A system and method for storing identifying information and telephone numbers associated with individuals, and cross-referencing said information so as to link a first individual to other referee individuals capable of identifying the first individual as a result of a telephone conversation. When a relying party wishes to confirm the identity of a contracting party, the system is contacted and, using identifying information pertaining to said contracting party, identifies the set of referee individuals capable of identifying said contracting party, contacts a referee selected at random from the set, and places the contracting party in telephonic communication with the referee. At the conclusion of said telephonic communication, said system invites the referee to state the name of the first individual; by comparing the voice sample with a stored voice sample, the apparatus then provides identity confirmation to said relying party.

Although the anonymity surrounding Internet transactions has drawn increased attention to the problem of identity fraud, its scope is by no means limited to this area: indeed, its history long pre-dates the world of electronic communications. Identity fraud, also known as identity theft, occurs, for example, when a malefactor fraudulently assumes the identity of a victim in order to secure a dishonest advantage. It may involve assumption of the identity of an innocent living person, a dead person, or even (when the intention is to conceal true identity) a wholly fictitious person. One well-established ploy is to use false or stolen documents. With the advent of electronic communications, the production of forged devices (e.g., cards) or misappropriated information (e.g., passwords) will serve the same end.
Identity fraud presupposes a situation in which the parties to a transaction do not know one another, and one party (the "relying party") seeks to verify the identity of the other. To date, solutions to the problem have followed three main routes.
The first solution involves the production of identifying evidence. Examples of such evidence are birth certificate, bank statements, utility bills and similar documents. Their evidential weight relies on the fact that it is generally difficult to assemble a collection of such evidence unless it is already legitimately in the individual's possession. However, an impostor may obtain such evidence by means such as theft and forgery.
The second solution involves what we might call "certification." According to this model, the individual acquires a certificate of identity by applying to an authority with evidence of his identity. The authority checks the evidence and, if satisfied, issues a certificate. One time-honoured example of this approach has been the issuance of passports. In this case, the certificate is the passport. In order to acquire a passport, the applicant has to obtain photographs and present them in person to a reputable member of the community (the authority in this case) who either knows the applicant or who is able to assess the veracity of evidence produced by him. If satisfied, the authority signs the photographs. Trusting the authority, the passport office then issues the certificate bearing one of the photographs.
The second solution may be seen as a special case of the first. The evidence appears stronger, because the evidence has been subjected to impartial scrutiny by a trusted authority; and typically the certificate is more closely bound to the certified individual, by means of a handwritten signature, a photograph, a secret PIN or similar means.
The third solution, which we will refer to as the "coherence" solution, is a relatively recent development. Here, identifying information volunteered by the individual is compared with a number of large databases containing identifying information. This approach, which is proposed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,287 to Ellingson and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20050165667 to Cox, relies upon the fact that in modern times, individuals interact with many institutions that build up records of identifying information. Credit records, health records, the electoral register, census returns and other large databases provide a wealth of collateral information that can be used to check identity.
All three approaches have significant drawbacks. In the case of the first and second approaches, as has already been mentioned, theft and forgery are all too possible. In addition, they both impose upon the individual the burden of carrying proofs of identity. In the third approach, it is possible for the malefactor to obtain access to databases of identifying information and so make a convincing, though fraudulent, claim. This is particularly a problem where "insiders" are party to fraud, for example call centre staff or bank employees (see, e.g. Data Security Chief arrested for Account Hacking at http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=14133).
The weakness that all three solutions have in common is that they tend to concentrate risk by seeking impersonal guarantors of identity—documents, certificates or a plurality of databases. To put it simply, they rely upon touchstones or criteria of identity that are all too easily identifiable by the impostor, who can therefore direct his resources to counterfeiting similar touchstones or satisfying the criteria. They may make it difficult, but the impostor knows exactly what he must do in order to circumvent the safeguards.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for verification of personal identity


An inverter that supplies a desired primary voltage (v1) to an induction motor, a current detector that detects a primary current (i1) from the inverter to the induction motor, a voltage designation value calculating unit that generates a voltage designation value (v1*) for generating the voltage v1, an idling-time speed estimating unit that calculates an estimate value (ωr#) of the rotation speed when the induction motor is idling, and a sequence circuit that commands the operations of these units are provided. The idling-time speed estimating unit switches a method for deriving the estimate value on the basis of a current value in the case where a short circuit is generated between windings when the induction motor is idling.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for controlling an AC motor in which variable-speed control of the AC motor is carried out while power is supplied to the AC motor from a variable-voltage variable-frequency inverter, and particularly to a method for deriving a rotation speed estimate value at the time of idling of the motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the methods disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3,636,340 and JP-A-11-346500 (equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,860, which is hereby incorporated by reference) have become known as methods for controlling an AC motor when restarting in a state where a variable-voltage variable-frequency inverter that drives an AC motor (hereinafter simply referred to as inverter) is stopped and the AC motor is idling, for example, when restarting after recovery from a momentary service interruption of a commercial power source or the like that is an input power source of the inverter.
In the control method in which, when the AC motor is idling, at least one of the semiconductor switching devices forming a main circuit of the inverter is turned on and off to generate a short circuit between windings of the motor, and an estimate value of the rotation speed of the motor is calculated from a winding current value flowing at the time, for example, in the control method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3,636,340, an induced voltage of the AC motor at the time is used. Therefore, this method can be applied to a synchronous motor having a permanent magnetic field or an induction motor in which a residual voltage exists, but it cannot be applied to an induction motor in which a residual voltage is attenuated.
In the control method in which, when the AC motor is idling, an estimate value of the rotation speed of the motor is calculated from a voltage or current supplied from the inverter to the motor, for example, in the control method disclosed in JP-A-11-346500 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,860), if a residual voltage exists in the induction motor at the time, it affects the calculation of the rotation speed estimate value. Therefore, the calculation must be carried out after the residual voltage is sufficiently attenuated.

Fuji Electric FA Components & Systems Co., Ltd.


Systems and methods are disclosed herein to automatically replicate virtual machine image (VM) files on secondary VM computing devices, from a primary VM computing device. The secondary VM computing devices are automatically selected by constantly reviewing the operating parameter values (e.g., cost of resources, power consumption, etc.) of a number of secondary VM computing devices available of storing VM image replicas. The replica of the primary VM image is stored in the secondary VM computing devices in geographically disparate cloud locations. The primary VM image is automatically broken into constituent data blocks stored in an active index, which is compared against a stale index of data blocks. When an update is detected in the primary VM image, the comparison of indices will indicate that there is new data. Only the new data is used to update the secondary VM images, thereby reducing network traffic and latency issues.

A virtual machine (VM) is a software platform capable of replicating a computing device with full operating system (OS) and applications functions. The VM is generally installed on a target machine that functions as the host by contributing physical resources like memory, and processing capabilities. A remote device uses client VM software to connect to the remote device and view the VM operating on the target machine. As a result, a virtual machine provides a remote computing device user with a complete software based computing platform separate from the remote computing device on which the software runs. The level of separation between the VM software and the hardware on which it runs establishes the type of virtual machine with the primary types being a system virtual machine and an application virtual machine. A system virtual machine type allows a remote user of the VM to access some of the physical hardware devices on which the VM executes. In contrast, the application VM functions as a stand-alone application platform over which other software applications are implemented. The purpose of the application VM is to enable different operating systems with different file structures to function within an existing native operating system.
The virtual machine data, operations, and functions are assigned to a virtual machine image file in the native memory of a target machine. Remote devices having client VM software installed within the device access the virtual machine image remotely. The image file renders in the client VM software on the remote device as an OS with its overlying applications and data displayed for the user of the remote machine. Any changes made the application, data, or OS is saved to the virtual machine image on the target machine. The VM can be scheduled for execution at geographically disparate cloud locations. However, storing a virtual machine image across networks from one location to another is complicated by the size of the data and the number of users connected to the virtual machine image.
One conventional VM method enabled a share repository of the virtual machine image to be accessible by both the current or primary target machine and a secondary target machine for backup. This required both the primary target machine and a secondary target machine to be on the same sub-net (or within the same local network) for effective results without significant lag. Further, it is difficult to identify remote sites to store replicas of the virtual machine image during a 'live' or in-use session. Problems associated with network latency, long-term and short-term costs of chosen remote sites are some of the issues associated with choosing remote sites for replicating virtual machine image data.

Automatic replication of virtual machines


A method includes forming a seed layer on a semiconductor wafer, coating a photo resist on the seed layer, performing a photo lithography process to expose the photo resist, and developing the photo resist to form an opening in the photo resist. The seed layer is exposed, and the opening includes a first opening of a metal pad and a second opening of a metal line connected to the first opening. At a joining point of the first opening and the second opening, a third opening of a metal patch is formed, so that all angles of the opening and adjacent to the first opening are greater than 90 degrees. The method further includes plating the metal pad, the metal line, and the metal patch in the opening in the photo resist, removing the photo resist, and etching the seed layer to leave the metal pad, the metal line and the metal patch.

Integrated circuits include various types of features for interconnection purpose. For example, metal pads are commonly used for upper-level features such as contact plugs, vias, etc. landing thereon. The Metal pads may be connected to metal lines, which are much narrower than the metal pads. The metal lines may be used for electrically routing electrical signals, voltages, currents, and so on to and from the metal pads. Due to the large size of the metal pads and the small widths of the metal lines, reliability issues may arise. For example, there may be cracks occurring at the interface between the metal lines and the metal pads. Also, the dielectric layers adjacent to the metal pads may also crack due to the stress applied by the metal pads.

Integrated circuit features with obtuse angles and method of forming same

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.


A thermoplastic molding composition comprising polycarbonate resin and additive, positive, amounts of stabilizer and salt is disclosed. The composition is characterized by its freedom from splay and by its improved flame retardance. The stabilizer of the invention is a physical mixture of poly(alkyl methacrylate) with fluorinated polyolefin, and the salt is an alkali metal or alkaline earth metal salt of perfluoroalkane sulfonic acid, aromatic sulfimide, or aromatic sulfonic acid.

Since the issuance of U.S. Pat. No. 3,028,365 in April of 1962, aromatic polycarbonate has become well known and accepted as a thermoplastic resin suitable for a wide variety of uses including injection molding, extrusion and film formation. The chemistry, synthesis, properties and applications of these polycarbonates are extensively discussed in Chemistry and Physics of Polycarbonates by Schnell, Interscience, 1964 and Polycarbonates by Christopher and Fox, Reinhold, 1962.
Although polycarbonates have some inherent flame resistance, being self-extinguishing, ever more demanding flame retardancy requirements have spawned numerous attempts to increase this property. Two general approaches have been followed.
One approach has been to add substantial amounts of halogen, particularly bromine or chlorine, to polycarbonate compositions. The halogen can be carried by polycarbonate polymer chains as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,751,400 and 3,334,154 or by a monomeric compound as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,382,207. However, the presence of substantial amounts of halogen has been found to be detrimental to the properties of the polycarbonate and numerous additives such as those proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,647,747 and 3,733,295 have been proposed to overcome these detrimental effects.
Flame retardant polycarbonate compositions containing polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,935 discloses such compositions which also include certain salts. U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,871 discloses a process for producing molding compositions containing PTFE and a thermoplastic polymer entailing blending the thermoplastic polymer with a latex of the PTFE to produce a dispersed, substantially homogeneous mixture of the PTFE and a thermoplastic polymer and recovering the composition by removing the volatiles therefrom. Among the polymers polycarbonates are listed at col. 3, lines 6-8. The disclosed compositions are said to offer advantages in terms of impact strength, melt index, coefficient of friction, low water permeability and increased HDT.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,005,795 discloses compositions containing PTFE resin in a form of finely divided microfibrous and submicrofibrous particles. Polycarbonates are disclosed at col. 3, lines 18-19 as suitable matrix. Improved moldability of PTFE resins is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,412 to result upon adding thereto of 10 to 40% of polycarbonates.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,723,373 discloses adding PTFE emulsion to polyethylene terephthalate for improved processability. French Patent No. 1,412,767 addresses problems associated with the moldability of PTFE.
Lontz et al in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol.44, No. 8 (1952) at page 1800 describes the general dispersion properties in film forming characteristics of PTFE. Coagulation of the dispersion by the addition of electrolytes or other solvents or by other means is also disclosed.
German published specification DE-OS 33 22 260 discloses PTFE co-precipitated with ABS and added to polycarbonate. Related technologies are disclosed in EP-OS 0,154,138 which disclosed a system entailing ABS and PTFE, DE-OS 34 17 476 which discloses the system of polyamides and PTFE and DE-OS 34 18 750 which concerns the system of ABS co-precipitated with PTFE. Also of relevance are DE-OS 34 20 002, DE-OS 34 22 862, DE-OS 35 12 638 (equivalent to EP-OS 0,174,493), DE-OS 29,48 439 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,489.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,455 discloses the incorporation of Teflon.RTM. in elastomeric hydrocarbons by dissolving the elastomeric polymer in a solvent and incorporating the PTFE to form a suspension and subsequently co-precipitating both by mixing the suspension with a non-solvent. The co-precipitate is said to exhibit improved physical properties.
Also relevant in the present context is U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,994 which disclosed flame retardant polycarbonate compositions containing a co-precipitate of polycarbonate and fluoropolymer. Also relevant is EP 899 303 for its disclosure of a flame retardant polycarbonate composition which contains fluoropolymer resin particles that are encapsulated by thermoplastic SAN copolymer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,493 is noted here for its disclosure of a method of dispersing additives such as PTFE in a thermoplastic polymer and the use of the product of the inventive method in preparing molding compositions.


A suspension for a cab of an over the highway truck or tractor. The suspension includes a pair of spaced apart springs and a pair of spaced apart motion dampers interposed between and connected to the cab and a frame of the truck or tractor. A third spring is mounted to one of the frame or the cab. A panhard rod has a first end connected to the third spring. A second end of the panhard rod is connected to one of the frame or cab that does not mount the third spring. The third spring biases the cab to a centered position relative to the frame.

The present invention relates generally to a cab suspension for an over-the-highway truck or tractor vehicle. In particular, the present invention relates to a laterally damped panhard rod cab suspension.
Over-the-highway truck or tractor vehicles include a frame for supporting an operator""s cab. The frame is typically supported by load springs extending between the frame and the axles of the vehicle. Due to the relatively large load that such a vehicle transports, the load springs have a relatively high spring rate. Thus, any uneven road surface that the vehicle is operating over or any imbalance or untrueness of the tire and wheel assemblies of the vehicle results in a shock or vibration that is transmitted to the operator""s cab.
Cab suspensions have been developed which include cab springs and dampers located between the vehicle frame and operator""s cab to minimize transmission of such shock and vibration to the cab. On most conventional heavy trucks, the rear suspension includes air or coil springs and vertical shock absorbers to support the mass of the cab and dampen vertical shock. Existing cab suspensions use a panhard rod or lateral shock absorbers to control lateral movement of the cab with respect to the frame.
Panhard rods are used heavy trucks that have day cabs. Sleeper cabs are typically heavier than day cabs. As a result, use of a panhard rod in a sleeper cab suspension may not result in an acceptable level of comfort for the driver and passenger due to the greater mass of the sleeper cab trying to laterally move.
Lateral shocks are used in sleeper cabs to soften the lateral inputs into the cab. The lateral shock absorbers are mounted to the cab and frame with brackets. The lateral shocks and mounting brackets are heavier and more expensive than a panhard rod.
There is a need for a cab suspension for heavy trucks that includes a laterally damped panhard rod.
The present invention concerns a laterally damped panhard rod for use in a cab suspension of an over the highway truck or tractor. The laterally damped panhard rod assembly includes a torsion spring and a panhard rod. The torsion spring is connected to a frame of the vehicle or the cab. A first end of the panhard rod is connected to the torsion spring. The second end of the panhard rod is connected to the vehicle frame or cab that does not mount the torsion spring. The panhard rod and torsion spring assembly biases the cab toward a centered position relative to the frame and damps lateral movement of the cab with respect to the frame.
In one embodiment, the panhard rod and torsion spring assembly is used in a suspension for a cab of an over the highway truck or tractor having a frame. The frame includes a pair of spaced apart frame rails and a transverse member that interconnects the rails. The suspension includes first and second spaced apart springs that are interposed between and connected to the cab and to the transverse member for modulating relative motion of the cab with respect to the frame. A pair of spaced apart motion dampers are interposed between and connected to the cab and transverse frame member. The motion dampers interconnect the cab and the frame to damp relative cab and frame movement both toward and away from one another. The torsion spring is connected to the transverse member of the frame or the cab. The first end of the panhard rod is connected to the torsion spring. The second end of the panhard rod is connected to the other of the transverse member of the frame and the cab. In one embodiment, the suspension that includes a panhard rod and torsion spring assembly is used in a suspension of a sleeper cab.
When installed in a cab suspension of an over the highway truck or tractor, the panhard rod and torsion spring biases the cab toward a centered position relative to the frame. The panhard rod and torsion spring assembly maintains the cab in the centered position when inputs to the frame are below a threshold value. The torsion spring allows lateral movement of the cab from the centered position when inputs to the frame exceed the threshold value. The torsion spring damps relative lateral movement between the cab and the frame.
Additional features of the invention will become apparent and a fuller understanding will be obtained by reading the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Laterally damped panhard rod cab suspension


A two-part semi-buoyant fishing lure that through select design and materials solves the problem of controlling and maintaining the placement of the lure without the usual complicated rig system accompaniment. The balance of weight that enables an angler to place and keep the lure in the top three feet of water, where it will be most attractive to top water fish, is derived from the combination of a buoyant head and a solid soft body. If pull is maintained, it will stay in the area three feet or less from the surface. The shape of the head allows for a true straight pull. It also looks like live bait and behaves in a manner attractive to top water fish, including popular sport fish. Further, a kink in the shank holds the head on and prevents its rotation relative to the body portion of the lure during use.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of fishing lures, specifically to a two-part semi-buoyant fishing lure that through select design and material solves the problems of controlling and maintaining the placement of the lure without the usual complicated rig system accompaniment. The balance of weight that enables an angler to place and keep the present invention lure in the top three feet of water, where it will be most attractive to top water fish, is derived from the combination of a buoyant head and a solid soft body. If pull is maintained, the present invention fishing lure will stay in the area three feet or less from the surface. It also looks like live bait and behaves in a manner attractive to top water fish, including popular sport fish. Further, a kink in the present invention shank holds the head on and prevents its rotation relative to the body portion of the lure during use.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many two-part lures available addressing many angles of fishing. No prior art lure is known that is able to pull depth of less than three feet, also looks like live bait, and behaves in a manner attractive to top water fish.
There are several lures similar in appearance to the present invention, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,220 to Blicha (1996). However, the Blicha invention focuses on the make-up of the lead-head covering, which is made to sink rapidly and is therefore directly contrary to the targeted behavior of the present invention fishing lure, which won't sink if pull is maintained. Also, the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,565 to Duncan (2002) closely resembles the present invention fishing lure in appearance. However, the Duncam lure is designed to look and perform in a substantially different manner. It uses a duct in the head to force specific performance while it is being trolled. Further, the Duncan lure is distinctly different from the present invention in its pattern of movement, which is the result of the relationship between the head and the tail sections. In addition, the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,978 to Huddleston (1998) addresses bait movement with a complicated cut out system. The head of this bait is not buoyant, as is the present invention head, and the performance of the Huddleston bait is dictated by its cutouts. The placement and maintenance of placement relative to a water surface is entirely secondary to the shape and use of the Huddleston and Duncan lures. Further, while the present invention lure is a shallow fishing lure, it is not a top water lure. The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,772 to Duncan (1983) is a top water lure, which can be added to and decorated as the fisherman desires. In contrast, the present invention lure has two parts which are specific and necessary to the other, and it requires no appurtenances. Also, while the fishing lure in U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,790 to Rigney (1995) addresses the problem of slow sinking, it does so in a manner and with an appearance entirely difference from the present invention. The Rigney invention uses a sponge-like material for the body to compensate for the density of water. Further, its shape is that of a crawfish used in fresh water fishing. In contrast, the present invention can be used to attract both fresh water and salt water fish. Also in contrast to the present invention, the Rigney lure also has a common lead head jig head, which is made to sink.


A control method for coupling a first engine to a second engine in a vehicle includes determining a current position of a throttle body that regulates power output from the first and second engines. Determining a set speed for the first and second engines that corresponds to a desired power output from the first and second engines. Determining a compensation position for the throttle body and moving the throttle body to the compensation position. Actuating a clutch to a closed position such that the first engine is coupled to the second engine. Determining whether the first engine and the second engine are in phase. Actuating the clutch to slip if the first engine is not in phase with the second engine and actuating the clutch to the closed position when the first engine and the second engine are in phase.

Internal combustion engines have been used for many years for providing motive power for driving a vehicle. Most vehicles on the road today are provided with either a four, six, or eight cylinder engine which is selected based upon the typical torque demand requirements for the individual type vehicle being designed. For example, four cylinder engines are typically used for commuter vehicles which are compact and typically have low load requirements and limited performance expectations. Six cylinder and eight cylinder engines are typically employed in larger vehicles wherein larger load carrying capacity and higher performance are expected. Some of the existing vehicle designs have suffered from low fuel efficiency due to the fact that the internal combustion engine for the vehicle has to be designed with a sufficient capacity to meet the high torque demands that are only occasionally required.
The dual crankshaft engine of the present invention overcomes these deficiencies by providing a powertrain system that includes a dual crankshaft engine with one of the engine portions being independently operable for providing driving torque to a transmission while the second engine portion can be utilized to supplement the driving torque of the first engine portion to meet higher torque demand requirements. Operation of the dual crankshaft engine is provided such that during normal driving at constant speeds and typical driving loads, the first engine portion is utilized for providing driving torque to the wheels of the vehicle. During periods of operation where increased levels of torque are required, such as during acceleration, pulling a heavy load, or climbing a hill, the second engine portion is operated in conjunction with the first engine portion for meeting the higher torque demand requirements. A coupling arrangement is provided for connecting the first and second crankshafts for starting the second engine portion and also for engaging the first and second crankshafts together in phase with one another. In order to effectively control this dual crankshaft engine, a control strategy is provided that efficiently and effectively determines when and how to couple the second engine to the first engine.

Control strategy for a dual crankshaft engine coupling arrangement


Disclosed are hafnium- or zirconium-containing compounds. The compounds may be used to deposit hafnium- or zirconium-containing layers using vapor deposition methods such as chemical vapor deposition or atomic layer deposition. The hafnium- or zirconium-containing compounds include a ligand at least one aliphatic group as substituents selected to have greater degrees of freedom than the substituents disclosed in the prior art.

Silicon dioxide (SiO2) was a reliable dielectric at the beginning of the semiconductor industry. As devices have continued to shrink and the technology has moved from "Full Si" transistor to "Metal Gate/High-k" in the case of transistors, the reliability of the SiO2-based gate dielectric is reaching its physical limits. One solution is to use other materials, such as hafnium-based or zirconium-based metal oxides for gate dielectrics. High-k materials (so-called because of their high dielectric constant) are becoming a material of choice since they can be made much thicker than SiO2 while achieving the same gate capacitance.
Singh et al. (US Pat. App. Pub. No. 2007/0259111A1) describes forming hafnium oxide films using chlorinated hafnium precursors such as HfCl2(tBuCp)2, HfCl2Cp2, HfCl2(EtCp)2, HfCl2(MeCp)2, HfCl3(Me5Cp), HfCl2(iPrCp)2 and HfCl3(iPrCp).
Itsuki et al. (JP200509766A) describes the use of HfCl3Cp for deposition of Hf-containing films by MOCVD; respectively Kim et al. (KR2007121281A) described the synthesis method or ZrCl3Cp as a precursor for deposition methods.
Other sources and methods of incorporating such materials are being sought for new generations of integrated circuit devices.

Methods of making and deposition methods using hafnium- or zirconium-containing compounds


A method for using void pantographs involves generating a test sheet including multiple void pantographs, where each of the multiple void pantographs includes a pantograph foreground and a pantograph background. The test sheet is printed, and from the printed test sheet, at least one of the multiple void pantographs having a covert or semi-covert pantograph foreground and background is identified. The printed test sheet is scanned, and from the scanned test sheet, at least one of the multiple void pantographs having an overt pantograph foreground is identified. A workflow is developed for the at least one of the multiple void pantographs having both i) the covert or semi-covert pantograph foreground and background after printing, and ii) the overt pantograph foreground after scanning.

The present disclosure relates generally to a method for using void pantographs.
Void pantographs are used to create copy-evident backgrounds for a variety of security documents. Some prominent examples of void pantographs are those that are used as backgrounds for checks, which, for example, display "VOID" or "COPY" on the reproduced image. Void pantographs may be used for packaging, labels, documents, or the like. In general, pantograph approaches may be used to hide in plain sight a variety of other information that can be read and acted upon.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel and a display device are provided. The OLED display panel includes first pixel units and second pixel units that are arranged symmetrically-mirrored to each other. A longitudinal direction of pixel electrode of each pixel unit is parallel to a longitudinal direction of the OLED display panel. Blue sub-pixels of each pixel unit are individually arranged in a row, and red sub-pixels and green sub-pixels are arranged together in another row, so as to alleviate technical problems where a pixel arrangement of traditional hybrid arrangement OLED panels restricts printing method.

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays have gradually become high-end displays, replacing liquid crystal displays due to their advantages of ultra-high contrast ratio, wide color gamut, fast response times, and active light emission. As OLED displays and OLED TVs continue to increase in size, the size of their corresponding mass-produced glass substrates increase as well. In order to maximize a glass utilization rate, it is necessary to prepare OLED products of different sizes on a same glass substrate using a hybrid arrangement technique, that is, a multi model group (MMG). A traditional hybrid arrangement of OLED panels and pixel arrangement is shown in FIG. 1. Different sizes of OLED panels in 65″ and 55″ are arranged perpendicular to each other on a same glass substrate 800. Since the pixel arrangement of the OLED panels is that a longitudinal direction of sub-pixels is parallel to a short side direction of the panels, the longitudinal direction of the sub-pixels red (R)/green (G)/blue (B) is shown as an arrow direction in FIG. 1. As a result, pixel arrangement directions of different sizes of the two OLED panels are perpendicular to each other. A commonly used method for printing OLED luminescent materials is to print an entire strip of a same color sub-pixels in a same bank region, that is, a line-bank printing method. As shown in FIG. 1, the sub-pixels R/G/B are respectively printed as an entire strip. Therefore, the traditional hybrid arrangement of the OLED panels and the pixel arrangement limits the line-bank printing method: after printing the OLED panels of one product, the glass substrate is rotated 90° before printing the OLED panels of the other product. This leads to an increase in equipment cost and an increase in production time, which is detrimental to mass production. In the meantime, in high pixel density (pixels per inch, PPI) panel designs, due to a poor luminous efficiency of the sub-pixels B, a higher aperture ratio is required, which further cuts down an aperture ratio of the sub-pixels G and the sub-pixels R, which cannot even meet a minimum width H requirement for printing, as shown in FIG. 2.
Therefore, a problem of the traditional hybrid arrangement of the OLED panels and the pixel arrangement that restricts the printing method and needs to be solved.

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd


Systems and methods for continuous secure single sign on for secure access services. A user device stores a first authentication factor associated with a user for authorizing access. An authentication server receives an authentication request by the user to a secure access service and establishes a secure communication channel between the authentication server and the user device. The user device performs a user authentication according to a second authentication factor, generates an authentication response indicating the first authentication factor and confirming the authentication, the authentication response and transmits the response to the authentication server via the secure communication channel. The authentication server grants access to the secure access service based on the authentication response, repeatedly determines whether the secure communication channel is maintained while the user accesses the secure access service, and permits access to the secure access service by the user while the secure communication channel is maintained.

Users typically employ one or more credentials to securely access a computing service. As the number of computing services increases, there is generally an increase in the number of different credentials maintained by the user to secure their resources on these computing services. Due to the difficulty of remembering different credentials (which may include sets of credentials), users tend to choose weak credential(s) or use the same credential(s) across multiple computing services. As a result, attackers typically target user credentials in order to gain unauthorized access to the user's resources. Current security solutions, such as conventional password managers and conventional single sign on (SSO) procedures, may attempt to solve this problem, but have limitations.
For example, conventional password managers may use a master password to protect all of the user's credentials. This brings the risk of a single point of failure, as the compromise of the master password means that all of the user credentials are made available to the attacker.
Conventional single sign on procedures rely on authenticating the user once, and then using an access token (ticket) to grant the user access to other services. The access token grants the user access to computing services within a defined validity period or time frame. Additionally, conventional SSO procedures may also offer password manager functionality. However, conventional SSO procedures have the same single point of failure problem. This is because once the first authentication is successfully compromised, all subsequent authentications to the other services cannot detect and/or have no means of checking the authenticity and the provenance of the credentials that were used to authenticate to a first service. In addition, with conventional SSO token-based procedures, the user loses control regarding how the access token is used by the credential service provider and, therefore, the user has no knowledge of which computing services are being accessed (such as the case of the data breach experienced in 2018 by Facebook, Inc., where about 50 million user accounts were compromised due to a vulnerability that revealed users' access tokens).
There is a need for a secure single sign on solution that does not rely on access tokens (or tickets), to allow a user access to different computing services without the need to re-authenticate to each computing service.

Single sign on (SSO) using continuous authentication


A vehicle power-supplying device includes: a power-supplying primary coil provided in a parking space where a vehicle is parked, and configured to supply electric power wirelessly to a power-supplying secondary coil provided in the vehicle and configured to wirelessly receive the electric power from the power-supplying primary coil; and a vehicle stopping member configured to stop the vehicle at a desired position of the parking space at which wireless power supply efficiency from the power-supplying primary coil to the power-supplying secondary coil is high.

In recent years, vehicles which are driven by electricity have been used. It is necessary to supply electric power to the vehicles. A power-supplying apparatus supplies electric power to a parked vehicle, for example. The power-supplying apparatus may wirelessly supply electric power to the vehicle.
For example, a technique has been proposed in which a wireless power-supplying secondary coil is provided in the bottom of a vehicle and electric power is supplied from a power-supplying primary coil below the vehicle to the vehicle. It is preferable to wirelessly supply electric power from the power-supplying primary coil to the power-supplying secondary coil with low energy loss. FIG. 6 illustrates a concept of a wireless power-supplying system. FIG. 6 is a diagram disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,035,255. In addition, when electric power is wirelessly supplied from the power-supplying primary coil to the power-supplying secondary coil, it is preferable that the wireless power-supplying system be easy to use.


A female terminal fitting (30) is provided for insertion into a female housing (10) from behind. A rear end of an outer wall (37) of the female terminal fitting (30) extending along widthwise direction is embossed to project out, thereby forming a locking projection (52) with a vertex (A) at its front end. The female terminal fitting (30) is inserted into the female housing (10) and a lock (13) in the female housing (10) engages the locking projection (52). The locking projection (52) is more outward than an imaginary triangular pyramid (X) formed by connecting the vertex (A) at the front end, a pair of base end points (B) at the rear edge, and an outward-projecting end point (C).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal fitting and a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,743 discloses a connector with a housing formed with cavities. Terminal fittings can be inserted into the cavities and locked in place by resilient deflectable locks that project from an inner surface of each cavity.
A demand exists to make connectors smaller, and accordingly cavities, locks and terminal fittings also must be made smaller. These size reductions create a concern that a force to lock the terminal fittings will be insufficient.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to provide a terminal fitting and a connector which can be made smaller.
The invention is directed to a terminal fitting that is insertable into a connector housing. The terminal fitting comprises a locking projection with opposite front and rear ends. The front end of the locking projection preferably tapers to a vertex. The rear end of the locking projection, however, extends along the widthwise direction of the terminal fitting and is engageable with a fastening portion in the connector housing. The locking projection is more outward than an imaginary triangular pyramid formed by connecting the vertex at the front end, a pair of base end points located at the rear end, and an outward-projecting end point.
A force may act on the terminal fitting to pull the terminal fitting back from this locked state. Such a force may cause the locking projection to bite in the fastening portion, and could cause part of the fastening portion to enter the inside of the locking projection. The inner volume of the locking projection of the subject invention is larger than the inner volume of the imaginary triangular pyramid formed by connecting the vertex at the front end, the pair of base end points at the rear end and the outward-projecting end point. As a result, a large amount of the material of the fastening portion is permitted to enter the inside of the locking projection at the time of biting. Thus, a force necessary to pull the terminal fitting backward while causing the fastening portion to bite in the locking projection is increased, and a sufficient locking force can be secured even if the terminal fitting is made smaller.
The locking projection preferably comprises a substantially pyramidal portion formed by embossing
The rear end of the locking projection preferably has an outward projecting end that is substantially flat along the widthwise direction. Additionally, the locking projection preferably is substantially trapezoidal or rectangular. Accordingly, an engaged area of the locking projection with the fastening portion is larger as compared to a locking portion having a pointed outward-projecting rear end. Thus, the locking force can be made larger.
A rear portion of the locking projection is substantially tubular, and preferably a substantially trapezoidal or rectangular tube. Accordingly, the inner volume of the locking projection can be made larger as compared to a locking projection merely formed into a pyramidal shape. Thus, the locking force can be made even larger.
The rear end of the locking projection is inclined in and up to the back. Similarly, the rear end of the outer wall is inclined in and up to the back continuously with the rear end of the locking projection. The fastening portion preferably is engageable with the rear end of the locking projection and/or the rear end of the outer wall. The locking force can be made even larger since the fastening portion is engaged while overhanging the rear end of the locking projection and the rear end of the outer wall,.
The vertex of the locking projection preferably is slightly rounded. Accordingly, the locking projection can be inserted more easily and smoothly into the housing.
Most preferably, the outer wall comprises a cut away portion, preferably extending over the substantially entire width of the outer wall. A front cut end surface of the cut-away portion is engageable with the fastening portion.
The invention also relates to a connector that comprises a connector housing and at least one terminal fitting as described above. The terminal fitting is to be inserted into at least one corresponding cavity of the connector housing, preferably from behind. The cavity preferably has a projection inserting groove for receiving the locking projection.

Terminal fitting and a connector provided therewith


A high speed and low power method to control and switch the magnetization direction and/or helicity of a magnetic region in a magnetic device for memory cells using spin polarized electrical current. The mapetic device comprises a reference magnetic layer with a fixed magnetic helicity and/or magnetization direction and a free magnetic layer with a changeable magnetic helicity and/or magnetization direction. The fixed magnetic layer and the free magnetic layer are preferably separated by a non-magnetic layer. The fixed and free magnetic layers may have magnetization directions at a substantially nonzero angle relative to the layer normal. A current can be applied to the device to induce a torque that alters the magnetic state of the device so that it can act as a magnetic memory for writing information. The resistance, which depends on the magnetic state of the device, is measured to read out the information stored in the device.

Magnetic devices that use a flow of spin-polarized electrons are of interest for magnetic memory and information processing applications. Such a device generally includes at least two ferromagnetic electrodes that are separated by a non-magnetic material, such as a metal or insulator. The thicknesses of the electrodes are typically in the range of 1 nm to 50 nm. If the non-magnetic material is a metal, then this type of device is known as a giant magnetoresistance or spin-valve device. The resistance of the device depends on the relative magnetization orientation of the magnetic electrodes, such as whether they are oriented parallel or anti-parallel (i.e., the magnetizations lie on parallel lines but point in opposite directions). One electrode typically has its magnetization pinned, i.e., it has a higher coercivity than the other electrode and requires larger magnetic fields or spin-polarized currents to change the orientation of its magnetization. The second layer is known as the free electrode and its magnetization direction can be changed relative to the former. Information can be stored in the orientation of this second layer. For example, "1" or "0" can be represented by anti-parallel alignment of the layers and "0" or "1" by parallel alignment. The device resistance will be different for these two states and thus the device resistance can be used to distinguish "1" from "0." An important feature of such a device is that it is a non-volatile memory, since the device maintains the information even when the power is off, like a magnetic hard drive. The magnet electrodes can be sub-micron in lateral size and the magnetization direction can still be stable with respect to thermal fluctuations.
In conventional magnetic random access memory (MRAM) designs, magnetic fields are used to switch the magnetization direction of the free electrode. These magnetic fields are produced using current carrying wires near the magnetic electrodes. The wires must be small in cross-section because memory devices consist of dense arrays of MRAM cells. As the magnetic fields from the wires generate long-range magnetic fields (magnetic fields decay only as the inverse of the distance from the center of the wire) there will be cross-talk between elements of the arrays, and one device will experience the magnetic fields from the other devices. This cross-talk will limit the density of the memory and/or cause errors in memory operations. Further, the magnetic fields generated by such wires are limited to about 0.1 Tesla at the position of the electrodes, which leads to slow device operation. Importantly, conventional memory designs also use stochastic (random) processes or fluctuating fields to initiate the switching events, which is inherently slow and unreliable (see, for example, R. H. Koch et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5419 (2000)).
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,864 and several other publications (e.g., J. Slonckewski, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 159, L1 (1996)), John Slonckewski described a mechanism by which a spin-polarized current can be used to directly change the magnetic orientation of a magnetic electrode. In the proposed mechanism, the spin angular momentum of the flowing electrons interacts directly with the background magnetization of a magnetic region. The moving electrons transfer a portion of their spin-angular momentum to the background magnetization and produce a torque on the magnetization in this region. This torque can alter the direction of magnetization of this region and switch its magnetization direction. Further, this interaction is local, since it only acts on regions through which the current flows. However, the proposed mechanism was purely theoretical.
Slonckewski's patent describes MRAM devices that use spin-momentum transfer for magnetic switching. However, the proposed devices are slow and rely on fluctuating magnetic fields and stochastic processes to initiate magnetization switching. Further, large current densities are needed to switch the devices. In describing the preferred embodiment of his "latch or logic gate," Slonckewski states " . . . the preferred axes of the 3 magnets F1, F2, and F3 are all "vertical" (i.e., in the same direction or orientation) as discussed above. Other orientations can serve as long as they are parallel to the same axis." As we describe below, our device makes use of layer magnetizations that are not parallel to the same axis, to great advantage in speed, reliability, and power consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,223 to Jonathan Sun also describes devices that use current-induced magnetic switching and demonstrates in experiment the operation of such devices. However, the devices proposed were unreliable, as there was little consistency with regard to device characteristics. Further, the estimated time scale for magnetic switching was 50 nsec for operation at large current densities.
Devices are needed that exhibit high speed and reliable operation under the action of a spin-polarized current. This includes devices that operate with lower power and have lower threshold currents for switching the magnetization orientation.

High speed low power magnetic devices based on current induced spin-momentum transfer


Systems and methods for creating and trading dynamic securities are provided. Dynamic securities according to the invention may preferably include any security or non-securitized investment. To form the dynamic security, a user may select a plurality of securities including stocks, bonds, baseball cards and modern art paintings to create a dynamic security. The selection may be limited to a pre-determined list of securities.

In recent years, electronic trading systems have gained a widespread acceptance for trading securities. For example, electronic trading systems have been created which facilitate the trading of financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, currency, futures, or other suitable financial instruments. Other tradeable instruments also include more non-traditional commodities such as baseball cards, art pieces, and other collectibles.
Many investors rely upon mutual funds to create a diversified investment base to lower investing risk. Typically, however, investors in mutual funds have no control over the creation of the fund, or the selection of individual securities which make up the mutual fund basket of securities. Investors in mutual funds also are unable to sell the individual components of the fund.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for electronic trading whereby investors may create their own basket of securities, including both traditional securities investments as well as non-traditional securities of any sort, whether it includes commodities, securities, non-securitized items, leases, collectibles, or any other possible tradeable tangible or intangible item.
It would also be desirable that this basket of securities could be traded as a whole, or in the alternative, that its individual components can be isolated and traded separate from the basket as a whole. It would further be desirable to provide systems and methods for comparing the rate of return of the dynamic security or of its individual components to a pre-determined target rate of return, and for notifying the user if the actual rate of return deviates substantially from the target rate of return.


A holding structure of a glass run for an automobile is capable of holding the glass run with a lower channel with excellent insertion workability to hold a door glass securely. In the holding structure of the glass run with the lower channel, the glass run has a first side wall, a second side wall, a third side wall and a fourth side wall, and has a generally rectangular cross section. One part of the side walls is composed of a material with rigidity higher than those of remaining parts of the side walls. A glass slider is attached to an end edge of the door glass below the belt line, and a tip end part of the glass slider, which is continuous with a main part of the glass slider via an opening part of the glass run, is held with the glass run.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holding structure of a glass run for an automobile, which is adapted to be attached to a lower channel mounted below a belt line of an automobile door for guiding a door glass as it is raised and lowered.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a glass run 10 is attached to an inner periphery of a door frame 12 of an automobile door 14 for guiding a door glass 16 as it is raised and lowered. An entire part of the conventional glass run 10 is shown in FIG. 2, a cross-sectional view of the conventional glass run 10 attached on a rear side of the door frame 12 is shown in FIG. 3, and a cross-sectional view of another conventional glass run 20 attached between a door glass 16 and an auxiliary glass on a rear side thereof is shown in FIG. 4.
As shown in FIG. 3, the conventional glass run 10 has been attached within a channel 22 of the door frame 12 to guide the door glass 16 as it is raised and lowered, and provide a seal between the door glass 16 and the door frame 12. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the conventional glass run 10 includes an upper side portion 24 for attachment to an upper side of the door frame 12, a front vertical side portion 26 and a rear vertical side portion 28, which are formed into straight portions 30 by extrusion, and they are connected to each other via corner portions 32 formed by molding to conform to corner parts 34 of the door frame 12.
And, a glass run rear lower portion 36 held with the lower channel is provided below a belt line 38 of the automobile door 14. When the door glass 16 is lowered within the automobile door 14, the glass run rear lower part 36 guides the door glass 16 as it is raised and lowered. The glass run rear lower portion 36 is connected to the rear vertical side portion 28 via a rear vertical connection portion formed by molding.
On the other hand, a seal between the automobile door 14 and an automobile body is provided with a door weather strip (not shown) attached to a door panel and an outer periphery of the door frame 12, and/or an opening trim weather strip (not shown) attached to a flange provided in a door opening portion of the automobile body.
The rear vertical side portion 28 of the glass run 10, which is attached above the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14, includes an outer side wall 40, an inner side wall 42 and a bottom wall 44, and has a generally U-shaped cross section, as shown in FIG. 3. A first outer seal lip 46 is provided to extend from a tip end of the outer side wall 40 toward an interior of a main body of the glass run 10, which has a generally U-shaped cross section. And a second outer seal lip 48 is provided to extend from the tip end of the outer side wall 40 in an extension direction of the outer side wall 40 so as to cover an end edge of the door glass 16.
A first inner seal lip 50 and a second inner seal lip 52 are provided in the inner side wall 42 so as to extend from the vicinity of a tip end of the inner side wall 42 toward the interior of the main body of the glass run 10, which has a generally U-shaped cross section.
The outer side wall 40, the inner side wall 42 and the bottom wall 44 of the main body of the glass run 10 are inserted into the channel 22 provided in the door frame 12, and at least one part of an exterior surface of each of the outer side wall 40, the inner side wall 42 and the bottom wall 44 is pressed against interior surfaces of the channel 22 to hold the glass run 10.
In order to engage the glass run 10 with the channel 22, and hold the glass run 10 within the channel 22 upon attaching of the glass run 10 within the channel 22, an inner holding lip 54 and an outer holding lip 56 are respectively provided in the inner side wall 42 and the outer side wall 40 of the rear vertical side portion 28 of the glass run 10.
A glass slider 58 is attached to an interior surface of an end edge of the door glass 16 to slide within an interior space of the main body of the glass run 10, and both surfaces of the end edge of the door glass 16 are sealed with the first outer seal lip 46, the second outer seal lip 48 and the first inner seal lip 50 (see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2006-56472, for example).
When the glass slider 58 of the door glass 16 slides within the interior space of the glass run 10 below the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14, the inner side wall 42, the second inner seal lip 52 and the inner holding lip 54, each being composed of a hard material, exhibit an improved holding force, but the first outer seal lip 46 and the first inner seal lip 50, each being composed of a soft material, exhibit a weak holding force against the glass slider 58. The glass run 10 is inserted into and held with the channel 22 of the door frame 12, which has a U-shaped cross section, so that when the glass run 10 is held with a lower channel 60 below the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14, the holding force against the glass run 10 is weak.
And, in another conventional holding structure shown in FIG. 4, a channel 64 provided above the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14, includes a first wall 66, a second wall 68, a third wall 70 and a fourth wall 72, and has a rectangular cross section. And an opening part 74 is defined between the first wall 66 and the fourth wall 72. A glass run 20 including a first side wall 76, a second side wall 78, a third side wall 80 and a fourth side wall 82 has been attached within the channel 64 (see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2012-56536, for example).
In this case, a glass slider 84 having a key-shaped bending cross section has been attached to an interior surface of an end edge of the door glass 16 to slide within an interior space of a main body of the glass run 20, which has a generally U-shaped cross section, and the door glass 16 has been sealed with outer seal lips 86 and 88 on surfaces on opposite sides of the glass slider 84.
However, in the channel 64 of this case, the opening part 74 is defined between the first wall 66 and the fourth wall 72 so that when the glass run 20 is attached, the opening part 74 is provided in only one part of one side of the channel 64 so as to become narrow, whereby it has been difficult to insert the glass run 20 from the narrow opening part 74. Under such circumstance, the glass run 20 has been assembled by inserting the same from an end of the channel 64 in a longitudinal direction thereof.
A lower channel below the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14 may be bent slightly to conform to the configuration of the automobile door 14. In this case, during inserting of the glass run 20 into the lower channel, an insertion resistance increases so that the glass run 20 may deform to lower insertion workability.

Holding structure of glass run for automobile


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates aligning a first signal with a second signal in a manner that optimizes a correlation between the first signal and the second signal. The system starts by receiving a set of signals, including the first signal and the second signal. The system then determines a correlation between the first signal and the second signal. Next, the system adjusts an alignment between the first signal and again determines a correlation between the first signal and the second signal. If the correlation is greater with the alignment adjustment, the system adjusts the alignment between the first signal and the second signal. This process of adjusting the alignment is repeated for different alignments to find an optimal alignment. Hence, the present invention operates effectively for signal sources which may be independently speeding up and slowing down with respect to each other while under surveillance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to signal processing. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus that correlates and aligns signals for computer system performance parameters.
2. Related Art
The increasing complexity of server systems pressures support services on two fronts. First, it increases support cycle times. Second, it drives up the cost of labor, both in time-per-support incident, and in the acquisition costs of expertise. While many costly system flaws exhibit subtle signs before the customer experiences a problem or an outage, these indicators are difficult to discern and more difficult to match to impending problems.
Fault detection in complex systems typically requires costly on-line monitoring and expertise. Conventional approaches to identifying faults, which combine event correlation and threshold-based rules, have proven inadequate in a variety of safety-critical industries with complex, heterogeneous subsystem inputs not dissimilar to those from enterprise computing. Fundamentally, while many high-end servers are already rich in instrumentation, the data produced by the instrumentation are complex, non-uniform, and difficult to correlate. Improved real-time monitoring of system performance metrics, coupled with an improved Fault Management Architecture (FMA), provide key enabling technologies that can help in proactively identifying incipient faults and decreasing support costs.
Some systems apply pattern recognition techniques to continuously monitored computer system performance parameters to identify faults. However, the effectiveness of pattern recognition in discerning incipient faults in noisy process data is highly dependent on the quality of information available from the instrumentation.
One challenge that has arisen in connection with the above objectives is deciding which signals are most valuable to monitor. Current high-end servers can have more than 1,000 variables that can be potentially monitored by real-time surveillance systems. It would be neither practical, nor prudent, to just "monitor everything."
One method for monitoring as many signals as possible is to correlate the signals and combine them into one signal that can be monitored by a pattern recognition system. However, in many high-end servers, the monitored signals are non-synchronous. Processes can speed up and slow down depending on many factors. Over time, signals generated by different processes can drift even further out of phase, which can greatly complicate the process of correlating the signals.
Furthermore, in large server computer systems, the monitored signals typically fall into a number of correlated groups. Signals within a given group are correlated with each other. However, there is little correlation between signals belonging to different groups. In order to efficiently correlate the signals, it is desirable to first "cluster" the signals into their respective correlated groups.
Hence, what is needed is a method and apparatus for correlating and clustering signals from numerous sources within a computer system, sources that are not only characterized by non-synchronous sampling intervals, but which may also be independently speeding up and slowing down while under surveillance.

Correlating and aligning monitored signals for computer system performance parameters


A holographic projector comprises an image processing engine, a hologram engine, a display engine and a light source. The image processing engine is arranged to receive a source image for projection and generate a plurality of secondary images from the source image. The source image comprises pixels. Each secondary image comprises fewer pixels than the source image. A first secondary image has more pixels that a second secondary image. The hologram engine is arranged to determine, such as calculate, a hologram corresponding to each secondary image to form a plurality of holograms. Thus, a first hologram corresponding to the first secondary image has more pixels than a second hologram corresponding to the second secondary image. The display engine is arranged to display each hologram in turn on the display device. The light source is arranged to Illuminate each hologram during display to form a holographic reconstruction corresponding to each secondary image on a replay plane.

Light scattered from an object contains both amplitude and phase information. This amplitude and phase information can be captured on, for example, a photosensitive plate by well-known interference techniques to form a holographic recording, or "hologram", comprising interference fringes. The hologram may be reconstructed by illumination with suitable light to form a two-dimensional or three-dimensional holographic reconstruction, or replay image, representative of the original object.
Computer-generated holography may numerically simulate the interference process. A computer-generated hologram, "CGH", may be calculated by a technique based on a mathematical transformation such as a Fresnel or Fourier transform. These types of holograms may be referred to as Fresnel or Fourier holograms. A Fourier hologram may be considered a Fourier domain representation of the object or a frequency domain representation of the object. A CGH may also be calculated by coherent ray tracing or a point cloud technique, for example.
A CGH may be encoded on a spatial light modulator, "SLM", arranged to modulate the amplitude and/or phase of incident light. Light modulation may be achieved using electrically-addressable liquid crystals, optically-addressable liquid crystals or micro-mirrors, for example.
The SLM may comprise a plurality of individually-addressable pixels which may also be referred to as cells or elements. The light modulation scheme may be binary, multilevel or continuous. Alternatively, the device may be continuous (i.e. is not comprised of pixels) and light modulation may therefore be continuous across the device. The SLM may be reflective meaning that modulated light is output from the SLM in reflection. The SLM may equally be transmissive meaning that modulated light is output from the SLM is transmission.
A holographic projector for imaging may be provided using the described technology. Such projectors have found application in head-up displays, "HUD", and head-mounted displays, "HMD", including near-eye devices, for example.
A holographic projector projects an image onto a replay field on a replay plane. When using the described technology, the projected image is formed from a hologram displayed on pixels of the SLM, herein referred to as "SLM pixels". Thus, the SLM pixels display pixels of the hologram, herein referred to as "hologram pixels". The projected image is formed of "image pixels" which are also referred to herein as "image spots". The image pixels have a finite size and adjacent image pixels in the replay field can interfere or blur together. This is referred to herein as pixel crosstalk. The problem of pixel crosstalk leads to reduced image quality.
Furthermore, a hologram engine takes time to determine a hologram for display from a source image. For example, the hologram may be a Fourier hologram calculated using at least one Fourier transform. The time taken to calculate the hologram can therefore limit the rate at which holograms can be written to the SLM and thus the rate at which a sequence of source images can be projected as a video stream, herein called the "frame rate". Thus, it can be difficult to project images at acceptable video frame rates.
There is disclosed herein an improved holographic projection system and method.


The present invention relates to a Crumbs homologue (CRB) therapeutic for use as a medicament or in a method of treatment or prophylaxis, for example in the treatment or prophylaxis of a retinal disorder due to mutations in the Crumbs homologue-1 (CRB1) gene, such as Leber's congenital amaurosis 8 (LCA8) or retinitis pigmentosa 12 (RP12). In particular, the present invention relates to a recombinant viral vector comprising CRB2 or modified non-toxic forms of either CRB1 or CRB3 that resemble CRB2.

Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) is the earliest and most severe group of inherited retinopathies, with an incidence of two to three in 100.000 people, and is the most common cause of congenital blindness in children. It is an autosomal recessive or dominant condition recognized in infants during the first months of life. LCA type 8 (LCA8) is inherited recessively. Symptoms of LCA8 patients include nystagmus, slow pupil response, retinal dysfunction, impaired vision and ultimately blindness. The eyes of these blind or severely visually impaired infants show an apparent normal fundus but lack of retinal activity as measured by electroretinography (ERG). At least some LCA8 patients show a thicker retina than normal or other LCA patients. LCA8 patients have mutations or DNA alterations in or affecting the CRB1 gene locus. LCA8 patients account for 10-15% of all LCA patients.
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited and severe group of degenerative eye disease that occurs at 1 in 3.000 people and causes severe vision impairment and often results in complete blindness. Severe recessive progressive retinitis pigmentosa occurs in young children that have mutations or DNA alterations in or affecting the Crumbs homologue-1 (CRB1) gene locus. These young children become gradually blind before their twentieth birth day. There is no clear relation between genotype (type of mutation) and phenotype (LCA or RP). RP due to mutations in the CRB1 gene (RP12) account for 3-5% of all RP patients.
Mutations in CRB1 cause recessive retinitis pigmentosa with para-arteriolar preservation of the RPE (PPRPE); recessive retinitis pigmentosa; recessive Leber congenital amaurosis; or dominant pigmented paravenous chorioretinal atrophy. The symptoms may include Coats-like exudative vasculopathy; mutations result in a thickened retina with abnormal lamination. Genetic analyses showed that LCA is mostly monogenic but caused by more than 20 genes, including CRB1 (˜10-15% of all cases), CEP290 (˜20% of all cases), GUCY2D (˜15% of all cases), IMPDH1 (˜10% of all cases), RPE65 (˜5% of all cases), and the less frequently occurring AIPL1, RPGRIP1, RDH12, NMNAT1, SPATA7, LCA5, CRX, TULP1, MERTK, LRAT, RD3, OTX, CABP4, KCNJ13, IQCB1 and others (den Hollander et al., 2009). Mutations in the CRB1 gene are a leading cause of LCA (10-15% of all cases). Genetic analyses showed that RP is caused by more than 50 genes. Mutations in the CRB1 gene account for 3-5% of all cases of RP (RP12). The number of patients with LCA8 or RP12 due to mutations in CRB1 is about the same as patients with LCA1 due to mutations in the guanylate cyclase 2D (GUCY2D) gene and even twice that of patients with LCA2 due to mutations in the gene coding for retinal pigment epithelium 65 kD protein (RPE65).
It is estimated that more than 100.000 world citizens have type 8 Leber's congenital amaurosis or RP12. The CRB1 gene encodes Crumbs homologue-1 (CRB1) which is expressed in the human retina in photoreceptors and Müller glia cells, as well as in retinal progenitor cells, and localizes adjacent to the adherens junction complex at the outer limiting membrane. CRB1 regulates directly or indirectly the physical interaction between retinal cell types. In the adult human retina, loss of CRB1 results in loss of adhesion between Müller glia cells and photoreceptors resulting in structural changes such as loss of regular lamination. Ultimately, this leads to loss of rod photoreceptors followed by loss of cone photoreceptors by cell death. In the developing retina, loss of CRB1 results in loss of adhesion between retinal progenitor cells and newly differentiated photoreceptors and Müller glia cells. Ultimately, the misplaced cells do not form a functional neuronal network and undergo cell death. Loss of CRB1 in the developing retina also results in an increase in number of late born retinal cells (rod photoreceptors, Müller glia cells, bipolar cells, late born sub-types of amacrine cells) and an increase in mislocalized retinal cells causing an immature appearance of the retina.
Presently there are no therapeutics or effective treatments available to prevent, delay or treat LCA8 or RP12 in humans. Therefore, there is a need in the art for methods and means for the treatment of retinal disorders due to mutations in CRB1. Preferably, the methods and means have no toxicity or almost no toxicity. In particular, the present invention has sought to provide a gene therapy vector to be used for the treatment of retinal disorders due to mutations in CRB1.

Recombinant AAV-crumbs homologue composition and methods for treating LCA-8 and progressive RP

Academisch Ziekenhuis Leiden H.O.D. N. Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum


Systems and processes for performing a task with a digital assistant are provided. In accordance with one example, a method includes, at an electronic device having one or more processors, receiving a natural-language input; determining, based on the natural-language input, a first task and first usefulness score associated with the first task; receiving, from another electronic device, a second task and second usefulness score associated with the second task; determining whether the first usefulness score is higher than the second usefulness score; in accordance with a determination that the first usefulness score is higher than the second usefulness score: performing the first task determined by the electronic device; and providing an output indicating whether the first task has been performed; and in accordance with a determination that the second usefulness score is higher than the first usefulness score: performing the second task received from the another electronic device; and providing an output indicating whether the second task has been performed.

Automated digital assistants can provide a beneficial interface between human users and electronic devices. Such digital assistants can allow users to interact with devices or systems using natural language in spoken and/or text forms. For example, a user can provide a speech input including a user request to a digital assistant operating on an electronic device. The digital assistant can interpret the user's intent from the speech input and operationalize the user's intent into one or more tasks. The tasks can be performed by executing one or more services of the electronic device, and a relevant output responsive to the user request can be returned to the user. Typically, however, a conventional automated digital assistant of an electronic device must rely on a backend (e.g., server-side) component to function, often due to computational limitations of the electronic device. As an example, speech-to-text functionality is often performed and/or validated by the backend component. As another example, the backend component is typically responsible for interpreting intent from a speech input and/or operationalizing the intent into a task.


The disclosure relates to a virus-like particle in which a protein complex is entrapped, ensuring the formation of the protein complex under physiological conditions, while protecting the protein complex during purification and identification. The disclosure further relates to the use of such virus-like particle for the isolation and identification of protein complexes.

Protein-protein interactions are an essential key in all biological processes, from the replication and expression of genes, to the morphogenesis of organisms. Protein-protein interactions govern, amongst others, ligand-receptor interaction and the subsequent signaling pathway; they are important in assembly of enzyme subunits, in the formation of biological supramolecular structures such as ribosomes, filaments and virus particles, and in antigen-antibody interactions.
Researchers have developed several approaches in attempts to identify protein-protein interactions. A major breakthrough was obtained by the introduction of the genetic approaches, of which the yeast two-hybrid (Fields and Song, 1989) is the most important one. Although this technique became widely used, it has several drawbacks. The fusion proteins need to be translocated to the nucleus, which is not always evident. Proteins with intrinsic transcription activation properties may cause false positives. Moreover, interactions that are dependent upon secondary modifications of the protein such as phosphorylation cannot be easily detected.
Several alternative systems have been developed to solve one or more of these problems.
Approaches based on phage display do avoid nuclear translocation. WO9002809 describes how a binding protein can be displayed on the surface of a genetic package, such as a filamentous phage, wherein the gene encoding the binding protein is packaged inside the phage. Phages that bear the binding protein that recognizes the target molecule are isolated and amplified. Several improvements of the phage display approach have been proposed, as described, e.g., in WO9220791, WO9710330, and WO9732017.
However, all these methods suffer from the difficulties that are inherent at the phage display methodology: the proteins need to be exposed at the phage surface and are so exposed to an environment that is not physiologically relevant for the in vivo interaction. Moreover, when screening a phage library, there will be a competition between the phages that results in a selection of the high-affinity binders.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,463 describes an improvement of the yeast two-hybrid system, whereby it can be screened for modification-dependent protein-protein interactions. However, this method relies on the co-expression of the modifying enzyme, which will exert its activity in the cytoplasm and may modify enzymes other than the one involved in the protein-protein interaction, which may, on its turn, affect the viability of the host organism.
An interesting evolution is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,689, by the so-called protein recruitment system. Protein-protein interactions are detected by recruitment of a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (Sos) to the plasma membrane, where Sos activates a Ras reporter molecule. This results in the survival of the cell that otherwise would not survive in the culture conditions used. Although this method has certainly the advantage that the protein-protein interaction takes place under physiological conditions in the submembrane space, it has several drawbacks. Modification-dependent interactions cannot be detected. Moreover, the method is using the pleiotropic Ras pathway, which may cause technical complications, such as the occurrence of false positives.
A major improvement in the detection of protein-protein interactions was disclosed in WO0190188, describing the so-called Mappit system. The method, based on a cytokine receptor, not only allows a reliable detection of protein-protein interactions in mammalian cells, but also modification-dependent protein interactions can be detected, as well as complex three-hybrid protein-protein interactions mediated by a small compound (Caligiuri et al., 2006). However, although very useful, the system is limited in sensitivity and some weak interactions cannot be detected. Moreover, as this is a membrane-based system, nuclear interactions are normally not detected. Recently, a cytoplasmic interaction trap has been described, solving several of those shortcomings. However, all of these "genetic" systems rely on the overexpression of both interaction partners, which may result in false positives due to the artificial increase in concentration of one or both of the interaction partners.
As an alternative for the genetic protein-protein interaction detection methods described above, biochemical or co-purification strategies, combined with mass spectrometry-based proteomics (Paul et al., 2011; Gingras et al., 2007), can be used. For the co-purification strategies, a cell homogenate is typically prepared by a detergent-based lysis protocol, followed by capture using a (dual) tag approach (Gavin et al., 2002) or via specific antibodies (Malovannaya et al.). The protein complex extracted from the "soup" of cell constituents is then expected to survive several washing steps, mostly to compensate for the sensitivity of contemporary MS instruments, before the actual analysis occurs. There are no clear guidelines on the extent of washing or on available buffers and their stringency. Most lysis and washing protocols are purely empirical in nature and were optimized using model interactions. It is, therefore, hard to speculate on the loss of factors during these steps (false negatives), or the possibility of false interactions due to loss of cellular integrity (false positives). Use of metabolic labeling strategies allows separation between the proteins sticking to the purification matrix, and between the proteins that associate specifically to the bait protein. Depending on the purification conditions and the sensitivity of the MS instruments used, it is no exception to find more than 1000 proteins in the eluted fraction of a gel-free AP-MS experiment.
There is a further need for co-purification techniques, isolating the protein complexes in their physiological environment, but wherein the complex is protected during the further purification and analysis.
The evolutionary stress on viruses promotes highly condensed coding of information and maximal functionality for small genomes. Accordingly, for HIV-1, it is sufficient to express a single viral protein, the p55 GAG protein, to allow the efficient production of virus-like particles (VLPs) from cells (Gheysen et al., 1989; Shioda and Shibuta, 1990). The p55 GAG protein consists of different parts, which are processed by HIV protease upon maturation of the particle into a functional infectious particle. The N-terminal matrix protein part ensures binding to the membrane via myristoylation and ensures budding (Bryant and Ratner, 1990). The Capsid protein forms the cone-shaped viral core after processing, while the nucleocapsid protein and the p6 protein bind to and protect the viral RNA. The p55 GAG protein is highly mobile before accumulation in cholesterol-rich regions of the membrane, where multimerization actually initiates the budding process (Gomez and Hope, 2006). A total of 4000-5000 GAG molecules are required to form a single particle with a size of about 145 nm (Briggs et al., 2004).

Method for detecting protein-protein interactions in a cell utilizing particle-forming polypeptide-bait fusion proteins and virus-like particles


Provided are a system and method for facilitating enrollment in a merchant loyalty program. In one example, the method includes receiving, from a merchant server, a request to enroll a digital wallet user in a merchant loyalty program, the request being input via a merchant website associated with the merchant server, verifying that the digital wallet user is an authorized user of the digital wallet via a window associated with the merchant website, and in response to verifying the digital wallet user is an authorized user, automatically transmitting previously stored information of the digital wallet to the merchant server for enrolling the digital wallet user in the merchant loyalty program. According to various aspects, secure data may be imported into a merchant loyalty program from a digital wallet account, thus simplifying the enrollment process on the user.

Existing clients are the livelihood of any merchant business. Establishing an authentic bond to ensure re-occurring business ensures future sales for the business. However, just providing regular newsletters, "teaser" rates, discount programs, and the like, is no longer enough. It is common for a business to lose a significant portion of their client base, per year, and at the same time it is becoming more difficult to acquire new customers. In an effort to improve customer loyalty, merchants are now offering loyalty programs. A loyalty program, also referred to as rewards program, points program, and the like, may be offered to encourage customers to continue to make purchases of products and services. For example, a loyalty program can reward a customer based on their spending behavior and encourage more spending by providing the customer with free merchandise, coupons, advanced releases of products, and the like. Loyalty programs can be found in all major shopping industries including supermarkets, pharmacies, hotels, airlines, credit cards, gasoline, and many other merchants.
Merchants are always trying to create more roads into their loyalty programs because loyalty programs create product awareness and help keep an active line of communication with existing clients. However, one of the biggest hurdles that a merchant has in enrolling new users their loyalty program is the amount of time and effort it takes user to sign up for a loyalty program. For example, the enrollment process can require a person to enter a significant amount of information, some of which is not readily available without the person spending time and effort. As a result, the registration process can create a barrier that prevents customers from participating in loyalty programs.
Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and depiction of these elements may be exaggerated or adjusted for clarity, illustration, and/or convenience.


In one embodiment, a phase locked loop comprises a phase frequency detector (PFD) configured to detect a phase difference and a frequency difference between inputs of a reference clock signal and a feedback clock signal, and output an up signal and a down signal. A logic gate includes an AND gate wherein one of the up signal or the down signal from the PFD is coupled to an inverted input and the other signal is coupled to a non-inverted input to produce a pulse signal. A time to digital converter (TDC) is coupled to the logic gate wherein the pulse signal output from the AND gate is input to the TDC as an enable signal for the TDC, and wherein the TDC is configured to generate a digital timing signal representing a difference between two edges of the pulse signal.

Embodiments described herein generally relate to phase locked loops (PLLs), and more particularly embodiments described herein relate to PLLs having phase frequency detectors (PFDs) with low noise.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the circuit and the circuit methods described in the background section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in the background section.
A PLL is a control circuit configured to generate an output signal where a phase of the output signal is either in phase with a reference signal or otherwise has a fixed phase relationship with the reference signal. The reference signal is typically a clock signal, which may be generated by a crystal oscillator or the like.
In general a PLL includes a phase detector and a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), which generates an output signal of the PLL. The phase detector is configured to detect a phase difference between the reference signal and a feedback signal (feedback of the output signal of the PLL) from the VCO. The phase detector then generates one or more output signals to drive the VCO to increase, decrease, or maintain the frequency of the output signal generated by the VCO so that the phase difference between of the reference signal and the feedback signal is zero or some other constant value, i.e., matched phase. That is, the output signals of the phase detector are used to control the VCO via a feedback loop.
Because the phase of the output signal generated by the VCO is matched with the phase of the reference signal, PLLs may be used in a variety of applications (e.g., signal demodulation) to track an input signal having an input frequency. Further, because of the foregoing described feature, PLLs are often used as frequency synthesizers to generate an output signal having a frequency that is a multiple of the reference signal. A synthesized signal may have a frequency that is a fraction of the frequency of the reference signal or may be many gigahertz.
PLLs have found wide spread use in a number of fields including wireless communications (e.g., radio frequency communications), telecommunications, computer networking, and other electronic applications. While PLLs have found wide spread use in a number of fields, PLL manufacturers continue to strive to develop improved PLLs having reduced noise and improved efficiency.

Circuit and circuit methods for reduction of PFD noise contribution for ADPLL


Jitter is removed from point cloud data by processing different groups of data points in the point cloud data in succession to minimize the entropy of the point cloud data. Each group in the point cloud data is generated at either different points in time or from detecting different pulses of reflected laser light from a target. The data points in a selected group are repetitively shifted en masse in the coordinate system of the point cloud data and the entropy of the point cloud data is re-calculated until subsequent shifts of the data points in the selected group does not further reduce the entropy. The remaining groups are subsequently processed in a similar fashion until the entropy of the point cloud data reaches a minimum.

Lidar (light detection and ranging) is a process that measures distances to a target by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflected light with one or more sensors. Differences in the laser return times and/or wavelengths can then be used to make a digital 3-D representation of the target. Different types of lidar systems exist, including scanning lidar systems and flash lidar systems. Scanning lidar systems utilizes scanning optics with a laser to scan a target, while flash lidar systems diffuses the laser to illuminate the target with a single flash of light. In flash lidar systems, a grid of tiny sensors (e.g., planar photon detectors organized in rows and columns) captures the reflected light from the target.
Flash lidar operates similarly to a 2-D digital camera, with rows and columns of pixel sensors that have the additional capability of generating range information based on the time-of-flight of the illuminating laser pulse. The azimuth and elevation of the returning pulse can also be determined based on the orientation of the laser source with respect to the photon sensors. This type of information (e.g., angle-angle-range data) can be used to generate point cloud data in a 3-D coordinate system, which represents information about the surface of the target being illuminated.
While the point cloud data represents information about the target, jitter in the point cloud data represents errors in the underlying data that may make target recognition more difficult. Jitter occurs due to the relative motion of the various components in a flash lidar system with respect to the target and also with respect to each other, such as the laser source and the detector array. Thus, jitter is one form of inaccuracy in the point cloud data that could be improved in order to improve the accuracy of a target recognition process.


Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, comprising first wireless interface means (170) for wirelessly communicating with a first mobile device (210) to receive identification information associated with the first mobile device (210), the first wireless interface means (170) being associated with a first zone (110) of an interior of a vehicle (100), first output means (165, 166, 167) associated with the first zone (110), first data interface means (260) for communicating data with the first mobile device (210), and control means (200) arranged to receive the identification information associated with the first mobile device (210), to associate the first mobile device with the first zone (110) and to direct data received from the first mobile device via the first data interface means to the first output means (165, 166, 167).

It is increasingly desired to provide content from mobile devices, such as phones, tablets etc., to occupants of vehicles. The content may be audio and/or video stored on the mobile device or provided through the mobile device such as via the Internet. In a vehicle there may be several mobile devices operable to provide content. Alternatively not all occupants of the vehicle may desire to be provided with such content. Providing content relevant to occupants may be problematic.
It is an object of embodiments of the invention to at least mitigate one or more of the problems of the prior art.

Apparatus and method for interfacing with a mobile device