A method for preparing dehydro-cyclofarnesal from dehydro-farnesal by cyclization in the presence of an acid may include the dehydro-farnesal being obtained from the farnesal by dehydrogenation and may further includes the cyclization being carried out in the presence of an acid selected from Lewis acids, Bronstedt acids, and zeolites. The synthesis of vitamin A using this method further includes the conversion of dehydro-cyclofarnesal into vitamin A.

The industrial-scale synthesis of vitamin A is carried out by various conventional methods. Among other preparations, vitamin A can be obtained by the so-called C15+C5 condensation pathway, for example the so-called Julia reaction which involves the chemistry of sulfones, according to which the vinyl-β-ionol is treated with a phenylsulfinate anion for leading to a C15 sulfone to which an allyl bromide is added to obtain a C20 sulfone. This is then converted, by elimination, into vitamin A acetate which is generally used as is, the vitamin A being very unstable, or saponified into vitamin A.
Other methods are also used. Thus, the vitamin A can be made by a C15+C5 coupling method via a Wittig reaction; this method nonetheless implements intermediates with carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic effects for the reproduction (CMR), such as C5 acetate, and requires a unit for regenerating phosphine with phosgene, which is a very toxic gas.
Another pathway of access lies in a C6+C14 coupling method through alkyne chemistry; it has the drawbacks of using certain raw materials, such as acetylene and nButyl-Li, which present obvious HSE (Health-Safety-Environment) risks and of involving epoxy intermediates that are not very stable and toxic.
In the document A Valla et al., Helvetica Chimica Acta, vol. 90 (2007) 512-520 concerning the preparation of retinal, the aldehyde form of vitamin A, the authors describe the two-step synthesis of dehydro-cyclofarnesal from β-ionone. This synthesis passes through a C15 nitrile intermediate which is reduced by diisobutylaluminum hydride into dehydro-cyclofarnesal.


Accurate inspection of a pattern (14) of metallized areas (12) printed on a substrate (10) is accomplished by compensating the pattern for any deformation prior to comparing the image thereof to that of a perfect (master) pattern (14'). The amount of compensation is determined by first capturing the image of selected elements in the pattern with the aid of a television camera (32). A machine vision processor (36) processes the output of the camera (32) to determine the offset of each of the selected elements in the pattern from the corresponding elements within a master pattern (14') which represents a perfectly formed version of the actual pattern (14). From the amount of offset between the selected elements in the pattern (14) and the corresponding elements in the master pattern (14'), the amount of pattern deformation at the preselected elements, as well as at all intermediate sites, is determined and the pattern is compensated accordingly.

There is presently a trend in the electronics industry towards fabricating circuits having increased functionality and reduced size. This trend has led to the development of Hybrid Integrated Circuits (HICs) which are comprised of a multilayer ceramic substrate having a plurality of metallized pads on one or both of its exposed surfaces (i.e., the outer layers of the substrate). Each pad is typically solder bonded to a terminal on an electrical component, which may be an "active" device, such as an integrated circuit, or a "passive" device, such as a resistor or capacitor. The pads are selectively interconnected by metallized paths on the outer substrate layer, which are typically an order of magnitude thinner than those on a conventional printed circuit board. The metallized paths are selectively interconnected by a set of "cross-under" connecting areas on an underlying substrate layer. The narrowness of the metallized paths, together with the interconnection of the paths provided by the cross-under connecting areas, affords the HIC a very high circuit density.
The multilayer HIC substrate is fabricated by first screen printing one or more patterns of cross-under connecting areas (often referred to as circuits) on one or both surfaces of a ceramic plate. This is typically accomplished by placing a stencil, having one or more patterns of openings, each corresponding to the desired pattern of cross-under connecting areas, in registration with the plate surface. A metallic paste, typically made from gold, is forced through the stencil openings for deposit on the surface at the locations where the cross-under connecting areas are desired. After the paste has been deposited, the substrate is fired so the paste adheres thereto. Next, an insulator, typically a layer of glaze, is deposited onto the pattern(s) of cross-under connecting areas so that selected portions of each cross-under area remain exposed. A thin layer of metal, typically copper, is then sputtered onto the glaze layer. Thereafter, the copper is patterned, usually by the process of photolithography, to produce the desired pattern of pads and connecting paths.
As may be appreciated, in order for the HIC to operate properly, each metallized path on the glaze layer must be in aligned contact with one or more selected cross-under connecting areas on the layer therebeneath. Otherwise, the paths will not be properly connected by the cross-under connecting areas. To insure proper alignment, the cross-under connecting areas are screen printed onto each surface of the plate together with a set of fiducial marks (fiducials) which are then used to align the pattern of pads and paths to the pattern of cross-under areas.
In order to assure high quality, as well as to reduce the cost of scrap during manufacture, the patterns of cross-under connecting areas on the plate are each inspected for defects prior to deposition of the glaze layer. Presently, such inspection is accomplished automatically with a machine vision system which captures the image of each actual pattern and compares it to the image of a master pattern which corresponds to the actual pattern when it is perfectly formed. If there is a substantial match between the images of the actual and master patterns, then the actual pattern is deemed to be "good." Should no match occur, then the actual pattern is deemed to be "bad."
Difficulties can arise if the pattern to be inspected is deformed due to deformation of the stencil during printing of the pattern on the substrate. The term "deformed" is used generically to describe both stretching (where the pattern is misshaped along a coordinate axis) as well as shearing (where the pattern is misshaped orthogonal to a coordinate axis). Even if the actual pattern is deformed by only a small amount which is within manufacturing tolerances, the image of the actual pattern, when compared to the image of the master pattern, will likely be offset and thus will not match. As a result, present day inspection techniques tend to incur the disadvantage of a high "false reject" rate, i.e., a high rate of rejection of patterns which are within manufacturing tolerances.
Thus, there is a need for a technique for inspecting a pattern on a substrate which compensates for small amounts of pattern deformation.

Method and apparatus for pattern inspection


The present technique relates to a data processing device and a data processing method that enable resistance to error of data to be improved.

A Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) code has the high error correction capability and has been recently adopted widely to a transmission system including satellite digital broadcasting such as Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB)-S.2 performed in Europe (for example, refer to Non-Patent Document 1). In addition, adopting of the LDPC code to next-generation terrestrial digital broadcasting has been examined.
From a recent study, it is known that performance near a Shannon limit is obtained from the LDPC code when a code length increases, similar to a turbo code. In addition, because the LDPC code has a property that a shortest distance is proportional to the code length, the LDPC code has advantages of a block error probability characteristic being high and a so-called error floor phenomenon observed in a decoding characteristic of the turbo code or the like being rarely generated, as characteristics thereof.
Hereinafter, the LDPC code will be specifically described. The LDPC code is a linear code and it is not necessary for the LDPC code to be a binary code. However, here, it is assumed that the LDPC code is the binary code.
A maximum characteristic of the LDPC code is that a parity check matrix defining the LDPC code is sparse. Here, the sparse matrix is a matrix in which the number of "1" of elements of the matrix is very small (a matrix in which most elements are 0).
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a parity check matrix H of the LDPC code.
In the parity check matrix H of FIG. 1, a weight of each column (the column weight) (the number of "1") becomes "3" and a weight of each row (the row weight) becomes "6".
In encoding using the LDPC code (LDPC encoding), for example, a generation matrix G is generated on the basis of the parity check matrix H and the generation matrix G is multiplied with binary information bits, so that a code word (LDPC code) is generated.
Specifically, an encoding device that performs the LDPC encoding first calculates the generation matrix G in which an expression GHT=0 is realized, between a transposed matrix HT of the parity check matrix H and the generation matrix G. Here, when the generation matrix G is a K×N matrix, the encoding device multiplies the generation matrix G with a bit string (vector u) of information bits consisting of K bits and generates a code word c (=uG) consisting of N bits. The code word (LDPC code) that is generated by the encoding device is received at a reception side through a predetermined communication channel.
The LDPC code can be decoded by an algorithm called probabilistic decoding suggested by Gallager, that is, a message passing algorithm using belief propagation on a so-called Tanner graph, consisting of a variable node (also referred to as a message node) and a check node. Here, the variable node and the check node are appropriately referred to as nodes simply hereinafter.
FIG. 2 illustrates a sequence of decoding of the LDPC code.
Hereinafter, a real value (reception LLR) that is obtained by representing the likelihood of "0" of a value of an i-th sign bit of the LDPC code (one code word) received by the reception side by a log likelihood ratio is appropriately referred to as a reception value u0i. In addition, a message output from the check node is referred to as uj and a message output from the variable node is referred to as vi.
First, in decoding of the LDPC code, as illustrated in FIG. 2, in step S11, the LDPC code is received, the message (check node message) uj is initialized to "0", and a variable k taking an integer as a counter of repetition processing is initialized to "0", and the processing proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the message (variable node message) vi is acquired by performing an operation (variable node operation) represented by an expression (1), on the basis of the reception value u0i obtained by receiving the LDPC code, and the message uj is acquired by performing an operation (check node operation) represented by an expression (2), on the basis of the message vi.
                    [                  Formula                                                              1                ]                                                                      v          i                =                              u                          0                                                                                i                                +                                    ∑                              i                =                1                                                              d                  v                                -                1                                                                                u              j                                                          (        1        )                                [                  Formula                                                              2                ]                                                                      tanh                                (                                          u                j                            2                        )                          =                              ∏                          i              =              1                                                      d                c                            -              1                                                                                tanh                                      (                                                v                  i                                2                            )                                                          (        2        )
Here, dv and dc in the expressions (1) and (2) represent parameters that show numbers of "1" of the parity check matrix H in a vertical direction (column) and a horizontal direction (row), respectively, and can be arbitrarily set, respectively. For example, in the case of a (3, 6) code, dv=3 and dc=6.
In the variable node operation of the expression (1) and the check node operation of the expression (2), because a message input from an edge (line connecting the variable node and the check node) for outputting the message is not an operation target, an operation range becomes 1 to dv−1 or 1 to dc−1. The check node operation of the expression (2) is performed actually by previously making a table of a function R (v1, v2) represented by an expression (3) defined by one output with respect to two inputs v1 and v2 and using the table consecutively (recursively), as represented by an expression (4).[Formula 3]X=˜2 tan−1[tan h(v1/2)tan h(v2/2)]=R(v1,v2)  (3)[Formula 4]uj=R(v1,R(v2,R(v3, . . . R(vd0−2,Vd0−1))))  (4)
In step S12, the variable k is incremented by "1" and the processing proceeds to step S13. In step S13, it is determined whether the variable k is more than the predetermined repeat decoding count C. When it is determined in step S13 that the variable k is not more than C, the processing returns to step S12 and the same processing is repeated hereinafter.
When it is determined in step S13 that the variable k is more than C, the processing proceeds to step S14, the message vi that corresponds to a decoding result to be finally output is acquired by performing an operation represented by an expression (5) and is output, and the decoding processing of the LDPC code ends.
                    [                  Formula                                                              5                ]                                                                      v          i                =                              u                          0                                                                                i                                +                                    ∑                              j                =                1                                            d                y                                                                                u              j                                                          (        5        )
Here, the operation of the expression (5) is performed using messages uj from all edges connected to the variable node, different from the variable node operation of the expression (1).
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the parity check matrix H of the (3, 6) LDPC code (an encoding rate of 1/2 and a code length of 12).
In the parity check matrix H of FIG. 3, a weight of a column is set to 3 and a weight of a row is set to 6, similar to FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 illustrates a Tanner graph of the parity check matrix H of FIG. 3.
In FIG. 4, the check node is represented by plus "+" and the variable node is represented by equal "=". The check node and the variable node correspond to the row and the column of the parity check matrix H. A line that connects the check node and the variable node is the edge and corresponds to "1" of elements of the parity check matrix.
That is, when an element of a j-th row and an i-th column of the parity check matrix is 1, in FIG. 4, an i-th variable node (node of "=") from the upper side and a j-th check node (node of "+") from the upper side are connected by the edge. The edge shows that a sign bit corresponding to the variable node has a restriction condition corresponding to the check node.
In a Sum Product Algorithm that is a decoding method of the LDPC code, the variable node operation and the check node operation are repetitively performed.
FIG. 5 illustrates the variable node operation that is performed by the variable node.
In the variable node, the message vi that corresponds to the edge for calculation is acquired by the variable node operation of the expression (1) using messages ul and u2 from the remaining edges connected to the variable node and the reception value u0i. The messages that correspond to the other edges are also acquired by the same method.
FIG. 6 illustrates the check node operation that is performed by the check node.
Here, the check node operation of the expression (2) can be rewritten by an expression (6) using a relation of an expression a×b=exp{ln(|a|)+ln(|b|)}×sign(a)×sign(b). However, sign(x) is 1 in the case of x≧0 and is −1 in the case of x<0.
                    [                  Formula                                                              6                ]                                                                                u                j                            =                                                          2                                                                                tanh                                          -                      1                                                                                (                                                                  ∏                                                  i                          =                          1                                                                                d                            c                                                    -                          1                                                                                tanh                                                                          (                                                                                v                              i                                                        2                                                    )                                                                                )                                                                                =                                                          2                                                                                tanh                                          -                      1                                                                                [                                          exp                                                                    {                                                                              ∑                                                          i                              =                              1                                                                                d                                0                                                            -                              1                                                                                ln                                                                                (                                                                                                                                tanh                                                                                (                                                                                v                                        i                                                                            2                                                                        )                                                                                                                                            )                                                                                }                                            ×                                                                        ∏                                                      i                            =                            1                                                                                d                              c                                                        -                            1                                                                                sign                                                                                (                                                          tanh                                                                                (                                                                                v                                    i                                                                    2                                                                )                                                                                )                                                                                ]                                                                                =                                                          2                                                                                tanh                                          -                      1                                                                                [                                          exp                                                                    {                                                  -                                                      (                                                                                ∑                                                                  i                                  =                                  1                                                                                d                                    c                                                                    -                                  1                                                                                -                                                                  ln                                                                                (                                                                          tanh                                                                                (                                                                                                                                                                v                                              i                                                                                                                                                                2                                                                                )                                                                                )                                                                                )                                                                          }                                                              ]                                                  ×                                                      ∏                                          i                      =                      1                                                                                d                        c                                            -                      1                                                                                sign                    (                                          v                      i                                        )                                                                                (        6        )
In x≧0, if a function φ(x) is defined as an expression φ(x)=ln(tan h(x/2)), an expression φ−1(x)=2 tan h−1(e−x) is realized. For this reason, the expression (6) can be transformed into an expression (7).
                    [                  Formula                                                              7                ]                                                                      u          j                =                                            ϕ                              -                1                                                                (                                                ∑                                      i                    =                    1                                                                              d                      c                                        -                    1                                                                                ϕ                                                        (                                                                                        v                        i                                                                                    )                                                              )                                ×                                    ∏                              i                =                1                                                              d                  c                                -                1                                                                                sign                                                                                (                                  v                  i                                )                                                                        (        7        )
In the check node, the check node operation of the expression (2) is performed according to the expression (7).
That is, in the check node, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the message uj that corresponds to the edge for calculation is acquired by the check node operation of the expression (7) using messages v1, v2, v3, v4, and v5 from the remaining edges connected to the check node. The messages that correspond to the other edges are also acquired by the same method.
The function φ(x) of the expression (7) can be represented as an expression φ(x)=ln((ex+1)/(ex−1)) and φ(x)=φ−1(x) is satisfied in x>0. When the functions φ(x) and φ−1(x) are mounted to hardware, the functions φ(x) and φ−1(x) may be mounted using an Look Up Table (LUT). However, both the functions φ(x) and φ−1(x) become the same LUT.

Data processing device and data processing method

Abstract: In the case in which an LDPC code having a code length of 16200 bits and an encoding rate of 8/15 is mapped to 16 signal points, if (#i+1)-th bits from most significant bits of sign bits of 4×2 bits and symbol bits of 4×2 bits of two consecutive symbols are set to bits b#i and y#i, respectively, a demultiplexer performs interchanging to allocate b0, b1, b2, b3, b4, b5, b6, and b7 to y0, y4, y3, y1, y2, y5, y6, and y7, respectively. The present technique can be applied to a transmission system or the like transmitting an LDPC code.


A charge control system for lithium battery using pulse width modulation is provided, and it detects the existing voltage of the charging lithium battery by a voltage detector and passes this voltage value to a microprocessor preset in the hand-held apparatus. Thus, the microprocessor can decide the applicable charge stage and confirm the status of the charging battery depending on the different Voltage values in real time. Next, the microprocessor controls a control unit by a pulse width modulation signal to modulate the power-source, which comes from an adaptor, as a constant current or a constant voltage to charge the battery. Accordingly, the charge process is completed by repeating the voltage detection and the duty cycle modulation of the control unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charge control system for a lithium battery, and more especially, to the charging system controlled by a microprocessor.
2. Background of the Related Art
Due to the popularity of the wireless communication and the technological trend, a hand-held apparatus with the features of lightness, handiness, convenience and multi-function is popular and widely used. In order to satisfy the practical and convenient requirements, the market of the batteries for the hand-held apparatus is increasing day by day. To satisfy the requirement of the user who needs the long standby time, the charging battery with large capacity is a very important essential accessory. Further, in order to fully employ the efficiency of the charging battery, using a charging-completed battery is beneficial for the economic consideration. However, if the user doesn't know whether the battery is charged completely or not and if the charging process doesn't stop automatically, it is easy to reduce the battery lifetime, damage the battery, and be dangerous. Therefore, how to automatically check the charging status and the existing voltage of the battery is one of urgent issues for the hand-held apparatus.
A conventional charging way of the hand-held apparatus is to add a charging chip into the hand-held apparatus to control the charging status and handle the requirement of the charging battery. However, due to the demand of the miniaturization of the hand-held apparatus and the increment of the electric component configured on the printed circuit board for raising the functions of the hand-held apparatus, the applicable layout and the space for the applying circuit of the hand-held apparatus are demanding day by day. Therefore, in a prerequisite of automatically checking the charging status and the existing voltage of the battery and not affecting the charging efficiency, the size reduction for the charging system is an urgent and important work.

Charge control system using pulse width modulation


Human protein C molecules are modified to provide increased resistance to inactivation by human plasma factors while retaining substantially the biological activity of human protein C. The modifications are generally to the heavy chain of protein C, which chain may be substituted with a protein C heavy chain of non-human origin, such as bovine, yielding a chimeric protein C molecule. The human protein C heavy chain may also be modified to be human-like, in that at least one amino acid from a non-human sequence may be substituted for the corresponding residue(s) of the human sequence, thereby allowing the molecule to retain substantially human characteristics yet having increased resistance to inactivation. Also included are methods for producing the modified protein C molecules and pharmaceutical compositions thereof. The modified molecules, having an increased half-life in human plasma, are particularly useful for treating coagulation-related disorders, such as protein C deficiency or thrombosis, or for promoting fibrinolysis in a patient.

Protein C in its activated form plays an important role in regulating blood coagulation. The activated protein C, a serine protease, inactivates coagulation Factors Va and VIIIa by limited proteolysis. The coagulation cascade initiated by tissue injury, for example, is prevented from proceeding in an unimpeded chain-reaction beyond the area of injury by protein C.
Protein C is synthesized in the liver as a single chain precursor polypeptide which is subsequently processed to a light chain of about 155 amino acids (M.sub.r =21,000) and a heavy chain of 262 amino acids (M.sub.r =40,000). The heavy and light chains circulate in the blood as a two-chain inactive protein, or zymogen, held together by a disulfide bond. When a 12 amino acid residue is cleaved from the amino-terminus of the heavy chain portion of the zymogen in a reaction mediated by thrombin, the protein becomes activated. Another blood protein, referred to as "protein S," is believed to somehow accelerate the protein C-catalyzed proteolysis of Factor Va.
Protein C has also been implicated in the action of tissue-type plasminogen activator (Kisiel and Fujikawa, Behring Inst, Mitt. 73:29-42, 1983). Infusion of bovine activated protein C (APC) into dogs results in increased plasminogen activator activity (Comp and Esmon, J. Clin. Invest. 68:1221-1228, 1981). Other studies (Sakata et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:1121-1125, 1985) have shown that addition of APC to cultured endothelial cells leads to a rapid, dose-dependent increase in fibrinolytic activity in the conditioned media, reflecting increases in the activity of both urokinase-related and tissue-type plasminogen activators. APC treatment also results in a dose-dependent decrease in anti-activator activity. In addition, studies with monoclonal antibodies against endogenous APC (Snow et al. FASEB Abstracts, 1988) implicate APC in maintaining patency of arteries during fibrinolysis and limiting the extent of tissue infarct.
Experimental evidence indicates that activated protein C may be clinically useful in the treatment of thrombosis. Several studies with baboon models of thrombosis have indicated that APC in low doses will be effective in prevention of fibrin deposition, platelet deposition and loss of circulation (Gruber et al., Hemostasis and Thrombosis 374a: abstract 1353, 1987; Widrow et al., Fibrinolysis 2 suppl. 1: abstract 7, 1988; Griffin et al., Thromb. Haemostasis 62: abstract 1512, 1989). The use of APC bypasses the need for in vivo activation of protein C, thus providing a faster acting therapeutic agent.
In addition, exogenous activated protein C has been shown to prevent the coagulopathic and lethal effects of gram negative septicemia (Taylor et al., J. Clin. Invest. 19:918-925, 1987). Data obtained from studies with baboons suggest that activated protein C plays a natural role in protecting against septicemia.
Protein C may be purified from clotting factor concentrates (Marlar et al., Blood 59:1067-1072, 1982) or from plasma (Kisiel, J. Clin. Invest. 64:761-769, 1979) and activated in vitro, but the resulting product may be contaminated with such infectious agents as hepatitis virus, cytomegalovirus, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
More recently, methods for producing activated protein C through recombinant DNA technology have been described. Foster et al. (published European Patent Application EP 215,548) disclose the production of activated protein C through the use of cultured mammalian cells transfected with a protein C DNA sequence from which the coding sequence for the activation peptide has been deleted. Foster et al. (EP 266,190) disclose the production of recombinant activated protein C using a DNA sequence encoding an APC precursor with a modified cleavage site.
Moreover, native human activated protein C (either plasma-derived or recombinant) has a relatively short half-life when administered in vivo (about twenty minutes), necessitating the inconvenience of large doses or frequent administration.
Despite the advances in activated protein C production made possible by the use of genetic engineering, yields remain low and the protein is subject to degradation and/or inactivation during the production process. Thus, there remains a need in the art for methods that enable the production of active activated protein C at higher levels and especially the production of molecules which have a substantially increased half-life in vivo. Quite surprisingly, the present invention fulfills these and other related needs.


A sheet feeder is characterized by comprising a suction carrying means, an oblique carrying means, a handling member, a detecting means located downstream of the handling member and for detecting a sheet passing through the handling member, and a retracting mechanism for retracting the handling member from the sheet passing through while the detecting means is detecting the sheet passing through.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a sheet processor. In this sheet processor, sheets are carried and fed to a processor body one by one, by a sheet feeder. And in the processor body, the sheet is processed by being cut and/or folded in a carrying direction, or in a direction perpendicular to the carrying direction, while the sheets are being carried. Also, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique that sheets are sucked and carried one by one in a sheet feeder. Further, for example, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique that a handling member is positioned in a handling location when a sheet feeding cassette is in a sheet feeding position, and that the handling member is retracted from the handling location when the sheet feeding cassette is not in the sheet feeding position.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-232700
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-34052
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H11-334901


A method for auctioning funds to a bank or by a depositor using a full-time public network, including several steps. A connection is established (160) to a full-time public network. Bank or depositor criteria received via the full-time public network is accepted (162). Risk analytics is performed (164) to facilitate identification of acceptable bidders. At least one bid is accepted (166) from at least one acceptable bidder via the full-time public network. Each accepted bid is evaluated (168) based on the bank or depositor criteria to determine whether the bid satisfies the criteria. At least one bid is selected (170) as a winning bid determined to satisfy the bank or depositor criteria. A system for matching depositors and banks includes at least one depositor computing system (212), at least one bank computing system (216), and auctioneer computing system (218) having several operating modules.

Presently, bank-to-bank flow of funds totals approximately $4 trillion daily. This bank-to-bank flow is handled nearly exclusively by brokers. A downside to the use of brokers to facilitate bank-to-bank transactions is that commission rates tend to be relatively expensive, often falling in the range of three to five basis points paid by each party to the transaction.
There are currently over 14,000 banks, of which 10,000 meet the Federal Reserve's highest capital standards.
The following table shows the ten-year growth rate from 1987 to 1997 for four key types of consumer deposits. Source: web page of Risk Analytics, Inc. (http://www.riskanalyticsinc.com/XSP/articles/article1.xsp)
Annual19871997Growth RateEquity Funds  $195,705$2,294,25727.9%Money Market Funds  $294,540$1,048,29513.5%Bond Funds  $262,425  $737,79910.9%Bank Deposits$3,184,592$4,305,4983.1%
Banks continue to experience strong earnings which fuel capital growth, and they also continue to experience strong asset demands. The missing component is the corresponding growth in retail deposits. As a result of these shifts banks have been increasingly forced to use "wholesale" sources of funds to complement their retail deposits.
An additional factor creating pressure on banks is a desire to avoid investing in directly competing banks, whether competing as a result of parallel geography or other factors. This desire operates in opposition to the reality that it can be convenient to deposit excess funds with similarly situated banks. Such similarly situated banks can tend to be significant competitors.
The disclosure provides a method and system overcoming many of the problems unresolved by the above-discussed prior art. These advantages, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the disclosure provided herein.

Method and system for auctioning funds using a full-time public network


A storage battery includes a housing, a groove portion formed on one end surface of the housing, a pair of electrode terminals formed on one end surface of the groove portion, and an engaging concave portion formed in the vicinity of the other end surface on the upper surface of the housing. A battery housing portion includes a housing concave portion capable of housing the storage battery, a pair of connection terminals formed on one inner wall of the housing concave portion to be connected to the electrode terminals of the storage battery, a convex portion formed in a protruded manner at a position corresponding to the groove portion on the one inner wall, and an engaging protrusion portion formed in a protruded manner at a position corresponding to the engaging concave portion on the other inner wall of the housing concave portion. When the storage battery is properly inserted into the battery housing portion, the groove portion and the convex portion are engaged with each other, the engaging concave portion and the engaging protrusion are engaged with each other, and the electrode terminals and the connection terminals are electrically connected to each other.

This invention generally relates to a structure for preventing the reverse insertion of a storage battery as well as a storage battery and battery housing portion to be used for the same purpose. More particularly, the invention relates to a structure for preventing the reverse insertion of a storage battery into a battery housing portion integrally formed on a charger or electronic appliance such as a portable electronic game machine and a storage battery and battery housing portion to be used for the same purpose.
A prior storage battery exists in which a concave portion and a convex portion are provided in the vicinity of the battery electrode terminals and connection terminals of a battery housing portion. If the concave portion and the convex portion are engaged with each other and do not correspond to each other, it is impossible to insert the storage battery normally. According to this structure, if the storage battery is inserted in a reverse manner, it is possible to prevent an accidental electrical connection from occurring between the electrode terminals and the connection terminals due to the failure of engagement between concave and convex portions.
In this prior art configuration, since a reverse insertion preventing portion is formed on only one location at one end surface (e.g., the surface formed with a pair of terminals) in the longitudinal direction of a storage battery or a secondary battery. Although an electrical connection between terminals by the reverse insertion of the storage battery can be prevented, it is impossible to prevent the reverse insertion from partially occurring. That is, while it is possible to prevent a storage battery from being completely inserted into a battery housing portion in a normal fashion, it is impossible to prevent the storage battery from being partly inserted into a battery housing portion, making it difficult for the user to notice the reverse insertion. Some users forcedly press in the storage battery to insert it, thereby causing the machine and the user to be damaged or injured, respectively.
Therefore it is a primary feature of the illustrative embodiments of the present invention to provide a novel storage battery and a battery housing portion.
It is another feature of the illustrative embodiments to provide a structure for preventing the reverse insertion of a storage battery, and a storage battery and a battery housing portion to be used for the same purpose. The illustrative embodiments allow the user to easily notice a prospective reverse insertion, and to effectively and reliably prevent reverse insertion of the storage battery and reverse connection of electrode terminals beforehand.
In an illustrative embodiment, structure for preventing the reverse insertion of a storage battery to be inserted into a battery housing portion is formed in electronic appliances of various types. The storage battery comprises a housing; a groove portion formed on one end surface in a first direction of the housing; a pair of electrode terminals provided on the one end surface of the housing formed with the groove portion; and an engaging concave portion formed in the vicinity of the other end surface in the first direction on an upper surface of the housing. The battery housing portion comprises a housing concave portion capable of housing the storage battery; a pair of connection terminals formed on one inner wall in the first direction of the housing concave portion to be connected to the electrode terminals of the storage battery; a convex portion formed in a protruded manner at a position corresponding to the groove portion on the one inner wall of the first direction of the housing concave portion; and an engaging protrusion formed in a protruded manner at a position corresponding to the engaging concave portion on the one inner wall of the first direction of the housing concave portion. When the storage battery is normally inserted into the battery housing portion, the groove portion and the convex portion are engaged with each other, the engaging concave portion and the engaging protrusion are engaged with each other, and the electrode terminals and the connection terminals are electrically connected to each other.
One aspect of the exemplary embodiments is directed to a storage battery used to be detachably inserted into a battery housing portion formed with a pair of connection terminals, a convex portion, and an engaging protrusion within a housing concave portion for housing the storage battery. The storage battery comprises a housing; a groove portion formed on one end surface in a first direction of the housing; a pair of electrode terminals provided on the one end surface of the housing formed with the groove portion; and an engaging concave portion formed in the vicinity of the other end surface in the first direction on an upper surface of the housing. When the storage battery is normally inserted into the battery housing portion, the groove portion and the convex portion are engaged with each other, the engaging concave portion and the engaging protrusion are engaged with each other, and the electrode terminals and the connection terminals are electrically connected to each other.
Another aspect of the exemplary embodiments is directed to a battery housing portion into which a storage battery having a housing, a groove portion formed on one end surface in a first direction of the housing, a pair of electrode terminals provided on the one end surface of the housing formed with the groove portion, and an engaging concave portion formed in the vicinity of the other end surface on an upper surface of the housing is inserted. The battery housing portion comprises a housing concave portion capable of housing the storage battery; a pair of connection terminals formed on one inner wall in the first direction of the housing concave portion to be connected to the electrode terminals of the storage battery; a convex portion formed in a protruded manner at a position corresponding to the groove portion on the one inner wall of the first direction of the housing concave potion; and an engaging protrusion formed in a protruded manner at a position corresponding to the engaging concave portion on the one inner wall of the first direction of the housing concave portion. When the storage battery is normally inserted into the battery housing portion, the groove portion and the convex portion are engaged with each other, the engaging concave portion and the engaging protrusion are engaged with each other, and the electrode terminals and the connection terminals are electrically connected to each other.
According to one exemplary embodiment, the storage battery is formed with the groove portion on one end surface (side surface) in a longitudinal direction of the housing and the engaging concave portion is formed in the vicinity of the other end surface on the upper surface of the housing. The battery housing portion is formed with the convex portion on the inner wall of the housing concave portion at the position corresponding to the groove portion of the storage battery, and the engaging protrusion on the inner wall of the housing concave portion is formed at the position corresponding to the engaging concave portion of the storage battery. When inserting the storage battery into the battery housing portion, the storage battery is to be inserted obliquely such that the groove portion on the one end surface of the storage battery can be engaged with the convex portion in a state that the engaging concave portion is engaged with the engaging protrusion, and thus, the storage battery is pushed. When the user accidentally intends to insert the storage battery reversely, the user can notice the reversal insertion early in the insertion process because of failure of normal engagement between the engaging concave portion and the engaging protrusion. In this manner, it is possible to prevent the reverse insertion of the storage battery early in the insertion process.
The illustrative embodiments are operable to effectively prevent the reverse insertion of the storage battery and reverse connection of the electrode terminals. Furthermore, a plurality of reverse insertion preventing portions allow the user to visually recognize the structure of the reverse insertion with ease, to prevent damage to appliances and injury of the user occurring due to a forced reverse insertion of the storage battery.
The above described objects and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Structure for preventing reverse insertion of a storage battery


A stylus touch sensor and an inexpensive, battery free, wireless backscatter stylus, the stylus touch sensor including a host radio frequency (RF) antenna for generating a magnetic field, an electrode grid for detecting finger touches, and a stylus reader circuit for detecting a signal from a backscatter stylus, and the backscatter stylus having a first circuit for using the magnetic field to generate an electrical current for powering the backscatter stylus, and a second circuit for generating a backscatter signal that is detectable by the stylus reader circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to touchpad and stylus technology. More specifically, an inexpensive, battery free, wireless digitizer pen or stylus may be constructed for use with CIRQUE® Corporation touchpads by the addition of Radio Frequency Backscatter communication to the current CIRQUE® Corporation wired pen.
2. Description of Related Art
There are several designs for capacitance sensitive touchpads. One of the existing touchpad designs that can be modified to work with the present invention is a touchpad made by CIRQUE® Corporation. Accordingly, it is useful to examine the underlying technology to better understand how any capacitance sensitive touchpad can be modified to work with the present invention.
The CIRQUE® Corporation touchpad is a mutual capacitance-sensing device and an example is illustrated as a block diagram in FIG. 1. In this touchpad 10, a grid of X (12) and Y (14) electrodes and a sense electrode 16 is used to define the touch-sensitive area 18 of the touchpad. Typically, the touchpad 10 is a rectangular grid of approximately 16 by 12 electrodes, or 8 by 6 electrodes when there are space constraints. Interlaced with these X (12) and Y (14) (or row and column) electrodes is a single sense electrode 16. All position measurements are made through the sense electrode 16.
The CIRQUE® Corporation touchpad 10 measures an imbalance in electrical charge on the sense line 16. When no pointing object is on or in proximity to the touchpad 10, the touchpad circuitry 20 is in a balanced state, and there is no charge imbalance on the sense line 16. When a pointing object creates imbalance because of capacitive coupling when the object approaches or touches a touch surface (the sensing area 18 of the touchpad 10), a change in capacitance occurs on the electrodes 12, 14. What is measured is the change in capacitance, but not the absolute capacitance value on the electrodes 12, 14. The touchpad 10 determines the change in capacitance by measuring the amount of charge that must be injected onto the sense line 16 to reestablish or regain balance of charge on the sense line.
The system above utilized to determine the position of a finger on or in proximity to a touchpad 10 as follows. This example describes row electrodes 12, and is repeated in the same manner for the column electrodes 14. The values obtained from the row and column electrode measurements determine an intersection which is the centroid of the pointing object on or in proximity to the touchpad 10.
In the first step, a first set of row electrodes 12 are driven with a first signal from P, N generator 22, and a different but adjacent second set of row electrodes are driven with a second signal from the P, N generator. The touchpad circuitry 20 obtains a value from the sense line 16 using a mutual capacitance measuring device 26 that indicates which row electrode is closest to the pointing object. However, the touchpad circuitry 20 under the control of some microcontroller 28 cannot yet determine on which site of the row electrode the pointing object is located, nor can the touchpad circuitry 20 determine just how far the pointing object is located away from the electrode. Thus, the system shifts by one electrode the group of electrodes 12 to be driven. In other words, the electrode on one side of the group is added, while the electrode on the opposite side of the group is no longer driven. The new group is then driven by the P, N generator 22 and a second measurement of the sense line 16 is taken.
From these two measurements, it is possible to determine on which side of the row electrode the pointing object is located, and how far away. Pointing object position determination is then performed by using an equation that compares the magnitude of the two signals measured.
The sensitivity or resolution of the CIRQUE® Corporation touchpad is much higher than the 16 by 12 grid of row and column electrodes implies. The resolution is typically on the order of 960 counts per inch, or greater. The exact resolution is determined by the sensitivity of the components, the spacing between the electrodes 12, 14 on the same rows and columns, and other factors that are not material to the present invention.
The process above is repeated for the Y or column electrodes 14 using a P, N generator 24
Although the CIRQUE® touchpad described above uses a grid of X and Y electrodes 12, 14 and a separate and single sense electrode 16, the sense electrode can actually be the X or Y electrodes 12, 14 by using multiplexing. Either design will enable the present invention to function.
With this understanding of one capacitance sensitive touchpad, it is now possible to discuss the present invention and a particular application because of shortcomings in state of the art designs.
A wired stylus is used with a touchpad as described above by coupling a dedicated sense line input of touchpad circuitry to a stylus. It would be a further advantage over the existing wired stylus to incorporate backscatter technology into the stylus to enable the pen to be wireless and to simplify and reduce the cost.

Backscatter stylus for use with touchscreen


A deployable active radar countermeasure or “smart chaff” device includes a flexible battery or length of reflective material for passive reflection of a surveillance radar signal. Metallized antenna elements printed onto the material receive the surveillance radar signals, and RF integrated circuitry bonded to the material generates active RF echo signals based on the frequency of the surveillance signal and the length of the material. Wirebond receiving paths include reconfigurable gain amplifiers and filters for adjusting the phase and amplitude of the echo signal, and transmit paths return the echo signal to the radar source via the antenna elements. Echo signals may combine with those of other such devices, having various lengths and associated frequencies, to simulate a false return associated with a particular aircraft or moving target (e.g., simulation of Doppler shift via offset echo frequencies).

Adversaries commonly use radar to track radar-guided missiles and other airborne targets; for example, pulsed or continuous radio waves may be projected toward potential targets, and the reflections of these waves analyzed to locate the potential target or determine its heading and velocity. Advanced radar detection systems may utilize complicated pulse waveforms more broadly distributed across the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.
A target or potential target may deploy chaff as a radar countermeasure; for example, a cloud of metallic or reflective objects may be deployed to reflect radar waves so as to confuse the radar detection system with multiple or misleading target returns which may suggest a false position of the target or obscure its true position. However, conventional chaff may be of limited utility; for example, individual chaff components have no means of propulsion and thus, to the extent that a cloud of chaff may represent a false or misleading position of a target, it may provide only a static position. Similarly, the reflectivity of conventional chaff may depend greatly on the surveillance frequencies used. Towable decoys may provide more credibly false returns to surveillance radar, but the decoys may not be a cost-effective option. Similarly, a target aircraft may employ onboard digital RF memory (DRFM) to generate false echo signals representing a "ghost" decoy target. While the ghost target may prove a reusable and programmable decoy (e.g., a decoy presenting the illusion of motion toward the detector), DRFM systems may be even more prohibitively expensive than towable decoys (e.g., by a cost factor ten times or above that of the towable decoy).


Examples described herein include examples print media handling system including a first media guide assembly comprising a sensor assembly, and a second media guide assembly comprising a retractable pressure plate and disposed opposite the first media guide assembly to guide a print media along a path between the first media guide assembly and second media guide assembly, the pressure plate moveable about an axis perpendicular to the path between an actuated position and a retracted position.

Printing devices often include integrated sensors for sensing the position of print media, calibrating printing elements, or evaluating the performance of the various other components, such as the print elements and paper handling systems. Various types of sensors can be used. Pressure sensors, proximity sensors, magnetic sensors, optical sensors, and the like, can all be used to sense various conditions in the printing device. In some scenarios, a mechanical pressure sensor can be used to sense the presence of print media (e.g., a piece of paper or cardstock). In other applications, an optical sensor can be used to image, or otherwise detect, the quality of an image printed on a print media. For example, an optical sensor can be used to detect the physical or operational alignment of print nozzles or print heads, measure the fidelity of color reproductions, track variations of ink density, and the like.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A format of an Infrared (IR) transmission from an IR remote is matched to a corresponding IR protocol format for a starting sequence associated with the transmission. Next, a format of a payload that follows the starting sequence in the transmission is matched to a payload format associated with the matched protocol format. Assuming both the starting sequence and the payload formats match, the transmission is relayed and/or replayed over an IR re-transmitter situated in proximity to an IR-enabled device associated with the IR remote, and the IR-enabled device processes a command represented in the payload of the transmission. When either the starting sequence fails to match a supported IR protocol or the payload format fails to match a given supported IR protocol, the transmission is ignored and discarded as unverified.

Infrared (IR) communication is ubiquitous in the world of television device control. A popular means to control devices with universal remotes involves the use of the signal record and replay technique. This technique is not concerned with the underlying protocol but rather the storage and retransmission of a collection of signal samples. It is simple and effective but has a number of shortcomings.
The record and replay technique of providing IR device control suffers from two significant shortcomings. The first is its inability to programmatically detect signal errors. When an IR packet is recorded with a universal remote its validity must be manually verified by the individual through playback and observation. The second issue is scalability. The process of recording and storing device functions must be performed for each device and each function. This results in the storage of large collections of device and function sample sets.

Infrared (IR) transmission verification and relay


An array substrate for an in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device includes a first TFT in a pixel region and connected to a gate line and a first data line; a second TFT in the pixel region and connected to the gate line and a second data line; a first pattern connected to the first TFT and extending along the gate line; a plurality of first electrodes connected to the first pattern; a second pattern extending to be parallel to the first pattern; a second electrode extending along the first data line; a third electrode connected to the second pattern and extending along the second data line, the third electrode connected to the second TFT; and a plurality of fourth electrodes connected to the second pattern and alternately arranged with the plurality of first electrodes, wherein the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of fourth electrodes are disposed between the second and third electrodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an array substrate for an in-plane switching (IPS) mode liquid crystal display (LCD) device and more particularly to an array substrate for an IPS mode LCD device having an improved aperture ratio.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A related art liquid crystal display (LCD) device uses optical anisotropy and polarization properties of liquid crystal molecules. The liquid crystal molecules have a definite alignment direction as a result of their thin and long shapes. The alignment direction of the liquid crystal molecules can be controlled by applying an electric field across the liquid crystal molecules. In other words, as the intensity or direction of the electric field is changed, the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules also changes. Since incident light is refracted based on the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules due to the optical anisotropy of the liquid crystal molecules, images can be displayed by controlling light transmissivity.
Since the LCD device including a thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching element, referred to as an active matrix LCD (AM-LCD) device, has excellent characteristics of high resolution and displaying moving images, the AM-LCD device has been widely used.
The AM-LCD device includes an array substrate, a color filter substrate and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The array substrate may include a pixel electrode and the TFT, and the color filter substrate may include a color filter layer and a common electrode. The AM-LCD device is driven by an electric field between the pixel electrode and the common electrode to have excellent properties of transmittance and aperture ratio. However, since the AM-LCD device uses a vertical electric field, the AM-LCD device has a bad viewing angle.
An in-plane switching (IPS) mode LCD device may be used to resolve the above-mentioned limitations. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the related art IPS mode LCD device. As shown in FIG. 1, the related art IPS mode LCD device includes the array substrate and the color filter substrate separated apart from and facing each other. The array substrate includes a first substrate 10, a common electrode 17 and a pixel electrode 30. Though not shown, the array substrate may include a TFT, a gate line, a data line, and so on. The color filter substrate includes a second substrate 9, a color filter layer (not shown), and so on. A liquid crystal layer 11 is interposed between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 9. Since the common electrode 17 and the pixel electrode 30 are formed on the first substrate 10 on the same level, a horizontal electric field "L" is generated between the common and pixel electrodes 17 and 30.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing turned on/off conditions of the related art IPS mode LCD device. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the voltage is applied to the IPS mode LCD device, liquid crystal molecules 11a above the common electrode 17 and the pixel electrode 30 are unchanged. But, liquid crystal molecules 11b between the common electrode 17 and the pixel electrode 30 are horizontally arranged due to the horizontal electric field "L". Since the liquid crystal molecules 11 are arranged by the horizontal electric field "L", the IPS mode LCD device has a characteristic of a wide viewing angle. For example, the IPS mode LCD device has a viewing angle of about 80 degrees to about 85 degrees without an image inversion or a color inversion.
FIG. 2B shows a condition when the voltage is not applied to the IPS mode LCD device. Because an electric field is not generated between the common and pixel electrodes 17 and 30, the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules 11 is not changed.
FIG. 3 is a plane view of a portion of an array substrate for the related art IPS mode LCD device. In FIG. 3, the array substrate 40 includes a gate line 43, a common line 47, a data line 60, a plurality of common electrodes 49a and 49b, a plurality of pixel electrodes 70 and a thin film transistor (TFT) Tr. The gate line 43 extends along a first direction, and the common line 47 is parallel to the gate line 43. The data line 60 extends along a second direction being different from the first direction to cross the gate line 43 and the common line 47. Particularly, a crossing of the gate and data lines 43 and 60 defines a pixel region P.
The TFT Tr is disposed at a crossing portion of the gate and data lines 43 and 60. The TFT Tr includes a gate electrode 45, a semiconductor layer 50, a source electrode 53 and a drain electrode 55. The source electrode 53 extends from the data line 60, and the gate electrode 45 extends from the gate line 43. The pixel electrodes 70 is connected to the drain electrode 55 through a drain contact hole 67 and disposed in the pixel region P. The common electrodes 49a and 49b are alternately arranged with the pixel electrodes 70 and extend from the common line 47.
The common electrodes include first common electrodes 49a and a second common electrode 49b. The second common electrode 49b is disposed between the first common electrodes 49a, and each of the first common electrodes 49a is disposed to be adjacent to the data line 60. In this case, the first common electrodes 49a is spaced apart from the data line 60 with a pre-determined distance. A common voltage is applied into the common electrodes 49a and 49b through the common line 47, which is across the pixel region P, and an additional compensation or tuning for a difference in a common voltage resulted from charging of a constant voltage is required. Accordingly, production costs increase and a fabricating process is complicated.
In addition, since the first common electrodes 49a is spaced apart from the data line 60 to prevent signal interference between the first common electrodes 49a and the data line 60, an aperture ratio of the IPS mode LCD device decreases.

Array substrate for in-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device


A system for controlling illumination of a fluorescent lamp includes a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) control circuit receiving a first signal of a power source and generating an adjustment signal. A charge pump circuit receives a charge pump signal, a second signal of the power source and the adjustment signal to generate a direct current (DC) power signal. An RC attenuator attenuates the adjustment signal to generate an attenuated DC signal. A control circuit receives the attenuated DC signal and generates first and second output signals according to a first reference voltage, a second reference voltage and a power feedback signal of the fluorescent lamp. A half bridge driving circuit receives the first output signal, the second output signal and the DC power signal to generate an illuminating signal and the charge pump signal. The illumination of the fluorescent lamp is adjustable by the illuminating signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dimmer control and in particular, to a dimmer control system and apparatus for controlling the illumination level of a fluorescent lamp.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a dimmer control circuit with a conventional silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) for an incandescent lamp RL. When switch K1 is turned on, (AC) power PS from the utility power is sent to a point A1 through resistor R2, switch K1, resistor R3 and variable resistor R1. Meanwhile, a capacitor C is charged during the positive half cycle of the AC power PS sine wave. While the voltage at point A1 in comparison with the voltage at point A reaches a turn-on voltage of the bi-directional diode Db3 and conditions at the two terminals of the SCR also meet certain turn on requirements, SCR is turned on and the incandescent lamp RL is illuminated. The incandescent lamp RL is also illuminated in the same manner during the negative half cycle of power PS sine wave.
Adjusting the resistance of the variable resistor R1 changes the charging speed for the capacitor C, the time point when the bi-directional diode Db3 is turned on, and, eventually, the turn-on angle at which SCR begins conduction. Since different turn-on angles respond to different average currents, average current through the incandescent lamp RL is controllable by adjusting the degree of the turn-on angle, such that the illumination level of the incandescent lamp is accordingly controlled or adjusted. FIG. 2 shows output waveforms of the SCR corresponding to different turn-on angles, wherein the black area in this figure indicates the conducting periods.
Unlike incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps require an electronic ballast to regulate the flow of power. AC power cannot start the fluorescent lamp directly, and must be converted to direct current (DC) power. FIG. 3 shows a design for adjusting the illumination level of the fluorescent lamp by a SCR. In comparison with the circuit in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 has a bridge rectifier 4D and a capacitor CL, both added before the fluorescent lamp FL to convert the AC output of the SCR to DC output, which accordingly powers the fluorescent lamp FL.
When the loading of the SCR is capacitive, such as bridge rectifier 4D and capacitor CL shown in FIG. 3, the leakage of the SCR when turned off charges capacitor CL and causes reduction of the voltage across capacitor C1. Thus, the charge current of the capacitor C1 is reduced, and a phase shift between the charge current and the input of AC power PS stops voltages across the capacitor C1 from reaching the turn-on voltage of the bi-directional diode Db3 to turn on the SCR.
When the turn-on angle is small, inability of bi-directional diode Db3 and the SCR to be turned on frequently occur, such that the fluorescent light cannot function due to shortage of energy. As a result, the fluorescent lamp FL will flicker from repeated restarting.
Another conventional dimmer control circuit for a fluorescent lamp uses an extra control circuit in an electronic dimmer ballast. During power up, the electronic dimmer ballast generates a dimming signal to adjust the illumination of the fluorescent lamp. This configuration, however, requires extra circuit design to pass the dimming signal generated by the control circuit. The circuit for the fluorescent lamp, is thus complicated.

Dimmer control system and controlling method thereof


A medium-opposed surface of a slider body is opposed to a recording medium. A rail is defined on the medium-opposed surface. A groove is defined on the medium-opposed surface between the trailing end of the rail and the trailing end of the medium-opposed surface. A lubricating agent is forced to flow into the groove based on the meniscus effect. Airflow acting on the medium-opposed surface serves to lead the lubricating agent along the groove to the edge of the medium-opposed surface. The lubricating agent is then blown over from the end of the groove at the edge of the medium-opposed surface. The lubricating agent is in this manner prevented from staying between the trailing end of the rail and the trailing end of the medium-opposed surface. The head slider is thus allowed to keep flying in a stable flying attitude.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head slider incorporated within a recording medium drive such as a hard disk drive (HDD), for example. In particular, the invention relates to a head slider comprising a slider body opposing the medium-opposed surface to a recording medium and a rail defined on the medium-opposed surface of the slider body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A hard disk drive often includes a load/unload mechanism. The load/unload mechanism serves to hold a head slider at a location spaced from the surface of a magnetic recording disk when the magnetic recording disk stands still. The head slider is accordingly prevented from contacting with a lubricating agent spreading over the surface of the magnetic recording disk when the magnetic recording disk stands still.
In general, the head slider includes a rail for defining an air bearing surface on the surface of the rail. A read/write electromagnetic transducer is designed to expose the front end at the air bearing surface. The front end of the read/write electromagnetic transducer is thus opposed to the surface of the magnetic recording disk. The outflow or trailing end of the rail is located closest to the surface of the magnetic recording disk during the flight of the head slider over the magnetic recording disk. The head slider thus often suffers from attachment of the lubricating agent. Airflow generated along the rotating magnetic recording disk blows the lubricating agent toward the flying head slider, for example. This induces the attachment of the lubricating agent to the head slider. In particular, in the case where the trailing end of the rail is shifted from the trailing end of the medium-opposed surface toward the inflow or leading end of the medium-opposed surface, the lubricating agent tends to stay at a step defined between the trailing end of the rail and the medium-opposed surface. The attachment of the lubricating agent serves to disturb the stability of the flying attitude of the head slider.

Head slider having groove on medium-opposed surface and recording medium drive employing the same


The present invention relates to a compound of Formula I:

Stimulation of the immune system, which includes stimulation of either or both innate immunity and adaptive immunity, is a complex phenomenon that can result in either protective or adverse physiologic outcomes for the host. In recent years there has been increased interest in the mechanisms underlying innate immunity, which is believed to initiate and support adaptive immunity. This interest has been fueled in part by the recent discovery of a family of highly conserved pattern recognition receptor proteins known as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) believed to be involved in innate immunity as receptors for pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Compositions and methods useful for modulating innate immunity are therefore of great interest, as they may affect therapeutic approaches to conditions involving autoimmunity, inflammation, atherosclerosis, allergy, asthma, graft rejection, graft versus host disease (GvHD), infection, cancer, and immunodeficiency.
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of pattern recognition and signaling molecules involved in innate immunity. This family includes at least twelve members, designated TLR1-TLR13, for which the function and specificity are known for most but not all members. Certain of these TLRs are known to signal in response to encounter with particular types of nucleic acid molecules. For example, TLR9 signals in response to CpG-containing DNA, TLR3 signals in response to double-stranded RNA, and TLR7 and TLR8 signal in response to certain single-stranded RNA. There have been a number of reports describing the immunostimulatory effect of certain types of nucleic acid molecules, including CpG nucleic acids and double-stranded RNA. Of note, it was reported that Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) recognizes bacterial DNA and CpG DNA while TLR7 and 8 recognize single stranded RNA: Hemmi H et al. (2000) Nature 408:740-5; Bauer S. et al. (2001) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:9237-42; Heil et al. (2004) Science, 303:1526. In addition to their natural ligands, certain synthetic or artificial ligands for these nucleic-acid responsive TLRs are also known. These include certain CpG oligodeoxyribonucleotides (CpG ODN), oligoribonucleotides (ORN) and certain ORN analogs, and certain small molecules including imiquimod (R-837) and resiquimod (R-848). Imiquimod and resiquimod are classified as imidazoaminoquinoline-4-amines; the former is currently marketed as Aldara™ by 3M Pharmaceuticals for topical treatment of anogenital warts associated with papillomavirus infection. In addition to their use in the treatment of certain viral infections such as papillomavirus, certain TLR agonists are also believed to be useful as adjuvants, antitumor agents, and anti-allergy agents. Because a number of diseases and conditions can be treated by enhancing innate immunity, there is a continued need for additional and improved TLR agonists.
It was also recently reported that immune complexes containing IgG and nucleic acid can stimulate TLR9 and participate in B-cell activation in certain autoimmune diseases. Leadbetter E. A. et al. (2002) Nature 416:595-8. Similar and additional documentation of these claims have been made for TLR7, 8 and 9: reviewed in Sun S. et al. (2007) Inflammation and Allergy—Drug Targets 6:223-235.

Abstract: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the symbols are as defined in the specification; a pharmaceutical composition comprising the same; and a method for treating or preventing autoimmunity disease using the same.


Methods for identifying compounds that are inhibitors of bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis are disclosed. Such compounds can be used as lead compounds in methods for preparing antibacterial agents for treating bacterial infections (e.g., in humans, animals, and plants). Inhibitors of bacterial fatty acid synthesis can also be tested for their ability to inhibit synthesis of acylated homoserine lactones. Compounds that inhibit synthesis of acylated homoserine lactones can be used as inhibitors of bacterial virulence. The disclosed methods allow for high throughput screening of libraries of test compounds.

Fatty acid biosynthesis (FAB) is necessary for the production of bacterial cell walls, and therefore is essential for the survival of bacteria (Magnuson et al., 1993, Microbiol. Rev. 57:522-542). The fatty acid synthase system in E. coli is the archetypal type II fatty acid synthase system. Multiple enzymes are involved in fatty acid biosynthesis, and genes encoding the enzymes fabH, fabD, fabG, acpP, and fabF are clustered together on the E. coli chromosome. Clusters of FAB genes have also been found in Bacillus subtilis, Haemophilus influenza Rd, Vibrio harveyi, and Rhodobacter capsulatus. Examples of FAB genes in B. subtilis include fabD, yjaX, and yhfB (encoding synthase III), fabG, ywpB, yjbW, yjaY, ylpC, fabG, and acpA. The ylpC, fabG, and acpA genes are contained within a single operon that is controlled by the PylpC promoter.
Using genetic and biochemical methods, the targets and mechanisms of action of several inhibitors of the elongation part of the FAB pathway have been identified (FIG. 1). The FAB inhibitor cerulenin inhibits β-ketoacyl-ACP synthase, and the inhibitor thiolactomycin inhibits acetoacyl ACP synthase (Omura, 1981, Meth. Enzymol. 72:520-532; Moche et al., 1999, J. Biol. Chem. 274:6031-6034; and Jackowski et al., 1989, J. Biol. Chem. 264:7624-7629). The FAB inhibitors isoniazid, triclosan, and diazaborine inhibit enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (Quemard et al., 1995, Biochem. 34:8235-8241; McMurray et al., 1998, Nature 394:531-532; Heath et al., 1998, J. Biol. Chem. 273:30316-30320; Heath et al., 1999, J. Biol. Chem. 274:11110-11114; Levy et al., 1999, Nature 398:383-384; and DeBoer et al., 1999, Mol. Microbiol. 31:443-450). In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, triclosan has been shown to inhibit the enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (FabI), which converts trans-2-enoyl-ACP to acyl-ACP (Hoang and Schweizer, supra). The FAB pathway provides the acyl groups for production of acylated homoserine lactones (HSLs). HSLs are the signaling molecules involved in quorum sensing, i.e., bacterial cell-to-cell signaling, in a wide variety of bacteria. In pathogenic bacteria, such as Pseudomonas, quorum sensing is a mechanism for regulating the expression of virulence factors (Hastings and Greenberg, 1999, J. Bacteriol. 181:2667-2668).

High throughput screen for inhibitors of fatty acid biosynthesis in bacteria


The present invention provides a detector and an emission tomography device including the detector. The detector comprises: a scintillation crystal array comprising a plurality of scintillation crystals; and a photo sensor array, coupled to an end surface of the scintillation crystal array and comprising multiple photo sensors. At least one of the multiple photo sensors is coupled to a plurality of the scintillation crystals respectively. Surfaces of the plurality of the scintillation crystals not coupled to the photo sensor array are each provided with a light-reflecting layer, and a light-transmitting window is disposed in the light-reflecting layer on a surface among the surfaces adjacent to a scintillation crystal coupled to an adjacent photo sensor. The detector has DOI decoding capability. No mutual interference occurs during DOI decoding, and decoding is more accurate. Moreover, with the number of photo sensor arrays being the same, the decoding capability for the scintillation crystals is significantly improved. With the number of photo sensor arrays being the same, the size of the photo sensor array and the number of channels of a readout circuit of the photo sensors of the present invention can be reduced by three-quarters to eight-ninths.

An emission tomography device including a positron emission tomography device has been used for medical diagnosis. Taking a positron emission tomography device as an example, since an annihilating effect occurs between the positrons generated by the positron isotope decay and the negatrons in the human body, γ photons generated by the annihilating effect are detected by a detector using a composite detection method after injecting a compound labeled with positron isotopes into the human body.
The detector essentially consists of three parts, as shown in FIG. 1, i.e., a crystal matrix 110 consisting of discrete scintillation crystals, a glass photoconductive layer 120 and a photomultiplier tube (PMT) matrix 130. Surfaces of each of the scintillation crystals are coated with a light-reflecting material except for the surface (i.e., the bottom surface) of the scintillation crystal facing the PMT matrix 130. The 511 keV high-energy photons (i.e., γ photons) generated by the annihilating effect interact within the crystal matrix 110 and are converted into a group of visible photons. Since the surfaces of each of the scintillation crystals are coated with the light-reflecting material except for the bottom surface, the group of visible photons can only exit from the bottom surfaces of the scintillation crystals and pass through the glass photoconductive layer 120 into the PMT matrix 130. According to the intensity of a visible light signal collected by each of PMT units in the PMT matrix 130, which one of the scintillation crystals in the crystal matrix 110 the γ photons interact within can be calculated by using Anger Logic. This process is called crystal decoding. In this way, the information on the distribution of the isotopes in the human body can be obtained, and the reconstruction and combination operation is performed by a computer to obtain a three-dimensional tomographic image of the distribution of the labeled compound in the human body.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, since the γ photons have a certain attenuation length, they do not interact immediately after reaching a scintillation crystal 210, but interact according to a certain attenuation function, and are converted into a group of visible photons within a certain time period. When the γ photons enter the scintillation crystal 210 at a non-central position, that is, enter the scintillation crystal 210 at a certain angle, the γ photons enter another scintillation crystal 210 before interacting, and there is a deviation between γ photon generation position simulated by the calculated interaction position and the actual generation position, which is called the Depth Of Interaction (DOI) effect. FIGS. 2A and 2B are sectional views of existing flat and annular positron emission tomography devices, respectively. The solid line represents the actual flight path of the γ photons, and the dashed line represents the response straight line segment generated by the emission tomography device based on the detected signal. It can be seen that the depth effect greatly affects the accuracy of the γ photon generation position and path determined by the photo sensors during decoding, resulting in a decrease in the spatial resolution of the emission tomography device.
Existing methods for reducing the DOI effect are mainly divided into two categories, namely hardware calibration methods and software calibration methods. The hardware calibration methods include scintillation crystals delamination and coupling two optoelectronic conversion devices at the ends of the scintillation crystal array. With respect to the scintillation crystal delamination, since the crystals are not continuous, the junction of different crystal materials leads to a great photon loss and reduces the system sensitivity. The disadvantage of coupling two photoelectric conversion devices is that the number of channels of the detector is increased, resulting in a weakened intensity of the collected signal. The software calibration methods have a limited development due to its own limitations.
Therefore, it is necessary to propose a detector for an emission tomography device, and an emission tomography device including the detector, to obtain the information on the Depth Of Interaction of the scintillation crystals, and to improve spatial resolution of the tomography system.

Detector and emission tomography device with the detector


In summary, the stepper motor of this invention comprises a rotor anbd stator both mounted in a single housing (which may be a part of the base casting as described in the incorporated application) the bearings supporting the rotor for rotation within the housing both being located on the rotor shaft on the same side of the rotor adjacent one another, the opposite end of the single housing being covered with a sealed plastic cover. The bore of the lamination stack that forms the stator is piloted by machined surfaces into a high tolerance fit within the housing, and clamped in place with a simple wave washer/snap ring combination.

Stepper motors designed to rotate through a predetermined angle upon application of a sequence of voltage pulses are well known. Such stepping motors are useful in fields where accurate, discrete angular motions reliably responsive to a controlled sequence of pulses are desired. Applications involving frequent repositioning of a mechanical member to successively different positions are ideally adapted for being driven through a linkage by a stepper motor. Thus, stepper motors are commonly used in disc drives to position the head carrying actuator relative to the information storage disc. Pulsed instructions are converted directly to accurate rotational motions by the stepping motor.
A typical stepping motor construction involves a rotor comprising a permanent magnet and one or more magnetically permeable discs having a plurality of teeth on their periphery, and a stator preferably made from magnetically permeable laminations incorporating a number of poles, each pole having a plurality of teeth on the pole surface, and a coil of electrically conductive wire wound around its root. The geometric configuration and the magnetic fields are such that the attraction between rotor and stator teeth result in tangential forces on the rotor that change the angular alignment of the rotor relative to the stator.
Accurate positioning of the rotor relative to the stator is attained by a carefully planned sequencing of voltage pulses to the coils around each stator pole, known as an algorithm. The accuracy of the mechanical alignment between the rotor and the stator portions of a stepper motor is critical in view of the extremely small air gaps between the teeth of the rotor and the teeth of the stator poles. Failure to provide such extremely accurate alignment may result in unacceptably large stepping angle and hysteresis errors, thus adversely impacting production yields.
In conventional stepping motors, the stator comprises two end bells that pilot on the stack of laminations and capture the stack between them while providing support for two rotor bearings, one in each end bell. One of the conditions needed to provide an evenly distributed air gap between the teeth of the rotor and the teeth of the stator poles, the axis of the rotor must coincide as closely as possible with the axis of the lamination stack bore of the stator. Achieving such a condition is difficult due to compliance in the lamination stack and the precision with which the stack and end bells must be machined, which also adds cost to the manufacture of stepping motors.
The disc drive market demands greater speed, increased accuracy in positioning the transducer over the target track, and lower power consumption in the stepper motor. This can best be achieved by optimizing the rotor/stator tooth geometry and dimensioning with improved tolerance compliance, as well as by decreasing the gap between the rotor and the stator. The solution to this problem lies in improved control of rotor and stator fabrication, and the provision of better means for maintaining alignment between the axes of the rotor and stator in the stepper motor, while reducing cost.


The present invention relates to a battery pack. The present invention includes: a plurality of battery cells disposed in one direction; a heat transfer oil configured to contact surfaces of the battery cells; a frame configured to accommodate the battery cells and the heat transfer oil; a cooling plate configured to contact bottom surfaces of the battery cells through the frame and having cooling water flowing therein; and a battery management unit configured to manage heat generated from the battery cells by using at least one of a cell temperature of the battery cells, a temperature of the heat transfer oil, and a temperature of the cooling water.

A rechargeable battery may be repeatedly charged and discharged, and as such, a nickel-hydrogen (Ni-MH) battery, a lithium (Li) ion battery, or the like may be employed. The rechargeable battery may be formed to include one battery cell so as to be used for a portable small electronic device such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer, a computer, a camera, or a camcorder, or may be formed to include a battery pack including a plurality of battery cells so as to be used as a motor driving power source for a high output hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), an electric vehicle (EV), or the like.
The battery pack may generate a lot of heat by a charging or discharging operation, thereby deteriorating the battery cells. Accordingly, a battery pack capable of efficiently managing heat generated from battery cells is required.


Embodiments of this application provide a link resource transmission method and apparatus. The method includes the following steps. A first node floods first control routing information, where the first control routing information includes an identifier of an area in which the first node is located. A second node floods second control routing information, where the second control routing information includes an identifier of an area in which the second node is located. The first node determines, through comparison, whether the identifier of the area in which the first node is located is consistent with the identifier of the area in which the second node is located. When the identifier of the area in which the first node is located is consistent with the identifier of the area in which the second node is located, the first node transmits link data information of the first node to the second node.

An automatically switched optical network (ASON) floods control routing data, node data, TE link data, and the like of different nodes on an entire network by using an open shortest path first (open shortest path first, OSPF) protocol. All nodes on a network can obtain entire-network data information that has been flooded. Currently, network requirements have grown, and a network needs to expand from original 200 nodes to 3000 nodes, or even more nodes, to meet the requirements. This manner improves the intelligent route computation/route establishment capability of a node, but also limits network expansion. The reason is that a larger network scale means a larger amount of data to be obtained by each node, and therefore the memory and CPU usage of individual nodes become a bottleneck that limits network expansion.
To address network expansion, the OSPF protocol generates a new attribute during protocol development, that is, a not-so-stubby area (NSSA), as shown in FIG. 1. This attribute requires that an ASE route out of an autonomous system (AS) be prevented from entering the NSSA but an ASE route introduced by a router in the NSSA be allowed to transmit in the NSSA and sent out of the area. To meet the foregoing requirement, a link state advertisement (LSA), that is, a type 7 LSA, is defined in the NSSA, and is used when a router in the area introduces an external route. Content of this type of LSA is basically the same as that of a type 5 LSA, except a type identifier. In this way, the router in the area may determine, based on the type of the LSA, whether the route comes from the area. However, because the type 7 LSA is newly defined, it cannot be identified by a router that does not support the NSSA attribute. Therefore, the protocol stipulates that a type 7 LSA generated in an NSSA is to be converted into a type 5 LSA on an area border router (ABR) of the NSSA, then the type 5 LSA is to be published, and an LSA publisher is to be changed to the ABR.
However, a strict limitation is imposed on a networking mode when the NSSA solution is used, and networking and deployment need to be performed according to a fixed pattern. In addition, an ABR node needs to be deployed, and the ABR node is configured to receive network data from an adjacent area. Therefore, a very high requirement is imposed on a CPU and a memory of the ABR node. If the specification of the ABR node remains unchanged, the scale of each adjacent area is limited in turn. It is impossible to require all mature planned networking to be reconstructed based on a stipulated networking specification. In addition, this implementation solution is not convenient for deployment or installation, and a requirement on a memory and a CPU of an ABR node also further affects experience. Therefore, this solution cannot meet a large-network requirement of a controller.
Therefore, a large-network link resource transmission solution urgently needs to be provided, to break through a bottleneck imposed by memory and CPU usage on a large ASON network, to meet a requirement for controlling link resources for ultra-large-scale nodes that continuously grow, and to implement network expansion.

Link resource transmission method and apparatus