Provided are methods for determining concurrently with a simple, minimally invasive test, the adequacy of pancreatic beta-cell compensation and/or the presence of tissue insulin resistance in a subject human or an experimental animal. The methods allow for the determination of a subject's or experimental animal's susceptibility to developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) or to progression to more advanced forms of DM2. Among other uses, the methods allow for diagnostic classification of subjects for decisions regarding therapeutic interventions, clinical differentiation between type 1 DM and DM2, clinical monitoring of treatments intended to reduce risk of developing DM2 in non-diabetic subjects, clinical monitoring of agents intended to improve existing DM2 and to prevent progression of DM2, clinical development and testing of new compounds, candidate agents, or candidate therapies for preventing progression to DM2 or disease progression in existing DM2, and preclinical screening of candidate agents or candidate therapies in experimental animals to identify and characterize agents having insulin-sensitizing properties, pancreatic stimulatory or regenerative properties or other desirable actions.

The present application relates to the field of diabetes mellitus (DM). In particular, methods for determining separately or concurrently with a simple, minimally invasive test the presence of tissue insulin resistance and/or the adequacy of pancreatic beta-cell response or compensation in an individual and therefore the individual's susceptibility to developing DM type 2 (DM2) or progressing to more advanced DM2, are described.
The current pathogenic model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) invokes a two-step process: (1) Insulin resistance (i.e., reduced sensitivity of tissues to the actions of insulin); and (2) Pancreatic beta-cell failure (i.e., insufficient secretion of insulin to compensate for insulin resistance). This model explains numerous empirical observations in the field of DM including:                a) The high predictive power of gestational diabetes (GDM) for subsequent permanent DM2. Pregnancy causes insulin resistance in all women (due to the high levels of progesterone). The inability to increase pancreatic insulin secretion for three months to compensate for insulin resistance, manifested by subsequent development of GDM, therefore predicts failure of the pancreas to compensate and the ultimate development of DM2 when long-standing insulin resistance occurs associated with obesity, aging and sedentary life-style.        b) The observation that only 25-30% of obese (insulin resistant) people will develop DM2. The remaining individuals maintain compensated (hyperinsulinemic) insulin resistance and do not develop DM2. Thus, two lesions are required for the development of DM2 (insulin resistance and pancreatic insufficiency).        c) The natural history of blood insulin concentrations in the progression of obesity to DM2. Insulin concentrations initially rise above normal levels, then fall to normal or low levels, as DM2 emerges.        d) The observation that insulin-sensitizing interventions can prevent progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes. Reducing insulin resistance by exercise or metformin therapy has been shown to improve pancreatic insulin secretion and to prevent progression to DM2.        e) The observation that progression of long-standing DM2, in the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), for example, involves mainly worsening of beta-cell function, not worsening of insulin resistance. This study showed that patients with long-standing DM2 require more and more drugs to maintain good diabetic control over time, primarily because of worsening insulin secretion, not changes in insulin resistance.Implications for Diagnostic Monitoring and Drug Testing
Accordingly, full characterization of susceptibility to DM2 or progression along the pathway to DM2 requires information about those two elements or dimensions (insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell compensation) involved in the pathogenesis of DM2.
Bergman and others have proposed tests to assess both dimensions. The Frequently Sampled IV Glucose Tolerance Test (FS IVGTT) measures the insulin sensitivity index (ISI) and the acute insulin response to glucose (AIRG), and calculates the adequacy of beta-cell response from these two measured parameters. This method has been extensively used in humans at risk for developing diabetes and has supported the model (Kahn et al, Wyeth et al, see references infra) shown in FIG. 1. The central concept is that a hyperbolic relationship exists between tissue insulin resistance and pancreatic insulin secretion. As insulin sensitivity (ISI) falls, AIRG should rise, so that the product of ISI×AIRG (termed the disposition index or DI) should remain constant (FIG. 1, black line). DI therefore represents a calculated measure of the adequacy of pancreatic compensation to insulin resistance, or an indirect measure of beta-cell sufficiency in the face of insulin resistance. Accordingly, individuals who fail to maintain constancy of DI as ISI falls (gray line in FIG. 1)—i.e., do not fall on the expected hyperbolic curve of ISI vs. AIRG (black line in FIG. 1)—are considered to be showing evidence of pancreatic beta-cell insufficiency.
Investigators have shown that such individuals, whose DI is not maintained in the face of reduced ISI, indeed appear to be at higher risk of developing DM2. Moreover, failure to maintain constant DI is a heritable trait within families at different risks for DM2. DI has therefore been proposed as a means of identifying those insulin resistant individuals who are highly susceptible to developing DM2.
The FS IVGTT is problematic as a test, however, and is much too invasive and complicated to be used in clinical diagnostics, for the following reasons: (1) The placement of an intravenous line is required; (2) multiple blood draws according to an exactly timed protocol are required (e.g., every 1-2 minutes for 20 minutes, then follow-ups through 2 hours); (3) sterile iv glucose must be injected; (4) a drug (tolbutamide) must be injected iv at exactly 20 minutes after iv glucose (carrying some risk and the need for medical supervision) (5) multiple laboratory tests for glucose and insulin concentrations must be sent; and (6) a computerized calculation must be carried out on the data generated. The FS IVGTT is therefore labor-intensive, invasive, costly, difficult to interpret, and to some extent a risky procedure.
Other methods are available for estimating or measuring insulin resistance. These include hyperinsulinemic glucose clamps (considered the "gold standard" for insulin resistance), and the similar steady-state plasma glucose (SSPG) method, the homeostatic model assessment (HOMA), and simple measurement of plasma insulin concentrations. None of these methods can give information about pancreatic beta-cell function or the adequacy of beta-cell compensation for insulin resistance, however. Indeed, the glucose clamp and SSPG methods explicitly control blood insulin to remove the potential confounding influence of pancreatic insulin secretion. There currently are no practically usable tests for measuring or estimating the adequacy of pancreatic beta-cell response to insulin resistance.
It should be apparent that the absence of a simple, practically usable test for identifying individuals who are both insulin resistant and who are exhibiting insufficient pancreatic beta-cell response—and are therefore highly susceptible to developing diabetes or to worsening of existing diabetes—is a major limitation in the field of diabetes. The present emergence in diabetic therapeutic research of agents that may increase pancreatic beta-cell proliferation and function makes the absence of an outcome metric for beta-cell adaptive function particularly critical.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Monitoring two dimensions of diabetes pathogenesis

The Regents of the University of California


A method of nondestructively testing electronic chips adapted for direct attachment to metallized pads on circuitized substrate is disclosed, wherein an electrically conductive liquid eutectic joint is formed at room temperature with low pressure between electrical terminals on the chip and pads on the substrate. The eutectic joint remains liquid at test temperature, enabling test completion. At the end thereof, chips and pads are separated and any eutectic material residue thereon removed. The eutectic is preferably gallium/indium.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic chip testing. More particularly, it relates to non-destructive chip burn-in prior to attachment to a circuitized substrate.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, chips are tested at the wafer level with "good" chips being subsequently wired into a variety of packages. To weed out early life failures in chips so packaged, the chips are systematically subjected to electrical and environmental stress. Test parameters for such "burn-in" testing are higher than the intended power and temperature expected during normal use but are set at such levels in order to cause failure of weak parts. In practice this technique yields 90%-100% good chips for mature chip programs, and the 0%-10% drop out reduces field failures in actual machines.
Conventional burn-in approaches include several techniques, but in most cases packaged devices are subjected to the process. In one such practice, chips are permanently mounted, burned-in and tested as a final assembly. Parts that fall out during testing must be replaced using burned-in chips removed from other assemblies, which are subsequently scrapped. In another, packaged devices are inserted into connectors on a test board which are placed in a burn-in oven. Good devices are then mounted on a board to form the final assembly.
Attempts have been made to nondestructively test chips. One method uses a fixture with multiple probes to contact chip metallurgy and run tests. IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 22, No. 4, 9/79, p. 1476 to Bry et al discloses a test fixture requiring no bonding, between chips under test and a substrate. Rather, mechanical forces are used to ensure contact between test probes and electrical terminals of the chip under test. IBM TDB, Vol. 9, No. 8, 1/67, p. 1051 to Chiou et al relates to localized heating of chip bonding pads. Silicon devices are bonded to gold pad on an insulating substrate with high heat. 370 deg. C. and pressure. To selectively remove and replace a silicon device, the pad is locally heated to a temperature in excess of the gold-silicon eutectic temperature. Chips must be subsequently removed by mechanically shearing or by some other technique which frequently damages the solder bumps on the chips. Removal techniques are disclosed in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol 25, No. 9, 2/84, p. 4780 to Formichelli et al. Vol 19 , No. 7, 12/76, p. 2476 to Ward and Vol. 19, No. 7, 12/76, p. 2477 to Angelone.
Each of the above described methods when viewed from the perspective of solder bump integrity, ease of rework and manufacturability has several drawbacks. For instance, once a chip is broken off after burn-in and added to its final assembly, cracks at the junction of the chip pad and C4 bump due to stresses induced when the pad was broken could causes reliability problems when the chip is applied to a final assembly.
Direct chip attach (DCA) techniques eliminate costs associated with first level packaging. In addition, DCA chips may be more densely packaged, yielding a smaller assembly. In order to effectively use DCA assemblies, the devices to be mounted must be burned-in, preferably at the chip level.
Burn-in testing is particularly desirable in these multi-chip module applications. Overall yield in a multi-chip module is a function of individual chip yield (Y) and the number of chips (N). The yield for the multi-chip module is determined by multiplying the chip yield (Y) by itself N times. Detection of chip failures before the assembly process decreases ultimate waste and maximizes overall yield.

Non-destructure method of performing electrical burn-in testing of semiconductor chips

International Business Machines Corporation


A measuring device is provided. The measuring device has at least one sensor unit for capturing a cardiac signal, a postprocessing unit and a signal transfer unit for signal transfer between the at least one sensor unit and the postprocessing unit. The at least one sensor unit has at least one acoustic sensor element.

In order to provide cardiac imaging for a patient, an imaging device (such as a magnetic resonance device in particular) must be synchronized with a cardiac signal of the patient. An ECG measuring device which has a sensor unit for capturing cardiac signals is customarily used for this purpose. The sensor unit comprises a plurality of ECG electrodes, which are placed on the patient in the chest region. A trigger signal for the cardiac imaging is then generated on the basis of the ECG signals that are captured.

Measuring device and magnetic resonance device comprising a measuring device


A wide band RF mixer includes a first bifilar balun transformer coupling a high level source of RF signal to the input winding of a trifilar balun transformer. The two output windings of the trifilar balun transformer are connected in series with the drain-source circuits of a pair of GaAs FET transistors. The source of each FET transistor is connected to ground. A local oscillator has a symmetric output signal that is coupled to a self-bias network and also to the gate electrodes of said FETs. An IF output signal is taken between ground and a common junction of the output balun windings. The arrangement provides a high level mixer with good intermodulation characteristics for ultra high frequencies.

This invention relates in general to CATV mixers and in particular to a commutating type single-balanced resistive RF mixer that is operable with high level input signals.
It is known, for example, to provide a receiver having an ultra high frequency upconverting mixer wherein a local oscillator (LO) frequency of 1.1 gigahertz is used to develop a 600 megahertz intermediate frequency (IF) signal from a 500 megahertz radio frequency (RF) input signal. In many applications, the signal to noise ratio of the receiver is critical making it desirable to pre-amplify the received RF signal to the extent that it can be handled in a linear manner by the mixer. Any nonlinearities, such as those present in conventional diode mixers, give rise to intermodulation and other forms of distortions. Because of their relatively linear channel resistance, GaAs MESFETS have been used in an unbiased drain configuration to form narrow band, single-ended resistive mixers. The solution to the problem of achieving low intermodulation distortion with high signal handling capacity in a wideband balanced mixer has, however, still eluded the art.
In an article, entitled "A GaAs MESFET Mixer With Very Low Intermodulation," by Steven A. Mass in the IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory Techniques, Volume MTT-35, #4 April, 1987, the foregoing prior art type of resistive mixer for high frequencies is described. The mixer described has low intermodulation distortion but, since it is a single ended device, i.e., it uses a single GaAs MESFET with both RF and IF signals appearing across the drain-source terminals of the MESFET, it is usable over only a relatively narrow frequency range, thereby limiting its use in many applications.
Another article, entitled "High Dynamic Range Mixing With the Si8901," by Ed Oxner in the March, 1988 issue of hr (ham radio), shows a doubly balanced commutation-type MOSFET mixer. The mixer is constructed in a bridge configuration with four MOSFETS and is usable over a relatively wide frequency range. This mixer suffers a disadvantage in that the source terminals of the MOSFETS cannot be connected to ground. Furthermore, the symmetric LO source feeding the gate electrodes is not an ideal floating source. Consequently, the control voltage applied to the gates is a combination of the LO voltage and the RF or IF voltage and the mixer switching action can be readily affected by signals other than the LO signal, which is certainly not an ideal situation. A similar mixer is shown in Siliconix Application Note AN85-2, "A Commutation Double-Balanced MOSFET Mixer of High Dynamic Range", January 1986.
The commutating single-balanced resistive mixer of the invention includes a very tightly coupled trifilar balun transformer for commutating the RF signal into the IF port and includes a pair of GaAs MESFETS for high speed, switching. The mixer has a relatively low conversion loss (about 6 db), good 50 ohm matching at both the RF and IF ports, a two tone third order intercept of about +36 dbm to +40 dbm and is capable of converting an RF frequency range of about 50-550 MHz into an IF frequency of about 600 MHz.


Disclosed is a method for producing a modified animal fiber, the method includes step 1 (31, 32) of pre-oxidizing a cystine bond (—S—S— bond) present in an epidermal cell of an animal fiber to bring the cystine bond into a low oxidation state, step 2 (33) of oxidizing with ozone the pre-oxidized —S—S— bond to bring the —S—S— bond into at least one high oxidation state selected from di-, tri-, and tetra-oxidation states, and step 3 (34) of reductively cleaving the —S—S— bond in a high oxidation state. The method imparts shrink resistance and pilling resistance to an animal fiber. In the step 2 (33) ozone is microdispersed in an aqueous solution comprising an anionic surfactant having a C8-24 alkyl group, and the animal fiber is contacted with the ozone. Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for efficiently producing in a short period of time an animal fiber having excellent shrink resistance that barely undergoes felting when washed in an aqueous system in shrink proofing an animal fiber using ozone.

Animal fibers are unique in that, depending on the type of fiber, they have a characteristic texture, are biodegradable, exhibit excellent moisture absorbing, moisture releasing, heat retaining, flame retarding, and dyeing properties, and further have water repelling properties. In terms of physical properties, animal fibers have fiber strength and elongation characteristics sufficient for being worn and also exhibit high frictional strength, and thus are unique fibers that have been valued since ancient times. However, felting that occurs due to the epidermal tissue structure of an animal fiber when the fiber is washed, and pilling that occurs when an animal fiber is worn, are not desirable characteristics of fiber for use in garments. Accordingly, efforts have long been made to modify the surface, focusing mainly on shrink proofing, and in association with this an anti-pilling treatment has been carried out as well.
However, water repellence, a natural feature of animal fiber, is sacrificed in animal fiber obtained in such a manner. The water repellent membrane in an animal fiber influences moisture absorbing and moisture releasing properties, functions to control heat transfer associated with the adsorption and desorption of water, and affects heat retention and comfort. In other words, conventional shrink resistant products can prevent shrinking resulting from washing but lack heat retention and comfort.
An example of a typical conventional shrink proofing method is a shrink proofing method that uses a chlorine agent in which the epidermal tissue of an animal fiber is made hydrophilic to soften or remove the tissue so as to give shrink resistance and, moreover, the epidermal tissue is coated with a polyamide epichlorohydrin resin (manufactured by Dick Hercules Co., Hercosett resin) to enhance washing resistance, i.e., the chlorine/Hercosett shrink proofing method. This method is currently in widespread use all over the world and arguably is regarded as the standard shrink proofing process for wool.
The applicants proposed shrink proofing that uses ozone in the following patent documents 1 to 2 as an alternative to the chlorine/Hercosett shrink proofing process.

Method for producing modified animal fiber


A method of forming a linear grating is disclosed. When forming a first resist pattern covering certain surface regions of a substrate, the mask pattern position is shifted and the first resist pattern is formed such that the trench in the target region is completely filled with the first resist pattern even when an error in positioning occurs. The surface of the first resist pattern is etched, and a lower resist pattern is left to the same level as the uppermost step of the silicon substrate. On top of this, an upper resist pattern having the same pattern as the first resist pattern is formed. At this time, the mask pattern position is shifted and the exposure dose is adjusted such that one edge of the upper resist pattern is positioned on the lower resist pattern, and the other edge is positioned in a prescribed region border portion. The lower resist pattern and upper resist pattern are used as a mask to etch the silicon substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of formation of a linear grating (diffraction grating) used for wavelength-division multiplexing and similar in optical communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to transmit a plurality of optical signals with different wavelengths within a single optical fiber to increase the amount of information transmitted in communications using optical fibers, a diffraction grating to separate or to combine optical waves is used. In a linear grating, a silicon or other substrate with translucent properties is formed with the thickness in a stair-like structure, so that wave separation or combination is performed by changing the angle of diffraction of light for different wavelengths.
FIG. 2A to 2F of the accompanying drawings is a series of process diagrams showing an example of a conventional method of linear grating formation.
In this example, a silicon substrate 1 is used for the grating, and LSI manufacturing techniques are employed to form a seven-step linear grating. The manufacturing process will be described in detail below.
In Step 21 (FIG. 2A), first the surface of the silicon substrate 1 is divided into bands with a width of 7 μm, and each 7-μm band is divided into seven regions a through g with a width of 1 μm. Then, using photolithographic techniques, a resist pattern 2 is formed on the regions e, f and g among the seven regions. The resist pattern 2 is then used to etch and remove three steps' worth of material from the surface of the silicon substrate 1. Here, the height dimension of one step is, at minimum, approximately 0.2 μm.
In Step 22 (FIG. 2B), the resist pattern 2 is removed. As a result, the silicon substrate 1A, in which three steps' worth of the surface has been etched away in the regions a through d, is obtained, as shown in FIG. 2B.
In Step 23 (FIG. 2C), a resist pattern 3 is formed on the regions c, d, f and g of the surface of the silicon substrate 1A. Then etching is performed to remove two steps' worth of material from the surface of the silicon substrate 1A using the resist pattern 3.
In Step 24 (FIG. 2D), the resist pattern 3 is removed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2D, five steps' worth of material are removed from the surface of the regions a and b, three steps' worth of material are removed from the surface of the regions c and d, and two steps' worth of material are removed from the surface of the region e, to obtain the etched silicon substrate 1B.
In Step 25 (FIG. 2E), the resist pattern 4 is formed on the surface regions b, d, e and g of the silicon substrate 1B. Then etching is performed to remove one step's worth of material from the surface of silicon substrate 1B using the resist pattern 4.
In Step 26 (FIG. 2F), the resist pattern 4 is removed. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2F, six steps' worth of material are removed from the surface region a, five steps' worth of material are removed from the surface region b, four steps' worth of material are removed from the surface region c, three steps' worth of material are removed from the surface region d, two steps' worth of material are removed from the surface region e, and one step's worth of material is removed from the surface region f by etching respectively, to obtain a silicon substrate 1C having a seven-step stair-shape surface.
Thereafter, the entire back surface of the silicon substrate 1C is etched to adjust the thickness appropriately, to obtain a seven-step linear grating.
Thus by using LSI manufacturing techniques, a small linear grating one edge of which is approximately 0.5 mm can be formed.
Although not linear gratings, similar techniques relating to methods for the formation of patterns in semiconductor substrates are described in, for example, three Japanese Patent Kokai (Laid-open Application) No. 6-252031, No. 10-254121, and No. 11-214280.
The conventional methods of forming the linear grating and other patterns have the following problems.
Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B of the accompanying drawings, the problems with the conventional pattern formation methods are described.
For example, in Step 23 of FIG. 2C, suppose that the position of the resist pattern 3 formed on the surface of the silicon substrate 1A is shifted somewhat to the right from the intended position, as shown in FIG. 3A. As a result, some portions of the surface regions a and e of the silicon substrate 1A are covered by the resist pattern 3. When in this state the surface of the silicon substrate 1A is etched, and the resist pattern 3 is removed, then the portions of the regions a and e covered by the resist pattern 3 remain as protrusion defects X and Y on the silicon substrate 1B, as shown in FIG. 3B. Accordingly, there may be an impediment to subsequent manufacturing steps, and the completed linear grating may not have the desired characteristics.


A transfer device for use in an image forming apparatus includes at least two belt members constituting a secondary nip portion therebetween. The transfer device electrostatically transfers a toner image from one of the belt members onto a recording medium when the recording medium passes through the secondary nip portion. The transfer device includes a mechanism that supports the belt members such that the secondary nip portion is substantially linear; and a bias applying member that applies a secondary transfer bias at a substantially center portion of the secondary nip portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic type such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a complex machine having functions of these machines, and a transfer device incorporated therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic type, especially a color image forming apparatus, forms toner images of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black sequentially on corresponding image carriers, superimposes the images on an intermediate transferring body included in a transfer device with a primary transfer unit (primary transfer operation), and then transfers the color images altogether onto a transfer medium such as a sheet of paper with a secondary transfer unit (secondary transfer operation). The image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic type are exemplified by copiers, printers, facsimile machines, and multifunction peripherals having functions of these machines. In the primary and secondary transfer operations of the image forming apparatus that incorporates the transfer device using such an intermediate transfer body, toner images formed at the previous operation need to be transferred with a high degree of fidelity.
The high-fidelity transfer can be defined as transfer of "a toner amount" and "toner image geometries" with a high degree of fidelity. First, the fidelity of the transfer of a toner amount is expressed by a transfer rate. If the rate is insufficient, the image would not satisfy an essential image quality of "image density". The fidelity of the transfer of toner image geometries is expressed by a dot average area and dot area dispersion. If these values are insufficient, the image would not satisfy an essential image quality of "granularity (or graininess)". If the high-fidelity transfer fails to be attained at either one of the transfer operations, i.e., the primary transfer and the secondary transfer, the final image would not come out with high image quality.
The following four documents suggest structures having a wide transfer nip to improve the toner fidelity at the primary transfer unit. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-292988 describes a structure incorporating a corona transfer system, in which a transfer nip is formed of an image carrier and a pressing unit arranged at the entering side of the transfer nip.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-006644 discloses a structure in which a roller supporting member is provided to support a transfer belt in such a manner to be opposed to the image carrier or to support a roller at the middle of its longitudinal direction from the inside of the transfer belt.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-123114 discloses a structure that includes a fixing device having a fixing roll the elastic body of which is contorted by way of a heat-resisting belt by a pressure roll provided on the inside of the heat-resisting belt to fix the toner at the same time of the transfer.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-301577 relates to a high quality image technology that regulates electric discharge and reduces dust by regulating an electric field in areas upstream and downstream of the transfer nip. It teaches that, by arranging a bias application electrode of a polarity opposite to the primary transfer bias polarity near the primary transfer bias electrode, discharge is suppressed in the outlet area of the primary transfer nip to suppress polarity reversal of the toner, or more specifically reverse transfer, and to achieve faithful transfer.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-181862 discloses a simultaneous double-side transfer technology, with which toner images are transferred on double sides of a recording medium at the same time in the secondary transfer operation. In particular, in the operation of transferring toner images onto the two sides of the recording medium, a toner image on the first belt, which is an intermediate transfer belt, is transferred onto the opposing second belt at the first-side image forming step. Then, another toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt in the second-side image forming step. The recording medium is fed at a predetermined timing, and the toner images are transferred on the two sides of the recording medium by synchronizing the leading edges of the toner images for the first and second sides while carrying the recording medium on the first and second belts. Then, the first-side toner image formed in advance on the second belt is transferred onto the recording medium by applying a negative polarity voltage to the roller at the nip outlet on the downstream side of the transfer nip and using the first nip outlet roller on the inside of the first belt as an opposing roller. On the other hand, the second-side toner image is formed on the first belt at the timing of the leading edge of the recording medium entering the transfer nip, and transferred onto the recording medium by applying a voltage of negative polarity to the first nip inlet roller and using the second belt inlet roller as an opposing roller. In other words, the first-side and second-side toner images are transferred at different positions, i.e., the transfer nip inlet and outlet areas, to simultaneously complete double-sided images.
According to the first three patent documents, the transfer nip of the transferring unit is formed with a certain curvature. Because a toner image is transferred onto the surface of a recording medium as the recording medium is being carried with a nip curvature, instability factors may be increased regarding image displacement. Furthermore, when the recording medium is a thick sheet of paper, it tends to curl up and may cause malfunction in paper feeding. When the recording medium is an electrically charged sheet such as an insulating film, it may adversely wind around the feeding roller or a belt member. Furthermore, a curled up recording medium is not a preferable condition for the user.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-301577, a certain transfer rate needs to be maintained to perform faithful transfer without disturbing a toner image and attain a sufficient image density in the process of transferring the toner image of the intermediate transfer belt onto a recording medium in the secondary transfer operation. In the secondary transfer operation, the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer body in the primary transfer operation is transferred onto the recording medium. From the aspect of faithful transfer, a problem arises that the toner of the toner image on the intermediate transfer body dissipates toward the recording medium under the action of the secondary transfer electric field at the secondary transfer nip inlet portion, before the toner image comes into contact with the recording medium, or in other words when there still is a gap between the toner image and the recording medium. This phenomenon is called "pre-transfer". The pre-transfer damages the original toner geometries, causing disturbances in dots and lines and generating toner dust. Another problem is a phenomenon called "separation discharge", which occurs when the recording medium is removed from the intermediate transfer body at the secondary transfer nip outlet portion immediately after the toner image is transferred onto the recording medium. This makes the polarity of the toner image on the recording medium unstable, and may cause reverse transfer or transfer failure due to the reversely polarized toner. As a result, the original toner geometries may be damaged, leaving disturbed dots and lines and toner dust.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-181862, the secondary transfer bias is applied for the second side of the recording medium while the toner image on the second belt for the first side is brought into contact with the recording medium. This means that the first-side toner image is more or less influenced by the secondary transfer bias. On the other hand, from an aspect of the second-side toner image transfer, the transfer rate of the second-side toner image differs, depending on the first side carrying a toner image or not. In other words, the image patterns on the front and back sides may adversely influence each other. Furthermore, each of the inlet and outlet portions of the secondary transfer nip is formed of a pair of rollers. Pressure is sufficiently applied to the roller nip portions, but the portion sandwiched by the first and second belts only does not receive sufficient contact pressure or contact tightness between the intermediate transfer body and the recording medium. This may cause disturbances in the toner images if a difference, no matter how slight it is, is created in linear velocity. In addition, when the secondary transfer electric fields are applied separately onto the front and back sides of the recording medium in the inlet or outlet portion of the secondary transfer belt nip, the transfer electric fields may interfere with each other due to the large width of the nip.

Transfer device and image forming apparatus


In order to provide a technology which allows efficient understanding of images of a disease locus and diagnosis supporting information for the images, an information processing apparatus comprises: an input unit which inputs object identification information for identifying an object; an acquiring unit which acquires one or more schemas related to the object and medical image data related to the schema, an identification unit which identifies a disease locus region in medical image data respectively related to each of the one or more schemas, a time-series schema generating unit which generates a time-series schema of the disease locus, a time-series image data generating unit which generates time-series image data of the disease locus, and a display output unit which synchronizes and outputs the time-series schema of the disease locus and the time-series image data of the disease locus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus which supports creating medical reports (carte), image diagnosis reports, etc. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique of displaying schema drawn by doctors on medical documents.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of medical care, devices for generating medical pictures for examination of the interior of patients' bodies include Computed Radiography (CR) devices, Computed Tomography (CT) devices, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) devices, and Ultrasound System devices. Physicians display medical images taken by these devices on a monitor, from which conditions and temporal changes of troubled areas are observed, and results of an image diagnosis are recorded in an image diagnostic report as findings information. Doctors, when making diagnostic confirmations for the troubles, record conditions of patients and disease names in their respective medical reports. It is possible to attach schema illustrating features of diagnosis for the troubled areas to allow easy visual recognition of the diagnosis made by the doctor concerning the troubled areas.
Traditionally, schema were recorded on paper medical documents by freehand drawing. However, with the spread of medical information systems such as Hospital Information System (HIS) and Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) in recent years, advancement of medical document computerization including electronic carte has taken place, which is also followed by gradual computerization of schema.
When creating a schema as electronic data, it is possible to input figures having arbitrary shapes into a computer as line-drawing information using an input device such as a mouse or a tablet. However, when creating an illustration (called "basic schema") indicating body structures in a schema, it is necessary to draw complicated shapes, which cannot be easily drawn using a mouse or a tablet.
To address this, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-181146 (patent reference 1) discloses a technique of storing a plurality of basic schema templates, from which a desired basic schema can be selected by the physician. According to this method, it is possible to create a schema by selecting a basic schema and drawing simple figures and explanatory paragraphs regarding conditions of the troubled part (disease locus) on the schema (called "disease locus schema"). Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open 2000-222503 (patent reference 2) suggests a device that not only stores basic schema, but also stores figures and explanatory paragraphs that comprise schema of disease loci and arrows connecting them as separate electronic data. From this, it is possible to easily perform manipulation of existing schema, such as changing, moving or deleting the included texts and figures.
Furthermore, D. G. Lowe, "Object recognition from local scale-invariant features", Proc. of IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV), pp. 1150-1157, 1999 (non-patent reference 1), and Y. Ke, R. Sukthankar, "PCA-SHIFT: A more distinctive representation for local image descriptors", Proc. of IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition(CVPR), pp. 511-517, 2004 (non-patent reference 2) respectively disclose SHIFT feature amount and PCA-SHIFT feature amount. For example, in a basic schema, it is possible to use calculated feature amounts as structural information of body parts drawn in the basic schema. Further, Kass M, Witkin A, Terzopoulos D: Snakes:active contour models. International Journal of Computer Vision 1 (4):321-331, 1988 (non-patent reference 3) suggests an area division method by a variable shape model. For example, by applying the variable shape model on an image or a schema, it is possible to extract areas of disease loci surrounded by edges.
In clinical settings, diagnoses aiming to make long term observations such as progression of disease loci like tumors and healing processes, are performed. For such long term observations, it is possible to refer to past diagnostic information regarding disease loci in which the mental picture of the physician is coupled to explanatory paragraphs, by using not only images that were captured before, but also checking schema created in the past.
Previously, as indicated in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 1-107739 (patent reference 3) and 8-263625 (patent reference 4), physicians determined temporal changes of disease loci, by displaying on an image display unit such as a CRT display device a plurality of images captured at different time points of the same subject (to be referred to as an examined patient). In such cases, images taken at different time points are simultaneously displayed or alternated, and viewers such as physicians made comparative observations of the plurality of images being displayed, determining temporal changes of troubled parts.
However, with the above-mentioned method, although it is possible to understand temporal changes in disease loci from the captured images of the disease loci, it is not possible to understand diagnostic information (schema) showing how the physician characterized the disease loci and arrived at the decision. For this reason, physicians had to separately refer to captured images and the information pertaining to the images.

Information processing apparatus and its control method and data processing system


Methods are provided for presenting procedure information for an airport on a display device onboard an aircraft. A method comprises displaying a map on a display device and displaying a briefing panel overlying a portion the map. The briefing panel includes a plurality of segments, wherein each segment is associated with a type of procedure information for the airport.

Instrument procedures (e.g., instrument approach procedures or instrument departure procedures) are used to allow pilots to operate an aircraft without assistance from air traffic control. For example, instrument approach procedures allow a pilot to reliably land an aircraft in situations of reduced visibility or inclement weather by using instruments onboard the aircraft or on the ground, such as radios or other communication systems, navigation systems, localizers, glidescopes, and the like. Published aeronautical charts, such as, for example, Instrument Approach Procedure (IAP) charts, Standard Terminal Arrival (STAR) charts, or Terminal Arrival Area (TAA) charts Standard Instrument Departure (SID) routes, Departure Procedures (DP), terminal procedures, approach plates, and the like, depict and describe the instrument procedures for various airports, runways, or other landing and/or departure locations are provided by a governmental or regulatory organization, such as, for example, the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States. These charts graphically illustrate and describe the specific procedures (e.g., minimum descent altitudes, minimum runway visual range, final course or heading, relevant radio frequencies, missed approach procedures) to be followed or otherwise utilized by a pilot for a particular approach or departure. A pilot maintains copies of these printed charts for the various possible airports that the pilot may encounter during operation of the aircraft. For example, for worldwide operation, there are as many as 17,000 charts, and each airport may include multiple runways with multiple possible approaches and departures.
Typically, in advance of the actual approach or departure, the pilot identifies the airport and reviews the charts for the one or more approaches (or departures) for that airport. Once the pilot determines the approach (or departure) that the pilot intends to fly, the pilot and crew (e.g., the co-pilot) review features of the instrument procedure such that there is sufficient understanding and agreement on how the procedure should be executed based on the chart. Generally, an instrument approach is one of the most critical periods during operation of an aircraft, for example, the pilot may be flying blind or with low visibility and the aircraft may be flying close to ground with the landing system deployed and limited maneuverability. Therefore, it is important that the pilot utilizes the proper information from the chart when executing the instrument approach procedure. However, the printed charts often include a variety of approach procedure information not relevant to the current approach or type of aircraft the pilot is currently operating. For example, the printed charts often include different instrument approach procedure information for different categories of aircraft, or for approaches using different instruments or equipment. If the pilot wants to consult the chart during the approach to ensure the pilot is following the proper procedure, the pilot must not only locate the appropriate chart, but also locate the proper information for the current approach within the chart. As a result, using and maintaining the printed charts can be cumbersome and inconvenient.
Because of the amount of information contained in the printed charts, it is difficult to display them electronically onboard the aircraft. For example, in current electronic cockpit displays, the resolution and physical size of the electronic display limits or prevents the instrument procedure charts to be reproduced or replicated electronically. Furthermore, most of the display area on the electronic display is already utilized or reserved for other processes (e.g., navigational maps, profile views, synthetic vision displays, flight management windows, and the like) and presenting the instrument procedure chart risks interfering with or obfuscating these other processes.

Methods for displaying aircraft procedure information


A method for determining a threat against a border from objects crossing or trying to cross said border. Said method includes at least the steps of segmenting the border into border elements of uniform terrain features, infrastructure and weather conditions, collecting data of incidents occurring along a given border element, determining a threat potential for said border element, determining a protection factor for the border element, and determining a threat against the border element from the threat potential and protection factor. The method may be used for warning about an increased threat to a border, wherein the threat is compared with a threat value threshold. If the threat exceeds the threat value threshold, an alarm is issued. The method may also be used for allocating protective measures along a border.

In a modern society, a country must protect itself against persons passing its borders outside the official or legal points of entry. The persons in question may have various motifs for wanting to hide their entry into a country. This may be illegal immigration, smuggling, terrorism, etc. In order to protect the borders, various measures may be taken. This may be physical hindrances, such as fences, various detectors for observing the border line, such as cameras, radars, infrared line detectors, seismic detectors, or manual control by border patrols. The detectors are normally connected to a border station, which is also headquarter for border patrols. Thus, the border station will receive information as alarms from the detectors as well as observations reported by border patrols. This information should be used to devise countermeasures against possible intruders, either by sending out border patrols to apprehend offenders or by relocating resources, that is fencing and detectors, in order to make the border as tight as possible. However, the scattered information received in the border station is not easy to exploit. The information supplied by border patrols passing at regular intervals may not be representative for the real situation at the border. In addition, a detector may tell that an object has passed the border, but not how severe the intrusion is, i.e. detectors may be tripped by squirrels as well as terrorists. Thus, there is a need for a structured approach for disseminating information gathered in a border station.
In many ways, the situation depicted above corresponds to the threats posed against computer networks by virus and malicious hackers. However, the technique used in firewalls and protection software does not readily lend itself for protecting physical assets or the borders of a country.

Method and system for determining a threat against a border


Disclosed is a liquid crystal module detection apparatus for detecting image-sticking, and a detection and evaluation system and method. The apparatus comprises: a sealed thermal-insulating transparent container (1), adapted to contain a liquid crystal module (5) to be tested; a temperature-control module, adapted to adjust the temperature inside the container; a signal generator module (4), adapted to provide a drive signal to the liquid crystal module to be tested. The apparatus employs a sealed, well thermal-insulating, transparent container, and utilizes the heat emitted from the panel and the backlight of the module itself to form a desired temperature environment for detection.

Thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs) have features of small size, low power consumption and no radiation, and have been widely applied in production and life of customers, for example, in TVs, monitors, as well as portable electronic display products. Major display panel manufacturers are all in their efforts to improve product performances, for example, to reduce power consumption, increase viewing angles, and reduce response time. Improvement on image-sticking is particularly important for a display panel, because presence of image-sticking directly affects display quality of a displayed image.
Image-sticking refers to the phenomenon that, when a liquid crystal panel is switched to a new image after a specific static image which has been displayed (driven) for a long time period, a faint outline of the previously displayed image partly remains visible on the screen of the liquid crystal panel. Image-sticking is the phenomenon that occurs inside a liquid crystal cell. When a liquid crystal panel is switched to display a different new image after long-time display of a static image, the liquid crystal molecules cannot deflect immediately and completely to meet the new image, thus the display effect is disadvantageously affected.
Based on different forms of occurrence, image-sticking can be classified into two types: area image-sticking and line image-sticking.
Image-sticking mechanism studies show that, image-sticking occurs mainly because of the influence by residual electric charges, which include different distributions of ionic impurities inside a liquid crystal cell and the polarization electric charges incurred inside the liquid crystal cell under the action of an external electric field. These residual electric charges will affect the orientations of the liquid crystal at the top and the bottom of the liquid crystal cell, so that image-sticking occurs in the entire panel area, and more severe situation occurs at transitional positions where significant color difference exists between images. Occurrence of image-sticking is also affected by other factors, such as ambient temperature, static picture type, display duration, brightness level, etc.
Typically, after a liquid crystal module is completed by assembling, it is necessary to detect it on several aspects such as picture quality, dusts, foreign bodies, etc., in order to improve quality and yield for liquid crystal modules. Among others, the detection includes detection and evaluation of image-sticking. The liquid crystal module detection environment requires a certain temperature. A traditional image-sticking evaluation system generally consists of two main parts: one is a signal generator; and the other is an external heating and temperature control equipment. Because a heating and temperature-control equipment needs an external high capacity power supply and a complicated temperature control device, the traditional image-sticking detection system thus is usually bulky, of high cost, and inconvenient for moving due to its large volume. This result that the traditional system requires a dedicated evaluation field, and therefore it cannot perform convenient, real-time evaluation, and it is disadvantageous for monitoring image-sticking level at any time.

Liquid crystal module detection apparatus for detecting image-sticking, and detection and evaluation system and method


In a flexible printed circuit (10) for electrically connecting between a fixed portion and a movable portion comprising a flexible base layer (11), a conductive layer (13) formed on a principal surface (11a) of the flexible base layer through a first adhesive agent (12), and a cover lay (15) formed on the conductive layer through a second adhesive agent (14), copper foil (22) is pasted on an upper surface (15a) of the cover lay through a conductive adhesive agent (21). The copper foil is electrically connected to a ground portion (110) using solder. The fixed portion may be an optical disc drive""s body (300). The movable portion may be an optical pickup unit (100) comprising an electromagnetic radiation source (200). The copper foil is for shielding electromagnetic noises radiated from the electromagnetic radiation source. The copper foil may be disposed only the vicinity of the electromagnetic radiation source.

This invention relates to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) including a means for decreasing electromagnetic noises radiated from the flexible printed circuit and, more particularly, to electromagnetic noises protection of the flexible printed circuit for use in electrically connecting between a body (a fixed portion) of an optical disc drive and an optical pickup unit (a movable portion), contained therein and including an electromagnetic radiation source, that records/reproduces data in/from an optical recording medium (an optical disc) such as a CD-R (compact disc-recordable), a CD-RW (CD-rewritable), a DVD (digital versatile disc) or the like.
In the manner known in the art, a flexible printed circuit is a circuit for use in electrically connecting between a fixed portion and a movable portion. For example, when the fixed portion comprises a body of an optical disc drive, the movable portion comprises an optical pickup unit contained therein. The optical pickup unit is disposed so as to be opposed to an optical disk rotating with a predetermined distance left therebetween and so as to slidably move against the body of the optical disc drive.
The optical pickup unit is a unit which carries out recording (writing) or erasing of information by converging a laser beam produced by a semiconductor laser serving as an optical source on a signal recording face of an optical disc through an objective lens and which carries out reproducing of information by detecting a reflected beam (a return beam) from the signal recording face by a photodetector serving as optical detecting means.
Inasmuch as it is necessary to carry out transmission/reception of information between the optical pickup unit serving as the movable portion and the optical disc drive""s body serving as the fixed portion, therebetween are electrically connected by the flexible printed circuit. For instance, signals for transmitting from the optical disc drive""s body to the optical pickup unit may be a signal for driving a semiconductor laser, a current flowing in coils of an actuator for driving the objective lens in a focus direction and a tracking direction. On the other hand, signals for transmitting from the optical pickup unit to the optical disk drive""s body may be a signal detected by the photodetector or the like.
Now, there is the optical pickup unit including an electromagnetic radiation source mounted thereon. On the other hand, the flexible printed circuit comprises a flexible base layer on which a plurality of signal lines are formed. Each signal line in the flexible printed circuit serves as an electromagnetic antenna. That is, radiated from the electromagnetic radiation source, electromagnetic noises are transmitted on the signal lines and are radiated from the signal lines to the outside.
In the optical pickup unit including the electromagnetic radiation source mounted thereon, it is important to provide electromagnetic interference (EMI) protection because the electromagnetic noises affect electronic apparatuses each other. If any EMI protection is not provided for the flexible printed circuit, it is impossible to shield the electromagnetic noises because each signal line in the flexible printed circuit acts as the electromagnetic antenna.
In order to shield the electromagnetic noises, a conventional flexible printed circuit in which an EMI protection is provided comprises a ground layer. However, in order to form the ground layer, it is necessary for the flexible printed circuit to make multiple layers. As a result, the conventional flexible printed circuit where the EMI protection is performed is disadvantageous in that additional cost is incurred in the flexible printed circuit.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a flexible printed circuit which is capable of shield electromagnetic noises.
It is therefore another object of this invention to provide a flexible printed circuit of the type described, which has a low cost.
Other objects of this invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
On describing the gist of this invention, it is possible to be understood that a flexible printed circuit is for electrically connecting between a fixed portion and a movable portion. The flexible printed circuit comprises a flexible base layer having a principal surface and a lower surface. A conductive layer is formed on the principal surface of the flexible base layer through a first adhesive agent. A cover lay is formed on the conductive layer through a second adhesive agent. The cover lay has an upper surface.
According to an aspect of this invention, the above-mentioned flexible printed circuit further comprises foil made of conductive material pasted on at least one of the lower surface of the flexible base layer and the upper surface of the cover lay through a third adhesive agent. The foil is electrically connected to a ground portion.
In the afore-mentioned flexible printed circuit, the foil may comprise copper foil. The third adhesive agent preferably may comprise a conductive adhesive agent. Electrical connection between the foil and the ground portion may be made using solder. The conductive layer comprises various signal lines including a power supply line and a ground line. The foil may be pasted on the at least one of the lower surface of the flexible base layer and the upper surface of the cover lay so as to cover at least the power supply line and the ground line.
In the afore-mentioned flexible printed circuit, the fixed portion may be a body of an optical disc drive. The movable portion may be an optical pickup unit comprising an electromagnetic radiation source. In this event, the foil is for shielding electromagnetic noises radiated from the electromagnetic radiation source. The foil may be disposed only the vicinity of the electromagnetic radiation source. The conductive layer comprises various signal lines including a power supply line and a ground line. The foil may be pasted on the at least one of the lower surface of the flexible base layer and the upper surface of the cover lay so as to cover at least the power supply line and the ground line.

Flexible printed circuit with EMI protection


A method for generating dynamical systems that can be instantiated on reconfigurable computing platforms for solving instances of the Boolean satisfiability problem (SAT) is disclosed. When the SAT instance can be satisfied by an appropriate assignment of the variables, the dynamical system has a fixed point attractor that corresponds to a satisfying assignment of variables. When the SAT instance cannot be satisfied by any assignment of variables, there is no such fixed point attractor. Exemplary embodiments represent a physically-realizable computing device that solves SAT problems outside the Turing machine paradigm. Exemplary embodiments detect when the system reaches a fixed point attractor.

The present disclosure is directed to Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) instances and more particularly to using reconfigurable computing devices to solve SAT instances.
Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) is the problem of finding values for a set of Boolean variables that makes a given Boolean formula (evaluate to) TRUE. SAT is an NP-complete problem. If no assignment of the Boolean variables makes the Boolean formula TRUE, then the formula is called unsatisfiable. The formula is typically presented in a conjunctive normal form (CNF). That is, the formula is presented as the conjunction (logical AND operation) of a set of disjunctions (logical OR operations) of one or more Boolean literals. The literals consist of variables or their logical negation. This is a general form since arbitrary Boolean functions can be reduced to a CNF.
Typically, in solving SAT, software running on general-purpose computers is utilized, which is necessarily based on the Turing machine paradigm of computation. SAT solvers come in two varieties depending on their behavior when the given Boolean formula is unsatisfiable. Complete methods are guaranteed to terminate in all cases and provide a proof that the given formula is unsatisfiable. Incomplete methods only terminate when a satisfying assignment of the variables is found; if the algorithm proceeds beyond a user-definable threshold number of steps, it is assumed that the formula is unsatisfiable, but there is no proof that it truly is unsatisfiable.
Reconfigurable computing devices such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) can also be used to accelerate solving SAT instances. These approaches, however, are hardware implementations of classical algorithms and thus reducible to the Turing paradigm.

Method of constructing dynamical systems for solving Boolean satisfiability


An exemplary electronic apparatus includes a casing, and an electronic component and a heat dissipation device received in the casing. The casing includes a bottom plate and an opposite top plate. The heat dissipation device includes a centrifugal fan defining an air outlet for airflow out, a heat sink arranged at the air outlet, and a heat pipe. A height of the heat sink along a direction parallel to a rotation axis of the centrifugal fan is less than that of the air outlet. The heat pipe includes an evaporation section thermally attached to the electronic component and a condensation section thermally attached to the heat sink.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to heat dissipation, and particularly to a heat dissipation device and an electronic apparatus using the heat dissipation device.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic devices such as laptop computers often present a thin profile, such that interior space is very limited. Even so, the electronic device is called upon to house numerous electronic components, which results in considerable heat generated during operation. The heat frequently accumulates on a casing of the electronic device rather than being dissipated efficiently. The external surface of the electronic device can thus reach temperatures which are uncomfortable or even hazardous to a user.
What is needed, therefore, is a means which can overcome the limitations described.

Electronic apparatus with heat dissipation device


In a mobile communication system, when a mobile visitor terminal registered at a first network enters a second network, it sends a registration signal to a first exchange belonging to the second network. The first exchange sends a roaming start request signal to the first network. On receiving authentication information from the first network, the exchange writes it in a VLR (Visitor Location Register) storage. On the origination of a call on the visitor terminal, call information is written to a call information storage. A third exchange stores in an VLR holding node number storage the fact that the call information is stored in the first exchange. When the visitor terminal moves to the area of a second exchange, the second exchange sees, based on the content of the VLR holding node number storage, that the authentication information is stored in the first exchange, and obtains it. The second exchange switches connection thereto on the basis of the authentication information and call information.

The present invention relates to a mobile communication system and more particularly to a mobile communication system allowing communication to be held on a portable telephone or similar mobile terminal moved from one network to another network, and a mobile communication method.
The spread of PHS (Personal Handy-Phone system) and other portable telephone systems has derived a convenient mobile communication environment. A portable telephone is usable anywhere in an office as an extension telephone and allows a person carrying it to be located on the basis of a location display function available therewith. Further, a person carrying a portable telephone can use it for a private purpose outside of an office via a general telephone channel.
In a relatively small office, all the portable telephones registered at a network constructed in the office can be dealt with by a single exchange. However, in a relatively large office or a company or organization having a plurality of offices distributed in, e.g., an urban area, it is impossible for a single exchange to manage all the portable telephones in the geographical or capacity aspect. In light of this, there has been proposed a system in which a plurality of exchanges are distributed in a preselected area, and each manages particular portable telephones. In this system, when a person carrying a portable telephone moves from, e.g., one building to another building owned by the same company or organization, the above proposed system manages the telephone as if the telephone were connected to a single exchange. Such control over communication is achievable because a plurality of exchanges constitute an apparent, single exchange system.
In practices however, the possibility that a mobile telephone is moved between different networks must be taken into account. For example, if a mobile telephone moved from a first network to a second network is dealt with as a visitor terminal, a call can be originated on the mobile telephone. However, when a call is originated on the mobile telephone registered at the first network, but moved to the second network, hand-over is cannot be executed if the telephone in communication enters another area of the second network.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-65236 discloses a system that implements radio mobile communication without regard to the position of a mobile telephone as well as hand-over between a plurality of telephone-based radio networks. The system, however, pertains to radio mobile communication using exchanges that are connected to the same network. That is, the system does not work when a mobile telephone or visitor terminal moved from a first network to a second network further moves between exchanges connected to the second network.
Technologies relating to the present invention are also disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. 8-237727, 10-4581, 11-122659 and 11-298930 and Japanese Patent NO. 2,970,603.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile communication system and a mobile communication method capable of implementing, when a mobile terminal registered at a first network enters a second network including a plurality of exchanges and starts communication, hand-over between the exchanges of the second network even if the mobile terminal in communication moves in the second network.
In accordance with the present invention, a mobile communication system includes a network identification information obtaining circuit belonging to a first network for obtaining, when a mobile terminal not registered at the first network enters the first network as a visitor terminal, identification information that identifies a second network at which the mobile terminal is registered. An authentication information requesting circuit requests, based on the identification information obtained, the second network to send authentication information necessary for the visitor terminal to communicate in the first network. When the authentication information is received from the second network, an authentication information storage stores the authentication information in any one of a plurality of exchanges belonging to the first network. A call information storage stores call information generated when the visitor terminal starts communication in the first network. An exchange storage stores information representative of the exchanges each storing the authentication information and call information of a particular visitor terminal. When any one of the exchanges needs for hand-over the authentication information and call information of the visitor terminal that moves while in communication, a searching circuit searches the contents of the exchange storage to thereby locate the exchange storing the authentication information and call information and provides the above one exchange with the authentication information and call information.
A mobile communication method for executing above procedure is also disclosed.

Mobile communication system and mobile communication method


A waterslide attraction provides multiple standing waves interspersed with multiple flume elements. The multiple standing waves may vary in steepness and the flume elements may include turns of vary degree. A first standing wave may be higher than succeeding standing waves and a first turn may be higher than succeeding turns. An exit slide connected to the waterslide attraction may direct a rider to a runout pool.

Waterslide attractions typically provide riders with a thrilling experience of speed and lateral force upon the body as the riders slide on the attraction. A stream of water is commonly flowed along a flume from an entrance location of higher elevation to an exit location of lower elevation. A rider slides along the flume due to the stream of water, either with or without a ride vehicle, and experiences the twists, turns, and drops predetermined by the design and setup of the flume.

Water ride attraction incorporating a standing wave


A data processing machine which is controlled to produce graphical output from stored sets of data. The data sets may be stored in the non-uniform manner. The machine is controlled to determine column boundaries in each row of a data set and then to determine column boundaries in each row of a data set and then to determine which rows of the set have missing items. Data sets can then be reformatted as graphs or similar representations. The machine takes away the constraint on users to accurately enter data items into specific slots in a table or data set.

One of the major advantages of data processing machines is the ability to change the format in which data is presented in either visual display or printed form. Machines are controlled, using a suitable graphics control program such as the IBM Graphics Data Display Manager (GDDM) (IBM and GDDM are trade marks of the IBM Corporation), to manipulate sets of data and produce almost any form of graph (bar charts, pie charts, line graphs etc.,).
European Patent No. 26266 describes the basic operation of a graphics control program. A digital data display system in which the display device includes a plurality of random access stores into which character cell definitions are loaded from a remote central processing unit. A character cell may be a 9 x 16 picture element matrix and each is defined in the Central Processor Unit (C.P.U.) according to the requirements of a display request received from a users application program. The system control services include a graphics manager and graphics routines which construct a character buffer and character cell definition table according to the picture to be displayed. A character cell definition that is required more than once in a picture is only included once in the definition table. The character buffer having the required number of pointers to the one definition. When the character buffer and character definition table have been constructed they are transmitted to the display device using a data communication system. The system can be used for color or monochrome displays.
A class of application programs process data which generally takes the form of a two-dimensional table. Spreadsheets are a notable example. Business charting programs are another--typically a table may include a number of "sets" of values, with conceptually the same number of items in each set (though some may in fact be missing). For example, the machine may be used to plot sales of a range of products for a number of months:
______________________________________ Jan Feb Mar Apr May ______________________________________ Televisions 45 67 66 98 78 Refrigerators 19 24 67 80 Toasters 50 55 51 46 ______________________________________
Business charting programs normally have a Data Entry facility in which the display screen is formatted into uniform rows and columns of fields, into which the user can type values.
However, manual data entry is tedious and error-prone, and many users already have tabular files stored in their computer which they would prefer the charting program to use. These tabular files may be "soft" copies of printed reports, with regular columns of numbers, or they may be less formal files maintained by the user for his or her own convenience. The latter have the characteristic that the columns may be rather ragged in appearance--the human eye can distinguish the columns and recognize where values are "missing".
The problem with these tabular files for the business charting program lies in understanding the format without too much analysis (which could be time-consuming and therefore frustrating to the user). A solution which the GDDM PFG Interactive Chart Utility uses is to require the user to identify the columns of numbers, by "marking" the top-left and bottom-right positions of each column. This identification can then be saved for future use. The disadvantage is that the "marking" process is awkward to learn and use, and the identification may lose its validity if the user's columns of numbers become more ragged as he adds more numbers from day to day.


A device and method for expediting spectral measurement in metrological activities during semiconductor device fabrication through interferometric spectroscopy of white light illumination during calibration, overlay, and recipe creation.

Typically, spectral information used in metrological activities associated with semiconductor device manufacture is acquired through relatively time consuming spectral measurements during calibration, overlay activities, recipe creation, and other metrological activities. Spectral measurements many times increase overall processing time thereby reducing process efficiency. Therefore, there is a need to expedient acquisition of robust spectral information enabling a wide range of metrological activities in a manner preserving fabrication speed and efficiency.

Expediting spectral measurement in semiconductor device fabrication


UI3(1,4-dioxane)1.5 and UI4(1,4-dioxane)2, were synthesized in high yield by reacting turnings of elemental uranium with iodine dissolved in 1,4-dioxane under mild conditions. These molecular compounds of uranium are thermally stable and excellent precursor materials for synthesizing other molecular compounds of uranium including alkoxide, amide, organometallic, and halide compounds.

Molecular compounds of uranium are used for understanding the behavior and properties of light actinides for environmental and aqueous processing, materials for nuclear fuel cycles, and for other applications [1, 2]. Simple, safe, and inexpensive access to molecular compounds of uranium is important for developing molecular uranium chemistry.
Uranium tetrachloride (UCl4) and the tetrahydrofuran (THF) adduct of uranium triiodide UI3(THF)4 are the currently most popular starting materials for synthesizing molecular compounds of uranium(IV) and uranium(III) [3-10]. Problems associated with synthesizing these starting materials have prompted efforts to find suitable replacements. UI3 has been suggested as a suitable replacement for UI3(THF)4, but harsh conditions and special equipment are needed to prepare UI3 [11-15].
Lewis base adducts of UI4 have been reported as having limited thermal stability or as being incompatible with strong nucleophiles [16-20]. UI4(diethyl ether)2 [21-22] could be a replacement for UI4, but the preparation of UI4(diethyl ether)2 is complicated and requires special equipment.


According to one embodiment, an electrostatic actuator includes an electrode unit, a conductive film body unit, a plurality of first urging units, and a plurality of second urging units. The electrode unit is provided on a substrate. The conductive film body unit is provided opposing the electrode unit. The plurality of first urging units are provided at a first circumferential edge portion of the conductive film body unit to support the film body unit. The plurality of second urging units are provided at a second circumferential edge portion opposing the first circumferential edge portion to support the film body unit. The electrode unit and the conductive film body unit contact or separate by the electrode unit being set to a voltage having a prescribed value. The plurality of first urging units have mutually different rigidities, and the plurality of second urging units have mutually different rigidities.

Electrostatic actuators are known in which an electrostatic force acts between a stator and a mover included in an actuator, and the attraction force thereof is used to drive the mover. Further, so-called semiconductor processes (the manufacturing technology of semiconductor devices) have been used to develop extremely small electrostatic actuators in MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) and the like.
Also in MEMS and the like, so-called MEMS switches that utilize electrostatic actuators are known. There are such known MEMS switches in which a film body unit is suspended by multiple spring components; when the switch is ON, a pull-in voltage is provided and the film body unit is electrostatically attracted to the electrode unit against a spring force of the spring components; and when the switch is OFF, a pull-out voltage is provided and the film body unit is caused to separate from the electrode unit by the spring force of the spring components.
Electrostatically-driven MEMS switches generally have a high pull-in voltage of, for example, not less than 20 V (volts). Therefore, in the case where a MEMS switch is used in a mobile system such as a mobile telephone, a voltage step-up circuit is necessary. In such a case, it is disadvantageous for the mobile system because the voltage step-up circuit not only has a large chip surface area but also uses a large current. Moreover, noise occurring in the voltage step-up circuit may cause misoperations of the wireless circuit.
In such a case, reducing the rigidities of the spring components can reduce the pull-in voltage. However, in the case where the rigidities of the spring components are simply reduced, a discrepancy in which the film body unit and the electrode unit remain in contact and do not separate, i.e., a so-called stiction defect, occurs easily. Further, reducing the pull-in voltage weakens the force with which the film body unit and the electrode unit contact each other, i.e., the contact force. As a result, there is a risk that the contact resistance of the switch may undesirably increase.
Such problems exist not only in contact-type MEMS switches but also similarly in variable capacitors and the like used in high frequency circuits. In other words, simply reducing the rigidities of the spring components to reduce the pull-in voltage causes stiction defects to occur easily. Also, there is a risk that a large capacitance ratio cannot be obtained because the contact force is weakened.
Therefore, technology has been proposed to suspend the film body unit using multiple spring components having different rigidities, electrostatically attract the portion of the film body unit from the side where the spring components having low rigidities are provided in the ON state, and separate from the portion of the film body unit on the side where the spring components having high rigidities are provided in the OFF state (refer to JP-A 2007-35641 (Kokai)).
However, in the technology discussed in JP-A 2007-35641 (Kokai), there is no consideration for attracting the film body unit to the electrode unit by a small force when starting the attraction; and there is a risk of unstable operations when starting the attraction.
Further, because the spring components are provided on the short sides of a film body unit having a rectangular shape, the film body unit flexes easily between the opposing spring components. Therefore, there is a risk of unstable operations during separation when the switch is OFF such as the film body unit flexing and a portion of the film body unit not separating from the electrode unit, etc.

Electrostatic actuator including a plurality of urging units with varying rigities


A new pelargonium plant particularly distinguished by cherry-red, double flowers, floriferous with medium-sized inflorescence, grass-green foliage with weak to medium zonation, a medium to tall, round and well-branched plant habit with a mid-season flowering response, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of pelargonium, botanically known as a Pelargonium peltatum L'Héritier, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Free Derose'. The new cultivar was propagated from a seedling resulting from the cross of the female parent '9120-3', a magenta-flowered proprietary pelargonium plant (unpatented) and the male parent 'Free Cherry Rose' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,448) a commercial pelargonium plant having cherry-rose flowers.
The new cultivar was created in 2001 in Gilroy, Calif. and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Gilroy, Calif. and Hillscheid, Germany over a three-to four-year period. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar were applied for in Canada on Mar. 29, 2005 and with the European Union on Sep. 20, 2005.


A system and method that enables a designer to build electronic forms and corresponding hierarchical schemas are described. Displays of hierarchical schemas, electronic forms, and components used to build the hierarchical schemas and electronic forms are provided to the designer. The designer selects components and arranges them on a display to visually build an electronic form. As the form is built, the corresponding hierarchical schema is incrementally updated to reflect changes made to the electronic form.

Extensible markup language (XML) is increasingly becoming the preferred format for transferring information. XML is a tag-based hierarchical language that is extremely rich in terms of the information that it can be used to represent. For example, XML can be used to represent information spanning the spectrum from semi-structured information (such as one would find in a word processing document) to generally structured information (such as that which is contained in a table). XML is well-suited for many types of communication including business-to-business and client-to-server communication. For more information on XML, XSLT, and XML Schema, the reader is referred to the following documents which are the work of, and available from the W3C (World Wide Web consortium): XML 1.0 second edition specification; XSL Transformations (XSLT) Version 1.0; XML Schema Part 1; Structures; and XML Schema Part 2; Datatypes.
Before information can be transferred, however, it must first be collected. Electronic forms are commonly used to collect information. One way to collect information and have it also in an XML document is to have the electronic form correspond to an XML schema. By so doing, the information entered into an electronic form can be stored in an XML document, which conforms to the XML schema. Having information within an XML document that conforms to an XML schema allows the XML document to be understood and validated when transferred to others having access to the XML schema.
Currently, to begin creating an electronic form corresponding to an XML schema, a skilled programmer can write an XML schema and then, once the XML schema is written, abstract how information conforming to that schema will be entered. With the abstraction of how the information will be entered, the programmer can then create an electronic form that maps data-entry fields to that schema. The programmer can map data-entry fields to that schema using an XML path language (XPath), such as the W3C-standard XML path language (information about which is currently available from W3C at www.w3.org/TR/xpath). This process of creating an electronic form, however, is time consuming and can require a programmer of significant skill.
To create these electronic forms, the programmer often needs a significant understanding of HTML and XML Schemas. The programmer, to build an is electronic form with even moderately complex data-entry fields—such as repeating data-entry fields—often needs to understand how these data-entry fields are represented in the schema, HTML file, and XML data file. Also, to build a relatively simple electronic form with simple data-entry fields the programmer often needs to understand how HTML, XML, and XML Schemas are structured and how they are interrelated. Thus, to build one of these electronic forms, a programmer often must have significant experience and skill.
For these reasons, creating electronic forms and corresponding schemas can be difficult, time consuming, and require a programmer of significant skill.

System and method for designing electronic forms and hierarchical schemas


Design techniques are describes in which a telephone interface circuit or DAA can be realized using two silicon integrated circuits which include integrated opto couplers. The LED is formed on the chips using technologies which can be easily integrated onto a silicon integrated circuit such as porous silicon, avalanching PN junction, forward biased PN junction, deposited silicon carbide PN junction, deposited organic LED material such as conjugated polymers, or deposited GaAs LEDs. The light detector is realized using either a PN junction based detector or a Schottky diode detector depending on the wavelength of the light transmitted by the LED. The two integrated circuits can be placed in a single package with suitable optical links within the package. This technology thus eliminates the need for discrete opto couplers and transformers.

Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to circuits that interface a telephone line to a MODEM and to AC powered telephones and are fabricated using integrated circuit techniques and silicon based LEDs.
2. Prior Art
Isolation between the telephone line and AC house powered telephone circuits require an isolation barrier. Specifically, answering machines, cordless telephones, speaker phones, FAX machines, and MODEMs require the use of an electrical supply powered by a 60/50 Hz AC source which cannot be electrically connected to the telephone line through a hard wired connection. The ground of the AC powered circuit must be allowed to float with respect to the telephone line. To couple signals between the telephone line and an AC powered circuit a number of isolation devices can employed including transformers, capacitors, and opto-couplers. In addition, relays may also be employed to act as electrically isolated control switches such as an off hook switch in a MODEM. The interface circuit between the telephone line and an AC line powered circuit is referred to as a Data Access Arrangement or DAA.
Traditionally, signal isolation has been accomplished by using a 600 Ohm transformer. The biggest drawbacks in using transformers, however, are size and cost. Capacitors can be used as isolation devices but add undesirable capacitance between the isolated circuits unless the capacitance is very small, i.e. on the order of a few pico-farads. Also, capacitively isolated circuits are susceptible to transient disturb if the ground bus of one of the isolated circuits sees a rapid voltage change with respect to the ground bus of the second isolated circuit. This effect is due to the fact that a capacitor must pass charge from the output of one circuit to the input of the other circuit if the ground bus voltage difference between the two circuits changes. Finally, capacitively coupled telephone isolation circuit complexity increases over that using a transformer. However, with integrated circuit technology this disadvantage is greatly reduced.
The disturb problem associated with capacitively coupled signal isolation is not present in optically coupled signal isolation. Like the capacitively coupled isolator, the optically coupled isolator requires more circuitry than does a transformer coupled isolator.
In the traditional MODEM DAA which uses a transformer for signal isolation an opto coupler is employed for ring detection and a relay for the off hook condition. A Darlington connected bipolar transistor pair is typically used to sink the off hook current while providing a high signal impedance.
With the ability to provide complex circuits at a low cost, it is feasible to eliminate the bulky transformer and replace it with either an isolation capacitor or an opto coupler. This was illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,210 which showed how SOI combined with silicon based LEDs could be use to fabricate a monolithic DAA. One difficulty with this approach is the lack of general acceptance of SOI technology and the high cost of the substrate material.
Other inventions show how opto couplers can be used in a discrete circuit format to perform the isolating function. The opto couplers in these inventions use commercially available opto-couplers which are based on GaAs technology for the LED and silicon for the detector technology. The problem with these approaches is the cost of making a circuit with several discrete integrated circuits.
This invention relates to an optically isolated DAA which eliminates the traditional signal isolation transformer. Applications include MODEMs, FAX machines, and AC line powered telephones such as but not limited to speaker phones, cordless telephones, and telephone answering machines.
It is the objective to show how even low efficiency LEDs can be used eliminate the signal transformer and how to integrate components that have traditionally been discrete. In particular, traditional discrete LEDs such as GaAs diodes can be replaced either with low efficiency silicon based diodes such as porous silicon, avalanche diodes, deposited silicon carbide diodes, etc. or with deposited polymer light sources or even deposited GaAs LEDs. LEDs that are placed directly onto the silicon integrated circuit will lower the cost over discrete LEDs. Furthermore, unlike that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,210, this invention seeks to unitize bulk silicon technology which is much more available and lower in cost than SOI technology. The key to using low efficiency LEDs is to digitally encode the signal and transmit it across the optically coupled barrier as a series of digital pulses rather than as an analog signal. This removes the stringent requirement of linearity and phase integrity needed for the analog signal, especially as it applies to MODEMs.
It is another object of this invention to reduce the number of LED-light detector pairs to two for off hook and ring signaling in addition to signal coupling. It is another objective to show how a MODEM DAA can be realized using only two silicon chips in a single package. And another objective is to show how a speaker phone, a voice messaging phone, and a cordless phone can be realized using two silicon chip circuits.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,687. This patent describes an opto coupler based DAA which uses a D to A and an A to D converter on the telephone line side to drive the transmit and receive opto couplers. Two additional couplers are shown for the ring signal and the off hook signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,298. This patent uses opto couplers to transmit and receive the telephone signal. Transmission through the opto couplers is direct with an additional light detector use as a feedback sensor to improve linearity of the opto coupler.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,293. This patent show a xe2x80x9ctranshybrid that incorporates optically-coupled isolation stagesxe2x80x9d. Optical coupling is by analog means with analog feedback using a second detector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,686. This patent shows another example of a linear opto coupler based telephone line interface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,803. This patent shows a method of AC coupling both the tip and ring signals into a transmit optocoupler
U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,895. This patent is an example of a capacitive type telephone line isolation DAA.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,454. This patent shows the building blocks of and analog type opto-coupler based DAA for a MODEM.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,154. This patent shows a micro-controller based DAA which uses opto-couplers to transmit the data signals and the ring signal.

Design of telephone line interface circuits using a two chip opto-coupler with LEDs integrated onto silicon chips