or a three point hitch such as used on farm and garden tractors. The frame is ground mountable such that the hopper can be used to store and dump materials while in a stationary, stand alone condition, separate and apart from the three point hitch of a tractor. The frame includes a bracket containing elongated slots in which a pin at the end of the third or central arm of a three point hitch is slidably inserted to permit the frame to level itself when elevated by the hitch above its ground mounted position. The slotted bracket also permits the frame to be self leveling when returned from an elevated to a ground mounted position.

This invention relates generally to tiltable material storing and dumping hopper assemblies which have both stand-alone or stationary ground mounting capability and the capability of being lifted and transported by means of either a fork lift truck or a farm or garden tractor which employs a standard vertically movable three-point hitch mechanism, Additionally, this invention relates to means for the self leveling of a hopper support: frame used in such assemblies when being lifted from and lowered to a ground mounted position by such a three-point hitch mechanism.
Generally speaking, material handling attachments, such as tiltable buckets and hoppers, which can be lifted and transported by means of a three-point hitch mechanism contained on a farm or garden tractor, have long been known and used in the prior art. See for example, the loader bucket assemblies operated by tractor three point hitch mechanisms as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,013 issued to R. H. Thompson et al. on Jan. 30, 1990); U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,013 issued to J. W. Langenfeld et al. on Apr. 10, 1990; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,624,481 issued to C. B. Richey on Jan. 6, 1953. also the frame supported bucket of Japanese pat. no. 58-71271 and tiltable hopper of West German pat. no. DE 3016-037, both of which are operated by a vertically movable tractor hitch.
The bucket assemblies disclosed in the previously identified U.S. patents are primarily adapted for digging and shoveling dirt and other bulk materials and for transferring the same to other locations and/or containers, rather than for use as hoppers for the more or less long term storage of materials. Moreover, none of these reference buckets are adapted for stand alone, stationary mounting and storage of materials, separate and apart from its three point hitch mechanism. Also, none of these assemblies is tiltably operable, separate and apart from its tractor hitch mechanism. Finally, none of these reference bucket assemblies is tiltably seated on a ground mountable frame bed.
As to the assembly disclosed in the Japanese patent, while it includes a bucket which is supported on a vertically movable fork lift frame and is capable of stand alone ground mounting on the frame under certain limited conditions, it is not tiltable relative to the frame to dump materials stored therein. The material storage hopper disclosed in the West German patent is of the stand alone, self supporting type, but is not tiltably supported on a frame of any kind. And while the subject hopper can be lifted, tilted and transported directly by a tractor three point hitch, it does not contain means for self leveling of the hopper when elevated to a given height above the ground by its three point hitch. Neither can the hopper of the West German patent be tilted to dump materials stored therein when in its stationary stand alone condition without the exercise of considerable manual effort, if at all. Lastly, none of the reference hopper assemblies include a ground mountable hopper support frame upon which a hopper is tiltably supported, which frame can be lifted either by a fork lift or by a three point hitch mechanism of a tractor, truck or other vehicle.
By means of my invention, these and other difficulties encountered using three point hitch liftable, tiltable hopper assemblies of the prior art are substantially overcome.


Methods and systems for medical imaging are provided. The system includes a gantry assembly having a stator, a first rotor rotatably coupled to the stator, the first rotor configured to rotate about an examination axis at a first rotational speed, and a second rotor rotatably coupled to at least one of the stator and the first rotor, the second rotor configured to rotate about the examination axis at the first and a second rotational speed, the second rotational speed being greater than the first rotational speed, the first and second rotors configured to be locked in position with respect to each other during rotation at the first rotational speed, the first rotor configured to be locked in position with respect to the stator during rotation of the second rotor at the second rotational speed.

This invention relates generally to medical imaging systems, and more particularly to methods and systems for multi-modality medical imaging.
At least some known multi-modality medical imaging systems use a multi head nuclear medicine (NM) or gamma camera scanner and a computed tomography (CT) or X-ray scanner in tandem. A single patient table may be used to position the patient within each modality scanner without having to readjust the position of the patient on the bed or translate the bed between scanners. Separate gantries are used for each scanner to provide a rotational speed for the NM camera scanner and a different relatively faster rotational speed for the CT scanner. However, having two imaging detector gantries in tandem requires a large footprint and consequently a large imaging room. Using two separate gantries in the imaging system is also a large cost factor for supplying the system and maintaining it.


A client terminal to provide a video program on demand to a client is connected to a video distribution system and a display device. The video distribution system (VDS) broadcasts a video program to the client terminal including an initial program segment (IPS) and a remaining program segment (RPS). The IPS is broadcast during a first broadcast time interval (FBTI) and the RPS is repetetively broadcast during a second broadcast time interval (SBTI). A terminal controller of the client terminal is responsive to a video control program. During the FBTI, the terminal controller records the IPS in a local memory. During the SBTI, the terminal controller selects the video program in response to a user input and displays the recorded IPS. Further, the terminal controller receives the RPS from the VDS and records it in the local memory. After displaying the recorded IPS, the terminal controller displays the recorded RPS.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a client terminal, such as a set top box, for storing an initial program segment and appending a remaining program segment to provide a video program on demand to a client.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Advancements in communications technology and increased consumer sophistication have challenged the distributors of video programming to provide clients with entertainment services more convenient and accessible than those traditionally made available through cable, satellite, and broadcast television. For example, improving communications infrastructure has resulted in a proliferation of pay-per-view media services in many of the larger broadcast and cable markets. Unfortunately, most pay-per-view systems only permit the client to choose from a relatively small number of video program selections for home viewing, with the selected video programs generally being presented only at pre-scheduled viewing times.
On the other hand, more recent video on demand (VOD) systems allow a client to order a desired video program for home viewing instantaneously. VOD systems are very popular with clients who enjoy being able to watch video programs, whenever they want, without the hassle of going to a video rental store or waiting for a pre-scheduled viewing time, as with pay-per-view systems. Moreover, VOD systems are highly desired by video programming providers (e.g. cable and satellite networks), as they have been shown to significantly increase revenue in the systems in which they are deployed. Unfortunately, VOD systems are extremely capital intensive to deploy at both the video programming distribution center and in the underlying network infrastructure. This represents a significant barrier to mass industry adoption.
For example, typical VOD systems for providing VOD to a client usually include a two-way digital client terminal and a network infrastructure to provide direct connections between the video programming distribution center and the client terminal. In order to accomplish this direct connection, a forward digital channel is assigned to the client terminal for the transport of video programs and a back channel is usually needed for the purchase and control of the stream. Thus, typical VOD systems require bi-directional communication throughout the session. Therefore, a dedicated channel must be created in real-time to each client's client terminal, whenever a client demands video programming. This requires sophistical switching at the network level and sophisticated video distribution system functionality. Accordingly, for each collection of clients, there are several requirements: video distribution systems are required to store the video programming and stream the video programming to a client terminal whenever requested, forward channel switching systems are needed to establish the dedicated channel to the client from the video distribution system, and bandwidth must be allocated from a dedicated range of digital channels. Such infrastructure changes affect the video distribution system, the underlying network (e.g. distribution nodes), and the client terminal components. Thus, to implement a typical VOD system, a video programming provider must undergo major network infrastructure changes and major video distribution system upgrades to support VOD, which can represent a significant capital cost to the video programming provider.
There is, therefore, a need to provide techniques for providing VOD functionality to clients, without requiring the major changes to the video distribution system and network infrastructure required to support today's typical VOD systems.

Client terminal for storing an initial program segment and appending a remaining program segment to provide a video program on demand


Provided is a method of enclosing a microscopic body in at least some of a plurality of cavities formed in the surface of a substrate, including the step of arranging an insertion member above the cavity-formed surface of the substrate, determining relative positions of the insertion member and the substrate by a support section provided on the insertion member such that the bottom surface of the insertion member and the cavity-formed surface of the substrate face each other, thereby providing a solution introduction space between the bottom surface of the insertion member and the cavity-formed surface of the substrate, and providing a solution discharge space that is in communication with the solution introduction space, the solution discharge space being located above the bottom surface of the insertion member, and between the substrate and the insertion member, within the substrate and/or within the insertion member.

There has been a need for a technique enabling detection of markers such as nucleic acids, proteins, viruses and cells quickly, in a simplified manner, and with high sensitivity for diagnosis of diseases, infectious diseases, etc. For example, if a marker protein (100 molecules from each cell) is secreted into 5 liters of blood from one million cancer cells contained in a tumor of 1 mm3 in volume, then the blood concentration of the marker protein is about 30 aM. There has been a need for techniques that enable detection of substances of such very low concentrations.
As one of such techniques, "single molecule enzyme assay" may be mentioned, according to which substances to be detected such as nucleic acids, proteins, viruses, cells, etc. are enclosed in droplets of extremely small volume and detected by an immunological method using a labeled antibody. According to the single molecule enzyme assay, the to-be-detected substances can be detected with the sensitivity at the level of one molecule unit.
Patent Literature 1 discloses, as a technique applicable to single molecule enzyme assay, "a method of sealing beads that includes a beads introduction step of introducing a hydrophilic solvent including beads into a space between a lower layer section including a plurality of receptacles each of which is capable of storing only one of the beads and which are separated from each other by a sidewall having a hydrophobic upper surface and an upper layer section facing a surface of the lower layer section on which surface the plurality of receptacles are provided and a hydrophobic solvent introduction step of introducing a hydrophobic solvent into the space, where the hydrophobic solvent introduction step is carried out after the beads introduction step."
The technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 uses "an array comprising a lower layer section provided with a plurality of receptacles being separated from each other by a sidewall having a hydrophobic upper surface and an upper layer section facing, via a space, a surface of the lower layer section on which surface the plurality of receptacles are provided," which involves use of an array having a flow cell structure where the lower layer section and the upper layer section face each other via a space. This technique, according to the disclosure, "makes it possible to efficiently seal a large number of beads into an array and thereby detect target molecules of low concentration with high sensitivity."

Microscopic body enclosing method, microscopic body detection method, and microscopic body detection device


The present invention is a workpiece holder for polishing comprising at least a workpiece holder body having multiple perforated holes for holding a workpiece by vacuum adsorption and a back plate disposed on the back side of the body, which is provided with temperature controlling means or cooling means for the holder body. Thus, there is provided a workpiece holder for polishing, a polishing apparatus and a polishing method, which can provide a workpiece having good flatness by suppressing thermal deformation of the workpiece holder body and deformation of a resin film coated on the workpiece holding surface without degrading flatness of a workpiece held on the workpiece holder in the polishing of the workpiece, even when the number of polishing operation increases.

The present invention relates to a workpiece holder for polishing, a polishing apparatus and a polishing method, which are used for precision polishing of a surface of workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer.
As a method for processing semiconductor wafers, in general, there are successively performed a slicing step to slice a thin disc (wafer) from a single crystal ingot, a chamfering step to prevent cracking of a peripheral edge portion of the wafer, a lapping step to eliminate unevenness of the wafer thickness, an etching step to remove a mechanical damage or contaminants, a polishing step to make the chamfered portion and the main surface of the wafer into mirror surfaces and so forth.
In the conventional polishing operation, a plate composed of a rigid material such as glass, metal and ceramics is used as a workpiece holder, and a workpiece is held by adhering it on the surface of the holder with an adhesive such as wax, or by vacuum adsorption using a workpiece holder surface composed of a gas-permeable porous material or a workpiece holder surface provided with multiple perforated holes.
However, if a workpiece is held directly on a workpiece holder surface composed of metal, ceramics or the like, stains may be generated on the surface of the workpiece, or scratches may be generated when the holder is harder than the workpiece. Therefore, in order to prevent such scratches and stains on the back surface of the workpiece and to obtain a workpiece having good flatness, the surface of the workpiece holder may be coated with a film of resin such as acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin and epoxy resin. Further, a method of the so-called co-rubbing polishing is performed, in which the resin coated on the surface for holding the workpiece is directly polished with a polishing pad before polishing of the workpiece so that the surface condition of the resin should match a surface condition of the polishing pad, and then the workpiece is held on the workpiece holder and polished.
An example of conventional workpiece holder for polishing is shown in FIGS. 5(a) and (b).
This workpiece holder 1 for polishing is constituted by a workpiece holder body 2 having a workpiece holding surface 15 and multiple perforated holes 4 for vacuum adsorption, and a workpiece holder back plate 5 disposed on the back side of the body. The perforated holes 4 are communicated to a vacuum apparatus not shown in the figure via a space 6 located between the workpiece holder body 2 and the workpiece holder back plate 5, and a vacuum way 7, and the workpiece is adsorbed and held on the workpiece holding surface 15 upon generation of vacuum. The workpiece holding surface 15 of the workpiece holder body 2 is coated with a resin coating film 3 that has perforated holes 4.
Upon polishing of a wafer, a workpiece is held on the workpiece holding surface 15 of the workpiece holder 1 for polishing by vacuum adsorption or the like, and the holder is mounted on the polishing head (not shown) having a rotation shaft. The holder is rotated by the polishing head and simultaneously presses the workpiece against a polishing pad adhered on a rotating polishing turn table at a predetermined load. A polishing agent is fed from a nozzle at a predetermined flow rate on the polishing pad, and then fed between the workpiece and the polishing pad, and thus the workpiece is polished.
When such polishing is performed, heat is generated during the polishing. If the polishing is performed by using such a workpiece holder having the configuration shown in FIG. 5, in particular, the heat generated during the polishing of the workpiece is gradually transferred to the workpiece, the workpiece holding surface (the portion of resin coating film) and the workpiece holder body in this order. And heat will be accumulated when the polishing is repeated.
However, since the workpiece holding surface is subjected to cleaning with a brush and so forth with supplying a cleaning solution in order to remove stains on the surface immediately before the polishing operation, the surface is cooled at this stage. On the other hand, in the workpiece holder body, in particular, as for the back side (the side of the back plate 5), heat will be gradually accumulated. For this reason, the amounts of the accumulated heat and radiated heat differ at the front surface and the back surface of the workpiece holder body. Therefore, when the number of the polishing operation (batch number of polishing operation) increases, there begins to be generated a temperature difference between the workpiece holding surface side and the back side of the workpiece holder body, and thus thermal deformation is caused in the whole workpiece holder body. Such deformation of the whole workpiece holder body causes a problem that it results in degradation of flatness of a workpiece held on it and polished.
In order to solve such a problem, a material showing low thermal expansion might be conventionally used for the workpiece holder body. However, under the current situation where a workpiece of extremely high degree of flatness is desired, only use of this means still leaves many insufficient points.
For the polishing, not only appropriate thermal expansion characteristics, but also rigidity enough to stand the polishing pressure is required. If these thermal expansion and rigidity as well as cost are taken into consideration, it is difficult under the present condition to obtain a workpiece holder for polishing that fulfills all of these requirements.
Further, if the surface of the workpiece holder is coated with a film of resin such as acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin and epoxy resin in order to prevent scratches and stains on the workpiece and to obtain a workpiece showing good flatness as described above, thermal deformation is likely to be significantly caused by the heat generation during the polishing, since the thermal characteristics of the resin (coefficient of thermal expansion and heat conductivity) are significantly differ from those of the material used for the workpiece holder body (for example, ceramics such as SiC). Thus, it is difficult to obtain high flatness.
Therefore, the present invention was accomplished in view of the aforementioned problems, and its main object is to provide a workpiece holder for polishing, a polishing apparatus and a polishing method, which can, in polishing utilizing a workpiece holder having such a configuration as described above, provide a workpiece having good flatness and showing a good magic mirror image by suppressing thermal deformation of the workpiece holder body and deformation of a resin film coated on the workpiece holding surface without degrading flatness of a workpiece held on the workpiece holder in the polishing of the workpiece, even when the number of polishing operation (batch number of polishing operation) increases.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the workpiece holder for polishing of the present invention is a workpiece holder for polishing comprising at least a workpiece holder body having multiple perforated holes for holding a workpiece by vacuum adsorption and a back plate disposed on the back side of the body, which is provided with temperature controlling means or cooling means for the holder body.
If such temperature controlling means or cooling means is used, the temperature difference between the workpiece holding surface and the back surface of the workpiece holder body and the temperature difference between a center portion and a peripheral portion of the workpiece holder body are eliminated, and thus the temperature becomes substantially uniform for the whole workpiece holder body. Therefore, thermal deformation of the workpiece holder body and the workpiece is hardly caused, and thus a workpiece showing high flatness can be obtained. Further, if such cooling means is used, the heat generation due to the polishing is eliminated. Therefore, the thermal expansion of the workpiece and the workpiece holder body is suppressed, and thus there can be produced a workpiece showing favorable flatness and good magic mirror image level. Furthermore, the same effect as described above can also be obtained when the workpiece holding surface of the workpiece holder body is coated with a resin coating film for the purpose of protection of the workpiece holding surface or co-rubbing polishing. The obtained workpiece showing high flatness, in particular when it is a semiconductor wafer, makes it possible to reduce various film thickness failures in the highly integrated device production step and improve yield of highly integrated devices.
In this case, the temperature controlling means or the cooling means may be a mechanism for flowing a temperature-controlled liquid or gas into a vacuum system way of the workpiece holder for polishing.
If such a mechanism is provided as the temperature controlling means or the cooling means, it can be easily constructed by using an existing apparatus, and both the temperature control and cooling of the workpiece holder body, the resin film and the workpiece can be performed very easily.
Further, in this case, the temperature controlling means or the cooling means may be a fluid jacket provided in the workpiece holder body.
This fluid jacket can be provided inside the workpiece holder body or around the workpiece holder body. By flowing a temperature-controlled liquid or gas into the fluid jacket, temperature control and cooling of the workpiece holder body and the workpiece can be performed very easily. Moreover, since cooling can be performed also during the polishing, the workpiece holder body and the workpiece can be maintained to be at a substantially constant temperature during the polishing. Thus, the workpiece can be finished into a workpiece showing further higher flatness.
Furthermore, in this case, the temperature controlling means or the cooling means may be a heat radiator plate provided between the workpiece holder body and the back plate constituting the workpiece holder for polishing.
If such a structure is used, the heat generated during the polishing can be discharged outside the workpiece holder for polishing via the workpiece, the resin film, the workpiece holder body and the heat radiator plate, and temperature increase of the workpiece holder body and the workpiece can be suppressed. Therefore, deformation of the holder body and thermal expansion of the workpiece can be suppressed to polish the workpiece into a workpiece showing good flatness.
Further, the material of the back plate of the workpiece holder for polishing is desirably a heat radiating material.
If a heat radiating material that shows high heat conductivity is used also for the material of the back plate of the workpiece holder for polishing as described above, the heat eliminating effect can further be enhanced as is attained by the aforementioned heat radiator plate.
The apparatus for polishing a workpiece of the present invention is a polishing apparatus comprising at least a turn table adhered with a polishing pad, means for supplying a polishing agent to a surface of the polishing pad and a workpiece holder for polishing for forcibly pressing a workpiece on the surface of the polishing pad, wherein the workpiece holder for polishing is the one described above.
By using a polishing apparatus comprising a workpiece holder for polishing in which a workpiece holder body is provided with temperature controlling means as described above, processing of workpiece showing high flatness becomes possible.
Further, the method for polishing a workpiece of the present invention is a method wherein a workpiece is polished by using the aforementioned apparatus for polishing a workpiece.
According to the polishing method performed by using a polishing apparatus comprising the workpiece holder for polishing in which a workpiece holder body is provided with temperature controlling means or cooling means as described above, a workpiece can be held with high precision, and therefore it becomes possible to perform processing of a workpiece so that it should have high flatness. Further, the polishing method of the present invention can also be applied to the so-called co-rubbing polishing, in which the workpiece holding surface is coated with a film of resin such as acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin and epoxy resin, the resin film is directly polished with a polishing pad before polishing of a workpiece so that the surface condition of the resin film should match the surface condition of the polishing pad, and then a workpiece is polished, and it can secure high flatness and good magic mirror image.
In this case, temperature of the workpiece holder body can be controlled after completion of each polishing batch by using the aforementioned temperature controlling means or cooling means.
If the temperature of the workpiece holder body is adjusted to a predetermined temperature for every batch, then the workpiece is held by vacuum adsorption, and polishing is started as described above, the heat accumulation is prevented and workpieces showing substantially no flatness fluctuation among the batches can be obtained. Thus, the yield and the productivity can be improved.
Further, in this case, when workpieces are polished in multiple batches, the polishing can be performed while controlling the temperature difference in the workpiece holder body at the start of the polishing to be within xc2x11xc2x0 C. for each batch.
Although it depends on the range of acceptable flatness, if the polishing is performed while controlling the temperature difference in the workpiece holder body, in particular, the temperature difference of inside or back side of the workpiece holder body, at the start of the polishing for every batch to be within 5xc2x0 C., preferably within xc2x11xc2x0 C., as for the recent demand for highly flat wafers, highly precise workpieces showing substantially no flatness fluctuation among the batches can be obtained.
According to the present invention, not only good flatness can be obtained in the polishing of a workpiece by suppressing the thermal deformation of the workpiece holder body and the deformation of the resin coated on the workpiece holding surface without degrading the flatness of workpieces even when the number of polishing process increases, but also workpieces showing a good magic mirror image level can be obtained.

Workpiece holder for polishing, polishing apparatus and polishing method