A silicon carbide powder according to the embodiment includes nitrogen having a concentration in a range of about 100 ppm to about 5000 ppm. A method for manufacturing silicon carbide powder according to the embodiment includes preparing a mixture by mixing a silicon source including silicon with a solid carbon source or a carbon source including an organic carbon compound; heating the mixture; cooling the mixture; and supplying a nitrogen-based gas into the mixture.

Recently, silicon carbide has been used in various electronic devices as a semi-conductor material for various purposes. In particular, the silicon carbide is very useful because the silicon carbide has the superior physical strength and high resistance against the chemical attack. In addition, the silicon carbide represents the superior electronic characteristics, such as the high radiation hardness, relatively wide bandgap, high saturated electron drift velocity, high operating temperature, and high absorption and emission of quantum energy in the blue, violet and ultraviolet bands of a spectrum.
The silicon carbide can be fabricated by mixing and heating source materials, such as a silicon source and a carbon source. A scheme for fabricating the silicon carbide powder uses an Acheson scheme, a carbon-thermal reduction scheme, a liquid polymer thermal decomposition scheme, and a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) scheme, which are generally known in the art. In particular, the liquid polymer thermal decomposition scheme or the carbon-thermal reduction scheme is used for synthesizing a high purity silicon carbide powder.
A silicon carbide single crystal may be grown through the apparatus for growing a silicon carbide single crystal, which uses the silicon carbide powder fabricated by the above fabricating scheme as a raw material. In a case of nitrogen used as a dopant when growing the silicon carbide single crystal, in general, an n-type SiC single crystal is fabricated by supplying nitrogen gas into the single crystal growing apparatus during the process of growing the single crystal.
However, when the n-type silicon carbide single crystal is fabricated, it is difficult to uniformly supply the nitrogen gas into the apparatus for growing silicon carbide single crystal at the high temperature. In addition, since a process step is added, the process efficiency is deteriorated and the process cost is increased.
Thus, when the n-type silicon carbide single crystal is fabricated, a new scheme which can grow the single crystal without supplying the nitrogen gas during the single crystal growing process is required.

Silicon carbide powder, method for manufacturing the same and method for growing single crystal


A rover for precisely determining the topography of a given parcel by contacting the surface of the parcel includes a GPS module and at least one sensor wheel. The GPS module may be mounted adjacent to and work in concert with the sensor wheel. The attitude and heading of the sensor wheel may be measured with another sensor, such as an AHRS, and the angle of the sensor wheel may be measured with a rotation position sensor. The various data points may be distilled to accurately measure the topography of a given parcel when the relative positions of the GPS module and the center of the sensor wheel are constant.

It is often desirable to generate a terrain map for a particular geographic area. One such situation is a golf course, for which a terrain map is useful for golfers playing on the course. It is often the case that a golf course will provide a basic, two-dimensional terrain map to golfers. For example, it is customary for such a two-dimensional terrain map to be included on a back portion of a course scorecard.
Another situation, and one which requires even more precision than a golf course, is a baseball or football field. With athletes performing at full speed, even minor imperfections in the sporting surface may greatly increase the likelihood of injury, or the likelihood that a sporting surface imperfection will adversely affect the game (e.g., an untrue bounce from a ball). Imperfections as small at one millimeter may have unfortunate consequences.
Accordingly, a precise three-dimensional map is useful in many situations. However, traditionally the generation of a three dimensional terrain map is a more complex and expensive undertaking, and as such, they are rarely created with the proper precision.
One example of a three-dimensional terrain mapping apparatus and method is disclosed in US Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0245169. However, this apparatus/method does not provide the user with the required precision.


A bit generation apparatus includes a glitch generation circuit that generates glitch signals which include a plurality of pulses, and T-FF bit generation circuits which input the glitch signals, and based on either rising edges or falling edges of the plurality of pulses included in the glitch signals, generate a bit value of either 0 or 1. Each of the T-FF bit generation circuits generates a respective bit value based on either the parity of the number of rising edges or the parity of the number of falling edges of the plurality of pulses. As a result of employment of the T-FF bit generation circuits, circuits that are conventionally required but not essential for the glitch become unnecessary. This serves to prevent expansion in circuit scale and increase in processing time of bit generation for the bit generation circuit.

As for semi-conductor devices on ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), there is a phenomenon that different outputs are obtained from devices of the same kind on which the same circuits are mounted because each device has different device characteristics such as gate delays. A circuit that produces such a phenomenon and its technology are called Physical Unclonable Function and Physical Uncloning Technique (hereafter, referred to as PUF) or the like. PUF is expected to be applied to authentication, encryption and such.
Non-patent literature 1 describes an example of PUF. In Non-Patent Literature 1, a glitch which occurs in an output signal in a combination circuit is exploited. FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate the principle of the PUF (referred to as glitch PUF) in Non-Patent Literature 1. The glitch PUF of Non-Patent Literature 1 is discussed with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. A glitch is a phenomenon that the value of a signal repeatedly changes between 0 and 1 before the signal settles to its intended value. Referring to FIG. 14, when the values of input signals x1 to xL to a random logic 201 in a combination circuit are varied, the values of output signals y1 to yM (and the value of a signal g selected from among the output signals) change accordingly. Such a change does not occur instantly, but takes a certain period of time. In a transitional state of the change, a glitch in which a value repeatedly changes between 0 and 1 occurs, as shown in an area 202.
The glitch shape is determined by delays in gates in the random logic 201. Gate delays vary from device to device, and therefore the glitch shape differs depending on the device. Therefore, by allocating the glitch shape to 0 or 1, a device unique information bit can be generated. Non-patent Literature 1 describes a method of converting the parity of the number of pulses included in a glitch into a bit, as shown in (a) and (b) in FIG. 15. That is the principle of the glitch PUF.
Referring to Non-Patent Literature 1, to acquire the glitch shape, a signal (hereafter, referred to as glitch signal) including a glitch is sampled to acquire a waveform (hereafter, referred to as glitch waveform) including the glitch. A glitch is a phenomenon occurring in a shorter period of time than a clock cycle. For this reason, the following process is required:    (a) one glitch signal is sampled by slightly phase-shifted N clocks; or    (b) slight-delay added N glitch signals are sampled by one clock.
The "slight delay" is a period of time (delay) that is shorter than the interval between pulses included in a glitch. Non-Patent Literature 1 is based on the latter (b) (FIG. 16). Non-Patent Literature 1 also proposes a method of using wires for carry bits in an adder circuit in which delay is suppressed to a minimum, on LSI such as FPGA, as a method of adding the "slight delay".

Bit generation apparatus and bit generation method


A target transporting device includes a pair of transport rollers that applies a transport force to a continuous-form sheet toward a downstream side from an upstream side while pinching the continuous-form sheet; a guide member that applies a tension force to the continuous-form sheet being pinched by the pair of transport rollers toward the upstream side in a transport direction of the continuous-form sheet; and an image capturing unit that is disposed at a location upstream of the pair of transport rollers on a transport path of the continuous-form sheet so as to detect a transport amount of the continuous-form sheet to which the tension force is being applied by the guide member without contact.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to target transporting devices that transport targets and liquid ejecting apparatuses equipped with the stated target transporting devices.
2. Related Art
Ink jet printers that form images by ejecting liquid onto targets from liquid ejecting heads have been well known as one type of liquid ejecting apparatuses. Some of these printers include a sensor for detecting a transport amount of a target.
For example, a printer described in Japanese Patent No. 4,096,740 includes a motion sensor as such sensor. This motion sensor receives laser light reflected from a surface of a sheet, and a transport amount of the sheet is calculated based on a movement amount of an interference pattern (speckle pattern) that represents a shape of the surface of the sheet and is contained in the reflected laser light.
In the printer mentioned above, a pair of rollers that pinches a sheet and applies a transport force to the sheet is provided on a sheet transport path, and the motion sensor is provided in the vicinity of this roller pair. Accordingly, if strain is generated on a sheet fed out from the roller pair, a portion of the sheet to be detected by the motion sensor can deform in a rising manner. In this case, since a distance between the motion sensor and the sheet is varied, the motion sensor cannot clearly detect an interference pattern of laser light reflected from the sheet. Therefore, there has been a risk that the transport amount of the sheet cannot be detected with accuracy.

Target transporting device and liquid ejecting apparatus


A die for co-extruding structural shapes is provided with a central cylindrical duct through which the molten polymeric material destined to constitute the central core of the structural shape flows, and a conical gap, coaxial with the central duct, into which the polymeric coating material is fed which will constitute the outer skin of the structural shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a die for producing co-extruded structural shapes, in which a core constituted by a mixture of polymeric materials, in particular of recycled polymeric materials, is provided with a polymeric coating (skin), said die comprising a central body with an internal duct destined to convey the molten material destined to constituting the core of the structural shape.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dies used for producing co-extruded structural shapes constituted by a plurality of material, which may also be of different hardness and/or color, have been known for a long time in the sector. The operating way of said dies is based on the use of thermoplastic polymeric materials having well-defined rheological characteristics. When such characteristics vary, in particular with varying viscosity and average molecular weight values of the molten mass, the equilibria of correct advancement and distribution of the molten mass are compromised and the die results to be no longer suitable for the intended purpose.
Therefore, it is clear that the traditional technique used to design the co-extrusion dies cannot be transferred to the design of dies used to extrude mixtures of thermoplastic polymers derived from the differentiated collection (recycle) of wastes, from processing scraps, and so forth. The presence of various polymeric matrices chemically incompatible with one another leads to phase separations during molten material flowing through the extrusion head. In the attempts performed in the past and aiming at coating, by a co-extrusion technique, an extruded structural shape based on a heterogeneous mixture of thermoplastic polymers, with a protective and aesthetical skin based on a specific polymeric material, it was observed that, instead of uniformly distributing on the surface of an extruded structural shape, said skin material penetrates the boundary regions between different phases of the polymeric matrix, leading to articles of manufacture characterized by strong unevennesses in the distribution of the polymeric material which constitutes the sheltering skin.

Die for manufacturing co-extruded structural shapes


An implantable microminiature stimulator and/or sensor (microdevice) is housed within a sealed housing that includes all the requisite electronic circuitry for inductively receiving power and control signals to sense of biopotential or other biomedical signals and/or to generate electrical stimulation pulse(s) between opposing electrodes. In a preferred embodiment, the housing of the microdevice is tubular, with opposing electrodes extending from each end. The electrodes are self-attaching electrodes that attach to a nerve or muscle without suturing. The electrodes are configured to helically curl around the desired nerve, thereby permitting the microdevice to stimulate the nerve or muscle, or sense signals associated with the nerve or muscle, using a minimal amount of energy. The electrodes and microdevice are sufficiently small to allow attachment to a single nerve, thereby preventing tethering of the nerve or muscle, and to allow their implantation within living tissue through small incisions or puncture holes. The muscle or nerve to which the microdevice is attached may be of any type, e.g., skeletal, smooth or cardiac.

The present invention relates to implantable medical devices, and more particularly to an implantable microminiature stimulator (or "microstimulator") or microminiature sensor (or "microsensor") adapted to securely attach to one or more muscle or nerve fibers (or muscles or nerves) and to electrically stimulate the muscle nerve at the point of attachment in a controlled manner, or to sense one or more specific parameters that originate at or near the point of attachment. More particularly, the invention relates to an implantable microstimulator and/or microsensor (hereafter referred to as a "microdevice" or "microdevices") that uses helical electrodes for sensing, stimulating, and/or anchoring.
Neurological disorders are often caused by neural impulses failing to reach their natural destination in otherwise functional body systems. Local nerves and muscles may function, but, for various reasons, injury, stroke, or other cause, the stimulating nerve signals do not reach their natural destination. For example, paraplegics and quadriplegics have intact nerves and muscles and only lack the brain to nerve link, which stimulates the muscles into action.
Prosthetic devices have been used for some time to provide electrical stimulation to excite muscles, nerves or other tissues. Such devices have ranged in size and complexity from large, bulky systems feeding electrical pulses by conductors passing through the skin, to small, implanted stimulators which are controlled through telemetry signals, such as are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,774 (invented by Hildebrandt). Other devices have comprised a centrally-implanted stimulator package sending stimulation signals to a multitude of distant target sites using a network of implantable leads and electrodes. Unfortunately, when a lead and electrode are attached to a muscle or nerve from a centrally-implanted stimulator package, the muscle or nerve is, in effect, tethered by the lead, which may cause discomfort, irritation and damage to the patient as the muscle or nerve moves with a limb or body organ associated with the muscle or nerve. What is needed, therefore, is a way to stimulate a muscle or nerve without tethering the muscle or nerve.
Complications, including the possibility of infection, arise in the use of muscle, nerve or other stimulators which have conductors extending through the skin or which have nerve-stimulating electrodes that puncture or penetrate the epineurium. Further, in the use of implanted stimulators, difficulties arise in providing suitable, operable stimulators which are small in size and have the capability to receive and store sufficient energy and control information to satisfactorily operate them without direct connection. Hence, what is needed is an implantable stimulator that avoids the use of through-the-skin conductors, epineurium-penetrating electrodes, or other tissue-penetrating electrodes, and is small enough to facilitate easy implantation, yet has sufficient capacity to receive and store energy and control information so as to provide useful muscle or nerve stimulation.
Disadvantageously, the construction of a tiny microstimulator or microsensor (microdevice) presents problems of its own, which are not encountered in the construction of larger-sized biomedical appliances. An extremely small size involves problems and solutions of a different nature than are ordinarily encountered. The appropriate design of a suitable, small microdevice which can be easily implanted, such as by expulsion through the lumen of a needle, is difficult to achieve. Notwithstanding the small size and required shape, the microdevice structure must contain means for receiving and storing sufficient energy to provide the desired stimulating pulses or the desired sensing function, as well as electronic circuitry that provides control of the characteristics desired for the stimulating pulse or sensing signal.
Further, the electrodes used with a microdevice must also be carefully selected. Such electrodes must not complicate the implantation process, i.e., the electrodes too must be small and flexible, yet be of sufficient strength and length to be securely attached to the muscle or nerve they are to stimulate or from (or near) which a desired parameter is to be sensed.
The present invention advantageously addresses the above and other needs.

Implantable microdevice with self-attaching electrodes

Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research


A post mounting system and method that includes individually adjustable angled gripping elements which contact the interior of a hollow post so as to hold the post firmly against a retaining wall of a base member surrounding the lower end of the post. One or more shim components having a surface area substantially the same as at least the surface area of the bottom of the base member is used to adjust the vertical angularity of a post secured to the base member. The shims may be circularly shaped with a slot extending to the center thereof for shim placement about a rod upon which the base member is mounted. There is a thicker portion of such a shim opposite the slot. Alternative embodiments include additional post reinforcing structures insertable into the interior of the hollow post to provide additional support for complying with building code requirements, such as second story dwelling uses, etc.

Post retaining systems and methods are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,404,682; Reissue No. 36,550; 5,458,428; 5,307,598; and 5,386,938, all to West, describe various devices for mounting posts, and in particular, hollow square vinyl posts, to secure the same. Difficulties exist, however, with respect to proper plumbing of such posts to ensure correct vertical alignment thereof and with respect to securing such posts in a stable fashion. Moreover, the method by which hollow vinyl posts are connected to a mounting assembly is often complicated and made difficult by the necessity of having various accessories required to perform such task. For example, in prior art post mounting systems and methods, a vice may be utilized to hold the post, a press is utilized to insert elements of the mounting assembly into the hollow interior of the post and a router rig is required to configure the interior and exterior portions of the post so that it can be properly configured for use with such prior art post mounting systems.
FIG. 1 is illustrative of the components used in other prior art mounting assemblies for securing hollow posts in a vertical position. Specifically, there is a support base 12 having: (a) a vertically protruding interior pedestal 16 over which a hollow post (not shown here) is fitted, and (b) a surrounding recess 20 into which a lower end of the hollow post is fitted when secured to the support base 12. The additional components shown in FIG. 1 include mounting screws 24 that can be used to secure support base 12 to a wood deck or porch, a threaded mounting rod 28 that can secure the support base 12 to the deck or porch by attaching the rod 28 to, e.g., an underneath side of the deck or porch so that the rod extends through the deck or porch and then through the center hole 32 of the support base. During assembly the following steps are generally performed: (a) the rod 28 is fastened with nuts and washers to the deck or porch, (b) a hollow post is selected that mates tightly with the pedestal 16 (the post interior is expanded if necessary), (c) the post is positioned on the pedestal 16, (d) the post is then vertically adjusted by various techniques such as: positioning shims underneath one or more of the four corners 36 of support base, reconfiguring the interior of the hollow post, and/or grinding the lower end of the post so that the post will be sufficiently vertical, (e) once the post is sufficiently vertical, screws 40 are threaded into the side of both the post and the support base 12 to secure the post to the support base, and (f) a trim ring 44 is provided over the exposed portion of the support base 12 to thereby cover the connection between the support base and the post.
To secure the hollow post tightly onto the support base 12, the interior pedestal 16 must tightly fit into the interior of the post. Accordingly, such pedestals 16 may be slightly larger than the interior of the post, and thus each pedestal must have its exterior dimensions reduced and/or each post must have its lower end interior dimensions increased so that: (a) the pedestal and its post tightly mate, and (b) when the support base 12 is secured to the ground (via the threaded bolts 24), the post will be (or at least appear to be) exactly vertical. Moreover, since the ends of such hollow posts may not be exactly perpendicular to the length of the post, a user can not always fully seat the lower end of the post into the recess 20. Additionally, the ground upon which the support base 12 is to be attached may not be (and typically is not) completely horizontally level. Thus, there is no simple way to assure that the length of the post will be vertical when put in position. Moreover, once the post is secured to the pedestal, there is no simple means by which the post's orientation to the support base 12 can be adjusted short of disengaging the two customizing their fit.
Thus, it would desirable to have an efficient and sturdy system and method for securely attaching and more easily vertically aligning posts without the need for expensive accessories when performing post mounting operations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An apparatus to be inserted into a bore formed in a structure, includes a sleeve having an aperture. A rod is designed to be inserted into the aperture. A coupling maintains the rod substantially in axial alignment with the aperture prior to insertion of the sleeve into the bore. A recess, which is adapted to interfit with the rod, is disposed in the coupling to maintain the axial alignment. The coupling will not interfere with the insertion of the rod into the aperture. This insertion will cause the sleeve to be expanded into contact with a side of the bore.

This invention relates generally to a coupling means, and more particularly to a coupler to connect a sleeve and a bolt for a dynamic rock anchor prior to insertion into a bore formed in a structure.
One present method of installing a dynamic rock anchor system, including a sleeve and a rod, into a bore is to initially install the sleeve into the bore and then insert the rod behind the sleeve. In circumstances where the bore is in a ceiling which is higher than a person can reach, nothing will retain the sleeve in the bore before the rod is inserted. A complex ladder or scaffold system is required so a person can manually insert the sleeve; this is labor intensive.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present anchors. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.


Modification of the hosts file is detected, implementation of the modified hosts file is stalled, the modification to the hosts file is analyzed to determine if the modification is malicious, and if the modification is malicious, the hosts file is restored. In this manner, malicious modification of the hosts file is detected and prevented before the malicious modification is ever implemented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the protection of computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for updating malicious code protection information on computer systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Security applications such as anti-virus applications rely upon updates from security vendor update sites. These updates are an essential component of the security applications. For example, as new viruses are created, new virus definitions are distributed as an update to allow for detection of the new viruses.
Recognizing the importance of updates to security applications, new generations of malicious code, e.g., W32.Yaha, W32.Cone, W32.HLLW.Polybot, block access to security vendor update sites by maliciously modifying the hosts file. Specifically, new generations of malicious code manage to block access to update sites by modifying the "hosts" file such that the names used by the security applications to find update sites resolve incorrectly. Usually, names are resolved to addresses using the Domain Name System (DNS); however, the hosts file can be used to override DNS resolution. Thus, malicious code can prevent security applications from obtaining updates through malicious modifications to the hosts file.
If successful in blocking access, the malicious code defeats the ability of the security applications to access and download updates from the security vendor update sites. In this manner, the malicious code reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of the security applications in protecting the host computer system.


A film image reading system for reading the projected image obtained by projecting an image of an original sheet film on a film image reading body by the light source lamps for a film projector. The film image reading body are provided with an imaging unit for reading the projected image by photo-electric conversion, an amplifier for amplifying the image reading signals from the imaging unit, and a gain control circuit for controlling the value of the gain of the amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
This Invention relates to a film image reading system for reproducing the image recorded on the original sheet film, and more particularly to the adjustment of density at the time of the reading of the image on the original sheet film, by reading the projected image obtained by projecting the image of the original sheet film on the main unit of the film image reading system by means of a film projector.
2. Prior Art
In order to reproduce the images recorded on 35 mm film or the like in the form of prints in a desired size, it is in general practice to obtain prints of such images by printing the images on photosensitive paper. However, this process of printing such images on sensitive paper requires highly specialized techniques as well as special equipment and facilities. Thus, it has hitherto been impossible for laymen to perform such printing work in any easy and convenient way. In addition, the price for such prints are fairly high, and consequently it has not been free from care to have film images reproduced on such prints in a desired size.
In the meanwhile, the progress attained in the color copying machines in the recent years has made it possible to reproduce the images recorded on paper with a high degree of precision by the color copying process. On top of this, various types of image processing techniques made possible by processing such images in the form of digital signals, such as the technique offering the enlarging and reducing functions, have attained considerable progress in the development of multifarious functions, with such features as the enhanced color reproducing capability, the improved reproducing the details with high precision and fineness, and the image synthesizing process, in color copying machines.
In view of these circumstances, it has been proposed to perform the color copying process with a proper copying machine on the basis of the image signals obtained by projecting by means of a film projector the images recorded on various types of film and by obtaining electrical image signals by reading the said projected images with an image reading system equipped with a photoelectric conversion element, such as a CCD sensor provided in a digital color copying machine. Moreover, it has been in practice to install a film projector on a hitherto available analog copying machine and to copy the film images as projected by such a film projector or to print such images by applying such projected images directly to the photosensitive material.
In this regard, the density range of the film for recording images thereon generally presents a wide range of difference, and, in addition, this factor, density range, is different from one type of film to another, such as negative film and reversal film. For instance, the density range on negative film is ordinarily about 2 at most while that on reversal film is about 3 or more, and, above all, the density range on reversal film is wider than that of the other. Additionally, even the same type of film presents differences in the distribution of the density range, depending on the differences among the film manufacturers.
On the other hand, the reading range of the image input terminal (IIT) in the image reading system of the color copying machine is approximately 1.8 but, with an IIT having such a reading range like this, it is not possible to read the images with accuracy over the entire density range on negative film and reversal film.
Therefore, it has been a prior approach to the solution of this problem to change the amount of light from the light source lamp of the projector and to read only the effectively used density range out of a wider density range by varying the amount of light emitted from the light source lamp of the film projector.
For the light source lamp of a film projector intended for an applications like this, a halogen lamp is commonly used, but, in case this halogen lamp is employed for the projection of film, the lamp gives influence on the ratios of the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) carried on the projected light in consequence of the spectroscopic characteristics of the lamp, so that the reproduced image assumes a bluish tint or a reddish tint, as the case may be, because a halogen lamp generally has such spectroscopic characteristics that the light emitted therefrom contains a more considerable amount of red (R) but a lesser amount of blue (B). Therefore, it cannot be considered sufficient merely to change the amount of light from such a lamp if it is to be made possible for the image reading system accurately to read the images from the film.
Moreover, this state is not limited to a halogen lamp. Even when any other type of lamp other is to be used, the process of varying the amount of light emitted from the lamp is not capable of making separate adjustments of the density for R, G, and B in order to correct the deterioration of color balance resulting from such factors as the condition of illumination at the time of film shooting and the condition of development applied to the film.
Thus, it is not possible to obtain a copy giving an impression favorable to sight when a film image is copied merely with a process for varying the amount of light from the lamp.


Device to aesthetically cover and provide protection to motorcycle vehicle identification numbers (vin) and/or emission label stickers on a motorcycle frame. Typically motorcycle frames will have a vin and/or/combination emission information sticker attached to them. Typically these stickers are required and cannot be removed. Besides the fact that these stickers are aesthetically displeasing, they are also exposed to the elements and debris of the road when riding. The device comprises of a removable semi cylindrical panel. The panel is secured to a motorcycle frame to cover and protect a vin and/or/combination emissions information label sticker.

This invention relates in general to motorcycle accessories and more specifically labels on motorcycle frames including vehicle identification number and/or/combination emissions label stickers. Typically motorcycle frames will have a vin and/or/combination emission information sticker attached to them. Typically these stickers are required and cannot be removed. In the motorcycle industry, motorcycle owners will commonly spend a significant amount of money to customize and improve the cosmetic look of their motorcycles. These stickers, affixed to the motorcycle frame, are generally in plain view for accessibility but create an aesthetically displeasing sight. In additional to the unfavorable cosmetic looks of these stickers, they are also exposed to the elements and debris of the road when riding. Harsh weather including hail and rain and/or debris such as rocks picked up off the road by the motorcycle's front tire or other automobiles on the road can cause chips and unwanted wear and tear to said sticker.
Several covering and concealing devices for vehicle identification numbers and license plates exist for use in the automotive industry for automobiles only. These devices for use with automobiles are known in the art and include U.S. Pat. No. 7,410,200 to Kirschener discloses A device for concealing the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plate/label of an automobile in the narrow space between the dashboard and the windshield of an automobile, the device comprising a panel, comprising a distal portion, tightly wedged between the dashboard and windshield of the automobile, a proximal portion with a handling means; and a series of impressed lines arrayed across one surface of the panel, allowing the panel to bend along the arc of the dashboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,926 to Wujciga discloses a decorative and durable vehicle license plate cover that is flat, thick, mar-resistant plate of optically transparent stable, such as acrylic plastic. The plate has a solid body with a front surface, a rear surface and sides interconnecting the two surfaces. Spaced holes are drilled on the perimeter of the front surface and extend to the rear surface for attaching the cover to a vehicle license plate.
U.S. Pub. No. 20040159023 to DeGroote discloses a license plate loover for preventing unauthorized photographing of the license plates. The loover structure uses solid non see-through slats that are horizontally across. The slats are similar to mini blinds. These slats cannot be seen through from above or from an abrupt angle and are made of a solid material but allow a clear view from straight on Bolts are used to install the loover on the license plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,930 to Troncoso, The license plate cover prevents viewing of the license plate identifying numbers and symbols from the sides of the plate, but does not prevent viewing thereof from directly in line with the plate. The cover includes a frame adapted to overlie the plate and defining a central opening through which the plate numbers can be seen. To the frame are connected a number of spaced vanes which project outwardly thereof and obscure side viewing of the plate numbers. For this purpose, it is preferred to have the vanes parallel with each other and running from the top to the bottom of the frame across the opening, and perpendicular to the main plane of the frame. The vanes can be opaque or transparent. In the latter case, the collective effect of side viewing through the array of vanes is to obscure such viewing. The vanes can be unitary and integral with the frame or pivotally connected thereto for moving between an open position and closed position, the latter overlying the plate identification indicia, to protect the plate under special circumstances. The cover can include a slide bar to move the vanes, retainers to hold the vanes in open and closed positions and one or more spring-biased clips or the like to releasably connect the cover over the license plate. The sides of the vanes can bear symbols and the like for decorative and other purposes.
These listed vin covers, license plate covers, and concealing devices differ from use of the art relating to type of motor vehicle (i.e. automobile dash vin plate versus motorcycle frame vin and/or/combination emissions label sticker), locations and composition of vehicle identification number (vin) differ, do not apply to the application of a combination vin and emissions sticker label, which are typically separate on an automobile in different locations on the vehicle, and listed device designs greatly differ from the current invention. No device could be found in the arts for cosmetically concealing and protecting vin and/or/combination emissions stickers found on motorcycle frames.

Device to aesthetically cover and provide protection to motorcycle vehicle identification numbers (vin) and/or/combination emission label sticker on a motorcycle frame


A sensor is able to perform identification of an impact acting on a support and resonance plate (2) and send a signal to a measuring and recording station (4). The sensor (1) is provided with an intermediate apparatus (3) which, after analyzing the characteristics of the effects produced by the impact and comparing them with the characteristics produced by the impact of a non-lethal projectile, sends the signal to the measuring and recording station (4) only in the case where these characteristics coincide substantially.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the sector of military and law enforcement training systems involving simulated combats during which non-lethal projectiles are fired. These systems are composed of several impact sensors which are distributed over the body of the combatants, being fixed onto special clothing (protective vests, jackets and the like). These sensors are usually mounted on larger-size support bases and detect the effects produced by the impact of a non-lethal projectile on them, sending subsequently a signal to a measuring and recording receiver station which has the function of monitoring and checking the progress of the simulated combats.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a type of system and the various components which form the system are, for example, described in patent application PCT/IB04/001529 in the name of the same Applicant.
The effectiveness of these systems and the reliability of the recordings made by the already mentioned receiver station (generally consisting of a suitably programmed computer) during the course of a simulated combat, however, are frequently hampered by the fact that the sensors are struck not only by the non-lethal projectiles but also by foreign bodies (branches, fixed obstacles, etc.) and in this case emit a signal which, being sent to the receiver station, creates confusion as to the actual progress of the combat, which is difficult to eliminate. The inventor of the subject of the present application has come up with the idea that, in order to overcome this major drawback, it would be possible to provide each sensor with the capacity to identify clearly the effects of the shock wave produced by the impact of a non-lethal projectile, so as to be able to distinguish them accurately and reliably from those produced by accidental events and send only the relevant signals to the receiver station.


A separation membrane module comprises a hollow module container, and an element unit which is housed in the module container. The element unit comprises a plurality of connected separation membrane elements each of which includes: a separation membrane for separating components of a substance flowing to the inside of the module container; and membrane bundle securing materials for securing both ends of the separation membrane. In the element unit, a flow channel for discharging the components separated by the separation membranes to the outside of the element unit is formed. Passage members though which the components separated by the separation membranes can pass toward the flow channel for discharging are disposed at connections between the plurality of separation membrane elements such that both end surfaces of each of the passage membranes are respectively in contact with the membrane bundle securing materials of the separation membrane elements adjacent thereto.

A separation membrane module is used in water treatment or gas separation applications which separates a part of components of a mixed fluid. In general, in the separation membrane module, a separation membrane element which is an assembly of a plurality of single separation membranes is housed in a module container. The single separation membrane used in the separation membrane element has various shapes such as a linear shape and a planar shape, and the separation membrane element using a linear single separation membrane is formed such that both end portions of the separation membrane are fixed by membrane bundle fixing materials and both end surfaces of the separation membrane are open to an outside of the membrane bundle fixing material.
For example, in a separation membrane module of Patent Document 1, a hollow-fiber membrane (one type of linear single separation membranes) of a separation membrane element is disposed in a U-shape, and both ends of a membrane bundle thereof are sealed and fixed by a resin wall (an adhesive). Separation is achieved by increasing a pressure of a mixed fluid on an outer diameter side of the hollow-fiber membrane bundle.
When such a separation membrane module is used in a water treatment application for seawater desalination or a gas separation application for separating impurities such as carbon dioxide from natural gas, in order to obtain sufficient membrane separation performance, sometimes the separation membrane module is operated while applying a very high pressure to inside the module.
When the high pressure is applied to the separation membrane module, a very large pressure difference occurs between a portion where the mixed fluid before permeating the separation membrane is present and a portion where permeated components after permeating the separation membrane is present. That is, in the separation membrane module using an external pressure type separation membrane in which the fluid passes from an outer diameter side to an inner diameter side of the hollow-fiber membrane bundle, a part of the components of the mixed fluid permeates into an inner side of the hollow-fiber membrane, and flows from the inner side toward both end opening portions of the hollow-fiber membrane, and hence a force which makes a membrane bundle fixing material having an opening surface of the separation membrane spread out toward both end surfaces of the hollow-fiber membrane is generated. Consequently, the membrane bundle fixing material may sometimes be separated from a module container or the hollow-fiber membrane, or the membrane bundle fixing material may be sometimes broken and the airtightness of the hollow-fiber membrane bundle and the module container may not be ensured. Patent Document 1 describes that a pressure receiving plate is disposed adjacent to the membrane bundle fixing material in order to prevent such deformation of the membrane bundle fixing material.


The present invention relates to a composition comprising an effective amount or an effective amount of one or more dipeptides consisting of histidine or the functional equivalent thereof and alanine or the functional equivalent thereof for reducing uric acid in a subject. The invention also provides a method for the treatment of gout or the amelioration of symptoms related to a high level of uric acid comprising the step of administering or applying the above-mentioned dipeptides to a subject.

Recently, dipeptides have been a target for intensive studies for their physiological functions in mammals. Most of the studies focus on the antioxidant properties of the dipeptides (Boldyrev AA et. al., Mol Chem Neuropathol 1993 May-June, 19(1-2): 185-92; Huang S C and Kuo J C, Proc Natl Sci Counc Repub China B. 2000 October, 24(4): 193-201; Candlish J K and Das N P, 1996 September, 9(2-3): 117-23; and MacFarlane N et. al., J Mol Cell Cardiol. 1991 November, 23(11): 1205-7), which directly or indirectly relate. to anti-cancer activities (Nagai K and Suda T, 1988 August, 10(8): 497-507; and Holliday R and McFarland G A, Br J Cancer 1996 April, 73(8):966-71), immunity enhancement (Boldyrev A A and Severin S E, Adv Enzyme Regul, 1990, 30:175-94), fat reduction (Chan WK et. al., 1994- July, 29(7):461-6), wound healing improvement (Nagai K and Suda T, 1988 August;10(8):497-507), etc. Carnosine is a dipeptide composed of histidine and alanine. Anserine is a dipeptide found in muscle and formed by a peptide bond between alanine and methyl-histidine. Carnosine and anserine, two highly related compounds, have been indicated for the activities and properties described above by many researchers. In addition, carnosine and anserine have also been shown to have the activities of increasing the speed of cell mitosis through stimulation of neutrophils, thus potentially strengthening the repairing. mechanism of muscle tissues under stress (Tan K M and Candlish J K, 1998 August, 20(4): 239-44).
With these functions in mind, recent studies in fatigue relieve have led to the development and commercialization of a highly concentrated anserine derived from marine sources that could reduce the content of muscular lactic acid and the level of carnitine phosphokinase, and effectively increase the stress-endurance level of muscle (Kazuo Sakai et. al., 2000, "Development of Industrial Refning and Separation Technology for Dipeptides, Anserine and Carnosine, from Fish Boiling Juice and Their Functional Property." Yaizu Suisan Chemical Co., Ltd.). Anserine and carnosine, being highly stable dipeptides, remain intact under low pH (<3.0), and resist against digestion by peptidase and proteases excreted from pancreas or other digestive organs. The dipeptides would find their way through the intestinal membranes, enter blood stream intact, and exert their function directly upon target organs such as liver, kidney and heart. Other dipeptides, such as carcinine, homocarnosine and ophidine, having similar structures to anserine and carnosine are naturally occurring or can be artificially synthesized.
A high level of uric acid may induce gout with symptoms such as muscle spasm, localized swelling, inflammation, joint pains, muscle fatigue, stress feelings and myocardial infraction. Many commercialized drugs have been used to treat gout, such as Benzbromarone (URINORM), Probenecid, Allopurinol, Bucolome, Cinchophan and Colchicine. These drugs work by inhibiting the formation of uric acid, removing the extra uric acid from the body, acting on the kidneys to help the body to eliminate uric acid, inhibiting the activity of xanthine oxidase for the conversion xanthine to uric acid, and accelerating the excretion of uric acid from the body. However, these uricosuric agents simultaneously exhibit a number of side effects such as urinary calculus, gastrointestinal obstruction, jaundice and anemia. Therefore, while there are numerous agents for treating gout, there is still a need for a new drug or a dietary supplement for reducing the level of uric acid and thereby treating gout and moderating gout-related symptoms.

Composition containing dipeptide of histidine and alanine for reducing uric acid and method for reducing uric acid using the dipeptide


Methods of refining the grain size of titanium and titanium alloys include thermally managed high strain rate multi-axis forging. A high strain rate adiabatically heats an internal region of the workpiece during forging, and a thermal management system is used to heat an external surface region to the workpiece forging temperature, while the internal region is allowed to cool to the workpiece forging temperature. A further method includes multiple upset and draw forging titanium or a titanium alloy using a strain rate less than is used in conventional open die forging of titanium and titanium alloys. Incremental workpiece rotation and draw forging causes severe plastic deformation and grain refinement in the titanium or titanium alloy forging.

1. Field of the Technology
The present disclosure is directed to forging methods for titanium and titanium alloys and to apparatus for conducting such methods.
2. Description of the Background of the Technology
Methods for producing titanium and titanium alloys having coarse grain (CG), fine grain (FG), very fine grain (VFG), or ultrafine grain (UFG) microstructure involve the use of multiple reheats and forging steps. Forging steps may include one or more upset forging steps in addition to draw forging on an open die press.
As used herein, when referring to titanium and titanium alloy microstructure: the term "coarse grain" refers to alpha grain sizes of 400 μm to greater than about 14 μm; the term "fine grain" refers to alpha grain sizes in the range of 14 μm to greater than 10 μm; the term "very fine grain" refers to alpha grain sizes of 10 μm to greater than 4.0 μm; and the term "ultra fine grain" refers to alpha grain sizes of 4.0 μm or less.
Known commercial methods of forging titanium and titanium alloys to produce coarse (CG) or fine grain (FG) microstructures employ strain rates of 0.03 s−1 to 0.10 s−1 using multiple reheats and forging steps.
Known methods intended for the manufacture of fine (FG), very fine (VFG) or ultra fine grain (UFG) microstructures apply a multi-axis forging (MAF) process at an ultra-slow strain rate of 0.001 s−1 or slower (see G. Salishchev, et. al., Materials Science Forum, Vol. 584-586, pp. 783-788 (2008)). The generic MAF process is described in C. Desrayaud, et. al, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 172, pp. 152-156 (2006).
The key to grain refinement in the ultra-slow strain rate MAF process is the ability to continually operate in a regime of dynamic recrystallization that is a result of the ultra-slow strain rates used, i.e., 0.001 s−1 or slower. During dynamic recrystallization, grains simultaneously nucleate, grow, and accumulate dislocations. The generation of dislocations within the newly nucleated grains continually reduces the driving force for grain growth, and grain nucleation is energetically favorable. The ultra-slow strain rate MAF process uses dynamic recrystallization to continually recrystallize grains during the forging process.
Relatively uniform, cubes of UFG Ti-6-4 alloy can be produced using the ultra-slow strain rate MAF process, but the cumulative time taken to perform the MAF can be excessive in a commercial setting. In addition, conventional large scale, commercially available open die press forging equipment may not have the capability to achieve the ultra-slow strain rates required in such embodiments and, therefore, custom forging equipment may be required for production-scale ultra-slow strain rate MAF.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to develop a process for producing titanium and titanium alloys having coarse, fine, very fine or ultrafine grain microstructure that does not require multiple reheats and/or accommodates higher strain rates, reduces the time necessary for processing, and eliminates the need for custom forging equipment.

Processing routes for titanium and titanium alloys


The invented printer includes a carriage-actuated clutch and a motor-driven gear element. The clutch is selectively engageable with the element and causes the printer to perform different tasks when engaged. More specifically, the invented printer includes a motor-driven gear, a printhead and a printhead carriage, a clutch having a flexible portion, and a gripping surface on the flexible portion for engaging the motor-driven gear. To actuate the clutch, the carriage pushes against the clutch causing it to flex and engage the motor-driven gear. When engaged, rotating the gear a predetermined distance causes the clutch to rotate a predetermined distance, in turn causing the printer to perform a certain task. Continuing to rotate the clutch causes the printer to perform other tasks.. The invented printer also includes a paper-feed mechanism for picking up and feeding a sheet of paper into the printer. This mechanism incudes a rotatable drive roller that moves paper through the printer, a spring-biased plate capable of pivoting around an axial pivot, biased to extend toward the drive roller and on which paper is tacked, a partition, having at least one opening, positioned between the roller and the plate for generally preventing the roller from contacting the media on the plate, and a pivot adjacent the roller for selectively allowing at least a part of the roller to extend through the opening in the partition to contact the top sheet of paper and feed it through the printer. The paper-feed mechanism is one task that may be triggered by the carriage-actuated clutch.

In order for printers to operate effectively, they must be able to perform different tasks during a print cycle, such as picking up a sheet of paper, feeding it into the printer and expelling it after printing. To perform such tasks, printers generally have different motor-driven gear trains. For example, to pick up a sheet of paper, a printer may have one gear train that, when engaged, triggers a mechanism that can pick up the next sheet of paper. The printer would have another gear train to eject the sheet of paper after printing. Accordingly, printers generally include numerous gears and different gear trains.
Additionally, a printer may include a multiplexer to engage different gear trains. For example, the printer described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,963, naming Steve O. Rasmussen et al. as inventors, includes a multiplexer. In that printer, the multiplexer has three multiplexer gears. A different multiplexer gear is required for each different task that the printer can perform. Each multiplexer gear is engaged by moving a trigger. Different printer tasks are actuated by engaging different multiplexer gears.
A problem with printers having multiplexer gears and multiple gear trains is that numerous, complex and costly gear mechansims are required. This invention offers a printer capable of performing different tasks without requiring complex gear trains and multiplexer gears. In other words, the invented printer includes a carriage-actuated clutch that may be used to trigger different tasks. Thus, the invented printer may be manufactured much less expensively and with fewer parts than existing printers.
As stated, one task that a printer must perform is to pick a sheet of paper and feed it into the printer. To accomplish this a printer must have a paper-feed mechanism. One type of paper-feed mechanism, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,963, includes a spring-biased plate that articulates between raised and lowered positions. Paper is stacked on the plate and when a certain gear train is engaged, the plate is allowed to articulate to its raised position. In its raised position, drive rollers contact the top sheet on the stack and feed it into the printer. Thereafter, the gear train causes the plate to articulate to its lowered position. As stated, such a paper-feed mechanism may be triggered by a multiplexer and requires a separate multiplexer gear and a complex and costly gear train.
The invented printer includes a paper-feed mechanism that can be triggered by the same carriage-actuated clutch that may be used to trigger other functions. Additionally, the paper-feed mechanism of the invented printer does not require a gear train that causes the plate to articulate between raised and lowered positions. Thus, the invented printer includes a simpler and more economical paper-feed mechanism than is present in existing printers.

Printer with carriage-actuated clutch and paper-feed mechanism


A method is disclosed. For example, the method executed by a processor of a multi-function device (MFD) includes accessing a third party application stored in a memory of the MFD, determining that the third party application has been updated, retrieving an update to the third party application from a server that stores updates for third party applications, and executing the third party application with the update on the MFD.

Multi-function devices (MFDs) are used to process print jobs. An MFD can perform a variety of different functions including printing, scanning, copying, faxing, and the like.
Some MFDs may have graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The GUIs can include applications such as web browsers that can allow users to access third party applications (also referred to herein as "apps") on the MFD. The web browsers on the GUIs are deployed in proprietary programming languages that are unique to the respective MFDs. The third party applications that are accessible on the MFDs may be modified to be compatible within the web browsers of the MFDs. Thus, users can access third party applications directly on an MFD.

System to extend functionality of third party apps on multi-function device web browsers


Example methods and apparatus to correct remote sensor signals are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a sensor to generate a signal and a first memory to store calibration data associated with the sensor. The example apparatus also includes a second memory to store the calibration data and a first processor proximate to the sensor and the first memory to retrieve the calibration data from the first memory. In addition, the example apparatus includes a second processor, proximate to the second memory and remotely situated relative to the first processor. The second processor is to receive the signal from the sensor, receive the calibration data from first processor, and correct the signal based on the calibration data.

Sensors are commonly used to measure process variables (e.g., temperature, pressure, etc.) in process environments (e.g., valves, tanks, supply lines, etc.). Such sensors are often connected to control devices (e.g., valve controllers) located proximate to process environments to generate signals representing the process variables and control actuators (e.g., valves, switches, pumps, etc.) to manage the process variables. Sensors commonly use compensating (e.g., analog) circuitry local to the sensors to correct signals sent to control devices remotely situated from the sensors.

Methods and apparatus to correct remote sensor signals


Two sets X2 and X1 of histograms of words, and a vocabulary V are accessed. Each of the two sets is representable as a sparse matrix, each row of which corresponds to a histogram. Each histogram is representable as a sparse vector, whose dimension is determined by a dimension of the vocabulary. Two phases compute distances between pairs of histograms. The first phase includes computations performed for each histogram and for each word in the vocabulary to obtain a dense, floating-point vector y. The second phase includes computing, for each histogram, a sparse-matrix, dense-vector multiplication between a matrix-representation of the set X1 of histograms and the vector y. The multiplication is performed to obtain distances between all histograms of the set X1 and each histogram X2[j]. Distances between all pairs of histograms are obtained, based on which distances between documents can subsequently be assessed.

The invention relates in general to the field of computer-implemented methods for assessing distances between pairs of documents, such as methods known as Word Mover's Distance and Relaxed Word Mover's Distance.
Modern computational systems are known, which are capable of ingesting, storing and searching across a prodigious amount of textual information. Efficient search through textual information should ideally allow both high-quality results and speed of execution. Today, high-quality search results can be achieved thanks to a new class of text representations based on neural networks, such as the popular word2vec representation [1]. The algorithm word2vec capitalizes on neural networks to map words onto an appropriate vector space. In this embedding space, words that are semantically synonymous will be close to each other. To capture the similarity between sentences, Kusner et al., proposed the Word Mover's Distance (WMD) [2], which represents a promising method for evaluating the similarity between text documents, in terms of quality of search results obtained. WMD is an adaptation of the Earth Mover's Distance (EMD) [3], initially proposed to measure similarity between images. Like EMD, WMD constructs a histogram representation of the documents and estimates the cost of transforming one histogram into the other. However, the computational complexity of both approaches scales cubically with the size of the histograms, making their application prohibitive on Big Data.
To mitigate the large complexity of WMD, Kusner et al., proposed using a faster, lower-bound approximation to WMD, called the Relaxed Word Mover's Distance, or RWMD [2]. They showed that the accuracy achieved by RWMD is very close to that of WMD. According to the original paper, the time complexity of the RWMD method grows quadratically with the size of the histograms, which represents a significant improvement with respect to the WMD method. However, quadratic complexity still limits the applicability of RWMD to relatively small datasets. Such a complexity still prevents computing pairwise similarities across millions of documents, which would have extensive applications in clustering, classification, and querying of documents.

Low-complexity methods for assessing distances between pairs of documents

International Business Machines Corporation


An optical element has three operation modes of light oscillation, light amplification, and light attenuation, which are switched in accordance with the intensity of an excitation component. The optical element having a first light terminal from which a light pulse is output to an optical fiber to be tested, and a second light terminal through which reflected light from the optical fiber is passed in the amplification mode or in the attenuation mode. Light-receiving section receives the reflected light output from the second light terminal of the optical element, and converts the reflected light into an electric signal. Signal processing section subjects the electric signal output from the light-receiving section to a predetermined signal processing step for testing the optical fiber. Excitation component control section outputs to the optical element a first excitation component for enabling the optical element to operate in the oscillation mode at a first timing, a second excitation component for enabling the optical element to operate in the attenuation mode at a second timing subsequent to the first timing, and a third excitation component for enabling the optical element to operate in the amplification mode at a third timing subsequent to the second timing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an optical time domain reflectometer (hereinafter, referred to as "OTDR"), and more particularly to an OTDR using an optical element with three control modes of oscillation, attenuation and amplification.
More specifically, this invention relates to an OTDR for measuring transmission characteristics of an optical fiber and, for example, identifying the location of a fault in an optical fiber transmission path. In particular, in this invention, when a test light pulse is generated, an optical element is used as a light source. When a pulse refected from an optical fiber is received, the optical element is used as a light amplifier or a light attenuator. According to the OTDR of this invention, saturation of a light receiver due to Fresnel reflection can be prevented, and Rayleigh scattering light can be measured.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical OTDR, an acoustic/optical element (A/O element) with small loss is provided between an light source, an optical fiber, and a receiver, thereby changing the light path. This A/O element, however, is expensive, and optical alignment between a transmission path and a reception path is difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,118 discloses an OTDR wherein an optical element (e.g. laser) is employed as an oscillator or an amplifier, without providing an A/O element. This OTDR will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. When a laser 61 is supplied with a current pulse, exceeding an oscillation limit value, it generates a test pulse. The test pulse 65 is applied to a light transmission body 62. On the other hand, a light pulse 66 is generated from the laser 61 and is applied to a light receiver 64 thereby marking a zero point on a time scale. After the test pulse is generated, the laser 61 lowers its operation current slightly below the oscillation limit value, in order to perform an amplification function. A reflected pulse 67 reflected from a fault point of the light transmission body 62 is optically amplified by the laser 61 when it passes through the laser 61. The amplified pulse 67 is applied to the light receiver 64. The light pulses 66 and 67 input to the light receiver 64 are converted to electric signals, and the electric signals reach outputs A. The signals output from the light receiver 64 are observed by an oscilloscope (not shown in FIG. 1) or are recorded on a recording device.
The conventional OTDR shown in FIG. 1 has the problem, as is explained by referring to FIG. 2.
Recently, there has been a considerable demand for an OTDR capable of measuring Fresnel reflection light and Rayleigh scattering light, that is, for detecting a fault point of an optical fiber and transmission characteristics. The conventional OTDR shown in FIG. 1, however, is designed mainly to measure Fresnel reflection light, and is not designed to measure Rayleigh scattering light. Thus, if this conventional OTDR is employed to measure both Fresnel reflection light and Rayleigh scattering light, the Rayleigh scattering light (indicated by a broken line D in FIG. 2) is masked (as shown by a solid line C in FIG. 2) and cannot be measured.
In general, in this type of apparatus, the laser 61 and the light transmission body 62 are coupled by a connector (not shown). The reflected light passing through the laser 61 includes a Fresnel's reflection light component (denoted by B in FIG. 2), a Fresnel's reflection light component (denoted by C in FIG. 2) and a Rayleigh scattering light component occurring at the fault point 63. In particular, the Fresnel's reflection light has a high power and is amplified through the laser 61, thus saturating the light receiver 64. Once the light receiver 64 is saturated, it takes a considerable amount of time for the light receiver 64 to be restored to the normal state. Consequently, the OTDR shown in FIG. 1 fails to observe a peculiar point existing just after the connector or the fault point 63 (e.g. component D in FIG. 2, or a slight loss due to a welded point for connection of an extended light transmission body).

Optical time domain reflectometer using optical element with three control modes of oscillation, attenuation and amplification


A method for performing an erase operation in a memory cell. A first voltage and a second voltage are applied to the source and drain regions, respectively, for a predetermined erase time; and the first and second voltages are switched with each other between the source and drain regions at least one time for the erase time. Thereby, hole is easily injected to the source and drain regions and a channel lateral surface, and a uniform and high-speed erase operation is archived.

This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 2001-35424, filed on Jun. 21, 2001, which is commonly owned and incorporated by reference herein.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and, more particularly, to a method for an erase operation in a non-volatile semiconductor memory device.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, non-volatile electrically erasable and programmable read only memories (EEPROMs) are classified into floating gate EEPROMs and polysilicon-blocking oxide-silicon nitride-tunnel oxide-semiconductor (SONOS) EEPROMs.
EEPROMs store data in a floating gate of polysilicon or entrap data in a nitride layer while increasing or decreasing a threshold voltage to perform a program (or write) operation. When reading the stored data, EEPROMs use a sensing circuit to apply a read voltage (Vr) and sense a current flowing to a channel. Also, to perform an erase operation, EEPROMs remove the stored data in the polysilicon or the nitride layer.
In SONOS EEPROMs, a read operation is performed when stored data is varied. Accordingly, the stored data must be completely removed throughout a channel to secure reliability of the device. Otherwise, the read and erase operations are repeatedly performed to accumulate data continuously, and the read operation can be erred by the varying of a threshold voltage.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a memory cell according to a conventional program method in a SONOS EEPROM device. FIG. 2 shows a memory cell according to a conventional erase method in a SONOS EEPROM device. FIG. 3A shows a memory cell according to another conventional erase method in a SONOS EEPROM, and FIG. 3B illustrates a waveform of the voltages applied to the memory cell of FIG. 3A. In FIG. 3B, a traverse axis represents time (t), and a longitudinal axis represents applied voltages.
Referring to FIG. 1, a memory cell 50 comprises a P-type bulk region 10, spaced drain and source regions 12, 14 formed in the P-bulk region 10, a channel region 13 formed between the drain and source regions 12, 14, an ONO layer 22 (comprising a tunnel oxide 16, a nitride 18, and a blocking oxide 20 layer) formed on the channel region 13, and a polysilicon gate electrode 24 formed on the ONO layer 22. To program the memory cell, the drain and source regions 12, 14 and the P-bulk region 10 are grounded through a metal contact and a program voltage Vpp is applied to the gate electrode 24. And, electrons are entrapped in the nitride layer 18 through a thin tunnel oxide layer 16 by F-N tunneling (Follower-Nordheim tunneling).
In a conventional erase method shown in FIG. 2, a negative program voltage xe2x88x92Vpp is applied to a gate electrode 24 with the drain and source regions 12, 14 and a P-bulk region 10 being grounded. Holes are then injected from the P-bulk region 10 to a tunnel oxide layer 16 and a nitride layer 18, compensating the entrapped electrons in the program operation to perform the erase operation. Unfortunately, it is difficult to form and apply the negative voltage xe2x88x92Vpp to the gate electrode 24.
A memory cell according to another conventional erase method, shown in FIG. 3A, further comprises a pocket P-well 11 formed in the N-bulk region 10. In an erase operation, the gate electrode 24 is grounded, and an erase voltage Vpp is applied to the drain and source regions 12,14, the pocket P-well 11, and the N-bulk region 10 through a metal contact. The applied voltages are schematically shown in FIG. 3B. One disadvantage associated with the memory device in FIG. 3A is that the pocket P-well 11 must separately be formed, thus increasing the complexity and processing costs.
Although not shown in FIGS. 1-3, another conventional erase method can be performed by grounding a gate electrode and the bulk region, and equivalently applying an erase voltage to source and drain regions. In the erase method, a high-energy hole (so-called xe2x80x9chot holexe2x80x9d), formed at both sides (i.e., source and drain regions) of a channel, is vertically injected through a source region-to-gate electrode junction side and a drain region-to-gate electrode junction side. However, the erase method cannot fully perform the erase operation at the center of the channel. Therefore, the entrapped electrons are not removed and are continuously accumulated in a nitride layer over the channel center. As a result, a threshold voltage is heightened and a sensing margin is reduced.
Thus, a need exists for a circuit framework that generates a negative voltage without occupying additional area in a semiconductor device.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an efficient erase method in a non-volatile semiconductor memory device capable of achieving a reliable erase operation throughout a channel region, which does not require applying a negative voltage or performing a pocket well process.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a non-volatile memory device is provided which enables an effective erase operation according to the invention. The device comprises a bulk region of a first conductive type, spaced first and second impurity diffusion regions of a second conductive type formed in the bulk region, a charge storing layer formed between the first and the second impurity diffusion regions, and a conductive electrode formed on the charge storing layer. The method for performing an erase operation in the non-volatile memory device comprises the steps of: applying a bulk voltage to the bulk region for a predetermined erase time; applying a gate voltage to the conductive electrode for the predetermined erase time, the gate voltage being greater than or equal to the bulk voltage; applying a first electrical signal to the first impurity diffusion region for the predetermined erase time, the first electrical signal comprising a voltage that is greater than the gate voltage; and applying a second electrical signal to the second impurity diffusion region for the predetermined erase time, the second electrical signal comprising a voltage that is greater than the gate voltage, wherein the voltage of the first electrical signal is different from the voltage of the second electrical signal.
The voltage level of the first electrical signal is switched between a first voltage and a second voltage at least one time, during the predetermined erase time, wherein the first and second voltages are greater than the gate voltage. The second electrical signal is substantially equal to the first and second voltages when the first electrical signal is substantially equal to the second and the first voltages, respectively for the predetermined erase time. For example, the first voltage ranges from about 2V to about 6V, and the second voltage is about 10V.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for performing an erase operation in a memory cell, comprising a bulk region of a first conductive type, spaced source and drain regions of a second conductive type formed in the bulk region, and a gate electrode formed between the source and drain regions is provided. The method comprises the steps of: applying a first voltage to the source region and a second voltage to the drain region for a portion of a predetermined erase time; and applying the second voltages to the source region and the first voltage to the drain region for a portion of the predetermined erase time.
According to further aspect of the present invention, a method for performing an erase operation in a non-volatile memory device, comprising a bulk region of a first conductive type, spaced source and drain regions of a second conductive type formed in the bulk region, and a gate electrode formed between the source and drain regions, is provided. The method comprises the steps of: applying a first voltage and a second voltage to the source and drain regions, respectively, for a predetermined erase time; applying a third voltage to the gate electrode, wherein the potential differences between the third voltage and the first and second voltages are sufficient to generate electric fields between the gate electrode and the source and drain regions to inject holes into the source and drain regions, respectively; and switching the first voltage to the drain region and the second voltage to the source region at least one time during the predetermined erase time.
Advantageously, according to the present invention, by applying and switching different voltage levels to source and drain regions, respectively for predetermined erase time, hole is easily injected into the source and drain regions, and a channel lateral surface. Therefore, it is possible to achieve uniform and high-speed erase operation.
These and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Erasing method in non-volatile memory device


A radio frequency front-end circuit includes a duplexer, a phase adjustment circuit, and a low noise amplifier. The phase adjustment circuit is connected between an Rx filter of the duplexer and the low noise amplifier. The phase adjustment circuit executes phase adjustment such that a quadrant in which an impedance ZLNA(fn) at a particular frequency different from a fundamental frequency of a reception signal when looking at the low noise amplifier side from the Rx filter is present and a quadrant in which an impedance ZRX(fn) at the particular frequency when looking at the Rx filter side from the low noise amplifier is present are not in a conjugate relation in terms of phase.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio frequency front-end circuit that transmits and receives radio frequency signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of radio frequency front-end circuits have been designed so far. One example of the radio frequency front-end circuits includes a duplexer that is a combination of a transmission filter and a reception filter, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-120295.
In the duplexer, respective one ends of the transmission filter and the reception filter are connected to each other at a common terminal, and the common terminal is connected to an antenna or an antenna-side circuit. The other end of the transmission filter is connected to a transmission circuit, and the other end of the reception filter is connected to a reception circuit.
In the radio frequency front-end circuit of the above-described type, as a result of having a configuration in which the transmission filter and the reception filter are connected to each other, an impedance is set such that the circuit is opened at a fundamental frequency of a transmission signal when looking at the reception filter side from the transmission filter side, to prevent the transmission signal from coming into the reception filter side.
In the radio frequency front-end circuit of the related art, however, it is found that receiving sensitivity in the reception circuit connected to the reception filter degrades even in the case of trying to secure isolation between the transmission filter and the reception filter as described above.


A service providing device (400) includes: one-time PW generating processing section (435) which generates, for each operation device (300), authentication information for use in authentication processing carried out by the service providing device (400) in a case where the service providing device (400) is accessed by a display processing device (200); and an image data generating processing section (436) which (i) generates operation data including the authentication information generated and processing specifying information specifying the authentication processing, and (ii) transmits the operation data thus generated to the operation device (300).

In recent years, there has been widespread use of a portable device (for example, a mobile telephone and a digital camera) capable of communication in accordance with a high-speed infrared communication protocol such as IrSS (registered trademark; hereinafter referred to as "IrSS"). Such a portable device can obtain image data and then directly transmit the image data, by a short-distance wireless telecommunication, to operation target devices, e.g., various household AV equipment such as a television and a HDD recorder. With this technology, a user can operate the portable device to, for example, cause (i) a HDD recorder to store image data or (ii) a television to display image data.
Further, a user can now cause instruction information for operating an operation target device to be included in an EXIF region of image data in, for example, a JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format. The user can thus use the above image data as operation data for operating operation target devices. With this technology, the user can use the operation device as a remote control for each operation target device by transmitting the operation data from the operation device, e.g., a portable device, to the operation target devices.
Suppose that, for example, a user has transmitted, from a portable device to a television, operation data which includes, in an EXIF region, instruction information, i.e., a set of (i) a URL (uniform resource locator) and (ii) an instruction to access a website specified by the URL. In this case, the television, upon receipt of the operation data, displays content such as the website specified by the URL, in accordance with the instruction information. This indicates that with the above technologies, (i) a user can, by transmitting operation data from a portable device to a television, easily cause the television to display desired content, and (ii) it is thus possible to provide an operation system which has a high operability and a high convenience.
A use case is assumed here in which only a user provided with a predetermined authority is permitted to view content within the operation system. In this case, it is common to require a user to enter information necessary for authentication, such as a user ID and a password, on a login screen or the like so that the user can achieve authentication as an authorized user.
Patent Literature 1, for example, discloses a system in which a user can use various services on a video recorder via a network by remotely operating the video recorder with a mobile telephone. The system can impose a restriction on the use of services by requiring the user to use the mobile telephone for user authentication. More specifically, after the user has successfully completed the authentication with use of the mobile telephone, the system supplies a user account to the mobile telephone. The user then registers the user account in the video recorder with use of a remote control for the video recorder. As a result, the user can use the services on the video recorder.
Further, Patent Literature 2 discloses a technique in which authentication for a terminal device is carried out in a server. Specifically, to allow a user to use, on a terminal device, a network service provided over a first communication network, the technique disclosed includes the steps of (i) transmitting security information from a server to a portable electronic device via a second communication network which is different from the first communication network, (ii) transmitting the security information by a short-distance wireless telecommunication from the portable electronic device to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device, and (iii) carrying out authentication in the server on the basis of the security information transmitted from the terminal device. Patent Literature 2 further discloses that by (i) transmitting identification information of a terminal device from the terminal device to the server and (ii) determining in the server whether the terminal device is permitted to use a service, security information is transmitted to only a terminal device which is permitted to use a network service. Patent Literature 2 further discloses that damage due to a security information leak is prevented by (i) generating new security information each time the terminal device becomes permitted to use a network service and (ii) transmitting such new security information to the portable electronic device.

Data providing device, operation device, and data processing device


A tire pressure monitoring system (12) for a vehicle (10) has a plurality of tires (14a-d) in respective rolling locations having a respective plurality of tire transmitters (16a-d) that generate a respective plurality of transmitter identification signals. A respective plurality of initiators (20a-d) are fixedly attached to the vehicle at a respective plurality of locations. A controller (22) activates the plurality of initiators (20a-d) by generating a respective plurality of initiator signals from the plurality of initiators. The plurality of initiator signals has a first power level. The controller (22) increases the first power level incrementally to a final power level until the controller receives a sensor signal from each of the plurality of tire transmitters.

The present invention relates generally to a tire pressure monitoring system, and more particularly, to a method for providing variable power output of a low frequency initiator to allow flexibility in the packaging thereof.
Various types of pressure sensing systems for monitoring the pressure within the tires of an automotive vehicle have been proposed. Such systems generate a pressure signal using an electromagnetic (EM) signal, which is transmitted to a receiver. The pressure signal corresponds to the pressure within the tire. When the tire pressure drops below a predetermined pressure, an indicator is used to signal the vehicle operator of the low pressure.
Various tire manufacturers have suggested various locations for the pressure sensors. Known systems include coupling a pressure sensor to the valve stem of the tire. Other known systems and proposed systems locate the pressure sensors in various locations within the tire wall or tread. Tires are mounted to wheels that are commonly made from steel or aluminum.
In addition, it is desired to have a system that automatically determines the locations of the tire pressure sensors relative to the vehicle. Known location systems require the vehicle operator to place a magnet in the vicinity of the tires. However, such systems rely upon the vehicle operator performing the programming in a predetermined order. Thus, such systems are subject to errors.
It would therefore be desirable to provide flexibility for automatically determining the positions while allowing the components of such a system to be placed at different locations for different types of vehicles.
The present invention provides a system and method for automatically identifying the position of the tires relative to the vehicle. The present invention is directed to a system that uses a low frequency initiator to initiate a response from a pressure sensor to automatically determine the position of each of the pressure sensors within the system.
In one aspect of the invention, a tire pressure monitoring system has a plurality of initiators that are fixedly attached to the vehicle at a respective plurality of locations. A plurality of tires having a respective plurality of transmitters generates a respective plurality of transmitter identification signals. A controller is coupled to the plurality of initiators. The controller activates the plurality of initiators by generating a respective plurality of initiator signals from the plurality of initiators. The plurality of initiator signals have a first power level. The controller increases the first power level incrementally to a final power level until said controller receives a sensor signal from each of the plurality of tire transmitters.
In a further aspect of the invention, a method of operating a tire pressure monitoring system for a vehicle having a plurality of tire locations comprises activating a first initiator by generating a first initiator signal from a first initiator at a first of the plurality of tire locations, said first initiator signal having a first power level, and increasing the first power level incrementally to a final power level until receiving a first sensor signal from a first sensor.
One advantage of the invention is that the position of the low frequency initiator may be changed to various locations in various vehicle lines. The low frequency initiator may be positioned in various locations within the wheel well or on the body of the vehicle adjacent to the wheel well depending on the various configurations and packaging requirements by the various types of vehicles. Another advantage of the invention is that by providing only just enough power at the low frequency initiator to generate a response from the tire pressure transmitter, the likelihood of receiving a response from an adjacent vehicle is thus minimized.
One advantage of the invention is that no operator intervention is required for the identification, which in one embodiment, may be performed every time the vehicle is running and the speed exceeds a predetermined speed such as 20 miles an hour. This prevents the vehicle operator from inadvertently forgetting to reset the system.
Other advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent when viewed in light of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings and appended claims.

Tire pressure monitoring system with a signal initiator


In one embodiment, a method for ranking webpages is provided. The method includes generating a web circuit model having a node representing each webpage. The model is simulated to identify the potential at each node. The webpages can then be ranked according to the potentials of the nodes to which the webpages correspond.

The number of websites on the web or Internet has grown to billions. Efficient ways to find the important websites and information on the web are becoming more and more important to users. Internet search engines including Google™, Ask.com™, Yahoo!™, and MSN™ use different methods to search the web efficiently. Web searching has become an important part in Internet users' everyday life. It has huge value in bringing information to people.
Various algorithmic web search techniques still have many shortcomings. Google Technology, Inc. uses the PageRank® and Hilltop methods in its search engine. The method ranks websites according to hyperlinks between websites. It uses the "power method" to find the eigenvector of the so-called teleportation matrix. The eigenvector gives the ranking of the websites. To ensure convergence, a teleportation parameter equal to 0.85 is used. It has been reported that the PageRank method gives different result when different teleportation parameters are used. Another algorithmic search method, the ExpertRank method used by Ask.com™, also solves an eigenvalue and eigenvector problem. The method does more than just identify pages with useful information about a topic, which is called "authorities." The method also looks for pages that contain many links to pages with useful information on the topic, which is called "hubs." The assumption behind this is that the most authoritative pages on a given subject will be those that are most often pointed to by other pages.
Existing algorithms are susceptible to link spam, wherein spam websites improve their ranking by creating a lot of links pointing to their websites. In addition, some existing algorithms penalize large web domains that have a large amount of interlinked websites.
It would be desirable to find websites with great content and websites with many weighted inbound links. It would furthermore be desirable to encourage webmasters to maintain their website and remove spam links.

Method for ranking webpages via circuit simulation


Provided is a method of manufacturing a vitreous silica crucible for pulling a silicon single crystal which can suppress melt surface vibration of silicon melt filled therein and has a long lifetime. The crucible includes a peripheral wall portion, a curved portion and a bottom portion, and has a plurality of micro recesses on the specific region of the inner surface of the peripheral wall portion.

In general, the Czochralski method (CZ method) has been widely used as a method of manufacturing a silicon single crystal for manufacturing a semiconductor. In the CZ method, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a seed crystal 102, which is a single crystal, is dipped into silicon melt 101 of polycrystalline silicon in a crucible 100 made of vitreous silica. At this time, the seed crystal is subjected to a drastic heat shock, and dislocation occurs at the tip of the seed crystal. The dislocation is removed by forming a neck 103 so that the subsequently grown silicon is not affected adversely by the dislocation. Then, the seed crystal is gradually pulled up while being rotated and the pulling speed and the melt temperature are controlled, to increase the diameter of the seed crystal to form a shoulder 104. After a desired diameter is achieved, the pulling is continued under the control that the constant diameter is maintained, to form a straight body 105. Finally, a tail 106 is formed by gradually reducing the diameter, to manufacture an ingot 107 of a silicon single crystal.
In general, as shown in FIG. 1, the vitreous silica crucible used for pulling of a silicon single crystal uses natural fused silica 108 on the outer portion to increase the mechanical strength of the crucible, and uses synthetic fused silica 109 on the inner portion to avoid mixing of the impurities.
Here, "natural fused silica" is vitreous silica made of natural silica powder, and "synthetic fused silica" is vitreous silica made of synthetic silica powder. In general, the reaction SiO2(solid)→Si (liquid)+2O occurs on the interface between the synthetic fused silica 109 and the silicon melt 101 to dissolve the synthetic fused silica 109.
When pulling a silicon single crystal, the reaction Si (liquid)+O→SiO (gas) occurs to produce SiO gas depending on the increase of the pulling temperature and decrease of the ambient pressure. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the silicon melt 101 may be repelled from the surface of the synthetic fused silica 109 to generate melt surface vibration. In FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the melt surface vibration is exaggerated to clearly explain the state of the melt surface vibration.
When such melt surface vibration is generated, the seed crystal 102 cannot be contacted with a flat melt surface, and silicon can be polycrystallized during pulling, which is problematic. In particular, the dipping of the seed crystal and the shoulder formation, which are initial processes in pulling of a silicon single crystal, are likely to be affected adversely by melt surface vibration. The influence largely determines the quality of the pulled silicon single crystal ingot. Therefore, a technique to suppress the melt surface vibration of silicon melt in these processes has been demanded.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique to suppress melt surface vibration of silicon melt filled in a vitreous silica crucible by adjusting the bubble content, to a certain range, of the inner surface layer of the crucible in a region near the melt surface at the beginning of pulling. This technique is based on the finding that the melt surface vibration of the silicon melt at the beginning of pulling is influenced by the bubble content of the inner surface layer of the crucible in a region near the melt surface.
For example, when a large amount of bubbles is contained in the vitreous silica crucible, the vitreous silica is dissolved as the reaction SiO2 (solid)→Si (liquid)+2O proceeds, and thus open bubbles come out as shown in FIG. 4. These open bubbles 201 suppress the melt surface vibration in the same principle as that of boiling stone which suppresses bumping.

Vitreous silica crucible and method of manufacturing the same