Current or past physical location of a target device in a communication network, including: (included and excluded) points, surfaces, regions, point- and integrated-probabilities, nearest-(physical)-neighbors, whether the device is properly integrated, and otherwise, and combinations or conjunctions thereof. Countermeasures exist for those targets which are uncooperative with geolocation. Multiple measurements provide a statistical basis for establishing a probability density function, which may be augmented or refined using domain information, intermediate routing pathways, or overlap of multiple such probability density function. Alternatively, a geolocation may be provided by a formula or a table reference, in response to a measured flight-time, a probability, and possibly other network routing parameters, such as hop count.

In a network of communicating devices, such as for example the Internet, or a communication network coupled thereto (such as for example an enterprise network, a wireless communication system, or any other type of computer network or communication system), the devices are each generally identified by a substantially unique name, such as for example the 4-octet address associated with devices by the IP (Internet Protocol) protocol (version 4), and any variants thereof. These substantially unique names are generally used by routing or switching devices within the network to direct messages (using either circuit-based or packet-based techniques) from their sources to their destinations.
The routing and switching devices, or at least the subnet thereof (sometimes referred to herein as "the network"), are at least collectively aware of the network topology (which devices are coupled to which other devices) and the network topography (which connections between devices are relatively fast or slow, reliable or not, or exhibit other features relevant to network communication, such as for example a measure of quality of service, sometimes called "QoS"). While this information is generally available throughout the network for communication purposes, the physical locations of devices coupled to the network or using it for communication are not so freely available. Identifying physical location in response to network address information—and possibly other information, such as metadata about the communicating device or its users' habits and practices—is sometimes called "geolocation", it is also sometimes called "IP geolocation", or other terms or phrases.
Relatively precise and reliable geolocation might be desired for a device coupled to such a network for a variety of reasons, such as one or more of the following:                directing advertisements or other communications to recipients in selected geographic regions, sometimes referred to herein as "geotargeting", "IP geotargeting", or other terms or phrases;        determining a most probable set of locations for that device, such as to locate lost nodes or to rule out locations for lost nodes, such as in a search-and-rescue environment in a wireless environment distributed over a relatively large region, or to locate rogue nodes or to rule out locations for rogue nodes, such as in a hostile electromagnetic environment as one might find due to criminal, espionage, or military activity;        determining an external boundary of a region or area within which that device, according to received data, must necessarily be located, such as in a search-and-rescue environment or a law enforcement environment, or similarly, providing sufficient evidence or proof that a designated device was or was not located within a designated region, or at a specific location, within a designated time period, such as in a legal proof environment or a network trouble-shooting environment;        locating failed nodes and communication paths within such a network, or at least locating a most probable set of such failed nodes and communication paths within such a network, such as in an environment in which nodes cannot be found for communication or such as in an environment in which communication with nodes is uncertain; and        identifying, with at least some degree of specificity, a physical, geographic path through which a designated set of messages flow through that network, such as in an environment in which the physical location of network traffic is deemed important, such as a network trouble-shooting environment, a search-and-rescue environment (particularly if communication with one or more rescue workers is lost or unreliable), or such as when communicating nodes in the network are moving, such as in an environment in which tracking the location of such nodes from time to time is desired, such as an air-traffic control or fleet management environment.
Known methods include determining the physical location of a device in a computer network using triangulation on the surface of a sphere (approximately the shape of the Earth), in response to communication delay to-and-from the device from three or more known locations. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,978 B2. While these known methods can generally achieve their purpose of providing approximate physical locations of such devices, they are generally only able to designate an area of the Earth's surface as the possible locations of the device. These approximate physical locations have a margin of error which is often higher than desirable, and often provide insufficient accuracy, for many purposes. The granularity of these measurements is often higher than desirable, given the relatively rapid propagation of signals within the network, with the result that precision of measurement is extremely difficult to obtain. Often the location of the device can only be determined to within an area of several thousand square miles. This is often deemed inadequate for many uses of geolocation described herein. Moreover, these measurements serve only to designate a possible region for the geolocated element; they do not provide any substantial information about probability of location within that possible region.
Known methods include using statements by third parties about the location of the device. For example, the Internet "Whois" record for the domain name associated with the device shows a postal address for the party that administers the subnet where that device is found. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,250 B2. While these known methods can generally achieve their purpose of providing better physical locations of such devices than pure triangulation, they are subject to several drawbacks: (1) the Whois record shows a postal address for an administrator, which is no guarantee of the location of the actual device itself; (2) Whois records might be inaccurate or even deliberately false; (3) Whois records are often deemed inadequate information or insufficiently certain to provide useful geolocation information, e.g., for police or detective work, or for evidence in court. These problems appear inherent to information supplied about the device from a third party, or provided voluntarily, or provided by a human being, rather than directly obtained from interaction with the device, and are not specific to "Whois" records.
Known methods include determining a matrix of minimum communication times between (1) a set of multiple network stations, and (2) a set of endpoint nodes. Both the former and the latter are at known locations. A vector of communication times from the network stations to the target device is measured, and the target device is presumed to be at the same location as the endpoint whose vector of communication times (from the network stations) most closely matches the measured vector. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,978 B2. While these known methods can generally achieve their purpose of providing better physical locations of such devices than pure triangulation, they are subject to the drawback that an amount of communication effort diverted to geolocation is relatively large. Neither network traffic to the target device nor network traffic overall are minimized, with the effect that both the target device is burdened by the effort, and with the effect that geolocation efforts become relatively more difficult with network size.
Moreover, obtaining a vector of such communication times involves measuring one or more distances to endpoint nodes which are at known locations. It sometimes occurs that such known locations are not as prevalent as desirable. It often occurs that such known locations are not conveniently located, or even located anywhere reasonably near the target device, either locality within the connectivity of the network or locality within physical space. Preparing a set of such known locations ahead of time involves significant network communication, as well as effort and time, and has a substantial chance of failing to find enough such known locations ahead of time for a target location that is unknown ahead of time.
Known methods generally suffer from the drawbacks that they do not significantly address questions regarding the network topology or network topography, such as, whether the network has adequate connectivity, whether the network topology or network topography have changed significantly over time, what the communication limits are of the network, and other information related to trouble-shooting the subnet of communication and routing devices for the network. Moreover, known methods generally suffer from the drawbacks that they do not generally provide any convenient method for assigning priority to one or more determined locations or determined regions. For example, known methods generally provide only a set of points or regions where the geolocated target device might be found, without relative probability of one or more of those points, or one or more subsets of those regions, being factually accurate or useful for the purpose for which geolocation was used.
Some, not necessarily all, methods are described in the following documents:                U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,250 B2, issued Jan. 27, 2004, in the name of inventors Anderson, et al., titled "Method and apparatus for estimating a geographic location of a networked entity", believed to be assigned to Quova, Inc., of Mountain View, Calif.; and        U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,978 B2, issued Sep. 20, 2005, in the name of inventors Huffman, et al., titled "Method for geolocating logical network addresses", assigned to the United States, as represented by the Director, National Security Agency.        Readers are encouraged and exhorted to make their own evaluation of known methods.


A method and system are provided including at least one tabular data set, wherein each data set includes one or more attribute categories defining a record, each attribute category including one or more data values; an anonymization module; and an anonymization processor in communication with the anonymization module and operative to execute processor-executable process steps to cause the system to: receive a first data set at the anonymization module; determine at least one of the attribute categories in the first data set is a first-class identifier; generate a pseudonymous data set by removing the at least one first-class identifier attribute category from the first data set; determine at least two of the attribute categories in the pseudonymous data set are a second-class identifier; manipulate the at least two second-class attribute categories; and generate an anonymized data set based on the at least two manipulated second-class identifier attribute categories. Numerous other aspects are provided.

The collection and analysis of data is used by almost every industry. Increasingly industries are processing large datasets with more and more attributes that describe entities. At times, the data may be anonymized to either enable modern business models, guarantee data privacy enforced by legal practices or to facilitate researchers access to otherwise protected information.
Conventional anonymization practices rely on modifying the data itself or falsifying records in a way that parts of the data cannot be linked back to their original entity while preserving data quality and correlations as much as possible. When applied to high-dimensional (e.g. multiple attribute) datasets, these existing processes may lead to a dramatic loss of data quality.
Systems and methods are desired which support efficient and effective data anonymization.

High-dimensional data anonymization for in-memory applications


A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam. The illumination system includes a pulsed source of radiation and a controller to control an output of the pulsed source of radiation. The controller includes a dose sensor to measure a dose of a pulse of the source of radiation. The dose sensor includes a dose sensor output to provide a dose signal representative of the measured dose. An integrator unit is connected to the dose sensor output. The integrator unit integrates the dose signal at least twice, an output of the integrator unit provides an integrator output signal including the at least twice integrated dose signal. The output of the integrator unit drives a driving input of the source of radiation with the integrator output signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus, an illumination system, a controller and method to control an output of a pulsed source of radiation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g., including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate.
In a lithographic apparatus, as well as in many other applications, a surface such as a substrate surface or a wafer surface is to be illuminated by a pulsed source of radiation. The pulsed source of radiation, such as a pulsed laser, provides for a series of pulses, e.g., at a certain pulse repetition rate. During an illumination, the substrate or other object, which is to be illuminated, is moved such that with each pulse a different part of the surface of the substrate or other object is illuminated. Commonly, surfaces which are illuminated by subsequent pulses will show a certain amount of overlap. Thus, each location of the surface of the substrate which is to be illuminated is generally provided with optical radiation from at least two pulses. Commonly, a relation between the pulse repetition frequency, a size of a window of the substrate or other surface which is to be illuminated, and a scanning speed of the substrate or other to be illuminated object, is chosen such that each point of the surface of the substrate or other to be illuminated surface is illuminated by a plurality of pulses. Due to physical constraints, pulse energy of the pulsed source of radiation may show a certain amount of deviation. In other words, an energy provided by subsequent pulses may differ to a certain extent. Commonly, however, it is desirable to provide a homogeneous illumination, i.e., to arrange that each point on the surface of the substrate or other to be illuminated object, is provided with a substantially same dose of radiation. For this reason, a controller may be provided which drives the pulsed source of radiation thereby making use of a pulse energy of the source of radiation at previous pulses. To accomplish this, the controller may comprise a feed back loop incorporating an integrator. By the integrator, a total dose of pulses of radiation at a certain location may be stabilized to a certain extent by the integrative action of the controller, which may easily be understood as subsequent pulses illuminating a certain point at the surface of the substrate or other object will add to form a total dose at that point.
In more detail, a standard deviation SD of the integrated dose at any point of the wafer when the laser is controlled by the above described controller may be expressed as:
      SD                                (      output      )        =            SD                                              (        laser        )                    N                    √                                                    (                      n            /            2                    )
wherein SD (output) represents a standard deviation of the output of the laser when in the control loop, SD (laser) represents a standard deviation of the pulsed source of radiation as is, thus without the controller, and N represents a number of laser pulses in a slit which is used to create a window of illumination onto the substrate or other surface, and n represents a number of pulses in a slope of the slit profile. Thus, it can be easily seen that a standard deviation of the output may be reduced by reducing the standard deviation of the laser as well as by increasing the number of pulses in a slit, e.g., by increasing a pulse repetition frequency or by decreasing a scanning speed with which the substrate or other object is scanned.
The principle of controlling as described above has been used for a long time in many applications. In fact, it is believed by the person skilled in the art that an improvement to the controller as described above may be difficult.

Lithographic apparatus, illumination system, illumination controller and control method


A new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant named ‘PET0607’, characterized by its mounding and compact plant habit; freely branching growth habit; green foliage; and numerous pure white colored flowers that are weather tolerant.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petunia×hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'PET0607'.
The new Petunia originated from a conventional cross of proprietary Petunia selections, 'PET0480' (the female parent; not patented) and 'PET0491' (the male parent; not patented) conducted on the 10th day of May 2004 in a cultivated area of Aquebogue, N.Y. Seeds from this cross were planted and the individual plant known as 'PET0607' was selected because of its combination of exceptional features, and has been propagated asexually by vegetative cuttings since that time. The unique features of this new Petunia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A configurable user interface arrangement representing data elements of a data source. The user interface arrangement includes a dynamic tree structure monitoring area displaying at least one tree structure having at least one node, each tree having a root node, each node representing a data element or a set of data elements, and each node being user selectable. The user interface arrangement also includes a configuration editor able to establish a configuration code set, the configuration code set defining the structure of the tree structure(s). Each node in the tree structure(s) defines a set of reading commands to be executed when a node is selected in the tree structure monitoring area. The user interface arrangement also has a content monitoring area for monitoring the content or a part of the content of a selected node, the content being established by the set of reading commands. A user may obtain information by selection of a node in a tree structure. Monitoring a data element requires only a simple graphic operation.

The invention relates to a user configurable tree structure interface, generally as follows. A configurable user interface arrangement representing data elements of at least one data source according to the principles of the claimed invention comprises a dynamic tree structure monitoring area (TSMA) displaying at least one tree structure having at least one node (N), each tree having a root node (RN). Each node represents a data element or a set of data elements, and at least one node is user selectable. The configurable user interface also comprises a configuration editor comprising means for establishing a configuration code set, said configuration code set defining the structure of said tree structure(s). At least one node (N) in said tree structure(s) defines a set of reading commands to be executed when a node (N) is selected in the said tree structure monitoring area (TSMA). The configurable user interface also comprises a content monitoring area (CMA) monitoring the content or a part of the content of a selected node, said content being established by said set of reading commands.
Alternatively, a user configurable user interface arrangement representing data elements of a data source according to the principles of the claimed invention comprises a dynamic tree structure monitoring area (TSMA) displaying at least one tree structure having at least one node (N), each tree having a root node (RN). Each node represents a data element (or a set of data elements), and each node is user selectable. The configurable user interface also comprises a content monitoring area (CMA) for monitoring the content or a part of the content of a selected node, said content of data elements being established by said set of reading commands (RC). The configurable user interface also comprises a searching facility operating on established content of the content monitoring area (CMA) of a selected node (N) or non-established content of at least one selected node (N) itself. The said searching facility operates on at least one search criterion or combinations of search criteria, said criteria defining different types of information related to data elements of said content.
The invention also relates to a user interface. A user interface according to the principles of the claimed invention comprises a user interface arrangement as described above, wherein the search is established by an activation of a node (N) as a menu providing a search option on different types of information in the content monitoring area, or combinations of such.
The invention further relates to data processing systems. A data processing system for controlling a user interface of a computer according to the principles of the claimed invention comprises computer processor means for processing data, storage means for storing data in a data carrier, a monitoring unit for monitoring a user-interface, and a configurable user interface as described above.
Alternatively, a data processing system for controlling a user interface of a computer according to the principles of the claimed invention comprises computer processor means for processing data, storage means for storing data in a data carrier, a monitoring unit for monitoring a user-interface, and a configurable user interface as described above.
The invention also relates to a data carrier. A data carrier according to the principles of the claimed invention comprises data establishing a user-interface of a computer as described above.
Conventionally software data management systems are usually specialised to dedicated functions required for the specific application in the sense that use of such kinds of applications requires certain skills not available for personal working primarily with word processors, spreadsheets and simple graphic presentation programs. In particular, this may be the case in industrial computer systems usually including e.g. larger databases containing a very large amount of information being absolutely non-accessible to the above type of basic skill users.
This may e.g. materialise in that an immense amount of data actually present in a computer system is not available for persons having an actual need for accessing this data, as a look-up for this data requires vast knowledge about possible searching and operating features of the specific applications.
This has resulted in certain kinds of report generators being adapted for accessing a certain types of information, which may be printed out. A common feature of these conventional report generators is that they are dedicated for accessing data in intervals of e.g. one week, one day or the like, as the main purpose of such generators are statistics, budget controls or the like. Moreover, they are usually dedicated for use in one specific environment, e.g. a certain type of database.
Another example of systems adapted for providing information to basic skill users are file management systems adapted for managing data of different software applications. A serious disadvantage of such systems is that they provide a 1:1 overview of present data, thus leaving the user alone in a data jungle organised to fit the functional environments and certainly not to be accessed intuitively.
In some systems this problem has been addressed by reorganising the data in such a way that the data are split up or sub-divided in a more intuitively logical way. This reorganising of data is nevertheless costly, and will require very specialised programming and organising of a data source. Moreover, a physical reorganising of data is dangerous, as the risk of faults and breakdowns will exceed.
Moreover, such a reorganisation of data may likely be convenient to some groups of users, but counterproductive to other groups or users.
Another problem related to file management systems is that a user has no possibility to organise data contained in one library appropriate to his needs.
It is an object of the invention to provide a data management system, which may be intuitively accessed by a basic-skill user and which may run with existing system resources.
The invention relates to a configurable user interface arrangement representing data elements DE of a data source,
said user interface arrangement comprising
a dynamic tree structure monitoring area TSMA,
said tree structure monitoring area displaying at least one tree structure having at least one node N, each tree having a root node RN
each of said nodes N representing a data element or a set of data elements
each node being user selectable,
a configuration editor CE
comprising means for establishing a configuration code set,
said configuration code set defining the structure of said tree structure(s) and
for at least one node N in said tree structure(s) defining a set of reading commands to be executed when a node is selected in the said tree structure monitoring area TSMA, and
a content monitoring area CMA
monitoring the content or a part of the content of a selected node, said content being established by the said set of reading commands.
According to the invention, an advantageous and compact user friendly arranging of data has been obtained.
According to the invention, a user has the possibility of obtaining a personal adapted tree layout providing the user with the necessary information by means of a simple selection of a node in a tree structure. Thus, a user needs no special or expert knowledge about handling of different types of applications, such as data bases, CAD programs, etc., as a monitoring of a certain data element requires only a simple graphic operation.
It should be noted that, according to the invention, the pre-programming of the reading commands required for establishing the necessary monitoring may be performed by system experts or even only less specialised super users, having the specific knowledge about the certain data type and the possible reading methods.
If the configuration editor is operating in a simple and user friendly way it may be configured by one internal company super user or a number of programmers, each having special knowledge about a certain type of data retrieval.
According to the invention as fast cross access or simultaneous access between different types of applications is established, as the user interface arrangement according to the invention may establish an easy query and listing of all possible data elements in a, computer system, regardless of data types, reading methods, application types, etc.
Moreover it should be noted that the teaching of the invention deals with an intuitive reading and organising of data elements of a data source in a visual an intuitive tree structure. A user is thus no longer restricted to a 1:1 access or reading of data elements known from prior art user interfaces.
The editor of the user interface arrangement may, when appropriately established, ensure that the user interface can be modified dynamically depending upon the wishes and desires of the user.
Consequently, a further feature of the invention is that the created user interface may be established and presented as a personal user interface, which may be booted automatically during boot-up.
Even larger organisations will be able to offer their employees a personal tool without interfering with internal company software policies. The user interface arrangement of the invention will avoid any confusing and modification of the individual standard software applications themselves, but only establishing simple reading procedures cross-referring to the different software applications.
A further aspect of the invention is that the selective reading of each node reduces the amount of data available for a more detailed investigation, as only a little part of the total amount of data is addressed by a selective reading in one node. Thus, according to an embodiment of the invention, an effective sub-organising of data has been obtained, as the reading and investigation of data elements will be restricted to the selected node or sub nodes. Unnecessary searching in data elements irrelevant to the guided user query may thus be avoided.
The selection of a node may e.g, be a simple mouse operation, but many other selection operations are of course possible within the scope of the invention. In other embodiments the node may e.g. be selected by means of a mouse, while a reading of the data elements in the node may be effected separately by means of e.g. different general reading commands, such as a masked reading.
A further aspect of the invention is to regard the user interface according to the invention as a tool optimised and adapted for guided searches in data bases. As the number of data elements in a node of a data typically may be very large, an effective search method or algorithm should be available when a certain desired node has been found and selected. An effective searching and handling of data elements in a node is obtained by means of the visual reducing of data elements, i.e. the visual tree oriented node selection, followed by a listing of a node in the content monitoring area which may be investigated intensely by means of a set of very user friendly searching tools adapted to the content of the node. As the search facilities in each node may be configured specifically to fit to the corresponding data elements.
It should be noted that the reading commands may be supplemented by access commands, if appropriate.
The user interface is preferably adapted for operations on e.g. different data bases, and an addressing of a plurality of data bases are possible.
The editor may be integrated in the user interface or consist of a separated program structure.
Data elements may be files, groupings of files, data elements of a data base, sub-libraries or sub-structures. A data element may e.g. also be an artificially created text picture or other kinds of objects of a node created solely for the purpose of sub-dividing or explaining the information contained in the sub-nodes.
The tree structure may be static or dynamic, but in database environment a dynamic structure will be preferred.
The configuration editor may e.g. a command prompt environment, a visual command construction tool, a common/typical text based editor.
A user selectable node may typically be selected by means of a standard mouse click operation.
When a configurable user interface arrangement wherein the content of the content monitoring area CMA and the layout of the content monitoring area is established by a user in the said configuration editor, a further advantageous embodiment of the invention has been obtained. The configuration editor may thus contain easy accessible commands defining the desired presentation of the data elements in the selected node of the tree.
The determination of the content of CMA in the editor may according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention implement a reading restricted to the desired data elements of the selected node.
When the content of the content monitoring area comprises different information types corresponding to said read data elements, a further advantageous embodiment of the invention has been achieved. Information, such as data, images, etc may be displayed in the CMA, obtaining a predetermined degree of description of each data element.
When the content of the content monitoring area CMA is presented as a list having a number of columns, each column representing a predetermined information type about data elements listed in the content monitoring area CMA, said information being read by said set of reading commands, a further advantageous embodiment of the invention has been obtained, as a listing usually is a very easy accessible organisation of data information.
When said information read by said set of reading commands for at least one column of said content monitoring area is searchable, an advantageous embodiment of the invention has been obtained.
The information read by the reading commands may be searched in a very selectively and user-friendly way, as the search commands are restricted to searches in the selected node and the information read by the reading commands.
When editor comprises a predefined set of commands defining the structure of the tree,
for each node N said commands defining
an ID of the node N,
a father ID of a father node,
and optionally said commands defining
a statement defining an executable reading procedure, said executable reading procedure being executed when the said node N is selected,
a visual presentation of the node in the tree structure in the tree structure monitoring area TSMA, said visual presentation comprising a picture and a text,
a menu definition defining an operational feature of the node, said operational feature defining at least one user programming feature,
an advantageous embodiment has been achieved.
Moreover, the invention relates to a user interface arrangement representing data elements of a data source,
said user interface arrangement comprising
a dynamic tree structure monitoring area TSMA,
said tree structure monitoring area displaying at least one tree structure having at least one node N, each tree having a root node RN
each node representing a data element (or a set of data elements)
each node being user selectable,
a content monitoring area CMA
monitoring the content or a part of the content of a selected node, said content of data elements being established by the said set of reading commands
a searching facility operating on established content of the content monitoring area CMA of a selected node N or non-established content of at least one selected node N itself,
said searching facility operating on at least one search criterion or combinations of search criteria, said criteria defining different types of information related to data elements of said content,
a very preferred embodiment of the invention has been obtained.
Thus, the user interface offers a very attractive compromise of a restricted data set and increased search and masking options. The system may speed up existing file manager systems, and offer the user increased searching options.
This teaching ensures, firstly, that every possible information regarding the data elements contained in the node may be accessed, contrary to state of the art searching facilities, which are dedicated to searching in information contained in every data element of the data source. Secondly, the search restricted to be effected in a single node, may be constrained significantly without slowing the search inconveniently and without occupying system resources.
It should be noted that the above facilities might be incorporated in e.g. file manager systems, thus providing the user a more specific and user intuitive searching and accessing approach, as the searches may be effected in well-defined environments, and in a very truncated amount of data, thus establishing a very fast data access. The reading of the data elements, e.g. data files, when accessing the individual nodes ensures that searches may be made xe2x80x9clocalxe2x80x9d and not through out the whole data source, and the search profile may fit 100% to the present information.
When the data elements are read and presented with associated information of information types, an intuitive read-out has been obtained.
When the data elements comprises files and libraries, an advantageous file manager system has been obtained enabling a fast and user-friendly searching through conventional 1:1 file system representations.
When the information types comprises name, size, type, date and other information associated with a file, and wherein each information type is searchable in each node, an advantageous possibility of searching files of directories or sub-directories represented by a node has been obtained.
When the search is established by an activation of a node (N) as a pop-up menu providing a search option on different types of information in the content monitoring area, or combinations of such, a further advantageous embodiment of the invention has been obtained, as the search may be supported by simple fill-in operations.
Moreover the invention relates to a data processing system for controlling a user interface of a computer, said processing system comprising computer processor means for processing data, storage means for storing data in a data carrier and a monitoring unit for monitoring a user-interface, said system comprising a configurable user interface.
Moreover, the invention relates to a data processing system for controlling a user interface of a computer, said processing system comprising computer processor means for processing data, storage means for storing data in a data carrier and a monitoring unit for monitoring a user interface.
Finally, the invention relates to a data carrier comprising data establishing a user-interface of a computer.


In an approach to automatically reclassifying files in an HSM system, responsive to occurrence of a recall to move a file on a hierarchical storage system from a secondary storage to a primary storage, whether stub metadata exists for the file is determined. Responsive to determining that stub metadata exists for the file, whether reclassification of the file is necessary is determined based on the stub metadata. Responsive to determining that the reclassification of the file is necessary, the file is reclassified, where the reclassification uses a latest classification model, and further where the stub metadata is updated with results of the reclassification. The file is migrated from the primary storage to the secondary storage based on the stub metadata.

The present invention relates generally to the field of data storage, and more particularly to automatically reclassifying files in a Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) system.
Magnetic tape data storage is a system for storing digital information on magnetic tape using digital recording. The tapes are usually stored on cartridges or cassettes, but for drives that are used as data storage tape backups, the tape is often wound on reels. The Linear Tape Open single reel cartridge was announced in 1997 at a capacity of 100 megabytes, and now in its eighth generation, it supports 12 terabytes in the same sized cartridge. The reason magnetic tape drives are still in use today, especially as an offline data backup, is because of long archival stability and very favorable unit costs.
HSM is a data storage technique that automatically moves data between high-cost and low-cost storage media. HSM systems exist because high-speed storage devices, such as solid-state drive arrays and hard disk drives, are more expensive (per byte stored) than slower devices, such as optical discs and magnetic tape drives. While it would be ideal to have all data available on high-speed devices all the time, this is prohibitively expensive for many organizations. Instead, HSM systems store the bulk of the enterprise's data on slower devices, and then copy data to faster devices when needed. In effect, HSM turns the fast disk drives into caches for the slower mass storage devices. The HSM system monitors the way data is used and makes best guesses as to which data can safely be moved to slower devices and which data should stay on the fast devices.

Reclassification of files in a hierarchical storage management system

International Business Machines Corporation


A tyre repair sealing composition having: 30 to 80% natural latex, 5 to 35% synthetic latex, and 10 to 60% ethylene glycol, and wherein the diameter of the synthetic latex particles advantageously has a mean particle-size distribution of 0.04 to 0.5 μm.

Tyre punctures are known to be repaired with sealing composition, which is injected into the tyre to repair the puncture from the inside and make the tyre airtight.
Various types of sealing compositions are known, in which a rubber, normally natural rubber, latex is mixed with adhesive and antifreeze.
Sealing compositions of this sort have the drawback, if kept for long periods of time, of the latex and adhesive particles combining to form a creamy composition which, when dispensed, clogs the dispenser valve and fails to repair the puncture properly.
Research by the inventors has shown one reason for clogging of the dispenser valve would appear to be the large size 1 micron—and uneven, unstable size distribution of the natural rubber particles.
Compositions containing no adhesive are also known, but which also result in clogging of the dispenser valve.
A need is therefore felt for a tyre repair sealing composition designed to eliminate the drawbacks of known compositions.


The disclosed data generation system is provided with a monitor for displaying a game area and a touch panel, wherein in a game for displaying two operation reference units and an object which moves therebetween upon the game area, sequence data used as data for designating an operation time period for touch-operation and operation reference units are generated. The data generation system displays, upon a display unit, an editing screen including a time period information display area for displaying information of all operation time periods chronologically and a criteria unit designation area for displaying information of operation time periods of each of the operation reference units chronologically, and for displaying, upon a criteria unit designation area, information for associating information of each of the objects corresponding to each operation time period with information of the operation reference unit where display of each of the objects is started.

There are game machines in which a plurality of players alternately operates an operating unit in tune with a rhythm of music. Of the game machines, there has been known a game machine in which a plurality of players plays a game, and each player alternately operates an operating unit while deciding a next player to operate an operating unit through an operation of an operating unit (for example, see Patent Literature 1). Further, there has been known a game machine in which a game is played such that two players alternately hit back an object indicating an operation timing, and the velocity of an object moving toward the other party side changes according to the position of an object at a point in time when each player hits an object back (for example, see Patent Literature 2).    Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-236243 and Patent Literature 2: JP-A No. 2000-155543.

Data generation system, date generation method, and a non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program configured to generate sequence data that describes reference timing in a game


An apparatus for controlling a flow of evaporated fuel from a canister being fed into an intake passage of an engine through a plurality of control valves arranged in parallel in a purge passage between the canister and the intake passage. The plurality of control valves includes at least a first valve being switched on and off by setting a control factor indicating a duty ratio of an on-time within a duty cycle to a total duty-cycle time for the first valve, and a second valve being switched on and off by setting a control factor indicating an on-state or off-state of the second valve for a total duty-cycle time. The apparatus includes a first control part for setting a first control factor for the first valve so that the first valve is switched on at a rate indicated by the first control factor, and a second control part for setting a second control factor for the second valve so that the second valve is switched on and off at a timing different from a timing at which the first valve is switched on and off.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an evaporated fuel purge control apparatus, and more particularly to an evaporated fuel purge control apparatus for an internal combustion engine in which the flow of evaporated fuel being fed from a canister into an intake passage of the engine is controlled using a plurality of purge control valves arranged in parallel in a passage between the canister and the intake passage.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In an internal combustion engine, an evaporated fuel purge control system is provided. In this evaporated fuel purge control system, evaporated fuel from a fuel tank is stored in a canister, and the stored fuel is fed from the canister to an intake passage of the engine through a purge control valve arranged in a passage between the canister and the intake passage. The flow of evaporated fuel from the canister to the intake passage is controlled by the purge control valve under prescribed operating conditions of the engine.
Certain types of the evaporated fuel purge control systems have been proposed in which two purge control valves are arranged in parallel in a passage between a canister and an intake passage. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-233466 discloses an evaporated fuel purge system of this type. In the system of this publication, a master control valve and a slave control valve are arranged in parallel in order to supply a suitable amount of evaporated fuel to the intake passage at a suitable timing. Also, there has been proposed an evaporated fuel purge control apparatus in which a duty cycle control valve is provided in order to accurately control the flow of the evaporated fuel into the intake passage.
However, if an evaporated fuel purge control apparatus including a plurality of purge control valves arranged in parallel in a passage between the canister and the intake passage is provided in an internal combustion engine, the engine will be subjected to a pulsating flow of evaporated fuel being fed into the intake passage because the valves are opened and closed at duty cycles and phases which are equal to each other. Also, it is likely that the evaporated fuel is supplied to only a specific cylinder of the engine, and the turbulence of the air fuel ratio will occur in the engine.
In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 61-105601 discloses a pulse width modulation (PWM) fluid flow controlling method. In this method, the switching operations of two solenoid valves arranged in parallel are controlled using PWM signals having the duty cycle equal to each other and having the same phase so as to drive an actuator by the flow of operating fluid.
However, in the conventional method disclosed in the above mentioned publication, there is a problem in that the number of switching operations of the two control valves is relatively large. Therefore, an evaporated fuel purge control apparatus with a plurality of purge control valves to which the above method is applied will be noisy and less durable.

Apparatus for controlling flow of evaporated fuel from canister to intake passage of engine using purge control valves


Disclosed embodiments relate to securely inspecting and validating remote access protocol communications. Operations may include accessing remote access protocol communications between a first computing resource and a second computing resource; and validating at least a portion of the remote access protocol communications by at least one of: analyzing a sequence among the at least the portion, analyzing data contents of the at least the portion, analyzing a size field in the at least the portion, or analyzing a data-size correlation of the at least the portion; wherein at least one of the following is conditioned on a result of the validation: an ability of the at least the portion of the remote access protocol communications to pass between the first computing resource and the second computing resource, or an establishment of a remote access session between the first computing resource and the second computing resource.

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a protocol developed to provide a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer. RDP is complex and prone to vulnerabilities. RDP also operates over a network, giving malicious attackers opportunities to exploit possible vulnerabilities remotely and gain unauthorized access to various resources.
Some security solutions have been used to help increase the security of RDP. One type of security solution (e.g., Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS)) may attempt to detect or block unwanted behaviors (e.g., malware operations or exploitation attempts) at the network level. Such security solutions may use signatures to help detect known threats and exploitations. Another type of security solution may attempt to detect or block exploitation attempts using heuristics. Such security solutions may detect common techniques used in the exploitation processes, including, e.g., stack pivoting, executable page allocation, return-oriented programming, and the like.
These security solutions, however, are insufficient because they require prior knowledge of the protocol's vulnerabilities. In other words, these security solutions are not able to protect the protocol against new security threats. Also, these security solutions are generic and are not tailored to the specific protocol that needs protection. A generic security solution, for example, may not be able to protect the unique features of protocols such as RDP and the like.
There are thus needs for technological solutions for securely inspecting and validating protocols such as RDP and the like. Further technical improvements are described in the example embodiments below.

Secure remote access based on inspection and validation of remote access protocol traffic


The present invention provides an apparatus for forming a uniform, large scale nanoparticle coating on a substrate. The apparatus comprises a source of vaporised metal nanoparticles. The apparatus further comprises a first plate (20) providing an array of spaced apart first apertures (22). The apparatus further comprises a second plate (24) aligned with and spaced apart from the first plate (20). The second plate (24) provides an array of spaced apart second apertures 26. Each second aperture (26) of the second plate (24) is aligned with a first aperture (22) of the first plate (20).

Films composed of gas-phase nanoparticles have a wide range of applications in technology ranging from antimicrobial coatings to high magnetization films for magnetic data storage technology. A range of gas-phase nanoparticle sources have been built in research laboratories and are also commercially available.
Conventional gas-phase nanoparticle sources, such as for example the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, are only capable of forming deposits over a relatively small area (a few cm2). However, many applications for nanoparticle coatings, such as for example write heads or wafer, require coatings to be applied uniformly over a large area.
There is therefore a need for an apparatus and a method for producing large scale metal nanoparticle coatings on a substrate. There is also a need for an apparatus and a method for producing large scale, substantially uniform, metal nanoparticle coatings on a substrate.
The present invention seeks to address the problems of the prior art.


In a method and apparatus for accelerating MR temperature imaging used in MR-monitored high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy, temperature changes are determined at the focus of the ultrasound during MR temperature imaging; determining the ideal acceleration rate needed for data sampling according to the temperature changes at said focus is determined, the variable-density (VD) data sampling in k-space is adjusted according to the determined ideal acceleration rate, and the data obtained from sampling are reconstructed to form an image. The capability of accelerating MR temperature imaging with both good temporal resolution and good spatial resolution is improved by determining the acceleration rate according to temperature changes at the ultrasound focus and by adjusting the VD data sampling of k-space and thereby the benefits of good flexibility, feasibility and stability are achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention involves magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, and more particularly a method and an apparatus for accelerating the magnetic resonance (MR) temperature imaging.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In an MR-monitored high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy system, a HIFU transducer, i.e. HIFU therapy head, emits focused ultrasonic waves into the human body while through therapy water to increase the local temperature of the body part to be treated, hence achieving the desired therapeutic results.
There are three issues inherent with MR temperature imaging: temporal averaging effect, temporal resolution and spatial averaging effect. These issues must be fully considered in the design of an acceleration solution for MR temperature imaging.
Usually, it takes a long time to acquire data to be entered into k-space and the acquisition of data sufficient to generate only one MR image may take several seconds. During the data sampling, the temperature around the heating focus will change continuously, so the temperature is changing continuously while data entered into different points of k-space are acquired. The final temperatures obtained from the reconstructed images are approximations of all the actual temperatures in the course of sampling, which is referred to as the temporal averaging effect. FIG. 1 is an illustration of the temporal averaging effect. The round spot shown in FIG. 1 is the temperature value measured from the rebuilt images, and the curve is the plotting of temperature changes over the acquisition time of one image. Typically, the measured value is closer to the value acquired at the center of k-space.
In order to improve spatial resolution while maintaining the size of the FOV (field of view), more phase encoding steps are needed, leading to more time for acquiring all data of k-space. The temporal resolution is defined as a reciprocal of the time span for acquiring the centers of two sequential k-space matrices. The longer it takes to fill a single k-space matrix, the poorer the temporal resolution is, making it difficult to capture the fast changes of temperature. FIG. 2 shows the impact of temporal resolution on capturing the temperature changes. The curves shown in the FIG. 2 represent the temperature changes and the round spot represents sampling points. Referring to FIG. 2, the temporal resolution shown in the left curve is relatively low and so the data of peak temperature values are lost due to the low temporal resolution while in the right curve, the peak temperature value is acquired as a result of the high temporal resolution.
Each pixel of the MR image represents a voxel of a certain size of the object. The signals of a pixel are the sum or integral of multiple tiny signals in a corresponding voxel. In thermal ablation, if the size of a single voxel is approximately the size of the heating focus, the spatial gradient of temperature will be significant, resulting in the elimination of phases, which in turn leads to distortion of temperature measurement. FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of the temporal averaging effect. At the left of FIG. 3, the voxels at the focuses are indicated by the arrows. In the middle of FIG. 3 the signal of pixels corresponding to the focus in the rebuilt images is shown. At the right of FIG. 3, shows the actual signal of the focus is shown. As shown in FIG. 3, because the pixel size is only slightly larger than the size of the focus of the ultrasound, there is a significant difference between the signals of the corresponding pixels in the rebuilt images and the actual signals of the ultrasonic focus. The spatial resolution is defined as the reciprocal of voxel dimension. There is a need to improve the spatial resolution of accurate temperature imaging.
Generally speaking, temporal resolution and spatial resolution contradict each other and it is impossible to improve temporal resolution and spatial resolution at the same time. For a given FOV, the smaller spatial resolution requires a longer acquisition time, making the temporal resolution worse not better. Therefore, it is necessary to balance these two parameters.
With existing several parallel imaging technologies, acceleration is achieved by regularly reducing the phase encoding lines and then recovering the lost data with post processing, to improve either temporal resolution or spatial resolution. It is impossible to have a better temporal resolution and a better spatial resolution at the same time. These methods have two drawbacks. First, the acceleration rates achieved by these parallel imaging technologies are usually relatively fixed discrete values and changes of acceleration factors will cause significant fluctuation in image quality. A second problem is instability, namely, misalignment of coil units for parallel imaging or improper positioning of the object may cause serious residual artifacts in the rebuilt images and covering of the heating focus by the residual artifacts will cause significant errors in calculation of temperatures, leading to very serious consequences of the HIFU therapy.

Method and apparatus for accelerating magnetic resonance temperature imaging


An article of footwear including a fastening system. The fastening system can include a pull tab and one or more flaps that cooperate to provide a more secure and snug fit, eliminates the need for conventional laces and a conventional tongue, and is easy to operate, especially for children or people with disabilities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an article of footwear, and in particular to an article of footwear with a novel fastening system.
2. Description of Related Art
Various lacing systems for footwear have been proposed. In some cases, these lacing systems include features where the free ends of the laces are gathered together. Freed (U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,683) discloses a lacing system where four lace segments 1, 2, 3 and 4 are attached to a strap or movable fastener 160. Strap 160 is capable of tightening the laces with a single pull. See column 7, line 1 to line 21.
Donnadieu et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,763) discloses a system for returning to a pre-set tension on the laces of a boot. Donnadieu discloses a tensioning and latching means 8 that includes a link 7, that is attached to free ends 7a and 7b. Link 7 is attached to base 23 via connection means 14. By attaching link 7 to base 23 using connection means 14, the wearer is able to return the lacing system to a pre-set tension. Quellais (U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,697) teaches a tensioning system similar to the Donnadieu system.
Sussmann (U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,991) discloses a sports shoe with a tensioning flap or shield. Tensioning flap 8 includes a row of lacing eyelets that correspond or are opposite to a row of eyelets disposed on the upper. In some embodiments, Sussmann teaches the use of a single pulling site for tensioning flap 8.
Holzer et al. (U.S. patent application publication No. 2005/0060912) discloses a lacing system for a shoe that includes two lacing regions. A first lower region 13 where lace loops are laterally aligned and disposed across from one another, and a second region 14 where lace loops are generally vertically off-set. Holzer also teaches the use of a fixing means 18 attached to a tensioning means cord 30.
While various fastening systems have been proposed, there is still a need for a fastening system that is simple, provides a more secure and snug fit, eliminates the need for conventional laces and a conventional tongue, and is easy to operate, especially for children or people with disabilities.

Article of footwear with fastening system


An intercellular separation structure body capable of electrically connecting a plurality of unit cells that include a laminate type solid secondary battery with each other, and capable of ion-conductively insulating a positive electrode layer and a negative electrode layer in two adjacent unit cells, as well as a laminate type solid secondary battery provided with the same. The intercellular separation structure body is an intercellular separation structure body disposed between a plurality of unit cells each of which includes a positive electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, and a negative electrode layer that are sequentially stacked in a laminate type solid secondary battery. This intercellular separation structure body includes an insulating layer that electroconductively and ion-conductively insulates the plurality of unit cells from each other and an electroconductive section that is formed within the insulating layer and electrically connects the plurality of unit cells with each other.

In recent years, a battery, particularly a secondary battery, is used as a power source of a portable electronic apparatus such as a portable phone, a portable personal computer, or the like. As one example of a secondary battery, a lithium ion secondary battery is known to have a relatively large energy density. In such a secondary battery, a liquid electrolyte (electrolytic solution) such as an organic solvent has been conventionally used as a medium for moving ions. However, in a secondary battery using an electrolytic solution, there is a problem such as leakage of the electrolytic solution. Therefore, development of a laminate type solid secondary battery in which all the constituent elements are constituted with a solid using a solid electrolyte has been proceeding.
As a structure of such a laminate type solid secondary battery, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 2004-158222 Gazette (hereafter referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses a structure of a multilayer lamination battery in which, with a thin film solid lithium ion secondary battery constituting one cell, the battery cells are stacked in plural stages.
One structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 is constituted in such a manner that, in a laminate type solid secondary battery in which a plurality of power-generating elements each of which is constituted by stacking a positive electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, a negative electrode layer, and a current-collecting layer are stacked, the layers are sequentially stacked on one substrate without using a new insulating layer between individual power-generating elements, by using a function such that the current-collecting layer (metal film) will be an ion-conductively insulating film.
The other structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 is constituted in such a manner that, in a laminate type solid secondary battery in which a plurality of power-generating elements each of which is constituted by stacking a positive electrode layer, a solid electrolyte layer, a negative electrode layer, and a current-collecting layer are stacked via an insulating layer having an electroconductively and ion-conductively insulating property, leading tabs provided in the outer peripheral parts of the current-collecting layers are disposed to lead to the outside of the laminate body in a direction perpendicular to the laminate body direction; a via hole for connection penetrating through the insulating layer is provided in those leading tabs; the via hole is made so that metal electrodes can be embedded and connected; and connection of series type, parallel type, or series parallel type can be selected by combination of these connections.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (JP-A) No. 2004-158222 Gazette

Intercellular separation structure body and laminate type solid secondary battery provided with the same


Example communications methods and apparatus are described. One example method includes generating a first signal by a base station. The base station performs cyclic delay diversity (CDD) weighted processing on the first signal to obtain a second signal, and performs densified beam weighted processing on the second signal to obtain a third signal. The third signal is sent by the base station via an antenna. According to the foregoing method, the CDD weighted processing is performed on the first signal generated by the base station, so that time diversity can be obtained when the first signal is transmitted. In addition, the densified beam weighted processing is performed on the second signal obtained after the CDD weighted processing, so that a quantity of beams scanned by the base station can be increased.

A core idea of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is to use a plurality of transmit antennas and a plurality of receive antennas at a transmit end and a receive end respectively to combine (beamforming) signals in a spatial domain to form a plurality of parallel spatial data channels (thereby increasing a data transmission rate). Alternatively, a diversity may be added to improve communication quality (a decrease in a bit error rate (BER) and an increase in reliability). In this way, the signals are transmitted and received via a plurality of antennas at the transmit end and the receive end, thereby improving the communication quality.
To support MIMO, a base station is designed into a structure that includes a multiple-transmit multiple-receive remote radio unit (RRU) and a multiple-transmit multiple-receive antenna system. For example, the base station includes an RRU of 8T8R and an antenna system of 8T8R. Transmit channels of the RRU are connected to eight input channels of the antenna system in a one-to-one correspondence. Transmit signals of the eight input channels are spatially combined, and this improves coverage and a capacity gain of the base station.
To ensure performance of the foregoing base station, channel consistency from the RRU to the antenna system needs to be ensured. In a power division network, one RRU of 8T8R can be connected to a plurality of antenna systems of 8T8R. For example, the one RRU of 8T8R is connected to three antenna systems of 8T8R. The RRU of 8T8R is connected to one 1-to-3 power splitter, where the power splitter has three output signals, and then the RRU of 8T8R is connected to ports of each antenna system.
The RRU has only one calibration port and cannot be connected to three antenna systems. Therefore, the RRU can connect only the calibration port to a calibration port of the power splitter to ensure radio frequency channel consistency between the RRU and the power splitter, but cannot ensure radio frequency channel consistency between the power splitter and the antenna. As a result, beamforming performance is affected, and a coverage capability of the base station is greatly reduced.


A compact door barricade apparatus for use on doors is described. The apparatus is equipped with a protective inner case, outer case, door mount, an upper barricade, a lower barricade, barricade pivot links, handles, and barricade latches. Screws or lag bolts are used to mount the barricade latches to the door frame. The door mount connects the apparatus to the door. The barricade pivot links effectively link the movement of the upper barricade to that of the lower barricade. The movement of the handle disposed on the apparatus facilitates the synchronous movement of the upper and lower barricades across the width of the door and door frame, effectively securing individuals within a room.

While many means of securing doors are available on the market today, most involve the use of a physical or mechanical lock. Locks are often present on door knobs and deadbolts, which conventionally may be unlocked from either side of the door. Locks such as these are useful in locations that require secured access that is semi-public, in that any individual equipped with a key to the lock may gain access though either side of the door.
Unidirectional or barricade-type locks differ from conventional deadbolt or door knob locks in that they are used to secure a person within a room or behind a door. These types of locking mechanisms include door chains, slide locks, and latches. These physically bind the door to the door frame temporarily, providing a seemingly more secure form of lock which may only be locked or unlocked from within the secure area behind the door. This concept of secure locking is popular, as barricade locks work to prevent an intruder or unwanted individual from opening the door from the outside. No keys are used, meaning ideally, only those behind the door may open the door.
Unfortunately, many conventional locks are weak, as they only attach to an edge or corner of the door. As one may imagine, a chain, slide lock, or similar lock can easily be broken when sufficient force is applied to the correct portion of the door from the outside. As these locks are fairly common, most individuals know where the lock is located, and can therefore apply three in the proper place to defeat the lock.
Additionally, as many of these locks are installed at or near the top portion of the door, shorter individuals, people confined to wheelchairs, and children cannot often reach them, and are therefore unable to use them. A locking mechanism that could be locked or unlocked from the middle or lower portion of the door would make it easy for more people to use the lock for safety and security. A locking mechanism that could be locked or unlocked from the middle or lower portion of the door would make it easier for such people to use the locking mechanism for safety and security. Furthermore, conventional barricades that employ wood or metal bars secured by barricade latches are often heavy, and may not be easily lifted by many individuals. A barricade that does not require lifting would facilitate easier use of such device, and provide greater protection than weaker conventional locks.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus that provides better protection than conventional locks, is designed for everyday use, is easily locked and unlocked by all individuals without heavy lifting, and effectively secures a door from intruders. Such an apparatus preferably employs multiple barricade portions which extend across the entirety of the door and door frame. The multiple barricade portions are preferably linked such that they may be latched and unlatched simultaneously, expediting the arming and disarming of the barricade.


A flip-chip method includes providing a semiconductor chip and conductive connection pillars. Each of the conductive connection pillars has a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The flip-chip method also includes fixing the conductive connection pillars on a surface of the semiconductor chip. The first surfaces face the semiconductor chip. The flip-chip method also includes providing a carrier plate, forming solder pillars on the carrier plate, and forming a barrier layer on the carrier plate around the solder pillars. The flip-chip method further includes bringing the solder pillars into contact with the second surfaces of the conductive connection pillars. The conductive connection pillars are located above the solder pillars. The flip-chip method further includes performing a reflow-soldering process on the solder pillars, thereby forming solder layers from the solder pillars.

A flip-chip method is a chip-interconnect technology, and is also an ideal chip-bonding technology. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) developed and used a flip-chip technology more than 50 years ago. However, it is until recently that the flip-chip method became used in packaging high-end devices and in high-density packaging. Currently, the flip-chip packaging technology has been more widely used, with diversified packaging forms and increased demands.
However, in an existing flip-chip method, the quality of solder layers is undesirable, and adjacent solder layers may be connected with one another. The disclosed methods and structures are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art.


The cast steel strip must be supported, particularly after the casting device, to reduce stresses and mechanical deformations. A flexible support element, in particular, a chain with rolls, whose length can be changed by suitable adjustment devices, is arranged for the purpose of support after the casting device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a strip casting plant, particularly for the casting of metal strips, especially steel strips.
The steel strips produced with the casting plant preferably have thicknesses of up to 10 mm.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A casting plant for the casting of steel melts, in particular, is described in DE 34 23 834 C2. The molten steel passes from a supply container through a nozzle onto a continuously revolving, cooled and roller-supported belt. The solidified strip is conveyed by conveyance devices to a downstream unit for further processing, particularly rolling. The solidified strip is still relatively soft and, in any case, should not be bent immediately after casting, i.e., after leaving the revolving belt of the casting machine. In addition, considerable temperature differences between the strip interior and the strip surface still exist.


A sheet processing apparatus performs predetermined processing on a sheet or a sheet bundle. The sheet processing apparatus includes: a conveying unit that conveys a sheet along a conveying path; an aligning unit that, each time a sheet is conveyed by the conveying unit, aligns the sheet; a stacking unit that reverses a conveying direction of a sheet to convey the sheet backward to a branch path branched from the conveying path, and stacks the sheet in the branch path; and a binding unit that binds a sheet bundle aligned by the aligning unit, in the conveying path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus, an image forming system, and a sheet processing method, and more particularly to a sheet processing apparatus that binds sheet-shaped recording media (hereinafter referred to as "sheets" also in the appended claims) such as sheets of paper, sheets of transfer paper and sheets, an image forming system including the sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printing machine, a facsimile machine, or a digital multifunction peripheral (MFP) having at least two functions of these machines, and a sheet processing method performed by the sheet processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is well known a sheet postprocessing apparatus, a so-called finisher, that temporarily stacks, on a stacking tray, sheets each having an image formed thereon by an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a printer, or an MFP, and discharged from the image forming apparatus, aligns the sheets, and thereafter binds the sheets using a stapler that uses a metal staple. Such a sheet postprocessing apparatus is in widespread use because it increases convenience and efficiency by automatically binding a large number of copies of sheets each having an image formed thereon.
An example of such a technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3617936. A sheet processing apparatus according to this technique is configured as follows to avoid decrease in productivity in image formation without increasing complexity, size, and production cost of the apparatus. That is, the apparatus includes a postprocessing tray arranged inside the apparatus, a conveying path to guide a sheet to the postprocessing tray, and a sheet conveying unit to convey a sheet. The apparatus stacks sheets on the postprocessing tray, performs processing such as binding on the sheets, and thereafter discharges the sheets onto an output tray. The apparatus is configured to prevent backward traveling of the sheet at a predetermined position. The apparatus includes a branch path downstream of the predetermined position and a control unit that controls the sheet conveying unit. Under control of the control unit, the sheet conveying unit can move the sheet conveyed past the predetermined position backward and hold the sheet on the branch path. The sheet conveying unit can also convey one or more sheets held on the branch path together with a next conveyed sheet toward the postprocessing tray in a state where the next conveyed sheet is stacked on the one or more sheets.
According to this technique, when performing stapling processing, sheets are temporarily stacked on a stacking tray and aligned. After that, the sheets are stapled and then discharged onto an output tray. However, during a period when the sheets are aligned and stapled, another sheet cannot be stacked on the stacking tray. Accordingly, it has been necessary to temporarily stop output from the image forming apparatus.
In contrast to hand staplers that are generally capable of binding approximately 10 sheets, mainstream models of the sheet postprocessing apparatuses are capable of binding approximately 50 sheets. This number, 50, is the number requested by many users.
However, sheet postprocessing apparatuses (finishers) capable of binding approximately 50 sheets at a maximum are undesirably about the same size as copiers or printers. As a matter of course, such a finisher is not only relatively expensive and requires large space but also consumes much resources and a large amount of energy. In recent years, users are very sensitive to cost, space, and energy and resources consumption, and therefore cost reduction, space saving, and energy and resources saving are required.
Meanwhile, number of sheets which office users bind is small such as approximately five in the majority of cases, and binding as many as approximately 50 sheets is a rare occasion. In spite of that, a user has no other choice but to purchase a sheet postprocessing apparatus capable of binding approximately 50 sheets even when frequency of binding approximately 50 sheets is low, if the user desires to enhance efficiency in sheet processing. In other words, there have been only two choices: purchasing a sheet postprocessing apparatus capable of binding approximately 50 sheets to enhance efficiency, or giving up enhancing efficiency, in which case a user performs manual binding using a hand stapler.
There is a need to provide a sheet processing apparatus capable of low-volume binding while satisfying demands for cost reduction, space saving, resources saving, and energy saving.

Sheet processing apparatus, image forming system, and sheet processing method


A front cabinet door, attached to the first and second side panels for swinging movement therebetween, so that said front cabinet door can assume an open position with a substantially horizontal orientation parallel to the flippable board and a closed position vertically oriented perpendicular to the flippable board.

The usefulness of furniture such as dressers, cabinets, or bureaus can be greatly increased by providing a hinged or otherwise attached top which can be configured to provide greater working space or allow access to interior regions of the cabinet. For example, both U.S. Pat. No. 1,369,577 to Townley and U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,324 to Smith describe furniture having hinged tops that open to provide an increased working surface. Townley '577 describes a kitchen cabinet having a hinged top which can be opened to provide increased working space but when closed presents the appearance of a standard cabinet. Smith '324 discloses a cabinet having a top surface that is hingeably mounted to form either a flat dressing table for infants or alternatively to form a recessed shelf with side and top panels.
Both the cabinets described by Townley '577 and Smith '324 have an inherent disadvantage associated with the required cost and additional labor needed to add hinges to the cabinets to swingably support the top panel in an opened position.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dressing table that can be interchangeably converted into a cabinet.
It is another object of this invention to provide a convertible dresser having a front cabinet door and a flippable board configured to form a cabinet top so that the cabinet can be converted into a dressing table by rotating the front cabinet door into a horizontal position and reversing the orientation of the flippable board to bring flippable board into a horizontal position adjacent to the front cabinet door, forming an extensive level surface for use as a dressing table.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a convertible dresser having a cabinet with front, back, and side panels, a front cabinet door with an upper portion curved toward the back panel of the cabinet, and a flippable board configured to form a cabinet top so that the cabinet can be converted into a dressing table by rotating the front cabinet door into a horizontal position and reversing the orientation of the flippable board to bring flippable board into a horizontal position adjacent to the front cabinet door, forming an extensive level surface surrounded in part by the back panel, side panels, and curved upper portion of the front cabinet door.
In accordance with the previous objectives, the present invention is a cabinet that can be converted into a dressing table. The cabinet has a cabinet body having first and second side panels that are interconnected in a spaced apart relationship. A front cabinet door is attached to the first and second side panels for swinging movement therebetween. The cabinet also includes a flippable board having a first and second surface that rests upon the cabinet body. The flippable board has first and second supports attached to the first surface and arranged in spaced apart relationship so that the flippable board is capable of assuming two orientations with respect to the cabinet body, respectively oriented in a first arrangement with the second surface of the flippable board positioned to form a cabinet top of the cabinet body and in a second orientation with the first surface positioned in a coplanar, adjacent relationship with the front cabinet door placed in an extended position to project horizontally outward from the first and second side panels.
In preferred embodiments the cabinet body is formed by first and second side panels vertically arranged in parallel spaced apart relationship and connected together with a back panel. In the cavity of the cabinet body defined by the conjunction of the first and second side panels and the back panel are positioned a plurality of drawers that are slidably movable in a horizontal plane outward from the back panel to extend from the cabinet body. A top support board is positioned above the plurality of drawers in a horizontal plane extending between the first and second side panels and the back panel to constitute an uppermost horizontal surface. In preferred embodiments the top support board is situated between the first and second side panels and the back panel so that the side and back panels continue to extend upward from the site of horizontally arranged attachment of the top support board.
The flippable board can be placed to rest upon the top support board in two differing orientations. In one orientation the flippable board is positioned so that it is supported by first and second supports to define a space between the first surface of the flippable board and the top support board. In a second orientation, the flippable board is positioned to rest upon the top support board so that a flat surface suitable for a dressing table is provided.
A useful feature of the present invention is the lack of hinge elements or actively movable support members necessary for converting the dresser into a dressing table. Converting from a configuration suitable for a dresser with a top to a dressing table only requires that the flippable board be inverted so that the flippable board is in direct contact with the top support board. Similarly, converting from a dressing table into a dresser involves reversing the procedure, inverting the flippable board so that it is supported by first and second supports which create a storage space between the flippable board and the top support board.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is realized by the increased area of dressing table made available by extending the front cabinet door. The front cabinet door can be swung forward by rotation about pins that attach the front cabinet door between the first and second side panels. The forward rotation of the front cabinet door forward is blocked in a horizontal position by the action of blocks set on the first and second side panels so that a substantially flat surface located adjacent and coplanar to the flippable board is created. The combination of the properly oriented flippable board and front cabinet door together form a substantially flat surface suitable for use as a dressing table.
Still another advantage of the present invention results from the positioning of the top support board at a predetermined distance below the upper edges of the front, side and back panels. When the flippable board is oriented to act as a dressing table, the predetermined distance of first and second side panels and back panel act as a barrier to better contain the movements of infants or objects placed upon the dressing table. This advantage is also promoted by providing the front cabinet door with an curved portion that upwardly extends in a generally vertical manner when the remaining flat portion of the front cabinet door is in an extended horizontal position.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived. The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying drawings.

Smith Cabinet Manufacturing Company, Inc.


An output driver for an audio system includes a pre-charge circuit. The pre-charge circuit includes a charging amplifier and a feedback bias circuit. A charging amplifier includes an output node for coupling to a capacitive load, a first input node for receiving a reference voltage, a second input node for coupling to the output node of the charging amplifier, and a bias node for receiving a bias current. An output current of the charging amplifier varies with the bias current. The feedback bias circuit is coupled to the output node to sense an output voltage of the charging amplifier, and configured to provide the bias current that varies with the output voltage of the charging amplifier.

The invention relates to the field of audio amplifiers. In particular, embodiments of the invention are directed to reducing or eliminating pop and click noise in an audio playback system. However, the circuit and methods described here can be used in other applications for improved charging of a load device.
The pop and click noise can be generated when the playback system is first turned on or turned off and when the source driver charges or discharges too quickly due to improper equalization and can damage the headphone speakers.
Conventional solutions to reduce pop and click noise often suffer from numerous shortcomings. These shortcomings can include complicated circuits, large chip area, noise generation, and insufficient accuracy. These shortcomings are described below in more detail, and improved methods and circuit examples are described below.

Dynamic suppression of pop and click noise in an audio driver


A method of removing a closure from a container includes engaging three or more pry fingers against a lid and a container of the package in three or more locations spaced circumferentially around the package, and moving the pry fingers against the container and the lid, to pry the lid away from the container. A closure remover includes a frame, an actuator movable with respect to the frame, and a plurality of kinematic links movably carried between the frame and the actuator and including a plurality of articulatable pry fingers.

Packages, for example, paint packages, can be somewhat difficult to open. Current approaches include use of a prying device, like a key or a screwdriver, to break a seal between a lid and a container of a package, one pry spot at a time, circumferentially around the package. This process is time-consuming and can damage the lid.


A method and circuit for driving scan line in plasma panel is disclosed for dividing scan line of n-numbered cathode in two such that left side of scan line is constructed as a first group of even numbered cathode, and right side of scan line is as a second group of odd numbered cathode. There is provided a separate cathode driver and signal generation and processing portion with both first and second group of cathode. One picture of plasma panel is driven with two fields in an interlacing manner in that the conventional scanning frequency of 60 Hz is divided in two.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates generally to plasma display panel and more particularly to a method and a circuit arrangement for separating scan line drive such that the scan line is divided into left part and right part and sequentially driven to improve the resolution of the plasma display panel.
2. Description of the prior art
In general, a plasma display panel is comprised of small neon gas discharge tubes arranged most popularly in a 512.times.512 matrix and provides a much brighter picture than the conventional display tube. In such a plasma display panel, the scanning of plasma display panel is carried out sequentially from the first line to the last line of the picture, and thus the only circuit means including logical and drive unit is necessary for controlling scan line drive.
While there is no problem in use of the above-mentioned plasma display panel in case of the size of screen is relatively small, however, as the size of screen grew larger and as the resolution of picture grew higher, it has been exposed following problem.
In a larger screen, the number of dot or pixel of picture has increased and the number of cathode electrode in plasma display panel should be increased as well. Driving of great number of electrodes requires a high speed operation of high scanning frequency, and this will cause flicker phenomena in discharge and deteriorate picture quality. Also, large screen of plasma display panel makes its duty factor small which reduces light ON period of each dot and consequently this will deteriorate the picture quality.
Japanese Patent publication SHO Nos. 58-124523, 58-195812 and 58-195813 disclosed a display panel driving means which have characteristic features of high speed operation and low power consumption. In these patents, when the plasma display panel is driven sequentially, as drivers for row and column designation connected respectively to data line and scan line are comprised of push-pull driver, it can be shared refresh driving mean with column designation driving means as for scan line. These drivers provide simple circuit configuration and offer convenience to make an integrated circuits.
Also, there is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,504 an matrix type picture display panel comprised of a plurality of data line and scan line which are arranged in row and column and luminance cell is disposed at the respective cross point thereof. This prior art is so called precharge type line sequence drive method that is driven commonly by way of precharge in driving matrix of electro-luminescent panel. Thus, such a method give rise to increse of power consumption and to limitation of frame frequency by required precharge driving time. Accordingly, the above-mentioned method has disadvantage that it is not suitable especially for high speed scanning.
For easy reference, there is shown a block diagram which depict the overall construction of a module of plasma display panel in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, numeral 10 is designated central processing unit (CPU) of main system, which receives data signal that is signal source generated from personal computer or laptop computer, horizontal/vertical sync. signal, clock signal, enable signal, etc. and produces control signal for driving plasma display panel. The data signal D.sub.0 .about.D.sub.n of CPU 10 is supplied to anode driver 80 of display panel 90 via data buffer 20. Also, brightness signal Y generated in CPU 10 is supplied to anode driver 80 via brightness controller 30, and horizontal/vertical sync. signal SYNC from CPU 10 is supplied to clock generator 40 for panel, and the clock signal CLOCK from CPU 10 is supplied to anode timing generator 60.
Besides, clock generator 40 for display panel is connected such that it controls brightness controller 30, and controls vertical syncronization signal of anode timing generator 60 to drive anode driver 80. Also, clock generator 40 is connected such that it controls horizontal sync. signal of cathode timing generator 50 to drive cathode driver 70. Thus, in this circuit, the anode driver 80 drives vertical line of display panel 90 according to vertical sync. of display panel 90 and the cathode driver 70 drives horizontal line of display panel 90 according to horizontal sync. of the panel 90.
In this arrangement, the conventional method of sequential scanning is, as shown in FIG. 2, such that cathode timing generator 50 which receives control signal from clock generator 40 generates control signals for controlling left side and right side cathode driver 71 and 72 as well as clock signal K-CLK for left and right side cathode dirver 71 and
Further, both left and right side cathode driver 71, 72 are comprised of shift registors and connected to display panel 90 through each of switching transistors.
The operation of the circuit of FIG. 2 is appeared in timing diagram of FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, the cathode clock signal (a) generated from cathode timing generator 50 is applied to both left and right side cathode drivers 71, 72. At this time, signal (b) for left side cathode driver 71 is applied to the first line X.sub.0 of display panel 90 through the first switching transistor to initiate scanning. Subsequently, signal (c) for right side cathode driver 72 is applied to the second line X.sub.1 of display panel 90 through the driver 72 and the first switching transistor.
As mentioned above, the control signal is supplied sequentially from cathode timing generator 50 to both left and right side cathode drivers 71, 72 and thus display panel 90 undergoes sequential scanning.
On the other hand, refering to the timing diagram FIG. 3, at one half of the applied frequency both left and right cathode driver 71, 72 will operate, however, the enable time for substantial scanning operation is period to. Thus, as the scan enable time is reduced to one half of real operating frequency, the brightness of display panel is not sufficient in respect of real operating frequency.

Method for separating scan line drive in plasma display panel and circuit arrangement thereof