Apparatus for teaching color combinations includes a generally cylindrical spinner member having first and second apertures extending therethrough proximate to the geometric center thereof and a loop of twine extending through the openings with a portion thereof disposed on each side of the spinner member. The apparatus also includes apparatus for securing a plurality of colored members on the circumferential surface of the spinner member. This apparatus may include other apparatus for securing comprising a plurality of pockets dimensioned and configured for receiving respective generally planar colored members.

The invention relates to toys and particularly to toys that utilize a wheel through which pass a pair of strings to produce rotating movement by twisting of the strings. The invention has particular application to toys of this type which in addition have the purpose of teaching the effects of various color combinations.
The prior art includes various rotating wheels on which a variety of colors are disposed to illustrate the effects of mixing of the colors. Patents describing such apparatus include U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,042 and 3,953,104. The U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,104 includes a color wheel which has plurality of colorful designs provided in the wheel. The colorful display will be understood not to be disposed on the periphery as in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,042. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,042 includes a plurality of wheels. Each wheel has two colors fixed in the same continuous order.
The prior art also includes a number of members, which are usually cylindrical, through which a pair of strings extend at spaced points proximate to the axis of the cylindrical member. The strings are twisted typically by a looping motion of the cylindrical member. Thereafter, the axial extremities of the strings extending through the cylindrical member are pulled outwardly away from the cylindrical member causing the cylindrical member to rotate rapidly.
It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus which will illustrate various color combinations.
It is still another object of the invention to provide apparatus which will allow the user to select the color combinations which he wishes to observe.
It is an object of the invention which will include a wheel which has means for disposing any of a large plurality of colored segments along the periphery of the wheel.

Rotating wheel toy apparatus with replaceable colored elements


An electrical load control device such as, for example, an electrical switch is disclosed. In use, the electrical device includes a manual switch or mechanical actuator positioned with an opening or aperture of a front cover of the device, the manual switch or actuator being arranged and configured to manipulate a connected load. The electrical device includes one or more geometries, surface features, or spacers arranged and configured within the aperture of the front cover. During use, the geometries, surfaces features, or spacers are arranged and configured to interact with the manual switch or actuator to reposition and/or align the switch or actuator within the aperture so that a consistent and uniform gap or spacing is maintained between the outer perimeter of the switch or actuator and the inner surface of the aperture. In one embodiment, the geometries, surfaces features, or spacers may be positioned within one or more of the corners of the aperture.

Generally speaking, electrical devices such as, for example, electrical switches, dimmer switches, occupancy sensors incorporating a manual switch, a mechanical actuator, etc. (terms used interchangeably herein without the intent to limit or distinguish) include a housing for enclosing electrical circuitry for powering, controlling, operating, etc. the device, a mounting plate to attach the electrical device to a standard electrical wall box, and one or more mechanical actuators such as, for example, a pushbutton switch, a paddle switch, or the like, to toggle or adjust a load such as, for example, a lighting load, ON and OFF.
One common problem associated with electrical devices incorporating a mechanical actuator is that maintaining a consistent gap or spacing between an outer surface of the mechanical actuator and the inner surfaces or interior edges (terms used interchangeably herein without the intent to limit or distinguish) of the opening formed in the front surface or housing can be a challenge. Providing a consistent gap between surfaces results in an aesthetically pleasing appearance and ensures that the mechanical actuator doesn't bind or contact the inner surfaces of the opening when the mechanical actuator is operated. One solution to this problem is to provide extremely tight tolerances on the associated pieces, however this adds to the challenge of manufacturing and/or assembling such pieces.
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide an easy to implement solution to provide a consistent gap between the outer surface of the mechanical actuator and the inner surface of the opening formed in the front cover or housing thereby easing manufacturability while ensuring improved aesthetics and proper functionally of the electrical load control device.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements may be useful.

Electrical device housing with protrusions to maintain a consistent gap between a floating mechanical actuator and housing aperture


An exemplary method includes 1) identifying, by a cochlear implant system, an electrode included within an array of electrodes as being a disabled electrode, 2) selecting, by the cochlear implant system, at least two non-adjacent electrodes surrounding the disabled electrode, and 3) simultaneously applying, by the cochlear implant system, stimulation current to the at least two non-adjacent electrodes to compensate for a loss of stimulation resulting from the disabled electrode. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

The sense of hearing in human beings involves the use of hair cells in the cochlea that convert or transduce acoustic signals into auditory nerve impulses. Hearing loss, which may be due to many different causes, is generally of two types: conductive and sensorineural. Conductive hearing loss occurs when the normal mechanical pathways for sound to reach the hair cells in the cochlea are impeded. These sound pathways may be impeded, for example, by damage to the auditory ossicles. Conductive hearing loss may often be helped by the use of conventional hearing aids that amplify sound so that acoustic signals reach the cochlea and the hair cells. Some types of conductive hearing loss may also be treated by surgical procedures.
Sensorineural hearing loss, on the other hand, is due to the absence or the destruction of the hair cells in the cochlea which are needed to transduce acoustic signals into auditory nerve impulses. Thus, people who suffer from sensorineural hearing loss are unable to derive any benefit from conventional hearing aid systems.
To overcome sensorineural hearing loss, numerous cochlear implant systems—or cochlear prosthesis—have been developed. Cochlear implant systems generally employ an array of electrodes that is inserted into the cochlear duct. One or more electrodes of the array selectively stimulate different auditory nerves at different places in the cochlea based on the pitch of a received sound signal. Within the cochlea, there are two main cues that convey "pitch" (frequency) information to the patient. These are (1) the place or location of stimulation along the length of a cochlear duct and (2) the temporal structure of the stimulating waveform. In the cochlea, sound frequencies are mapped to a "place" in the cochlea, generally from low to high sound frequencies mapped from the apical to basilar direction. The electrode array is fitted to the patient to arrive at a mapping scheme such that electrodes near the base of the cochlea are stimulated with high frequency signals, while electrodes near the apex are stimulated with low frequency signals.
A sound processing heuristic may include any method, process, and/or algorithm that translates signals detected by a microphone into a sequence of electric pulses that can be transmitted to the intra-cochlear electrodes. However, one or more electrodes within an electrode array may become disabled or otherwise malfunction. Disabled electrodes may result in decreased sound quality and/or distorted pitch and may even render a cochlear implant useless to a patient.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems of compensating for a disabled electrode


Some embodiments provide a program. The program receives from a client device a request for objects in a collection of objects and a set of keywords. Based on the set of keywords, the program further determines a set of categories used for categorizing objects in the collection of objects. The program also generates a search query based on the set of keywords and the set of categories. The search query is configured to identify objects in the collection of objects having a description or name that matches at least one keyword in the set keywords and modify relevance of identified objects based on the set of categories. The program further executes the search query on the collection of objects to generate a result set of objects. The program also provides the result set of objects to the client device.

Search engines are tools used to search for information stored on computing systems, databases, networks, etc. In some cases, a search engine may examine the data stored on the computing systems to collect information about the data and build an index. When such a search engine receives a search query from a user, the search engine uses the index to determine results for the search query. Different search engines can use different techniques to find relevant information to the search query. For example, some search engines use natural language processing techniques. Some search engines may use full-text searching techniques. Other search engines (e.g., visual search engines) can use metadata. Many other techniques are possible.


The present invention relates to methods and devices for pre-buffering one or more content data items to be rendered at a mobile terminal. In a first aspect of the present invention, a mobile terminal (11, 12, 13) comprises a processing unit (15) arranged to acquire a probability with which at least one selected content data item of the one or more content data items is to be rendered at the mobile terminal, and to acquire an estimated point in time when the at least one selected content data item is to be rendered at the mobile terminal. Further, the processing unit is arranged to pre-buffer a first selected part of the at least one selected content data item in the mobile terminal such that the first selected part of the at least one selected content data item is ready for rendering at the estimated point in time, the extent of the pre-buffered first selected part being related to the probability with which the at least one selected content data item is to be rendered at the mobile terminal.

With the increased availability of smart phones, tablets and laptops in mobile data-/telecommunication networks, data traffic in the mobile networks is rapidly increasing. A mobile phone is no longer used exclusively to make to phone calls and send short messages, but is utilized for instance for watching video clips and streaming media, such as audio and video. During busy hours, the network can be overloaded and thus become congested due to increased quantities of data. Therefore, it is desirable for network operators to balance the traffic load by pre-buffering user content to the smart phones during off-peak hours when the network traffic load is lighter in order for the user to subsequently render the content at a desired point in time.
Pre-buffering user content is generally based on the prediction of user consumption behaviour. Since the network has limited capacity and the mobile phone has limited storage space, it must be determined which content data items, such as audio or video items, to be pre-buffered. The current solution to this problem is to rank the items to be downloaded by an associated probability that the user will want to render a particular item and pre-buffer the highest ranked items for subsequent rendering. This ranking may be embodied in the form of a list where, e.g., ten items are sorted according to their associated rendering probability. Thereafter, a buffer of the mobile phone will be filled with a selected couple of high-ranked content data items, such that the user subsequently can render these selected items.
The probabilities used for ranking items for download are typically acquired from recommender systems, also known as recommendation systems, and are determined based on user preferences, user behaviour, social network information, event calendars, editorials, campaigns, and other types of recommendations, as is known in the art. Such recommender systems may be implemented by means of collaborative or content-based filtering, or a combination thereof, referred to as hybrid recommender systems.
However, since the accuracy of the predictions is normally quite low, the benefits from pre-buffering are small. Prior art pre-buffering methods used could in fact increase the total network traffic load and reduce mobile phone battery life, in particular when the downloaded content is represented by a large quantity of data and/or the prediction accuracy is low.

Pre-buffering of content data items to be rendered at a mobile terminal


A width of a region where each of the N wells is in contact with the buried P well is not more than 2 μm. A ground voltage and a power supply voltage are applied to the P well and the N well, respectively. A decoupling capacitor is formed between the N well and the buried P well.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device.
2. Related Art
In recent years, an operating frequency of a semiconductor integrated circuit device is extremely increasing. When the semiconductor integrated circuit device is operated at a high frequency, a fluctuation in power supply voltage such as temporary current spike easily occurs. In an integrated circuit including a plurality of circuits, noise is propagated between circuits, and the circuit may erroneously operate. In a conventional art, a technique in which a decoupling capacitor is connected in parallel to a power supply in order to suppress a fluctuation in power supply voltage is known. In this manner, a power supply noise can be reduced to make it possible to suppress the fluctuation in power supply voltage, and a semiconductor integrated circuit device can be prevented from being erroneously operated by power supply noise and the fluctuation in power supply voltage. In order to achieve the object, the decoupling capacitor which is arranged due to the fluctuation in power supply voltage must have a capacitance of about several ten nano-farads with respect to one chip or package. However, when the decoupling capacitor as described above is arranged, a mounting area increases, and a degree of integration disadvantageously reduces.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-36015, a technique is described in which; a bottom N well is formed on a p-type silicon substrate, an N well and a P well which are adjacent to each other are formed thereon, a voltage Vcc is applied to an N-diffusion region, a ground voltage GND is applied to a P-diffusion region, and a capacitor between the power supply voltage Vcc and the ground voltage Vss is formed on the contact surface between the N well and P well, and between the P well and the bottom N well. In this manner, problems such as necessity of a region and an interconnect required for a capacitor and a reduction in effective area in which a device can be arranged can be solved.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-146613, a configuration is described in which a rear surface of a substrate is connected to a power supply terminal, and a pn junction is formed between the substrate and an inverse-conductivity-type epitaxial layer formed thereon to form a capacitor. In this manner, a semiconductor integrated circuit device which does not need a special arrangement region for arranging a decoupling capacitor, and easily manufactured is provided.
However, the present inventors have found that, in the configuration described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-36015, frequency characteristics of the decoupling capacitor are deteriorated when a well size is not appropriately set in formation of the decoupling capacitor. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a configuration in which an N well 208 is formed in a P well 206. In this configuration, a capacitor component is formed on a contact surface between a bottom surface of the N well 208 and the P well 206, and the capacitor component functions as a decoupling capacitor. However, when the N well 208 increases in width, although the capacitor component at a circumference portion of the N well 208 is applicable to a high frequency, a high resistance is applied to the capacitor component at a central portion of the N well 208. For this reason, when a frequency applied to the semiconductor device increases, with reference to an impedance of a decoupling capacitor configured by the N well 208 and the P well 206, a parasitic resistance caused by a resistance of the N well 208 cannot be neglected, and the decoupling capacitor does not function as a capacitor.


In a composite IC in which integrated are a power transistor, a bipolar analog circuit and a MOS logic circuit, a load-driving semiconductor device is provided which is capable of certainly placing the power transistor into an off-condition at power-on for stopping the driving of a load. In the semiconductor device, a high-side switch MOS transistor, a charge pump, a bipolar analog circuit, a charge pump driving CMOS logic circuit, a level conversion CMOS logic circuit and a forcibly stopping bipolar transistor 90 are made in the form of an IC, and the forcibly stopping bipolar transistor receives, through its base terminal, a signal which inverts when a drive voltage exceeds a predetermined value to turn to an on-condition. This operation places the bipolar analog circuit into a driving-stopped condition.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device for driving a load.
2) Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is an illustration of one example of a load-driving circuit, where a power transistor (N-channel MOS) 3 and a load 2 are connected through a switch SW1 to a power supply 1. Concretely, the power transistor 3 is connected thereto to be placed on the power supply side with respect to the load 2 between the power supply 1 and the ground, with the power transistor 3 being used as a high-side switch. The load-driving circuit, including this power transistor 3, is made in the form of a composite IC, and on one chip are integrated the power transistor 3, a gate driving circuit 4, a clock generating circuit 5, a signal processing logic circuit 8, a constant-voltage circuit 6 and a power-on reset circuit 7. Moreover, in the gate driving circuit 4 are integrated a bipolar analog circuit and a CMOS logic circuit. Still moreover, data are interchanged between a microcomputer 10 and the signal processing logic circuit 8, and a drive signal is supplied from the signal processing logic circuit 8 to the gate driving circuit 4 to turn on the power transistor 3 for energizing the load 2. On the other hand, a signal (power-on reset signal) from the power-on reset circuit 7 can stop the signal processing logic circuit 8 at power-on (the start of the power supply).
Meanwhile, in the case of the arrangement of such a composite IC, although the power-on reset circuit 7 can certainly stop the signal processing logic circuit 8 at the power-on, there is a possibility that, because the CMOS logic circuit and the bipolar analog circuit exist in a state mixed with each other in the gate driving circuit 4, the drive stop thereof becomes difficult. In detail, the bipolar analog circuit (bipolar transistor) is put to use due to the power supply withstand voltage limitation, and a level conversion MOS logic circuit becomes necessary to drive the bipolar transistor through the use of a drive circuit (digital signal). In the case of the employment of this MOS logic circuit, at power-on, the transistor of the bipolar analog circuit operates before the level conversion MOS logic circuit functions, so the power MOS transistor 3 falls into a half-on condition to make a current flow through the load 2.
The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above-mentioned situations, and it is therefore an object of the invention to provide, in a composite IC made by integrating a power transistor, a bipolar analog circuit and a MOS logic circuit, a load-driving semiconductor device capable of certainly bringing the power transistor into an off-condition in response to power-on to stop the driving of a load.
For this purpose, in accordance with the present invention, in a level conversion MOS logic circuit, a level of a drive signal is converted into a predetermined electric potential and outputted as a drive signal for a bipolar analog circuit. This signal adjusts an electric potential at a control terminal of a power transistor in the bipolar analog circuit and turns on the power transistor to energize a load.
Although the drive signal is fed through the level conversion MOS logic circuit to the bipolar analog circuit to turn on the power transistor, in a case in which, at power-on, a transistor of the bipolar analog circuit operates before the level conversion MOS logic circuit functions, the electric potential at the control terminal of the power transistor rises when the drive signal is in an non-outputted condition, so that the power transistor tends to fall into a half-on condition.
On the other hand, according to the present invention, the forcibly stopping bipolar transistor is, at its base terminal, responsive to a signal which inverts when a drive voltage exceeds a predetermined value in accordance with the power-on to take an on-condition for stopping the driving of the bipolar analog circuit. This avoids the rise of the electric potential at the control terminal of the power transistor to maintain the power transistor in an off-condition.
Thus, in the composite IC comprising an integration of the power transistor, the bipolar analog circuit and the MOS logic circuit, the power transistor can certainly be set in an off-condition at the power-on to stop the driving of the load.
In addition, according to the present invention, in the level conversion MOS logic circuit, the level of the drive signal is converted into a predetermined electric potential and outputted as a drive signal for the bipolar analog circuit. This signal controls the power supply to a charge pump in the bipolar analog circuit. On the other hand, on the basis of the drive signal, a charge pump driving MOS logic circuit makes the charge pump conduct a boosting operation. The charge pump is operated in this way to adjust the electric potential at the control terminal of the power transistor and turn on the power transistor for energizing the load.
Although the drive signal is fed through the level conversion MOS logic circuit to the bipolar analog circuit to turn on the power transistor, in a case in which, at power-on, a transistor of the bipolar analog circuit operates before the level conversion MOS logic circuit functions, the electric potential at the control terminal of the power transistor rises when the drive signal is in an non-outputted condition, so that the power transistor tends to fall into a half-on condition.
On the other hand, according to the present invention, the forcibly stopping bipolar transistor is, at its base terminal, responsive to a signal which inverts when a drive voltage exceeds a predetermined value in accordance with the power-on to take an on-condition for stopping the driving of the bipolar analog circuit. This avoids the rise of the electric potential at the control terminal of the power transistor to maintain the power transistor in an off-condition.
Thus, in the composite IC comprising an integration of the power transistor, the bipolar analog circuit and the MOS logic circuit, the power transistor can certainly be set in an off-condition at the power-on to stop the driving of the load.
In this case, preferably, the power transistor is used as a high-side switch.
Furthermore, it is also appropriate that the level conversion MOS logic circuit comprises a constant-current circuit, a MOS transistor connected in series to the constant-current circuit for outputting, as a drive signal for the bipolar analog circuit, a signal with a predetermined electric potential through on/off operations and an inverter for receiving the drive signal to output it to a gate terminal of the MOS transistor. Since the MOS transistor does not function normally from which the power is brought into the on-condition until it reaches its threshold voltage Vt, a current from the constant-current circuit which functions before the timing of reaching the threshold voltage Vt comes in a base terminal of the bipolar transistor in the bipolar analog circuit so that the voltage at the base terminal of the bipolar transistor in the bipolar analog circuit rises to turn on the bipolar transistor, which increases the gate voltage of the power transistor through the charge pump to make the power transistor fall into a half-on condition. The above-mentioned arrangement according to the present invention can eliminate this problem.


An active-illumination parallel Raman microspectroscopy scheme for simultaneously collecting Raman spectra from multiple points in a full-spectra range. A combination of multi-point laser illumination with wide-field Raman imaging is employed in order to allow for simultaneous imaging of multiple points not aligned on a single line.

Generally speaking, Raman spectroscopy can provide molecular information via inelastic light scattering without physical contact. Coupled with microscopic imaging, Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique for compositional analysis via inelastic light scattering. Raman microspectroscopy can be utilized for material analysis in many different ways that can include, for example, stress and temperature measurement in silicon and compositional analysis of polymer microparticles. Raman spectroscopy is particularly useful in obtaining microscopic information over a sizable area without physical contact, thereby enabling compositional analysis with little or no sample preparation. However, conventional laser scanning confocal Raman microscopy requires long data acquisition time due to its sequential operation, as well as the additional latency from the readout time of low-noise charge coupled device (CCD) detectors. As a result, conventional point-scan Raman mapping speed is about one to a few points per second, or a few Hertz.
Three methodologies are commonly employed in contemporary Raman microspectroscopy, namely, point-scan, line-scan, and global illumination. The point-scan operation involves the collection of Raman spectra in a point-by-point fashion. Since Raman scattering is a relatively weak phenomenon, the laser spot dwelling time at each point is typically on the order of milliseconds to seconds. In addition, the data needs to be read-out after each point acquisition, which may another few hundred milliseconds for a standard charge-coupled device (CCD) detector. As a result, conventional point-scan Raman mapping is a time-consuming process and, for example, can take as long as a few hours to map a 50×50 μm2 region.
To improve efficiency, parallel acquisition has been implemented based on time-sharing or power-sharing schemes. In the former, the laser is rapidly scanned over multiple points of interest during the time of a single CCD recording frame. In the latter, the laser is shaped into an elongated line and the entire line is imaged by a single CCD frame. Thus, both schemes can substantially reduce multiple read-out times. A key difference, however, lies in the temporal power fluctuation within a CCD frame. For time-sharing, the total laser power is focused on one spot at any given time but for power-sharing the laser power is distributed on all spots. Therefore, the frame-averaged power is identical to the instantaneous power for power-sharing but not for time-sharing. Another significant difference is there is no scanning within each frame for power-sharing. Recently, the time-sharing approach has been demonstrated to provide flexibility for imaging multiple points not aligned on a line, which is particularly advantageous for sparse samples such as bacteria or environmental particles.
To achieve a speed beyond 100 Hz, rapid point scanning may be employed in state-of-the-art commercial Raman systems with the use of electron-multiplied CCD (EMCCD) detectors. Although EMCCD can effectively overcome the read noise due to the short integration time per point measurement (˜msec), substantial noise is generated during the multiplication process. In addition, the throughput advantage can be severely undermined for common specimens, where the Raman scattering cross section is typically small, and thus requires much longer integration time to achieve a decent signal-to-noise ratio. In contrast, parallel acquisition using, for example, a line-shaped laser pattern can achieve similar throughput without the need for an EMCCD. Raman photons originating from the entire line, equivalent to many spots, are imaged to the entrance slit of a spectrograph, dispersed, and captured by a single CCD frame. Two-dimensional mapping is achieved by scanning the laser line in the transverse direction. Although efficient, the line-scan approach suffers from a major limitation: parallelism is only possible for points lying on a line, which severely undermines its throughput advantage when sparse sampling is desired.

Method and system for active-illumination parallel Raman microspectroscopy


A communication apparatus includes a storing unit, a setting unit, a transmitting unit. The storing unit stores the number of transmissions of data to a destination of the data in association with an identifier that identifies the data. The setting unit sets, when the number of transmissions of target data that is data of a target of transmission to the destination reaches a threshold, as alternative data, a combination of the target data and a retaining request for requesting retaining of the target data. The alternative data is data to be transmitted to the destination as an alternative of the target data. The setting unit sets, after transmission of the retaining request, the identifier of the target data as the alternative data. The transmitting unit transmits the alternative data to the destination.

In recent years, speeding up of communication has been desired, and various attempts have been made in order to increase the communication speed. For example, in order to reduce data transmission volume, redundancy removal is performed for transmission target data in some cases. In redundancy removal, the communication apparatus of the receiving side associates and saves data received in the past from the communication apparatus of the transmitting side in a cache in association with identifiers, and the communication apparatus of the transmitting side also stores identifiers of data transmitted in the past. The communication apparatus of the transmitting side determines whether data that is about to be transmitted is data that has already been transmitted, using the identifier of the data, and for data that has already been transmitted, transmits the identifier associated with the data to the communication apparatus of the receiving side, instead of the data. The communication apparatus of the receiving side reads the data associated with the received identifier from the cache, and handles the read data as data transmitted from the communication apparatus of the transmitting side.
In relation to the processing of redundant data, a method have been known in which, in a case in which the same image data is processed, the printer driver forwards data to the printer with attachment of information indicating such matter, and the printer caches the image data.
When removing redundancy in transmitted data using a cache, the larger the size of the cache provided in the communication apparatus of the receiving side, the more data are stored in the cache, and therefore, it becomes easier to prevent transmission of redundant data. However, the capacity of the cache provided in the communication apparatus of the receiving side is limited, and when the available capacity in the cache runs out, the communication apparatus of the receiving side is to perform deletion starting from data with a longer elapsed time since the last access. For this reason, due to the deletion of data at the receiving side, redundancy removal may not be efficiently performed in some cases. For example, even when data A is included a plurality of times in transmission target data, a large volume of data without redundancy may be transmitted between data A transmitted first and data A transmitted later. At this time, if the available capacity of the cache of the communication apparatus of the receiving side runs out before the transmission of the data A transmitted later and the data A is deleted at the communication apparatus of the receiving side, it follows that the communication apparatus of the transmitting side is to transmit the data A again to the communication apparatus of the receiving side.


A hand truck includes a frame body and a wheel assembly including two wheel units spacedly supported at the frame body to switch between a first operation position and a second operation position for enabling the frame body to be tilted backward to transport a load. In the first operation position, the wheel units are oriented in parallel planes for enabling the frame body to move in a back-and-forth direction, and in the second operation position, the wheel units are oriented to align with each other in a common plane for enabling the frame body to move in a left-and-right direction. Therefore, the hand truck provides two modes of movement for two-dimensional movement.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a dolly with adjustable wheel assembly, and more particularly to a dolly with adjustable wheel assembly which provides movement of the dolly along two perpendicular axes.
2. Description of Related Arts
Hand trucks, such as dollies and four-wheeled transportation boards, are commonly used for carrying and transporting a load, especially heavy and bulky load, from one place to another. One type of conventional dolly includes a frame for holding a load and two wheels for movement along the axis of the frame. When a user uses the dolly to transport a heavy load and has to make a turn, the whole dolly, which includes the frame and the wheels, has to be turned together. That is to say, the user has to hold and turn the dolly which carries the heavy load in order to make a turn.
There are some major drawbacks for this kind of conventional dolly. First, the user has to turn the heavy load on the dolly when making a turn and without any displacement and without making any progress of movement. Second, the heavy load may be dislodged from its original position and collapsed while making a turn. Third, when the load is bulky and the space is not sufficient for making a turn, a user has to unload and adjust the position of the heavy and bulky load manually and reposition the dolly with respect to the load. For example, a rectangular bulky load is carried with the dolly across a L-shaped corridor. When the user approaches the corner of the L-shaped corridor, he or she has to unload and reposition the bulky load at the corner, and then moves the dolly to fit the load in order to pass through the corner. The lack of any mechanism in the conventional dolly to facilitate movement in two perpendicular directions makes it really inconvenience and ineffective as a transportation tool. Since building structures, either residential or commercial, usually will not provide a huge corridor and cannot avoid having corner points in the building structures, the need of making a turn at the corner is real and the problem of failing to provide any mechanism to solve the problem is a vital drawback.
Another type of hand truck is a four-wheeled transportation board, which is very primitive in the sense that there is no mechanism to secure a load on the transportation board and no handle or navigation means for the user to hold and move the board around, or to stop the board. There is simply no control or handle arrangement for this kind of four-wheeled transportation board.

Hand truck with adjustable wheel assembly


A method for sensing voltage on an internal node in an integrated circuit includes applying a voltage larger than a threshold value to a first pad, generating from the activation voltage a potential for a sensing circuit and coupled to the internal node, and coupling an output of the sensing circuit to a second pad on the integrated circuit when the activation voltage is present on the first pad. A sensing circuit includes first and second pads, a voltage-sensor circuit having an input coupled to an internal node and a power connection coupled to a sensor power node. A circuit is configured to place a supply potential on the sensor power node when a threshold value is on the first pad. A switch coupled between the sensing circuit and the second pad turns on when the supply potential is on the voltage sensor power node.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuit technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to on-chip circuitry for sensing an analog signal during powerup of an integrated circuit.
2. The Prior Art
There sometimes exists a need for sensing an analog signal present in an integrated circuit during powerup of the integrated circuit prior to a time at which the entire circuit is functioning. In some cases, an additional I/O pad may be provided to provide power for performing this function. However, as the complexity of the functions of the integrated circuit increases, integrated circuit I/O availability becomes more constrained and additional I/O to provide functionality such as application of external power supply potential may not be available.

Methods and circuits for sensing on-chip voltage in powerup mode


Techniques for accurate position location and tracking suitable for a wide range of facilities in variable environments are disclosed. In one aspect, a system for position location comprises a plurality of sensors (e.g. a network monitor, an environment sensor) for generating a measurements of a plurality of sources, a plurality of objects or tags, each object generating measurements of the plurality of sources, and a processor for receiving the measurements and generating a position location for one or more objects in accordance with the received measurements. In another aspect, a position engine comprises a mapped space of a physical environment, and a processor for updating the mapped space in response to received measurements. The position engine may receive second measurements from an object within the physical environment, and generate a position location estimate for the object from the received second measurements and the mapped space. Various other aspects are also presented.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally communications, and more specifically to a wireless position location and tracking system.
2. Background
There is a well-established demand for the ability to track the location of various objects and/or persons within various environments. Owners of various assets may want to be able to locate those assets with precision at any time, in order to make efficient use of them (i.e. for deployment or re-deployment in response to varying demand). Security applications may include locating missing equipment, or preventing the loss of equipment.
Satellite tracking systems, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), and others, may be used to provide location determination around the globe. Satellite tracking systems generally do not perform well inside buildings, or in other locations where the satellite signals are not readily receivable.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are being developed to track and locate items within defined areas. Passive RFID systems are limited to detecting the presence of an item within range of a portal. Typically, a portal or interrogator sends out a query signal and any tag (i.e., a device included in or attached to an object to be tracked) within range responds. Passive RFID tags generally do not have a power source. Active RFID systems function in a similar manner, but the active tags have a power source, typically a battery, for longer range operation. RFID systems (active and passive) require installing a dedicated infrastructure of portals or interrogators for tracking which may be difficult or expensive to deploy, and may lack flexibility.
Other systems employ RF fingerprinting, whereby mobile devices measure signal strength from one or more beacons and attempt to correlate those measurements with signature measurements taken throughout the defined area. One example is the RADAR system. (See P. Bahl and V. N. Padmanabhan, "Radar: An In-Building RF-based User Location and Tracking System", in Proceedings of the IEEE Infocom 2000, Tel-Aviv, Israel, vol. 2, March 2000, pp. 775-784). One drawback of systems such as these is that the signature measurements are taken infrequently, and the measurement task may be cumbersome and expensive. The RF environment may change significantly throughout any given time period, and the accuracy of the location calculation will be degraded accordingly.
Other systems employ triangulation, whereby fixed devices measure the signal strength or propagation delay of a mobile device and use this information in conjunction with the known location of the fixed device to compute the location of the mobile device. These systems require installing a dedicated infrastructure of fixed devices for tracking, which may be difficult or expensive to deploy, and may lack flexibility.
There is therefore a need in the art for an accurate position location and tracking system suitable for a wide range of facilities in variable environments.

Wireless position location and tracking system


This invention provides a method of preparing microsphere composite of collagen and bioceramic powder. This method first mixes a collagen solution with bioceramic powder and alginate, and squeezes the mixture solution to spherical droplets being discharged into a divalent cation solution undergoing gelling to form microspheres. Next, the microsphere is coated with a chitosan solution. Then, interior alginate and surface chitosan of the microsphere are liquefied and washed out with an aqueous buffer solution such as phosphate based buffer, and collagen in the microsphere is reconstituted to fiber network at the same time. The prepared microsphere composite has similar composition components of bone tissue, and the collagen thereof has a network of reconstituted fibers. The microsphere composite of this invention provides a similar growth environment of bone tissue cells, is used as a carrier to carry cells, coat and fix bone growth factors, and is applied in bone repair.

This invention relates to a method of preparing microsphere composite and in particular to a method of preparing microsphere composite of collagen and bioceramic powder, the interior and the surface of the microsphere have a three dimensional network of collagen fibers.
Human bone tissue needs to be repaired as it has defects due to damages or diseases. If bone implant material is added to the defect to bear stress and provide a scaffold for cell culturing, which can effectively augment bone structures and induce bone tissue regeneration and repair. The best method to get bone implant material is autogenous implant, but this source is limited and the patient suffers a second operation. Allogenous bone graft has problems of immune response and other side effects. Therefore, the synthetic bone tissue material gives another choice. The conventional synthetic implant material has inertia in order to coexist with living tissues. But the inertia material induces fibers around the implant, therefore the implant is not fixed or the tissues around it become fibers or die. Prior arts have discovered there is biological binding between tissue and biomaterial, and the biomaterial has better biocompatibility. Collagen is the most abundant protein of bone matrix, has biocompatibility and low immune response causing property, and provides a suitable matrix for regenerated osteocyte""s anchorage. Adding bioceramic powder such as tricalciun phosphate (TCP), hydroxyapatite (HAP) to collagen forms composite material, this composite material has larger mechanical strength and further simulates the composition components of bone tissue. Such composite material can be used as carriers for cells and growth factors which induce tissue regeneration and speed up bone repair rate.
There are many shapes of implant materials such as bulk shape, cement shape, and microsphere shape. Each shape has its own disadvantages. Bulk shape bone implant has larger mechanical strength, so it is not suitably applied in various shapes of bone defect in operation. As per cement shape and microsphere shape bone implants, which can be conveniently operated, molded in accordance with the shape of the defect, and injected to the location of bone defect to reduce patient""s pain in the operation. The disadvantages of materials of these shapes are such materials can not be easily fixed at the defect and have smaller mechanical strength.
Conventional technology filled collagen in the pores of sintered porous ceramic materials via pouring or immersion. Sintered ceramics has high hardness to bear stress, but has limitation in modability. In addition, the porous ceramic is not bioresorbable and an obstacle to further growth of new bone tissues.
Prior art mixed the hydroxyapatite dissolved in acidic solution with reconstituted collagen, then adjusted the pH of the solution to slightly basic to make hydroxyapatite dispersed in collagen. Prior art also mixed hydroxyapatite precursor with collagen solution, and used acid-base reaction to convert the precursor to hydroxyapatite dispersed in collagen fibers matrix. Chu et al in 1988, 1989 (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,776,890, 4,888,366), mixed collagen solution with hydroxyapatite powder directly to form gel solution, which has injectable advantages and applications to repair of soft tissues. The above composite material formed by direct mixing of the composition components is separated into two phases after a period of time due to appreciable specificity difference between collagen and bioceramic powder. In addition, the diameter of bioceramic powder used is about 0.5 mm which is too large, this type of bioceramic is not bioresorbable and induces fiber tissues around it. This direct mixed composite can not form similar collagen fibrous network of bone tissues providing the needed growth environment of bone tissue cells via an observation of the microscopic structure of the composite.
In microsphere composite material, collagen and bioceramic powder are distributed more homogeneously. Large amount of the microspheres can be arranged in any orientation, and this remedies nonhomogeneity of two phases of each microsphere macroscopically. In addition, the microsphere has good modability and can be prepared in injectable form to reduce the need of operation due to its small diameter. Prior art used silicon oil to prepare microsphere of collagen, then further mixed hydroxyapatite with collagen solution, the mixture was discharged into a fast agitated ethyl-2-hexyl cocoate to make collagen form sphere, the solution was centrifuged and ethyl alcohol was added to the solution to remove ethyl-2-hexyl cocoate to separate microsphere of collagen and hydroxyapatite. Wang et al in 2001 (ROC Patent Publication No. 420604) mixed collagen solution with hydroxyapatite to form a mixture solution, spherical droplets of which were discharged into an oil phase such as olive oil, the collagen of the mixture solution reconstituted to form fiber network microsphere, a cross-linking agent such as glutaraldehyde was added to the oil phase to make the reconstituted collagen link with the hydroxyapatite, finally the microsphere was separated from the oil phase. In the above process to prepare microsphere, organic solvent used might damage collagen structure, and it is worried about that residual organic oil or cross-linking agent in the prepared microsphere causes damages to tissues. In addition, more processes are needed to separate the oil phase.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method of preparing microsphere composite of collagen and bioceramic powder in order to improve the drawbacks of conventional methods to prepare composite material. The present invention uses collagen solution and reconstitution technology to prepare the microsphere composite. Collagen and bioceramic powder are distributed homogeneously in the microsphere composite, and the interior and the surface of the microsphere have a three dimensional network of collagen fibers. There is no residual organic solvent, organic oil or cross-linking agent in the prepared microsphere composite, so there is no need to worry about they may cause damages to tissues. In addition, the microsphere composite of this invention has enough mechanical strength to be used as a carrier to carry cells, coat and fix different bone growth factors to induce tissue regeneration and speed up bone repair rate. The microsphere composite can be injected in bone repair or further processed to different shapes of plate to be applied in bone repair.

Method of preparing microsphere composite of collagen and bioceramic powder


In a color cathode-ray tube having a shadow mask disposed to face a phosphor screen and having apertures for passage of an electron beam, and a frame for reinforcing tile periphery of the shadow mask, a magnetic shield comprises strips of magnetic material each having a first end fixed to the frame and a second end disposed closer to the electron gun. Because of the elongated shape, the strips are magnetized easily only in the direction of their length. As a result, an external magnetic field parallel to the strips, and hence with the tube axis, is reduced or canceled. Moreover, if each strip is bent near its second end so that the second end is directed toward a horizontal plane containing the tube axis, an external magnetic field in the direction in which the second end is directed is enhanced. This will further reduce deviation of the electron beam path In the horizontal direction.

The present invention relates to a color cathode ray tube of the shadow mask type that has a magnetic shield for preventing for example color contamination due to deviation of the electron beam caused by an external magnetic field such as terrestrial magnetism.
In a color cathode ray tube with a built-in shadow mask, when the electron beam deviates under the influence of an external magnetic field, such as terrestrial magnetism, color contamination or other undesirable phenomenon occurs because undesired parts of a phosphor screen is made to emit light. To eliminate the effect of the external magnetic field, an internal magnetic shield is mounted along the inner wall of a funnel, adjacent the edges of a generally rectangular shadow mask.
FIG. 11 is a sectional view of such a color cathode ray tube in the prior art. In describing the color cathode ray tube, the term "Z-axis" is used to mean the tube axis which is perpendicular to the shadow mask and passing the center of the shadow mask, the term "X-axis" is used to mean the axis orthogonal to the Z-axis and parallel to the longer sides (horizontally extending sides, i.e., the top and the bottom sides) of the shadow mask, and the term "Y-axis" is used to mean the axis orthogonal to the Z-axis and the X-axis and parallel to the shorter sides (vertically extending sides , i.e., the right and the left sides) of the shadow mask. Moreover, the term "front" is used to mean the direction toward the face plate of the cathode ray tube, and the term "rear" is used to mean the direction toward the electron gun.
The cathode ray tube shown in FIG. 11 comprises a glass envelope 1 made up of a neck 1a, a funnel 1b and a face plate or front panel 1c. An electron gun 2 is disposed in the neck 1a, a phosphor screen 3 formed of phosphors emitting light of red, green and blue are provided on the inner surface of the front panel 1c in a mosaic fashion. A rectangular shadow mask 4 is disposed to face the phosphor screen 3, and is provided with apertures 6 for passage of electron beams 9, as shown in FIG. 12.
A rectangular frame 5 comprises a parallel part 5a and a normal part 5b. The parallel part 5a is flat, parallel with a skirt 1ca of the Front panel 1c and extends along the edges of the phosphor screen 3. The normal part 5b is flat, connected to the rear edge of the parallel part 5a (that side of the parallel part 5a which is facing the electron gun 2) and extends therefrom inward, normal to the axis, denoted by Z, of the tube 1.
The cross section of the rectangular frame 5 is therefore L-shaped.
The parallel part 5a has a width smaller than the dimension of the skirt 1ca in the direction of the tube axis Z so that it is accommodated in the skirt 1ca.
The edges of the shadow mask 4 are fixed, by means of welding or the like, to the sides 5a of the frame 5, so that the shadow mask 4 is reinforced.
Springs 7 have one end fixed to the parallel part 5a of the frame 5. The shadow mask 4, the frame 5 and the springs 7 together form a shadow mask structure 20.
The springs 7 have holes at their other ends engaged with pins (not shown) erected on the inner surface of the respective sides of the skirt 1ca, and the shadow mask 4 and the phosphor screen 3 face each other, being separated by a predetermined distance.
An inner magnetic shield 8 is formed from a thin sheet and formed to have a shape of a frustum of pyramid or prismold having side surfaces extending along the inner surface of the funnel 1b.
The periphery 8a of the front edge of the inner magnetic shield 8 are fixed, by means of welding or the like, to the rear side of the normal part 5b of the frame 5.
The electron beam 9 emitted from the electron gun 2 is scanned over the range indicated by chain lines 9a and 9b in FIG. 11, and the electron beam having passed the apertures 6 impinges on the phosphor screen 3 to cause selective light emission from the phosphors.
When the color cathode ray tube is in an environmental magnetic field, such as terrestrial magnetism, the path of the electron beam 9 is bent. Such influence of the environmental magnetic field is removed or suppressed by the inner magnetic shield 8. That is, in the space enclosed by the inner magnetic shield 8, the environmental magnetic field is reduced, so the bending of the path of the electron beam 9 is reduced, and the deviation in the position of impingement onto the phosphor screen 3 is reduced, and the color contamination is therefore reduced.
Observation of the magnetic shielding effect of the inner magnetic shield 8 reveals that when the color cathode ray tube is disposed to face the east or the west (disposed in the E direction or the W direction), the magnetic flux concentrates on the inner magnetic shield 8 and the frame 5, so the shield effect in the space within enclosed by these members is substantial.
When the color cathode ray tube is disposed to face the north or the south (disposed in the N direction or the S direction), the inner magnetic shield 8 is open in the direction of the phosphor screen 3, so the magnetic shield effect is less than when the cathode ray tube is in the E or W direction. Thus, the magnetic shielding effect is different between the E and W direction and N and S directions. In other words, the magnetic shielding effect has an anisotropy. It Is however desirable that the magnetic shielding effect is approximately equal in all directions. However, with the magnetic shield 8 in the shape of the frustum of pyramid, it is not possible to independently adjust the magnetic shield effect in the E and W directions, and the N and S directions, and the designing is made based on experience.
When the inner magnetic shield is not provided, the bending of the electron beam path due to the environmental magnetic field when the cathode ray tube is in the E or W direction is in the vertical direction. So, with a type of cathode ray tube having phosphor stripes elongated in vertical direction, the deviation of the electron beam impinging positions in the vertical direction do not cause serious color contamination. When however the magnetic shield 8 in the shape of a frustum of pyramid as shown in FIG. 11 is used (to improve the shield effect for the cathode ray tube in the N or S direction), if the cathode ray tube is in the E or W direction, the magnetic shield 8 not only gives the desired shielding effect, but also modifies the environmental magnetic field. The shield effect for the cathode ray tube in the E or W direction may therefore be inferior than if the magnetic shield 8 is not used at all. It often happens that the intended improvement in the magnetic shielding is not attained.
The terrestrial magnetism as an environmental magnetic field consists of a horizontal components and a vertical components, and the effect of vertical component is constant regardless of the direction in which the cathode ray tube is disposed. The vertical component is substantially constant throughout a substantial part of the world, so the effect of the vertical component can be easily eliminated by appropriate design. The effect of the horizontal component of the terrestrial magnetism is more difficult to overcome.
Since the prior art color cathode ray tube is configured as described above, the shielding effect by means of the magnetic shield is insufficient, and it is not possible to determine or alter the shielding effect independently for the E and W directions, and for the N and S directions. Moreover, the designing was made by experience, and was time-consuming.


A document distributing method is proposed using access control information separated into invisible data embedded as an electronic watermark and visible data described in a structured document to achieve prevention of unauthorized alteration of document data, authentication thereof, and prevention of unauthorized access thereto. The method has a step of separating access control information into a first access control information and a second access control information, a step of embedding the first access control information into administrative information-enclosing data, a step of setting an administrative identifier for making the administrative information-enclosing data in which the first access control information has been embedded be an information item in the document data, and a step of enclosing, in the administrative identifier, information content of the administrative information-enclosing data and the second access control information for creating the access control information for accessing the document data together with the first access control information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of distributing document data containing such data as image data and music data, apparatus for creating the document data, apparatus for accessing the document data, and programs thereof. The invention also relates to methods of managing the documents, apparatus for managing the documents, and programs thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic signature is known as a technique that can certify authenticity of document data containing digitized data such as image data and music data.
For example, a hash value of digitized data is computed and is then encrypted using a private key to produce an electronic signature, and the digitized data are distributed with the electronic signature appended thereto. A user who receives the distributed digitized data decrypts the electronic signature using a public key encryption and at the same time computes a hash value of the digitized data, and by verifying if they match or not, the user can authenticate the received digitized data.
With this technique, unauthorized alteration to distributed document data can be detected, and unauthorized data distribution can thus be prevented.
The encrypted data that are appended as an electronic signature are, however, visible data, and there is a possibility that they may be deciphered if a plurality of such data are analyzed through algorithmic analysis.
Another technique has been suggested in which an encryption key or the like is embedded as an invisible electronic watermark into image data that constitute the document data. However, in order to extract the electronic watermark from the document data to perform access control, a device equipped with a special application program is necessary.
The present invention proposes a document distribution method that achieves combined functions of concealing or hiding of, preventing unauthorized alteration of, authenticating of, and preventing unauthorized access to document data by using access control information that is separated into invisible data that are embedded as an electronic watermark in digitized data and visible data that are described in a structured text.

Document distribution method and document management method


An adjustable bracket is provided with profiled parts (2, 3), a hinge (4) between the profiled parts (2, 3) and with a duct (7, 8) for accommodating media lines (9). The duct (7, 8) is formed of a flexible material. A fastening device (5, 6) for the duct (7, 8) is present on the top side and/or the underside of the profiled parts (2, 3) in such a way that it can be guided over the hinge (4).

A bracket of the type has become known from DE 103 53 471 A1. The prior-art bracket comprises two hollow profile sections, which are connected to one another via a hinge. The hollow profile sections have wall parts, which are connected in a U-shaped manner, are open toward the underside and whose free ends are connected to one another via a likewise U-shaped closing cover. The closing cover is used to open and close the hollow profile in order to accommodate media lines there. The media lines normally extend on the underside of the hollow profile. When media lines are replaced, the closing covers are first pulled off from the wall parts downwardly and subsequently fastened again to the wall parts by means of a snap connection. Different media lines can thus be fastened and rapidly replaced along the hollow profiles.
The drawback of the prior-art bracket is that there is no cable routing in the area of the hinge.


Provided is a curable composition comprising a reactive silicon group-containing polyoxyalkylene polymer (A), such as a reactive silicon group-containing polyoxypropylene; a reactive silicon group-containing vinyl polymer (B), such as a reactive silicon group-containing (meth)acrylate polymer; and a polyoxyalkylene plasticizer (C) having a low molecular weight, such as polyoxypropylene, the curable composition providing a rubber-like cured object by crosslinking reaction in the presence of moisture. Also provided is a method for sealing ceramic siding boards comprising applying the curable composition as a sealant and curing the curable composition.

Room temperature curing compositions based on oxyalkylene polymers containing reactive silicon groups can be used, for example, as sealants for construction (commonly referred to as "modified silicone sealants"), and have high performance. Among various characteristics required for such curing compositions, mechanical properties, such as modulus, elongation at break, and strength at break, along with long-lasting weatherability are important. Various studies have been conducted on these properties. As a result, with respect to mechanical properties, such as modulus, elongation at break, and strength at break, it is known that by adding a phthalate ester, a polyether plasticizer, or the like to a curable composition, physical properties suitable for sealants can be obtained. With respect to weatherability, each of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 59-122541, 60-031556, 63-112642, 6-172631, 7-90171, etc., discloses that by blending a reactive silicon group-containing vinyl polymer with a reactive silicon group-containing oxyalkylene polymer, the weatherability can be improved compared with when the reactive silicon group-containing oxyalkylene polymer is used alone.
Ceramic siding boards are inexpensive, fire-resistant construction materials used for walls or the like which are produced by compounding main raw materials, such as cement, fly ash, or perlite, with organic fibers, etc., followed by hardening. When siding boards are constructed, since gaps (joints) occur between the siding boards, waterproof and airproof treatment is performed using sealants. With the recent prolongation of performance guarantee time for buildings, such as houses, sealants are also required not to deteriorate with time. Sealants in general, including sealants for construction, are required to have high elongation at break. In particular, with respect to sealants for ceramic siding boards in which large shrinkages occur with time, high elongation at break is required.
For example, according to the test method for sealants for ceramic siding established by Japan Fiber Reinforced Cement Siding Manufacturers Association, an elongation at break of 250% or more is required. However, in expectation of deterioration with time, desirably, the elongation at break is twice as large as this value, i.e., 500% or more, and preferably 600% or more. Furthermore, since sealants for siding boards are directly exposed to outdoor environment, weatherability is required.
With respect to a cured object obtained from a composition containing a reactive silicon group-containing oxyalkylene polymer and a reactive silicon group-containing vinyl polymer, it has been found that although excellent weatherability is exhibited, elongation at break is lower than that of a cured object obtained from a composition which does not contain a reactive silicon group-containing vinyl polymer. In particular, as the sealant used for joints of ceramic siding boards, the elongation at break is insufficient. When a composition which contains a reactive silicon group-containing oxyalkylene polymer and a reactive silicon group-containing vinyl polymer and which produces a cured object with low elongation at break is used, in order to obtain sufficient elongation at break, a large amount of plasticizer must be used, and thus compounding is restricted, which is disadvantageous. Consequently, it is necessary to modify the reactive silicon group-containing oxyalkylene polymer and/or the reactive silicon group-containing vinyl polymer so that the resultant cured object has excellent elongation properties.
Furthermore, as described in "Kenchikuyo sealants (Sealants for construction)" (published by Japan Sealant Industry Association), at page 158, phthalate ester plasticizers having high plasticizing effect are often used for reactive silicon group-containing oxyalkylene polymers. Recently, in view of environmental concerns, use of plasticizers other than phthalate ester plasticizers is required in some cases. However, even if a polymer which produces a cured object with excellent elongation properties is obtained, if the plasticizing efficiency of the plasticizer is low, the improvement effect of the polymer is cancelled out.
Furthermore, it is generally known that if the molecular weight of the polymer in the composition, in particular, the molecular weight between crosslinking points (molecular weight of the chain between reactive silicon groups), increases, elongation properties improve. However, if the molecular weight of the polymer increases, the viscosity of the polymer increases, which in turn increases the viscosity of the composition, and workability decreases when the composition is used as the sealant. In particular, when a high molecular weight plasticizer, such as polypropylene glycol (PPG), is used, the viscosity of the composition increases compared with the use of a low molecular weight plasticizer, such as di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DOP) or diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP).

Curable composition and sealing method for ceramic siding boards


A DNA encoding a neoxanthin cleavage enzyme used for improving stress tolerance in a plant, a method for increasing stress tolerance in a plant by introducing the DNA into the plant, and a transgenic plant into which a neoxanthin cleavage enzyme gene is introduced, are provided. A DNA used for reducing stress tolerance in a plant, a method for decreasing stress tolerance in a plant by introducing the DNA into the plant, and a transgenic plant into which the DNA is introduced, are also provided. The present invention enables creating a plant in which stress tolerance has been increased or decreased.

Plants must adapt themselves to various stresses, for example, drought, salt in the soil, and low temperature because they can not move freely. Among these stresses, drought is thought to effect plant growth the most severely. In order to survive in drought condition, some plants have acquired a physiologically and/or morphologically specific trait in the evolutional process while many other plants also confer a mechanism to response to the drought stress and defend themselves. These responses to a shortage of water and adaptation to drought environment in plants are caused by various physiological changes including the alternation of gene expression at drought (Shinozaki, K and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K., Plant Physiol., 115: 327-334, 1997; Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K., "Molecular responses to drought stress." In Shinozaki and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki (eds), "Molecular responses to cold, drought, heat and salt stress in higher plants," R. G. LANDES company, Austin, Tex., USA, pp. 11-28, 1999). For example, in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), it is known that a drought signal is transmitted through an abscisic acid (ABA) dependent pathway and ABA independent pathway to control the gene expression involved in drought tolerance. These gene products are thought to have a function in controlling, for example, accumulation of osmoprotectants such as sucrose and proline, half life of proteins, stress signal transduction pathway, and transcription (Bray, E. A., Trends in Plant Science, 2: 48-54, 1997; Bohnert, H. J. et al., Plant Cell, 7: 1099-1111, 1995; Ingram, J. and Bartels, D., Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol., 47: 377-403, 1996; Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K., Plant Physiol., 115: 327-334, 1997; Shinozaki, K. and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K., "Molecular responses to drought stress." In Shinozaki and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki (eds), "Molecular responses to cold, drought, heat and salt stress in higher plants," R. G. LANDES company, Austin, Tex., USA, pp. 11-28, 1999).
C40 pathway has been proposed as a biosynthetic pathway of ABA in higher plants. The C40 pathway, also called a carotenoid pathway, is a synthetic pathway through epoxydation of zeaxanthin, synthesizing violaxanthin, neoxanthin, xanthoxin, ABA aldehyde, and then ABA (Zeevaart, J. A. D. and Creelman R. A., Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol., 39: 439-473, 1988). This biosynthetic pathway has been proposed from physiological studies and analyses of ABA biosynthetic variants. For example, variant aba2 isolated from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) has a mutation in a gene (aba2) of zeaxanthin epoxidase enzyme which catalyzes the epoxidation of zeaxanthin (Marin E. et al., EMBO J., 15: 2331-2342, 1996). Variant vp14 isolated from maize has a mutation in a gene (VP14) of neoxanthin cleavage enzyme which catalyzes the conversion from a neoxanthin to xanthoxin (Tan, B. C. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 94: 12235-12240, 1997). From Arabidopsis plants, variant aba3 having a mutation in an enzyme which catalyzes a reaction from xanthoxin to ABA aldehyde, and variant aba4 involved in the reaction for oxidizing ABA aldehyde to produce ABA have been isolated (Schwartz, S. H. et al., Plant Physiol., 114: 161-166, 1997; Leon-Kloosterziel, K. M. et al., Plant J., 10: 655-661, 1996).
A maize having a mutation in a neoxanthin cleavage enzyme gene (VP14) is known to show a trait of easily loosing water and easily wilting. It has not been known yet, however, whether stress tolerance in plants can be improved or not using the neoxanthin cleavage enzyme gene.

Transgenic plants carrying neoxanthin cleavage enzyme gene