The invention provides an organic electronic device comprising: (i) a multilayer cathode comprising: (a) a conductive layer that is electrically connected as a bus, (b) a layer comprising at least one source of alkali metal ions, alkaline earth metal ions, or lanthanide ions and (c) a conductive metal layer comprising at least one conductive metal species; (ii) at least one electro-active organic layer; and (iii) an anode that is electrically connected to the conductive metal layer.

The invention relates to an organic electronic device. More particularly, the invention relates to metal compound-metal multilayer electrodes for organic electronic devices.
Efficient operation of organic electronic devices depends, among other factors, on efficient transport of electronic charges between an electrode and an adjacent medium. Organic electronic devices are used in several applications based on converting electricity into light and/or light into electricity. Exemplary electro-active devices, classified as either organic or inorganic devices, are well known in graphic display and imaging art. Electro-active devices have been produced in different shapes and sizes for many applications. Inorganic electro-active devices, however, typically suffer from a required high activation voltage and low brightness. On the other hand, organic electro-active devices, that have been developed more recently, offer the benefits of a lower activation voltage and higher brightness in addition to simple manufacture, and, thus, the promise of more widespread applications.
An organic electronic device is typically a thin film structure formed on a substrate such as glass or transparent plastic. An electro-active layer and optional adjacent organic semiconductor layers are sandwiched between a cathode and an anode. The organic semiconductor layers may be either hole (positive charge)-injecting or electron (negative charge)-injecting layers and also comprise organic materials. The electro-active organic layer may itself consist of multiple sublayers, each comprising a different electro-active organic material.
Reducing or eliminating barriers for charge mobility between electro-active organic layers and an electrode contributes greatly to enhancing the efficiency of an organic electronic device. Metals having low work functions, such as the alkali and alkaline-earth metals, are often used in a cathode material to promote electron injection. However, these metals are susceptible to degradation upon exposure to the environment. Therefore, devices using these metals as cathode materials require rigorous encapsulation. In addition, these metals can diffuse rapidly into an adjacent electro-active organic layer, leading to device performance decay.
It is hence desirable to provide for greater charge mobility between electro-active organic layers and the electrodes. Electro-luminescent and other electro-active devices, such as photovoltaic cells, can also benefit from a lower barrier for electron transport across the interface between an active layer and an adjacent cathode. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a cathode assembly and materials that efficiently allow charges to move more readily between an electrode and an adjacent layer.

Metal compound-metal multilayer electrodes for organic electronic devices


A vehicle chassis is disclosed that includes a frame, front suspension, rear suspension and vertically adjustable bed. The frame includes two mirrored image side rails connected to each other by a bumper, torque box and at least one cross member. The frame structure forms an enclosed frontal section and a U-shaped back section. The front section is adapted to receive a motor, transmission, cab, and the front suspension. A roll bar support assembly is disposed above the torque box to support the U-shaped section of the frame. The back U-shaped section is adapted to receive the adjustable bed and rear suspension. The adjustable bed maintains a constant horizontal orientation when moving from a grounded loading position to a raised transporting position. The rear suspension includes two separate independently acting assemblies with one disposed on each side of the back U-shaped section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chassis for a pickup truck or van having a vertically adjustable bed.
2. Background Art
Pickup trucks and vans have long been used as utility vehicles. One of the most common uses for such vehicles is the transportation of cargo. The cargo must be loaded onto and off of the vehicle bed. Loading, unloading and positioning cargo on the bed can be difficult especially when handling heavy or awkward cargo.
Several means have been used to solve loading, unloading and positioning problems. Examples of such means include:
1. Lift trucks; PA1 2. Ramps; PA1 3. Lifting tail gates; and PA1 4. Adjustable beds.
Each of these means is helpful. However, each has its own draw backs. For instance, lift trucks are not always available and can be awkward to use in the limited space of a vehicle bed. Ramps require space behind the vehicle. Vertically adjustable tail gates are limited in the size and weight of cargo they can handle and may require counter balancing.
There are two basic types of adjustable utility vehicle beds. The adjustable beds include pivoting beds and vertically adjustable beds.
Pivoting beds include a bed pivotally connected to a vehicle chassis above the rear axle. The front of the bed is releasably connected to the vehicle to maintain the bed in a substantially horizontal orientation. Loading is accomplished by releasing the front end of the bed allowing the bed to pivot until the back end contacts the surface on which the vehicle is resting. In that position the bed forms a ramp onto which the cargo may be rolled, pulled or pushed.
Even though pivoting beds reduce loading problems, there are some draw backs. For instance, loading large or heavy cargo can be dangerous when the center of gravity of the cargo moves past the bed pivot point. Positioning loads on the bed is also difficult because the loads have a tendency to slide when the bed is in the ramped loading position.
Vertically adjustable beds include a bed connected to the frame by rotatably connected linkages. That arrangement allows the bed to remain substantially horizontal when moved from a raised transporting position to a lowered loading position and back again. That feature solves the shifting and sliding problems of pivoting beds.
Even though the vertically adjustable bed reduces many of the cargo handling problems there are some draw backs. The back portion of the frame is U-shaped. Rear axles and lateral supports cannot be disposed underneath the frame because the bed could not be grounded. Overhead supports limit the height of the cargo that can be carried. Without some lateral means of support there is a problem with frame stability.
The description in the Background is meant to be illustrative rather than exhaustive. It is intended to identify problems associated with the present state of the art.

Utility vehicle chassis having a vertically adjustable bed


Provided is a light amount adjusting apparatus wherein a base member has a plurality of supporting parts for supporting the plurality of light amount adjusting blades and a second contact part is located outside a circle extending through the plurality of supporting parts, wherein a contact part between the second contact part and a first contact part is constituted at the other surface of the base member with respect to a surface having a jointing part between a blade driving member and the base member, and wherein, when the blade driving member is pivoted in the circumferential direction of an opening, a part of the blade driving member overlaps at least one of the supporting parts for supporting the light amount adjusting blades at a position offset in a direction parallel to the center axis of the opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light amount adjusting apparatus and an optical apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a light amount adjusting device in optical apparatus in which a lens is exchangeable or optical apparatus formed integrally with a lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, light amount adjusting devices used for imaging apparatuses such as video cameras, digital cameras, and the like have a structure in which two light amount adjusting blades are movably sandwiched between a base plate provided with an opening on the optical axis thereof and a cover. The two light amount adjusting blades can linear-slidably move in relatively-opposite directions in a planer perpendicular to the optical axis and can flexibly change the shape of the opening so as to adjust light amount. In the conventional light amount adjusting apparatuses, the configuration number of light amount adjusting blades is two, and thus, the shape of the aperture opening in the narrowly limited state is substantially diamond. In this case, the shape of blur/the shape of surface reflection ghost generated from a point light source looks like a diamond, which leads to a reduction in quality and is not suitable for high-grade and highly accurate imaging apparatuses. However, since the conventional light amount adjusting apparatuses have high space efficiency and are inexpensive, the conventional light amount adjusting apparatuses are often mounted to imaging apparatuses for general consumers.
In addition to the aforementioned light amount adjusting apparatus constituted by two light amount adjusting blades, there is another light amount adjusting apparatus having a structure, so-called, an iris diaphragm in which three or greater number of light amount adjusting blades are movably sandwiched between a base member provided with an opening on the optical axis thereof and a cover. The iris diaphragm is driven by a driving source via an engaging member, with which a plurality of light amount adjusting springs engages, extending from a blade driving ring which is pivoted about the optical axis. Here, examples of the driving source include a galvanometer, a stepping motor, and the like. The three or greater number of light amount adjusting blades are arranged one on top of the other on the blade driving ring in the clockwise direction or in the anticlockwise direction. The hole of one light amount adjusting blade is rotatably joined to a rotary shaft pin provided on the base member, and a drive pin provided on the blade driving ring is joined to an elongated hole section of the light amount adjusting blade. Furthermore, other light amount adjusting blades are also supported by the same structure. When the blade driving ring is rotated about, the optical axis, the plurality of light amount adjusting blades is also swung into interlock engagement with the blade driving ring, so that the light amount passing through the opening can be adjusted by changing the shape of the opening.
In the iris diaphragm device, the shape of the opening is determined by a plurality of light amount adjusting blades. Thus, the shape of the aperture opening in the narrowly limited state is a polygon and the shape of blur/the shape of surface reflection ghost generated from a point light source is close to a circle, so that the iris diaphragm device is mounted to high-grade and highly accurate imaging apparatuses. When the operating angle of the drive ring can be in a wide range, the amount of movement of each blade with respect to the rotation angle of the drive ring becomes small, high resolution control can be achieved until the aperture opening becomes small, exhibiting high sensitivity. In recent years, high-grade and highly accurate imaging apparatuses have become increasingly popular as imaging apparatuses for general consumers. In order to achieve an improvement in quality of the shape of blur/the shape of surface reflection ghost generated from a point light source, it is preferable that a light amount adjusting apparatus is constituted by a plurality of light amount adjusting blades as many as possible so as to bring the polygonal shape of the opening closer to a circle.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-121901 discloses a light amount adjusting apparatus with a speed reduction ratio increased by the intervention of a drive gear serving as a drive transmission member fixed to the rotary shaft of a driving source in order to achieve transmission of the driving of the driving source and an intermediate gear member provided between the drive gear and the blade driving ring. Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-163827 discloses a light amount adjusting apparatus in which blade rotation reference pins are provided to a blade driving member.
In order to bring the shape of the iris diaphragm closer to a circle as described above, the number of blades needs to be increased. However, a pitch in the circumferential direction of the rotation reference pins for the blades narrows with an increase in the number of blades. With this arrangement, a space for the engaging part which engages with the driving source and extends from the blade driving ring cannot be ensured. Thus, the operating angle of the drive ring becomes small, resulting in a difficulty in ensuring desired resolution. When the speed reduction ratio of the drive ring increases with the avoidance of the rotation reference pins, the space for the coupling section needs to be enlarged in the radial direction. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-121901 also discloses a light amount adjusting device with a speed reduction ratio increased by the intervention of a stepping motor serving as a driving source, a drive gear serving as a drive transmission member fixed to the rotary shaft of the driving source in order to achieve transmission of the driving of the driving source, and an intermediate gear member provided between the drive gear and the blade driving ring. With this arrangement, the space for the coupling section and the speed reduction ratio of the drive ring can be increased. However, since the number of gear components is increased by one, the problems of backlash, rattling, or the like may occur, resulting in an adverse effect on the accuracy of the imaging apparatus.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-163827, the rotation reference pins for the light amount adjusting blades are provided on the drive ring side. With this arrangement, the rotation angle of the blade driving ring can be increased regardless of the pitch between the blade rotation reference pins. However, since the rotation reference pins for the light amount adjusting blades are formed on the blade driving ring serving as a moving body, the shape of the opening may be deformed or a shift in the center axis of the opening may occur, resulting in an adverse effect on the quality of the imaging apparatus.

Light amount adjusting apparatus, lens barrel, and imaging apparatus


To reduce the level of noise and to reduce distortion, an input audio signal is equally divided between a pair of VCAs. Each VCA receives an equal portion of the audio signal's current and has its gain controlled by a common control voltage. The outputs of the VCAs are summed together and are applied to an inverting input terminal of an op-amp. The gain of the VCAs is set at 6 dB and the gain of the op-amp is set at -6 dB. Since the op-amp sums audio signals at 6 dB and sums noise and broadband signals at 3 dB, the signal to noise ratio in the output signal is increased and the noise level, the total harmonic distortion, the intermodulation distortion, and the DC feed through are all reduced in comparison to the input signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for reducing noise and, more particularly, for reducing noise and distortion in a voltage controlled amplifier.
2. Description of Prior Art
A voltage controlled amplifier ("VCA") amplifies an input signal according to the level of a control signal. The VCA is often used in audio consoles in order to control the gain of an input audio signal. By having the audio signals pass through separate VCAs, the levels of the various audio signals, and therefore the mix of the signals, may be selectively controlled by varying the control voltages applied to the respective VCAs. Also, the control voltage may be varied in order to fade the audio signal either in or out.
For example, with reference to FIG. 1, a VCA IC1 receives an input audio signal at its IN+ and IN- input pins. A control voltage is supplied to the VCA IC1 at its VC pin. The VCA IC1 then produces an amplified input audio signal, which is generated at its output pin VG, according to the magnitude of the control voltage. When the control voltage is at 0 volts, the input audio signal would have full attenuation. At a control voltage of 4.44 volts, the input audio signal would have unity gain and at a control voltage of 5 volts, the VCA IC1 operates at +12 dB gain.
The output of the VCA IC1 is applied to a non-inverting input of an op-amp IC2. The op-amp IC2 has a parallel combination of a resistor R4 and a capacitor C14 connected between an output of the op-amp IC2 and an inverting input of the op-amp IC2. The output signal generated at the output of op-amp IC2 is supplied to an output terminal T2. The VCA IC1, however, is prone to DC feed through, has a relatively very high distortion level, and has a very high noise level. For instance, with the prior art configuration of FIG. 1 where the gain of VCA IC1 is set to 0 dB and the gain of op-amp IC2 is set to 0 dB, the VCA IC1 has a noise level of 92.5 dB. The total harmonic distortion ("THD") as a percentage of unity gain for 0 dB, 20 dB, and 21 dB are 0.0041%, 0.0154%, and 0.221%, respectively. The intermodulation distortion ("IM") at 0 dB, 12 dB, 20 dB, and 21 dB are 0.0125%, 0.0242%, 0.0481%, and 0.280%, respectively.

Apparatus and method for reducing VCA distortion and noise


A tread made of rubber material for a snow tire having a tread surface intended to be in contact with a road surface when the tire is being driven on, and provided with a plurality of cuts delimited by walls situated facing one another and forming lateral walls of raised elements of the tread. Each lateral wall intersects the tread surface to form an edge corner. At least one lateral wall of a raised element is formed partially or fully by a cover layer extending from the edge corner associated with this lateral wall, of a material having an elastic modulus higher than that of the rubber material of the tread. The raised element has a depression in its lateral wall, delimited by the cover layer. The raised element moreover has a width W and the depth P of the depression is at least equal to 10% of the width W of the element and less than or equal to 40% of this width W. Finally the volume of the depression is less than 10% of the volume of the raised element.

Field
The present disclosure relates to a tread for a tire intended for winter driving.
Description of Related Art
A tire for winter driving, known as a snow tire, needs to have sufficient grip both on a snowy road surface and on an icy road surface. However, on these different types of ground, the way in which the tread works to achieve good grip differ and can even counter one another. On a snowy road surface attempts will be made to "claw at" the snow by creating raised pressures in specific zones of the tread. On an icy road surface the aim is to obtain the highest and most uniform possible contact pressure with the road surface.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,137 discloses a tread comprising a plurality of grooves delimited by walls. These walls are formed by a cover layer containing a material that differs from the rubber material of which the tread is made. More specifically, the material of the layer here has a mean glass transition temperature (Tg) which is lower than that of the rubber material, thus making it more rigid. Thanks to this rigidity, it can more easily claw at the snow on the snowy road surface and therefore very greatly improve the grip on this snowy road surface. However, the inventors have observed that the tread of document U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,137 does not make it possible to improve to the same extent the level of grip on an icy road surface. This tread therefore exhibits a not insignificant imbalance between, on the one hand, its performance on a snowy road surface and, on the other hand, its performance on an icy road surface.
There is therefore a need to create a tire tread that affords a better compromise between grip on a snowy road surface and grip on an icy road surface, while at the same time maintaining a very high level of grip on this snowy road surface.

Tread comprising sculpted elements comprising a covering layer

Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin


There is disclosed a system and method of providing access links in a media folder. In an embodiment, the method comprises: receiving as an access trigger one of a search term or short code corresponding to content in the media folder; displaying at least one access link in response to the access trigger; and in response to selection of an access link, providing access to a corresponding media resource. The access trigger may be received from one of an input field, a history log or content usage statistics, and the method may display a list of access links to media resources related to the content of the media folder. The access trigger is directly linked to content provided in the media folder in order to provide users with a convenient way to link to access links to related media resources.

Some handheld mobile communication devices include a media folder application which may allow playback or viewing of audio, photo, and video as appropriate to the media type. The media folder application provides a user interface (UI) which allows management of the content including selecting the files to be played or viewed as appropriate to the media type. On some of these handheld mobile communication devices, a dialing feature may also be provided to allow a user to "dial" frequently called numbers more quickly and accurately by assigning dialing short codes, or short numbers, which are special telephone numbers significantly shorter than their full length equivalents and are designed to be easier to memorize and faster to use. For example, in the United States, the short code 2653 corresponding to "COKE" as spelled out on a typical telephone keypad is registered to The Coca-Cola™ Company.

System and method for providing access links in a media folder


Provided herein are genetically engineered Vibrio cholerae bacterial strains, compositions including the bacterial strains, and methods of using the same for the prevention of Vibrio cholerae infection in a subject.

Cholera is a diarrheal disease caused by an infection with the Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The disease can be a rapidly fatal, and outbreaks often spread explosively. Efforts to fight the disease include oral rehydration and antibiotic therapy. However, the disease is a major public health hazard in developing and destabilized countries (see, e.g., Bohles et al. (2014) Hum. Vaccin. Immunother. 10(6): 1522-35). Vaccination campaigns deploying vaccines comprising killed Vibrio cholerae bacterial strains are currently underway. However, the utility of these vaccines for curtailing the spread of an ongoing epidemic (so-called 'reactive vaccination') depends on the time required for vaccinated subjects to become resistant to cholera. The protective immune responses elicited by current vaccines typically take days or weeks to manifest and often require multiple vaccine doses. Thus, there is a need for vaccines that can induce rapid protection against Vibrio cholerae after a single dose.

Live attenuated cholera vaccine with probiotic properties


A driver circuit includes: a current-controlling switching element electrically connected to a light emitting element; a differential amplifier circuit including: an output terminal electrically connected to the current-controlling switching element, a first input terminal configured to receive a reference signal as a reference for radiating light with a desired intensity from the light emitting element, and a second input terminal configured to receive a detection signal corresponding to a detection result of a current flowing in the light emitting element, wherein the differential amplifier circuit is configured to control the current flowing in the light emitting element and the current-controlling switching element based on a voltage of the first input terminal and a voltage of the second input terminal; and an adjustment part configured to adjust an overshoot amount of a rising edge of the current flowing in the light emitting element.

There is known a processing device for processing an object by light radiated from a light emitting element.
Examples of such a processing device include a laser exposure device for performing light exposure of a resist with laser light, and a laser machining device for machining, for example, cutting, an object with laser light.
The processing device includes a light emitting element and a driver circuit for driving the light emitting element. The driver circuit controls the intensity of light radiated from the light emitting element by controlling the current flowing in the light emitting element. In the processing device, the intensity of light radiated from the light emitting element affects the accuracy of processing the object. Thus, in such a driver circuit and a processing device thereof, it is desired to control the current flowing in the light emitting element more appropriately in order to achieve higher processing accuracy.


An improved machine-actuated removable safety closure made according to this invention includes a latch and central hub combination which permits a plug holder to self-align with the drive holes of the closure's cam plate so that an operator can retrieve the closure without having to lean directly over it. A bypass valve interferes with the cam plate when the bypass is in its closed position. This interference prevents the cam plate from actuating the locking leaves. Anti-rotation slots located on the plug body and the flange of the tubular member interlock and prevent rotation of the plug body beyond a certain rotational window during the setting process and when the plug body is in its final sealing position. The latch, along with means to secure the plug holder to the boring bar, allows the holder to be retrieved from the set plug.

This invention relates generally to closures used to close an opening in a tubular member carrying a gas or liquid under pressure. More particularly, it relates to semi-permanent closures used in connection with hot tapping operations.
In hot tapping operations, it is frequently necessary to close an opening in a tubular member either permanently or semi-permanently, that is, to close an opening where a valve is not required or is not desirable. One example of a semi-permanent closure arises when a hot tap is made into a pipeline or a vessel through a fitting connected to the pipeline or vessel. In the typical hot tapping application as utilized in the petroleum industry, a fitting is welded on the exterior of a pipe that has flowing gas or liquid under pressure. The fitting includes a flange on its outlet connection and a hot tapping machine is secured to the flange. By use of highly specialized equipment, a hole can then be drilled through the wall of the pipe while a gas or liquid continues to flow through it to provide access to the interior of the pipe. This access hole or opening can be used to insert equipment which temporarily blocks flow through the pipe while repairs are being made to the pipe. After the repairs are complete, the equipment is removed but the opening that provides communication to the interior of the pipe needs to be closed. Preferably the closure is made in such a way that at some future date access can be again obtained through the fitting to the interior of the pipe.
Because the tubular member is under pressure, a closure member must be in a properly locked position before the closure member is exposed to atmospheric pressure. An improperly locked closure member can blow out, causing serious injury to an operator or other persons nearby. Therefore, it is critically important that the operator know as a certainty that the closure member is properly aligned and locked before exposing the area above the closure member to atmospheric pressure, and will remain in this aligned and locked position over time. However, because of the challenges associated with completion plug systems above 20 inches and capable of withstanding fully rated 600 lb pressures, while having no leak paths except through the gasket and remaining retrievable, have not yet been developed. Additionally, the ability to set a plug of this size and class without manually removing the holder from the plug has never been implemented. The instability of the plug (due to limited length of engagement between the holder and plug) and the limited flow through the bypass of that system (because the bypass vents the fluid through mating threads) prevented a machine-actuated holder from being used for larger sizes and higher pressures. Finally, anti-rotation has not been implemented for completion plugs of this size or class, as well as smaller sizes and classes. Prior art removable closure systems rely on friction between the o-ring and flange to prevent the plugs from rotating. There is an initial cost savings by not having anti-rotation, but there is more long-term cost savings by preventing pig collisions with the plug or coupon and having the added safety of anti-rotation during the plug setting process.

Machine-actuated and removable safety closure with anti-rotation and machine-released holder


Methods and systems for use in acquiring parts from suppliers using auction information including a requested part and decision criteria from an ordering manager agent and from supplier agents associated with part suppliers. A criteria comparison matrix representing a relative importance of each decision criterion is created. A criteria importance vector is created based on the criteria comparison matrix, and a supplier comparison matrix corresponding to each decision criterion is also created. The supplier comparison matrix represents a relative ranking of each supplier with respect to the corresponding decision criterion. A supplier criteria ranking vector corresponding to each decision criterion is created based on the supplier comparison matrix that corresponds to the decision criterion. The supplier criteria ranking vectors and the criteria importance vector are combined to create a supplier score matrix associated with the ordering manager agent and indicating a score associated with each supplier.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to part acquisition and, more specifically, to methods and systems for use in acquiring parts from one or more suppliers.
At least some known methods of purchasing goods implement a double auction process that assumes perfectly substitutable goods. Under such an assumption, buyers and sellers have no preference regarding who they trade with on the opposing side of the market. However, in a typical service supply chain, the price is not the only attribute that determines the value of a deal to a buyer or seller, and other criteria need to be taken into account when determining the utility of a certain match due to the imperfectly substitutable nature of goods, buyers, and/or sellers in a typical supply chain context.

Methods and systems for acquiring parts from one or more suppliers


I/O delay testing for devices utilizing on-chip delay generation. An embodiment of an apparatus includes I/O buffer circuits, at least one of the buffer circuits including a transmitter and a receiver that are coupled for loop-back testing of the buffer circuit; and testing circuitry for the loop-back testing for the at least one buffer circuit, the loop-back testing including determining whether test data transmitted by the transmitter of the buffer circuit matches test data received by the respective coupled receiver. The testing circuitry includes a delay line to provide delay values from a transmit clock signal for the testing of the at least one buffer circuit, a counter to provide a count to choose one of the plurality of delay values, and test logic for the loop-back testing.

Testing of integrated circuit (IC) devices to ensure proper operation may include testing of I/O (input/output) buffer circuitry. For example, testing may include a test of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) I/O buffer circuitry. Testing may include testing according to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13,625,744 entitled "Method, System, and Apparatus for Evaluation of Input/Output Buffer Circuitry".
In such testing, there may be operations for automated test equipment (ATE) to provide certain testing operations for DRAM memory, including testing of the response of memory IO interfaces to varying signal delay.
However, testing equipment may not support test operations as needed to provide signal delay testing. In particular, older ATE may be unable to provide sufficient timing edge resolution for certain delay testing of the IO interfaces of integrated circuit devices.

Input/output delay testing for devices utilizing on-chip delay generation


Embodiments include a method for optimizing order fulfillment conditions. Information of an order fulfillment is received, including items included in an order, inventory information of the items included in an order from one or more entities at respective locations, and timeline information of a user associated with the order fulfillment information. A selection of an entity at a first location is determined from the one or more entities at respective locations, and a time schedule associated with the order fulfillment is determined. Conditions are determined that correspond to the entity at the first location and a travel route to the first location, and responsive to determining the conditions corresponding to the travel route and the first location of the entity to be unfavorable for the order fulfillment, a modification is performed on the information of the order fulfillment resulting in favorable conditions for the order fulfillment.

Consumers and businesses have shown an increasing tendency to place orders of items or services online and schedule the subsequent pickup or delivery. Online ordering offers the convenience of confirmed inventory availability, preference of pickup or delivery, and selection of location for order fulfillment. Order fulfillment includes placing an order of items or services with an entity and scheduling pickup or delivery at the location of the selected entity. An order pickup or delivery can be scheduled with an entity, which can be a retail store, a restaurant or food provider, a service provider, or a distribution facility, among other possibilities. Performing order fulfillment at an entity includes a travel route to the selected entity location.

Optimization of order fulfillment conditions

International Business Machines Corporation


An actuator for a butterfly valve, having a gearbox, an actuator stem and a handle. The actuator stem is formed as a single piece, comprising a position indicator, seal disc, worm gear, and stem shaft with splines for fitting into the valve. The handle is also formed as a single piece, comprising the wheel or knob, shaft, and worm for operating the worm gear. By forming the gearbox as a single piece as well, the entire actuator can be made as three major pieces. Optionally, the gearbox can be formed with cylindrical fittings which press-fit over pins on the valve, replacing the conventional mounting bracket.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of valve actuators. More particularly, the invention pertains to actuator for butterfly or similar valves.
2. Description of Related Art
Butterfly valves are quarter-turn type shut-off valves in which a flat disc is turned within a pipe to control fluid flow through the pipe. A shaft passes through the pipe and the disc to rotate the disc, typically through a range of 90° of rotation. Similar quarter turn valves such as ball valves and plug valves operate similarly, using balls and cylinders instead of discs to shut off fluid flow.
The prior art design of actuator for butterfly valves is shown in FIG. 1, in which 1 is the section of pipe forming the outside of the valve and 2 is the disc or butterfly.
In prior art designs, an actuator is typically made up of many parts which need to be assembled into the actuator.
The actuator gearbox 6 is typically mounted to the valve 1 by a bracket 5 which is secured by bolts 4 around a packing nut 3 which allows the shaft 7 to pass through the valve body 1 and disc 2. A worm assembly 9 bearing a quadrant worm gear 8 attaches to the top of the shaft 7, and a valve position indicator 11, usually in the form of a flag as shown, is attached to the top of the worm assembly 9. A handle shaft 12, bearing a worm 13, is inserted through the side of the gearbox 6 to actuate the worm gear 9, which in turn turns the shaft 7 and rotates the disc 2 to operate the valve. A separate handle or knob 15 is attached to the handle shaft 12 either by splines, threading or by tightening a setscrew. Once the parts are assembled, a gearbox cover 10 is fastened down to cover the gearbox 6.
A threaded hole 14 in a side of the gearbox 6 provides a mount for a position sensor (not shown), usually an electrical switch, which senses the position of the worm gear 8. The position sensor is conventional and does not form part of the invention.
Thus it can be seen that in the prior art design at least nine or ten parts must be manufactured and assembled for a single actuator assembly, not counting conventional fasteners, washers, seals, etc. as might be needed. The assembled actuator must then be assembled to the valve by the bracket and fasteners, as shown.


A fin-tube type heat exchanger has parallel heat transfer tubes and a stack of a plurality of plate fins mounted on the tubes. Heat exchange is conducted between a first fluid flowing through the tubes and a second fluid flowing through the stack across each of the fins. Each fin has flat tube-mounting portions spaced in the longitudinal direction of the fin and formed with tube-mounting holes and a louver section disposed between each adjacent pair of tube-mounting portions. The louver section has elongated slats extending longitudinally of the fin and having side edges each spaced from an adjacent side edge of an adjacent slat. The slats are classified into two groups in respect of the cross-sectional shape. The slats of one group have generally flat cross-sections to reduce the resistance of the fin to the flow of the second fluid through the stack and are disposed in planes offset from the plane of the tube-mounting portions. The slats of the other group have V-shaped or inverted V-shaped cross-sections to increase stiffness of the fin in the longitudinal direction thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a heat exchanger applicable to an air conditioner or an industrial refrigeration unit and, more particularly, to a fin-tube type heat exchanger equipped with a stack of a plurality of heat transfer fins mounted on heat transfer tube groups in a heat exchanging relationship.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A fin of a conventional fin-tube type heat exchanger is provided with a multiplicity of slats generally referred to as a louver that are raised from the upper surface of fin. A performance is enhanced by making the slats contact with fresh air as much as possible. The contact of the slats with a great deal of fresh air is attained by reducing a boundary layer (strictly, temperature boundary layer) in which an air flow stays, by a decreasing widths of the slats or arraying downstream slats in proper positions such that the boundary layers formed upstream exert a less influence on the downstream slats. If the slat width is too reduced, forming of the fin becomes difficult. Utilized often is a method of improving the fin performance with a contrivance of the arrangement of slats. If the ideas of enhancing the fin performance depending upon the structure of louvers are the same, however, there can be seen considerably different ideas in configurations of the such as, for example, size, weight and air-flow resistance required concomitantly with the heat exchanger.
In order to reduce both size and weight of the fin, Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-26237 proposes a fin having, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, a bent configuration as viewed in a cross-section (taken in a direction of air flow). This fin has high stiffness in the lengthwise direction of the fin because the slats of the louver are bent. The fin, therefore, presents a less deformation even if the fin plate is made of a thin sheet metal. Thus, the louver can be disposed in a proper position; however, the air flow is, disturbed due to V-shaped slats of the louver. There exists a possibility of increasing the air-flow resistance in a high air velocity area. It is therefore desirable that the fin be designed for use with a low air velocity.
Namely, the bent fin can be termed as a low-deformation and high-performance fin suited to a low air velocity. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 40 and 41, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-6588 discloses a fin advantageous to a reduction in air-flow resistance, wherein plural pairs of slats having different shapes as viewed in sections taken along longitudinal direction of the louver are arranged in the direction of the air flow (the fin based on this structure is called an "accordion fin"). This fin does not disturb the air flow because the slats of the fin are planar as viewed in a section taken along the air-flow direction. The air-flow resistance is therefore low even at the high air velocity. In this fin, however, V-shaped means or the like for increasing the longitudinal stiffness are not provided in the louver. The fin therefore tends to be deformed in the longitudinal direction thereof. In such elongated fins the number of heat transfer tubes arranged in the longitudinal direction of the fin is large, the entire fin tends to be flexed to cause a possibility that the tube pitch deviates from a design value. Consequently, it is difficult to stack and convey the fins and, consequently, the accordion fin is limited to a short fin with a relatively small amount of deformation.
In the above-described fins of the prior art, the louver is deformed differently in different parts of the fins. Influences exerted on the fin performance are correspondingly different in different parts of the fins. Further, the velocity of air flowing between the adjacent fins of the fin-tube type heat exchanger is not uniform while the air flows across the widths of the fins and because the air flow results in a contraction flow and an expansion flow depending on the existence of pipes.
Then, for preventing a decline of the performance due to the deformation of the louver, there arises a problem that the slats in the portion subjected to a less deformation and having no necessity for enhancing the stiffness are bent with a resultant increase in the air-flow resistance. Reversely, when the louver is constructed of only the slats having a planar configuration, a problem is also caused that fabrication and workability of the fin are reduced due to lack of the fin stiffness.


Disclosed is a semiconductor light emitting device. The semiconductor light emitting device includes a first conductive semiconductor layer, an active layer under the first conductive semiconductor layer, a second conductive semiconductor layer under the active layer, a second electrode layer under the second conductive semiconductor layer; and an insulating layer on an outer peripheral surface of at least two layers of the first conductive semiconductor layer, the active layer, and the second conductive semiconductor layer.

1. Field
The embodiment relates to a semiconductor light emitting device.
2. Background
Groups III-V nitride semiconductors have been variously applied to an optical device such as blue and green light emitting diodes (LED), a high speed switching device, such as a MOSFET (Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) and an HEMT (Hetero junction Field Effect Transistors), and a light source of an illumination device or a display device. Particularly, a light emitting device including the group III nitride semiconductor has a direct fundamental band gap corresponding to a visible ray band to an ultra-violet band so that high light emission efficiency can be realized.
The nitride semiconductor is mainly used for the LED (Light Emitting Diode) or an LD (laser diode), and studies have been continuously conducted to improve the manufacturing process or a light efficiency of the nitride semiconductor.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.


A low-irritant detergent composition comprising alkyl saccharide surfactant and sulfosuccinate surfactant is disclosed. The detergent composition possesses excellent foaming capability and low-temperature stability. The detergent composition also imparts fine feeling when used as a detergent for the hair and the skin without irritation to the skin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low-irritant detergent composition, and, more particularly, to a detergent composition comprising an alkyl saccharide surfactant and a sulfosuccinate surfactant. The detergent composition possesses high foaming capability and low irritation to the skin. The detergent composition also imparts favorable feeling when used as a detergent for the hair or the skin without irritation.
2. Description of the Background Art
Nonionic surfactants have conventionally been used as a component for detergent compositions for the skin and the hair. They are less irritating in nature. However, since they are inferior in foaming capability to other types of surfactants, the amount which can be formulated is limited when they are incorporated especially in detergent compositions which call for high foaming properties, such as shampoos, body detergents, and the like. Some other drawbacks have accompanied the detergent compositions containing a single conventional nonionic surfactant, which include creaky feel upon use, poor foaming capability, and insufficient detergency when they are used as a detergent for the skin or the hair.
Among nonionic surfactants, alkyl saccharide surfactants have excellent foaming capability. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 104625/1983 discloses compositions containing an alkyl saccharide surfactant together with an anionic surfactants such as alkylsulfate. The proposed compositions exhibit high foaming capability. They, however, provoke irritation to the skin or the scalp. Furthermore, compositions containing an alkyl saccharide surfactant having an alkyl group of C.sub.10 or more are unstable at a low temperature and tend to precipitate.
There has existed, therefore, a desire to develop detergent compositions which are usable as a detergent for clothing, dish-washing, human body including the hair and the skin, and the like, and are stable and less irritating to the skin and the hair, and which can provide sufficient foaming capability and detergency.
In view of this situation, the present inventors have conducted extensive studies to solve the above problems, and, as a result, found that by formulating an alkyl saccharide surfactant together with a sulfosuccinate surfactant, the foaming capability could be improved and the composition was capable of producing creamy foam which gives excellent slippery feel to the skin when it was foamed. The inventors also found that the composition gave excellent feeling to the skin and the hair after washing without irritation to the skin and that the composition was also improved in low-temperature stability. These findings have led to the completion of this invention.

Low-irritant detergent composition containing alkyl saccharide and sulfosuccinate surfactants


Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to social media navigation in a social network and provide a method, system and computer program product for user pivot for media sharing in a social network. In an embodiment of the invention, a social networking data processing system for user pivot navigation. The system can include a social network executing in a host server, the social network providing shared media for viewing by communicatively coupled clients. The system also can include user pivot logic coupled to the social network. The logic can include program code enabled to identify a user of the social network associated with shared media selected for display in a media view to a requesting user and to generate a navigation view in a consistent location in a user interface to the social network irrespective of a page view rendered in the user interface, the view providing a link to a profile page for the identified user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of social networking and more particularly to navigational pivot points for social networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
A social network refers to a social structure of nodes each associated with a different person or organization. The interconnections of each node reflect direct relationships between the respective people and organizations such that the directness of a relationship between two persons or organizations associated with respective nodes can be summarized by the path of interconnections between the respective nodes. In this way, any one individual in a social network can evaluate the number and quality of social relationships with others in the network, those relationships ranging from close familial bonds to casual acquaintances.
The advent of the global Internet has changed the way in which social networks can be viewed. Originally, a mere visual tool describing a social phenomenon, computerized social networks facilitate the recognition and expansion of social networks amongst interacting users across the globe. Whereas geographic boundaries previously limited the extent and quality of a given social network, the global Internet enables limitless expansion of the social network based upon a vast set of aware collaborators coupled by the fabric of computer communications.
Commercial computerized social networks have become wildly popular in recent years—especially amongst the younger demographic. Examples include the MySpace™ computer socialized network maintained by MySpace, Inc. of Los Angeles, Calif., LinkedIn™ computerized business network maintained by LinkedIn Corporation of Palo Alto, Calif., and the Facebook™ computerized social network maintained by Facebook of Palo Alto, Calif. Commercial computerized social networks represent social networking services connecting users according to different types of interests in an aggregated view—generally a Web site hosting user contributed content through imagery and commentary.
Commercial computerized social networks allow users to create individual profiles. Each profile can include social media including imagery such as photographs of the user and things relevant to the user. Each profile further can include textual materials such as lifestyle information, or general writings. Notably, users can establish networks of favorite "friends". Favorite friends can be specified manually by a given user and often represent the individuals or organizations most favored by the given user. Each of the favorite friends can be presented in the Web site so as to allow linking to a corresponding profile for the favorite friend. In this way, an end user literally can navigate shared social media in the social network for a given user.
Generally, when navigating shared social media in a social network, users discover content by navigating along different parameters, such as media type or content ownership. However, the navigation user interface for navigating shared media in a social network lacks consistency and varies from display to display. In a social media system, the user or group of users is the fundamental organizing concept, and all other data (such as photographs and textual materials) are to be interpreted in the context of their creator or creators.
It is therefore important during browsing or searching for the user to be able to understand who has created the content being browsed, and preferably to understand some additional information about that creator. If information about the creator is displayed inconsistently, or is hidden from view, the task of the user becomes more difficult. Further, oftentimes a photo or textual reference to a user in a social network is provided in connection with content associated with or owned by the user. However, when a user name or photo of a user in a social network is presented, selecting the user name or photo results in a display of the profile page for the user only.

User pivot navigation of shared social media


A seal structure for use in a compressor has a first member, a second member, an O-ring and a gasket. The first member and the second member constitute a housing of the compressor. The first member and the second member are joined to each other at a joint. The O-ring and the gasket are interposed at the joint in a predetermined manner.

The present invention relates to a seal structure for use in a housing of a compressor which constitutes a refrigerant circuit in an air conditioner.
In general, a housing of a compressor includes a plurality of members that is joined with one another by a plurality of bolts. A single seal or a plurality of seals is interposed at a joint between the members so as to prevent gas and lubricating oil from leaking out of the housing.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 9-42156 discloses a dual seal structure for use in a housing of a compressor. As shown in FIG. 4, a front case 44 and a motor case 49 are joined by a frame 60 to form the housing. At a joint between the front case 44 and the frame 60, O-rings 72 and 74 are respectively interposed on the inner circumferential side and the outer circumferential side of the housing. In a similar manner, at a joint between the frame 60 and the motor case 49, O-rings 78 and 76 are respectively interposed on the inner circumferential side and the outer circumferential side of the housing. In the above constitution, even if the gas and lubricating oil leak from the inner O-rings 72 and 78, the leaked gas and lubricating oil are sealed by the outer O-rings 74 and 76. Thus, sealing performance is improved.
In recent years, the use of high-pressure gas such as carbon dioxide as a refrigerant for air conditioners has been proposed to reduce environmental problems. However, carbon dioxide tends to permeate a rubber material. For this reason, mere seal structure made of rubber cannot adequately prevent the gas and lubricating oil from leaking even if the dual O-ring is applied.
The present invention is directed to a simple seal structure for use in a compressor housing whose seal structure ensures substantially high sealing performance and a compressor with the same seal structure.
According to the present invention, a seal structure for use in a compressor has a first member, a second member, an O-ring and a gasket. The first member and the second member constitute a housing of the compressor. The first member and the second member are joined to each other at a joint. The O-ring and the gasket are interposed at the joint.

Seal structure for use in housing of compressor


An improved ceramic dielectric composition for preparing multilayer ceramic structures for electronic devices and a method of enhancing the sinterability of such compositions at low firing temperatures by improving the distribution of zinc borate based sintering flux uniformly throughout the composition.

The present invention relates to an improved ceramic composition for preparing multilayer ceramic structures for electronic devices, and, more particularly, to a method of enhancing, i.e., improving, the sinterability of such compositions at low firing temperatures by improving the distribution of sintering flux, and especially zinc borate based flux, uniformly throughout the composition.
Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLC's) are the most widely used form of ceramic capacitors because of their high volumetric efficiency and their small size. These capacitors are typically manufactured by co-firing, i.e., sintering a ceramic dielectric formulation and a conductive electrode material in an oxidizing atmosphere at a temperature in the range of about 1200.degree. to 1400.degree. C. Firing under these conditions, however, requires an electrode material with high melting point, good oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures, sinterability at the maturing temperature of the dielectric, and minimal tendency to interact with the dielectric at the sintering temperature. These requirements normally limit the choice of electrode materials to the noble metals platinum and palladium or to alloys of platinum, palladium or gold.
The ceramic formulation must sinter to a dense hermetic body at a temperature below the melting point of the conductor co-fired with the ceramic in the multilayer structure, e.g., below about 1150.degree. C. for a 70% Ag/30% Pd alloy and below 1083.degree. C. for Cu. In the case of copper, the structure must also be fired in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to protect the conductors from oxidation during the sintering process. To achieve a dense hermetic structure when sintering at temperatures below 1150.degree. C., fluxes can be added to the ceramic dielectric formulations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,905, for example, describes a manganese doped zinc borate flux, and a low firing ceramic based on barium titanate with a high dielectric constant (K) for use in MLC's with Ag/Pd conductors.
USSR Patent 692,810 describes the presence of 3 to 5 wt % of zinc borate in a barium titanate based ceramic sintered "cake" used to manufacture high frequency capacitors at a low sintering temperature. The capacitors are made by pressure forming and firing at 1020.degree. to 1080.degree. C. in an oxidising atmosphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,062 describes a zinc borate frit used as a sintering aid for a magnesium titanate based ceramic in MLC's with copper conductors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,261 describes a low dielectric constant composition based on silicon dioxide with zinc borate frits used for making multilayer substrates with copper conductors. The substrates can be used for mounting active electronic components such as integrated circuits.
Glass compositions in which zinc borate is a component in admixtures of numerous metal oxides are documented in the prior art, however, coating ceramic particles prior to being sintered to form monolithic electronic components is not revealed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,968 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,971 describe a ceramic dielectric composition capable of being sintered at a sufficiently low temperature to enable the use of a low cost base metal as the electrode material in the fabrication of capacitors. The dielectric composition is made by a ball milling process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,396.
The addition of fluxes to ceramic powders has a tendency to degrade the dielectric properties of the sintered dielectric, e.g., producing a lower K, lower mechanical strength and a higher than desired dissipation factor. Thus, submicron ceramic powders are used to increase sinterability and allow for minimal amounts of fluxing additives. The particle size of the flux should be very small, i.e., smaller than the size of the ceramic powder. For advanced dielectric formulations, the ceramic powder particle size may be substantially below 1 micron, requiring a flux particle size of a few tenths of a micron. In general, it is difficult to prepare powders of the flux composition in which the particle size is significantly below one micron. This is due to the difficulty of milling glassy materials to yield submicron particles and the tendency of such particles to agglomerate into larger particles. Thus, fluxes described in the prior art tend to have a particle size of about one micron or larger. Even if fluxes could be prepared with smaller particle size, it may be impossible to achieve uniform distribution of the flux particles among the particles of the ceramic powder because of a tendency of very fine particles to flocculate in suspensions with polymer and solvent.
The difficulty of achieving a uniform distribution of the flux in low firing dielectric compositions has been overcome by the present invention in which the ceramic particles are coated with flux by special deposition techniques, and the coating methods can be applied generally to a variety of ceramic powders without excessive removal of ions from the surface of the powder particles during the coating process.

Ceramic dielectric compositions and method for improving sinterability


A device for DRAM initialization of a computer system. A detection circuit detects memory condition and outputs a fast initialization signal. A buffer stores initialization parameters of the memory. A memory controller sets the initialization parameters according to memory information, and reads the memory condition to initialize the memory when booting and receiving the fast initialization signal.

The present disclosure relates in general to devices and methods for DRAM initialization. In particular, the present disclosure relates to devices and methods for DRAM initialization according to initialization parameters stored when DRAM are not removed.
Computers generally comprise a CPU, chipsets, a memory controller and buses. CPU processes most operations of the computer. Chipsets support the operation of the CPU. Generally, the chipset comprises controllers for transmission of data between the CPU and other devices. The memory controller is a part of the chipset, establishing data transmission between memory and the CPU. Buses are connected between the CPU, memory, and other I/O devices. The bus determines the operating speed of a main board. In response to different data transmission requirements, different kinds of buses are provided. A memory bus is connected between the memory controller and the memory module.
During boot, memory initialization is performed, comprising setting memory operating frequency and a column address strobe latency (CL).
Conventional technology obtains memory initialization parameters by reading serial presence detect (SPD) codes stored in EEPROM of the memory. Thereby, information required for memory initialization is obtained.
Using double data rate-synchronous DRAM (DDR) as an example, the operating frequency of the DDR can be 400 MHz, 333 MHz and 266 MHz, and column address strobe latency (CL) of the DDR can be 3 clocks, 2.5 clocks and 2 clocks. BIOS can initialize the DDR operating at 400 MHz and 2.5 CL according to SPD.
Boot is delayed by determination of the information required for initialization of memory, performed at each boot. However, when memory is not removed between consecutive boots, determination of the information for memory initialization at subsequent boot is unnecessary since determination is the same.

Methods and devices for DRAM initialization


The present invention relates to RNAi molecules, and compositions thereof, comprising a 2′ internucleoside linkage connecting the nucleotide at position 1 and the nucleotide at position 2 at the 5′ end of the antisense strand. Specifically, the invention relates to single- and double-stranded short interfering nucleic acid (siNA) molecules that are capable of mediating RNA interference comprising 5′ modified nucleotides that comprise, among other potential modifications, a 2′ internucleoside linkage. The invention further relates to 5′ modified nucleotides used as reagents to generate the RNAi molecules of the invention and methods of using the disclosed RNAi molecules.

RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionarily conserved cellular mechanism of post-transcriptional gene silencing found in fungi, plants and animals that uses small RNA molecules to inhibit gene expression in a sequence-specific manner RNAi is controlled by the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) that is initiated by short double-stranded RNA molecules in a cell's cytoplasm. The short double-stranded RNA interacts with Argonaute 2 (Ago2), the catalytic component of RISC, which cleaves target mRNA that is complementary to the bound RNA. One of the two RNA strands, known as the guide strand, binds the Ago2 protein and directs gene silencing, while the other strand, known as the passenger strand, is degraded during RISC activation. See, for example, Zamore and Haley, 2005, Science, 309:1519-1524; Vaughn and Martienssen, 2005, Science, 309:1525-1526; Zamore et al., 2000, Cell, 101:25-33; Bass, 2001, Nature, 411:428-429; and, Elbashir et al., 2001, Nature, 411:494-498. Single-stranded short interfering RNA has also been shown to bind Ago2 and support cleavage activity (see, e.g., Lima et al., 2012, Cell 150:883-894). Importantly, the activity of single-stranded RNAi molecules should not be confused with that of single-stranded antisense RNA that inhibits translation of a complementary RNA in a stoichiometric fashion by base pairing to it, physically obstructing the translation machinery.
The RNAi machinery can be harnessed to destruct any mRNA of a known sequence. This allows for suppression (knock-down) of any gene from which it was generated, consequently preventing the synthesis of the target protein. Modulation of gene expression through an RNAi mechanism can be used to modulate therapeutically relevant biochemical pathways, including ones which are not accessible through traditional small molecule control. RNAi has also become a very important tool for target validation in the pharmaceutical industry.
Chemical modification of nucleotides incorporated into RNAi molecules leads to improved physical and biological properties, such as nuclease stability (see, e.g., Damha et al., 2008, Drug Discovery Today, 13:842-855), reduced immune stimulation (see, e.g., Sioud, 2006, TRENDS in Molecular Medicine, 12:167-176), enhanced binding (see, e.g., Koller, E. et al., 2006, Nucleic Acid Research, 34:4467-4476), and enhanced lipophilic character to improve cellular uptake and delivery to the cytoplasm. Thus, chemical modifications have the potential to increase potency of RNA compounds, allowing lower doses of administration, reducing the potential for toxicity, and decreasing overall cost of therapy.
While the sugar-phosphate backbone of most DNAs and RNAs are comprised of 3′-5′ internucleoside phosphodiester linkages, the physiochemical and biochemical properties of 2′-5′ linked ribonucleotides have been studied. Although not used for biological information storage, 2′-5′ linked oligoribonucleotides support Watson-Crick base pairing and are formed naturally during intron splicing and in interferon treated cells (see, e.g., Jim et al., 1993, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90:10568-10572; Sawai et al., 1996, Biopolymers, 39:173-182; Premraj et al., 2002, Biophysical Chemistry, 95:253-272; Johnston and Torrence (1984) in Interferons: Mechanism of Production and Action, Vol. 3 (Friedman, R. M., Ed.), pp. 189-298, Elsevier, Amsterdam). There has been interest in using 2′-5′ linked oligoribonucleotides in antisense RNA applications as they exhibit the tendency to selectively hybridize with their RNA complements, rather than DNA complements (see, e.g., Hashimoto and Switcher, 1992, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 114:6255-6256; Dougherty et al., 1992, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 114:6265-6255), and display improved resistance toward several types of nucleases (see, e.g., Allul and Hoke, 1995, Antisense Res. Develop., 5:3-11; Kandimalla et al., 1997, Nucl. Acids Res., 25:370-378; Prakash et al., 1999, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 9:2515-2520). However, there has been only limited study of the impact of 2′-5′ linked ribonucleotides within RNAi oligonucleotides on the ability for such 2′-5′ linked oligoribonucleotides to appropriately and efficiently degrade target gene expression through an Ago2-mediated RNAi pathway.
Prakish et al. (2006, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett 16:3238-3240) reported on the activity in mammalian cells of siRNA duplexes that have 2′-5′ linked nucleotides. Results showed that an siRNA duplex comprising a 2′-5′ linked antisense strand and a 3′-5′ linked sense strand was not active in inhibiting mRNA expression, while an siRNA duplex with the reverse composition (i.e., a 3′-5′ linked antisense strand and a 2′-5′ linked sense strand) was active. They concluded that 2′-5′ linkages are tolerated in the sense strand of siRNA duplexes but not in the antisense strand. Since the 5′-end of the antisense strand, in particular, is important for loading siRNA into RISC, positioning nucleation with mRNA and subsequent cleavage, the authors provide that it is likely crucial for the 5′ end of the antisense strand to adopt correct geometry in order to appropriately interact with RISC. They conclude that 2′-5′ internucleoside linkages at the 5′ end of the antisense strand, thus, may not be capable of adopting the proper conformation to support that interaction.
PCT International application serial no. PCT/US2011/033961, published as WO 2011/139699 on Apr. 26, 2011, discloses 5′ modified nucleosides and oligomeric compounds incorporating the modified nucleosides. The 5′ modified nucleosides disclosed are preferably located at the 5′ terminus of an oligonucleotide and have modifications at the 5′ carbon of the sugar moiety of the nucleoside and, optionally, additional modifications at the 2′ carbon. The 5′ modified nucleosides disclosed in PCT/US2011/033961 are linked to an adjacent nucleoside by a traditional 3′-5′ internucleoside linkage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Short interfering nucleic acid (siNA) molecules containing a 2′ internucleoside linkage (3dT)


Silica particles, and methods of making and using silica particles are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the silica particles are hollow, include an outer shell portion having a mesoporous structure, and have a pore volume of at least 4 cm3/g. In some embodiments, the silica particles include an outer shell portion having a mesoporous structure forming a cavity, the silica particles have an average pore diameter of 3 to 100 nm, and at least a portion of the silica particles include one or more core nanoparticles within the cavity. Silica particles as disclosed herein can be useful in a wide variety of applications such as selective separations (e.g., gas separations or purifications) based on structure.

Mesoporous silica nanomaterials find use in a variety of applications such as catalysis, separations, drug delivery, and gas adsorption wherein a large pore volume is advantageous. The pores in these materials are formed based on a surfactant template assembled ahead of silica condensation. The highest pore volumes achieved to date have been synthesized by incorporating pore swelling agents such as decane or N,N-dimethylhexadecylamine (DMHA) with the standard cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant.
Although metal organic frameworks (MOFs) demonstrate the highest reported pore volumes and surface areas to date, they suffer from thermal and hydrothermal instability. In contrast, ceramic materials are particularly well suited for harsh conditions such as high temperature or corrosive environments but have not attained the strikingly high pore volumes and surface areas of MOFs.
The need remains for materials with high pore volumes that are well suited for harsh conditions such as high temperature or corrosive environments.

Porous silica having high pore volume and methods of making and using same


One or more main aircraft fuel tanks are provided with one or more fuel gauges arranged to provide a measure of the amount of fuel in said one or more main fuel tanks. One or more auxiliary fuel tanks are also provided. The aircraft uses fuel during a first phase of fuel consumption, upon commencement of which phase the auxiliary fuel tanks hold fuel. After the first phase said one or more auxiliary fuel tanks are empty and a second phase commences. During the first phase, an indication of the amount of fuel carried by the aircraft is provided by means of summing (i) the amount of fuel in the main fuel tanks as measured by said one or more fuel gauges and (ii) the amount of fuel remaining in said one or more auxiliary fuel tanks as calculated using a measure relating to the fuel consumption rate. During the second phase of fuel consumption, an indication of the amount of fuel carried by the aircraft is provided on the basis of the amount of fuel measured by said one or more fuel gauges.

Aircraft are generally equipped with fuel tanks located in the wings and centre wing box. These main tanks are typically permanently fitted to the aircraft and are of a rigid construction. The main tanks typically comprise the wing and centre wing box tanks. A multiplicity of fuel gauges are fitted to the main tanks such that the quantity of remaining fuel in the main tanks can be accurately determined, which is important in ensuring safe flight operations. A fuel indicator provides a measurement of the fuel remaining in the tanks that is typically accurate to 1%. The system of fuel gauges utilised ensures that a high integrity system is achieved, having a mean time to failure of greater than 1×109 hours.
It is possible to fit auxiliary fuel tanks to aircraft to increase the fuel capacity and therefore increase the range of the aircraft. Such auxiliary fuel tanks may be fitted in the fuselage of the aircraft under the flooring, and are often made of flexible material, such as polyurethane, to enable them to be fitted around the structure of the aircraft without the need to dismantle that structure, thereby allowing fitment and removal as required. Auxiliary fuel tanks typically have a capacity of between about 5% and 50% of the main tank capacity.
When operating with auxiliary tanks it is highly desirable to provide a means for indicating the total fuel available, that is, the sum of the fuel in both the main tanks and the auxiliary tanks. This could be achieved by providing fuel gauges on the auxiliary tanks, but the fitment of fuel gauges to the auxiliary tanks would be costly and would add weight to the tanks. Furthermore, such auxiliary gauges might need to be connected to the fuel monitoring system of the aircraft so that a correct indication of the fuel remaining could be displayed, which would further complicate their fitment. Even if gauges were fitted to flexible auxiliary tanks it would be difficult to obtain an accurate measure of the fuel quantity in such tanks due to the flexible nature of the tank and the complex shapes of the tanks.

Aircraft auxiliary fuel tank system and method


A method for controlling a braking system in a vehicle during a panic braking event includes the steps of determining a magnitude of force applied to the brake pedal, determining a first level of braking that would result from the magnitude of force applied to the brake pedal if there were no panic braking event, and applying a second level of braking equal to the lesser of the following: the maximum braking capacity, and the level of braking that would result from the magnitude of force applied to the brake pedal if there were no panic braking event, multiplied by a predetermined constant.

To enhance an operator's driving experience and a vehicle's performance and safety, various electronic enhancements and systems assist or replicate automotive systems that were previously mechanical in nature. One such automotive system is the brake-by-wire system. In a brake-by-wire system, an operator's activation of the brake pedal is determined by one or more sensors. Data from the sensors is then used by a computer or processor to determine an appropriate braking force to apply to the brakes.
Several different types of brake-by-wire systems exist. For example, in an electro-hydraulic braking system, the computer commands an electro-hydraulic actuator to apply hydraulic pressure to the brake calipers to stop the vehicle. In contrast, in an electromechanical braking system, the braking force is applied instead by an electronic caliper which utilizes a small motor to push the brake pads against the rotor to stop the vehicle. Additionally, vehicles can incorporate combined systems such as electro-mechanical and electro-hydraulic systems. Also, hybrid cars can utilize a combination of friction braking, which can be electromechanical or electro-hydraulic, and regenerative braking, which is also a type of electronic braking in which speed is reduced by converting kinetic energy into electrical energy.
Regardless of the particular type of braking system, an important feature of many braking systems is the ability to be appropriately commanded during panic braking situations. In a panic braking situation, the vehicle operator typically applies force to the brake pedal at a very rapid rate, but not necessarily with a large enough force to decelerate the vehicle fast enough, based on the force alone. A braking control system can apply an appropriate level of braking during such a panic braking event, for example using a panic braking command algorithm. However, panic braking algorithms and systems that provide the driver of the vehicle with an optimal level of control of braking during a panic braking event, and/or do not require a lag time before applying an appropriate increased level of braking, are needed. In the future new government regulations may impose specific requirements for panic braking algorithms and systems. For example, new proposed regulations in the European Community would require that panic braking assist algorithms and systems provide braking torque that is at least double the braking torque that would ordinarily be represented by the driver's brake request during a panic braking event. Accordingly, panic braking algorithms and systems that will meet future governmental regulations also are needed.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved method and system for controlling braking during a panic braking event that provides the driver with more braking control during the panic braking event. It is also desirable to provide a method and system for controlling braking during a panic braking event that decreases or eliminates lag time before applying an increased level of braking. In addition, it is desirable to provide a method and system for controlling braking during a panic braking event that more easily meets future governmental regulations. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will be apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Brake assist driver command for vehicles


A detection device, for placement under or on a mattress, configured for the movements of a person lying on the mattress, includes a sensing portion having an inflatable chamber intended to be positioned under the individual, an electronic unit arranged at a distance from the sensing portion and having a pressure sensor, intended to be positioned outside of the bedding, a transmitting portion interposed between the sensing portion and the electronic unit, including a channel establishing a fluid connection between the inflatable chamber and the sensor, the channel having a transverse dimension (T) that is much smaller than the width (L1) of the chamber.

The most common devices are formed by a thin inflatable chamber, with a pressure sensor arranged within the chamber to measure pressure variations and thereby deduce information on the heart rate and respiration of the individual lying on the bed.
It is known, for example from document US2011306844, to have a generally square or rectangular air-filled chamber with the pressure sensor arranged in a corner of the chamber. External access to the sensor connector from outside the bedding requires the inflatable chamber to occupy the entire width of the bed so that the connection to the sensor is located at the edge of the bed.
However, it has been found that the performance of chambers of such dimensions is suboptimal in terms of accuracy and sensitivity. In addition, the cost and size of such equipment are quite disadvantageous.
There is therefore a need to provide a more streamlined and less cumbersome solution for helping to monitor the sleep of an individual.

Detection device for bedding for sleep monitoring


Provided are a method for configuring an ANR, a terminal device, a base station, and a core network device. The method includes: receiving measurement configuration information sent from a base station; measuring one or more attributes of a neighboring cell and a Cell Global Identifier (CGI) of the neighboring cell, according to the measurement configuration information; and sending a measurement report to the base station, wherein the measurement report is used for indicating the one or more attributes of the neighboring cell and the CGI.

In the Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication systems, an Automatic Neighbor Relationship (ANR) is proposed for neighbor cell optimization. The ANR function requires participation of a network side gateway (Operation And Management, O & M) and a terminal device. The terminal device acquires the neighbor cell information by measurement, and the O & M adds information to a Neighbor Relationship Table (NRT), or updates the NRT.
In LTE systems, the terminal device mainly acquires a Cell Global Identifier (CGI). In related technologies, the neighboring cell of the cell which terminal device dwells on may be an LTE cell, an evolved LTE (eLTE) cell, or a New Radio (NR) cell, the CGI alone cannot meet the current demand for ANR function.

Method for configuring ANR, terminal device, base station, and core network device

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A spam manager (101) receives (201) at least one e-mail (106) addressed to a domain (103). The spam manager (101) performs (203) a signature based analysis of received e-mail (106) to determine whether received e-mail (106) includes at least one signature indicative of spam. Responsive to the spam manager (101) identifying e-mail (106) that does not include at least one signature indicative of spam and to a timeout period not having transpired from a time of receipt of the e-mail (106) by the spam manager (101), the spam manager (101) performs (205) at least one secondary analysis of the identified e-mail (106).

Spam e-mail is a significant and growing nuisance. As used herein, "spam" is any e-mail that is sent to a computer user without the user's consent.
One known method of detecting spam is by performing a signature based analysis of e-mail. Spam e-mail can often be identified with a signature. A signature is some feature that occurs in a specific sample but is unlikely to occur in other samples in a given population. Signature analysis can consider a whole e-mail message at once, specific ranges of bytes within the message, the presence or absence of certain fields anywhere within the message or within certain byte ranges, etc. A signature can be represented as a hash of all, or of certain portions of a message. Statistical methods such as information gain can be used to extract significant features that distinguish one sample population from another.
An example signature might be a specific subject line, such as "Lose Weight While You Sleep!" Another example signature might attempt to catch a whole class of spam messages by looking for the presence of a phone number or URL used in a set of spam messages. Spam senders often change the content or layout of a message, but they usually want the recipient to do something that involves calling a phone number or visiting a particular web page; these items can make for good signature targets. Many other types and examples of signature targets are known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art. Likewise, various possible signature analysis optimizations are known.
Because of the sheer volume of spam and the use of obfuscation techniques, producing antispam signatures can be complex. Sophisticated back-end infrastructures called spam traps that gather spam and automatically analyze the spam to extract good signatures are often used to create a viable, accurate, and up-to-date signature set. Once a spam trap identifies new signatures, the spam trap can provide them to a signature analysis based spam detection system. Because it takes time for a trap manager to identify new signatures and make them available to a spam detection system, there is often a delay before detection systems can effectively detect spam containing these new signatures. Thus, detection systems can either process e-mail upon receipt, without access to the latest signatures, or hold received e-mail for a period of time in order to wait for the receipt of new signatures, thereby causing a processing delay.
Another known methodology for spam detection involves the use of neural networks and similar machine learning techniques (e.g., Bayesian networks, support vector machines). Machine learning systems are sometimes trained to recognize spam and legitimate e-mail. These approaches require that the network be trained against both spam and non-spam. The training steps involve analyzing words that occur in samples and their frequency of occurrence. Words that are common to both sample sets are eliminated, and a list of words common to spam and a list of words common to non-spam is left. Using the word list common to spam and the spam sample set, the network is trained to recognize spam. Similarly, using the word list common to non-spam and the non-spam sample set, the network is trained to recognize non-spam. The result is a network which, given a sample, outputs a number that represents the likelihood of the message being spam. The component is configured to consider samples with a value over a given threshold as spam.
When using neural networks to detect spam, there is always a tradeoff between detection and false positive rates. If the neural network is configured to identify spam aggressively, the neural network will generally incorrectly identify a certain number of legitimate e-mails as spam. On the other hand, if the neural network is configured to minimize false positives, it will typically allow a certain number of false negatives as well.
What is needed are methods, computer readable media and systems that allow spam detection with the accuracy of signature based analysis, without the latency inherent therein, and without the tradeoff between false positives and accuracy inherent in machine learning system detection.

System utilizing updated spam signatures for performing secondary signature-based analysis of a held e-mail to improve spam email detection


A color information processing apparatus includes a mapping section for mapping a designated color that lies outside of the range of a gamut of a printing apparatus to the range of the gamut according to a plurality of mapping techniques, and a display device for simultaneously displaying the designated color and a plurality of colors mapped by the mapping section. For example, the display device simultaneously displays the designated color and colors mapped by the mapping section adjacent to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color information processing apparatus and a recording medium for mapping a designated color to the gamut of a printing apparatus in the event that the designated color lies outside of the gamut.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a technology has existed for mapping a designated color, which is designated by the user, to the gamut of a printing apparatus by analyzing preferences of the user, in the event that the designated color lies outside the range of the gamut (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-084932).
According to the technology disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent publication No. 2005-084932, although the designated color can be mapped to the range of the gamut, the designated color is mapped only in one pattern, because such mapping is performed by analyzing preferences of the user. If a plurality of mapping processes are carried out, then since it is not easy to compare the mapping processes as to how color reproduction of the mapping processes is changed, it is necessary to repeat the mapping processes a number of times until the most suitable mapping process is selected.

Color information processing apparatus and recording medium


Exemplary method, system, and computer program product embodiments for cryptographic erasure of selected encrypted data are provided. In one embodiment, by way of example only, data files are configured with a derived key. The derived keys adapted to be individually shredded in a subsequent erasure operation. The derived key allows for cryptographic erasure of the selected encrypted data in the data files without necessitating at least one of removal and rewrite of retained data. Additional system and computer program product embodiments are disclosed and provide related advantages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computers, and more particularly, to cryptographic erasure of selected encrypted data in a computing environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's society, computer systems are commonplace. Computer systems may be found in the workplace, at home, or at school. Computer systems may include data storage systems, or disk storage systems, to process and store data. In recent years, both software and hardware technologies have experienced amazing advancement. With the new technology, more and more functions are added and greater convenience is provided for use with these computer systems. Historically, data has been stored on local storage devices, such as tape drives, hard disk drives (HDDs), and removable media such as compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs). With increasing demand for faster, more powerful and more efficient ways to store and retrieve information, encryption and complete erasure of selected data within the various storage system of the computing environment is becoming a key challenge for many computer systems.

Cryptographic erasure of selected encrypted data


An apparatus for automatically pivoting a first member relative to a second member comprises a housing connectable to the second member; a shaft connectable to the first member and juxtaposed to rotate about its axis within the housing between a rest position and an open position, the shaft having first and second rates of rotation in a closing direction from the open to the rest position; a torsion spring assembly connected between the housing and the shaft; a dampening assembly connected between the housing and the shaft for exerting a dampening torque upon the shaft during at least one direction of rotation of the shaft relative to the housing; a time delay assembly connected between the housing and the shaft for variably exerting a braking torque on the shaft; a shift assembly connected between the housing and the shaft and operable to enable and disable the time delay assembly; and, a clutch assembly for engaging the shaft with the dampening assembly and the time delay assembly when torque is applied to rotate the shaft in the closing direction.

A common complaint associated with free-swinging toilet seats and lids is that one or both is left in the up or open position after use. During the nighttime, the subsequent user, who may be half-asleep and may disregard turning on the lights, is usually startled by sitting directly on or within the rim of the toilet bowl. Some also suggest that proper bathroom etiquette requires that both the lid and the seat be left down or closed when the commode is not in use so that the inside of the bowl is not readily accessible to the curious young child or family dog or cat.
Several solutions to this problem have been developed such as the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,372 which automatically closes the toilet lid after use. There, a simple leaf spring interposed between the toilet seat and its lid ensures that the seat will stay down unless held up by manually lifting it against the reactive force of the spring. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,743,079, a device uses a spring-loaded plunger to automatically close the lid or the lid and the seat unless someone is sitting on the seat, which action temporarily allows the lid to stay open until the weight is removed from the seat. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,134,755, a device is disclosed which uses a weighted, pivotally mounted rocker arm to automatically close a toilet lid unless held open. The rocker arm may be temporarily disabled from closing the lid by sitting on the seat. Another device, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,830,361, prevents the toilet lid from being pivoted to a stable, upright position unless the lid is pushed back far enough, against the bias of a spring, to shift the toilet seat forward. When someone sits on the forward-shifted seat, the lid will remain in the upright position. Upon removing the weight from the seat, a spring system pulls the seat and hinge of the lid rearwardly and past a gravitationally stable position allowing it to slam shut. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 452,684 and 2,104,947. devices are shown wherein the toilet lid may be pivoted all the way back to a cocked or loaded position which holds the lid open and wherein the toilet seat is pivoted slightly upwards. Upon sitting on the seat, the respective mechanism is advanced to an intermediate stage. When weight is next removed from the seat, the device is triggered from the intermediate stage to automatically pivot the lid closed with the aid of gravity, the '947 device providing a friction disk member for slowing the descent of the lid.
While these devices seem to solve the problem of closing a toilet lid and/or seat after use, they create a number of new problems. Some of the above-described mechanisms will inherently not allow the toilet seat to be raised. Some, while allowing both the seat and the lid to be raised in order to use the facility as a urinal, must be manually held in the upright position during use. And a problem with nearly all of these devices is that the lid is automatically caused to close immediately after weight is removed from the toilet seat. A person, especially one who is disable or handicapped, could be struck by the falling lid if he or she cannot rise quickly enough from the seat.
What is needed is a device which automatically closes the toilet lid and/or seat safely and economically and without substantially inhibiting the normal operation of the standard free-swinging toilet lid and/or seat.
Just as the toilet lid or seat is lifted and left up despite the desire it be closed after use, other hingedly mounted objects are often left open when it is desired that they be closed. Examples of such structures include garden and back yard gates, kitchen cabinet doors, and closet doors. Each of these doors and gates, as well as an endless variety of other hingedly connected objects, are frequently opened or pivoted, and then left in the open or pivoted position after use, much to the dismay of the owner, allowing ingress or egress of pets, people, dust, bugs or other unwanted items. The same device that satisfies the aforedescribed need to automatically close the toilet lid and/or seat, safely and economically and without substantially inhibiting the normal operation of the standard free-swinging toilet lid and/or seat would similarly benefit a wide variety of other hingedly or pivotally mounted objects that may be pivoted from a first rest position to a second position and that are desired to be returned to the rest position after a predetermined time.

Apparatus and method for automatically pivoting a first member relative to a second member


A rotary variable resistor includes an insulating substrate, a resistor pattern and a current collector pattern that are provided on the insulating substrate, a rotor that is mounted on the insulating substrate in a rotatable manner, and a slider that is mounted on the rotor and makes sliding contact with the resistor pattern and the current collector pattern to cause the resistor pattern and the current collector pattern to be conducted to each other. When a maximum dimension of the resistor pattern, which defines a variable resistor, is Z [mm] and electric linearity is L [%], Z≦4.0 and Z×L<10 are satisfied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary variable resistor and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-170403 discloses an existing rotary variable resistor. The rotary variable resistor includes a resin film, a resistor pattern and a current collector pattern that are provided on the resin film, and a slider that makes sliding contact with the resistor pattern and the current collector pattern. The resistor pattern and the current collector pattern are printed onto the resin film.
The above-described existing rotary variable resistor has a risk that reduction in size thereof causes electric linearity to be deteriorated. A reason for this is that the reduction in size reduces the resistor pattern in size to increase influence by variation in a film thickness of the resistor pattern, resulting in deterioration in the electric linearity. In particular, it has been discovered by the inventors of the present application that the deterioration in the electric linearity becomes significant when the resistor pattern is formed by printing.

Rotary variable resistor and method for manufacturing the same